RH First Look: Nico Segal (Of Kids These Days)
It must be interesting to realize your dreams just short time removed from being old enough to vote. But so is the case for Nico Segal, Kids These Days' 18 year old trumpet player. "I've worked really hard playing the trumpet, practicing all the time, and this is all I've ever really dreamed of doing," he says on a calm Chicago morning in the south loop. "I've always wanted to be a broke ass jazz musician. You know what I mean? I just want to play the trumpet, and make music with people. It's been crazy, man."
It's definitely been an interesting 12 months for Nico and Kids These Days. Shortly after graduating high school, the band was onstage at Lollapalooza, appearing on year-end lists, and touring the country. It's a lot to take in for anybody, and via his new solo project IllaSoul: Shades of Blue, Nico is letting listeners know what's been on his mind. "This is me with a mic and talking a whole lot and letting people know who the man behind the trumpet is," he says.
Hip Hop and Jazz have always shared a connection and a history. That intersection is present throughout Illasoul: Shades of Blue, as well as Nico's work in Kids These Days. In fact, the title is a nod to his two main inspirations, J. Dilla and Miles Davis. A couple weeks ago we debuted the album's first song, "Dreamy" featuring Macie Stewart. As we prepare to release Nico's debut album, we take a closer look at the young musician with broke ambitions. Read on to hear about the creation of the album, its relationship to his work with Kids These Days, as well as his collaboration with Coldhard of Crucial Conflict.
RH First Look: Fonz-E Mak
The 2008ighites crew made sure you’d hear their name during the last half of 2011 and Fonz - E Mak is a largely responsible for that surge. From our first known instance with them during the “Natural High” Video Shoot when they would’t leave without DJ RTC’s contact, or simply creating songs literally asking why their not on certain blogs, it’s only right for them to be buzzing right now as we enter 2012. Fonz - E Mak, the soft spoken MC, made it known through his tone, the determined and serious approach the crew took since it’s inception during 80’s day at Thornwood HS 2-years ago. “When we first came up with the idea. We pushed it. 2008ighties might have been smaller...if we were in the hallway or lunch, or a school gathering. We would be together, just rapping. That's how our name started buzzing.” From the early days of fighting over recording time and equipment, the 6 member BRKF$T Club crew has released at least 5 projects since last summer and is ready for even more output in 2012, hoping to help change their current situation. “Nobody wants to be in the same spot, we want to show that growth.” And with many side projects lined up, a BRKF$T Club LP on-deck, and a determined group of peers by his side, 2012 is looking very promising for Fonz-E Mak and the team.
In our First Look conversation with Fonz-E, he brings us back to the very beginning of his crew’s commencement, gives us a rundown of their in-house only creative approach and breaks down many of his goals and influences from the mindset of an emcee and a Chicagoan as we enter 2012. Check out the new joint below "On The Real" Feat. UG & Calez .
Fonz - E Mak - "On The Real" Feat. U.G. & Calez (Prod. By U.G.)
RubyHornet: Are you from Chicago originally?
Fonz E-Mak: Yeah, I'm from Chicago. But before I graduated elementary school I moved out to the suburbs. My mom moved all over, so I've been all round this b*tch. I’m from the low end, then when I graduated from Harold Washington I moved out by T.F. South in the suburbs, but being that we moved around a lot I ended up going to Thornwood. That's were I met Calez, Johnny St. Cloud, Legit & everyone else.
RubyHornet: You are a member of the 2008ighties crew and founder of the BKF$T Club?
Fonz E-Mak: Due to the fact that I came up with the concept, yeah. But it's like I could be the founder to a degree, but everyone is related you know.
RubyHornet: So if you came up with the concept, can you explain how this all came about 2008ighties x BKF$T Club?
