First Look: Fooch
Brainiac Society member Fooch AKA Nick Stylz was recently introduced to the world at large via Kidz In The Hall's sophomore LP, The In Crowd. Fooch has since seen his spotlight grow, gaining placements and shouts on various blogs, and music sites. My fellow Hyde Park resident, and Ray Elementary Alum (Go Warriors!) recently hit RH with his latest joint, "Questions" (listen below), as well as a bit more insight into the man "with shine on track 9."
The Basics: Without getting into the whole life story thing, I'm just a kid that grew up on the south side streets of the CHI. I was raised by my hood, a church going grandma and the True elements of Hip-Hop. The product is the man that your speaking with today...
Hailing From: Hyde Park, South Side of Chicago
Rapping since: I been rapping since like 1994. I was about eleven or twelve when I started. Me and my guy DJ Chase use to have these notebook rap battles in advanced math sophomore year in high school. S**t was hilarious!
Influences: Man where do I start? ATCQ, De La soul, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Gang Starr, Ice Cube, AZ, Nas, BIG, Pac, J- Dilla, Slum Village, Little Brother just to name a few. I listen to some of everything though so the list goes on and on.
Three Things To Know About Fooch: I'm one of the coolest most laid back dudes you'll ever meet. I love myself, my people, and my city. I love Hip- Hop and making good music.
Fooch Vs. Nick Stylz: Fooch and Nick Stylz are one in the same, but Fooch is the epitome of what it means to be a b-boy. Where as Nick Stylz is the more street savvy, fresh to death, slick talker. Foochie is what I initially went by, but Naledge cut the 'ie' off when we formed our crew FFC ( Fresh from Chicago). NIck Stylz is a name I jacked off of a Denzel Washington movie Ricochet. I loved the movie and I thought the name was dope. Plus it gave a little added swagger to my mic persona, but please believe I Don't Lie On Records.
Braniac Society: Basically, Brainiac Society is an exclusive upscale lifestyle brand & members-only leisure club, created solely for the international 'in crowd' of tastemakers, jet setters and industry elite.
Seeing Music in-stores and Online: Truthfully it's like a sigh of relief, like damn I finally get a chance to be heard. Also to be on a track with my boy Naledge, Black Milk and Guilty Simpson as my intro to the world on a national release was pretty crazy!
The Future of Fooch: Be checking for that Braniac Society mixtape. Also, I might be trying to put out an EP entitled Double Edge Sword. I also will be appearing with Naladge at the Chicago date for the Rock the Bells concert on July 19th, so keep your eyes and ears open!
Sheek Louch
It's a good time to be Sheek Louch. The release of his latest album, Silverback Gorilla, has brought with it the praise of critics, a top ten single in "Good Love", and a clearer presence for Sheek. No longer just ˜the third member of the LOX" Sheek is looking forward to capitalizing on the success that follows 12 years in the industry.
Sheek's veteran status, yet relatively young age put him in an interesting spot in Hip Hop. Like Kobe Bryant, or Kevin Garnett, Sheek's career took of when he, Styles P., and Jadakiss were still teenagers with raw talent, but not much in terms of industry know-how. In this Ruby Hornet exclusive interview, Sheek breaks down his career's progression, talks about the responsibilities that come with his veteran status, and explains why Silverback Gorilla took so many by surprise...
RubyHornet: How have you been since the album came out?
Sheek Louch: From before the album came out and after, I'm great, man. I'm feeling ecstatic right now. I'm on a whole other level with the way things are going right now.
RubyHornet: I got a lot of that when listening to your album...I think there are a lot of themes running through, and one that maintained throughout was the theme of maturity and growth, and fit with the title Silverback Gorilla. With this album being out now, and you being a veteran, being older, can you think back to how it felt when you dropped the first LOX album?
Sheek Louch: Of course, man. I can give you the whole growth process. I don't know how far back you want to go, but us even coming from the streets to us getting with Puff and being intimidated by that point alone. We were just young boys, 17, 18, whatever. Imagine being there and walking passed B.I.G. and all of them. Walking passed Craig Mack, Total, all these people, I'm like 'wow.' Puff made them larger than life. We were like, 'we got to deliver once we get up in here.' During that time things were more dictated to us. It was more like, 'alright, this is what we're going to do. This is how we're going to say it. We're going to go over here, they're going to teach us about this. This is what's rocking in Texas, this is what's playing out here. Study these albums.' It was more like school. But we had the big homie always, which is B.I.G. that was keeping us on some other s**t. We were regular street [dudes], even though Diddy tried to have us a whole other way, B.I.G. was like, 'nah, they're going to do this.'
Leaving that situation for whatever reasons, now we went from students to now we're tight and can say whatever we want cause we're back with our old manager who started Ruff Ryders. We could talk and our whole s**t was basically getting at Puff, the whole album We Are The Streets. We were young boys not knowing the business, but we were tight. On that [album] I got to say a little bit more of what I wanted, and after that situation it's our fall back..Kiss and Styles, you're hearing them, whatever, whatever. Me, I'm like, 'ahhh, I'll do the Lox.' That's when I started thinking, 'let me see what's popping out here [business wise]. 'I was trying the business thing. And I still do, I still take my meetings..As far as growth from that time, I'm a monster. I'm becoming more of a monster by learning. Not to sound generic, but I knew that I had a lot to learn and a long way to go. Lyrically, now we're talking lyrically, people were saying 'damn, he's stepped up. Let me see what's popping. I ain't heard Sheek like that. You ain't just the third member of the LOX, you got to do some things, get some album deals going.'
Now by the time I do that album Walk With Me, I still had something to prove. By the second album I feel like my presence is getting stronger, especially when I get to the station and I call in and it's 'where's Sheek, where's Sheek at' up at the station. With this album, from my last one After Taxes, it's been a year and a half wait, two years almost. Any man, anybody's going to grow and see different things in their lives and figure out how they want to come with it. I just said, 'I need some hot tracks. I need some hot features that's going to go left, that are not expected.' I don't want them to say, 'ahh, I knew this was going to be this.' A lot of people, I've done a lot of interviews and it's not insulting, but they say, 'Sheek, you surprised the s**t out of me, man.' They are really telling me that with a straight face. They say, 'I don't mean any disrespect. I knew it was going to be hot, but you shocked me.' A lot of them. I've done interviews for the internet, satellite, live on the radio with the top Deejays, whoever. They're all like, 'dawg, I did not expect you to come on this track like that, I didn't expect you to ask him to get on it.'
RubyHornet: I don't want to insult you either, but some of the songs I just didn't expect for you to open up as much as you did. I think that could be what people are shocked by in a sense.
