RH First Look: Sierra Sellers
The next edition to our RH First Look series is with Sierra Sellers, an upcoming singer/songwriter from Pittsburgh, PA. Sierra's music blends acoustic textures along with neo-soul and R&B influences to create a smooth lo-fi sound. With a self titled project and a collection of singles out, it's exciting to see what she has in store. We sat down with her to discuss growing up in Pittsburgh, musical influences, and what we should be on the lookout for in the future. Check out our interview below:
rubyhornet: For any of our readers not familiar, who is Sierra Sellers?
Sierra Sellers: If you were to meet me and spend time with me you would learn I’m very kind, humble and shy. Then when you really get to know me, I’m super goofy. I have a lot love for music and kids. I am really ambitious and have a business mind. I’m still trying to figure out who I am.
rubyhornet: You started singing in the church at a young age. Was there anyone that encouraged you to begin doing this?
Sierra Sellers: No one had to encourage me to sing in church. Singing in church was something I felt compelled to do. It’s not a forced moment, it’s something that naturally happened. Singing for god is an entire different feeling than singing for yourself. It’s hard to explain. But you feel it throughout your entire body and you don’t have to think about it.
rubyhornet: How did the environment at the church, growing up in Sewickley (Pittsburgh), and life in general impact the music you were listening to growing up?
Sierra Sellers: I had a unique upbringing. My mother passed away when I was five. My dad worked late on the weekends to take care of my sister and I. I would spend weekends with either my mom or dads side of the family. I’m half black and half white. One weekend I would spend with my mom’s side which listened to a lot of Neo-soul, R&B, and Hip-hop. Then with my dad’s side we listened to strictly country or Led Zeppelin. The contrast and exposure of genres was interesting. I would go from Johnny Cash to Jodeci in a day.
rubyhornet: You were originally going to attend college on a basketball scholarship. Did you end up going to college or were you fully focused on music at this point?
Sierra Sellers: Growing up in my environment, I knew I wanted to go to college because I wanted to shape my own life. I knew I had to make it through an academic scholarship or through sports. I got a basketball scholarship, but so much time was concentrated on basketball and not music. When it was time to commit for a full ride or the D3 offer, I took the D3 offer. This is because if I quit basketball they couldn’t take away the scholarship. I played for a month and then a quit, telling the coach I spent so much time playing basketball to get to college, and now that I’m here I want to focus on music. I still hoop for fun.
rubyhornet: How does the creative process start for you when working on something new?
Sierra Sellers: I am a Pisces which makes me a dreamer. I typically start with the beat. I close my eyes and a movie plays in my mind while I narrate it. The first idea I have I usually go with. Sometimes it’s just one word and I’ll create a word web around that.
rubyhornet: What does stepping outside the box mean to you?
Sierra Sellers: Challenging myself to try things I’m capable of but that I was afraid to do. Growing up in the church you hear amazing singers with amazing voices that no one can touch. I don’t think I have a voice like that. Sometimes that insecurity holds me back. I like to be in the studio with people that push me in the vocal performance aspect. Song writing for different genres like pop was super interesting and challenging also.
rubyhornet: The percussion on songs like, “Too Good” and “Be Wise” have a traditional Hip-hop influence to my ear. What other factors effect how your music sounds?
Sierra Sellers: I never listened to the radio growing up, so when people say, oh that song came out when I was in middle school or high school, I don't relate in the same way. I listened to Lauryn Hill, Farside, A Tribe Called Quest, and all these older 90’s artists. I found Prince and Michael Jackson at an older age. I still couldn’t tell you what the number 1 song is right now. I hate when the radio plays the same 5 songs.
rubyhornet: What should fans expect in the near future?
Sierra Sellers: I plan to put out a project. My intention is put it out in the fall. I hate trapping myself by saying what’s next. I don’t like to pressure myself or anyone I work with by doing that. The time and freedom I have right now to build myself is great.
First Look: KOTA The Friend
The 25 years young Brooklyn native, KOTA The Friend, makes his first appearance on our pages today. With three solid projects, a collection of singles, videos, and more, the independent rapper has been on our radar for a minute. He will be playing at Reggies in Chicago on August 23rd.
KOTA manifests the classic New York style into a California paradise. Palm trees and sandy beaches contrast the depression and real life problems that can be faced when coming to age in New York. Check out our full interview below:
rubyhornet: For any of our readers not familiar, who is KOTA The Friend?
KOTA The Friend: KOTA The Friend is an artist in the purest sense of the word. I believe that while art can be monetized, it will outlive any industry. It will always be important. I’m a musician. I’m a classically trained trumpet player and I taught myself guitar, bass, and keyboard. I’ve been writing poetry since I could remember which made the transition to rapping seamless. I’m a self taught pro - cinematographer and video editor. I’ve shot hundreds of music videos for artists from New York City to California to Japan. I love creating and I create as much as I can.
rubyhornet: You were born and raised in New York, but you mention California a lot. What do these places mean to you?
KOTA The Friend: For a long time New York has represented some dark times in my life that I wanted to escape from. Out here on the East Coast we were constantly talking about getting out of the city and moving to LA where the sun is always shining and the palm trees tower over highways. My first 2 projects were mainly about escaping to find something new and better, so that’s why I reference California a lot.
New York is home, it’s where things get real for me. I’ve recently started to express my feelings towards my hometown and I plan on telling the stories of me and my friends in my new music + the album.
rubyhornet: What’s your definition of a friend?
KOTA The Friend: A friend is someone that you can depend on. A friend is someone that you can bring the worst news to and they can make you feel like its going to be okay. A friend will love you for the person you are and doesn’t judge you for being imperfect.
rubyhornet: Your lyrics are very honest. How do you approach writing a new song?
KOTA The Friend: Every song I write is true to my experience. Almost every time I begin with the music. I hear an instrumental and I get to writing, singing melodies and rapping gibberish. Then once I get in the groove I put my life onto the page until I’ve painted a vivid enough picture. I always tell the truth in my music because that’s the only way I can connect. You can tell when people are disingenuous so I keep it real.
rubyhornet: The growth from Palm Tree Liquor to Anything is evident. If you could go back in time and tell yourself anything while recording Palm Tree Liquor, what would that be?
KOTA The Friend: Thank you for noticing the growth! I honestly wouldn’t tell myself anything because my life is so beautiful now and I wouldn’t want to mess with the natural order. I was in such a dark place when I created Palm Tree Liquor and even Paloma Beach. Every day I’m just grateful that I’m no longer in that space and I’m reaching more people with my music.
rubyhornet: You speak on depression and suicide on past projects. What advise would you give to someone who feels boxed in due to their mental health? Has music helped you get out of this stage?
