Whiteout, Tef Poe & Rotting Peach Pictures – “Feel Like I Do”

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Tef Poe, Whiteout

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       A necessity these days to stand out in the saturated Hip-Hop market is a dope video.  Whiteout and Tef Poe realize the importance of this.  When Tef and Whiteout collaborate on tracks it’s always explosive. When you add the production of iKlevah and visuals by Rotting Peach Pictures it really ties the project together, like the rug in The Dude’s living room.  

       This track is from Whiteout’s latest mixtape Kush and Kung -Fu  which  is just one of the latest efforts from East Saint Louis crew Doorway.   It’s always refreshing when the underground tells the industry “Shut the fuck up, you’re out of your element.”  Did these guys just pull out a firearm during league play? Yep, peep game. – Hensley

Silly J~Skills – Formats, Formulas and Other F-Words

14 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by in Rhyme University, Silly J-skills

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      Is having a multifaceted persona a disorder? Some call it a problem, I call it a gift.  Let me introduce you to some of my friend’s friends.  Meet Buc Nicer from the 23rd Century.  Buc is your hero’s hero; a spirited emcee from the future with something to prove.  Molded by rage, Victor Von is super-villainous. Consumed by chaos, and drunk on a takeover mentality, he is kept in check by his peers for everyone’s safety.  Skilly Mcgillicuty is an entrepreneur and a communications expert ready to up the net worth of his network.  Who heads this motley crew? That would be silly j-skills, a life documentarian, lyricist, poet, and a rapper’s rapper. Actually, all of these entities are physically embodied by Justin Donahue; an English major who resides in rural Missouri. To quote the man himself, “Now that you know me, it must be no danger/ ain’t your momma’ always taught you never rap with no strangers?”

         In this region, many intelligent working class people are bored. Due in part to limited opportunities for stimulating experiences, free thinkers spark their own creativity and art is born.  A myriad of out-of-the-box type projects are undertaken in the sticks of Missouri. Many of them (like rural anywhere) are plainly bad, while some are uncommonly amazing. silly j-skills and Bustrip of Rhyme University have put together something with an exciting flashiness, intriguing social sting, and plenty of homage paid to Hip-Hop’s originators.

       This project is called Formats, Formulas and Other F-Words, and is produced entirely by Bustrip.  The F-words (and all words) are flipped on a flagrant level.  silly j-skills possesses a rapid-fire flow that solidifies Bustrip’s beats into tracks heavier than dark matter.  See track eleven, Metafour Phantastic for details.   The Formula has some solid core elements.  It is equal parts personal journey, political/societal rage, and an acute resurrection of the original Hip-Hop vibe, mixed with experimental production and monstrous flows.  The Formatting, or lack thereof, is what really sets it apart.

       Obviously there are formats to each song, but the point is they don’t bend over backward to keep them the standard 16 bar verses, 4-8 bar hooks. When being creative, skills and Bus don’t restrain themselves to someone else’s rules.  When skills wants to rip 80 bars straight, he does (see track 10 Give us….). When Bustrip wants to flip a steam punk era circus beat like track two’s Step Right Up, he does.   Since this song is one of the most awesomely unorthodox pieces of music I’ve heard in awhile, I had to ask skilly about it.

      “When Bus let me hear the beat for “Step Right Up”, I had to have it,” says skills. “I begged him for it! It was so crazy and off-the-wall, it gave me an even deeper sense of freedom to write as freely as possible, and say whatever the hell I wanted to…It embodied the whole “fuck what ya’ll think” concept of the album, which is why, correctly I think, Black Caesar (of Rhyme U.) suggested we place it first. The track seems to be the classic example of “you either love it or hate it”, as my cohorts and general public seem to be divided down the middle on that one.”   It’s seems chaotic, but turns out lovely, like fireworks choreographed by pyromaniacs.

