NOTABLE INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES
UNIVERSAL DISCOVER MUSIC
MISSBEHAVE MAGAZINE
KID CUDI
GABRIELLE UNION
DRAKE
My Interview with Drake
Originally Published on HipHopCanada.com
Toronto, ON – Aubrey Drake Graham has got the potential to achieve Will Smith or Nick Cannon type of success; and if you pay attention, he’s definitely making the right moves to get that notoriety. With acting, Drake stars as the crippled Jimmy Brooks on the new generation of Canada’s cult classic Degrassi. He’s appeared in movies with Mekhi Phifer and Omar Epps, and received two Young Artist Awards, the Shaw Rocket Award, and a Teen Choice. He is currently working on a new feature film which we ask about in the Q&A session below. Drake has already received media attention in media outlets like MTV, The New York Times, TeenNick, Teen People, Elle Girl, Pop Star Magazine, and 17.
Musically, Drake has a very digestible appeal as a rapper touching topics like relationships, family and everyday life [with beats similar to that of Kanye West]. He began writing at the age of 10 and is now at a point where he is working with the likes of Little Brother, Slum Village and The Clipse (to name a few). Just recently Drake released the Room For Improvement.
But in spite of his commercial friendly persona and the big budget names that he collaborates with, he still can’t seem to land backing from a major record label. Drake doesn’t have to try to sound American, because for him his background comes from both sides of the border. One would think he could take his music career in all sorts of directions, but he says otherwise. What does it take then? He explains it all.
HipHopCanada: Why did you take on the name Drake?
Drake: My father gave me that name. My full name is Aubrey Drake Graham. His reasoning behind it, I am not sure. My dad is a character so it could be anything. I just really loved the name and I embraced it my whole life. I use Aubrey more for the acting, which is how I separate myself. I like the fact that I have two names because I find that in this industry you have to have dual personalities [especially] being a transitional entertainer [being an actor going into music]. It’s not that I’m pretending to be somebody else but it’s just that the people that I act with, the Directors, Producers and Agents, can’t really relate to what I talk about. [In terms of music] Drake is me in my everyday life, Drake is who I am and Aubrey is more of a separate, sort of proper individual.
HipHopCanada: What’s going on with you right now Drake?
Drake: Just progressing and working on this upcoming album. I’m trying to land a situation and I’m searching for some new inspiration for this project. I want it to be on a grand scale so I am leaving my previous project, my mixtape, and start from a completely fresh place. That’s where I’m at right now.
HipHopCanada: So when you say you need some new inspiration, how are you going about getting that?
Drake: My life has just been a cycle lately. It’s been just interviews and I’m filming two movies right now. I have not been immersed in music and life. I’m inspired by the simple things in life. I’m going home to Memphis to see my family, [because] I kind of forget what it’s like to be a dude who grew up in the south sometimes. I want to refresh my memory and remember why I love it [there] so much. I was doing the mixtape and finding out that The Clipse and DJ Smalls were interested got me to a whole new level. It motivated me to start banging out songs because I was really excited about it. Right now I need that push again because it has been too much paper work, and I just need to focus on the music right now.
HipHopCanada: Like an artistic block . . .
Drake: It’s just sort of a process. Once you make something that people enjoy then you are forced to promote it. Instead of just going right into the next project, you have to be where they need you to be and do what they need you to do. The radio interviews, the press interviews and filling out paperwork and [attending] label meetings and stuff like that. Shit like that can drain you. I like it because I love everything to do with the entertainment industry but at the same time that’s the most tedious part.
HipHopCanada: Would you actually say that you need some inspiration because you may actually at this point be jaded with what you’re going through right now?
Drake: It’s not like I’m not writing great music anymore, it’s just that I want to take it another level. I can make a record like the [previous] one I put out, but I don’t want to do that because I want to set the bar so high for myself. I don’t want to do it like everyone else. I want to make original songs and call it a mixtape. Some people were telling me to call it an album, and I liked that they were shocked to see me put 22 original records on it. I could do the same thing again, but I want to go higher. When I write I like to just say everything that people think about but never express vocally. I just get deep into it; I’m a bit obsessive about music.
HipHopCanada: I want to get some clarification. Maybe it’s just a misinterpretation on my part, but a journalist was quoted saying in an intro to your interview, that you have been rapping for several years about things that you can relate to. But then they go on to say and I quote ” . . . For the last several years, he’s written for some of today’s top hit-makers, like Cash Money, and Yo Gotti, and Al Green, but he has yet to pipe his own written lyrics.”
Drake: That interview is like four years old. At that time, I was probably working on my own project. When I was young I was working with a lot of people being out in the south. My uncle wrote for Al Green and I was around Al a lot. Cash Money, Yo Gotti, that just came about from being in Memphis. It was just little affiliations I had but I know [that interview is] old.
HipHopCanada: You have a strong background in music with your father Dennis Graham drumming for Jerry Lee Lewis, and your uncle Mabon “Teene” Hodges a rhythm guitarist. Mabon “Teenie” Hodges from Memphis, co-wrote hits like “Here I Am,” “Come and Take Me,” “Full of Fire,” and “Love and Happiness” with Al Green. Before taking the time to put together your mixtape Room For Improvement, and your current debut album Barely Fitting In, did you take the time to research your family roots to become more cultivated when it came to putting together your own material?