KOTA The Friend: It’s not always easy trying to get someone out of depression. A depressed person can often be their own worst enemy. In my personal experience dealing with depression, I felt alone like many others. I felt like a failure, like I didn’t matter, like even God was against me and I hated myself. I turned my life around when I started to be grateful for the little things I did have. I would tell a depressed person that they are worth so much and that they are in control even if they don’t feel like they are. Even if you’ve been making the same mistakes for 5 years you can decide to live your life different from this day on. You don’t have to be the negative things that “they” say or think you are. I would tell a depressed person to take time to get to know the real you. If you don’t like something about yourself you can change it but you have to be honest with yourself about who you are and then make adjustments. No matter what, don’t let the thoughts of others define you. They are dealing with their own struggles and imperfections. On top of all of that, IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU. Other people are struggling mentally and it’s important to understand this. Be kind to everyone no matter what.
rubyhornet: As an independent artist is it a goal of yours to become signed?
KOTA The Friend: Not really. I like being indie. It’s super fun. But I don’t know what the future holds. I’m making music, feeding my family and I get to be around my son all the time so I’m happy right here
rubyhornet: What are some plans from here on out?
KOTA The Friend: Just keep making music, touring, experiencing new things, eating healthy, being a better person and keep showing my people love. That’s it.
RH First Look: PK Delay
I had the pleasure of sitting down with PK Delay a few weeks ago while I was back in my home town of Pittsburgh, PA. It was a solid 90 degrees outside which felt more like 100. After pulling up on Carson Street and walking over to one of his friends crib we sat down and started chopping it up.
rubyhornet: For our readers not familiar with PK Delay, what can you tell us about yourself?
PK Delay: I’m a rapper. I play video games. Born and raised in the Hill District (Pittsburgh).
rubyhornet: How old are you?
PK Delay: 24
rubyhornet: What was the attention like you received from rapping in highschool?
PK Delay: I was clowned for the first few years before people started taking me serious. It wasn’t genuine hate, just on my ass for wanting to be a rapper.
rubyhornet: Did other people rap in you school?
PK Delay: Yeah, I met Pet Zebra when I was in 6th or 7th grade. We best friends now. Some of his friends from his high school started rapping with us. We started recording at a home studio. The quality and production was decent so we sounded good. My father is a gospel singer and my grandfather is a drummer. It’s in my blood.
rubyhornet: Were you spending money on music at this point in time?
PK Delay: Yeah I was working at Taco Bell. Whatever I got from my check would be spent on music. We were recording our own shit, so we would be grabbing better speakers, interfaces, etc. I know how to mix well, but tend to head to other studio’s more now.
rubyhornet: What’s it like to be an artist from Pittsburgh and obtaining a platform?
PK Delay: We got a lot of rappers around here. Some of them suck. Some of them are alright.
rubyhornet: Where is most of your audience coming from?
PK Delay: 2012-2014 had a lot of growth on my social media. A good mix of the city (Pittsburgh) and other places like Atlanta and the west coast have been showing love online.
rubyhornet: Near the end of “On That” a saxophone comes in and the track fades out. Who produced this track? Who are some producers you have been rocking with?
PK Delay: Jay Card, he works out of I.D. Labs. My bro laid the saxophone down live at the studio. I wanted some live instrumentation on their, so bro came through and played the saxophone to a flow I had.
rubyhornet: How would you classify yourself?
PK Delay: Emotional. Comfortable. I be speaking my mind.
rubyhornet: Would you consider your fashion similar?
PK Delay: Yeah. I rock whatever. Wear my hair however. Tattoos.
rubyhornet: Tell me about disappearing off Twitter and Instagram for the past few months.
PK Delay: I be dealing with anxiety and stress. Sometimes I be too tapped into my phone. Scrolling all day. 20 mins to an hour goes by and I'm like what did I accomplish just scrolling? I'm tapped into everyone else and I just needed to take some time for me. The break felt great. I had to get back on it now for the music.
rubyhornet: Plans from here on out?
PK Delay: Keep dropping music and videos. Got a few videos in the cut. Exploring different lanes with the music. Rap is boring to me. It’s easy. I want to try some more singing type stuff.
[youtube id="fHa0nDmRziw"]
[RH Interview] Meyhem Lauren: More Pressure
Meyhem Lauren loves turkey. I know this because I just spent last night binge watching episodes of "F*ck That's Deicious", the VICELAND show in which Meyhem Lauren travels all over the world with Action Bronson, The Alchemist, and Big Body Bes. Meyhem serves somewhat as the straight-man on the show. If Bronson is the foodie extremist, displaying an appetite that possibly only he alone can maintain, Meyhem is the regular guy that shows everyone else, 'hey, maybe these brains aren't so bad to try after all.'
In his rap music, Meyhem exists in a similar manner. One of my favorite emcees when it comes to making straight-forward rap music. Wordplay, metaphors, grimey shit, beautiful shit, that's Meyhem's music, which most recently took the form of an album (Gems From The Equinox) and EP (Frozen Angels) with the legendary DJ and producer Muggs.
"Mey raps. Mey is a monster," Muggs tells me over the phone on an early morning in late June (the same morning Muggs released this with DOOM and Freddie Gibbs).
The story has been told before, the one about how Muggs and Meyhem met during a session at Alchemist's studio, Muggs threw him some beats, some time went by, he threw him more beats, and they decided to do a project together. That became the 2017 release, Gems From The Equinox. They had so many songs done that they came back with the Frozen Angels EP, which you may have missed amidst all the Drake/Pusha/Kanye hoopla. And if you did miss it, stop what you're doing and go listen.
The shits is tremendous. And it's just the start. While those releases were predominantly completed over email, the two have since been in the studio together regularly. They are now shaping music hand in hand, and both say it's their best work together yet.
"At first I was just throwing him tracks you know, and he would pick what he likes and then he rapped on them," Muggs says about the early material. "But now we are dialed into a sound. So even the stuff we're [now] doing doesn’t sound anything like either the Frozen Angels or the Gems. It’s just like, now we're in studio everyday, and just like, figuring it out. Now I'm really dialed into the new sound to make him shine even more."
The bond between Muggs and Meyhem was strengthened by their shared aesthetics, musical preference for Mobb Deep and CNN. And while Muggs is so closely associated with LA Hip Hop thanks to his work with Cypress Hill and the Soul Assassins, both he and Meyhem actually grew up Queens. Oh, and they both love food.
"When we first started working it was kind of like, he’s Muggs, I’m Mey," says Meyhem about their early relationship. "But now it’s like, you know, we're friends, we're fam, that’s my man. We rode around laughing and throwing lobster tails on the grill."
Read on more my full interview with Meyhem Lauren as he talks about working with Muggs, his style of Hip Hop, and how all the success of "Fuck That's Delicious" only makes him want to rap more.
https://youtu.be/l3RW2hVR5Uk
rubyhornet: I believe that Frozen Angels came out the same week or shortly before the Nas album and in the middle of all the G.O.O.D. Music releases, and the Pusha and Drake beef, and then you got the 6ix 9ine's trolling shit. Did you guys think at all about where this project would sit with what is happening in Hip Hop overall right now?
