longh0rn (LH) recently caught up with Donnis before his show at Tremont Music Hall, in Charlotte, NC. Topics include: Joining the Air Force, being an XXL 10 Freshman, working on a new mixtape & debut album, working with Just Blaze, and alot more!
Wiz Khalifa (2010)
longh0rn recently caught up with Wiz Khalifa after his performance in Charlotte, NC. Topics include being an XXL Freshman boosting his career, his future projects, his relationship with Curren$y & being featured on Pilot Talk, and alot more! Shouts out to Artie & Will at Rostrum Records!Reflection Eternal (2010)
Last Saturday, May 15th in Boulder, CO, we caught up with Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek for an interview following their performance at the Fox Theater. Talib & Hi-Tek discuss working with artists such as J. Cole, Mickey Factz & Chester French. Talib talks on remaking Nas & AZ's "Life's A Bitch" record with Fashawn. Talib also mentions upcoming projects from Idle Warship, Strong Arm Steady & Jean Grae. Hi-Tek speaks on Hi-Teknology 3 and how his situation has improved considerably since Babygrande. Interview by Jess Johnson.Revolutions Per Minute in stores now. Purchase a copy of the album HERE.
Previous: Reflection Eternal Live @ Fox Theater In Boulder, CO (Video)
Related: Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek Are Giving Away an iPad (Contest)
Big Boi (2010)
Last week in NYC our media correspondent, Quincy Moore, caught up with Big Boi for an interview. Here's what he had to say about it:
It would be nearly impossible for people of a certain generation not to have an Outkast track define a moment in their life. For me it was in the 8th grade and the first time I heard “Ms. Jackson,” the track most synonymous with their entrance into the popular lexicon, off 2000’s funky and groundbreaking Stankonia. Ten years later -- after selling millions of records, winning multiple Grammy Awards, and having that same album be named by many critics and fans as one of the best of the decade – Andre 3000 and Big Boi have embarked on new journey: one with solo implications.
First up is Big Boi’s long-delayed, much-hyped individual debut, Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, which, barring any further push backs, is set to drop on July 6, 2010. During a stopover in New York City, the man known by his mother as Antwan Patton was kind enough to sit down with Tha Carter Cartel for a lengthy interview.
While it would be difficult to capture the true essence of a successful rap career in the span of 10 minutes, Big Boi was candid in our discussion about what we can expect from his new album, the future of Outkast, his non-profit organization, and the one artist that he still hasn’t had a chance to work with. Hit play to hear what he had to say.
~ Quincy Moore (Jailbreak Collective)
B.o.B (2010)
"longh0rn recently sat down with B.o.B while he performed at UNC Charlotte. He mentions his musical influences, his album described to a casual fan, working with Eminem on his new album, his vision for the album and meeting that vision, his description on B.o.B & Bobby Ray, working with Jay Electronica, and alot more!"
Asher Roth (2009)
Six months ago Asher Roth was a white rapper from Pennsylvania discovered on MySpace; a nobody looking for his niche in a rap game dominated by artists who didn’t even know his name. My how the times have changed. Since then he’s made a dynamite mixtape with DJ Drama and Don Cannon appeared on the cover of XXL, performed on MTV’s Spring Break, and recorded the party anthem of his generation. Not bad for a kid from the burbs with shaggy hair and an affection for smoking weed and Larry Bird.
When we first sat down last August I remarked how Roth has the unique ability to capture the condition of his contemporaries through his rhymes. His confident, socially conscious (and sometimes silly) flow has catapulted him to the forefront of the rap game, and his ceiling seems infinite. The coolest thing about Roth is that his newfound fame hasn’t changed him a bit. He’s still a down to earth kid with a fresh face who doesn’t give a fuck about how famous he gets. He’s in it for the music and that’s what makes him real.
His debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, drops on 4/20 and features tracks with Cee-Lo Green, Busta Rhymes and Chester French. After a recent performance headlining the famous Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO, Asher was gracious enough to sit down with us and shoot the shit. Here’s what he had to say. Ladies and Gentlemen: Asher Roth is here to stay. I hate to say it but I told you so…
-Quincy Moore for Tha Carter Cartel
Black Milk (2009)
Detroit-bred emcee and super producer Black Milk is making the best beats you’ve never heard. A disciple of the late great J. Dilla, Black has worked with everyone from Kidz In The Hall to Busta Rhymes to Colin Monroe. His beats are fluid and catchy, his rhymes are reflective and progressively getting better, and he represents an immense talent just waiting to bubble to the surface. On 2008’s “Tronic”, he shows love to Dilla on Long Story Short and absolutely owns the bouncy Give the Drummer Sum. But perhaps the best example of his masterful amalgamation of production and rhyming is on the ode to old girlfriends (Without U featuring Colin Munroe): But it’s just part of the game/now I’m more smarter these days/laugh at ‘em when the haters hate/cause I’m straight without ‘em/I’m making more cake without em/I’m overseas and back without ‘em.
After opening up for Common during a recent sold-out show in Boulder, CO, Black was gracious enough to sit down with Tha Cartel Cartel for an interview. What we discovered is that Black respects his hip-hop ancestors and the groundbreaking work they’ve done for the game. We chopped it up about everything from his love for Prince and Notorious B.I.G. to playing in front of white kids to his new album with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson. Check it out.
-Quincy Moore for Tha Carter Cartel
Articulate (2008)
***
The dictionary definition of “articulate” is one who uses language easily and fluently. When you think of a person’s rap name, his persona if you will, the name usually matches the man (or woman if you’re one of the half-dozen successful female rappers to ever roc the mic). But in the case of DC-based, Baltimore-bred rapper Articulate, the name doesn’t simply match the man, it defines him. His confident, socially conscious flow has blossomed from the rough streets of his hometown and made him into a unique lyricist who seems to care more about the articulation of his rhymes than the height of his fame. He wears spectacles and goes to Art School; he’s insightful, and conceptualizes the state of himself and his contemporaries through his rhymes. Using African-American struggles of past, his songs tell a story of people stuck in the cycle, just trying to stay alive. He finds ironies in the fact that “we [African-Americans] had to cross the Atlantic just so we could be slaves.” He understands what many of his colleagues seem to forget: everybody, black, white, rich, indignant, young, and old, have struggled in the bullshit of the daily grind. But what’s most distinctive about Articulate is that he preaches progression and maintains that expanding your world is truly the only way to expand your mind.
The Baltimore hip-hop scene has historically avoided relevancy with artists who are undeniably talented, but seem to tip towards mediocrity rather than excellence. It spawned a “thong song”, and provided a teenage Tupac Shakur an education, but otherwise it has never been considered a hip-hop pantheon. But shit, all that is about to change. By fusing house, drum, and bass samples into the hip-hop world, the Baltimore Club scene (as it’s known) is about to explode; and Articulate is playing a major role in the city’s musical evolution. Having released his introspective, intellectual “Slave For This Dollar EP” earlier this year, Artic seems to be poised to finally put the Baltimore hip-hop scene on the map. We at Tha Carter Cartel recently had an opportunity to catch up with Articulate on everything from the Baltimore Club scene, to Barack’s historic victory, to Kanye’s lazy ass; this is what he had to say…
Peace,
-Quincy Moore for Tha Carter Cartel
TCC: What’s up Articulate, thanks for taking the time to let us holla for a minute. So what have you been up to lately? We know you dropped the “Slave for This Dollar EP” earlier in’08 and the “Warmup” is coming soon. Can you tell us about the process you go through in the studio, writing rhymes, making beats, producing, etc?
