The North West! O ur fourth iss lie o f SavNation marks roughl y len months thai we have heen at Ihis, not qu ite a year, but vcry d ose . Over it a ll we ha\'c learn a lo t a hoLiI whal it really means to gel o ul there to not on ly lind tale nt to feature, hut to create a co nsiste nt platform that is mo re conce rned with spreading: h ip ho p as a cult ure, than ridi ng: whateve r po p wave is curren l. I would say the most challe nging: aspect o f hringing e verything in SavNalio n togethe r is getting: pe ople to ]()lIow th rough, while m ost art ists arc quick to at least respond , the re arc many that lilil 10 the wayside. Eh , YO Ll Will some, YOll lose so me right? Besid es we wanl to co ntinlle introducing y OLI to artists thai arc o riginally, ta le nted , dedicated , and co nsiste nt, ;ul}'way. All in all , c rcating: SavNati on has taught me a lot ahout how to promot e and get th c word o ut, and it has allowcd mc to mcct and wo rk with many ta le nted al1ists, and not only li'om thc North \,ycst.
This Issuc, wc hring to you Portland 's Mike Bars. Right no w the kid is killing the !;\cchook gamc with an impressivc :~7 ,000+ f:lIls, and with t\\'o catchy singles out now, Mikc Bars is defini tely in a position to h ring not o nly morc Ems to the North lI'est, hut hc a first to cross o\'er into the natio nal markets. \,yc Brought Mike Bars in rcccntly to collaho rat e on the co\'c r for thi s issuc, a nd in thc e nd I fccl wc came up with a &'Teat prcscntation to our rcaders.
Untilthc North \'Vcst Blows Up!
Tcrry March
SAVNATI (Vol. I No.4)
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Can yo u introd uce yourself to our readers that may not kn ow of you? I'm your li'iendly ne ighborhood whi te boy., .who Gill spit a mean ass rhyme and m ight just beat your ass with the microphone if you boo. Haha nail, I try not to ta ke myself too seriously, because in my hea rt , I'm a gool)1ass dude. That's,i ust who I am. I love hip hop. But more than that, I love music. A few years back, I coined a little phrase: Li sten to the music that pleases your cars, not your ego. I don't give a fuc k what genre it is as long as it sou nd s good. Isn't that what thi s shit is really all about? I was raised on Motown, reggae, pop, blues and rock, so I try to incorporate a little bit o f that every time I make a song.
How long have you been creat.ing hip hop? I've bee n doing this since I was probably abou t II or 12. I just remembe r be ing the only whi te dude ill middle school to rap ... so I kept it a secret. I mean didn't tell NO BODY. I was pretty awful at firs t, so it was actually a good thi ng I kept it to m yse lf~ I-Iahaha. I think lea rning the lyrics to RollOut by Ludacris was really what got me into rapping. I saw him Oil TV, with the huge ali'o, and I was like ... shit. .. this guys really funny! I cou ld do this. I just always really enjoyed the way words rolled o il my to ngue to the rhythm s. I didn 't take rapping se ri ously at first, because my humorous style didn't mi x too well with the gangsta image that was popular back then ... but pretty soon the word sli pped out, and I got enough encouragemen t /i'om my friend s 10 start rap haUling people at lunch and I began 10 pick up some actual skill. I was dcJinitely one of th c lirst whitc kid s in my high school of over 2,000 people to pu t ou t a hip hop song. All the whi te kids hated me in thc beginning because of what I like to call the "whi te complex路 .. .see, at the time it wasn't cool to be whi te, and so most white people didn 't really listen to rap for the music, they li stened to rap to be cool and fil in with black cu lture. As it turned out, the only respect I got was from the black community, who really didn't give a luck that I was wh ite. T hey just saw I co uld rap. Soon the white kids fo llowed. By senior yea r, I had released my first album under the name Mickey Dee and had one of my songs voted by the student body to be played at prom. It was defin itely a bit o f an underdog story.