      There are a couple of tracks that really dip into j-skills’ soul on Formats…, the first being track five’s I Can Feel It.  This is skills’ “State of the Union” track so to speak, assuming he himself is “the Union”. It describes his current status and feelings, delicately laid out in part, through his strategy as a spades player, a game he’s spent many hours perfecting with the exact same people he is talking about in the song. It’s very clever.  Track twelve’s I Became My Mother, is on an even more personal tip.  skills broaches the subject of his own demons with alcohol in relation to his parents and children.  His father, who retired from the Marine Corps, and his mother, a civilian government worker, were both taken by alcohol. skills stoically walks the middle of the path between his own tendencies and breaking the cycle for his own kids’ sake.

     Track ten is a political fire-starter and a personal favorite, sure to be huge with the Occupy set.  It’s called Give Us What We Deserve.  On this one I can picture skills and Bustrip stomping through the halls of congress calling people out on their bullshit, and it’s a beautiful thing.

      Another compound of the project’s formula is the old school jams. They are packed with Hip-Hop history, original flavor recipe, while the rest of the album keeps it extra crispy. Track’s two, six and thirteen feature Bustrip on the mic as the only guest vocalist to appear on the album.  Thirteen’s Stacy Lattisaw is a history lesson of Hip-Hop 79-99.  Heavily laced with acronyms of the people who inspired them, Skills and Bus keep it nostalgic, much like GZA on Labels.  On track six, Sons of Hip-Hop, Bus brings the funk and drops some classic, but not the usual, Flavor Flav sampling.  On the vocals, skills and Bus nicely rock a classic RUN-DMC style back and forth chorus that modern crews don’t even attempt anymore.

As complicated as j-skills’ psyche may be, he is one of the most direct people I have ever met. So when I asked him to give me the project in a nut shell, he stated, “I would describe the Formats project as follows: An attempt to showcase the beauty of going against the grain, while maintaining the integrity and emotion of old school Hip Hop, with the type of reckless, lyrical abandon and innovation to make other emcees smile, all over Bustrip’s fundamentally sound, eclectic tracks. Yeah….this one’s for ‘the heads.”

Formats, Formulas and Other F-Words is now available at the link below for download or nicely
packaged CD’s. (I recommend the latter) Don’t Be Sleepin’. – Hensley

http://www.sillyjskills.com/

***PRINTS NOT DEAD*** Locash Magazine Issue 3 Direct

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in Issue 3, S.L.U.M.fest

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↓↓ ORDER LINK  ↓↓

ΩΩΩ  http://locashmagazinestore.bigcartel.com/  ΩΩΩ

     Get Issue 3 directly from us, directly to your doorstep, shipping INCLUDED in price. (USA)   Issue 3 features exclusive interviews from the one and only DJ Nappy Needles and also Loose Screwz from the enigmatic new record label/art firm Farfetched.  Also scorching these pages is the hottest photography out there in our Salute to the Modern Pin-Up,  Holla.

{Greta MaCabre pg. 8 – Marko Mihin Photograpy}

Tef Poe – War Machine 2

07 Thursday Jun 2012

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Saint Louis game changer Tef Poe just released his highly anticipated new album War Machine 2. It has been in the top 10 datpiff downloads for it’s first few days of release.  This project is like taking the red pill, embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality…and raising your fist.   It’s your choice to listen or remain unaware.

Midwest Avengers – A Soldiers Story

04 Monday Jun 2012

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      The Midwest Avengers have written a song as a dedication to the men and women who serve in the American Armed Forces. This song represents different aspects of soldier’s lives in the military. For that reason they have decided to donate half (50%) of all the proceeds from this song to:

www.woundedwarriorproject.org and www.restorewarriors.org.