Fonz - E Mak: So this is what happened, it's kind of like a storybook-movie like scenario. It was senior year during our spirit week. The other cat that rapped at school, (At Thornwood hella people rap, mind you), It was a certain group of dudes that were decent, and at this particular time I had Honors Philosophy with the guy LA Van Gough. So I came into class one day, on 80's day, and he was dressed like Emilio Estevez. And I was thinking it'd be dope if we had a group called " BKF$T Club" Me, him, and Calez. So he said 'word', and Calez had my lunch period so I told him about the idea. We wanted to make it so if you wanted to join the group, you had to rap in front of everyone else in it. I also had a class with Johnny St. Cloud so every morning I'd ask him to rap something, like every morning. So I was like ‘we should add him in there.’ Him and Calez even had a class together too, but didn't even know it haha.
RubyHornet: Like they didn't talk to each other?
Fonz - E Mak: Na, because Johnny St. Cloud is just real quiet. So he gradually came out of his cage, being with us for that long. And of course my n*gga UG (BK$T Club x 2008ighties) me and him had a little side project before all that, so of course when that started I was going to bring him in. And Legit, Thornwood and his school, Thornridge, are rival suburban schools. He came to our school for a poetry slam and we were low key rappin’ verses from our mixtapes and such. So when I met him I was clownin’ him like he had on a sweater and some supra's lookin’ like 88-Keys, and at this time my mindset was I'm one of the nicest n*ggas spittin’ so in my head no one was messin’ with me from another school. But he started rappin’, and I was like "Aw Damn". He kind of made me think, he humbled me in that light. So we go back and fourth rappin’, and the next day he leaves and I get his contact of course. I was like ‘ah, the n***a name Legit we should really mess with him, that boy hella cold.’ So that’s how he came into the group. And everything just kind of came into place.
RH First Look: Tugun Cannon
Hip Hop's relationship with the American Dream has always been a dynamic one. The music and the culture both came from a people often counted out or excluded from attaining it. It took aim at corrupt social systems, and provided a window into worlds unknown by mainstream America. In the time since Hip Hop's birth, it has come to redefine the American Dream and offer many of its best participants a real-life rags to riches story. In current form, it seems like much of the music is either a celebration of life's excesses, or, on the flipside a hunger and yearning for them. Cleveland's Tugun Cannon is right in the middle, a place he explores on his latest LP, The American Way.
Cannon has been making and releasing music since 2007, yet it is in 2012 that he is getting the most shine. He hopes to follow the likes of Kid Cudi, Chip Tha Ripper, and Machine Gun Kelly, all Cleveland natives making moves on a national scale. After performing at our Digital Freshness with Action Bronson, Tugun spoke with us about his most recent LP, being a new artist with 5 years experience, and more for this new RH First Look.
RubyHornet: You've been releasing music since at least 2007. But as far as visibility, things seem to be picking up now. Do you still see this as an introduction, are you still a "new artist"?
Tugun Cannon: Definitely, until the whole world has heard my music, I will always be a new artist. In this game you always gotta come fresh and new and different.
RubyHornet: What made you write your first rap, and what made you write your latest one?
Tugun Cannon: I've always been into the music and culture. We used to stand out under the streetlights and just freestyle all night. I just want to be heard and touch the people that's why I continue to write.
RubyHornet: You recently rocked at our Digital Freshness party with Action Bronson, and before you went on you told me that it was your kind of scene, the kind of music, and vibe you feel comfortable in. What was it about that vibe that you connected with? What is your ideal kind of spot or sound?
Tugun Cannon: More than anything it's was a genuine vibe. You perform at some venues and people act like they didn't come to see a show, but I can tell the people were ready to rock when I hit the stage. I love good energy.
RubyHornet: You played a record from your latest mixtape, can you talk about that song. How does it connect to the people?
Tugun Cannon: Everything I make is meant to connect with the people. I always make music that people can relate to on a daily basis, no matter the title or concept. There is a song for every scenario. It's the American way.