ARTICULATE: I mean it’s different every time. A lot of times I just come up with ideas when I’m driving around and listening to music. Sometimes people send me beats, but my main dude is D-Tox and Rickie Jacobs, shout to out them. But um, they give me a beat and then an idea will just pop into my head and I’ll start writing. But when I make the beat it’s gonna be different because I’ll have a concept that I feel will be better if I personalize it. Or sometimes I’m playing around with different sounds and something pops out and I want to do a song to it and I’ll just do it. It’s really natural, I don’t try to force anything, you know?
TCC: We do. So when exactly is the Warmup going to drop and what specifically can we expect from it?
ARTICULATE: The week after Thanksgiving, I’m looking at droppin’ it that Friday I think. Basically The Warmup is for people to catch up on me. I have a lot of old stuff that people might not of heard but I think it’s some of my best material. Other than that it’s gonna have a couple of new joints for people who have heard things and wanna hear more. So basically it’s something to get people more familiar with me as an artist.
TCC: So I understand you grew up in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, can you talk a little bit about what it was like growing up in a place that doesn’t necessarily provide all the tools a young person needs to succeed? How did you persevere and what advice can you give to young kids who are growing up in similar environments?
ARTICULATE: Well, you know, growing up in Baltimore, the city has a real bad rap because a lot of people have only seen it the Wire and the news and stuff like that. The street I was from, my grandmother’s street, Baker Street, definitely wasn’t the best area. But I was lucky because my mom, she was really focused on education, she’s an educator herself, so she put me in one of the top private schools in the area and really focused on college and things like that. It really made me a more balanced individual in terms of seeing both sides of the spectrum. I seen some of the areas that are impoverished with some of the worst crime and drug problems and then I’ve been chillin’ with kids of some of the most affluent people in the city. So I think that makes me really well balanced. But the main thing for people who are not from the best areas is to get out and see more than just the block and the neighborhood. That’s something that can really open your mind to new possibilities. I’ve seen a lot of hopelessness with people, but seeing something other than what you’re used to, something other that your old situation, can really inspire you to do more.
TCC: In terms of the hip-hop scene in Baltimore, you’ve been quoted as saying there’s a lot of talent coming out of homegrown Baltimore sound but it hasn’t become popular around the country. What’s stopped it from blowing up?
ARTICULATE: There are a lot of different things. Baltimore is a place—I don’t know, it seems like right now the internet is really the way for new artists to get out in terms of different websites and blogs and everything. And a lot of artists don’t seem to be going really hard on the Internet thing when they should be. When I was a little bit younger, when I was coming up, there was a certain place that you performed at that was the only place you performed and that’s just what you did. It didn’t really go too much further than that. I think it’s just a matter of people just getting out and seeing more and really understanding life—different ways of taking your music further, which right now the Internet is the best way to go. Right now too, Baltimore is really close to DC, and DC has taken off and it’s kind of overshadowing the Baltimore scene a little bit. But it’s all good because this whole area in general needs to come up. I definitely would like to see more artists from my neck of the words, Baltimore, come out, and I definitely wanna come out and represent and be a voice for the city.
TCC: We’ve been hearing a lot about this B-More club sound, especially from people like Wale, can you give us a little introduction into that scene?
ARTICULATE: A lot of people describe it as techno music, but it’s more like house and dance, and on the lines of that. It’s really just music for people to dance to. What I like to do is make B-More club music and rap over it. But a lot of radio stations in Baltimore don’t play hip-hop, during the week you’re not gonna hear hip-hop, it’s gonna be straight house music. And because of that I think that’s the sound a lot of people are gonna catch on to. Some people like M.I.A and Santogold are coming out and a lot of that sound is influenced heavily by the Baltimore Club sound and a lot of people know about that.
TCC: Is it similar to the Go-Go scene in DC, a lot of people got into that and it’s overshadowed the hip-hop scene for a while?