      It’s the least we could do to try to help the people who have dedicated their lives to protecting our country and insuring our rights and freedom.  This is the first single off of our newest album “Hurry Up and Wait” which will be released later this summer!  The single will be available for download on iTunes, Google Play, AmazonMP3, Zune, Rhapsody and Spotify!   Thank you and don’t forget to share this song with your brothers and sisters in arms. ~ Midwest Avengers

Download it here

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/soldiers-story-single/id529860921

Erin Jale’ : Sample Shaping Bass Diva

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Erin Jale'

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It makes sense that I first met Erin Jale, (pronounced “JaH-Lay”) at a music festival. Almost immediately when meeting her one gets the sense that she not only loves music, but that her mind has a deep and penetrating understanding of sound in general. I was hooked to her musical vibe with one listen to her down and dirty “In a Hot Broken Tone – Cypress Hill Remix”, which uses some timeless elements from that era to get listener’s heads nodding.

What I discovered from one track to the next is that Erin Jale’s deep diversity in her musical influences has made her sounds impossible to really categorize or neatly tuck away into a particular genre. Its obvious that each of her tracks have unique emotional signatures and flavors. One track lives somewhere in atmospheric space rock, while another delivers bass that reliably crushes dance floors. The only thing they all seem to share in common are samples which have been processed to the Nth degree and woven together with a level of depth and complexity which is very rare in today’s plug-and-play production world. Oh, and the bass…she definitely loves her bass.

Erin’s latest featured (and unofficial) remix of Puscifer’s “Tumbleweed”, was created while she was living in Arizona in a tiny town an hour and some change north of Phoenix. The vast and empty spaces seem to resonate through the track with its giant sounds, layer upon layer, working together resulting in a deep mesmerizing effect. Like many of her tracks, this takes you on a journey into a place where the listener feels surrounded by the atmosphere and swaddled like a wee lamb in the enveloping audio.  I got to sit down with Erin Jale recently and ask her about her new remix.

Marshall Getto: Tell us a little bit about Tumbleweed and where you were at as an artist when you decided to remix that Puscifer track.

Erin Jale: So basically, last fall I took a job on a ranch in a town called Wickenburg, Arizona. Its a really small community, very isolated compared to Los Angeles, where I grew up.  Needless to say, there was a lot of downtime… A lot of time for horseback riding and working on my novel, running in the hills and trying not to step on rattlesnakes. Lots of downtime for drinking whiskey [laughs] with everybody on the ranch. After a while, we all started to feel kinda isolated, so then we’d take trips and venture out into the wilds of Arizona. On Halloween I went with some of my fellow workers to Jerome, Arizona where we attended a costume party in a haunted hotel called: The Grand Hotel. It was so damn fun!  The town, the landscape, the vibes were epic; to say the least…  You could see the the red rocks of Sedona from miles away. The magic and beauty of the spot resonated deep within me.  I could live there, easy.  While in the town of Jerome, you feel like you’re in a Mediterranean biome because it almost looks like Italy, but it also looks like this Western movie landscape.  It looks so authentic,  like a spaghetti western-resurrected ghost town. Its just amazing.  I had seen a documentary about a winery in this town,  started by the lead singer of Tool. So my friends and I decided to check it out because were curious…I’ve worked in Napa and I love wine, I’m always down to try new flavors. I had heard the minerals of the region gave the wine its own unique identity. The tasting room was truly dope, dynamic, and delish.

MG: Um, yeah, its the lead singer of Tool’s winery…its gotta be somewhat interesting.

EJ:  Yes, it was. We met this awesome lady there named Felicia.  We did a flight…well  a few flights actually [giggle], and this music was playing in the background. I asked Felicia what it was and she explained that it was Maynard’s side project “Puscisfer” and that they had the CD in their store up the block.

MG: So once you listen to that song in the ghost town, and had that experience, is that what lead you to be inspired to do a remix of the track?

EJ: Yeah, I kind of felt like a Tumbleweed myself at that time. Feeling isolated on the ranch….missing a lot of my friends and family….at the same time just feeling uprooted like a tumbleweed…

MG: Yeah…just blowing through town…?

EJ: “Yeah, blowing through town…just drinking whiskey in the desert” [laughs].

