New York emcee Don Cerino is one of hip hop’s new rising stars.  With confidence that some may call cockiness, Cerino has a swagger to him that says, “why don’t you know who the fuck I am?”.   A confident swagger and a knife cutting flow is all this young emcee needs to put his mark on the map.

A couple of months ago, I had a little chat with Cerino to see what he’s about and what he’s up to.  Check the interview…

Kevin: Don Cerino, how you feelin’ man? Thanks for taking the time to sit down for a little one on one. Why don’t you do us a favor and introduce yourself right quick?

Don Cerino: My pleasure homie, the name is Don Cerino - the artist tired of introducing himself. I spend 23 hours a day writing and recording songs relevant to my life and what happens in it and I STILL have to introduce myself? Listen to my music, it’s what I do with the other hour in the day.

Kevin:  Fair enough.. by the way, congrats on the new mixtape… Collaborations & Unreleased. I was just listening to it a little while ago… it’s definitely a hot tape and the concept is dope. What was the thought process behind this tape and what’s the street response been like so far?

Don Cerino: I appreciate the feedback. The thought process was simple … hiphopdx.com and their readers love me; why not release a full tape with them? I needed something to put out there since it had been a while since Nothing In Life Is Free and I had a bunch of tracks sitting around. The real inspiration was my boy Vince who passed away late last year who I dedicated the album to. Not enough people heard his music and what he had to say and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Kevin:  So how long have you been doing this? How did you decide to get into this game?

Don Cerino: I’ve been taking it seriously for about four years now. The story why I started rhyming is actually kind of funny. Basically in high school some kid tried to battle me and it just didn’t work out for him. I recorded a track that kids were bumpin in their moms whips. Once I saw that what I said can actually effect people so much - especially when it was in a good way that had them laughing - I knew I had to do it.

Kevin:  How do you feel about the underground hip hop scene? To me there seems to be much more talent out there than what we’re hearing in mainstream hip hop. Why do you think artists such as yourself are having such a hard time getting heard? Do you see yourself “making it” one day?

Don Cerino: It’s pretty apparent there is much more talent in the underground. The problem is talent isn’t enough. You need the whole package now a days; artist development is lacking, the industry just doesn’t care. If you don’t have sales under your belt, what they consider “swag,” and a ringtone song — don’t bother.  Regardless, I have to see myself “making it” one day. I ain’t doing this shit to super-size my fries…I’m tryin to have at least two personal chefs in the crib.

Kevin:  Haha, I hear you.  What other emcees are you listening to right now? Who out there pushes you to give this thing everything you’ve got?

Don Cerino: I listen to myself and Macho Man Randy Savage on repeat. That’s pretty much all that inspires me. OH YEAHHHHH! I listen to few emcees, a lot of CD’s that come out but little have replay value. Blu and Exile’s Below the Heavens is one of the few I could still rock with. I only really check for and get excited about all my peoples shit; Inverse, Emilio Rojas, Silent Knight, CP, Fat Beauty to name a few.

Kevin:  I see a lot of photos on your myspace of you up on stage. You seem pretty comfortable up there. Which is more important to you, being up there in front of the people or being in the studio puttin’ out new music? Which do you enjoy the most?

Don Cerino: I love both man. I am definitely comfortable on stage and I haven’t been performing for that long. It’s extremely important being in front of people and knowing how to interact with them and be ready for ANYTHING. It makes the experience more real. The fact that I’ve rocked next to dudes like Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5′9”, Keith Murray, Rhymefest, etc really says a lot. It has definitely gained me more respect and more fans as well. I’ll always love being in the studio and having fun with it too. It really depends how many illegal substances are available at the time.

Kevin:  You’ve worked with a lot of great producers on your mixtapes, but one that sticks out in my head is DJ Incise. Your chemistry with Incise seems to be right on! Any plans to work with him in the future?

Don Cerino: No. Incise should rot in hell. He probably will too because he’s Canadian… ha! Man, me and Cise have GREAT musical chemistry. I heard about Cise through my boy Descry and thank him everyday for putting me on. Now I manage him and make tons of $$$ and give Descry nothing but phone calls saying “thank you” daily… muahaha. Honestly Incise will have production on any project I put out (unless of course its a producer project with a producer that’s not him…even then I might sneak one in). We can probably put out a triple disc of all the unreleased songs we have but were both picky so for every 50 songs we choose 1. Incise will definitely be on my project and I will be on both of his crazy upcoming projects this year.

Kevin:  What other projects you got coming up? When are we gonna get to hear some new shit from Don Cerino? Who do you have lined up to work with?

Don Cerino: Man I’m trying to get on every and any project. The main ones are DJ Incise’s project which I’ll be shitting on every other track or so and a shit load of music I’m working on with a genius singer in the UK named Shuanise. Late ‘08 I promise a ton of new great sounding music and some great collabs. I like to surprise people so be ready to interview me later this year.

Kevin:  Sounds dope, we’ll be looking for that.  I heard a skit on your myspace of a prank call you did. I also heard some phone pranks on your earlier mixtapes. Reminds me of some of the old Jerky Boys tapes! Are those for real? Where do you come up with the ideas for the pranks and how do you decide who to call? Can we expect the prank calls to be like a signature skit on your albums?

Don Cerino: Fuck it I gotta bring the prank calls back. My first mixtape, The Rap Game Is a Joke I did with Statik Selektah, had that comical vibe from the cover to the skits to the hoe express. That Harry Vs Sharri skit to THIS DAY has people walking up to me saying “WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH THESE BROADS” Man, two New Years ago i had a whole fraternity walking up to me saying that and I didn’t know ANY of these kids. ALL the prank calls I’ve made ARE REAL. You’ll see when I get sued.

Kevin:  Haha, yeah I love that Harry vs Sharri bit.  But yo, thanks again for lettin’ me hit you up! Got any closing words?

Don Cerino: Fuck you, pay me. Seriously though I appreciate the time, thank all the people who still check for my shit and just check out my blog (which is down at the moment) that’s never updated (but when it is its great). Doncerino.com will be up and running shortly…check the myspace in the mean time).  Oh yeah and come to my show August 7th if you’re in NYC along side AZ….it’s AZ’s mixtape release party for N.4.L. I am rocking alongside AZ, Sadat X, Emilio Rojas, Silent Knight, J The S, and others…DJ Ings will be out there…a whole bunch of people.

Download Collaborations & Unreleased

• Don Cerino on MySpace
• Don Cerino’s Blog

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...