Sheek Louch: Definitely, definitely, 100%. That was strictly me just saying, 'it's bigger than just to talk about the same s**t.' Look at my first single, fam, "Good Love." It's a top ten record right now. It's number 8 or 9 on 106. It's on f**king Z100 and those kind of stations, and f**king number 3 on MTV, all kind of s**t! I'm like, 'wow, this is a song I wasn't afraid to go into.' I figure, dawg, I talked about the guns, the crack, I still do and have talked about that so much I thought, 'let me try this.' Red Spider was like, 'Sheek, you need to do this record. This is it, this is it.' He told me to let it breathe, let what Betty Wright is saying breathe and not to go over the sample part. He gave me a formula, which was dope. A lot of producers just give you the track and they'll get up with you later to get the check and mix it down. He was literally like, 'we got to do this dadada,' and 'keep that swagger. Talk to the chicks.' It's a big record. I have a feeling that "Good Love" is going to rock till it's warm outside.
RubyHornet: It's going to be warm soon I hope.
Sheek Louch: And when they're ready for something else, I'm going to come with the remix.
RubyHornet: Do you have that planned out, and who's going to be on it?
Sheek Louch: Yeah. Someone already laid [their verse], but I just want to lock it all the way in before I even talk about it.
RubyHornet: I respect that. Something you touched on in your answer are some of themes you bring up in "Don't Be Them," which is a really good track-
Sheek Louch: It's my favorite of all the songs I made.
RubyHornet: In terms of your growth you were just talking about, going from just being the 3rd member of the LOX to really carving out your own identity. Were there times when you struggled with that for real?
Sheek Louch: Hell yeah. Like I said, as far as being the 3rd member of the LOX, now it's like, 'it's Sheek Louch, he's hot. When can we get Sheek to the station? When can we get this interview with him?' Not, 'I need Styles, Sheek, and Jadakiss, can they all come in?' Now it's like, 'Sheek, can we get you to do Summer Jam for us? Can we get you a ten minute segment? We got a big show for the station.' And I love it! I feel like I've been working and I've been grinding. Wow. That's what it is, I'm standing as a man. They respect my work that I'm bringing forth. Especially a song like Don't Be Them' that had a lot to do with people asking me, 'can you advise a new artist about how to get on?' The wrong answer is 'yo, just keep it real, son. Just be real.' That ain't the answer. I'm not saying who's giving that answer, but that's not it. Don't be them. If my son said 'I want to be a rapper. I want to be Nas.' I would say, 'you want to be the guy they're signed to. 'I don't know, that's how I was feeling.
Especially when I have those quotes in there about the rapper's everyday and what he's going through. It's not that he didn't want to do an autograph, or he didn't want to take the interview. Maybe he was f**king at home with the flu. His throat could be killing him, but it comes across a different way so now people are like, 'f**k him. He didn't call me back.'
RubyHornet: It seems like you're really embracing your role as a professional within Hip Hop and as a veteran. What do you see as the responsibilities for artists like yourself in terms of ensuring that the quality of Hip Hop maintains going forward? You won't be rapping 20 or 30 years from now, but other people will be.
Sheek Louch: With that, my responsibility is, as hot as I am and as lyrical as I am-and I kind of know the game, but it switches so much that I kind of don't-I would think the responsibility would be to bring new groups to the table that have values and morals such as yourself. You see what I'm saying? Don't just go grab muthafuckas that don't give a f**k. Bring people to the table that really care about it. You can't tell all the time. Some are flukes, some are one hit wonders, but still have judgment about who you bring to the table, and who you let in this Hip Hop circle. You dig what I'm saying? Pass some kind of judgment about who you let in. Also, a lot of young boys never knew who Betty Wright was. They do now just cause I did that song, I introduced it. She had no problem clearing it, cause it was so good.
RubyHornet: I understand. I talked to Common when he put out "Corners" with the Last Poets. He was saying kind of the same thing, how he enjoys turning younger people on to artists he was listening to before, and hopefully passing inspiration on. I think that's the key to music, inspiring people and passing that through.
Sheek Louch: Yeah. I respect that. I didn't know he said that. I respect that, no doubt.
RubyHornet: Those are some of the things you're also talking about in "Mic Check."
Sheek Louch: Who's the next Jam Master Jay? Is it Felli Fel? Is Hova the next Melle Mel? Hahaha...
RubyHornet: In that song you're talking about your audience and doing what feels good vs. trying to reach different markets. For you being in a weird position, as you say on the song, you're not young but you're not old, who do you see as your target audience? And when you were making this album, were you conscious of trying new things vs. balancing your old core fan base?
Sheek Louch: Yeah. You got to walk that rope. How do you fit in? You know what it is with us? I still feed the streets. I'm still out there with the youth. I pay attention to every little thing that they do. I see the Soulja Boys, the Uncle Murdas, all that. I'm paying attention to every little thing. I'm combining that. I've never turning into none of these dudes, but I'm watching, I'm seeing like, 'ok, this is what they're feeling out here.' I need to touch a little of that, but still bring that Sheek Louch, that LOX, D-Block flavor to the scene. Me feeding the streets with these mixtapes, and freestyles, and three songs here, jumping on a track with an upcoming artist, I'll jump on it with whoever the new artist is, but I'm f**king murdering him on his song. It'll be s**t like that. I pop up at the 106's, and just stay relevant. 10 years, 12 years later I'm still relevant and still f**king popping right now.
RubyHornet: Maybe at the height of your career right now.
Sheek Louch: Yeah I know. Me personally, yeah, no doubt. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm grinding. I'm here and I'm done with beefing and all that. I'll take it if it comes though, or whatever. That D-Block/Dipset joint I got, I'm like, 'let's show some unity where we're at.' If I got to be the first person to take that stab and be like, 'you're a hot group over there, we're a hot group over here, let's do a song together.'
RubyHornet: What you were just saying leads me into what I was going to ask you about next, which is the song "Spray Crowds," You say, 'I'm not trying to make a record where my momma's not proud,' but it's like you're acknowledging that in life sometimes you have to do stuff that might not make your mom proud in a sense. Can you talk about that song, and how you balance that stuff?