Drake: Research wasn’t really necessary because I was always around it. I always knew my uncle was doing big things in the Soul/R&B genre. There are accolades that I probably couldn’t even tell you right now. But we [my family] have a very deep musical background. My grandmother who passed away in Memphis, used to baby-sit Louie Armstrong and my dad like you said was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis. My dad used to live it up back in his day and was friends with many people in the industry as well as people like Mohammed Ali. And all of that sort of ran in that circle of great musicians, and my dad has many stories . . . that is why I love sitting with my dad. He comes and picks me up from Memphis every year and we drive back together and talk throughout the whole trip. On my mom’s side, it’s a white, Jewish, very structured and conservative family. There are a lot of accolades on that side of the family too. I am aware that I am not the first person [in the family to embrace music] but I would like to become the first one to be an icon.
HipHopCanada: You have collaborated with a lot of highly credible producers and music artists’. Can you name some more of them for the upcoming album?
Drake: On the upcoming album I got 9th Wonder [and the whole] Little Brother. I am working on a Neptunes track and getting it worked out. Dwele, Elzhi from Slum Village and Trey Songz amongst many others. I have a couple of other people but I won’t mention their names yet.
HipHopCanada: I also understand that you’ve starred in a feature film called Charlie Bartlett. When you’re finished making these movies are you going to give the TV/film business a break and focus specifically on perfecting and marketing your craft as a rap artist?
Drake: It’s possible that I might do that. I’m not sure if it calls for it. I have a couple of situations on the table right now and if we go through talks and they say well, “We need you to dedicate this amount of time to music”, I’ll do it because as an actor I’ll just keep myself on my toes and probably take some acting classes. I never plan to stop acting, I take it very seriously. To be a part of Charlie Bartlett is an amazing thing because there are a lot of phenomenal actors in that movie. Being the only black actor in the film lets me know that I’m doing something right. I never really landed the hood roles, and liked the bang-bang, shoot-em-up 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Trying shit. I want to strive for these more established and more prestigious projects. I want to make good films; I don’t want to make films for the moment. It’s not that the 50 Cent film was bad, but I personally don’t enjoy films that bring black people down. I find that a majority of the films that black people are starred in nowadays, are ones focused on gang violence or dancing. I don’t know why everyone is making dance movies. I auditioned for three dance movies in the past two months and for one of them I just couldn’t do it.
HipHopCanada: Yeah. either that or dating movies like Two Can Play That Game and The Player.
Drake: Well Two Can Play That Game is one of my favourite movies of all time. That’s me being really honest with you right now. I don’t mind movies like The Best Man and The Wood, those are great black films. I mean, they’re as good as we’re going to get right now. We’re not going to have films that are going to make us look any better than that unfortunately. Films portraying successful black people getting married are great, but films that only show one aspect of our culture, bother me. I now like to watch people that I look up to like Jay-Z, who is regarded as the best rapper of all time and is one of the greatest media personalities of all time. If you track his entire career, he’s made very little stupid moves. Like when Damon Dash was making stupid movies, Jay-Z would make a two second cameo just to be safe. But he never did a Cribs [episode], or exposed his life [like that]. You have to pay attention to stuff like that . . . I do anyway.
HipHopCanada: I heard you were going to put out a clothing line called A&S . . .
Drake: That’s old [news] too. It was a project I had wanted to start with a friend of mine named Shawn Allen, who at the time used to work at a clothing store named Jaydees. We lost touch after high school though. Right now I am actually working on some promotional t-shirts with a company called Dream Design. I want to put some tees out to support the movement, and have some really cool ideas about it. I know clothing very well and I’m sure I will get into fashion eventually. But right now it’s just a lot to make my music work.
HipHopCanada: So it’s just an idea considering everything that’s going on.
Drake: I guess you can say the fame from the show is there, but I am right at the bottom compared to everybody else with press kits and demos and trying to get meetings. That’s what I love about music and hate about it. That’s why I respect people that are successful in the music business because you really have to build it from the ground up. It’s not like acting where it’s more like you’re dependent on other people to bring the project together and once the project is together, the director has the funding and your agent sets everything up for you. Acting is sort of laid out for you whereas in the music business you have to make the phone calls, go through the pressure, go to the studio make sure all your shit is on point. It’s a real process and it’s taking a lot of my time right now.
HipHopCanada: So you’re not on a major record label right now . . .
Drake: I’m getting great radio play and a lot of Internet buzz and attention. I have a fan base that some people say is equal to that of signed artists’ maybe even more. Degrassi is shown in 40 million homes in the US and spectators say that I would be the perfect person to sign because I have a large fan base. I feel like if I was to come out with an album with the right publicity and of course the great music, I could not see it failing. But record labels nowadays don’t see that; they see numbers. I still just like everybody else need to meet quotas with my spins, with my buzz and make my way into the office. It has to be undeniable; the world has to know about you before Jay-Z makes a call.
HipHopCanada: I would figure that major record labels would think it’s easier to push you as an artist. Unless there’s conflict because of what you want to talk about might not be what they want you to talk about . . .
Drake: Yeah, I mean the package is very appealing to them but they just don’t know about it for some reason. I have a buzz but I personally don’t feel that I have a big enough buzz to make them want to take me on at the moment. I know Atlantic expressed interest but it’s not the type of interest that will fly me out there. It’s the kind of interest that they want to sit on and think about. Everyone just wants to see what you can do for yourself. A&R’s are not taking risks anymore. People think that just because I have some big ridiculous number on my myspace page that it’s all easy for me. I have been treated very well by Flow [ 93.5], and Much Music, CTV, MTV have been begging me for a video for the longest time. People are interested but I don’t come home to labels waiting outside my house.
HipHopCanada: With all of this diversity that makes up your persona (being bi-racial, American and Canadian) don’t you think it will make it a lot easier to become a mainstream hip-hop artist? You can promote yourself in a lot of different angles . . .
