The natural order of things is usually respect then money. That’s the basic shit. But there’s really no blueprint or guidelines on how to go from one to the other. Many of the most respected people, in any field, are undervalued and underpaid. This intersection is where Scheme sits right now as well. He’s regarded as one of the best emcees in Chicago, lyrically he’s in the upper echelon of windy city rappers. “I’ve gotten ‘you’re dope,’ from everyone in Chicago that I would care to get it from,” Scheme tells me while taking a break from recording at SoundScape Studios. He knows he’s dope, and at this point in his career, wants to focus on widening his fan base and stretching his notoriety. “I don’t want to keep putting out albums that are going to get to a certain point. You know what I mean? It’s good, but as an artist you put a lot into your work for it to just reach a certain point. You want to see a little more…”
For Scheme, it’s not about getting better right now, it’s about getting bigger. In this interview, Scheme talks to me about his current plans, coming up in Chicago Hip Hop, and more. Check it out.
RubyHornet: Just to catch up, what’s been up with you lately? What’s new?
Scheme: Man, just a lot of work, man. After The Life That I Chose EP came out, I’m trying to figure out what the next moves are. Definitely Two Turntables And A Mic, that’s something we’re going to drop before the end of the year. It’s becoming a mixtape with me and Scend. Besides that, working with Geno, trying to get some records placed and going on… Really just trying to figure it out. We need to make sure that whatever we do next is… I don’t want to keep putting out albums that are going to get to a certain point. You know what I mean? It’s good, but as an artist you put a lot into your work for it to just reach a certain point. You want to see a little more… It’s just pretty much like, fan wise, you get the love from people. There are people out there buying it from iTunes, and downloading it for free, but I need more of a built up fan base. I don’t want to keep dropping projects that are just going to reach the same point. And it’s like, ‘alright, what’s up from there?’ Right now it’s pretty much planning. Really putting everything in order before we drop anything else as far as a project.
RubyHornet: So in looking at that and the planning, what do you see as your missing piece or what you need to fill in to complete the puzzle. You’re always regarded as someone that makes real songs, lyrically and from a rapping standpoint, you are in the upper echelon. What do you feel is this missing piece?
Scheme: Honestly man, just the, I think it’s just the co-sign. I don’t know if people are afraid to fuck with me, but they respect me, but it’s just like at an arm’s length. I’ve gotten ‘you’re dope,’ from everyone in Chicago that I would care to get it from. But, it’s the extra steps sometimes and putting yourself in those positions or people trying to help you get into that position. I feel like people fuck with me, and they respect what I do. I don’t think that they know what to do with me. It’s kind of like, to the point where I’ve been told, “you rap too good. It’s a bad thing. You’re too good. I can’t put you on this show cause you’re too good a rapper for this show.” That makes no fucking sense to me. Know what I mean? Right now, it’s just about finding that balance man of maintaining the way I approach my music, but maybe dealing with new people, approaching it in a different way and getting it in the hands of people that maybe don’t fuck with me.
In all honesty, I’m a Mexican emcee that does it in a certain way that nobody’s really done it. To me, it’s like, people don’t know how to approach that, but there’s a huge market. You know how many kids out there would want somebody to rep them? And I do that. I’ve seen the love back from that from all of South America and Mexico. You get the worldwide people hitting me up, ‘we like what you’re doing.’ But, I need to get to those places. I need to go out there and tour at those spots so I can really make that connection with them. No one has that bridge right now…