ARTICULATE: I mean it’s kinda similar to that. A lot of times people think Baltimore only has club music and you don’t think about hip-hop too much and when you go out, a lot of times you’re not gonna hear hip-hop. In other cities, like Atlanta for instance, I hear as a local artist the way you come up is to give your music to a local DJ and they play it. But in B-More it’s kinda hard being in hip-hop unless you’re rapping over a club track. It definitely overshadows the hip-hop scene but you gotta be creative and find a way to blend it and still stay hip-hop with it. Kinda like how Wale did with Go-Go, cause he has a lot of hot records that are definitely Go-Go influenced but it’s still hot and it’s still something a lot of people can listen to. That’s kinda what I’m trying to do.
TCC: I understand you go to the art institute in DC. What kind of other artistic skills do get into there outside of rapping?
ARTICULATE: It’s actually right outside DC in Virgina. Right now I’m working in audio production. I’ve just been in the studio mixing tracks, mastering tracks and the whole recording process for all types of music. I feel like as an artist you have to do more than just rap. A true artist is gonna have knowledge of the whole music making process; from the production, to the way you record, to everything. I think that makes me a lot more balanced. When you hear my tracks, most of the time I mix them and record them myself. If somebody sends me a beat a lot of times I tweak it to make it my own sound.
TCC: Can you talk about what it’s like to be in school while simultaneously trying to spark your music career?
ARTICULATE: It’s hard sometimes but it’s still fun. You definitely have to balance school and music. But I have it so my school is my music at the same time; it’s kinda one in the same with everything going to the same goal, the same dream. But it gets hard, a lot of times people don’t understand you can’t always be hanging out cause you got shit to do. But the shit I’m doing is fun as well. I might be making a beat or writing something when people want me to come chill, and I gotta tell them I gotta focus on this. And as a college kid you’ll be in a crazy situation with people trying to get you to come to the city—but how you gonna hop on a plane or a bus, how you gonna afford it? But you know it makes life more exciting.
TCC: I want to talk to about the “Slave for this Dollar EP” for a minute. I heard a lot of symbolism dealing with slavery and the daily grind. Can you talk about how music in the past compared to now?
ARTICULATE: I feel like, especially with music now, if you look at the beginnings of the music scene in this country, if you were black and you wanted to perform you had to dress up and dance and basically be a caricature of yourself. Just to come out you couldn’t really be yourself; you had to do it the way the powers that be wanted it done. I feel like that parallels what’s going on right now. A lot of times I see artists and I’m like “man that’s not you.” Everything is the same now; you have to follow such a carbon-copy pattern just to come out and make an impact. But I definitely wanna do something to break out of that.
TCC: You shout out to Rakim and Saigon on a couple of tracks and I know you’re boys with Wale from DC. Who are your favorite rappers from the past and currently?
ARTICULATE: (Pause) My favorite rappers right now—I’m really feeling Saigon. I would recommend the Termanology album, the Q-Tip album is pretty crazy, and I really like T.I’s new joint. In terms of all time in general, Wu-Tang was one of my favorite groups of all time. I listen to a lot of old music though, basically a lot of the early 90s-music stays in my I-pod at all times.
TCC: I just listened to your remix of Kanye West’s Love Lockdown and Amazing and I have to say I was very impressed. What do you think about the dude Kanye these days?
ARTICULATE: (Pause) Uhhhhh, I’m not really feeling it too much. It’s not really my cup of tea. I mean I definitely respect what he’s doing and some of the beats are hot but it seems kinda lazy to me. But as an artist I feel like it’s important to push the boundaries sometimes even if it comes out whack. You never know, you might feel it later. When Common first came out with Electric Circus I hated it but now I go back and he had some hot tracks on that. So maybe it will be one of those types of things.
TCC: So before I let you get out of here I wanted to talk a little bit about the recent Presidential election. I know you did some videos about going to the polls and voting for the first time, can you express how important and revolutionary it was for us, as a country, to elect a black man into the white house?