Meyhem Lauren: We don’t ever think about that. We just think about what we want to put out, what we wanna represent and drop it. That’s it, you know?
rubyhornet: Yeah, he was saying too that you guys have been able to work more in person on new music, and that’s helped just making him better in working with you and creating more music. From your standpoint how has the relationship gone specifically working with Muggs?
Meyhem Lauren: I mean it sounds better. When we first started working, it was kind of like he’s Muggs, I’m Mey. But now, it’s like, you know we're friends, we're fam, that’s my man. We rode around laughing and throwing lobster tails on the grill. And I get what you said, like he knows more what beats suit me. Like I’ll be listening if the beat is ill or not. But that might not always be for me, like the beat that’s ill could be for B-Real for GZA or for someone else, may not fit with what I got. But now he just knows right away like, 'Yo, this is a Mey style beat.' We gotta have that chemistry, and that was crazy. In the last couple of days we knocked out 5 songs from the next project that are so crazy, they literally blow away everything we ever done before. We are just moving in the right direction.
rubyhornet: That’s exactly what he was saying and he also mentioned you guys grilling all the time.
Meyhem Lauren: Yeah (*Laughs*)
rubyhornet: Also speaking of that, you do work with different producers and are constantly writing and making music. The way that he might have a specifically beat for you, do you save any kind of style or is there any kind of subject or rhyme style that you wanna save for Muggs? And think to yourself yeah this is what I’m going to use on the Muggs project vs. something you do solo or Harry Fraud stuff. Is there any 'Muggs' kind of rap?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, not in particular. Not where I’ll like plan to save a subject for Muggs, but Muggs makes dark beats. So it kind of brings darker rhymes out of me. Does that makes sense?
rubyhornet: Yeah that definitely makes sense.
Meyhem Lauren: Me and Muggs recently have been doing some up tempo beats. And I didn’t still try to strictly stay dark on that, cause that wouldn’t make sense. So it’s based on the beat, the beat brings the rhymes out.
rubyhornet: Yeah, obviously you’ve heard about Cypress Hill before you met Muggs. And I’ve read and seen interviews with you talking about just listening Cypress Hill’s music as a kid and a being big fan of Hip Hop. I’m curious if you had any just preconceptions of what it might be like to work with Muggs or even as a kid or aspiring rapper in your teens? The same way of someone who wants to be a baseball player might think about visualizing hitting a home run off Randy Johnson, had you visualized what a recording session with Muggs might be like?
Meyhem Lauren: No, the whole relationship started organically. I met Muggs at a recording session, I was at Alchemist's house. Working on completely different music, he came through, had some beats. He’s Muggs, so he knows about raps man. He was playing beats, and I had the opportunity to jump on a Muggs beat, like why wouldn’t I? And we just moved from there on. That was day one, day one was the session. We just got right to the work.
rubyhornet: Got you, Got you. I think I read a bio of yours that starts with….
Meyhem Lauren: Yo, I hate all these bios floating around (*Laughs*). I don’t even know who is writing these things? The only one good thing I can say is there’s a bio floating around where they shave like 5 years off my age. I’m not sure why, but I’ll leave that alone. But I don’t know what’s going on yo, I don’t even know what you’re going to say right now... But there’s a bunch of unauthorized bios all over the internet, I don’t even know how to fix that.
rubyhornet: Got you, I did see one that said you were born in 1989. And I was like I don’t know…
Meyhem Lauren: Yea exactly, I’ll take that (*Laughs*). I’ll keep it 100, I’m ‘83, but if you wanna say ‘89 hey.. Who am I to point that out. Everything else is wrong.
rubyhornet: Exactly, I read that and then I saw you talking about listening to Cypress Hill in like middle school or high school, like, 'Damn this motherfucker must’ve skipped like 5 grades. For Cypress Hill to come out while he was in high school'... But I read something where it described you, but I don’t know who wrote it, but it described you as a Queens based rapper that represents a genre of Hip Hop that is near extinction. And I thought that was interesting if you started your bio like that, maybe someone else wrote it. Do you feel that way?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, you know what’s crazy? It’s actually a piece of a very old bio that I think that I wrote or someone else wrote. But it’s like someone just took all these bios and put them in the blender, and added things and put things that were never said. But yeah, I’m cool with that, and that does makes sense to be honest.
rubyhornet: So what does that mean to you? Why do you feel like it’s going through extinction? Why do you represent this genre so much?
Meyhem Lauren: I’m just playing my part. I’m just actually doing what I like. And I don’t think it’s necessarily going through extinction, maybe in the mainstream of the public eye it is. But it’s actually stronger… from what I feel. And I’m not talking about myself, because a lot of dope stuff that fits the category of that genre that has been on the rise lately. Like I said, it’s not like a niche thing or something like, 'Oh, I’m trying to be cool.' I'm really making what I like, I’m making what I’m listening to. Obviously it’s an updated version because of whatever year it is. But I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do, you know?
rubyhornet: Yeah, does having the success with the TV and cooking take any pressure, in your eyes, off making music? Does it go into this attitude of letting you making what you like?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, my thing is 'more pressure.' Cause it’s like, I gotta remind dudes that I still rap. Matter of fact not just that I rap, but I rap first and foremost... I’m Meyhem Lauren, so it actually gives me more pressure to stay on top of my music.
rubyhornet: That’s interesting man. That’s an interesting concept, and I think that’s probably part of why you’re such a good rapper and artist. Is that you kept that mentality, where it might be easy for someone to be like 'I’m on TV, I have these other things. I’ll let that ride.' But you're attitude, now listening back to the music, it makes a lot of sense. So I think that’s dope.
Meyhem Lauren: You know something crazy? Beyond TV, I don’t know if you know, but I’m the voice of the World Cup. All week I have been doing voice ovesr for the World Cup. I’m at Fox everyday, updating games, and screaming and yeah doing crazy things. I just threw that in there cause I really wanna do voice overs now, I wanna cook food, but... I still wanna rap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKJsEXVsftE
rubyhornet: Yeah, I saw that on your twitter like people were asking is this Meyhem Lauren on the World Cup Games? Are you a soccer fan or did they pick you for your voice?
Meyhem Lauren: I’m a soccer fan now. I love soccer. It saved my life.
rubyhornet: I also saw on your twitter that someone said something about you being a famous rapper and you replied, 'I appreciate that, but I’m just a regular guy from Queens.' And I feel like that sums up a lot. And is part of the reason that Muggs wanted to fuck with you. He said first and foremost you’re just a cool dude. Is that at the heart of how you see yourself or your identity?
Meyhem Lauren: Yeah, basically. Regular guy from Queens, it’s not like necessarily like average Joe regular, but regular meaning, I’m a certain type of person from Queens and there’s a bunch of people like me. That are in whatever. I’m just a regular guy from Queens, bro. I have been a rapper and done a bunch of things and I'm grateful for that. But that’s not who I am necessarily only.
rubyhornet: When we first worked with Bronson and brought him out here for our party and Closed Session, he said the exact same thing, and when we were just talking he was like 'I’m just a regular guy, I make music, but i’m just a regular dude from Queens.' That seems like that's a key part of your bond. And I know that you guys are real friends from like 12 years old.