Drake: I think it’s great and it’s part of the whole image. I want everybody to feel comfortable with vibing with Drake. I don’t want to limit my music to people based on their race and/or age. That’s why I don’t really put a lot of swearing in my music. I want everybody to be able to enjoy it. Being bi-racial and being young along with being American and Canadian [allows me to] try and cover all the bases and expand my fan base to a level that has yet to be seen. I think with the right person and the right music, people from all walks of life can come together. I know that’s what my life was about. I’ve seen it all, so that’s what I want to bring to the table.
HipHopCanada: What is the greatest verse you have ever heard in your life, and why?
Drake: That’s such a tough question. I think greatest verse I ever heard, or the realest verse I ever heard was Phonte on this Little Brother record with Darien Brockington called “Slow It Down” and Jay-Z’s ” Lucky Me.” I liked the Phonte verse because I had never heard somebody describe exactly the way I think about the women that I deal with in life, and with “Lucky Me,” it was an eye opener as a young dude to really see that it’s not all glitter and gold once you get to where you’re going.
HipHopCanada: Reading past articles and interviews on you, your influence derives from a lot of other artists and profiles in the entertainment industry. So now, in the most intelligent and articulate way possible, I want you to tell the readers of HipHopCanada.com what makes you unique as a rapper and a personality.
Drake: I feel like I’m truly and genuinely proud and unafraid. I’m not scared of who I am. I know that Aubrey Drake Graham is not hood. I’m not a gangster, I don’t have no desire to be hard. I will talk to you about real situations that I have really been through. I will give you pieces of my life, hoping that you will give me time in yours . . . you know, take the time to listen. I’m not afraid to go to the States and say I’m from Toronto. I could say I’m from Memphis and I may have grown up over there, but I was born here [Toronto] and I lived here, and I love it here. And I’m not afraid to say a lot of people can’t do that. They just don’t have what it takes to really carry a city because it takes a lot to carry a city. It’s not necessarily saying I own the city, or I’m the king . . . I’m not trying to say that. But this is my city, and I feel like I can do it and I really believe in this city and myself. As a rapper, what you’ll always get from me is a variety of emotions. Whenever you listen to my CD, whether you’re the hardest dude or the bitterest cat, I’ll give you a real story to think about. Just to sit back and be like, “Damn yo, that’s a trip.” I really put a lot of and emotion into my project in order to evoke emotion.
Editor’s note: For more information on Drake check out http://www.myspace.com/thisisdrake and http://www.octobersveryown.blogspot.com.
THE COOL KIDS
Interview with The Cool Kids for HipHopCanada.com
Words and Styling: Safra Ducreay
Date: February 26th 2008
http://www.myspace.com/gocoolkids
Photography by Harry Gils
Clothing provided by Lemar and Dauley
Hats from Livestock
Chicago, IL - Antoine “Mikey Rocks” Reed, the 19-year-old artist of the Chicago-based hip-hop group, The Cool Kids, converses with a burgeoning rapper about his frustrations prior to enjoying success. "To be honest with you, I was in the same boat. But I was hangin' with the wrong circle, and I had to be around positive people if I wanted to make things happen." As Mikey schools the youngster, his partner, Evan “Chuck Inglish” Ingersoll, 23, the beat maker/DJ of the group, casually talks on his cell phone.
It’s 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon and after a long but productive day, both my interview and photo shoot with The Cool Kids have finally wrapped up. Today will be subsumed with the myriad of press they’ve already done since their faces have become ubiquitous with a nouveau, sub-section of rap music; what the media has been thirsting to call “hipster-hop” (yes, it really does exist). They’ve been praised as the freshest new sound to surface in hip-hop since its stagnant epoch. Their ephemeral sense of fashion has been labeled an ode to 80’s throwback. And apparently, they’ve even proclaimed themselves to be the “Black Beastie Boys,” whatever that means. Their debut single, “Black Mags” about riding their BM X bikes in the suburbs has become something of a cult-classic among a new generation of hip-hop aficionados (I’m trying to refrain from saying “hipsters”).
After eavesdropping on Mikey Rocks as he lays his wisdom on the inquisitive up-and-comer, I had to ask myself, "Is this kid for real?” because he’s ridiculously wise beyond his young years. Then again, if ever you have a conversation with Mikey, or Chuck, as humble and cool as they are, you know every move that they make is calculated. The measures they’re taking to bang out this success really only happen with those who carry the prodigious element that they do. There are many that want to be where The Cool Kids are right now, and they haven’t even started to make any real noise yet. But Canadians who aren’t knee-deep in the indie hip-hop scene may not be familiar with The Cool Kids. And the show that almost never happened in Toronto the night, before my interview with them, was greeted with mixed reviews.
It’s Saturday night, and a crowd of hipsters (there’s that word again) have filled Toronto's latest "it" spot, Wrongbar, anxiously waiting for Chuck and Mikey to set the stage. But things aren’t running so smoothly. It‘s already going on 2AM, and Toronto’s nightlife usually shuts off by 3. Nasty Nav, the promoter and owner of Wrongbar, grabs the microphone to announce that The Cool Kids were just crossing the Canadian border and were speed racing on the highway to make it to the venue. Mid-way through the announcement, the crowd in unison, fill the room with exasperated groans. Not cool. The DJ of the night, originally spinning indigestible techno for what seems like hours, finally slows down the pace with some hip-hop.