MG: [laughs] In the desert…usually people associate tequila with the desert…

EJ: [laughs] Yeah, not if your a cowgirl! Anyways, the song just resonated with me…it was so beautiful and it just made me feel so warm because I feel like there’s a resolution in the song. Eventhough somebody’s a tumbleweed or they’re so far from their home, there’s always a possibility for wholeness. There is a home for you. You know, maybe its not a specific place, but it exists…maybe within yourself or if you listen to the universe, so I think I found some hope or some beauty in the music. That’s what it takes for me to want to to remix a track.  I’ve got to feel it in my body.


MG: Yeah, it obviously spoke to you. So what made you get into making music, and more specifically, electronic music?

EJ: Well, after I’d graduated college one of my friends had this Tascam recorder, and I had been playing the guitar since freshman year, just kind of messing around with chordal progressions. So me and my friend, Josh…we made up a band called “Rockin’ Hard”  we would record these  simple little ditties on the Tascam. One day I was just feeling kind of psychedelic, so I flipped the tape over and played some  chords…a nice little progression. Simple. And then recorded it, flipped the tape back over, and played it as an ambient backup track…[laughs] And then I played a little variation of the chords that I had laid down backwards and I started recording simple, kind of ambient, psychedelic tracks on this Tascam. At that time, I was supporting myself as a freelance photographer in Venice, and as a tutor….and a swim teacher…[laughs]

MG: [laughs]

EJ: And so, I remember just doing all these things on the computer and working on a photography project one night and feeling so over the project that on a whim I opened up Garage Band…and in a night I just pretty much figured it out, and had so much fun just playing with it. That experience inspired me to start programming my own beats and making music on the computer because then I wouldn’t have to wait for band practice, or someone other person’s schedule, or getting everyone together…

MG: You could just be more independent?

EJ:  Yeah, and not really have to worry about anyone’s opinions. I could have this whole world of sound at my finger tips, arrange it to the beat of my own hearts drum.

MG: Interesting. So that pretty much explains how you got into it, but, as a sub-question to that, what were some of your musical influences at the time…what kind of led you to your sound?

EJ: Well, I’ve always loved Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.  At the time, I was starting to listen to Aphex Twin, Zero 7, a lot of Frank Zappa, Jaco Pastorious, Kraftwerk, Prog Rock… I had been listening to a lot of drum and bass music and going to raves and listening to break beats, but my background was mostly live music. I did used to really love the band Phish…[laughs]…I don’t listen to them that much anymore, but I did really like their airy, jammy, psychedelic departures. I guess that kind of evolved into a passion for ambient down tempo.  Aphex Twin was a huge wave-shaper for me as far as coming from the fold of classic rock and fusion and stuff like that.  So my psychedelic rock background lends itself to a lot of what I do. The big, booming, bassy, chunky stuff that I’m super-drawn to making paired with that swirly sensibility that lent itself to my musical coming of age.

MG: That makes sense. So, this is kind of in the back of that last question, even though its obviously impossible to categorize what you make into a neatly titled little genre, how would you self-label your own music?

EJ: [laughs] “Well, that’s a great question…[laughs] I feel like it changes…it changes depending on the song.”

MG: Maybe if there were a couple overriding emotional themes or stylistic themes, what would they be?

EJ: Well, I guess a couple ways of explanation  come to mind: The first one is “atmospheric dub” because the bass is very big and rolling and a lot of the tones and sounds and samples that I like to make are just floating down from the ethers. Like a beautiful atmosphere. An emotional one. The other one is “elemental dub” because a lot of what I hear when I’m working on my music are really primal or primordial sounds of the earth.  When I say elemental I mean just of the elements…earth, air, fire, water…

MG: Like Wicken-dub? [laughs]