I have read that you take on a velY large role in creating your music; ca n yo u give our readers some insight in to how you create a song? \Vell, first o il', I am a producer, rapper, enginee r and !"'Taphic designe r, among a few other scat:lered talents I put to use in completing an album. l'vlost of my beats are 100% original. I thin k that just comes from having a non-hip-hop background. I'm not a strong believe r in sam ples and such. I'll use them occasionally if I hear something I re;dly like that I G ill build o il', o r if I wan t to achieve a grittier hip hop sound, but for the most part I believe in creati ve originality. I wall t to own eve ryth ing I do. I wan t to control and shape my music any way I see fit, which is I think part of the reason why I st,1I1cd prod ucing. \Vhen I firs t started rappi ng, I learned all about copy right laws, ami wanted to own all my music. I've never been a mixtape kind o f guy. I've always been a Dr. Dre kind of !,,'l.ly. Perfectio n or die. I'm a son/:,'writ er, not just a rappe r, and so I do n't necessaril y think doing a million mixtapes is the best way to display my tale nt. So I startcd producing from the ground up. \Vhen I write a song, I usually st;u1 with thc instr umental. I'm vel)' mel ody oriented so that's usually the lirst thing I think or. \ ,Vith songs like Stunt Double, I play or arrange just about eve rything you hear in the song li'om scratch - the piano, horns, synths, organs, bells, drums, and eve n the bass. Sometimes I'll have a guest musician come in and play something I feel like I cou ldn't do as \Vcll on my own, like the crazy guitar solo at the end of Stun t Double, or the quick du h step wobble over the "Sh hh" in Grown Folks. Then I gu off of the feel of the instru ments and I start bu ilding from there. Next comes the concept of the so ng, and my 1;lvorite part - the hoo k. The hoo k is what I base everythi ng in my songs around and they're a lot of fun to do, and usually involve some sort of singing because o f my musical background. Verses arc almost al ways last, bu t I love em. I always try to do something new, so mething I haven't done before, every time I write a verse. My mixtape remix songs are the olles I do lo r fu n - rhymes I write in 10 to 15 minutes fl at whil e I'm fl ying out lor a show, or just need a quick break from my album. The verses I put togethe r for my albums usually take a lot lo nger, depending' o n the type of flow I wan t. It's easy to bang saVUTIM
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stun' out quick just fix show, but I would rather have a master piece than a mixl'ape joint any day, and I think that's what sets me apClrt from a 101 of loday's rappers. ('m all ahoul lyrici sm, swag comes last.
' ,Vhat was the motivat.ion behind changing your name from Mickey Dee to Mike Bars? Growing up, I al ways had the nickname 'Mickey Dee'. I have no idea why I had iI, nor wherc it came from , and il just kind of stuck. \ 路Vhen I started out rapping, I ,v<Isn't really taking myself seriously, ;uHl tllat "'as tile first thing I thought oL The lIaille has sort of a gool)1 ICei to iI, and so at the time, it secmed like th e righl thing to call myself. Aficr my first album The Ban'Code was released , the lIame start ed to gel old ami I got sick of people pronoullcing it, ~ Mikcy Dee" or "Mickey Bee" (becausc my last name is Barr) and I st;1l1ed to consider changing it. One day, Troi Breeze, one of my dose high s(:hool buddies, and an ex-member o f my group, The Verbal Felonz, addressed me as "Mike Bars" by changing th e ex tra 'r' to an 's'. vVhcn I as ked him why, all he could say was "because you got bars for daysssss." I loved the spin on my real name so much that I decided to use Mickey Dee as just a nickllame, ami Mike Bars has been my ollicial stage name ever since.
You have some big names featured on your upcoming album, how did you go about landing those features? Let's just say I know people who know people. Haha. But reall y - all this game is about is who know. Fo r instance, my promoter was ha ving troubl e with his driver and needed to pick King Gord y up (i'om the airport , who had flown in from Detroit fix a show. He knows my whip is sexier than Nicki Min;\j's ass, so he asked me if I would mind swooping Gordy and his hype man up. \'Vh ell I got to th e airpo rt, we all just kind of got to talking ahout th e slat e of hip hop, Gord y's connectio ns to Eminem and D 12, our views onJustill Bieber (I-IAI-IA) , alld eventually it allied to me playing them a lew tracks on my album. They loved it, and nexl thing you kn ow, Go rdy and I arc in the studio afier his show recording a track called 路'The Mighty Pen" for my album. I reached out to Marv \ 'Von aller seeing a few battles he did in the \"'orld Hap Championships and tho ught th e dud e was nice,
so th;lt's how that happened. As fix connecting with Chrissy -- I was looking to take vocal lessons from someone in the Po rtland area and I saw she was a Grammy nominee and did voice ove r wo rk lo r Demi Moore, and I was sold! Her mu sic credentials are endless. I've never really taken music lessons for anything befo re, but singing was something I really want.ed 10 improve o n and so I reached o ut to her. At the time, ( was recording a SOil of a funk y, ROs themed , Stevie \'Vonder type track that needed some lc male vocal s on a hoo k I had written, and she had th e perlect voice. I played it for her at o lle of my lessons, and next thing you kno\\,- she's on the album! Bizzy and Layzie Bone (i'om Bone Thugs N Harmony have hoth di scllssed recording ve rses for my album Th e MikerophoJle, separately back stage whell I did shows with them in Portland, but we had conf1icting schedules unlol1unatcly. Bizzy and I had studio time at one po int while he was in the area, but so mething came up, and we ended up pushing it back. The song probably won't make it O il The Mikerophone, hut perhaps the next album!