Meyhem Lauren: Yea that’s my man forever.
rubyhornet: Outside of the Muggs, you said that you guys have another album that you’re working on now. Is there any other music or things that you want people aware of?
Meyhem Lauren: In between Gems from the Equinox and Frozen Angels I put out an album with Fraud.
rubyhornet: Yep Glass right?
Meyhem Lauren: Glass, yep and I loved that. It was a bunch of issues on the back end like it took while to get out so we kind of just threw it out there. But the feedback’s been incredible. Dropped a video with me and Conway. And I’m still gon’ drop one or two videos from that project.
[RH Interview] Raekwon on the meaning of Wu-Tang, getting out of Staten Island, and his motivation to be a great emcee.
"Exactly, way before Disney," Raekwon says about his early days venturing into Manhattan and hitting Union Square to catch burgeoning Hip Hop shows and parties featuring the likes of Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J and others. There's a laugh from the crowd, and Raekwon himself chuckles a little bit realizing the stark contrast between the grimy Times Square of the 80's vs the tourist haven now home to the naked cowboy, a large M&M's store, and yes, a plethora of Disney characters.
Raekwon is one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan and a certified Hip Hop luminary. The immense achievements of the group and their beloved status within Hip Hop and music culture is not something that he takes for granted or holds haphazardly. "I’m always going to protect that flag," he tells the crowd, gathered at Chicago's Soho House for an intimate conversation with the Chef. "That flag is what got me here today. I probably wouldn't ever came to Chicago if it wasn’t for that flag. I probably wouldn't be able to take care of my mom today if it wasn't for that flag. I wouldn’t have kids probably, and they wouldn’t be able to go to great schools if it wasn't for that flag. So of course I'm going to hold that flag with dignity and integrity every time."
Decked out in a clean pair of Jordan's and matching Jordan brand shorts and fleece, Rae is dressed for the occasion, "I'm on my Chicago shit," he shouts emphatically to kick things off. This talk, one that took place on May 18th, has been years in the making, possibly since Rae rapped almost fortuitously, "catch me up in Soho, it's a no-no," on our CS classic "Keep It Politics", recorded during a weekend in the fall of 2010. It was roughly a year earlier when I first met the Chef at rubyhornet's original office and he dubbed me a "Baby Howard Cosell". I still have the Cuban Linx II posters that he signed for me using the same nickname proudly framed in my office, just above the desk where I am writing right now.
Over the course of an hour, we traced his path from Staten Island to legendary status, including how he found the RZA and used music a way to stay out of trouble, to making his mother proud through his success in the Clan. "The first thing I was thinking was that I could go back home and tell my mom I got a job. That was more important to me than anything. Just to go back and tell her, 'look your son ain't no knucklehead,' you know what I mean. 'Your son got something going on.'
Indeed, The Chef still has things going on. In 2017 he released his most recent studio LP, The Wild and has been touring regularly ever since. It brings me back to something he told me way back during that wild weekend in 2010, "As long as I know that I can keep it pushing, and keep my pen where it need to be, I'ma stop when I want to stop." Those words still hold true today, and if anything was clear from our talk at Soho House, it's that The Chef still has the passion and hunger to be a great emcee and he ain't stopping anytime soon.
Read our full interview below.
rubyhornet: What’s up man?
Raekwon: Peace!! I’m on my Chicago shit. What’s good!!
rubyhornet: You got the Jordans on?
Raekwon: Yeah of course.
rubyhornet: Whenever I go to New York and I step off the plane, the air hits me and it smells a certain way, driving into the city, I start seeing the buildings and I get an energy. And I always wondered, as someone not from Chicago, do you get an energy when you land here? Is there a Chicago energy?
Raekwon: Of course! Of course it’s in the air. You feel it in the air that you’re in Chicago you know? And I'm just being honest, it’s like… this is definitely one of my top cities. So I love coming out here.
rubyhornet: I want to start at the beginning with you. When you started to discover Hip Hop, where you were in you life? Was this around the time you formed the Baby Crash Crew?
Raekwon: I didn’t form the crew. I was just apart of it and it was really some neighborhood shit, you know? It was like hanging out with friends that you grew up with. And we came up with that name, BCC. BCC stands for, like you said, Baby Crash Crew. We was running around getting into shit, getting into trouble, but it more started from going to school together. We all went to school together, our jurisdictions was in the same area you know? Our district rather.
rubyhornet: So at what point did you discover Hip Hop and rap music? Was it the Sugarhill Gang? What was kind of that first thing? Because I heard you talk about Hip Hop acting as almost a magnet. You were just magnetized towards this music and culture. What was it that was grabbing you?
Raekwon: You know, just the neighborhood, watching the older brothers do they thing. They was like our big brothers and father figures and they would do a lot of hanging out. They would break out, they would be going to like block parties in other neighborhoods and that became a thing. Just to see what the older dudes was doing and then emulate what they were doing. So we know that they going to a party, we wanted to go too. You know, so that’s when Hip Hop was really, I'd say for me, say around 82’ or 83 I was a kid, and just growing up in the neighborhood and watching the older dudes. Everything they did, from what they wore, to where they was going, to what they ate. My generation of cats that was living in the neighborhood, we was just wanting to follow the procedure and do the same shit. And I remember at that time, we used to go and hang out on 42nd street up in Manhattan. And that was the place to be, that was the shit for us. Like you get on the ferry, you go across, jump on the train, take that up to 42nd street. And you see the bright lights and all that, and the movie theater; $5 a movie. And you see all kinds of crazy shit, crazy people you know. Triple X theaters and shit you know all that type of stuff.
rubyhornet: Time Square before Disney.
Raekwon: Yea exactly. Way before Disney.
rubyhornet: I got you. Def Jam was a big inspiration for what we do at Closed Sessions. And I only got to experience that through old music videos and going back through releases, but you grew up around the time that I only read about, those classic Tunnel parties were happening, Danceteria etc with artists like Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J etc. Where you going to those parties? Where you at those concerts?
Raekwon: You know what, there was a place that we used to go to called Union Square. And Union Square was like a nightclub, but it was like ill space, there was nothing fly about it. It’s just like a big recreational spot, but everybody used to go there from different boroughs. So that was one of the places that we knew that was hot. And I’ve seen many guys perform there from Eric B and Rakim, to LL, to Kane all of them and that’s when it really became interesting to us to go out and have fun like that.
rubyhornet: They say a lot of people, their first song or their first artistic expression is kind of like imitating someone they like. And so many artists I know have told me, 'Yeah I used to rap Wu-Tang Clan records in the mirror.' Who were you rapping in the mirror when you were first starting? Did you have that phase?
Raekwon: Oh yeah definitely! I mean, you know, we was on some Run-DMC shit you know, with the Adidas.
rubyhornet: Were you Run or DMC?
