[RH Interview] Evidence - A Lesson In Thematics

In their 1998 classic, "Intergalactic", Mike D of the Beastie Boys rapped, "got an A from Moe Dee for sticking to themes." The brag's origins come from Kool Moe Dee's 1988 Rap Report Card, in which he doled out grades to some of the genre's top artists through a variety of categories. It should be no surprise that Kool Moe Dee gave himself the highest ranking, with stars like Run DMC, KRS One, Rakim, LL Cool J, Heavy D, and many others receiving marks.

Today's rap scene lacks any kind of formal report card. Critics and fans alike hand out accolades on the daily via podcasts, website lists, and the almighty social media. However, if Kool Moe Dee decided to do a 2018 edition of his infamous report card, Evidence would have a rock solid case for a perfect score in the themes department as well.

Evidence is nothing if not consistent. Since the late 90's, he has consistently released music through his group Dilated Peoples, his Step Brothers project with Alchemist, or on the production side for a growing list of artists, which has seen him helm entire projects for emcees such as Defari, Planet Asia, and most recently Domo Genesis. But the creme de la creme for Evidence fans is his ongoing "Weatherman" saga that has produced 3 solo LP's and one EP,  starting with The Weatherman in 2007.

Evidence has used these solo projects to explore his own psyche, and get personal with listeners. Whereas stories about self-doubt, the loneliness of being an artist, and the death of his mother don't necessarily fit on Dilated Peoples albums (those also relied heavily on sticking to themes), Evidence has used his solo work as an open space for their exploration. And he has done so exceptionally well, mostly over dark and thumping production handled by a tight-knit crew of producers.

It's been a minute since his last solo LP, 2011's Cats & Dogs. The long absence was not necessarily planned, and is partly the result of personal struggles. Many of those struggles have found their way onto his newly minted Weather or Not, which was released last week to strong reviews and an open-armed fanbase.

"I'm going through the hardest part of my personal life right now," Evidence tells me via phone, roughly a week before the LP drop. The final song on the album centers on the birth of his first son and the child's mother finding out that she has breast cancer while breastfeeding him.  "It's hard to rap about being great when you're going through shit like that."

Evidence worked through the struggles and turned them into a new album, one that will serve as the end of something and the start of something else. Weather or Not is the end of the tightly themed "Weatherman" projects, the same projects that won him fans but also saw him get comfortable in a routine and style of making music. Itching to ditch that comfort and create new challenges for himself, he's onto the next thing, while he doesn't quite know what that is just yet.

"A big question mark after this, which is what I need right now," he tells me. "But to move onto something next, I gotta move into the unknown and either make my best or my worst record. I got to risk it a little bit more next time."

In this new interview, Evidence speaks in-depth about making his new album, maintaining a "brand", the response his new music has garnered, as well as the transparency-element in today's music scene. Check it out below.

Rubyhornet: Do you like doing this part of releasing a project? Do you like doing interviews again?

Evidence: It kind of depends where your life is each time... I don't mind it, I like talking about it. Sometimes you make a record and get so immersed in it that it's nice to do shows or do interviews. You spend so much time with the product alone that it's kind of like going out once in a while. It could be good, could be shitty.

RubyHornet: You have a line on "Jim Dean", 'I went from slow flow, to never the same flow, cause doing part 2 ain’t the reason I came for.' What is the purpose with this LP? I know it's not a part 2, but there is connectivity throughout your catalog.

Evidence: Yeah, all of my solo releases are involved in the weather theme. The Weatherman, Layover, Cats & Dogs, and now Weather or Not, kind of saying 'take it or leave it.' I'm putting it to bed. But in that process - I'm not competing, but I'm definitely competing with myself. You know when you get into a pattern. You know when it's time to close something. Sometimes you listen to what people say, sometimes you don't take it all in and maybe some of it is important. For me, just being innovative when I make a beat or do anything creative, I'm not trying to repeat something. It's kind of a catch 22 that this is a sequel or something that it's still within a theme, but still trying to keep each episode alive so it doesn't turn into "Godfather 3", where it just goes to complete shit. To stay in a pattern with a theme requires focus, to test yourself in that, takes a lot. I'm always trying to push a boundary or try something unfamiliar, even within something as scripted as the Weatherman theme.

