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5/23/2007 What’s up?    I can’t complain, brother. I can’t complain. So far, so good.  You grew up in Oak Park, MI. What was that like?   Oak Park was real simple. I came up in the hoopin’ era. It was basketball time. Every day, we would walk to the court. That’s where I got my game at. That’s where all the fights happened. Everybody from Oak Park was pretty much together. We were 60 niggas deep, wasting the older crowd. I got my game from there. That was the life then.  You’ve been rapping for two years. You’ve come a long way in that time.   Yeah, man. I was always messing around with the freestyles, but when I started writing, I started taking it more seriously. I did open mics before, but I was just fucking around. Then I got around Royce and he had me spit for him. He liked it and since then, that’s when I started taking it seriously. Then I started going hard at it, writing a lot and traveling with him. With him, I really had to step my game up. I didn’t really have no choice.  Your first mixtape was Sick ‘Em. What was it like putting that together?    That was grimy! That was a collage of all my work. I pretty much took all the songs that I had and put them all together. It wasn’t like I got in there and recorded all fresh songs. That was a sample of my newer tracks and more or less, my history. This new Sick ‘Em mixtape, the Volume 2, is going to be all new shit. I’m going to give everybody a dose of what Vishis is up to nowadays.  What was going through your mind when you were writing “One Mission”?    Oh, man. That’s one of the songs where we were sitting in the studio with the beat turned up as loud as it could be. We came up with the concept of ‘one mission in mind.’ There were four of us and my man did the hook. He’s not even a rapper, but it’s a different voice. That was the zone I was in. I had all official niggas with me and I was just feeling it.  What’s the story behind the original version of “Street Hop”?    ’Los came into town and every time ‘Los comes into town, he brings a batch of goodies. He had a batch of beats. When that beat came on, me and Royce looked at each other like, ‘We gotta do this!’ I had to leave real quick. I left and came back and Royce had his verse done already and he was introducing me on the track. I went into the studio and I jumped on that. I was already feeling the beat and I just went in there and did what I do.  Are you happy with the response you got to Sick ‘Em?   Yeah, definitely. I’m actually excited because three or four years ago, I never even thought that I would be putting out a mixtape, but I put one out and it was accepted. It’s doing pretty good in the underground. Really, I just want to keep it going. I want to knock out a bunch of shit and eventually do that album.  What was it like working with Royce on The Bar Exam?    Anytime I get on a track with Royce, it’s like a whole different level because you know what he’s capable of doing and you know what he’s going to do. He’s going to kill it. If you don’t come full blast with it, you’re not going to fit on the track. I always love that challenge of doing stuff with him. That’s when I’m really, really, really at my best, when I’m with Royce.  Is the ability to give 100% every time you’re in the booth the best quality Royce brings out of you?    Yeah. Royce is like a machine. I’ve been around him and his music for too many years. For him to keep surprising me every time he does shit…When I get around him, I just try to adapt to it. It’s in me too, but I’m still learning how to bring it out. I’ve just been learning from him. I’ve been learning pretty fast.  Was it hard to get Royce to take you seriously as an MC at first?    I think he started taking me seriously when he heard how I put my lyrics together. When I first started, I had a super-aggressive delivery, like I was hollering. He listened to what I was saying and had me tone it down a little bit. He told me to stop hollering. I toned it down and made my words more clear so people could hear what I’m saying and it’s working out better that way. He’s working on polishing me. We’re still working hard together. I’ve been grinding ever since I spit that first verse with him.  How valuable has it been having Royce in your corner?  I can’t really put a limit on it. From my perspective, I can’t really assign a value to it. I see the value of it all the time. I don’t take it for granted at all. That’s one of the things that push me to come with these verses and these songs. I want to actually show Royce and make him proud of me, being that he is cosigning for me. That’s just another thing that keeps me sick.   After seeing how Royce works with other MCs, do you think Royce is harder on you because you’re family?    I wouldn’t say that, but he does have big expectations for me. In his position, he’s seen a lot and he knows what direction I should be going in. I wouldn’t call it being hard on me, but this is what it is and he tells me the things I have to do. I’m just stepping up to the plate and I’m all ears to do what I have to do.  How’s Sick Em Volume 2 coming?    It’s coming good, man. It’s new, better material. I’m showing more versatility on Volume 2. It’s going to be more of my mixtape. A lot of people said Royce was on too many of the tracks on Sick ‘Em Volume 1. I’m going to solidify that I can stand on my own two and go hard.  Are you signed to M.I.C. Records?    M.I.C. is always going to be home. Distribution can be talked about, but it’s always going to be M.I.C./something. M.I.C. is always home.  What’s your place in the Detroit scene?    I fit right in. The Detroit scene is pretty much open. I think hip-hop in itself is just open. They’re looking for the people that can actually come with the rhymes and actually show their ability as opposed to coming with dances and shit like that. The Detroit hip-hop scene is like the whole hip-hop scene, it’s just open.  Is now a good time to be coming from Detroit?  Yeah, definitely. Detroit is pretty much the only city where there are only a couple of rappers that you hear from. Detroit has a lot of talent. I want to blow up right now and actually expose the people of Detroit who actually have that talent to get out in the game and make some noise. I feel like now is better than any other time because Detroit actually has a lot to prove. Anytime Detroit is mentioned, there’s only a few select names that come up and I feel like Detroit is more than that. I feel like there are a lot of people out here that can really get out there. Speaking for myself, I feel like I’m definitely ready.  What’s your next move?    Really, man, I’m just going to knock these mixtapes out. Royce is going to start working on his album and you know I’m going to be on that. I’m just going to start getting these songs together and eventually you’re going to see a Kid Vishis album. It’s untitled right now, but I’ve definitely been working on songs for the mixtape circuit.  Where do you want to be in two years?   In two years, I want to be sitting on my throne in this game and I want Royce to have his spot. Royce is the best in the game and I want him to have his spot and I want to be right there next to him. I want us to have this spot that we’re supposed to have. We’ve been working real hard for the past few years. I want to be there. That’s my goal. I want to take care of home with this rap shit.  What do you want to say to everybody?  Just look out for real hip-hop. I know that everything that’s been going on lately has been real watered-down and ABC, but we do everything from slow to fast. We can come real lyrical with the punchlines and all that. Why not listen to it? We make therapeutic music for your ears. I just want to say to listen to what we’re saying and see if we live up to the hype. If we don’t, press ‘Stop’ forever. I just feel like our shit is worth repeating. Have your ears and eyes on the lookout for the transition. And look out for all the M.I.C. projects coming out.  http://myspace.com/micrecordskidvishis http://nickelnine.com http://mixtapedetroit.com

By Brian Kayser

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