DON'T MISS TODAY:

Back to Artist Profiles

4/7/2006 What's up Block? I'm good. I'm glad to be alive. "Spitting Image" is about to drop. Before we get into the album, what do you want to tell people about it? I love Hip Hop. I'm an aficionado. The minute I was able to do anything about Hip Hop, I was doing it, whether it was rhyming, breaking, or producing and engineering. The album is about what I feel in Hip Hop. It says what I really don't like going on in commercial Hip Hop at the moment. I talk about how I feel it should change and go back to what I love. That's what I wanted to put on the album. Hard beats, real lyrics, and songs with some meaning and emotion behind it. What was your state-of-mind recording "Spitting Image"? I had the feeling of not really being appreciated by the industry and knowing that as much as one tries to be creative and be different from the average, it's not appreciated in the industry. Are you happy with how the album came out? I'm ecstatic with how the album came out. The name of the album is "Spitting Image." That's a reflection of me. It's where I wanted to go with it, where I've been…it shows all of the different elements of what I bring to the table, musically and production-wise. I mixed the whole album and designed the cover myself. One of my homies did the type on it. I'm really happy with how it came out production-wise. I cover all the bases on it. I rap, I sing, I do my thing. How overdue is this album? Wow. (laughs) So, so overdue. I spent a lot of time playing the background for a lot of cats, from Jean Grae, Pumpkinhead, Thirstin Howl III…from producing to mixing, I got my credits. Obviously they were appreciative, but I don't have much to show for that other than that I was able to put my touches on their album. It just came to the point where I felt that it was time for me to do me and do the things for myself that I did for everyone else. I hope that people like it. It's definitely very different. I kept my raw lyrics from the past on there with the wordplay and trying to be witty and have ill concepts. I also tried to do new things, like the singing. There is some singing on our old Brooklyn Academy records. It's some things that I've done before with a little twist. Jean Grae's on there, Pumpkinhead, Sean Price, War Bixby, Will Tell, Oddisee did a track…I'm definitely very happy with it. Who is this album for? I dedicated this album to my cousin Moraima Rivera, who died of a brain tumor last year. The title also refers to family, like "his son is a spitting image of his father." It's dedicated to my fans, my wifey, and people who made me happy and who pissed me off. I wanted to see what I could do and I did it on my own. What was your inspiration for "All a Game"? DJ's in Hip Hop doesn't really try to break artists or records anymore. There were always different groups. We had hardcore artists like Rakim and Kane, then De La, then Tribe…it was dope that there was a variety in Hip Hop. It kept it fresh and new. Now, it's bullshit. They're recycling rappers. You have all these clones and drones out there that all sound the same. I don't even know who's who anymore. Everybody has the big houses and the bling bling and all that bullshit. Bling bling has always been in Hip Hop, but there was also creativity, originality, and versatility. I just don't see that anymore. I don't see anybody striving to be different. I see everybody trying to be like that next cat that blew up. Everybody wants to be the next Jay-Z or Jadakiss or 50 Cent. Not every rapper should try to be one of those dudes. It's sickening to me. That song is me speaking on how everybody is full of shit in the industry and how labels are scared to take a chance on something original. Fuck the labels and fuck the artists that are trying to be like somebody else. And fuck anybody that disagrees with me. What's Brooklyn Ac been up to lately? I think everybody has branched out and been trying to get their names out as individuals. We've been doing that for awhile. We were always a crew, but we always did our own thing, too. I think this is the year that we'll really get those albums out there. We're all doing what we have to do. This is the year that everything is going to come together. We have about four or five albums done and ready to go. We feel that if we can establish ourselves as individuals, then when the time comes to put out our albums together, it'll just be that much stronger. How did the group come together? For us, I sought out a lot of the cats on some battle shit. That's how I stepped to them. Not to brag or anything, but I pretty much burned Pumpkinhead. At the end of the day, my whole philosophy was, "If you can't beat 'em, recruit 'em." So we started Brooklyn Academy. The way the industry is now, it's better to have a crew behind you because you never know what's going to pop off. For the most part, as an artist to create, you don't really need much of a crew. When everybody's nice, then it creates some really cool competitiveness that pushes everyone to be a better artist. How much loyalty is there in Hip Hop? I would say little to none. At the end of the day, cats basically do them. You can help them out and you can get them to where they want to get to, but they'll forget how you helped them and they won't reciprocate or appreciate. That's been my experience. Nine times out of ten, the only reason people come back is