Sheek Louch: It's so funny, my mom called me the other day and said, 'you're not trying to make a record where your momma's not proud, but all that cussing you're doing, that don't mean nothing...' I said, 'nah mom, that's the whole concept of what I was trying to say on that track. I know you're not going to get it.' And she's like, 'your son and everyone's listening.' Well you know what? Junior shouldn't be listening to this song right here. I understand that whether we like it or not we're role models. People look up to us, but at the same time... My son said to me, 'dad you said kiss you're a** goodbye on a song.' I told him, 'I made a mistake, it won't happen again.' But that's not for my son, he don't need to do that. The young boys that are listening, don't do everything I say. I'm making good music. When Denzel makes a Training Day and kills a room, he's not literally going home shooting everybody up. Al Pacino and all them, they're not going home to their families and grabbing an AK and killing. It's entertainment. But we do have a role definitely to lead them to the right path.
RubyHornet: I understand. I think some people when they get in those discussions they're saying the because Robert DeNiro plays all kinds of different characters and Hip Hop is definitely different from movies in the sense that it's much more real life to people. People live it and it's hard to see the line between life and just entertainment. A lot of rappers are always talking about 'this is what I really do. This is how I really am all the time.'
Sheek Louch: Yup, yup, definitely. After the guy says cut, that's cut for these actors. You're right, some of these muthafuckas just came from jail. They're going through some bulls**t.
RubyHornet: The album starts with a skit about what you would do if you won the lottery. Can you talk about why you added that skit, and do you feel like you are in a sense winning the lottery with your best success coming now, and success being the best kind of revenge?
Sheek Louch: Hahaha, nah...You know that skit was just me sitting around talking for real, for real. Right before we went in the both and did it, n****s really asked me, that was some real s**t. It was the Megabonus or something that's going around right now. It was real high, you know the mega millions? I played that s**t earlier that day, so I'm like 'if I hit this s**t' And I said the same exact s**t. First I talked about buying everybody sneakers, I was joking. Then I talked about my family, and I said I'm going to take care of my enemies. Everybody was like, 'oooohhhh.' I didn't even know I said it at first. Then I thought, 'let me go in this booth and say it again. That's what happened. As far as me feeling that I'm winning, winning, I'm feeling good, fam. I'm doing good and people are like, 'wow, Sheek is hot. He's that dude right now.' Come on dawg, I've been grinding. Not struggling cause we're still mainstream dudes and we make anthems for the street. Right now I'm number one on all these countdowns on stations, and number two...It feels great. The grind we had, and I keep saying we because in one of my verses I say, 'you ain't never wrote hits and ain't rich, you know, the life of the LOX.' We got houses, cars, all that life s**t, whatever. But I've seen dudes come in the game for a year or two and make zillions. Whether they’re still here and relevant now, I don't know. But they made zillions. Once we get to that status of making that mega, mega, mega money, I know it's for real paying off. I love that my fans appreciate me a lot more now, and I just want to touch on more s**t. We can take it to another level.
RubyHornet: In terms of going forward, as you said in the interview, you're at a different status. Also since the last LOX album, Styles P has put out a lot of great material, and you always have Jadakiss. Will this change the dynamic between the three of you? Are you looking forward to putting out that LOX album because now all three of you have established each other as a group and as solo artists.
Sheek Louch: Right, right, right..nah cause we're brothers till the end, till the death. Last night we were all there bugging off of one beat. There's a lot of groups that don't see each other and only their managers talk to each other. That ain't us. We own studios together, we own businesses together. Kiss will call me like, 'what do you think about this?' and I'll listen to it over the phone and s**t. And I'll come in and say something right here while he's there working. I'm there during his project. He's there talking s**t during mine. We feel each other out. We were zoning-zoning last night over a track. And we didn't get to writing, but we got it up, we got to lighting blunts, we're bugging throwing a little bulls**t in the air, it's like that with us. I doubt it's like that with a lot of other groups.
RubyHornet: Any word on when that might come out?
Sheek Louch: We would love for back to school. We're on Interscope now, we've been here. We tried to get it over there with Hov. Hov couldn't make that happen. Jimmy Iovine wasn't budging. Ruff Ryders were still in play and all that. We're going to keep it at Interscope, we don't have any problems with anybody at Interscope whatsoever. When I say that I mean 50, nobody. We're trying to get money now, and people really really want that LOX project. Hopefully back to school or towards the end heading into winter but not all the way winter. I don't have an exact date, but we got 25 solid that you'll say, 'Sheek, this needs to come out right now.'
Del The Funky Homosapien
I think that as music fans, it becomes easy to take our favorite artists for granted. We come to expect the creativity, and in some ways, fail to recognize the practice and long hours that are necessary for its production. We"re not fully able to realize that a 3 minute song may actually take 3 or more weeks to finish before it hits our ears. I also think it's often the most creative, most explorative, and most elaborate artists that get taken for granted the most.
Del is one such artist. It's hard to argue that he"s not amongst Hip Hop's most creative talents I mean, the dude can rap as three different characters without becoming corny or just a joke. He went from missing his brother and ragging on Mr. Dabalina to raging against the corporate rulers of Deltron Zero and rocking with the Gorillaz. Del's still doing it all, just as he promised when his Hieroglyphics crew told the world that they would be around from '93 Til Infinity.
Infinity is looking a long way off for Del right now. This week saw the release of his latest studio album, The Eleventh Hour. Del caught up with DJ Roosevelt Treasurechest to talk about the new album, his descent into music theory, and how it's all music all the time. Read on to see exactly what it takes for Del's creativity to hit your speakers.
Ruby Hornet: First I want to thank you for taking the time out to do this interview today, so thank you for that. I want to get into the new album, The Eleventh Hour, out now on Def Jux. What does it feel like with this album being your first solo in 7 years, and you produced the album in its entirety?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Honestly, ambivalent. I'm not really tripping. It's good that it's coming out, don't get me wrong, but I'm not overly excited about it. I'm already working on new music now. That's what I do all day everyday, so as far as I'm concerned it's the natural progression of it. It's supposed to be coming out. I'm not overly excited, but of course I'm happy that is it getting a chance to come out.
Ruby Hornet: Can you talk about the title, The Eleventh Hour, and why you decided to name it that?
Del The Funky Homosapien: At first I just thought it was a groovy name. I was like, damn! That's an ill name. I'm gonna have to keep that. As time progressed it started becoming more prophetic. It started really becoming the 11th hour. Hella stuff was happening in my life that was preventing me from putting the album out, or preventing me from being able to finish it until everyone else around me was like, it's the 11th hour. Ok, you're doing this woopty, woop, where is it at? At first it was just a really cool name, then it started to really fit.