Just as the restless energy of the crowd is about to become vile – there’s a short pause. “Breakin’, boppin’/ni**as beat-boxin’” erupts from virtually out of nowhere. It’s the intro from their latest single “88.” Chuck breezes on stage as the beat blasts from the sound speakers. “88” is a sample-heavy track off of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” single, produced by Rick Rubin. It proves to be a good kick-off, turning hecklers into fans. By the time they break into "Black Mags" the whole crowd is on the “dyno” with the “Pedal down the foot hills/Wheelies on the front.” When Mikey breaks into the semi-self-titled "I'm Mikey," his lyrical niceness circles around a Neptune-friendly beat. And as each of these guys continue to move the crowd like veterans of the game, the coincidence is that The Cool Kids don't even have a full-length album in their blueprint (as-of-yet). But they were able to turn out an hour of “rocking-the-crowd” off of the power of a to-be-released EP, The Bake Sale, on indie-label Chocolate Industries. With each song, the energy that The Cool Kids dispersed only became more intense. While Chuck is the “cool” of the two, Mikey's got that fire. They know their audience, and they deliver accordingly (body surfing and rhyme-dropping on a Beastie Boys instrumental). To end the line up, they give the crowd an encore, playing the infectious “Black Mags” again, making way for a sea of people to flood the stage. If they weren't told they had to wrap-it-up, they would have kept rockin' – because for The Cool Kids, it's just like that.
Getting back to Sunday, the Kids and I are sitting around chatting about any-and-everything. We’re joking about my music selection. “I don’t have Soulja Boy or anything like that,” I tell them as they look through the CDs that I brought for entertainment. “What makes you think that we listen to that?” Chuck asks me, sounding annoyed. Well, isn’t that what dudes in your age range listen to? (Never mind that he’s just two years younger than me). They catch an eye on my k-os CD. Mikey thinks “k-os is mad dope,” and asks me to tell Mr. Brereton he would “like to do a show or collaborate with him.” Actually, they both dig a lot of Canadian artists (and now you know). The Cool Kids haven’t been signed to a major label, they have no major distribution, no multi-million dollar backing, yet they’ve been rated by Rolling Stone Magazine as the next big thing to watch for 2008.
There’s a collective of artists that are indirectly a part of this colourful indie hip-hop circle. Examples are the LA-based rap group The Pack, the “Pro Nail”-happy Kid Sister (also from Chicago), Philadelphia-based Spank Rock, Canada’s own Thunderheist, and of course, the lady who may have just started the phenomenon, England’s trendsetter M.I.A. (who The Cool Kids have opened for). This rainbow catalogue could go on for pages. But, the focus right now is on The Cool Kids. And after two days of observing them and their movements very carefully, it's evident that The Cool Kids are something special.
HipHopCanada: Now that the success has come through for you guys, do you find that you have to be more difficult when it comes to deal with people? I mean, with everything that you do. Whether it's at photo shoots, talking to journalists, I mean all aspects of the industry.
Mikey: Nah, it's not [about being] difficult. But you definitely have to put your foot down. Whether it is [dealing with] an interviewer or a photographer…
Chuck: Everyone wants a piece of you…
Mikey: Yeah. People got agendas. People look at us like – billboards.
HipHopCanada: Really.
Mikey: Think about it, man… [breaks into an exploitive voice] “Everybody looks up to them!” I guess people are figuring out that kids of our generation are looking up to us, whether it be what [younger] people are listening to, or wearing, and stuff like that. So, older, out-of- touch, corporate suit [types] are like, “Hey! Maybe we'll use them to market this product!” And [that's when] we just got to be like “No, we're not doing that, man.” We've turned down a lot of stuff that came [our way], just because, if it's wack, we can't do it. No matter [how much money we're offered] or whatever it is, if it's wack, we c annot do it, because that will hurt us more than anything. With our fan base, we've built a good reputation on not doing wack stuff, and not giving our integrity away for whatever the purpose may be. As soon as we [subject ourselves to that], our core audience [will start saying] “Aw man! They're on that now? They're fuckin' willing to sacrifice their integrity for this wack shit?” And, those people will bounce in a minute when they see us starting to change. So, we just got to keep being ourselves.
HipHopCanada: Actually, I have to call this out. I think your opinion is very important on this particular matter, because there are a lot of people that want to define what real hip-hop is. There's going to be people that judge no matter what. Can you address your opinion on what people may say in terms of calling you guys “gimmicks”? When I saw you guys perform last night, it was a different situation to me. What I saw were two people that genuinely cared about what they do. But what people are going to see are two eclectic young black kids that are marketable. And because of this, there will be people in the game that will say “Look at these dudes! I'm trying to get mine, and these dudes are blowing up easy! They're a gimmick.”
Chuck: A gimmick! Listen to the lyrics! People [may look at our sense of fashion and get a misconception], but try to catch us on a day off. We don't have days off… this is us. This is not a game, or a marketing tool. It's just me and this kid all day long. We don't have to try to be anything. Can't nobody say, “Oh yeah, they're trying to be like this, when they really mean that.” You know what I'm sayin'? We're like this all day. We're just very chilled out dudes, like you said. Mikey's one way, and then you look at me and [it really is like], “Chuck's this cool.” And it doesn't take me much [to be who I am]. If you got any questions, listen to our songs. What is a gimmick about that? We got like, eight songs, we have no album, and everybody knows the words to like, 12 of the songs that we've done already. That's not a gimmick. A gimmick is when you got one song that you don't hear, but you keep on getting press. So, if you're that band then you're a gimmick. You can't call us a gimmick; we'll outlast you. You know what I'm saying?
Mikey: I think we're moving past the time limit that a gimmick has. I think that if we were a gimmick, we would have been found out and thrown in the wind already. So, we've pretty much ended that time cycle. I think a gimmick [type of] dude has a couple months before people [catch on]. We've been rollin' and we've continued to snap on every song that we do. I know we don't have a smash single out or anything like that, but the 'one hit wonder' stage [is done]. I think we've pretty much sealed the deal on that stuff. Now, it's time to keep making new shit and drop this album. That's about it though.