EJ: [laughs] Stoppit! Its not Wicken-dub [laughs]. Its elemental. Some songs I make, I feel like they are of the Earth and they give me this epic quality of feeling: like I’m everywhere…I’m like a thousand feet tall. The song is alive and it just creates this other world, and that’s what I want my listeners to feel like. I make music, not just for a live setting, but sometimes more so for a private setting where somebody can really relax and be comfortable and let everything go.  We all carry around our lives everyday,and they get so heavy. I want people not only to enjoy the beat of the music, and the release of that, but to feel beautiful and to feel light in the process. I really use a lot of sounds that draw out my own emotions. Its my main motivation and inspiration.  Feeling good, warm, evoking my heart out loud.  What can I say?  I’m  totally crafting my own escape when I make music. Almost like its caramel candy. That’s how I want people to feel. I want people to feel really luscious and amazing when they hear it. Not just think, but feel. This is music for the feelers. Like you would feel an element of air or water on your skin…

MG: Yeah, that’s awesome. I’m sure people won’t mind having some of the candy that you’re making.

EJ: “Ha-ha! Want some ear-candy?” [laughing]

MG: Too funny. So any upcoming collaborations or shows that you’re looking forward to?

EJ: Um, actually yes. I’ve started a new band with my long-time friend and musical collaborator, Jason Lockwood. We’ve known each other for a longtime. Our new project is called “Snake-hips Lulu”. Its named after the original dance hall queen. She made her name dancing in saloons during the gold rush in the Yukon. She was a show girl and dancer making money entertaining the gold miners. I felt compelled by her story because, when I was in Wickenburg, there were these statues in the downtown area. Historical statues: cowboy, a claim jumper , a hooker …and the hooker one mentioned all these stories including “Snake Hips” Lulu. I checked up on her story and realized its relevant because she wasn’t really a hooker, but a dancer. The band name is for Lulu. I feel like we’re all kind of working and can get lost in the shuffle… I feel like I’m a 21st century dance hall queen trying to hustle for my bread. [laughs]

MG: [laughs] So, are there any shows upcoming?

EJ: “Oh, yea, there’s one coming up in Grass Valley on June 30th with GruntWorthy Music who currently releases some of my tracks.”

MG: How about upcoming releases?

EJ: I’m just finishing up the release of my double album “Opiate of the Massive”. I’m really excited about it. Its 26 songs that I’ve written over the last three years. It will be released by the fall of 2012, but people can have some previews on my SoundCloud page.

Erin Jale’ on Soundcloud

((( http://soundcloud.com/erinjale )))

Editor’s Note: Fully F-ing co-signed, thank you Locash Reporter Marshall Ghetto and of course Erin Jale’,  Locash Collective 2012~ Hensley

Lord Kash- (((Rebel Sound System))) Free Download

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Kash Flow

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      Lord Kash a.k.a Kash Flow became artistically self-aware through the Saint Louis underground scene.  Focusing his skills for a decade in the group Honors English along side STL game changer Tef Poe.  This was a perfect armor hardening training ground for both of them.  Both artists are currently on solo paths, but plan on working together again when the time is right.  The second solo joint from Lord Kash is called Rebel Sound System and it’s hittin the streets like an alien invasion.  This album is a ten track power move from a veteran emcee.  The impressive production from various high voltage sources reverberates through your body, while cerebral line after line fires synapses through your brain.  Kash’s clever, conscious flow and rebel rock flair are tuned to a classic rapper frequency that shines on this refreshing new project.  REBEL SOUND SYSTEM…..Engage. ~ Hensley

“Consider this a freebie, the next one’s gonna cost ya” – Lord Kash

Ω** REBEL SΩUND SYSTEM **Ω

DIVINE STYLINGS

Lord Kash  ft. Shomriya, Realistic

PRΩDUCTION

ARZA, DJ Reminise, Blade Gordon, Black Spade, JBJR,  Enferno Muzik, Tech Supreme

CΩMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA

 Kashflows@gmail.com   Locash314@gmail.com

BΩΩKING

Kashflows@gmail.com

(((DOWNLOAD REBEL SΩUND SYSTEM FOR FREE)))

http://lordkash.bandcamp.com/releases

Tupac lives at Coachella 2012!

