If you took out the seemingly 25+ SaveMoney representers and groupies at Caleb James’ Ground Up listening party at Leaders Friday night, there were just a handful of others enjoying the moment, and vibing with James and company as he played through his debut mixtape Ground Up. In a room of about 60 fans One of those embracing James was Juice, known for being one of the most prolific lyricists to ever grasp a mic in the city of Chicago. When speaking with James after the show for his first interview ever, he exclaimed how he not only came in contact with the legendary emcee, but has kept in constant contact.
RubyHornet: Can you talk about Juice, and how you came to meet him?
Caleb James: Yeah, he did some shit with my n*gga Vic (Mensa) about a year ago, and they had came back to the trap where we hang out and practice, and we did like a 3 hour cypher. That was last year. Ever since then we stayed in contact.”
RubyHornet: So it’s pretty important to you for him to be out here supporting Ground Up?
Caleb James: Hell yeah! Man, when I was little I had hella Juice battles on my ipod.
It’s always good seeing well respected, veteran emcees from the city embrace the up and comers, and I was definitely surprised seeing Juice in attendance on Friday night. Yet, in a time when our scene is progressing so fast, only getting stronger by the day, it’s fulfilling to see the mutual respect come from many local artists, a feet we know is hard to accomplish. I spoke with ShowYouSuck who was also in attendence, and he agreed that the united nature of our scene is truly in action now, and it’s dope to see it happen when everyone across the nation wants a piece of the Chi. I just wanted to be at that cypher.
Caleb James’ debut mixtape, Ground Up is due July 15th. Stay tuned for Caleb James’ debut interview on RubyHornet.com very soon.