HipHopCanada: With the ailing state of hip-hop, and the whole hip-hop being dead phenomenon that's been going around, is there this cumbersome burden on you to clean up the mess that your predecessors have made?
Mikey: I don't feel pressure to fix hip-hop, or save hip-hop or shit like that. I don't believe my own hype. People say that kind of stuff to us all the time, and, I'm like, “It ain't dead. It's alright.” [Breaks into a reporter voice] “You guys are saving hip-hop, and you're the greatest thing to come out in years,” and shit like that. That's a great compliment, and I feel honoured to hear that from somebody, but it ain't dead. I guess in a way, we could clean some shit that got messed up by just continuing to make dope music. That's just our main concern, that's all we want to do, make ill songs. And just make this shit cool again, because, it hasn't been cool in a while. It's either been thugged out or, super-emo, crying about girls, or way too super-abstract.
HipHopCanada: Abstract?
Chuck: There's people that put words together that don't make sense.
HipHopCanada: Like, Yezzir?
Chuck: Like, what is an example of some shit. Like, [that whole] metaphysical [thing], and just rhyming to rhyme words.
HipHopCanada: But couldn’t that be part of the art of being an MC?
Mikey: Nah.
Chuck: No!
Mikey: [That's when] you're going through a dictionary, searching for the largest words. That's not rapping, man. I mean, who cares?
Chuck: Nobody talks about how hip-hop first started. It was South Bronx, park parties. The DJ put it on and, the dude [with the mic] controlled the crowd. Master of ceremonies. Everything he said made sense. Or, [his skill was crafted on] how he could control the crowd: “Put your hands in the air, wave 'em like you just don't care.”
HipHopCanada: Chuck, it's good that you brought that up, because a lot of people don't.
Chuck: Yeah, I mean, I constantly have to talk to people about the fact that everybody has this idea of what hip-hop is. Hip-hop's not that. You don't say a car is not a car. You know what I'm sayin'? A car has four wheels, and that's how it started off. Like, just because all this other shit is on top of it, doesn't make it a car. It doesn't not-NOT make it a car. [Hip-hop was] party shit first. It was basically gang members that were deciding to do something better [for the people]. To have parties for people in the projects. That's exactly how hip-hop started.
Mikey: People do forget that a lot of the time.
Chuck: So, anybody who says me and this kid aren't hip-hop, should go kill themselves. [Laughing]
Mikey: People who get mad at fuckin' – Hurricane Chris, and, Soulja Boy. [Irritated voice] “Man, that ain't hip-hop man! They doing all this!” Man! Those dudes are hip-hop.
Chuck: If you've never heard the word hip-hop before, and [it's thrown at you], it sounds like a fucking fun time. It doesn't sound like a whole bunch of crap! Or, a bunch of mean-ass shit.
Mikey: You can't deny that the stuff [that Hurricane Chris and Soulja Boy put out] doesn't not make you want to have a good time. Are you pissed off? If they put on "Ay Bay Bay!" Does that make you mad? Does that make you depressed and start thinking about your bad childhood and stuff like that?
HipHopCanada: You see, the thing is, it's about these MCs that, for example, are not signed, that are saying “I have the dopest skills. I can spit…”
Chuck: So do it!
HipHopCanada: BUT! “I'm not getting my shine and these dudes are getting their shine.”
Chuck: You know why they're not getting their shine? 'Cause they're complaining about getting their shine.
Mikey: If you're really, really good…
Chuck: If you're good, there's no problems.
Mikey: You're going to be straight.
Chuck: Yeah!
Mikey: That's all. Either you think you're really good and you're not, or…You're just not good! If you're really good, you'll be fine. I guarantee you.
Chuck: Do a show. Quit trying to sell your CDs to people on the street.
HipHopCanada: [Shaking head in disagreement]
Mikey: Trust me! You're going to be fine. If people love your music, you're going to be straight.
HipHopCanada: Mikey. Come on. You cannot tell me that you have never heard an artist that got signed, and you weren't like, "Yo, this is shit!"
Mikey: Yeah. There's a lot of [not-so-good] ones that get breaks. Tons of ‘em that get breaks.
HipHopCanada: Right. And I know, that you also know that there are artists that you have heard where ever you've gone, and it was like 'Yeah! This dude is really, really good! How comes he's not signed?' That's the point.
Chuck: Getting signed is not the trophy. That's the trick. That's the mental [stigma]…
Mikey: Back when stuff started getting messed up with hip-hop, man, that's when this whole being signed thing became the crown jewel that everybody wanted to reach for. That don't mean nothin'! Getting signed? What does that mean? It means you signed a record deal with a major company so these guys can own your music. [They are not doing anything] that if you had the proper infrastructure, you couldn't do yourself. You know what I mean? They're humans, just like you. It's not like, they're super robot men, that got nine arms and can do shit that other people can't do. If you can get the same infrastructure and do it yourself – you’re straight.
Chuck: It's the same thing as the conditioning from like, back in the day of segregation and shit.
Mikey: Yeah! This time thing, man.
Chuck: [Society will] make you think that doing it this way is the standard. Like, this house, this picket fence, this job, this education, this type of life, is right. Everything else is wrong. You know what I'm saying? [We’ve been doing this since ’04-‘05]. We signed at the beginning of November 2007. Are you telling me that we just popped off in November?
HipHopCanada: Well obviously not.
Chuck: Nah. So that means nothing. Being signed means nothing.