RH First Look: Alexander Spit
My first look interview with Alexander Spit started out with us discussing the weather in our respective cities. Alex was in LA chillin' in some shorts and a bucket hat. I on the other hand, was wearing a lumberjack hat and a hoody in my basement. The warm weather is something that Spit is well aquainted with. He grew up in the Bay-Area but relocated to Los Angeles only a few years ago to push his career with music further. While Alexander Spit may not be the name that comes to mind when you hear "West Coast Hip Hop", he might be soon.
2011 was a good year for the artist. His project These Long Strange Nights was his first in over a year. Prior to starting it, he had worked for three to four months in professional studios and with professional producers, but the product "just wasn't really clicking." So Mr. Spit did what he knew best, and that was go back to the basics. He moved back to using his own production, recorded at his house, and after 6 months of creating, These Long Strange Nights emerged. The album is a great reflection of his hard work and DIY approach and is chalk full of trippy samples and dope rhymes. And it's a big change from the rhymes he used to lay down on his tape recorder. In 2012 make sure to look out as the young artist has plans to take SXSW by storm as well as an EP and album in the works. Alexander Spit is in his own lane, he's talented and ambitious, and seems to balance it all out with some chill Cali vibes. Read on to see why you should expect big things from him in the future.
RubyHornet: I saw that you're about to put out a beat tape, and you've got like 50 beats, are those all older one or are some of those newer ones?
Alexander Spit: Uh yeah, its funny it just all kinda happened at random, I'm a big Dilla fan and I was listening to a bunch of Dilla and then randomly earlier this week or last week I saw Chuck Inglish from the cools kids put out a beat tape. I've been thinking about it a while because uh, I've been producing since I started making music, since I was ten. And I've got literally, hundreds almost, its safe to say thousands of beats that have just gone unused. And I was just like fuck I need to do something with these beats one day, and then I saw Chuck Inglish drop a beat tape and it just kinda got me pumped up, I was like fuck it I'ma do my own beat tape, you know, I got so many beats. The past week I've just been going through all of my archives and whatnot. A lot of the beats and stuff, some of them are as recent as last week that I made and some are as old as 2006/2007 or something like that.
RubyHornet: Thats leads nicely to my second question. When did you start making music and when did you really get into it. You said at ten is when you started making beats.
Alexander Spit: Yeah the way it started I was living in the Bay-Area at the time and I was ten years old and around that time me and my homie used to go to tower records, and this was back when they'd sell CD singles you know. So the CD singles always had the track, the radio edit, and the instrumental, so me and my homie always used to go there with ten bucks, buy eight CDs you know, eight different beats and then buy two blank cassette tapes and then we would go back to his crib and just record freestyles over beats, you know with a tape player, just a tape recorder and we would just like rap into the tape recorder and rap over instrumentals and this was when we were ten. And then within that first year we discovered fruity loops, and we started making beats on that and then we discovered this program Cooledit and we started recording on that. So pretty much since ten or eleven we've been fucking around making beats and recording raps, me and my homie.
RubyHornet: So at what point did you really decided you wanted to do make music as a career, like really make something out of it?
Alexander Spit: Honestly man, its crazy, for as long as I can remember I can honestly say that probably within that first year of me messing around with recording raps and making beats, I was like pretty set on the fact that that was what I wanted to do. Obviously my perspective on what was realistic of how to make it a career was a lot different back then. But for as long as I can remember I've always wanted to make a career out of music you know. Its funny cause at that time when I was like ten or eleven, they were by no means inspirations to me, was around the time that like Lil Bow Wow and Lil Romeo were blowing up, so it didn't seem farfetched. We were like "we're tighter than these fools," so we could blow up with this so lets get on our grind.
RubyHornet: So obviously it wasn't Lil Bow Wow and Lil Romeo who influenced you, who would you credit with being the most influential artists you had growing up in the past?
Alexander Spit: I mean I grew up on Tupac and Biggie and Wu-Tang Clan. Those were the artists that really got me into rap. Wu-Tang really got me into rap, the whole look and the vibe of rap music, of hip hop. Like black hoodies and that that dark feel, it was like my version of punk rock, listening to Wu-Tang.
