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7/30/2008 How did you first link up with Black Thought and the Roots?  Through Dice Raw. Once he heard me on a mixtape, he wanted to come and work with me. That was just something that Dice had hooked up. We worked for awhile, maybe for a year or so. We tried to make it work. We made some goods songs but it just wasn’t coming together. So then I started working on my own, basically. Basically I was trying to get somewhere to record. I bought a computer and I just started recording myself on the Mbox. And then Shawn Gee, who is their business manager, asked who that was. And that led me back to Dice and that’s how I ended up working with them.  How did you grow as an artist where you were able to make it work the second time around?   I think the songs at first weren’t coming together because there were probably too many chefs in the kitchen. I don’t know. We had the songs but I don’t think we knew the direction. The reason I think things are working out now is because I have the direction. People would think I was talented but that just wouldn’t lock in. I always knew I had talent but it was just about locking them in. It’s almost like somebody who played ball real good but just didn’t fit in on the right team and then finally you just grow into each other.  How instrumental was Dice Raw as far as helping you grow as an artist?  It’s a different situation with The Roots, but he’s a good A&R type of guy. But as far as me, the most I can say about him and me is that I think he was always a big supporter of mine. But as far as musically and putting things together and everything, that was left up to me. My whole image and helping myself grow basically came from me.  What do you want your image to be in the rap game?  I guess somebody who’s super-real and has a very good sense of things. I’m not something that’s setup and choreographed for you and it’s all just wrong. You’re going to see a lot of natural emotion coming out.  How much did the features on Rising Down help your career?   Oh, man, being on Rising Down jumpstarted everything. You know how some rappers say that they’re your favorite rapper’s rapper? The Roots are like your favorite exec’s favorite rappers. The true artists really respect The Roots and the music people respect The Roots because they understand the longevity what goes into that. So now it seems like I’m the next person up to bat. You had Jill Scott, Scott Storch, Beans…A lot of different talent has gone through there It’s so hard to get on their albums. I think it’s one of the hardest albums to be on in this whole rap thing. It’s not that you won’t get a chance, it’s that you have to fit into the format.  Do you feel more pressure to succeed as a rapper since appearing on Rising Down?  Nah. Not me. Everything from here on out is a W. I don’t feel that kind of pressure and plus I know I got something, like, that nobody else has. And the crazy part about it is that everybody who knows me knows that what they heard on The Roots album is only one piece of me and if that can get so much buzz generated then wait until you hear everything else because there are a bunch of different shades to my one color that people haven’t seen yet.  Are we going to see your different shades on your debut album?   Without question. You’re going to see the different sides on everything because I’m going to put out at least a couple of songs before anything happens just so the world can hear me because I sound mad different from everything that’s out right now. That could be a good thing and that could be a bad thing but it will at least have people talking.  How is your album coming?   We’re in the early stages of it and because of everything being so down South and me being an East Coast artist, you need to figure out how you can fit in and be relevant. I give those down South beatmakers all the credit in the world because they have a new swing in music and the way it bangs and the way their drums are is really rocking right now. It’s not how rap used to be. It’s a different twist to it. So now it’s up to the producers in the East to step their game up and come with something different and I think that’s where it’s going right now. I think there’s going to be a merge of the North style and the South style and that’s what we’re working on right now.  What producers are you working with?  Of course Ahmir, the drummer. Sap the Beatmaker. I’m working with Dame Anthony and MED. I’m also working with Harry and Alex and Ritz.  Do producers tend to give you Roots-sounding tracks or do you get a variety of different beats?  At first I was getting all dark tracks. It’s sort of like it was a little process in its own once I started to record. Once the buzz started getting up there became a sense of urgency to do something with me. I basically A&R’d myself. I just started working with people who would work with me. I don’t want what you give me. I want what I need. Either you have it or you don’t or you want to make it or you won’t.  We were looking for basically dark, underground stuff at first. Jay-Z said he sees me as the Black Eminem and that’s the type of stuff that we were making. That’s the feel to the music that we had. It was edgy. It was self-deprecating. It was introspective. So we wanted dark tracks.  Now it’s like we want dark commercial tracks that swing a certain way. Due to the fact that I hadn’t rapped in two years because of The Roots stuff…Well, I was rapping but I was working on The Roots’ stuff. I was strictly working with them. And my computer got stolen. Once I got to work on myself, then I did, like, 20 songs with either a half a song or a whole song. I did 20 of them just to get them off my chest and to get all my thoughts out of my head. Now we’re going back to those and fleshing it out and building off of that.  When you’re working with The Roots you only have one verse to show what you can do. How did you approach those verses?  Well, I won’t take it like that’s my piece of the song because you never know. You might end up having to write another verse. So you never know. I always look at the verse like it’s the start of the song because with them being on tour a lot, a lot of my stuff was on there first and then it was replaced in different positions. So then I took the approach like this is my song and then see if people could get with it. And that’s just want I did and then if I had to write another verse I could but the way things worked I just didn’t. But I had verses on almost all of the songs on the album until the final cuts came.  I had, probably, four other verses that didn’t make it. Not because they weren’t good enough. If I had any more songs on there they probably would have had to let me in the group. They probably had to do that just to keep things in perspective.  Were you happy with the spots you got on the album?  Yeah, I’m happy. Those were my favorite songs, without question. I was extremely happy. I was grateful. I was grateful and happy. Yes. Definitely.  What was it like recording with The Roots for Rising Down?  I worked on Game Theory with them too. I worked on them with Game Theory just as much. I mean, I had verses that was on stuff but they didn’t make it. But some of the concepts of the songs came from there. I was on one hook. But I worked on that and that was a learning experience. And I worked on Rising Down which was a learning experience. It was a learning experience but I knew so much from working on Game Theory that I was mad prepared for Rising Down. Once I went in there I was learning some new things. It was like learning new moves after you learned how to play. I’m sure I’ll be on their next album and I’ll probably be on a lot more. Now I’ve been acclimated to the system. I’ve been bred into everything so that oughta be interesting.  You had to pay your dues.    I’ve been paying my dues forever, dude. There ain’t nothing wrong with that though. The more dues you pay the more you get back on your taxes in the end on your refund! (laughs) It’s cool. I’m not mad about that. That’s part of the ride. You should enjoy it. You can’t look at other people and be like, ‘Oh, they got so much more than me.’ Yo, handle your own and then you’ll get that and maybe more.  And then people will be looking at you that way. I’m looking at me and I didn’t have shit. There are people who look at where I am now inside of our camp and outside of my camp with envious connotations to it. Whether they say something or act on it, that’s something different, but people feel different ways about success.  When are we going to hear more music from you?  How ‘bout I just send you some stuff, man? My song with Peedi, that’s one of the first things we’re putting out as a teaser. I love HipHopGame.  That’s good to hear. Where do you want to be a year from now?  I want to have some sort of recognition a year from now. Not recognition as in Grammy’s or anything, but I want to try and develop a certain fanbase, like people who feel me, whether it’s 1,000 or 10,000. Like, I’m cool with that. I’m happy with whatever I get. Everything’s a plus. I want to find out what people really enjoy about my music and then I can expand from that. A year from now I want to have a nice little fanbase of people who are interested in my little life every day.

By Brian Kayser

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