HipHopCanada: It's easy for you guys to say these things though. There are a lot more opportunities in the US then there are in Canada for "urban" artists. Canada has one, maybe two, urban radio stations. I've gone to summits where you have record company executives, for example, the president of Sony or whatnot, all come to these summits, and they tell all these kids what they need to be, or, what they need to do to become the next Jay-Z.
Chuck: Those dudes know nothing.
Mikey: Yeah. I've been to like, two of those in my teenage years and goddamn it dude! It's the wackest thing that you can ever [go to]. If this gets to any kids that are thinking about going to those, don't go to those. They will mess your whole head up. I used to be sitting in those like “This don't seem right man.” You get an A&R or two up there on the panel. Then you get the rap guy, some producer that made some stuff sitting up there. [Basically you're] listening to these dudes telling you how to do everything. They're like, “You’ve got to make this kind of song man, first and foremost.” You give them your CD, and they play it, and they dictate whether your stuff is good or not. What the fuck! I don't care what you guys think! You know what I mean? You got dudes that don't know anything about what you're doing, basically guiding your future and it messes up a kids whole game plan. Then the kids like, “Nah man. I can't do that now. I’ve got to do this, and go by this protocol.” There's like, a checklist and a formula. So, you have these guys up there teaching a formula to you. It screws a lot of kids' heads up, man. You get locked into this mode of, “Nah I gotta it do like this way now.” And people are scared to like drift outta that.
Chuck: If you want to do something, you can do it! Doesn't mean that you do what you want to do, and over think what has to happen next. You know what I'm saying? Two years ago, we were thinking about what's happening right now. So two years from now, I'm already on to what I want to do next. You have to know what's going on. You basically can't have plan B. People always want to have a plan B. Like, “I want to rap, and then I want to act, and then I want to do this.” I only want to do this. I want to DJ at parties, I want to rap. I want to kick it. Make a living out of this. I want to meet everyone I could possibly meet across the globe, and see what type of stuff we get back from what we put out. I'm straight. I don't need to take over the world, I don't need to be the greatest rapper, and I don't need to be the greatest producer. I'm just trying to be dope. Like when you see me coming it's like, “Yo, he's dope”.
HipHopCanada: That ties into what we were talking about before this interview. You have artists like Cam'ron and Jim Jones who are both about their business. They make it clear that “Yo, there ain't no money in hip-hop. That's why I'm selling vodka, that's why I'm going into movies, I'm designing clothes.” So, you can say that right now, but when it's time to make a decision, and you want to get where you want to be financially, then maybe that mentality that you have right now might change.
Chuck: We don't do it for money. They do it for money.
Mikey: Like seriously. No joke. I'ma be honest on this interview and say this. We're broke as fuck!
Chuck: But we don't care.
Mikey: We don't care. I'm not mad! It's not like “I gotta get this money man!”
Chuck: We're making as much as like, a 23-year-old and a 19-year-old, who would be in college [that happened to get] a really good job could make.
Mikey: And plus, we came into this game with the knowledge knowing what really goes on, 'cause again , with the misconception that people give up-and-coming artists and such. It's like, they think artists that [just come out with] albums sell millions of dollars, that's a lie. You know what I'm saying? Or that you're going to make more than you spend on promotion and touring and all that stuff, that's wrong too. You're going to spend more than you make. I think that videos, the early 2000 videos, those screwed up a lot of stuff too because that's when [flashing imagery and contorted perceptions] really popped off. Everything was super-exaggerated, and then it lead people to believe that everybody is rich and everybody doing this is going to make millions and billions of dollars and stuff like that. People that do it for those reasons, you can tell who those people are. You can tell who is in it specifically to get some dollars and then bounce, or, if it's “I like doing this shit man. And I'm here to actually make ill shit that can change somebody's view.” You know? Trying to do something significant.
Chuck: I know that I [may not come out] the richest off of this, but if you're good, and you're loving what you're doing, to live comfortable and do what you love, what could be better than that? To be able to live real nice and your job is something that you love to wake up and do every day. As opposed to a dude that makes millions of dollars, but he's an Investment Banker, and he's about to commit suicide every other day. You know what I mean? I'd rather be the dude doing something that he loves than the dude making millions but hates his job, and is scared everyday of his life. 'Cause I know there's got to be a lot of rappers out that are like, “Man, I made a lot of money off of this one song, but I ain't got no more songs, what the fuck am I gon' do man?” And they're pulling their hair out trying to figure that out. And they got labels trying to recoup that money back dog! That's when you get into tough situations, and that's when you can pretty much pick out who did it to try and make a bit of money. I already came into this knowing the ins and outs of the possibilities of making money. I was like man, “whatever happens – happens”.
HipHopCanada: When you walked into this game, I take it that you guys were very strategic in terms of the demographic that you wanted to reach…
Mikey: Nope. We had no idea of who would pick up on us and who would like us. We pretty much spent a year making songs and playing them for our friends and they were the only ones that knew about them. It was just like, “Let's just put it out there and see who digs it.” And it's a crazy-ass mix of people that dig the stuff that we do. That's the best demographic. Metal fans [have come up to us and been like] “I don't listen to anything but metal, but I like you guys.” Or, kids that are like, “I'm a super indie-rock kid, but I like you guys, and, I don't even really listen to rap.” It's gratifying when people are like, “I don't really listen to rap, but I listen to you guys.” There's corporate business suit dudes, like, fresh out of the law firm that are at the show like, “I just got off of work to come listen to y'all.” I like to peep into the crowd and see what kind of people are out there and it's always a weird mix.
Chuck: I love that it's everyone.