RubyHornet: The press release said that this album will conclude the Weatherman Saga, which I thought was interesting. As someone who has listened to your music going all the way back to the The Platform, You've been referencing rain, the weatherman since way back, what does that mean "the end of the Weatherman phase"?

Evidence: The title's from The Platform where I said, 'some think I'm clever, others think I'm the one who makes too many references to weather... or not...' So, I knew. And I knew on "Mr. Slow Flow" when I said, 'umbrellas up, it's raining cats & dogs' that was going to be another solo record. I get inspired by a line and then make it work. There's something about safety about that, that I want to shed. I want to move into uncertainty a little bit more. I still feel like, I'm not imitating by any means, but the emulating thing is still there a little bit for me where I care what Premier thinks. I still care what this rapper would think, or whatever. With these records, with the first one it worked out the same way that Dilated did, I didn't want to make all the beats, because I wanted to focus more on the rhymes. I felt like if I made a beat, I actually made my album. I didn't just make the album cause it's mine.

But I found a formula. I'm around the best producers like The Alchemist, Premier, and all these people. It does make it a little safe when you do that. You know you're going to have bangers. So you gotta be careful with those so you don't make a playlist record instead of an album. I did my best to do that with this one, but it's hard cause I'm trying to throw everything against the wall with this one. I'm trying to make it feel heavy.

I want to move away from that idea, get into more of my own production. I don't know what I'm going to call it. A big question mark after this, which is what I need right now. Because I feel like knowing where you're going might not be as gratifying. I'm not downplaying my record right now, I think I did great. But to move onto something next, I gotta move into the unknown and either make my best or my worst record. I got to risk it a little bit more next time.

RubyHornet:  The album's title is a question, and you pepper the album with questions throughout both internally and externally, what were some the biggest questions you had to deal with in making this project?

Evidence: What is a brand? What is a person? I kind of battled this one a little bit. I'm going through the hardest part of my personal life right now, which is what the last song on the album ("By Your Side Too") is about. I just had a son, and being so excited, and his mom's trying to breastfeed and figuring out she has breast cancer. Here's that wakeup. So I had to be home and I'm trying to rap at the same time. It's hard to rap about being great when you're going through shit like that. Then I had the questions, if you buy a brand - what's a brand you like?

RubyHornet: Adidas.

Evidence: Ok, if you're buying Adidas, you don't know what the owner's wife is going through. Adidas is a brand, moving forward regardless, it's not a human. So I have to be careful sometimes on how to maintain my brand. But my brand is based upon a human that is going through shit right now. It was a little harder for me to figure out this time around. I had to take breaks, cancel tours, do a few things like that. But then sharing, once again made realize that I'm not alone, we're not alone. Humans are fucking fragile, and we're all going through something. So then it opens up different stuff.

RubyHornet: Throughout your music you talk a lot about not accepting compliments and issues with self-doubt. That's present again on this project, but it sounds like there's more peace with it or you are getting better at accepting the compliments.

Evidence: Actually it's the opposite. I might have said this in another interview, so don't get mad, but there was no high-fiving here at mastering or when the label sends you a gift and a notecard.. I've made those kind of records. That didn't happen here. It was taking too long, can't get this right, can't get that right. Things aren't lining up yada, yada, yada. Then it's done and it's like, 'how'd that fucking happen?' I just worked through it. I stayed working through the problems. 'Let the fever feed it,' or whatever they say.

What I am doing is waking up and creating every single day. Maybe that's what it is. I'm lifting weights so-to-speak. So when I go back to the gym I'm not rusty. In that process, your sword gets sharper a little bit, without even realizing it. I take photos, the same thing happens. I look at photos from 3 years ago, 'wow, that thing sucks.' I didn't realize I was getting better as I was moving on. So if you're loving what you're doing, progress comes with it. I do love what I do. This proved it because I do it everyday even under non-ideal terms. There's maybe only one or two other things I'm good at anyway.

Questions always go out as far as how much to share with the public and how much to keep to yourself. It's a fine line, and I got to walk that line sometimes.