Ruby Hornet: I was watching The Eleventh Hour DVD. I got it when it first came out, and I was watching it again in preparation for the interview. There's a scene where you're explaining how you got into production and it seemed it was motivated by your feelings that people could tell that rapping was not that hard to you anymore, and you felt like you had to earn your keep in a sense. Is that what motivated you to get into music theory and production, and if so, how do you feel an understanding of music theory has expanded your career?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Time will tell I guess how music theory has expanded my career so to speak. I'll say it like this man, basically it just makes everything easier. That's what music theory does, it just makes everything easier. Before, I had gotten to a certain level with songwriting and with the production that I basically reached a ceiling where I couldn't go no higher without knowing some more stuff. And I'm the type of person where self-improvement is a big thing for me. It just became that time where I was like, Ok. You're not going to last very much longer, Del, unless you pick up a book about it and actually figure out how you're supposed to do it.’ You understand what I'm saying? I had been winging it for a while, like a lot of us I guess. But I figured at this time in my career the people deserve more. I deserve more. I guess that's what initiated it though, the fact that I had reached a ceiling and I wanted to keep rising. But the music theory helps no matter what music I make. Being able to hear everything the way I need to hear it, knowing what will fit, just from a technical aspect, the tools that I have at my disposal. It just makes the music I'm trying to do easier, even Hip Hop. You may think Hip Hop's not really based on melody anyway, it's more based on rhythm, but even still, it works for that.
Ruby Hornet: I have a friend who said he's been in the studio with you before. He told me an interesting story that one time you were writing to a song and let the beat play for a little while, then you started drawing it and made a visual representation and then turned off the music and wrote to what you drew. Is that right? Do you do stuff like that?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I don't remember that, hahaha. Do you remember what song I was doing?
Ruby Hornet: I don't know the name of the exact song. I'm in Chicago, and he said it was for a song you did with the Molemen.
Del The Funky Homosapien: Damn I don't even remember, man. It must have been a while ago. My main thing that I do when I'm writing something, man, I just sit and I zone off the beat. I try to zone out and let the beat tell me what I need to be rapping about. My usual direction is talking s**t. I usually try to be a comedian with the s**t, I'm just talking s**t, getting s**t off my chest, real braggadocio. But I'll still have a certain type of vibe or direction that I'll take it in based on what the music is telling me to do. If the music is a little bit more laidback, I might be less aggressive. If the beat sounds kind of sneaky, I might try to sound sneaky or something. I just try to match what the beat does. Lyrically, now I try to follow the pattern of what the beat is doing. Whatever the dominant musical pattern is for the beat, I try to follow that somewhat. I don't try to go against it so much. I don't want it to be simpleton with the same exact flow for the whole song, no deviation, but I do try to set up some kind of structure.
Ruby Hornet: When you're writing for this solo album and the music you put out as Del The Funky Homosapien, is there a different mind state or any methods as opposed to when you were writing for the Gorillaz or Deltron 3030 projects? Do you really switch up your mind state, how are they similar or different to each other?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I basically got to get into a character, man. With Del it don't take nothing, cause I'm Del all day everyday. That's probably the favorite thing I like to do, the easiest thing for me to do. Deltron's a little bit more difficult because I got to get into character. I'm not always in that mind state or thinking about those type of things. In Gorillaz, same thing. I had to get into that mind state, and really they gave me little to work with. I had to just make some stuff up. I was asking them, what is this character about? The ghost that lives in Russel's head or whatever? They're like, whatever you come up with, man. I'm like, whatever I come up with? Ok dudes. Remember you said that, whatever I come up with.
Ruby Hornet: When you talk about the braggadocio stuff, and I was listening to the new album, you have a song "Bubble Pop" where you say, "why do you think you're all that when you ain't." It seems like in life at some point or another we all have our bubbles popped. Would you say that's the sooner the better for us?
Del The Funky Homosapien: The sooner the better? Probably. I mean, your parents probably should be popping your bubble real early, before you even leave the house. My mom and my pops were popping my bubble real early. Like, oh naw, you're really going too fast, dude. I was on one growing up, so my parents had to do a lot to try to keep me in line sometimes. So, yeah,, the sooner the better. Especially if you got a little money or something, then you can't tell nobody nothing.
Ruby Hornet: Also you have a track on the new album called "Last Hurrah" Can you talk a little bit about that track, and also kind of what you said in the beginning of the interview, that your fans may be like, oh wow the first Del solo in album in a longtime. To you it's like, this is what I do. I'm making music constantly. On the track "Last Hurrah" that seems to really come through, and it's you saying, I'm not stopping anytime soon. Is that correct? What's the message on that song?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Really the message on that song is just braggadocio with some free form, whatever is on the mind of Del at that moment. I just say it all on that track, as well as KU. My boy KU is rapping on it, he's featured on it. And he actually produced the track. We just did it like we used to do in the old school. He was around when I was doing stuff with Hieroglyphics too, I went to high school with him. We used to do like rap concerts, and little shows around the neighborhood and stuff like that, we used to hang out together, make music together. So we just took it back to that like we used to do. We just go back to back with the mic.
Ruby Hornet: You just talked about going all the way back to Hieroglyphics and such, this album is coming out on Def Jux. How has Def Jux influenced you? Have they made any impact on your style, your approach to music?...Why did you decide to put this out with them?
Del The Funk Homosapien: I'd say Def Jux has left a little impression on my style indirectly because I listen to their stuff. But that was before I signed with them. They didn't step in and say, you have to do this. The album was done when I gave it to them. I just needed an outlet to get it out now, so they allowed me to do that.
Ruby Hornet: Do you think they will allow you to reach more people? Because you've been out for a real long time, you have a couple different fan bases. Some fans know you from My Brother George Is Here, others have come along the way, and now Def Jux may be able to take you to another fan base. Is that part of the reason you went with them?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I went with them because I wanted to get the album out and I just trust El-P. I've known El-P for a long time, years. I trusted my project in his hands. I felt his company could do something with it. I like what he did for himself. When I met him he didn't have the Def Jux imprint yet, and then from there to now it's DEF JUX. Man, I'm really proud of El-P in a lot of ways. I liked his hustle so I said, OK, he could probably make my stuff work over here. It's working. I'm reaching more people. I got a video out, I'm talking to you right now. This whole campaign probably wouldn't be possible without Def Jux.
Ruby Hornet: You also talked earlier about the problems you've had putting the album out, and how it was really getting to the 11th Hour. Also, in the DVD you talked about some of the things you've been going through, you have that video of some girl trying to cut through your door and everything. But when I listen to the album it's got a really fun, up tempo sound. How does it have that type of sound with all the other things that were going on in your life?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Cause music is my escape from all that. Through all that I had my music to keep me where I needed to be. When it comes to my music, it was just like that. And honestly, I made a conscious decision not to make it hella dark or hella sad or nothing. I made music that I would want to perform. I made music that people would want to listen to. I felt if it was going to be too complainy or sad, people were not going to want to listen to it too much. I tried to make it more uplifting. That's my personality as well, though. It's not always good, but I'm always looking for things to be on the up. I'm always trying to make things better. No matter what happens, I'm trying to find a way to make it work, that's what this album is about.