Mikey: Yeah, man. It's people that really just like the songs. I can't put a finger on it, it's not just hipsters, it's not just hip-hop kids, black kids, white kids. It's all kinds of people.
HipHopCanada: You were told today that hip-hop artists don't really get a lot of love when they put on shows here in Toronto, but you guys did. Is it nerve-racking for you when you have to perform in front of a crowd that's hard to read?
Mikey: I like those. I look at it like a challenge. It's like, I like to go in here with all these motherfuckers who hate on us and rock as hard as I possibly can. 'Cause I feel like I converted a hater into a fan, that's always the best feeling man. Like, “Man, I was gon' hate on y'all but this shit is actually dope. I can't even front. Go 'head and do what you do.” I like when we're goin' into tough-ass crowds where everybody wants to initially keep their arms folded and look. Like, 'I'm not bobbin' my head, man.” We've done plenty of those. I'm like, “Alright, I see what's going on”, and I just try to rock as hard as I possibly can. Sometimes at the end of the show, we get mad respect. Like that hard super-backpacker dude [who was like] “Nah that ain't hip-hop.” At the end [of the show] they're like, “ Man. I like this dog. It's okay. That's cool”.
HipHopCanada: When it comes to upcoming singles and albums, would you actually like to spend some time in another country to get some new inspiration?
Mikey: Yeah! I already know this UK tour is about to give me some fuel for the fire already, man. I get inspiration just by looking at new [things]. The architecture over there and the whole feel is going to jump my shit off harder than it already is. 'Cause I'm in a pretty good creating mood nowadays as it is. So, to be over there and to see all that stuff. Just to connect with a whole new crowd of people who haven't seen us before, it just gives me a feeling and just makes me [anxious to make new material].
HipHopCanada: You know what's interesting? After interviewing people, I won’t say in your genre of music, but in your age range, you all seem to be type-casted in this hipster movement. But you aren't a part of a hipster movement at all. It's a completely different spectrum.
Mikey: [The term] hipster's got a wack connotation to it. A hipster is somebody who is only on whatever is hot right now, then it's like, “I'm not having that anymore. I'm out.” Why would you want to be that dude? So nah, [I'm not down with any] hipster movement. I'm straight on that. I think we're just making ill songs, and if it just-so happens that [a wide mix] people are into it.
HipHopCanada: Would you guys pretty much collaborate with anybody?
Mikey: No. We barely would collaborate with anybody. I'm not into collaborations, period. Our collaboration is me featuring him, or him featuring me. People think you’ve got to make songs with everybody and they base their whole albums on features. “I got so and so, I got this dude. He's making the beat.” Featuring so and so singing on the hook, blah blah, blah. It's like a mixtape. You're showing off everybody else's skills and you're barely on your own album. You're featured on your album, you know what I mean? We're not having features that aren't essential. Any features that we have, they'll be essential. They'll play an intricate role to the song. You know how people have features on songs and it's like, “That dude could have stayed off that song! Why is he on that song? He could have written his own verse! Why did he have to have him come on that verse?” Every dude [we feature] will be essential; it'll play a strong role to the song and tie things in together. Useless features; I'm not a fan of those really.
HipHopCanada: What about that Lil' Wayne collaboration?
Mikey: That was actually hooked up through a friend of ours, DJ Benzi. He was like, “I'm doing this mixtape for Lil' Wayne. He has this song with an extra verse on it, and I want you guys on it.” And we were like, “Yeah that's cool. We could do that.” That was Lil' Wayne’s joint, that wasn't our joint. It turned out cool though.
HipHopCanada: Who is the best MC, and I’m not asking who the best MC is out right now, or, who your personal favourite is. I mean, who is the best MC ever, dead or alive?
Mikey: I can't answer that question. I can tell you my few favorites that are out right now. I hate the ‘of all times,’ man. It's not fair. There were MCs that were super dope years ago, but hip-hop keeps getting more in-depth. Lupe Fiasco is super ill right now, but it's not fair to compare him to KRS-One because they're two generations of like, lyrics and lyricism—it's kinda like apples and oranges. You can compare who's good and who's not, that's always easy. But the greatest of all time is a hard one.
HipHopCanada: But we have to say that because of that particular rapper, they trail blazed the path for a lot of hip-hop artists that preceded them.
Mikey: Fucking Tribe [Called Quest] changed shit forever. They left their mark on hip-hop for good.
Chuck: Yep.
Mikey: They’re definitely one of the more influential groups to ever have been.
HipHopCanada: I'm kind of surprised that you wouldn't say Tupac or Biggie.
Chuck: I'm not a Biggie or Tupac fan. I like it.
Mikey: I'm a pretty big fan of both of 'em.
HipHopCanada: Lyrical-content wise.
Chuck: It's not always about lyrical content, that's what people don't always understand. That's not music, that's poetry.
Mikey: A great artist is a whole package man.
Chuck: Go do slam poetry with your creative lyrical [braggadocio].
Mikey: Like when I told you earlier about the dude that likes to combine metaphysical and look through the dictionary and stuff like that.
Chuck: Yeah.
Mikey: That's cool. But I mean, if he has a wack voice, and his delivery might be the same every time [what’s the point?]. Lyrical content is different. You can be the most intelligent rapper, spitting the most intellectual crap ever, but if you pick wack beats, it doesn't matter. If your voice is monotonous and boring, or, if your delivery is just wack, and you don't know how to switch up your cadence, it's just not entertaining. You might be a great lyricist but what are you doing it for? It sucks!
HipHopCanada: I don't think that question can ever be answered then.
Mikey: Yeah. I don't think that question can ever be answered. “Who is the greatest rapper of all time?” Unless Jesus picked up the mic tomorrow and drops his debut album. I don’t think there will ever be a greatest MC of all time.
