“I’m in a new beginning now,” says Quelle Chris. “I want everything. Unlike the past when I didn’t care about anything,” he further explains referring to his current musical purpose.  A veteran of Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago Hip Hop scenes, Quelle’s been around multiple burgeoning movements as well as a member of several crews.  Once more accepting of playing the background, Quelle is now seeing himself in a starring role brought on by his newest album, Shotgun and Sleek Rifle, as well as recent credits on Danny Brown’s XXX.

Quelle’s vibe on Shotgun and Sleek Rifle is a confident one, with an overarching philosophy of not only seizing the moment, but nearly strangling it.  “Take control,” he advises.  “If you’re in control you’re pimping it. If you’re being controlled you’re being pimped. It’s just that simple.”

I caught up with Quelle Chris to talk about his new album, his new beginning, stoner-rap, and more. 

RubyHornet:  Many are hearing about you for the first time right now, despite your long history in music.  How do you feel about the new attention, does this feel like a breakthrough for you?

Quelle Chris: Well attention’s always great. I love attention. That goes without saying. Not everyone likes to admit that but look at twitter. Even self-proclaimed loners are on there spilling their guts out and checking there “@” mentions. As far as it feeling like a “breakthrough”, I can’t really say it does. People like good music. If you bang the drum enough someone’s bound to listen. Plus with the speed of the industry nowadays, every week is like a comeback. Even for “major” artists. More like “just another step closer to where I wanna be” or “just another day in the music world.”  I’m aggressively humble, I guess.

RubyHornet:  It’s been a long road for you and one with a lot of different exits and detours.  In “Shotgun” you say,  “talks of retiring get altered, how could you quit when you’re getting exalted.”  Is that a biographical line? Did you ever think of giving up music?

Quelle Chris: “Think”? I gave up a lot of times. Different reasons: financial, lack of inspiration, drinking too much. HA. But two things always bring me back. One, it’s really the only thing I care or love to do. Sure I could pack my heart away and become a successful teacher or doctor, but I honesty don’t give much of a shit for doing those things. Maybe it’s some sort of self-imposed fate. I really didn’t leave myself too many options. Second, like the line says, “talks of retiring get altered, how could you quit when you’ve been exalted.” Of course, at the root, I make music for myself. Still, I love sharing it with people. And every time I get props from someone I admire, or see some pretty girl’s face scrunch up like an old man when one of my songs play… *ahh* I just love it. I’m a junkie for it.

RubyHornet:  Your new album, Shotgun and Sleek Rifle is described in the one sheet as a “return and homage to his roots.”  What are those roots, and what prompted this return?

Quelle Chris:  The title Shotgun and Sleek Rifle definitely refers to the album’s delicate mix of my love for shitty home recordings and the need to, as a result of my expectations, provide something more pleasing to the ear “industry” wise. I knew that if I just kept making only low key recordings, I would only be picked up by low key radars. So I pulled up my socks and hit the studio with my brother James Cortez and recorded an album that was a little cleaner, while still maintaining that “basement” or “dingy apartment” hunger and feeling that I know so well. It’s the joining of the “Shotgun” and the “Sleek Rifle”. Not as much a return to the old or a leap into the future. Just a constant colliding of both. Like life. Progressing while retaining.

RubyHornet:  When I read that in the press release, it was after listening to the LP a couple times and it made perfect sense. Throughout the LP the theme of a new beginning repeats.  Was this a mindset you had going into the project, or did it emerge while creating?

Quelle Chris:  Ha. I pretty much walk blindly into projects. The music tends to make itself. At least lyrically. I’d be a fool to think I know how a project’s going to turn out when sometimes I don’t even know what the night will bring. Kind of like I let the “talent” utilize me. I just give it access to my thoughts. Production is the part I usually have to force myself to sit down and do. Although that comes pretty naturally too. Mostly it just kind of happens. The album came out that way because that’s where I am in life. I’m in love, I’m in a new place (with lots of weed), and at some point I just got tired of being the background, or underdog or that guy that everyone people are listening to is listening to but no one knows about. Over the past few years I made, or have been a part of undeniable classics. I couldn’t just let myself go to waste. I’m in a new beginning now. I want everything. Unlike the past when I didn’t care about anything.

RubyHornet:  Another theme I see on the LP is the balance between a system that is unjust vs. barriers that we place on ourselves and use as excuses (“The Crook”, “Slaves”, “NuBeginning4…).  What do you see as that balance for yourself?

Quelle Chris:  Never make excuses, love those you love, leave those you don’t, don’t waste time, don’t rush, eat healthy, pig out, drink, smoke, be happy, laugh and laugh a lot. Appreciate friends and family, not like it’s your last day, but like it’s the first day of your lives together. Find your meaning, be excessive, use restraint, and don’t expect perfect balance. It doesn’t exist. Take the bad. Take the good. Learn from it, run with it and never look back.