Raekwon: I think I was probably DMC. Wearing the glasses, that’s when Gazelles was out. I don't know if you all are familiar with those glasses though. But around that time if you had a pair of those on, you was important you know. So everybody in my neighborhood would be wearing those glasses.
rubyhornet: How far from that, you imitating Run-DMC, to when you became The Chef? Did you get that nickname from your crew?
Raekwon: The crew gave me that, you know. And around the time that we came out, Me and RZA were kind of already hanging out. I used to hang with RZA when I didn’t want to get in trouble from being in the neighborhood all the time, you know. It was like, you would either sell drugs or get in trouble, or do something different. RZA was always the type of dude who was moving through the city a lot. I would hang out with him because it was like a day for me, it would give me something to do. Like, 'Oh, I'm gonna fuck with him, you know, he’s a good dude. He’s on some musical shit.' And I would just hang out with him. But even before hanging out, we used to go rob and all that. Like stealing clothes out of certain department stores. You know, just getting into shit but also getting out of shit too. We would jump on the train, jump the turnstiles, and just hang out up in Harlem. Then we would run up in Macy's, and look at clothes. And the next thing you know I would see some slippers, I'm like 'Oh shit, I think I can catch that.' You know what I mean? We was just into that, we was just having fun.
But on top of that, music was always something that was important to us. And at that time RZA had knowledge of self, he was in the Nation of Islam. So all of that was infatuating to me. It was taking me somewhere. And I’m like, 'Yo, I could learn a lot from being around this dude.' And that was what really magnetized me to him. He had lot going on to be so young. I already knew he was smart. And he’s just like a big brother to me, you know. That’s how it was. I didn’t have no big brothers at the time. So you look at people around you and you say to yourself 'he got big brothers. His brothers is doing good. They look good, they ain't getting into shit, they work for they money, they're messengers. But they're also deep in the music.' So I kind of looked up to RZA as a big brother too. He took me in like that, and it was like, 'yo come hang out with me.' I knew his mom, his mom knew my mom. And after that I knew his cousins, Ol' Dirty and them, and we just became close.
rubyhornet: It’s crazy how there were so many of you, nine emcees/producers in the Wu-Tang Clan. And all are solid, and it's not like you hung up signs on bulletin boards with the “looking for rappers” and taking names type thing. You all kind of were drawn to each other.
Raekwon: It’s called growing up with n***as in the neighborhood. It’s like when you grow up with dudes in the neighborhood, they become your brothers. And you would start to see who’s really down for you. I came from Brooklyn before I came to Staten Island. And me and U-God’s moms, our moms went to school together in Brooklyn. So don’t ask me how they made it out there, they knew each other and I guess it was just our parents wanted to migrate somewhere that was a little safer. And yea, you know, everyone just went to school, snapping on the back of the bus, listening to music and really just growing up as kids.
rubyhornet: I want to talk about the Wu-Tang a bit. You told Sway that you are very protective of the W. You said 'This shit is serious to me. This thing saved me.' Has your relationship to the W changed over time?
Raekwon: Well you know WTC, Wu Tang Clan, those are the 3 initials in my whole name. You know, I'm not afraid to tell y'all my government name is Cory Todd Woods. And I was like, 'Oh shit.' I started dreaming from that. Like too much going on here for it not to be a reality. I’m always going to protect that flag. That flag is what got me here today. I probably wouldn't never came to Chicago if it wasn’t for that flag. I probably wouldn't be able to take care of my mom today if it wasn't for that flag. I wouldn’t have kids probably and they wouldn’t be able to go to great schools if it wasn't for that flag. So of course I'm going to hold that flag with dignity and integrity every time.
rubyhornet: You have one of the most memorable openings in the history of music with the "C.R.E.A.M. start. 'I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side, staying alive was no jive.” I heard that everybody knew that when "C.R.E.A.M." was finished it was like the touchdown. We got one.
Raekwon: We still was in the hood. Wu-Tang was starting to be heard worldwide from "Protect Ya Neck". Once that took off, we all was like, 'oh shit.' It was more just getting an opportunity to do something that we felt we was good at. That's the first thing. So we wasn’t thinking about the stardom yet, we wasn’t driven by that yet. We was more driven about reputation. When you think about certain boroughs, you got Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx. But nobody ever really talked about Staten Island. As kids coming up, if we know that we like to travel and go places, yea I've been to Queens, I’ve been to Brooklyn, I'm saying to myself like, 'yo it's no different from over there where I'm at.' But a lot of places we would go, people wouldn’t talk about Staten Island. So that made us angry. That made us angry back home like 'the fuck? We part of the borough too.' So now we got on some shit like 'Ok, since y'all ain't acting like y'all representing our borough, anybody that come through the borough we’re flipping you now.' It’s like, you gotta get beat up so you can take that back to wherever you at.
So it was more just being frustrated and at the same time music, Hip Hop was just big, like I said, we was those guys that was breaking out, getting off Staten Island to go party other places. So you know, even today when I see a lot of dudes from my neighborhood and I say, 'Damn you don’t go nowhere, you don’t go nowhere, you don’t go nowhere, you don’t go nowhere, you stay right here, you don’t go nowhere…. He the only one that leave, he the only one that go somewhere.' My generation of dudes in the neighborhood, we always was down to leave. We was always like 'Yo come on, we going over here.' So we would see a lot early, and dudes from the neighborhood didn’t see that. So we was really determined to let people know what Staten Island is about. And the music was just going to be the outlet for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG62vuHd0dE
rubyhornet: I’ve talked to a lot of artists, and some get tired of their biggest song. Do you ever get tired of performing "C.R.E.A.M. or anything like that?
Raekwon: I do it for the fans because I know that that's something that they wanna hear that they can relate too. That’s like going to see Michael Jackson and he don’t sing "Rock With You" or "Wanna Be Starting Something". Certain records as artists we have to sing. I can’t go see Stevie Wonder and not hear "My Cherie Amor". So I always felt like I had to do those records, mandatory.
Rubyhornet: You mentioned traveling. And you have been able to travel all over the world. And I think performers have a unique perspective cause they’re able to get more experience with other people different from them. I think a lot of, especially in America, is very segregated there are patches of the country where there’s not any differences at all. You’ve been able to travel through different countries, people with different languages, religions, races. And I think for performers that can lead to a unique perspective of what makes people different and also the same. Have you learned anything about human nature through traveling, performing, and meeting people all over?
Raekwon: It goes back to, like I said earlier, coming up in the neighborhood, it’s a real thin chance that we make it out cause we already know the doors we're facing. Either you gonna die in these streets, or you're gonna become an athlete and that’s gonna be your way out. Far as getting jobs was concerned, it was tough, because of the neighborhood that we was living in. So a lot of times we were already judged before we even get to go do that, to go try and get a job. I remember my mom used to wake me up at 8 o'clock in the morning like, 'you gon’ go get a job.' And I'm like, 'aight, I’m down to do it.' And I try it, and it’s like, it never worked. So I come back and be like 'I tried.' And she be like 'yea you tried, but you gon’ try again.'
rubyhornet: What do you think is grabbing everyone else to the W? I’ve seen photos of people all over the world.