16 Monday Apr 2012

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Here’s the best footage I’ve seen of  2Pac’s soul living through technology.   Pac’s charisma, thug life persona and talent were all alive and smashing the California desert last night at Coachella 2012.  This hologram was obviously built from an actual live performance, it’s not a facsimile of him, it’s real digitized footage synced with his voice, it’s scary perfect, down to the tattoo’s.    Check Pac’s digital ghost rockin Hail Mary and 2 of America’s Most Wanted live with Snoop at Coachella 2012 4/15/2012 ~ Hensley

BadTaste: A FarFetched Podcast: March 2012

01 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in 9-ball ent., Farfetched

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Badtaste 3 a FarFetched Podcast: March 2012

I Definitely recommend everyone check the 3rd podcast from the cleverly enigmatic new record label Farfetced.  Released monthly, the first 2 podcasts are testaments to the labels off the charts experimental hip-hop production and mixing skills.  With upwards of 20 artists on the label they draw from a deep talent poole, who’s genre smashing styles are never limited by any boundaries, this makes for an amazing monthly throwdown.  This time around they take a turn for the funky, with touches of new rock and hip-hop classics, in just the right spots.  Taking the wheel as selector on this one, is Farfetched/9-Ball artist Scrub, who’s funky, backwoods pimpin style takes us through 30+ minutes of life affimation.  Press play, have fun.  ~ Sikboy
Keep up with Farfetched here
Farfetched podcasts 1&2 and more 

Slug plays chess, doesn’t do yoga.

19 Monday Mar 2012

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Sean Daley aka “Slug” of Atmosphere is at the point in his career where he can decline interviews, look down on the “little people” and not lift another finger in the world of menial jobs. The Minneapolis-based emo rapper help build an empire of underground hip-hop when he co-founded Rhymesayers Entertainment, home to P.O.S., Brother Ali and, of course, Atmosphere. Admittedly, he’s an unstoppable force with endless vision and nonstop determination to make Rhymesayers the best independent label in the world, but he’s also a bit of an egomaniac. Nonetheless, he’s done well for himself. I  had a brief conversation with the man to talk about his moniker, his top 5 albums and online chess.

Kyle E. : Who or what influenced you to start making music?

Sean Daley: “I don’t know. I had an aunt that wasn’t that much older than me that spent a lot of time at my house. Just seeing the way she reacted to certain albums or artists and the fact I thought she was super cool because she was a teenager and I was a younger kid probably had an impression on me and that made me want to have something to do with making people react to me the same way I saw her react to Prince. Then the fact that I just loved rock and I’ve always been an attention seeker.”

 What made you come out from behind the turntables on grab the mic?

“I just wasn’t progressing as a DJ. I started DJ-ing in ‘87. I learned how to transform and I didn’t really progress beyond that. When people started doing flairs and shit I was just like ‘I don’t care about that fancy shit.’ I just wanted to blend and stuff. So I figured I would just chill and rap.”

Your lyrical content seems highly personal. Do you ever feel like you’re revealing too much?

“Nah, because it’s all fictional.”

 Really? There’s some autobiographical stuff in there though.

“I mean, no more than any book you read. It’s coming from your hand, your mouth, your eyes, but it’s not like any of those stories were truly autobiographical. They’re used to exemplify the struggle or dichotomy between the genders. Honestly half the time I was using that gender struggle as a metaphor for how I saw other things. Anybody that thinks I had a girlfriend who was as hard to deal with as Lucy is ridiculous. I had 15 girlfriends that were as hard to deal with as this character, Lucy. I stopped doing fictionalizing in the first person on the new album. There are 2 songs I did that are incredibly autobiographical while on past albums like God Loves Ugly, all the songs were metaphors. I adhered to go first person with those 2 particular songs but everything else I went narrative all the way.”

