Naledge talks grad school applications, finding his love of Hip Hop and the inspiration behind Land of Make Believe in his latest RH blog.
It is interesting how much time flies in New York simply due the fact you have to take the train or a taxi to get where you are going. (I am currently on my way home from a studio session…)
I have definitely enjoyed myself thus far on my trip, but I am strictly focused on getting as much new music done as possible while I have Double O around to take beats from. I am sure people have seen me on twitter commenting on how I had to fall out of love with Hip Hop to fall back in love with my participation in it.
Though I never told anyone, I seriously considered falling back from recording and going back to graduate school before the The In Crowd’s release. I took a lot of the necessary steps but I still felt hollow and unfulfilled when I stopped recording. I came to realize that I hated the “plasticness” of the industry and that I started to equate it with the art itself.
During the making of this new album, I have striven harder than ever to simply make a definitive work that I will enjoy performing for you all, and that will be a real snapshot that will stand the test of time. I think a lot of people take the idea of being an “artist” lightly and confuse it with “con artist”. My aim is not to fool you into believing something in order for me to get rich. My aim is to pour my emotions on every song in hopes that you believe in me enough to support my habit of creation. The best thing that happened to me in 2008 and 2009 is that I saw who was real and who was fake around me. In the process of that I saw who I was and what I am made of.
This industry is often no more than a smokescreen for a lot of foul and fake s**t, and with that the title Land of Make Believe was born. This album is the bridge between where I’m at and where I wish to be, in addition to my daily survival in this maze the rap game can be. Just know that when you listen to this new project you are hearing my heart…and the soul of a man who has come along way to bring his art to you and your ears. Victory for our project is a victory for hip hop. Ok..I’m at my stop. Talk to you guys later…lol