ARTICULATE: It was definitely revolutionary. I think that’s one of the things I was talking earlier about people seeing something beyond where they’re at now, that’s similar to him being in office. It’s gonna show a lot of kids that they can do more than just what they’re surrounded with, so I think that’s great too. And beyond that, his policies and ideas are something that can really help the situation that we’re in now. Looking around, a lot of people I’m close to are in really messed up situations because of this economy thing, so hopefully he can make a change and make it better for them. I mean I’m really happy he won.
TCC: Baltimore and DC were two landslide areas for Obama; can you talk about the excitement you felt? What was the atmosphere like right before and during the election?
ARTICULATE: Oh my god it was amazing. We went to one of our friends’ house to watch the polls unfold and everything. And every time he won a state people got really excited, and then once he won Virginia people started wild ‘n’ out, and then once he won Florida and they announced that he won the whole thing, everybody ran out into the street. It was like fireworks and people poppin’ bottles in the street it was amazing. Then we went to Howard [University] and there were thousands of people outside: some people were crying, everybody was hugging each other, it was definitely an emotional experience. And then older people in my life, like my parents and my aunt were telling me about times before, and the things that we went through, and what’s happenin’ now with a black man as the president, it’s crazy.
TCC: So lastly, we noticed you have a couple of shows coming up? How have the shows gone so far?
ARTICULATE: Yeah I’m gonna be in Sputnik in Brooklyn on November 29th, the day after Thanksgiving. And I’m gonna be opening for Nappy Roots in Baltimore on January 21st. I’ve been performing since high school and every time it’s a learning experience, and more about getting in tune with a crowd. It’s crazy when people start knowing your sounds. Every time I just try to step it up and try to do something different. It makes me feel like a rapper
TCC: All right man thanks a lot for your time we greatly appreciate it. Do you have any shout-outs before you we let you go?
ARTICULATE: Shout out to all my people: Born King, Singed, D-Tox, Rickie Jacobs, Jabari, Phella, Sakwe and the Famous Firm, everybody holding it down, B-more, the whole DMV, and everyone who’s been supporting me.
Asher Roth (2008)
Don’t sleep, ever.
Quincy Moore for Tha Carter Cartel
Tha Carter Cartel: What’s good Asher? How you livin’ these days?
Asher Roth: I’m good man, it’s been cool in Atlanta but I’m still kinda bummed out cause it’s the worst month to be in here with the mosquitoes and the heat. So you know, being a fair skinned-white kid I spend most of my time indoors man, but it’s all good.
TCC: (Laughing) That’s what’s up. We understand you just moved your life “Entourage” style to the ATL and have been hanging out with the likes of Ludacris and OutKast. How’s that been, and how you like the ATL besides those fucking mosquitoes?
AR: It’s been cool, the main reason I moved to Atlanta was for networking, and you know it’s kind of the epicenter of what’s going on right now. It was a no brainer to move out of PA and get myself down to Atlanta for a little bit, so it’s cool getting to link up with some of these people you see on TV all the time. It’s been incredible man, but I mean it just started, you know, the journey is just beginning.
TCC: So you just signed to SRC Records and Steve Rifkind, what kind of shit have you guys been getting into?
AR: (Laughs) We’re working on the LP right now but we’re always doing different projects. It’s obviously a very visual world we live in, so I’m always doing different videos and stuff like that as well. I pretty much film everything too. Something that happened is that I’m comfortable within my own skin so I have no problems when the cameras are on and the lights are on. I’m not putting on an act and I think that’s what’s important about the music as well; this is very authentic, organic music. With this world that we live in with YouTube, and this and that, I mean I said let’s just throw the camera on and let people into my world, you know, not only can they experience the music but they’ll be able to experience the video as well.
TCC: That’s real man, that’s how you gotta do it in this new era. So listen, we noticed you’ve been in the studio with Nottz, can you tell us anything about that?