Ruby Hornet: One thing that my dad always sad to me was positive things happen to positive thinkers. Like you just said you got to think things are on the up and up, do you think that has contributed to your longevity and the fact that you've been able to stay creative and making music?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I think my dedication to the music is one thing, cause I'm really dedicated to the music. That's all I do all day everyday. I got more albums here, sitting here now waiting. That's all I do everyday. Also I think my ability to talk to people in a cool way is a big part of why I'm around so long, and I try not to get a swell head over stuff. I try to keep my feet on the ground no matter how large people might think I am I try to keep everything in perspective. I think that's kept me around a lot longer than maybe my musical skill has.
Ruby Hornet: Before you go, can you shed any light on the other projects you have going on? I've been told and heard that a new Deltron album is also in the works, if not done. Is that true?
Del The Funky Homosapien: The album is half done. Automator and Koala already did the musical part, that part is done. I'm just writing bars for the lyrics. I've just been writing bars like it's the bible or something. It's like, Bar 200, Bar 250 I keep writing till I got enough bars to fill up the album. I got an EP that I did with A Plus and AG's production company. They did a whole a whole EP on me call L.E.B. It's a seven song EP. We're working on the Hiero album, that's pretty much done. We're trying to go in and do some more stuff before we just settle, but basically we got an album done. I got a bunch of various projects I've been working on, man. I don't want to reveal too much because I got to figure out a way to get them out. I got three or four other projects just sitting. I've been working on production too, I just did a song with Pslam One the other day.
Ruby Hornet: She's from Chicago as well.
Del The Funky Homosapien: Yeah. She moved out here so I've been linking up with Pslam, doing some stuff with her. We just did a song the other night that turned out real good.
Ruby Hornet: A lot of people move from Chicago move to the Bay, I think there's some common themes out there, or something, but people over here like it over there for sure.
Del The Funky Homosapien: It's slower out here, so I think that may be the appeal. It's less hustle and bustle. It's still gangster like everywhere else, you got gangster stuff going on, but I think in general it's a little more just laid back.
Ruby Hornet: I want to ask you, with all the music you're making and stuff going on, when do you find time to sleep or do anything else?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I don't do nothing else. I damn near make music all day, and write raps. Like literally from sun up to sun down. All my stuff is on my computer so I can be in the bed working on music till I pass out basically, and then when I wake up I just roll back over and get on the computer and start working on stuff again. Literally, that's all I do at this point cause I'm just trying to make my music so good. I want people to want to buy my stuff. People aren't going to buy it no more, so I'm trying to make my music good enough so you feel like you have to buy it.
Jake One: White Van Music
Jake One's name may ring a bell to the purists of Hip Hoppers, the most hardcore gangster rap aficionados, and everyone else in between. And if you don't know his name, you most certainly know his music. During the past year alone, Jake One was prominently featured on underground classics by Evidence (The Weatherman LP), commercial bangers like Freeway's "Its Over", and the super gangster G-Unit mixtape. But the versatile Seattle based producer only see things getting bigger and better. 2007 witnessed Jake appear on 7 major projects, a new career high, and opened the door for White Van Music, his own forthcoming full length album.
Jake One talked to Ruby Hornet's own Roosevelt Treasurechest, and gave RTC the lowdown on the new album, his approach to beat-making, and his take on those MySpace bulletins in which emcees sell their style one 16-bar verse at a time. Check it out!
RH: What's going on with you? I know that you're featured on a bunch of new releases that span from underground hip hop to a mainstream level.
Jake One: G-Unit just put out a new mixtape, I got a couple songs on there. One of the joints is the first song "Like a Dog". The other one (laughs), I can't remember what it's called. It's something like "She Wants It". It's like a 50 solo song, there's a skit in front of it. They're working on a new album, so I've been doing stuff for the new G-Unit record. I've been working with Young Buck on the new project he's doing. I've been working with a lot of different folks, but mainly I've been mixing my own album. That's what I've been focused on right now. It's more of a producer album with me doing what I want to do on it and bringing in all the artists that I f**k with. I've been working on it for a while and I've been putting all my effort into that. It's pretty much what I've been doing so you'll have Young Buck on there, but then you'll also have MF Doom on it, Brother Ali, and people like that. It's really just a picture, a big advertisement for what I do. I've been trying to put everything I can into it and make it as dope as possible.
RH: You just touched on how we may have a Young Buck and an MF Doom, you've been around for a long time and I first heard of you with the West Coast Hip Hop and coming up with a lot of underground artists. You're prominently on One Be Lo's new album, which I've been listening to a lot. Is there a matter of changing of gears since one day you may be in the studio with One Be Lo, and the next day you're doing the G-Unit mixtape?
Jake One: Honestly, when I create, most of the time I'm doing it by myself or with musicians or whoever I'm working with. When I create I'm not thinking, 'oh man I gotta do something for 50.' Sometimes I may get in a mode where I know they're looking for that and I know what they want from me. I'll try to keep banging that kind of stuff out. A lot of times when I do that it's not what they end up wanting. I just make the music that I feel like making at the time, whatever moves me and it lands wherever it lands. I've been fortunate to cross over into different boundaries. Most people that do what I do in the underground don't get the opportunity to do the records with a lot of other people. I'm genuinely into a lot of commercial music as well as underground stuff. I don't just limit what I like to whether it's successful or not. That really has no bearing on whether or not I like it. It's crazy cause people will rap over the same beats. I had a track that I did on Gift of Gab's album, I don't even know how long ago that was, maybe three or four years ago, and the Game had recorded that for The Documentary album. He had a song for it. You can't really think of two more different rappers, and they both had their own approach to it. I really just try to make something that universally is good. I don't really follow the hot trends or what everyone is doing. I kind of feature what I came up on and throw different sprinkles on it. The stuff I do for 50 might sound like some of that old Queens s**t or whatever, but it'll have something that’s a little different about it, maybe because I'm from Seattle. It's a weird combination.
RH: You said a lot of producers that do what you do or start in the underground where you did don't get the chance to cross over like that. Do you take that with you, and do you feel any responsibility to carry that flag for producers in the underground now, or stick to a certain style and no matter how big you get continue to work with a One Be Lo?
