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5/1/2006 What's up? I'm feeling good, man. I really can't complain. Good things are happening. The War of Art is out now. How do you feel about how the album came out? I'm really happy with the album. I approached this one differently from the last one. Like I told you before, I did a lot of extra songs this time. I did twenty-six cuts and then picked out thirteen of them that had a certain feeling to them and then came up with the concept. Everything just fit so I'm happy with it. The War of Art definitely sounds a lot different from your other albums. I just did this really dark side-project called The Chemikillz. That was on the super-dark tip. When I started working on The War of Art, there was a whole change in my life, including where I lived. Everything around me was very positive. Everything's good. What does the title The War of Art mean to you? Everybody has different styles. Everybody does their music or artwork in a different way. Styles clash, but it's all good because diversity is the key to everything. With this one, I felt like I could make whatever music I wanted to. Looking at you as an artist and being diverse, you have a very unique style and voice. How do you see yourself amongst all the rappers in the game right now? I definitely try to come with my own shit, no matter what. I feel like I might not have a big page in the history book of hip-hop, but at least I have a page. I think sometimes it works to my advantage with me doing such different music. Sometimes it works against me and people just don't feel it. It's not for everybody. Do you write your songs to make people listen a few times or should people get your music on the first listen? Sometimes I think my stuff is so simple that it gets completely overlooked, and sometimes it's really complex. Some of my stuff is very blatant. Sometimes you have to listen a few times to get it. What's your writing process like? Sometimes there will be a bunch of us in the studio and we'll all be writing and building. Then sometimes it's me by myself and I'll just write something down. I'll be sitting in the living room and I'll just write a couple pages, or I'll be on the road and write a little. I'll go in writing spurts. Some of your lyrics are very abstract. Do you know what everything means? I remember Ghostface saying he couldn't remember what some of his abstract lyrics meant. (laughs) Ghostface is dope, man. He's sick. I can pretty much explain everything. Everything has some sort of meaning to it. Do you find people taking away meanings from your music that you didn't intend them to take? Yeah. I think some people don't get the sarcasm in it. Some of it is sarcastic and some of it is what it is. I think some people don't really understand the sarcasm of certain lyrics. Besides that, people get what they want out of certain things. Does that bother you? I don't mind. If you get something out of it, it's a plus. You add your own touch to a lot of famous lyrics. What's your inspiration for that? I'll fill in those quotes because it might be something I'm listening to at the time or it just popped in my head. I listen to pretty much everything except country music. My brothers are rocker cats and some of the homies are hip-hop cats and some play the guitar. I'm influenced by all kinds of shit. Does your music go past the hip-hop boundaries? I feel like I can go outside of the hip-hop realm. People that like other types of music can like this too. I think in the way of how I live and how it is, it's hip-hop. We have two turntables and you're not ever going to see me with a guitar. This is hip-hop. The way we live is hip-hop, but the music can be appreciated by other people, too. How was it working with J-Zone on the album? There's this cat Brycon. He linked us together. We made a few phone calls and a few emails, and the song was done. He's happy with it and I'm happy with it. I like working with cats from over there because a lot of people don't really bridge that gap. Were you looking for some different beats on The War of Art? I think all my albums are different. I did that album with Fat Jack and it had a certain sound to it. Speakerface had a different sound to it because [Mike] Nardone did the beats and Kutmasta Kurt did all the mixing on it. I think the stuff I do with [Daddy] Kev sounds different too. They all have different sounds, but they still sound like a complete thought. How was it working with KRS-One? It was a trip. Doughboy makes beats out here. He's a mutual friend. He makes beats with the ABS' and he was the link. He likes what me and 2Mex are doing and he's already made beats for KRS for his other stuff, so he made it happen. I went down to meet him and he was a cool cat. A few months later, KRS shows up at my house and we made it happen. KRS was at your house? Yeah. It was so weird, man. I was star-struck. One of my childhood heroes was in my house. I've seen a lot of famous cats, but this was different. I was bugging out. Three days later, I was still like, "KRS-One was in my house!" I couldn't believe it. How was it seeing KRS in the studio? It was good. I had seen him in another studio and he had a different method of how he was doing his cut over there. He did a different style when he came over here. It was dope. Will more people pay attention now that you have a KRS collaboration under your belt? I kind of hope the East Coast pays more attention to what's going on over here. People on this side definitely support cats from over there. I just want it to start getting more mutual. I want to be able to go out there more often. We've been out there a few times. It's cool. We're going to try to get out there more. Do you feel disrespected by the way New York treats you, Project Blowed, and the Shapeshifters? I don't feel disrespected, but I feel it's not really appreciated. I feel like after awhile, things will catch on. I don't see any disrespect. When I do meet cats, it's all love. We all respect what each other is trying to do. Our scene isn't as big, but it's all good. What needs to happen to change things? We just need to tour out there more often. We need to dig our heels in and show cats that we're here and we're not going anywhere. That should do the trick. It seems as though you have very hardcore fans. It seems like it's either you love Awol One or hate Awol One. Yeah. I definitely agree with you on that. That's the whole thing with the Shapeshifters. There are crazy cats that are down with it, and then there are people that are like, "I hate that shit." It doesn't seem like there's anyone that says, "It's ok. It's all right." It's either "I hate that" or "I love it." The Shapeshifters have been dealing with that forever. What's been going on with the Shapeshifters? We're all doing our thing right now. Everybody dropped their new solo record and we're about to go in there and start rocking some new shit. We had two really good US tours last year. We're going to rock a new album in the next couple of months because it's that time. We all talk to each other. I'm doing a show with Circus and 2Mex in downtown LA tonight. How was it recording The Chemikillz with Mascaria? That's some really dark shit. I recorded the album in the basement of this factory and I was going through a lot of shit. It's really bugged out. It's like some whole other shit. It seems like you can click well with producers and make a cohesive project with their work. Yeah. I click with certain people and we just end up working together. How nice is it to do everything independently and not have to worry about having a certain sound? That's the best part of doing what I do. I have a lot of field to work with. Someday I'm going to produce my own album. If the option presented itself, would you want to go to a major label? I don't know. I'll deal with that when it comes. Right now I'm working with Cornerstone RAS and they've been treating me really good. We all get along, so I don't see any reason to go to a different record label. I think I'm going to do a couple more albums with Cornerstone. I really can't complain. You don't want to change a good thing. How important has touring been to your career? It's definitely something that MC's have to do, man. There are only so many fans that can find out about your stuff from going on the net and buying your album. You have to go on tour so people get your whole vibe. Everybody does it. If you want to make shit go down, you have to tour. That's why a lot of these cats might put out a dope record, but that's all you hear from them because they don't want to go out and take that next step because it's hard. That shit's not easy. Sometimes you get a lot of money and sometimes you don't. I've been lucky with some of my tours. I don't know. It's not for everybody. A lot of people don't like that life. What's been your favorite spot to rock? I couldn't even say it. There have been a lot of spots I like. I always like coming home. I like so many different spots for different reasons. What's coming up for you in the next couple of months? I'm going to be on the road. I want to support The War of Art for a little while. I'm not really going to be recording anything new except for this Shapeshifter record. I'm trying to rock The War of Art. What do you want to say to everyone? Take your vitamins and pet your dogs and have a good day. For more information, check out http://awolone.com and http://myspace.com/awolonemusic

By Brian Kayser

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