RubyHornet: Yeah I feel you. The Timberlands, big sweatpants, polos and everything.
Alexander Spit: Exactly, and over the years my influences have grown and become more expansive, but from the jump Wu-Tang and Tupac were probably the biggest influences. And then during high school you're discovering new music, but it was always the typical go to hip hop forefathers that I really liked, especially the ones around that time.
RubyHornet: You grew up in the Bay-Area, but you're currently located in Los Angeles, what prompted the move? Did it have anything to do with how booming the music scene is in Los Angeles or was it just a natural progression?
Alexander Spit: I moved here two years ago and when I was deciding to move down here the scene was still almost non existent. There were a few artist out here making those moves, folks like Dom Kennedy and Pac Div, but the scene wasn't necessarily booming yet. And at the time, my best friend, a guy named Brick Stowell, who works real closely with Odd Future, he's their photographer and he works on the business side of things. But Brick has been my best friend since we were like fourteen. And at the time he was living in LA, and I was living in San Francisco and for hella years I was that kid that hated on LA shit, like not the people or nothing, like the lifestyle of Los Angeles living. I was born and raised on living in San Francisco, so it took him like a bunch of years of him telling me I needed to take my act down here to Los Angeles to make moves with it. Just cause San Francisco's really flourishing with content and what not, but not a lot of people get the opportunity to do anything with it out there.
RubyHornet: Yeah I get what you mean. I mean the LA scene, like you said, has really blown up in that last two years, which is crazy.
Alexander Spit: Yeah it's really crazy and it's cool because I've got to see it blow up firsthand cause all the acts that are blowing up are people I see on a regular basis.
RubyHornet: Yeah everyone hangs out together. Rosewood must be cracking with all the artists around and everything.
RH First Look: Kembe X
Dikembe Caston isn’t your average teenager. For starters, Kembe dropped out of school at the age of 15. He started rapping in September of 2010. Within a year, Kembe secured his first performance as an opening act for GLC and Stalley at Chicago's Double Door. Self Rule, Kembe X’s debut mixtape was released just a few months later and has been well received by the online Hip Hop community. The tape is impressive, and above all else, genuine. Kembe doesn’t try to shine by means of braggadocio, but rather through rapping about himself and his experiences with school, girls, family, and friends. Another thing that this young emcee has going for him is a strong love for his craft.
“I'm just getting the hang of being 17, so I have a lot of maturing to do... but I love this shit so…you know, it's nothing I'm necessarily trying to rush.”
Like the saying, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey,” achieving dreams shouldn’t be hurried, it should be savored. It’s easy to get lost in the daily grind that goes into the pursuit of goals and lose sight of why you started things in the first place. It’s not that Kembe X doesn’t want it all right now, just listen to “Patience (What is That?)”, but rather, he possesses an understanding for, and attitude towards, his trade that makes the journey sweeter. His devotion to what he does is readily apparent in his music, as witty rhymes flow effortlessly over classic sounding boom-bap beats and solid instrumentals. In a world where the typical aspiring artist is delusional or at the least, sorely mistaken about their “talents”, it’s refreshing to hear such a young artist who doesn’t come across as someone who is trying too hard. Regardless of how long the line, his rhymes don’t come across as forced as they exhibit a fluidity that even eludes some of the more practiced emcees.
RubyHornet: Starting with some of the basics, which artists influence you and your music the most?
Kembe: Initially, guys like AZ, Nas, Lupe, (Reasonable Doubt) Jay-Z and Kanye West were my main influences. Over time, as I started thoroughly listening through the catalogues of legends like Outkast, guys with huge fan bases like Blu, DOOM and Dom Kennedy, as well as newer guys like Kendrick, Fashawn, J. Cole, Pac Div, Jay Electronica and anyone else who I ever really got into, [I] studied things about their styles that I really liked and I tried to implement into my cadences, flows and general approach to songs.
RubyHornet: How did you begin rapping and how has your style changed since you started?
