We hooked up with Malicious back in November when he was about to drop his debut album Music Starts With M.

Well, it’s been a few months since and I wanted to catch up with Malish and see what he’s been up to. Last time around we didn’t get to do an interview, so this time I wanted to give him a proper Artist Spotlight.

For those of you who have not copped Music Start With M, I highly recommend it. You can get it on iTunes and at CDBaby.

If you’re curious about Malish and wanna hear a few of the tracks off the album first, check out the Flash player below after the interview.

Kevin: Hey, what’s up Malish? You’re one of the first artists I supported on my site; I can’t believe we haven’t done an interview until now. But thanks for taking time out to sit down with me. For those out there that are not familiar with who you are, tell us a little bit about Malicious. How long have you been doing this and how’d you get your start?

Malicious: What’s good man glad to chop it up with you. I got started at a young age by being my older cousins hype man. R-kade(my cousin) was the one who actually gave me my nickname Malicious and yes it was way before I ever heard of the Clipse.lol He had me come through at the studio and lay down verse at the age of 15 and open up for acts like Gza, Biz Markie, The Roots, Redman, Keith Murray, Jeru and more.
My first major look came when I battled Jeru the Damaja live on stage in Montreal when I was 15.
I worked in the studio ever since putting out an album with my group Offsides titled ‘Foul Language’ and had the oppurtunity tour Asia and Canada with that Project.
I released a vinyl double a-side with Poison Pen called ‘TAKE OFF’ and won a Provincial freestyle battle all before my first solo album.

Kevin: That’s right; I remember you telling me about that battle with Jeru. That must have been insane! So how’s the album doing, by the way? What have you been up to since its release?

Malicious: The album’s great; getting a lot of positive feedback! Right now the whole team’s planning a Cross Canada run, hitting up high schools and promoting good music anywhere we can. I’ve been heavy in the studio pumping out mixtape tracks and new material for the next one. The state of music right now is so messed up that you have to really build trust with your audience. If you’ve seen my YouTube catalogue, you know I’m all about the grind. Respect for the art is lacking. I pride myself in bringing quality to the table, from the most serious joints to the layed back ones.

Kevin: Let’s talk about the album for a minute. The first single, “Breakfast”, is amazing and the video is hot too. Is there gonna be another single/video off the album? What have you been doing as far as promotion?

Malicious: Yeah “Breakfast” was a fun track right from the beginning. I had a club vibe in mind but I wanted to put a twist to it so once the beat was laced, the idea of writing a verse in a three bar segment just flowed. Why not take it back to the days of Cool J? I knew those who knew me from my battle days would be taken back but that’s the whole point. Have fun with the music. Shooting the video was off the chain. I had the oppurtunity to work with the 2 time video director of the year RT! and THE VERY BEAUTIFUL video vixen Miss Summer Walker. Right now were discussing and feeling out the publics reaction for the next video. I like that my last one had a comedic vibe to it and on the next one I’m looking to take it into a more artistic lane. This would actually be the forth video off the album. The first 2 “Heavy MTL” and “Heatwave” were to get the public familiar with me before the drop.

Kevin: In the song “Breakfast”, right off the bat I noticed a flow similar to LL Cool J’s “I’m That Type of Guy”. You even give Mr. Smith a shout out at the beginning of the track. So obviously LL was a big influence on you. What other artists inspired you growing up? Who do you listen to now?

Malicious: Growing up I listened to Fresh Prince, ABC, Illegal, Micheal Jackson, Prince, Common Sense, Keith Murray, Bell Biv Devoe, Naughty by Nature, Black Sheep, Outkast, Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, Pac… I mean the list is pretty long and I believe it’s all helped to inspire me now. Lately I check for Kanye, Little Brother, anything from Dilla and Just Blaze and many of the previously mentioned artist. I also try to listen to other artist outside of hip hop. You have to since the music is contantly changing.

Kevin: Malicious or Mr. Malish? Why the two names? Is there a difference in these two personas?

Malicious: Malish is short for Malicious and I’d have to say the two personas share space with Shaun. That’s why within the album artwork you see 3 of me. Just like anyone I have many sides to me and you can hear that shine through on the album.

Kevin: In addition to rapping you also produce most of your material. Tell us a little about the production side of the house. What’s your equipment set up like? Do you sample at all?

Malicious: My set up is mad basic right now. I’m rocking with FL studio 4 (not even 7) but since no one can tell, it just goes to show once you know how to flip it, it doesn’t matter what you use. And about sampling… I’ll just leave that question alone for now; I don’t know who might read this. hahaha

Kevin: My bad, I hear you on that. When writing, do you coming up with beats before rhymes or vice versa? Break down your song writing process for us.

Malicious: Honestly it all depends. I still work the city’s finest in terms of production (City Parks) so if they hit me up with some heat it can inspire the verse or sometimes I’ll have this verse I’ve been writing in my head that I need to put to music and I’ll either search out the right beat or create one. I couldn’t tell you how I come up with some of the stuff I do. In a day and age where everyone has some form of gun reference in there rhymes, it takes a little extra something to grab the youth. I thank God for this gift.

Kevin: Before I came into contact with you a few months ago, I honestly had not heard any hip hop coming out of Canada. Where do you see the hip hop movement in Canada heading? Do you see a difference between Canadian hip hop and American hip hop or is it all just hip hop? What do you plan to do as an artist to get people to recognize you guys got some real talent up there?

Malicious: The answer to that is by just doing me. If one track doesn’t get you the next one will. Hip Hop has many sides and between United States and Canada from an artist stand point there’s not much difference. From an industry stand point it sucks up here.lol Radio ain’t the same, the population definitly aint the same, the buying population aint the same and especially where I live where the majority of the province speaks French, the oppurtunities are not the same. What we have as Canadians going for us is the unexpected factor. No one expects anything hot to come from the land of the cold. Fortunately there are quality artist getting it together and putting out credible material and opening doors.

Kevin: So what’s in store for 2008? Do you have any big projects that you’re working on for this year? A new mixtape maybe? Or do you plan on just concentrating on promoting the current album? Any touring at all?

Malicious: ‘08 should be interesting. I got shows in and outside the city lined up. I’ve already put in work on mixtapes set to drop in Cali, Switzerland, and Canada and I’m heading back out Asia. I’m also working on some licensing deals to include my music in movies and features with American artist. Of course all the while promoting Music Starts with M.

Kevin: Man, sounds like you’re gonna be mad busy! Thanks again for coming by the site; you know we’ll always support you here.

Malicious: Thanks to you and all your readers. In ‘08 Hate’s the new Love, shout out to the OdoubleF fam, the Biz, Laval and look out for more hot material from Island city’s own Malicious!

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