In Chicago’s burgeoning Hip Hop scene, standing out is a challenge. The numerous cliques and crews offer a way to sort through the mass of artists, helping to draw distinctions between the styles and motivations that drive the music. This phenomenon is not a new one, however the idea of a crew had certainly faltered in past years. Artists seemed to see bigger benefits flying solo than they did by bolstering themselves with a solid cast of supporting artists. This is no longer the case. Chicago’s Savemoney and 2008ighties are local evidence, while A$AP Mob and Odd Future are proving it on a national and international scale. It is indeed possible for artists to share the limelight, make great music and be rewarded for the collaboration.
Supreme Regime is a group with plans to pursue this philosophy whole heartedly. When asked what their role in the group was, each of the five members responded in one shape or form that it was “to make the group better.” Hailing from the Northside of Chicago, the group members embody the cultural diversity of the city as a whole, which their debut project Sloane Peterson will reflect. With some big plans for the next month or so, the crew is focusing on the short term. Read on below to get a better idea of the crew, individually and as a whole, and look out for Sloane Peterson arriving May 15th.
RubyHornet: How’d you guys get together in the first place?
Supreme Regime (Paul O.): Jesse and I met in high school. We actually had class together. Jesse was the goofy kid always getting in trouble and they sat him next to me and we just hit it off. We started hanging out and after a while, because we both had this love for Hip Hop, Jesse was like, ‘we should start rapping.’ Smoko Ono was also in school with us and around the same time he got into making beats, bought an Akai and it was just like that, grind mode. As for Loudmouth, I went to middle school with him for sixth to eighth grade, but we were never really that cool until after we graduated from high school. Jesse met him, and told him that he rapped, and he just brought him around and we started writing songs together, rapping, drinking, doing normal shit and we got really close. After a while it was like ‘why don’t we bring him into this’ and see where it goes. And around the same time we met Mulatto Beats. People filtered in over time.
RubyHornet: When did it come down to picking Supreme Regime as the name? How does that relate to yours guys attitude towards music?
Supreme Regime (Paul O.): It was the name before Loudmouth and Mulatto Beats joined. We were just sitting around one night at Jesse’s house and someone came up with the name and when we heard it we were like ‘Oh, shiiittt” that’s it, I forgot who said it but we knew that had to be the name. It’s pretty fitting, I don’t want to say that we’re the best, but we’re good at what we do and we do a lot of different shit. We make beats, the videos are produced in house, the rapping. To a certain point we are sort of a regime. We’re just trying to take what is ours, prove to people that we have talent and get the recognition that we feel we deserve.