Editor's note: For more information on The Cool Kids check out http://www.myspace.com/gocoolkids.
CASSETTE PLAYA AKA CARRI MUNDEN
G HERBO x RED BULL
I interviewed G Herbo to support his collaboration with Earl Sweatshirt for Red Bull. At the time, he went by the name Lil’ Herb.
Originally published on the Red Bull Studios platform.
At just 19, Chicago rapper Lil' Herb is already climbing high in the rap world. Since his breakthrough track, 'Kill S**t' with fellow Chi-town affiliate Lil' Bibby, the young spitter, whose real name is Herbert Randall Wright, released a well-received mixtape 'Welcome To Fazoland,' and shared tracks with heavyweights Common, Chance The Rapper and Nicki Minaj. That said, it's no surprise he'd be on a track with Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt. We caught up with the up-and-comer to talk battle rapping, family, and Minnie Ripperton.
What were you doing before rapping?
Rapping really was my first job. Before rapping, I never really had a job. Playing basketball and going to school, really.
What is your come-up story?
My come-up story is just that I was having fun. I always knew how to rhyme and flow a lil' bit, but I wasn't passionate about it until I got good. I never really had no one put a spotlight on me. I never really thought it would be this big in the beginning. I didn't know what my full potential was. A lot of people were telling me I was good, but I had to open my eyes because I wasn't really takin' it that serious. I was still playing basketball when I first started rapping. Then, I got kicked off the basketball team in my sophomore year, so I just stuck to the rapping.
What type of music was in your household when you were younger?
My dad wasn't really big on music; he listened to rap a little bit, but I didn't really grow up under my dad. I'm kind of a Momma's boy – I was always under my mom. I lived with both parents all my life but my mom she'd sing me soulful records. I guess that's why I'm so good at rappin' over soulful beats; being around my mother she put a lot of ideas into my head – soulful stuff. She didn't really know I was passionate about rappin until we sat down and talked about it and she learned what I wanted to do. She's behind me 100%.
Can you remember any of those soulful records?
I don't really know how it go 'Lovin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful'.
That's Minnie Riperton!
Yep. That's one of my favourite songs. My mom named me after Randy Jackson. My middle name is Randall.
It sounds like you came from a pretty solid foundation.
I came from two parents. And I have an older brother that I looked up to all my life. That's how I kind of learned the streets. My mother didn't know anything about the streets, and my father didn't teach me anything about the streets, so I had to learn a lot of it on my own. Goin' out and learning from different experiences. I don't think the lifestyle wasn't paved for things to just happen.
Would you say you were a warrior on the streets?
I was young. I was just trying to find myself. I always knew I didn't want to punch in the clock. I never wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor. I wouldn't say I wanted to the easy way out. I always knew I had to work hard but I had to work hard for myself rather than somebody else.
What do you like most about Earl Sweatshirt's style?
I like his style because he don't really follow anybody else. He don't force his style. We bonded in the studio. Usually in the studio I just kinda do my own thing by myself but we were feedin' off each other, giving each other ideas on what we wanted to do so it was cool. We clicked, and that's really what I liked about it the most. He's real cool.
What was it like working on this particular Red Bull project?
This is one of my favourite records that I recorded. This is a big record. Before I recorded it, I didn't know how it was going to turn out. I was just in the studio finishing a lot of stuff for my mixtape. And if you listen to my tape, Knucklehead kind of relates but at the same time it's different because I got Earl on there. Earl wasn't trying to feed off my style. I was rapping about my life, and he was rapping about his life. We don't live the same lifestyle but it still coincides with each other.
Would you say Earl's still is different from anything you've ever been exposed to?
It was kind of one of my first hooks. After we recorded it, I knew it was gonna be a big record. When I first started rapping I wasn't really big on hooks, if people really notice. I normally just go on for a minute and thirty seconds straight but now I'm starting to form better concepts, like how to format hooks and make a song.
How do you think your core fan base will receive this record?
Right. I still try to stay in my lane because, you know when you cross over too early you can't get those fans back. That's why I try to just stay in my lane and rap about what I know, that's why I say I like Earl, he didn't force it. I get in my lane, he stayed in his lane and we just met in the middle, you know…
Nowadays, do you write your rhymes, do you use your phone, or do you rhyme what's off the top of your head? What's the process now compared to when you first started?
A lot of records off my tape were freestyles. I wrote probably have six or seven joints on my tape that were just freestyle sometimes it just depends on how I'm feeling. Most of the times when I use my phone, I'm in the house. When I'm in the studio I might just go with what's at the top of my head. When I write it's usually to like, soulful beats. I usually write to the beats that are kind of hard, and it might just take me longer to finish a record. That's my process.
What is your take on cypher rapping?
I was actually big on cypher and battle rapping when I was younger. I grew up listening to Meek and Cassidy and Reed Dollaz. Delivering punch lines. That's basically what a cypher is, you can't just rap and rhyme, you gotta catch their attention. I could see myself doing a cypher though. I could see myself on the 2015 [BET] Cypher.
What do you think you're gonna be doing when you're 46?
Yeah. I mentioned that on 'Kill S**t' with Lil' Bibby. That's the song that got us all the exposure and got us like, almost ten million hits. It was one of our first videos. I think by the time I'm 46, I could see myself somewhere just relaxing with a family by them. I don't see myself as workin' too hard. I'll be almost 50 by then, I'll think of myself as an old man. I'll be around then for a long time.
If there is any place in the world that you can go, where would that be?
I would say China. There's a hotel in China that looks like a palace. I was saying this the other day, I didn't even know you were going to ask me that.
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