Kembe: Coming up in a broken Christian home, the only time I was able to freely listen to secular shit was when I was with my father, who I only saw a few times a week. The only exceptions were Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco and College Dropout and Late Registration by Kanye West. I'd show my mom the positive messages in a few of their songs and eventually she'd go for it. I really got into listening to rap, then I got depressed and stopped listening to it all together. I only listened to metal and alternative bands…even started playing the guitar, and for like 6 months that was all I did. When I started back listening to rap (around March of 2010) there were hella dudes out that I wasn't hip to, like Chip Tha Ripper, Big Sean and Pac Div. As I started back listening to them, the weather was pleasant again. I started thinking like "Man…I can do this." It was like an everyday routine to wake up at 1pm and write with their songs blasting, paying attention to the beats. Since I had dropped out basically as soon as I turned 15, I had a lot of cool shit to talk about... or what I thought was cool. The better I got, the more I started listening to more classic-flow-heavy dudes like AZ, Nas, Jay-Z, Big L, and Eminem, and comparing my verses to theirs. And since Kanye gave me my first real Hip Hop experience, I think you'll always be able to hear some of his influence in whatever I make. I'd say my style has matured as I have naturally matured, gradually not drastically. My main focus is to keep getting better at what I do.
RubyHornet: How’d you secure the act before the GLC and Stalley show in August, and what was it like performing at a venue like the Double Door?
Kembe: My guy Tre Valentine. I have no idea how he does it, but he seems to come out of the woodwork with some big moves every few months. I had been hounding him about getting me on a stage, I was really anxious to get that first one out of the way. He hits me up in the middle of June like "We got you opening for Stalley and GLC August 26th!!!" I didn't believe him at first, then I saw the plugger with my name on it. My goal was to do my first show before my 17th birthday, but I'm cool with being a few weeks late. The Double Door was cool, I was the first act, so there were only like 40-50 people there, but after my first joint... I think I performed “Visions” or an unreleased track called "ADDict" first.. But after that first one I told the crowd about how it was my first show, and how I had just hit 17. EVERYONE was rocking with me after that. It was real cool. I still think I'm gonna be just as nervous for my next few ones though. At the GLC & Stalley joint though, I basically blacked out on stage. I didn't lose consciousness or anything, but I kinda went on autopilot, if you will. I think I did real good though, I felt like I had the crowd in the palm of my hand and I could do whatever I wanted with it.. It was a raw ass feeling. Haha.
RubyHornet: You just released Self Rule, what is the significance of the mixtape’s title and the tape itself to you?
Kembe: Self Rule is hard for me to explain on the spot…but basically it's this theory I've been living by since I first stopped taking meds for ADD and Bipolar Depression, which basically gives me complete control over my body and acknowledges that anything that I can control, I will control. For example, most cats who rap wanna make it…you make it with a combination of a good product, consistent work ethic, knowledge of the game's recent history and a good idea of what direction the game is going in. Those are all things that I can control, so I simply make it my goal for my weakest tracks to be just as good, or better, than everyone else’s good joints (or what's generally considered good). That way the music is something I never have to worry about when making moves. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me, but it works for me and I live by it, and the morals that come with it. It also has a lot to do with controlling your destiny by putting positivity in your karma cycle to receive breaks and mercy when needed. The more detailed it gets, I think the weirder it gets for most people. But that's what works for me. Once I came up with the title, I decided that if I ever took rap seriously, my first project would be named after it.
RubyHornet: Self Rule was ranked #7 on Forbes Magazine's "The Best Free Albums of 2011". How did that feel and did you expect feedback and recognition, especially from a different publication like Forbes, so quickly?
Kembe: The feeling is satisfying, to say the least... I don't think it's quite hit me yet what all is going on, but for the most part I did expect this kind of feedback from the tape. I'm not sure if I had like a success deadline or anything, but I knew that I would get some type of response just because of everything I put into that. I also knew not to expect too much, so stuff like Forbes is mind-blowing to the point where I don't know how to react or even feel. I'm ranked above like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd. Bitches love Frank Ocean and The Weeknd! You know? So like that shit is raw as hell. It's a good ass look.