Jake One: I'm always going to work with the underground stuff. I think even after all this commercial s**t is over-and the way it looks, it's going to be over- that stuff is always going to be there. And it's all about doing what you feel. It may not be a big money thing, but I'll do it cause I want to do it. I make so much music it makes no sense for me to sit around and wait for the big artist to choose stuff. I did seven records that came out on major labels last year, which is the most I've ever done. But I probably made 150 beats. I just put the stuff out there and we see what comes back. I think everybody that's been in the underground or starts there, that's not necessarily where they want to be or where they want to end up. If you look at it historically, all the best artists end up working on the highest level in some form or fashion in their career. You want your music to be heard by the most people, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change what you're doing and make music for that. But if they're f**king with you and what you do, and you can get it there it's rewarding. I just follow the role of like Alchemist. He's a good dude and gave me some game. I watched how he has his career. Somebody like Nottz, and people like that I look to, where they are still making stuff that is very creative and dope but they’re not stuck on just making records for Fat Beats. They're on every level you could possibly think of. That's how I look at it.
RH: That's interesting cause I thought of Alchemist as similar to you. I know you're on Evidence's new solo album.
Jake One: Yeaaahhh. I did some stuff for Prodigy and Alchemist is actually rapping on my album. [Evidence] is a guy that's had some commercial success, but in the end me and him are kind of like-minded in that we come from the same era. And the same thing with Al. Al is on the same kind of music. I think when you get to a point where you start doing stuff cause you think you'e going to get paid is when you already lost. If it happens, it happens. It's what is meant to be. I think the new guys coming up, they're so focused on trying to make hits and trying to pop off that they've completely lost focus of making something that is rewarding personally. Did you really do something dope on that beat? Did you really challenge yourself? That's where Hip Hop’s kind of lost its way, everything is very generic.
RH: Another song that I know you did that has been in constant rotation for me is "Its Over" on Freeway's album. How did you put that together? From the beginning the way it hits is just a really powerful beat and the mood captured is also powerful. Did you go in knowing that was going to be for Freeway, how did that song work?
Jake One: I had been working with the people at Concord, they own the Stax catalogue. They gave me some protools sessions of original songs. "Masquerade's Over" is one of the hottest songs period, so I knew when I got the session that I got to do something with it. I felt like I really had to make something phenomenal to even sample that record. I rearranged the whole thing, and that's what I came with. It's funny because when I made it, I kind of wanted to make it like The Game record "Hate It or Love It". I wanted something fast like that, but it was hard and could play in the club and people would f**k with it. That's what I was trying to do, but it's funny how I'll think with a mind-state like that and the music will sound entirely different from that. But that was kind of my inspiration for it. I had the beat, I actually got a hold of Freeway's manager cause I wanted him to do a song for my album. I sent him some tracks and they choose that one and a couple other ones. He did the record and it was dope. He sent it to me and I had Vitamin [D] put the scratches in there. I was really happy with it. And then he gave me a joint for my record too.
RH: Vitamin is another person you've been messing with for a long time. How important is it for you to maintain a team that grows with you? What do you see as the importance of people to maintain a strong base?
Jake One: I just think it's crucial man! I started in part making music cause of seeing Vitamin first hand. What he was doing and how dope he was made me think I could do it. He's always been like a mentor to me and helped me out a lot in a lot of technical stuff. It's just good to have somebody dope around you that will push you. He's definitely made me step my game up many times to get to where I am now, and I would say in the past 2-3 years I've finally gotten to a point where I can make him go back. It's a great thing to have, and you see a lot of good music coming out of those situations. Just Blaze and Kanye of the early Rocafella, they were clearly hearing each other's stuff and stepping the game up. It's dope to have somebody for a long time that you're good friends with and you genuinely respect their music. There's people that you know that might be great people, but you might not have that respect for them on a musical level. D is somebody that I build with personally and on a creative aspect. We're working on this album right now and he's mixing it. He's a big part of this album too.
RH: New York/East Coast has a certain sound or style that people expect when someone says they're from there, and the same with Cali. Seattle is kind of known for free-range in a sense. How has Seattle influenced your sound, and how would you describe the Hip Hop scene there?
Jake One: We really only have Mix-A-Lot. Mix-A-Lot is the only guy from here to do anything on a worldwide standard, and when you go places people say Mix-A-Lot. Besides that, everybody's been super influenced. When I first started making music, the big thing in Seattle was Bay area music and it still is. That's the closest major area to us, and we always follow what they're doing very closely. It still is to this day. Artists from the Bay get a lot of love up here. There's that side, but there's also been a side that's super influenced by Gangstarr and East Coast Hip Hop. I kind of was straddling the fence on that. I loved the E-40 records, but I didn't necessarily make music like that. It just wasn't my lane. I liked a lot of the West Coast stuff when they were sampling more. That was the stuff I was more into. I think it's kind of a unique melting pot. People like Premier and Pete Rock, those are my first influences. When I first started producing those were the guys I looked up to. I still have a lot of that in me just the way I think about it. When I sit down to make a beat I'm usually coming from that frame of mind. Also, that 40 and all that bass stuff is in there sometimes. I'll play a bassline that may be in that manner, but it will be over some hard East Coast drums. It's kind of put together in a different way, and maybe that's why I have my own sound at this point., it's a little different And the scene here, we've had a lot of dope artists for a long time. People just haven't gotten a chance nationally for whatever reason. It's starting to change. We got some local groups that are making some noise here. As far as the scene, it seems like there's more support for the scene now than I can remember. People didn't use to say they were from Seattle. Everyone was from Compton, Vallejo, or Queens. I remember in the Beat Street era everyone was from the Bronx. Now people are screaming 206, wearing t-shirts saying 'northwest.' They're finally developing some pride, and that's only going to help the scene grow. If you don't have a good base at home, how is anybody else going to take you seriously?
RH: Talk a little bit about this album. How long has it been in the making? What are the concepts that you're working with?
Jake One: I've been working on it for about a year and half. The concept is more or less getting back to basics. I'm doing a lot of intricate stuff, but it's rooted in fundamental 90's Hip Hop. I got a record with Evidence, Alchemist, and Prodigy rapping like an NWA record where it's break beats, and the beat changes in the chorus. I got a couple records like that. The MF Doom record's like that. I also have some stuff with live instruments in there. It's kind of showing that you can do all that and still make it Hip Hop and still have that raw sound. Most of the album is pretty aggressive. I got maybe 3 or 4 joints that are more on some laid-back, chill type of record. The Little Brother record is like a dope riding kind of record. The record with Elzhi and Royce is kind of similar like that. I kind of tried to make it in fragments like 'this is some super aggressive gangster s**t. This is going to be more chill music, then we get back into the hard s**t.' Then I got some Seattle records I did with some people from here. I just tried to make it a summary of everything I like and what I'm about.