RubyHornet: You mention the fans in a number of records. What do your fans give you? What do you hope to give them with this album?

Evidence: Fans give me hope to keep going, and fans give me a lot of stress. But I realized that the stress is from a passionate place, and I accept that. If people like something they want to hear more of it, and they want it to keep going. It's not unwarranted. It's just when you can't defend yourself cause you don't want to share the reason you're being absent, it gets frustrating.

Then I always got to remember, most people when they make their first record, the majority of artists don't have any fans. And they made that record because they made it from their heart, and that's what brought the fans. I try to not think about fans when I'm creating, but be conscious of 'hey, sorry if I'm being shitty for dipping this long, but it's not by -' you gotta realize this is what I do everyday. So if I'm not out, it's for a reason. It's not time or there's something going on, or I'm working on something. I'm working on a better way to communicate with them, whoever they are or may or may not be.

RubyHornet: You have a line, 'Stay elusive, in the process get forgot about.' In this longer absence you just mentioned, did you have fear that people would not be listening?

Evidence: Yeah. Yeah. 'Things I never thought about, try to be elusive, in the process get forgot about.' That's real shit. You try to be mysterious and you put your trench-coat up, you say no to the photo and you turn down the cameo, you pass this up all in the process of trying to be like MF Doom or some shit and then nobody cares. And then after a while people are like, 'oh, you're busy. We'll move on.'

You got to know the camera's not rolling all the time. Trying to be this mysterious, mythical creature can be dangerous sometimes in the business of selling music. If you don't want to be business, you can do that shit all you want. It's scary. You're trying to dip. I'm trying to take photos and not do selfies, artistic shit for merit and you realize people are not paying attention sometimes. It could be frustrating. It could make an artist wonder. So, yeah, I just do what I do until it's time not to. I skated until I hurt myself. I did graffiti until I got arrested. I just keep doing what I do until there's a sign to quit. Right now people are showing love, and it's so rewarding taking a little more time off than an artist should maybe.

RubyHornet: Did you expect such good responses from the videos? It seems like people are genuinely excited? Do you look at those?

Evidence: I made a promise not to read any youtube comments this campaign, so I pride myself that on the three videos out, I have not read one comment on youtube. That's just because I don't need to put myself in the loop right now. Once things calm down and everything's out, I will come back to that. But yeah, I'm really happy. I feel like we're focusing on being us creatively. I feel like visually and the way I represent myself, I'm definitely not trying to even look at the rap game. I feel like I'm way over there, and I don't even know where this fits. But I know when I show it to people, it resonates as art and they fuck with it. It's telling me I'm doing something right, and maybe I shouldn't be trying to fit in so much my whole career, or worry about things. It's been a big growing couple of years for me. I'm humble, but at the same time I got to be cocky when it's time and really put it down when it's time to. There's a time and place for everything and I'm really learning.

RubyHornet: "Half like Mike, Half Like from Pac Div."

Evidence: "Half like Mike, plus half Like from Pac Div." I don't think many people will get that.

RubyHornet: I was not expecting a Pac Div shout out... I want to talk about the features you have, Alchemist, Defari, Krondon, Rakaa, and then Babu produced the title track. I think there’s something important about collaborating with the same people for roughly 20 years. How does it feel to have them in your corner, when making the project is it a question of when they’ll take part instead if they’ll take part?

Evidence: No it's more a puzzle piece. I've done so much reaching out and so much collabing through the history of my career, I was like, 'this one is going to be honest.' From Styles P to Rapsody, everyone was at my house doing shit. Rakaa, Jon Wayne, Slug might have done his verse in Minneapolis but he set it over here and recut it there. This one was just whoever was around, who was fucking with me. A virtue of that is you're going to see those people, those are my real friends. I think Mach Hommy is the only person I haven't known for a long period of time. Him and I have become real close in a short period of time, I'm really happy to have him on there.

RubyHornet: The song with Defari is great. He kind of reminded me a little it of Slick Rick in his first couple bars.

Evidence: "My pistol knows..." We just did that one and had fun. I made the beat right there, we wrote the rhymes right there. That was one of the moments on my album where I didn't feel like I was making it.