Raekwon: That’s the shit... I think it’s just that when you think about Wu-Tang Clan, you see 9 different guys that y’all all could relate to. And I think that’s what it is. People see a collected crew of guys who they could relate to with personalities. You got RZA who is a calm dude, kind of shy. But you got Ol’ Dirty who is loud as a motherfucker, God bless him. So I just think people just was like 'Yo, I fuck with them because it’s so much personality within them. And they seem like they 100% real and they respect where they came from.'
And we was always taught at a young age that if a man don’t know where he came from, a man will never know where he going. So we always was just going to make sure that we stayed being genuine and definitely appreciative. Cause like I said, we didn't know that it was going to where it went. But we had that confidence, that confidence took us to the next level. We believed that we were some ill emcees and we knew that we came with something different because back then you couldn’t get a record deal with 9 members. So we already knew that, but we was like, 'nah we all coming in together.' And that was just more of the plan. But everything happened so quick. I was 22 years old. I didn’t get a chance to go to school or nothing. So it was just like, 'yo when this shit hit….' The first thing I was thinking was I could go back home and tell my mom I got a job. That was more important to me than anything. Just to go back and tell her, 'look your son ain't no knucklehead,' you know what I mean. 'Your son got something going on.'
rubyhornet: That’s something I wanted to ask you about because I know that everything you do has a purpose, you’re very purpose driven. And it’s clear, and you talked about the motivation just now of that early music like 'I need to get the fuck outta here. We need to go up, prove ourselves.' What is the battery pack now that you’ve gone out and proven yourselves? What is the force now? When you were going into The Wild the newest album, was it still the push to be a great emcee, or something different?
Raekwon: It’s always to be a great emcee, it’s always to get better. I believe that if you believe in something you want to accomplish, it’s about you knowing that you could do it.
rubyhornet: On the opening skit on Cuban Linx you say “I don’t wanna have 200 thousand dollars, just to have 200 thousand dollars. I wanna know what we're gonna do with it?' If I was 24 and had 200 thousand dollars I might just be like “Damn I got 200 thousand dollars.”
Raekwon: Yea, but you know, we’d been getting money in the street a long time ago. So I felt $200,000 in my hand, and fly out of my hand with my neighborhood. Because my neighborhood was so much drug infested money, when crack came out, I’ve seen it on TV when they first talked about it. I think crack probably came out like a month or two after "Scarface" came out, the movie. So, the drug life was equivalent to a lot of money in my neighborhood. It seemed like all the older people turned into addicts. And it was like, 'oh shit, this drug is really fucking people's minds up.' And you know how it goes, maybe one of my friends will start selling, then the next thing you know them two will start selling, next thing you know they on it, then they on it... And I'm sitting here looking at my sneakers like, 'shit I'm bout to be on it too.' So it was more follow the leader situation. And one thing I can say is that I hung out with a lot of smart dudes. Dudes that really was calculated, they just wasn't knuckleheads. Of course you got some dudes who don’t know how to save money, but then you got dudes that know how to save money. So of course, I had to figure it out. But I started to hang out with dudes that was more smart with theirs.
rubyhornet: Something else you started talking about, you go from making music, Wu-Tang kind of start taking off, things get very fast paced, crazy. You’re also operating in the music industry where you can sell a million actual copies of an album. I remember when Wu-Tang Forever came out with the double disc that was like the height of MTV, the height of record stores, & then one day Napster comes out. And I apologize, I did illegally download some of your songs back in high school. So I do apologize.
Raekwon: Thanks for jacking my shit (*laughs*). Naw it’s all good. But I mean, hey listen, that’s what the music is about, it does this to you. So what? I’m going to be mad at you because you still wanna hear me? That’s what bothers me today with music, because everybody is trying to be so calculated about it, just love the music first. Don’t worry about how many sales he did? Or what’s going on with this? It’s like, 'yo get the music.' I ain’t gon’ front, I wasn’t buying CDs neither. I wasn’t buying nobody's music. I was just living, listening to they music. And that was the vessel for me. Just to be able to hear it and learn from it, and listen to shit that I felt was relatable. So I didn’t care about that. I mean, executives cared about that. We was just more worried about how are we going to be heard and if people gon’ like it or not. And I think that’s one of the first things as an artist that we gotta pay attention to. It’s just that, don’t think about all that, just show us your gift. Let us see if your gift is genuine. And that was important to us.
rubyhornet: That’s interesting because some older artists have said that if they had to come out right now with the way the music industry works, and the streaming, they wouldn’t even want to do it. They liked popping off back when you make album, you sell the CD, everyone makes money. When we first met, there were a lot of artist in your generation that would shun the blogs. And be like 'nah, I'm not fucking with that, nah I'm not fucking with that, who is this 20 year old kid? Fuck this.' But you didn’t want to be like the grumpy old dude and you embraced the blogs and younger generation.
Raekwon: And I was so happy to change my life, man. And I believed in my craft cause I had a lot of friends from my neighborhood, and of course the Wu, that was giving me that battery to be like 'Yo, you talented.' Like my mom didn't even know I was talented like this. Cause a lot of times, I would kind of like stay away from her, cause I was always getting into a lot of trouble. So I never gave her a reason to believe me and know that, 'yo, your son is involved in music.' So I guess it was just having fun. Music is supposed to soothe your mind and just make you have fun. So for us, it was just about that. It was about getting the recognition down the line and make a couple of dollars to get the fuck outta where we was at. I was smart enough to know that when I came into the business, 'yeah I’m going to make some money and I'm going to move my family outta here. We are going to have a better life.' But I know I can’t do that if I’m not 100% locked in with what I believe in: my craft.
rubyhornet: What’s the biggest difference or biggest difficulty operating now in streaming? We don’t get to hear from an artist directly what they think about Spotify, Apple Music. What’s unique about operating now?
Raekwon: It’s a business, it’s more digital now, it’s more technical. And too me, it kind of took away from the culture a little bit. Because I don’t even know if people even want CDs anymore, you know. I remember back in the day that was the most fun shit. To go to your local record store, grab it, open it up, look at the pictures, read it. Now it’s like you just press a button. So it’s like, if that was a math test, we all fucking cheating right now. We ain’t learning from the shit, we just pressing a button. We not really as infatuated the way we were when we had to go get that tape or that CD and stuff.
rubyhornet: Does it change your purpose when you go in and make music or when you're plotting a release? Do you have a different mindset now?