RH: I want to ask this from more of a fan's perspective. I know that DJ's and producers, first things first, are not just fans but almost have an obsession with the music.
Jake One: Yeah.
RH: From that perspective, do you go back and look at other albums made by producers? Sometimes they're really great, and other times it seems like it's just a lot of names. The back of the album cover and tracklisting-
Jake One: Is the best part of the music (laughs).
RH: Is that in your thinking when you go back and look at how other people are doing it?
Jake One: I think the difficulty with putting this record together and making it somehow come together is in the fact that I have so many different types of artists. That's definitely the challenge. I think musically at this point, I can make a sound. I think for the most part this album has a particular sound and the artists that I got to appear on it, they all adapted to that sound. I did a record with Young Buck and it's what he does, but it's still my sound and he adapted to that. Somebody like MF Doom, I went and made something that fits him, but it's not the typical thing that he raps on. It's definitely challenging and I try not to do things by name. I had a couple records with people with big names that didn't measure up and I'm not using. I have some younger guys from Seattle. I got this song with three of the young guys coming up over here, guys named Pender, GMK, and a guy named Spaceman. I just dug the record. I liked the way it came together, the vibe of it, and it fit in with what I was doing. So, it's kind of interesting cause I didn't make this album thinking about what the single is or any of that kind of stuff. I've literally just been trying to make something that's a dope project.
RH: Who is putting the album out, and budget wise did somebody supply that? Not a lot of people know what goes into putting together an album like this, and getting the songs made, and getting artists on the tracks. How did that go?
Jake One: Well, Rhymesayers is the one who will be putting the project out. I got a budget for that, but most of the record was done from personal relationships I have with people. Most of the people on this album I've worked with at least once. I would say 70% of them I have a personal relationship with and say 'I need this done.' Some people didn't respond, a lot of them did. I got till the end of this month, I'm trying to squeeze stuff out at the last minute. A lot of people I did trades with, and it works out better that way. I got good performances by doing that. They needed something from me. I've seen situations where people will pay for verses, and I have friends that are artists that do that, that just sell verses all day. A lot of times they aren't even going to give it their "A" game. They'll just throw whatever to somebody.
RH: On MySpace you'll see a bulletin "Verses for $500! Get'em while they're hot!"
Jake One: The way things are going that's kind of going to be the future because that's eliminating the middleman and all that s**t. I sell beats to people all the time like that. If people want to reach me and do some music like that I'm fine with it. It's all good to me. But I think it's different with a producer. We make what we make before we give it to somebody. I think with a rapper, them being inspired is such a crucial part of them coming up with something dope. Some people can give you their half-ass and it's still good though. It just depends on the caliber of artist I guess.
RH: Does the album have a title at this time?
Jake One: It' called White Van Music, which is the name of my publishing company. And I named my publishing company that because it was the first song I ever did with some guys from high school. I just rolled with it cause I didn't want to come up with anything clever. Ten years later I'm putting an album out with that name. There's really no super meaning behind it.
RH: Is there any tentative release?
Jake One: It's looking like summertime. It's pretty much done, I got to go in and mix 2-3 more songs. The last week I've been in the studio with Vitamin till 5 or 6 in the morning, so we've been going hard on it.
RH: When this is done is it going to be 'right back to the drawing board' for you? Some producers or emcees will just make music all day, that's just what they do. Do you need time to maybe step back and refresh and just listen to music for a little bit? Do you have those periods?
Jake One: I think I listen to music a lot more than I make it. I probably, I don't make a beat a day, I make it just when I feel it. I may make 3 beats a week, and it's just the right 3 beats and I'm happy. So, I don't know, this is the first time I've had to be listening to music and mixing for so long. I'm kind of burnt out right now (laughs). I'm probably just going to go play some basketball and chill for a minute. I definitely got to get back to creating cause there's a lot of projects I want to be a part of that I need to make music for. I don't over do it. You'l never see me doing 50 beats in a month or nothing. I try to keep them all keepers at this point. That's my philosophy.
RH: What do you see as your signature sound? Do you feel you have a 'Jake One Stamp'?
Jake One: I just want to be known for making quality stuff and just being consistent. I think there's not many people that have been doing it as long as I have and have been as consistent. I haven't been a part of all high profile things, but if I did it, there's going to some kind of quality there. In the future I'm just going to be trying to build my brand, and this album is all about trying to build my personal brand and bring more people through it, do more full albums. It's been fun controlling this full record, I've actually really enjoyed it. I want to do more of it, and it's something. I'm looking forward to doing with a couple emcees later this year. I think I'm definitely going to move more towards that.
One Be Lo: The Rebirth
One Be Lo recently released his latest solo album, R.E.B.I.R.T.H. In connection with the release, Lo caught up with Ruby Hornet and talked about the new album, as well as Lo's current frame of mind. The Michigan emcee who started out rapping as One Man Army, and as part of the duo Binary Star, underwent a transition similar to one referenced by his album title. Since the release of his last album,S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. (somebody is a big fan of acronymns!), Lo left the Fat Beats label and fully furnished his own studio in the basement of his house, and put his new album out on his own Subterraneous Records. No longer dependent on others to get his music out, Lo recognized the importance of a team and handled out some of the responsibilities he previously carried so that he could focus more on his music and his family.
The result is Lo's best album to date. R.E.B.I.R.T.H. (Real Emcees Bring Intelligent Rhymes To Hip Hop) features production from Jake One, Vitamin D, as One Be Lo speaks on life after the car factories moved out of Michigan, the artist's daily grind, and even imagines his own death and rise to Hip Hop Heaven.
Estelle: 100% Me
A chance meeting with John Legend and Kanye West at Roscoe's Chicken in L.A. landed the British singer Estelle a roster spot on Legend's Homeschool imprint, which will release her sophomore album Shine with Atlantic Records this spring. It's a good look for Estelle, and a chance for her to reach a whole new audience. While her first album never made it across the pond, it gained her a reputation within the industry. Now Estelle is ready to see the world.
Here Estelle talks about her new album, her growth as an artist, and even sends some praise Ella Fitzgerald's way.
RubyHornet: How are you?
Estelle: I'm good, I'm good.
RubyHornet: How are the interviews going so far?
Estelle: They're going well.
RubyHornet: What's the question you've had to answer the most so far?
Estelle: How'd you meet John Legend?
RubyHornet: But that's an interesting one right?