RubyHornet: In “10,000 Hours” you talk about not wanting to see your heroes selling verses on Twitter, when you started your music career on Capitol Records it was a like completely different scenario - do you miss that time of MTV videos and selling CDs? You’ve have a unique perspective as someone who started in that era but has also successfully navigated this new one. Do you ever miss that older time period, did things seem simpler?

Evidence: It kind of showed me everything is a lie, which is fucked. Maybe if Twitter was around then I might not have liked half the people I liked, cause I didn't know much about them. I would know their name, their rhyme, their interview they would give me in a real guarded rap type voice and then they'd fly away with their cape and you'd see them once in a while. I didn't get to follow them and go 'fuck, Taco Bell's closed what am I gonna do?'. Lame. You know what I mean, that's the fuck part about this new shit. You'll find out there's a lot of talented people who are just the kind of people you might not want to hang out with. In that era you were protected. You never got to learn, you could focus on the person's craft. You never got to find out what they were like in life.

RubyHornet:  This might be a cliche question, but has parenthood changed your creative process at all?

Evidence: Ummmmm, no not really. I'm making time for everything. I have to be prepared to sacrifice other things, so maybe that's sleep... I feel more inclined to drive to make my son proud of his father and ultimately be able to support him and leave him whatever I can. I found a new motivation to be honest.


RH In The Studio With: WebsterX

When I started rubyhornet damn near 10 years ago, one of the biggest things for me and Virgil was being the studio with artists. Just the idea of "the studio" was a magic place, something like behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz. I remember those early days fondly of being in the studio with artists like Naledge, GLC, Mikkey Halsted, Rhymefest and many others. The studio is where Closed Sessions launched, where I first met a 15 year-old Vic Mensa, and got to watch a hero like Raekwon breakdown his approach to music. I think back on that time, my early and mid-twenties, running around like a kid in the candy store. I had a flip cam, and would just hit record. One of my favorite articles on RH were the in-studio pieces where artists would share their creative process and their new work. Since I'm back at rubyhornet, we want to get back to some of our strengths, and the In The Studio articles are at the top of the list.

For this edition, Cooper Fox hung out with WebsterX at SoundScape Studio. He talked to Web about his new music, life since Daymares, and got a glimpse of music to come. Check out the piece below, and look for more of these on the regular.

RubyHornet: What were you working on today?

WebsterX: I was working on this song with BoatHouse, that is either going to potentially be on his project or something for me. Right now I’m just making a whole bunch of stuff. Yesterday I cut nine demos with Kolar, it was pretty crazy. It was awesome. That’s what I’ve been trying to do lately. A lot of the people I’ve been working with on the West Coast and in the Midwest too, we’ll build stuff in person and it’s never finished. That’s how I like to write too, I don’t want to have to necessarily finish something unless I’m presented with a finished beat. We just build it in layers, I’ll record all these demos and send back vocals to them and then we’ll go back and finish the whole song.

RubyHornet: How do you feel about the idea that some people assume that songs are made very quickly and that there’s not all these moving parts and back and fourths going on behind the scenes?

WebsterX: I vibe with that though because I also write really quickly. If I’m making something, the production that a producer and I will make is usually made in an hour to an hour and a half. I’ve stopped thinking so much when I write and let whatever’s going to come out, come out and just do it.

RubyHornet: When heading into these studio sessions what’s the mood and what’s the ideal situation.

WebsterX: The whole mood is pretty much "go hard." I come into sessions doing one of two things, recording or making music. So if i’m making music, the music will be based off whatever I’m feeling, whatever the conversations are about in the studio, whatever’s happening in that room. And then when I’m recording, there is no mood really besides "let's get this in." I have everything prepared already, all the lyrics are on my iPhone. When I’m writing at the crib, I’m reciting that shit like a thousand times over and over again, that’s how I memorize my music and add more lyrics as I go.

RubyHornet: During these sessions are you working towards a larger project or just making it happen and finding a place for the track later?