Raekwon: A little bit, only because my business partners, they constantly bring me situations that are to the forefront for me. But when I’m in the zone, and I’m making an album, I don’t think about that at the moment. But I do have to sit down and hear from my team, what their plan is, and they would present it to me and say, 'look this is what’s going on. And this is how we got to adapt to what’s happening today.' So I can dig it. But when I’m in my writing process and creating music, I’m just right there, and I’m like, I just want to make music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aav3Jj-GI0g
rubyhornet: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about is Stretch and Bobbito. You mentioned that as one of the things, when you were younger, that got you hooked on stuff from tuning in. You’re in their documentary, "Radio that Changed Lives". And there’s an interesting theme that starts to emerge. Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Nas, Busta Rhymes, I don’t know if you also talked about this, but they started to mentioned how this whole generation of artists were coming up through their radio show. And then people were getting record deals off the radio show. Dante Ross tells the story about hearing you all, then rushing to the studio to sign Ol’ Dirty Bastard. And Fat Joe was like 'A lot of people got deals from the show.' And then Nas was says something like, 'Yeah a lot of people in our generation, we know we owe you.' And Stretch & Bob say how they pretty much had to pay to do the show. And I see them as unsung heroes in a way, and then I start to draw the similarity to blogs that started about a decade ago that are now just going out of business. And the writers are going onto other things. As someone that's had Stretch and Bobbito, and then embraced the blogs like Nah Right, which has just shut down, do you see the parallels?
Raekwon: I call those guys the referees in this sport. All the social media cats from back then, that was making it social media then. These guys had a little radio show. But they shit was at night, late at night. And you know, a lot of times we all are listening to the music late at night. And they show was one of the shows that was consistent. They always played what’s going on, and they had good conversations. And they was willing to open they doors up to dudes. And when they opened up they doors to dudes, it was like a certain kind of pinnacle that we was getting to, and to know that we made it there. And I think that had a lot to do with the momentum of our careers because they was the first guys that we knew that were certified. We were like, 'yo they wasn’t getting no money from no programmers, they just had a little show.' But they had a lot of integrity when it came to the music. And they knew they shit, and that when you got everybody in the city knowing that, 'yo I gotta listen to these dudes because they know what they talking about.' And even before we knew Stretch was a white guy it was like, 'oh he’s white?! that’s cool tho, that’s cool tho, he’s down for the cause tho.' It was like something real quick then it just went away. But we respected the fact that he knew his shit. Bobbito... They knew they shit. They knew everything, they knew the clubs, they knew who was hot, they knew where certain cats was from. And to me, that became our big brother to the system of the music, to the culture rather. So it was like, 'oh, we could go up there and holla at them?! Oh something is about to happen.'
rubyhornet: I saw you guys literally Bum Rushed the studio that night.
Raekwon: Yea, I mean you know, we was just happy to be there. It’s just...yo we’re trying to get on. This is going to be our first place. We gon’ talk a lot of shit, they gon’ talk a lot of shit. And they gonna kind of like dictate what they feel where we at. So it was just more about getting that co-sign from them too.
rubyhornet: I wanna ask one more question. Then I’m going to let some people in the audience ask some questions. But do you remember whe we picked you up from the airport when we did the first session and went to the jamaican spot. Do you remember the first thing you asked me when you got in the car that day?
Raekwon: No.
rubyhornet: You asked “Is MC Hammer a legend?” And then you went and talked about how you felt Wu-Tang Clan was legendary status. But you yourself could not claim legendary status yet. And I’m wondering in the time since you feel like….
Raekwon: I’m a legend?
rubyhornet: Yeah.
Raekwon: Aight, put it like this, I'm a baby legend. I ain’t a grown legend. But my group is legendary. The group is legendary, let’s call it how we call it.
rubyhornet: Styles P said “Hip Hop is a young man's game.You either young and you do your thing. And then you either fall off or become a legend.” And that’s something that you told me too, “You fall off when you decide to stop. And until you decide to stop, there’s no fall off.” So I think, you’re humble about it, but I think you can hit that claim for sure.
Raekwon: That’ll work, I'll take it!!!
[RH Interview] TreeJay Speaks On Music & Growing Up With Mac Miller
TreeJay, a well known associate of Mac Miller, who runs his YouTube channel, produces beats, and hosts an annual 4/20 project, chopped it up with us. The Pittsburgh born stoner has hosted projects with the likes of, Dave East, Juicy J, and of course Mac Miller appearing on them. Check out our full interview with TreeJay below.
rubyhornet: Before we dive in, what are your thoughts on the XXL lineup that came out the other day?
TreeJay: I really like JID, I think he’s very talented. Also some homies from Pittsburgh (Zeke & Barry) help him out so I gotta support the hometown homies. Besides JID, I honestly haven’t listened to much of the other artists music, but congratulations to everyone that made the list.
rubyhornet: For any of our readers who aren’t familiar with TreeJay, who is TreeJay?
TreeJay: I’d like to say I’m a productive stoner ha. I got the nickname TreeJay from a kid in high school (Obviously because I smoke a lot). I made videos called “High Eyes” on YouTube back in the day of me smoking.
rubyhornet: How did you and Mac Miller first meet?
TreeJay: In grade school, I was a couple grades above him but we went to the same elementary school. Really started kicking it I’d say my junior / his freshman year.
rubyhornet: The amount of attention that you and your friends started receiving dramatically took off 8/9 years ago. Was there a “tipping point” or a special moment that you realized what was about to happen?
TreeJay: I remember Mac coming back to the homies crib from the studio back in the day. He had just recorded a jam and the verses and the hook were super fire for back then. That’s just when I knew it was all going to workout. I’ve always had faith, but that was the moment I was like yeah this is definitely happening.
rubyhornet: Your Sound Cloud has been pretty quiet for the past 2 years. Do you still produce beats/plan on releasing more in the future?
TreeJay: Funny you ask that, I’ve been working and trying to get better at making beats. I’m actually about to start uploading new content either today or the next few days. Really excited to get back to putting beats out. I still want to drop a little beat tape at some point.
rubyhornet: Most memorable experience while on tour?
TreeJay: I really can’t pin-point just one thing. There’s been a ton of cool moments. From hanging out with Juicy J, seeing Mac in the studio with Bun B. Watching Ja Rule come out and perform a couple hits, it’s been a fun adventure.
rubyhornet: Do you have anything planned for the 10th anniversary of your 4/20 tape series?
TreeJay: I have a few ideas, I’d love to do some type of Apple Music release. Would also love to have a listening party in Pittsburgh or LA. I’d rather do it in Pittsburgh, but with these new weed lounges coming to LA that sounds like the move.
rubyhornet: If you could have a conversation with yourself 10 years ago from today, what would you say?
TreeJay: To soak up all the knowledge that I can. Keep my ears and eyes open. Make sure I network a lot better. And to just enjoy life.
rubyhornet: Anyone you'd like to shoutout?
TreeJay: Shoutout Ruby Hornet! Also check out this artist from Pittsburgh her name is Sierra Sellers. She’s gonna be the next wave I’m calling it now!
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[RH Interview] ADot
I had the pleasure of sitting down with ADot yesterday while he was back in town from LA. For those of you who are not familiar, ADot is a Chicago born rapper with a few short projects out. He is well known for his hazy instrumentals and deep smooth vocals. Check out a few questions below I pulled from our Interview!
rubyhornet: Pusha T or Drake?