 Did you think Rhymesayers Entertainment would be the empire it is today?

“Yes. I was confident in the people. I knew Brother Ali would be great. I knew Eyedea would be great. I didn’t’ know how that was going to happen, but I was confident in the artists.“

Where did the Slug moniker come from?

“Oh, it got shortened from Slug-O. That got shortened from Little Slug-O which was my nickname as a kid.”

 What are some of your observations on hip-hop today?

“I don’t have any complaints. I’m to old to complain about hip-hop. There’s so many more important things to complain about. I mean, the shit I see on CNN makes me cringe. The things that go on in the entertainment world are funny to me. Everyone is so fucking insecure about their place, ya know? It’s like the backpackers bitch about the mainstream because the backpackers are broke. The mainstream bitches about the backpackers because the mainstream is afraid they won’t be respected in 5 years. Fuck both sides. Fuck the underground. Fuck the overground. Fuck the middle ground. It’s just a bunch of fucking people trying to find their fucking identities. Once you get comfortable with who you are as a person, you’ll stop complaining about all of that other dumb ass shit.”

 Do you believe that comes with age?

“Yes, I think it does.”

Name you top 5 favorite albums. Go!

“It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy, Fear Of A Black Planet by Public Enemy, To The East Blackwards by X Clan, One For All by Brand Nubian and Death Certificate by Ice Cube.”

How do you feel growing up in the Midwest influenced your musical style?

“I think most of us in the Midwest kind of became sponges. The East Coast, West Coast, The Geto Boys- we absorbed everybody and so we’re kind of a mish mash of all of that. You can hear a little bit of Nas and KRS One in us. You can hear a little bit of Ice Cube and Digital Underground in us. It’s like we sound like all of our influences.”

 What does the music you make mean to you on a personal level?

 ”I guess for the most part it’s like a ritual you do to give back to the people who gave it to you. Aside from the fact that we built a business out of it, we’ve turned it into a vehicle for other people to share their stuff. It all come down to this- it’s guided by the governor in me that wants to make sure I give back like KRS and Rakim did to me.”

As a human being, how does it feel to be in the position of selling out shows and having thousands of fans that idolize you? Is that kind of weird feeling?

 “I stay pretty detached from how many shows I sell out or how many units I move. I focus on the fans and try to be as personable as possible because I understand that’s what they’re here for. At the end of the day when I go back to my house, I don’t think about this shit.”

So how do you unwind?

 ‘I play online chess” [laughs].

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned over the past two decades?

“It definitely isn’t anything I learned in the music business. It’s pay attention to how and why you choose to self-medicate.”

I feel you there. So how do you self medicate these days?

“I play online chess.’

No yoga?

[Laughs] “No, not yet. It’s not trendy enough yet. I’ll do yoga, get a dog and play Frisbee soon though.”

One more generic question- what are the best and worst aspects about touring?

“Trying to maintain a healthy day-to-day lifestyle from sleep to food to exercise. That’s easily the worst. The best is the constant distractions when you’re on tour. You don’t get bored. There’s always something to play with and something to do.”

I’ve seen you several times and on stage, you seem like a natural-born emcee. You make it seem so effortless.

“You got this all from seeing me perform?”

Yes [laughs]. It seems easy for you. Do you feel you were just born with this gift or did it evolve from experience?

“I’m sure it came with practice and experience. I don’t know too many natural-born emcees. Most of them are practiced emcees. The only person I would say I’ve seen or heard that I would say are natural born emcees are KRS, Nas and Rakim. Everyone else has practiced a lot and cares about their craft a lot.”

 Best collaboration you’ve done?

“I don’t know who. I love making music with Brother Ali and Murs- that’s it. Everybody else I just like.”

If you could work with anybody alive or dead, who would it be?

“The Fat Boys”

[Laughs]. Would you rock the gold chain?

“Fuck yeah!”

Atmosphere performing Sunshine at Red Rocks

~Interview by Kyle Eustice ~

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