Right now the phase I’m in is like, let me just create the music at a steady rate, do it however I want to do it and then whatever it is, I’ll just know when it’s complete. I got that intuition and instinct that I trust. I just allow myself to be smooth with it and know when to get it crackin’. It’s way more relaxed now, which is dope. It's less conceptual, I’m just getting it how I get it. Before I used to try to plan every little step. I was very anal about how everything was presented, never just going with the flow. That was the past and now I’m starting to just let stuff happen in regards to making music. I’m just trying to challenge myself and do it in a different way, it’s a new phase and I’m trying to keep evolving.

RubyHornet: What else has been going on between Daymares and now?

WebsterX: I’ve got a few shows coming up between February and March, I’ll be at SXSW and doing a bunch of stuff with NPR in the next couple months because of the Slingshot program, which is cool as hell. The public radio door is really open for me now so I’m trying to go across the country and do as many public radio things as I can do. AND hopefully get that KEXP in-studio performance. I’ve been obsessed with them for a long time. Hopefully I’ll do a Tiny Desk this year, we’ll see. Beyond that, I’ve been really finding out what it means to be real studio rat. Usually if I’m making music it’s not in a way where I need to create every single day. I like to experience things so I can write about it. But now I’m just like, 'let's get it,' because I’m trying to get this cash up, I’m trying to get everything up. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing this for a long time. Kicking up the pace but still keeping it natural and relaxed.

RubyHornet: How did it feel to be apart of the 2018 class of NPR Slingshot Artists?

It felt really good, it felt full circle because my dad used to play NPR every morning before I’d go to school and that was my first time hearing it. It was a needed step and I like how it’s at the start of the year, it just makes everything more crackin’ for the rest of the year, it shows the pace that we’re going to be on. I had this thing I used to do a lot where I’d like to drop something and wait a little bit. But now how the industry is growing, everything is rapid pace. I’m not fully playing to that because I’ll never fully submit myself to how things are ran, but I’ll play the game a little bit. I’m just excited to see what’s going to happen.


Listen to Curtis Roach's new mixtape Highly Caffeinated

"got sick of class, and started making classics."

Detroit has a long line of great emcees, and those rappers always tend to come with cadences and patterns all their own. From Royce, to Black Milk, Guilty Simpson etc... they all very identifiable voices. A couple weeks ago, I found another Detroit emcee enter into my consciousness - 18 year-old Curtis Roach. While I don't know if Curtis has ever hit the stage at the Shelter, I have feeling if he did, he would fit right in. With jazzy production, and relatable bars, Roach hits the sweet spot for my crates. His video for "Extra Fries" has the rah rah of a 90's video that will get you all up in the nostalgic feels. Roach's "shiny new backpack" appeal is all over his debut mixtape, Highly Caffeinated, which released about a month ago, and deserves repeatable listens.

You can stream  it below, as well as peep the video for "Extra Fries". Look for much much more from Curtis Roach on RH.

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Watch Evidence's New Video for "10,000 Hours" featuring DJ Premier

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argued that it takes 10,000 hours practicing a craft before one becomes a master. Evidence picks up the concept in his new song/video produced by the legendary DJ Premier. Fans will recall that Premier produced "You" off Ev's last LP, Cats and Dogs, and it's great to see the two come together again here.

Utilizing vocals from "Ain't Nuthin' But A G Thang", Evidence appears ready to accept his status as an OG and master at music. Throughout his career, he has discussed his confidence as well as not being able to handle praise. Parts defense mechanism, part insecurities, it is a theme that has ran throughout his solo work.

In "10,000 Hours", Evidence talks about his early days rapping with a deep voice, staying guarded and slowly meeting and becoming peers with his rap heroes. In the glory days of Napster I found and downloaded all kinds of early Dilated Peoples and Evidence records and his voice is noticeably different. If you did the same then you know what I'm talking about. Evidence sounds comfortable and confident on this track, and his fanbase has been calling him one of the best for years. Hopefully now he believes it.

The video is below, and the record is on Weather or Not, which drops 1/26 via Rhymesayers. I can't fucking wait.


Your Old Droog - "Cement 4's" featuring Conway

 

"We up next, no, we got now, that's why they upset."

Simply put, this shit is dope. Bars.