AR: Yeah man I just got back from Virginia working with Nottz, he is an absolute beast, and we did some crazy, crazy stuff. I’m always trying to out [due] my last record cause I think that’s kind of the competition I hold with myself; if I wrote a dope song, the next song I want it to be doper than that. So I went out to Virginia with Nottz and we did some really interesting and different stuff that I’m really excited about. We’re talking about featuring some people, I’m gonna keep it a surprise though. But uh we got a really dope record with a really dope artist that’s gonna surprise you guys, I’m excited.
TCC: Damn man we can’t wait for that shit. So somehow before all this started you realized you could rap, when was that, how’d it happen?
AR: I mean I wasn’t raised on hip-hop; hip-hop was the last genre to really be introduced to my family. My older sister listened to the pop sensations like New Kids on the Block and shit; my middle sister she was into like punk rock and indie rock; my dad was Dire Straits and Bruce Springsteen and the classic rock; and then my mom was more about the Temptations and the jazz and the soul music. So there was no hip-hop in my house, but by the time I reached 13 or 14-years-old, you know I kinda picked up on it, which was like 1998, so I got into hip-hop really, really late. I mean the first [hip-hop] CD I bought was Jay-Z’s Vol. II, and when that Annie anthem came out I was like damn this shit is like a Broadway play, and he flipped it and that was real wild for me. Then when I was about 16-years-old I linked up with my buddy Brian Sellers and I used to beat-box and rap a little bit, and finally I was like, “yo, I think I can rap”. I just hung out in my room with like a tape recorder and shit, I mean I think every suburban kid does it you know, they just hang out and they rap, and I just happened to be good at it, so I ran with it. Senior year we ended up putting out a makeshift CD, recorded on our computer with a fucking $10 microphone, and we sold 250 copies in two days. And then in college I stuck with it and did the same thing in my dorm room. I won a talent show and shit, and whatever, I was never trying to get a deal, it wasn’t like “I wanna be a rapper,” it was just how I liked to spend my spare time, and something I really thoroughly enjoy to do.
TCC: The Greenhouse Effect Mixtape with DJ Drama and Don Cannon---mad props to Don---recently dropped and people are lovin’ it man, non-stop praise for the kid from the “burbs”. How do you feel about the reception it’s received?
AR: I mean, I really feel like I have to stay away from the blogs and everything. So I’m not reading comments because there’s nothing really positive that can come from that. I mean I’m either gonna get a big head, or I’m gonna have my feelings hurt. But from the response I’ve gotten personally, from people reaching out to me, has been very, very receptive. I think they’re just happy because it’s different. Some people are trying to call it an album or whatever, but it’s not, it’s really just something that showcases my versatility, we purposefully put a lot of different stuff on there. If you’re not in the mood for one thing there’s something else on the mixtape that you can like. It’s kind of a mixtape for everybody, from Britney Spears fans to Shorty Low fans. I think what was most important with it was, kind of to capture the fact that there’s a lot going on, I want to hit all over the spectrum. It’s something new, it’s something refreshing, it’s honest, good music and I think people really appreciate that.
TCC: So I want to talk about “I Love College,” I mean people are calling that shit the best party anthem in history! How does that make you feel?
AR: (Interjecting) I mean I don’t know about the best in history, but I think it could be up there. That track is about my life. That was my college career in a nutshell. I think Beastie Boys had “Fight For Your Right to Party”, and you know it’s definitely gonna give that a run for its money. But that song, I feel like if you went to college and you lived the ‘quote-un-quote’ college experience where you didn’t really lock yourself up and weren’t trying to get straight As and like Dean’s List and shit, if you actually experienced the college life and partied, that song is gonna speak to you. When I left school and came out to Atlanta I missed the hell out of it, it was the best time of my life. At West Chester there was a ratio of like 7-1, girls to guys. That was the best place it was heaven for me. You know just walk out of the house, roll over and rip a bong real quick, a nice sunny day, go look at girls in sun dresses and shit, it was great. I wanted to capture that nostalgia in the record, and so I paid homage to Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” because that was such a classic song for us to party to. We got it all together and we wanted to make exactly that, an anthem for people to be like, man this is that shit. So you know, so far so good.