Estelle: Not really anymore..yeah...well, I'm sure it is hahaha. I met him at Roscoe's Chicken with Kanye in LA.
RubyHornet: That's what I heard, that's what I heard. That goes into something I wanted to ask you about. How much do you think of what's happening to you right now is luck vs. your skill and talent?
Estelle: I just think it's all G-d. I don't sit here and put myself on any pedestals and think, 'well, it's cause you did this and you did that. ' Truly I didn't think about doing any of it. It's kind of what he says I should do, so I go with that whole movement. My whole thing is, you have to be motivated. If this is what you want to do in life, why would you sit down and say, 'No. I don't want to move. I don't want to go there. I don't want to do this'? My whole thing is about picking myself up and if there's something I want to do, doing it.
RubyHornet: I think that everyone who is successful in this business is because that's all they do. They go full out.
Estelle: Right, and they make it happen.
RubyHornet: You've also gone on tour with Wyclef and learned from a lot of really accomplished and successful artists. A lot of people bring up the big names, but I'm sure there's been other musicians and artists along the way that you've learned something from. Who are your influences and such?
Estelle: One person that really put me on and opened me up to the whole touring aspect of how you can live as an artist is an artist from the UK called Black Twang. He's one of the first people who put me on one of his records and put me on the road everywhere with him consistently. I only had one record out and we just traveled everywhere. We just went everywhere. It was crazy. We had fun. That was one person that had a heavy influence on my work ethic and me working right now. It's just about making it happen. Let's go, let's get this dough. That was him. But also, in terms musicians, I love Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is flawless. And when I get to that flawless point, I might stop singing.
RubyHornet: Oh wow, really?
Estelle: Yeah! Hahah, I doubt it, but I like to say it. I probably won't. Maybe if I'm bored and s**t I'll stand in front of a mic with the mic like ten feet away. Like 'La La La can you hear me? ' Probably s**t like that, just like taking a piss on people, like, 'I can project this far.'
RubyHornet: If you got it flaunt it, right?
Estelle: Right. I'll be like Ella Fitzgerald. She was definitely one of the ones, one of the reasons.
RubyHornet: Speaking of that and development and growth, when you listen to your new album how does it compare to your earlier stuff? What has been the growth from album to album, or just in terms of project to project?
Estelle: The approach has been me being 100% happy with myself. I'm not apologizing anymore for being who the hell I am. I'm not caring, or being worried about what people think of me, just being me. I'm happy with that. That's been the growth, and that's been in every single song. I'm not scared to put it out there. I'm not nervous or shy that someone's going to be like, 'oh, well you've done this,' or be judgmental of me. My whole thing is, don't judge me unless you're perfect. And, lord knows none of us are. I'm just going to put my insecurities and my crazy out there and hope somebody learns from them. I hope I learn from them, s**t.
RubyHornet: So that's the message behind the title Shine? You're just gonna let yourself shine in a sense.
Estelle: It's going to be me. I'm not too bothered about what people think of me or what I'm doing, or who I am, or their opinion. I'm just going to be the best person I am. I'm going to be scared to have kids till I probably have'em. You know my background. You know how I grew up. You know I'm on my s**t sometimes. Sometimes I'm tired as hell and don't want to talk. But that's just me, and I'm just going to be the best person I can be and shine and be happy.
RubyHornet: I think that's a human element that everybody goes through, being OK to relax, being OK to be like 'no I don't feel like doing anything.'
Estelle: That's how I get sometimes. Even through those times I know I still got to do it. You may not feel like doing anything, and that's probably alright, cause it's your life and you figure out what the hell you want to do.
RubyHornet: With that and opening yourself up more, do you feel any added pressure? There's a much wider audience now, I know your last album was UK and Europe only, and this one is global. Are you nervous at all?
Estelle: No. I'm like, 'Please. Hurry. Let's go. I want to go and travel all over the world. So many people from all over the world hit me up on MySpace when they I heard I was signed [by Atlantic] and doing all this now. They were like, what are you doing? I loved your first album. I was like, really? You did? I can't wait to see people I've come across just traveling and doing shows and what not and say, I've never heard of you till now and now I love it. I can't wait for them to get this next album cause now it's going to be the one they can get without having to go on Amazon or really search it out. It's going to one that is actually released. I'm happy for those people. I'm happy to see how the s**t I'm talking about translates all over the world. I'm curious about that even.
RubyHornet: It's kind of an interesting place for an artist to be in, where you have a chance to really go and almost redefine yourself to a whole new audience even with your previous experience and success.
Estelle: Exactly. And it's not going to be too different from the original. It's just that there's no fear. No fear, no apologies, no nothing. It's just 100% me. It feels good. It feels so good. I don't have to apologize for wanting to rap and sing. I'm not having to apologize for wanting to be a regular human being. They've tried to build me into this big thing like 'yo, she reps the dark skinned girls'and 'she's righteous.' I am nowhere near righteous. When that started I was like, 'oh hell no. Take me out of that equation. Take me right out.' It's going to be fun to see how many other people fill that. I don't want to give the impression to be this unattainable thing. No. Especially with these musicians now, always trying to preach at you, like the world's coming to an end. Everyone's trying to tell you what it should be, why can't it just be your song? Why can't it just be some lyric that you thought of the other day that made sense to your life? That's my thing. Let it be what it is.
RubyHornet: Speaking of that, tell me this, do you really like American boys, or was that just a lyric?
Estelle: I do, I do. I'm having issues right now with one so I'm not 100% whole-heart right now, I'm having real issues with that right now. (exhales) I do like American boys, y'all are pretty cute, you're all right.
RubyHornet: I'm not sure of the whole American boy image outside of America.
Estelle: You guys are all right. Trust me! Go to London and talk. Go to London and interview a British girl, it won't be an issue. You'll come back with a wife and four kids.
RubyHornet: OK. I'm going to book a ticket in the near future.
Estelle: Haha...Get it.
RubyHornet:S o what else will people hear from you when they hear your full album? How does that song "American Boy" relate to the rest of the album.
Estelle: That song relates to the album in that the album has four or five different genres of music on it. That's one style of music, and it' got some reggae, it's got some Hip Hop, it's got some pop music, and it's got some R&B. It's got everything. So it relates to it in that it's a different style of music. It's definitely not a dance music album if that's what you're asking. It's not a dance music album. It has elements of different styles of music like I said, reggae, Hip Hop, some rock influence. We got some that when we perform it live it turns into a full out rock show.
RubyHornet: Where can people learn more about you? Are you going to be on any more tours?
Estelle: We're definitely touring. We're definitely getting on the road from April onwards. Check the myspace, that will let you know exactly where I am.