TOWKIO has come a loooong way - drops new video for "Symphony"

I remember when TOWKIO was one of many jumping on stage during early Kids These Days and Chance The Rapper concerts, and dropping soundcloud tracks as Preston San (how many of you got that first Community Service EP?)

Since 2012, he changed his name to Tokyo Shawn, then finally settled on TOWKIO. It was through all the name changes that he also continued to find his voice, and style. He went from a member of the posse jumping around on-stage (that was an ill fucking posse though) to an artist with his own billing, to a headlining and touring artist that inked a deal with Rick Rubin. His visuals have been stellar and creative, and he added another one of those to his catalog today with "Symphony".

The track also comes with an official drop date for his proper debut LP, WWW, releasing on 2/16 via American Recordings/ Republic Records. The LP was executive produced by Lido and also carries production from homies Peter Cottontale and Knox Fortune, amongst others. "Symphony" is an upbeat track with more than a handful of quotable lines. The video shows TOWKIO getting a bit lost in the sauce, or you could say, drowning in the pool. Peep it below.


Na$im Williams + SiSi Dior -Highway (Feat. ShowYouSuck & K'Valentine)

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Back and rejuvenated for 2018, RH is proud to premiere the energetic single "Highway", Produced by Na$im Williams & Frtyz and performed by SiSi Dior, ShowYouSuck, & K'Valentine. Stream the song above and check out what Na$im and Sisi have in store for 2018 with our exclusive interview below:

Alexy: “Have you ever awoken from a nightmare to realize you are not awake” is a very gripping start to a song, what was the purpose behind that phrase? 

SiSi: It’s a couple meanings behind that phrase. I’ve always been plagued by night terrors and sleep paralysis when i wake up from my nightmare I’m still frozen in fear though I’m in my room i can’t move I’m still not fully awake. The other meaning behind the phrase is it’s a part of my project Twighlight Zone I came up with Twighlight Zone because i feel like I’m living in another dimension it’s like my worlds been flipped upside down and I’m just living through it.

Alexy: Tell us a little bit about how your track ‘Highway' came together:
Na$im: The beat for "Highway" was made back in the summer of 2016. SiSi came to the studio with the sample she wanted me to flip and the rest was history. Frtyz co-produced the record. SiSi wound up getting ShowYouSuck and K'Valentine on the track in 2017. I'm very proud of the sound we created.

SiSi: I’m always listening to a variety of music I love this Band “Tycho” I ran into this one track and was like i need Na$im to sample this i hit him up and he & my other Producer Frytz worked together to make a masterpiece. Then i hit up a couple of my friends ShowYouSuck & K’valentine they completed the record and the rest is history.

Alexy: What are your plans following the single? Is there a project in the works? 

Na$im: This is my first release since January 2017. I put out a track featuring my artists from Harlem and Cam'ron. During this past year, I have had the chance to work on so many more records and better understand what I am good at as a composer; my team and I did a lot of studying. SiSi and I are releasing a project in February called "Twlight Zone". We are also releasing the B side later this year. We landed some pretty cool features on these EPs. SiSi is really going to leave her mark this year. I'm better than ever too!

SiSi: I’m planning on dropping my Ep Twighlight Zone late February. I also have another project in the works with Showyousuck set to drop soon.

Alexy: What are you trying to get across with this new project?

Na$im: We just really want our supporters and the music world to know we are here to stay. SiSi and I have only advanced ever since we teamed up. We are confident in our abilities as musicians and our new marketing plans. We've been working with a small yet dedicated team. The work will definitely show.

SiSi: I just want people to understand who I am I want the audience to live in my shoes. Everything is not always as glamorous as I️t may seem. I want to be respected for my Craft and showcase my talent in another light. New sounds New wave.


KAMI- PAYLOAD

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KAMI rings in the new year with a jubilant new video for "PAYLOAD". With his excitable delivery and a synth heavy instrumental the track is a certified banger. Starting off with a grainy IPhone video the video morphs into a behind the scenes experience showcasing KAMI and the Savemoney crews carefree antics. The song is a celebration, toasting to coming from nothing, and making it in this cruel world.

A perfect mood for 2018. Listen above.