RubyHornet: Alex Wiley of The Village is on a handful of tracks with you, can you tell us about your affiliation with him and The Village?
Kembe: Me and Alex have been real cool for a year and a half or two now. We got cool through my guy Wes (ST. GHOUL, producer of "Introlude" and "Patience" as well as the guy responsible for Self Rule's cover art). When I dropped out in late '09, Wes dropped out the next month, and then Alex dropped out... For a 3 or 4 month stretch we were just ain't-shit buddies. Me and Alex really started to kick it when he proposed this Clothing Project called VLR, or Vive La Resistance. I would be one of the main designers cause I draw, and he'd tell me all the ideas he had... But of course it never really happened, and we were mostly bs'ing whenever we kicked it. Around September when I tried school again for the last time, word was getting around that I was rapping and Alex was running the Akira blog, so we had this thing where he'd put up all my tracks. Eventually he started sliding to studio sessions along with my guy Roper who had the hook up, Jody Duff, $piff and Fred and whenever we had extra time we'd make these joke tracks under the name "Swag Village." No thought was originally put into it. It was just funny to hear all the dudes who don't usually rap, rapping. "No Fat Chicks" was the first joint when it became apparent that Alex could actually rap, and it was stupid funny. His verse is notorious amongst anyone who fucks with me or my guys, which is a lot of people. Over the summer we started working on the joint that we're gonna drop next month, that was originally supposed to drop when Self Rule dropped, but when my cousin Rod passed I put Self Rule first, he asked for a feature, I gave it to him and if you listen to "Don't Quit" it should be obvious why I do a lot of tracks with this man. Damn I talk a lot.
RubyHornet: Alex has a pretty energetic delivery and your style has a more relaxed feel. Despite the contrast in styles, you guys kill it on every track. What’s the secret to making that work and how does this difference influence aspects like what production you select?
Kembe: Well, basically…I’m rapping mad good, you know? And lately he’s been rapping real well, and since we kick it like ALL the time, a lot of these songs write themselves. Our main objective is to not suck, and be raw. We usually accomplish it. We both have multiple flows, so beats that either of us wanna use, usually get rapped on...cause ni**as be rappin.
RubyHornet: Chicago is loaded with talented, young emcees (Is there something in the water?). What’s it like to be part of this youth movement and whom from these Chicago-based youngsters would you like to work with in the future?
Kembe: The Chicago hip-hop scene is so cold, and I've been kinda telling guys (Shout out to Legit, "A Ni**er In Northface" is doing stupid numbers) that we're the new wave for Chicago. It's only a matter of time before ALL of us make noise. Cause you know, I knew most of these guys before they made music.. and definitely before they made good music. I went to Thornwood with the majority of the guys from 2008ighties, so like when dudes like Calez, Fonz or Julian first started making music (long before it was even a concept for me) I'd clown them every now and then, make jokes with ‘em, and give ‘em props if I liked it. It's crazy how all of them have grown to be guys I look up to. And as far as the Savemoney homies, like that was a relationship that's strictly grown through music for me…like I don't know ni**as like Vic like that… but Chance, Caleb James and Dally are all the guys now, and we work together as much as we can to benefit each other. Honestly, I feel like if all these collectives banded together on some mutual support shit, we'd be able to do a lot more than blow up locally. We could hit hard nationally and be a major wave in the game. We could put Chicago on the map for more than just a few greats. We could be like the West Coast in the 90's. Now it just has to happen. I think it's real cool how realistic this shit is though.
RubyHornet: Who’s your dream producer and why?
Kembe: Man yo, I can't even really pick one… I love DJ Premier, I love 9th Wonder, but I also love K.R.I.T., Tyler The Creator and The Super 3... Anything with a Kanye twist is when I generally can't help but drool over, but like I have so many dudes I wanna work with that I can't pick one over the other. I love everything I make, so it's always different shit about every beat that I love.