ADot: Drake, everyone listens to Drake. As soon as he puts out new material, everyone who’s hating on him now, will be back listening to him. Drake is winning regardless.
rubyhornet: Thoughts on the new Ye Album?
ADot: I like the last song, "Violent Crimes." I listened to it coming back from LA, but Kanye really lost me with all that Trump shit.
rubyhornet: What should our readers know about ADot?
ADot: I’m not a clout chaser. I would rather move like a ghost than be in the headlines. I make music, but I don’t really care about all that other shit.
rubyhornet: Where does your name come from?
ADot: I used to play a lot of Gears of War in high school, where I was in a group called Ace League. KDot was also popping at the time. My name is Armani, so all of those factors combined led to my name.
rubyhornet: Tell us about your tattoos.
ADot: I have the moon on my finger and face. Usually I write and record my music at night. My old room had a nice view of the moon, and something about it is aesthetically pleasing to me. I also had trouble sleeping a lot. The playboy bunny tattoo, I also have on my face, is because they're one of my favorite logos. I used to buy so much Supreme and they always collaborated.
rubyhornet: Relationship with Lyrical Lemonade?
ADot: I shot a video with Cole Bennett in 2013/2014. It was one of his first videos. Lil Jake hosted a few of my tracks. All of those guys are cool as hell. They look out for the people they started working with in the beginning. I recently did a shoot for them where I got the Lyrical Lemonade hoodie I’m wearing now.
[youtube id="78gjW05P9Yo"]
rubyhornet: Where does the Mac Demarco influence come from?
ADot: "Another One" is one my favorite songs by him. The synths sound like I’m playing a spacey arcade video game. I play a lot of videos games. I like being alone a lot, or with my girlfriend. Being around people all the time is draining.
rubyhornet: Favorite video games?
ADot: Fortnite, Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts, and a lot of RPGS. MW2 will always be the best Call of Duty, but the newer Call of Duties are kind of trash now.
rubyhornet: Who’s in your playlist right now?
ADot: Gunna, Young Thug, Juice WLRD, Lucki, and then my homies Lerado, Freako, Kush, and myself.
rubyhornet: What should fans be on the lookout for?
ADot: A lot of videos. The "Heartattack" video for sure. Along with experimenting with new sounds.
[RH Interview] Lil House Phone
When the name Lil House Phone is brought up in discussion what comes first to your mind? Another 'lil' rapper that's part of the new wave of music? That dude from the No Jumper Podcast? Or that hysterical guy dissing Pacsun and tossing burgers on Twitter?
Regardless, the LA native is making his own lane in the rap community. From serious tracks about depression and drug abuse, to lighthearted videos like "Juice", House Phone has a lot of new material to look out for in 2018. When speaking with the humble entertainer this weekend, he enlightened me on his perspective of the industry, what makes him want to make music, and about the three projects he will be releasing in the near future.
Check out the full interview below:
rubyhornet: Where does the name Lil House Phone come from?
Lil House Phone: It was a joke my friends had. My friends would tease me since I never had a working cell phone. I would always sell them or lose them and they had no way of contacting me, so they had to call my house phone. So it was like a joke from my friends and I kind of ran with it.
rubyhornet: Has that always been your stage name?
Lil House Phone: Yeah, when I decided to start rapping that was what I thought of. My friends were already calling me that. I thought it was so ridiculous it would stand out and be funny. Complex did a whole article with the 10 most ridiculous rap names, and I was all over that shit. I guess it was kind of a good thing.
rubyhornet: What’s your favorite late night food?
Lil House Phone: Some good LA street tacos from a small Mexican lady on the corner. Always a good go to.
rubyhornet: Your newest project has a lot of turn up tracks. Do you plan on making more songs like "Lil Sad Phone" in the future?
Lil House Phone: I am an emotional roller coaster of a person so it’s really how I’m feeling. A lot of the times I make music for me going out. I keep the turn up tracks in mind for performing. I’m all over the place though, so I definitely have to touch on where I am at the moment. I got some new shit, a new album that’s all over the place.
This kid got "Lights Off" tattooed on his knee (a song off my first album about depression). That makes me want to keep making music. That’s really what you do it for, to get that kind of reaction from people. I was honored.
rubyhornet: You have an A$AP Yams inspired Xanax tattoo on your knee. Do you believe the Xanax culture is more prevalent now than in the past, or are people just more aware now?
Lil House Phone: It’s a mixture of both, its more relevant and more in your face because everyone is talking about it. They are talking about the good parts, and not the bad parts necessarily. I feel like a lot of rappers just put in these words, like drinking lean, because it sounds good in the song. I don’t think a lot of these people are actually doing this like that. They aren’t thinking about the impact they are having on these kids either. They are making the kids more likely to try this shit. If I'm listening to a Juicy J song every day, and he's talking about dipping my blunt in lean, I'm going to get some lean and dip my blunt in it, not releasing shit doesn’t even work like that. Like that has actually happened to me. I dipped a whole swisher in an entire pint of lean and we tried to spark it and didn’t even light. It was all sticky and wet. At that point I was like maybe I shouldn’t listen to rappers.
rubyhornet: Do you feel responsible for what you say in your songs, or do you feel like you’re clearly just having fun and people shouldn’t take you serious?
Lil House Phone: I would hope people understand I'm just having fun with it and they wouldn’t take the same path as me, but impressionable minds are going to be impressionable. I talk about my drug consumption openly. I have kids that DM me saying, you make me want to try coke or whatever. I always DM back saying this isn’t the path you want to go down. This shit isn't cool. Even in my personal life if I'm kicking it with someone who hasn’t tried a drug before I'm not going to encourage them to do it. That’s not a path you want to take someone down.
As I'm getting older, I realize I have kids in high school and even younger looking up to me. I don’t think I'm a role model, but when these kids are looking up to you, you have to take some type of responsibility.
rubyhornet: How important do you believe your relationship with Adam & No Jumper was in getting attention to your music?
Lil House Phone: It all kind of happened at the same time so I never really got a chance to take a step back and adsorb what was going on. No Jumper wasn’t at the level, that it is now, when I started being a guest. It was really just me hanging out with Adam, his friends, and doing a podcast now and then. I started making music around the same time. Then No Jumper started getting to the level like where it is now. Both were progressing simultaneously.
It went from people only knowing me from that dude on the No Jumper Blog, to people saying I rock with your music. I thought people only knew me from the podcast, but more recently a lot of people have been reaching out who know my music and have no idea I was affiliated with No Jumper.
rubyhornet: What is your favorite place to shop (besides Pacsun)?
Lil House Phone: I'm more of an in-house brand type of dude. I would rather find some random cool brands no one knows about and hit them up in Instagram. I'm really into random workmen wear like Carhartt. I'm wearing some tree camo wranglers right now.
rubyhornet: Any new music to let the fans know about?
Lil House Phone: My album Voice Mails 2 is on the way. I'm also doing two other side projects. I want to do this whole west coast style project called 310, since I'm from LA but I'm known for making trap sounding music. Nedarb and I are going to put out a 5-6 song EP pretty soon also.