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Interview: 88-Keys (Pt. 2)
Interview: 88-Keys (Pt. 2)
- Genre : More Music
- Type: News
- Author : Super Admin
- Date : Wed, 12 Nov 2008
It definitely seems that there has been a comeback of that Native Tongues type music in the past few years, with Mos, Talib, Common and Kanye; there has definitely been a resurgence. Do you see yourself fitting into that? And why do you think that music has come back?
Aw hell yeah! I definitely fit into that, and for me that’s an honor for anybody to put me into that category and this movement. Why do I think it’s coming back? I think it’s coming back because all that stuff back in the day was strictly based off of what artists wanted to do. It wasn’t the culture dictating to the artist, it was more like the artist setting precedent for the culture. For the past couple of years, it seemed that whatever was hot, or whatever popped off commercially on the radio, seemed to dictate what everybody else came out with after. When Lil’ Jon came out, his production was super minimal—the 808 kicks and the 808 claps—very simple melodies. When his sound hit, a lot of people were doing similar stuff, like to the point that you could have sworn Lil’ Jon was doing all of these beats that other people were jumping on. Basically his thing became the sound, as opposed to what Tribe would do or Cypress Hill would do. They would just make their sound, and another crew would come up and their sound wouldn’t sound anything like A Tribe Called Quest or anything like Cypress Hill, unless they were in the same crew or family. So there wouldn’t be an overload of sounds being recycled and repetitiveness and stuff like that. You got Lil’ Wayne coming out and a bunch of Lil’ Wayne-sounding beats and rhyming new artists, or even new artists who just feel that they need to reinvent themselves into a Lil’ Wayne. Know what I’m saying?
For sure. So production-wise, you’re definitely influenced by Tribe and them, but what rappers are you influenced by? Who do you look up to in the past and now, and consider having shaped what you look for in a rapper?
I definitely have my top ten list of favorites. In no particular order: Jay-Z, Guilty Simpson, Grafh, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Sy Scott, Black Thought, the late great J Dilla rest in peace, and what’d I say—I always forget who else is on my top ten list. They get honorable mention [laughs]. I’m definitely influenced by them, but I’m influenced to go buy their music, not influenced to necessarily sound like them. In all fairness and honesty, Lupe Fiasco—man—is rhymes and his wordplay are so crazy that I would just hope for my wordplay to be as clever as his. I aspire to have the clever wordplay that he has and be able to relate to people how Kanye does, the simplicity of Kanye’s raps—which are also complex at the same time. But people get it, people are able to relate to it. When I do my rhymes, it’s all freestyle off the top, straight to the mic. At the end of the day, I just go to the mic and have fun doing this—because if it turns into a task, I’m not doing it. That’s number one: it’s gotta come off naturally and easy. Number two: I try to come up with clever wordplay and rhymes, and some funny punchlines to entertain people. That’s pretty much all I think about when I step to the mic.
It’s been a tough time for hip hop commercially-speaking these days. How do you feel having your album coming out right now, when hip hop isn’t selling like it used to?
Honestly, I’m just a very optimistic person by nature with everything, so I feel good about it. I always tell myself that if I don’t come out doing Weezy numbers, which absolutely nobody expects me to do anyway—I mean I think it’s possible, but not probable. At the end of the day, I tell myself that at the very least I feel that I will get critical acclaim for this album, and for me that is more important than doing Weezy numbers. Even though Weezy numbers would be waaaay better! (Laughs). That would take care of a lot of outstanding bills I have. I just hope a lot of people change their attitude as far as how to acquire their music; I really hope they show their support and ride with me and
Aw hell yeah! I definitely fit into that, and for me that’s an honor for anybody to put me into that category and this movement. Why do I think it’s coming back? I think it’s coming back because all that stuff back in the day was strictly based off of what artists wanted to do. It wasn’t the culture dictating to the artist, it was more like the artist setting precedent for the culture. For the past couple of years, it seemed that whatever was hot, or whatever popped off commercially on the radio, seemed to dictate what everybody else came out with after. When Lil’ Jon came out, his production was super minimal—the 808 kicks and the 808 claps—very simple melodies. When his sound hit, a lot of people were doing similar stuff, like to the point that you could have sworn Lil’ Jon was doing all of these beats that other people were jumping on. Basically his thing became the sound, as opposed to what Tribe would do or Cypress Hill would do. They would just make their sound, and another crew would come up and their sound wouldn’t sound anything like A Tribe Called Quest or anything like Cypress Hill, unless they were in the same crew or family. So there wouldn’t be an overload of sounds being recycled and repetitiveness and stuff like that. You got Lil’ Wayne coming out and a bunch of Lil’ Wayne-sounding beats and rhyming new artists, or even new artists who just feel that they need to reinvent themselves into a Lil’ Wayne. Know what I’m saying?
For sure. So production-wise, you’re definitely influenced by Tribe and them, but what rappers are you influenced by? Who do you look up to in the past and now, and consider having shaped what you look for in a rapper?
I definitely have my top ten list of favorites. In no particular order: Jay-Z, Guilty Simpson, Grafh, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Sy Scott, Black Thought, the late great J Dilla rest in peace, and what’d I say—I always forget who else is on my top ten list. They get honorable mention [laughs]. I’m definitely influenced by them, but I’m influenced to go buy their music, not influenced to necessarily sound like them. In all fairness and honesty, Lupe Fiasco—man—is rhymes and his wordplay are so crazy that I would just hope for my wordplay to be as clever as his. I aspire to have the clever wordplay that he has and be able to relate to people how Kanye does, the simplicity of Kanye’s raps—which are also complex at the same time. But people get it, people are able to relate to it. When I do my rhymes, it’s all freestyle off the top, straight to the mic. At the end of the day, I just go to the mic and have fun doing this—because if it turns into a task, I’m not doing it. That’s number one: it’s gotta come off naturally and easy. Number two: I try to come up with clever wordplay and rhymes, and some funny punchlines to entertain people. That’s pretty much all I think about when I step to the mic.
It’s been a tough time for hip hop commercially-speaking these days. How do you feel having your album coming out right now, when hip hop isn’t selling like it used to?
Honestly, I’m just a very optimistic person by nature with everything, so I feel good about it. I always tell myself that if I don’t come out doing Weezy numbers, which absolutely nobody expects me to do anyway—I mean I think it’s possible, but not probable. At the end of the day, I tell myself that at the very least I feel that I will get critical acclaim for this album, and for me that is more important than doing Weezy numbers. Even though Weezy numbers would be waaaay better! (Laughs). That would take care of a lot of outstanding bills I have. I just hope a lot of people change their attitude as far as how to acquire their music; I really hope they show their support and ride with me and
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