because they need something. The people that I run with show loyalty because it's a crew on a music level but also on the streets. We help feed each other in real-life situations. Cats do show loyalty because there is a street code that we follow that says, "Don't shit where you eat." We've been loyal and kept it real with each other. I won't mention names, but some cats that we came up with rode the coattails of Brooklyn Academy and then when they got to the level they wanted to get to, they pretty much forgot where they came from. I base loyalty on individual people. I can't really group it. It's a cutthroat industry. There's a limited amount of slots. There are a whole lot of people, especially in New York, that are trying to fill those slots. A lot of people will dick-ride to get to where they want to get to and then forget where they came from. It's just the nature of the beast, I guess. What did you learn musically from your father, famous salsa singer Ismael? My dad is an incredible dude. Musically, he's an amazing singer. He's very passionate. When he sang, people felt him because they could feel the emotion behind him. They could feel what he was singing. I think I picked that up from him. He was always singing whenever we'd be in the car or anywhere. I actually found out later in life that he was famous in Puerto Rico for battling over there. Hip Hop thinks we made this up, but my dad was doing this forty years ago. People came to Puerto Rico to meet up with him because they heard he was ill at it. Whatever one singer ended with, the other one would have to start with. They were basically dissing one another. On a personal tip, he's just a great person. He's a very giving person. He gives to others before he supports himself. I think I've picked up on that, too. He's an incredible dude. How do you see Hip Hop borrowing from salsa music? You see a lot of it in reggaeton. I don't know if salsa has had that much of an impact on Hip Hop. I know Pun definitely borrowed from salsa and incorporated it into his music. He's probably the only cat that made it happen and did it well. Certain cats have tried to sample songs and intro's, like Peter Gunz. It's been sampled. I'm probably one of the cats that will do it. I'm doing a Spanish album. My dad was in the studio with us getting drunk, like father like son. (laughs) Salsa hasn't had that much of an impact on Hip Hop, but I feel that by the time I'm done with it, it will. Does your father listen to your music? He does. He was actually pretty impressed with my album. He didn't have a full understanding of what I was doing until he came into the studio with me. He used to shit on me like, "Hippity hoppity bippity boppoty." I think he has a new appreciation for it because of me. That's cool. What's next for you? I'd like to start touring. I'll probably go on tour in May or June with the Beatnuts, Sean Price, and some of my crew. I just have to get the name out there and make sure the first release off of Brooklyn Academy Records does well so I can keep putting out albums and what I think is dope Hip Hop. Hopefully this will set a standard for the label and my album will open up doors for the rest of my camp. We're talking about putting out a Brooklyn Academy album later this year with all of the original members: Pumpkinhead, Medaphaor, Icon, and Will Tell. We're also working on a Wordamouth album. I'm trying to put this website together and we're working on a clothing line. We're getting the whole merchandising thing together. My album is the springboard for everything else. For all those Brooklyn Ac fans out there, definitely come out and support at the shows so we can continue giving you what you want. I'm also working on an album with War Bixby. That's coming along nicely. Look for that soon. On the business side of things, I'm trying to be the CEO of Brooklyn Academy Records and do more production and choruses for people. I'm doing a chorus for Jedi Mind Tricks right now. I'll probably be touring with them later this year also. I'm recording with a lot of cats that I like and respect, like Non-Phixion, the Beatnuts, and Sean Price. I'm trying to get out there a little more and get my name out there as a solo artist. By the end of the year, I'd like to get the group in the studio to do a Brooklyn Academy record. We have a lot of joints that we'd like to release later this year. We also want to do a Wordamouth album. We might also release the Zooty Zoo album. That was our name before we became Brooklyn Ac. It's vintage, dirty music. You'll also be seeing some video on the website. What do you want to say to everyone? I want to thank all of my fans, first and foremost. I know a lot of y'all have been wanting for us to do something and to get out there and tour as a group and pick up on that sick-ass Brooklyn Ac vibe. It's been awhile since we've done some full-fledged releases, and we still get the same love. That shows how loyal the fans have been. The industry hasn't been loyal to us, but the fans definitely have been. They're what keep us going. I got an email from a fan that told us how much he loved us and how we changed his way of writing. I've gotten a ton of those over the years, and that feels good. That's the reason I keep going. It's not about money, or else I would have quit a long time ago. Brooklyn Academy has the best fans in the world.

By Brian Kayser

[5] REACT TO THIS INTERVIEW