RubyHornet: Since you’re probably new to a lot of our readers, is there anything else that we should know about Dikembe Caston?
Kembe: I seriously have tunnel vision... I put so much into my music, to the point where it's the only thing I care about outside of my girl. So when people show my product love, or even take time to check me out, it's really touching and doesn't go unappreciated. Some have said I'm arrogant, but I know I've earned the right to acknowledge how good I am at what I do. I love my music and every fruit that it bears. I love and live this shit. Watch me grow.
RubyHornet: Lastly, what can we expect in the future from you?
Kembe: Hella raps. Like raps in stupid quantities, you feel me? ....Hella raps.
RubyHornet: Definitely, Kembe. We feel you. Looking forward to it.
RH First Look: Chevy Woods
Chevy Woods may not have always dreamt of becoming a rapper with fans in other nations and 100K twitter followers, but that is the reality. “I didn't really get serious until a year or two after Wiz and I met and were recording. Like I was really just running around, doing sh*t in the streets still while he had something bigger for me to do, and he had a dream, ”states the Taylor Gang MC who only recently began taking this rapping thing seriously. Chevy has calmly sat back and watched his label-mate and good friend Wiz Khalifa define blowing up, so after that what would you do? Exactly, drop a mixtape feat. Wiz with production from Cardo & Big Germ, while opening up sold out Wiz shows across the globe.
With 2011 coming to a close, Chevy Woods is readying his next project Gang Land. I spoke to the Taylor Gang freshman on his latest mixtape The Cookout, the realization of his future success, and his upcoming project Gang Land.Read more
Mobb Deep: Never Missed A Step
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It's been 5 years since Mobb Deep's last LP, Blood Money, was released. Not by choice though, as true and casual fans are familiar with Prodigy's 3 year prison stay causing Mobb Deep's prolonged hiatus. The hiatus ended with the November release of Black Cocaine, an EP that sets the table for a new full length in 2012. We caught up with Prodigy and Havoc while they were in Chicago. Here they talk about getting back in the swing of things, new audiences, and Prodigy's role in Havoc's production.
[Interview] The Tao of Mic Terror
I'm sitting next to Mic Terror, both of us are looking straight ahead at a giant cube that sits just four feet away from us in the middle of the United Center. In just a few minutes, the large cube will light up and one of the greatest rappers of all time, Jay-Z, will use it as a stage when the lights drop low and The Watch The Throne show starts. If either of us got the brilliant idea to give Jay-Z a high-five during this performance, we could. We'd probably get a good 30 seconds in before some security guard grabs us, takes us backstage, and then it's really anybody's guess what would happen from there. If you only know Mic Terror through songs like "Hioooo" or "Juke Them Hoes", you may expect Mic to do just that. Slap Jay-Z a high five, grab his crotch, give the crowd a loud "hioooooo.... Mic Terror in the house" then jump off stage. But when Jay-Z hits the cube, Mic is just chilling and taking it all in. In fact, Mic's just a chill cat with an off the mic persona that can be in direct contrast to the Mic Terror that first came onto the music scene a few years ago with the songs mentioned above.
"My representations that I have out right now are like 5 years old," Mic tells me from the couch at SoundScape studios. "So that's a completely different mindset. The fact that it even impresses people still is great to me. Like, 'damn, you like this s**t from when I was 18? for real? That's great," he continues adding that going forward fans will see and hear a more adult mindframe from the man responsible for the Chicago cult classic "Porno Movies".
It turns out Mic Terror is a thoughtful person with many sides. He's just as much into comedy movies like "Fear of The Black Hat" as he is a student of philosophy and history. "I would definitely say that I'm big into Taoism, and I'm big on balance," he says. "Whenever I put one type of energy out, I'll usually put the other out right beside it to balance. I got philosophical s**t on my new project, Riverdale The Musical. I read a lot of philosophy and s**t. It kind of oozes, comes out in some way. I'm in the hood at the same time, so the ignorance comes out along with it."