TCC: Well we say good fucking job man; we’ve been partying to that shit non-stop. Anyways, everyone under the sun has fucked with the “A Millie” beat, and your version is real nice but one line in particular really caught my ear. You say, “it’s not about the money, it’s about what you stand for.” I think that notion is particularly relevant in the current state of things and I was hoping you could expand on exactly what you stand for.
AR: All I’m really about is just honesty, integrity as a whole, as a man, as a country, and I don’t think we’re represented like that right now. I mean what I stand for personally is interesting man, because in this day and age our constitution, like more or less what America was built upon, is almost non-existent and it’s strange man. I really want people to understand that all men are created equal and it’s really the truth; we live in this capitalistic country, and I think music can make a difference; and I think hip-hop in particular is the most influential form of music out there. I’m chillin’ with these 11-year-olds at a basketball camp, and they know every word to that “A Millie” song by Lil’ Wayne. They’re listening to hip-hop music and we can’t just neglect that. We should welcome that, I mean the whole thing I stand for, and I’m not trying to preach on, or run for president or anything like that, but shit’s fucked up right now and someone in a position that can impact people should speak up about the fact that shit’s fucked up. I’m just more about unity and equality than anything else; I think people should just chill out and enjoy themselves. I mean everything is not gonna get fixed if we elect Obama. I mean you think Obama is gonna be able to fix everything? No, that’s not gonna happen, that’s unrealistic, but that is a step in the right direction. Because I think right now, as a country we want honesty and that’s all we want, we’re tired of being lied to, we’re tired of all the bullshit, we just need somebody who’s really gonna tell us what’s going on and try to fix the nonsense.
TCC: Respect. So coming up on your schedule you’re performing up in our neck of the woods in Boulder at the University of Colorado on Saturday. Can you tell us what to expect out of what will be one of your first major live shows?
AR: I’m real excited man, I mean we’ve done less than a handful [of shows], I think we’ve done three so far, and I’ve only been playing with my band for about a month-and-a-half or two months right now. But we’re almost like a small family, we hang out all the time, it’s not just like a bunch of musicians for hire, we’re all buddies. The live show is special, I think that’s the one word to describe it, it’s definitely a hip-hop show worth seeing. You know I’m kinda over the whole MC with a DJ on a stage thing, so we’re gonna branch out from that. I think a live band really showcases that it’s about the music; it’s a show, not just a concert. There are a lot of different elements to it, with guitar solos and interacting with my band and stuff. I’m just excited because it’s an experience for everybody and whoever shows up is gonna be like, “man that was a dope show I just saw.” I really want it to be like a Woodstock-like atmosphere where the music is bringing people together, not pushing them apart.
TCC: I know you’re a college dude like us and I was hoping you realize how crazy of a party school we got over here, any plans on taking advantage of that while you’re in town?
AR: Oh man of course, not a doubt. Like I said man, you gotta be careful what you wish for, and at the beginning of college I said I want to go to college for the rest of my life. I mean I’m sure I’ll get tired of it eventually, but I think I’ll be doing the college scene for a really long time.
TCC: I’ve been hearing rumors that you kill on the beer pong table. Any chance we can get a game?
AR: Definitely, let’s do it. I’m champion man I’m not gonna lie. Let’s see here, the last time I lost, actually I don’t think I ever lost man, I don’t think I’ve ever lost at beer pong.
TCC: (Laughs) Fuck yeah. Thanks a lot Asher, any last words for the readers?
AR: I just want to thank everybody: friends, fans, family, because without the support I don’t exist man, it means everything to me that you guys support, and are behind this movement and thanks so much for you guys for taking the same out of your day.