That balance is front and center on "Habibi", the new single from Mic Terror's forthcoming Riverdale The Musical, which will be released on Christmas day. The song takes place inside Mic's neighborhood liquor store, where he has a conversation with Habibi, the store's owner. The two discuss Arab and African-American relations, the purpose of religion, as well as politics. Yet in true Mic Terror form, there is still room for Mic to make sure Haibbi breaks him off with a pack of Trojans. "That's just the balance that's always there," he tells me about the song. "I never forget about one thing cause I'm on something else. The whole one dimensional thing, I can't even really do it at one time. Every piece is always gonna come out at all times. It's like, 'God body woo woo... but, these b***hes are looking at us right now. I still see them looking…" But that also says too, it's kind of like, how seriously can you take all this s**t? You'd damn near kill yourself trying to take it all seriously. You don't got time to real worry about it. I know it's there, but I still got to live."
Mic Terror's been living in an interesting space for the last few years, one of full of promise and potential. As early as 2008, Mic Terror was listed amongst Chicago's "next to blow" a list he still inhabits every time one is put together. It's not something that goes unnoticed by the Riverdale emcee, or something that he takes for granted. "Really, it's just more so proving it at this point, just delivering what the people have been waiting for me to do. So, it's definitely just like business sets back a lot of things like that, and just life in general. So, you gotta stop and pay bills and things of that nature for a while. I will say this, I've never seen anybody hold onto that as much as me. I think a lot of people would've stopped looking. The fact that people are still looking at me in that light is like a sign. It's like, 'ok, I'm sitting on something.'" That belief has kept Mic going and served as an added fuel. "I've seen a lot of people come and go and I've just been here. I'm just here like, 'I'm still here.' They're like, 'I know he's gonna do something. I'm just waiting.' And I just got to deliver that to them at this point and I'm going to deliver it 10 fold."
While Riverdale The Musical is Mic Terror's Christmas gift to his fans, it's not the last project we'll see from him in the next few months. So while some people are asking Mic why things are taking too long, to him and his Treated Crew, this is perfect timing. "Man, this is very good timing. Everybody's on their grind," he says about Treated, which also includes artists such as Hollywood Holt, Million $ Mano, Gzus Piece, Sulaiman and Jon James. "A lot of people, especially in the Chicago scene, we were together, but not really. And everybody kind of fell on their face to some degree. It was like, 'they're gonna be the…' and then it was, 'oh no, they're gonna be the…' Then it was like, everybody was more so competing with each other instead of working together. And everybody kind of fell and it was like, 'OK, let's regroup, figure out what we did wrong.'
Mic sees Chicago artists fixing previous mistakes by working together more often, and taking ownership of a sound and style that was created in the windy city, yet is used all over the map. He continues, "At the end of the day we have a lot of people biting us. The LA movement is actually a bite of us, and they'll admit it whenever we're in their city. Like, 'I was listening to you the whole time.' It's like, they know. And they're not better than us at what we do either. None of these other movements are better. We have the most gangster rapper here, they'll kill you way further than that other dude will. We got the freshest dudes. You're not out swaging Mano. You can't! You're not gonna out rap me. It's just really about regrouping and getting rid of the last little pieces of the crab mentality that we had. I think we got rid of a lot of it compared to the generations before us, but, we still have a little bit of it leftover. I feel like we've really gotten rid of it. I'm working on an album with Chuck Inglish. Those have been my friends for a long time, but I've never done anything with them. I got like 3 songs with Mikey Rocks now. We're all working. And not just them, I'm f**king with LEP. Everybody is like, 'yo, we got to do this.'"
Mic Terror's new album, Riverdale The Musical, will be released December 25th. It is just the start to an onslaught of new material from Mic who is in "Tupac or Lil' Wayne mode," he says. "I'm like a three song a day type of n***a at this point, pumping them out and really in my mode. I got way more." Hiooooo, indeed.