"Vhat res ponse have you received from your firs t single "St.unt Double"? \"'ell , it's a song mad e to piss people ofL So, naturally, it's pissed a lot of people ofI It's one of those songs that has gotLen a lot o f mi xed responses, but over all , it's been extremely positive leedhack, and has had exactly the impact that I was hoping for. You hale it or love it, mall. One of the reasons I made the song was because of the wa~' I was treat ed by o ther whil e kids being a whit e rapper in high SdlOOI - the whole "whit e complex" I talked about earlier. .. I thought of the song idea a long time ago, back when Eminem, The Beastie Boys, and Vanilla Ice werc really the o nl y Ca ucasian dudes to make il as rappers. I didn't reall y feel the need to put the song out there at the time because I knew there would most likely he some negative repercussion s, so it took a lot to push me into actuall y making the rccord a reality. It wasn'l until Asher Hoth came o ut with I Love College, I think , that I was like "Okay, I gotta do this shit." \"'hen people started comparing him to Eminem I couldn't helieve it. They're two completely diffe rent SlVUTDI
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styles, and at Ihal momen l, I decided I needed 10 do something to re;t1ly set myself" apart f"rom th e white rapper community, and show people that I was aware of what th ey would say about me. In a lot o r ways , the song was meant 10 con fuse people so much Ihal it woul d lorce them to think. The irony in it was Ihe whole point- a wh ite rapper dissing other whi te rappe rs because o r the color of thei r ski n. I wan ted people to slOp and go "\VaiL .. is n'l he whi lei) \ Vhat the fuck is this guy doing?" and gel a heated discussion going. I knew some people would he a little 100 dense to follow the thought pattern , but I also recog'nized that a lot of people wou ld understand what I was trying to show everyone ... essemiall y, Iha l skin color is mean ingless, and to judge somebody lor that is pretty lucking absurd in thi s day and age. To some degree, I lecl like the biggest racism nowadays comes from while people against other whit.e people. Like I discussed ea rlier, a lot of while people arc so desperate I()r acceptance by the black commun ity thaI they have become automatically hostile towards a lot of white rappers, especially if there's "ganf,'S ta" clements to thei r music. In this se nse, racism has flipped so hard that it has ac1ually kind of" back lired in some ways. There's tons of white 011 hlack rac ism ill the wo rld still as well, which is horrible, I just thought it was interesting how a lot of it has actually turned around. I made the song, hecause I hadn't really heard anybody do a track dissi ng exclusive ly white rappers before. It struck me as kind of an interesting concept. I recentl y lound ou t tha t there have been a lew people who ha ve done some sim ilarl y themed songs, but Stu nt Double still stands as a pretty uniq ue idea in my mind. \ 'Vhen I first lea ked Stu nt Double, I posted a link to il on Ihe twiner page of hay area rapper, The Grouch, who I uiss in the second ve rse of the song. Just to see if I could get a reaction. The resu lt - he reposted the link lo r 3 days straigh t lor alt his l ~lIl s to sec. Prelly soon, there were blogs all ove r the internet Ii'om harucore 1;\I1s o f the rappers I di ssed , saying "Fuck Mike Bars~ and things like that. r was preLly excited to get such a strong response, and it was exactly wha t I was looking for, because with the wave o r bad responses, ca me Ihe Em s. My downloads sky roc keted . Shortly aller the post, Luckyiam, a member o r The Grouch's group, Living Lege nd s, actually began tweeting me to
say he was goi ng to kick my ass, and he even made a b ke twitt er page called ~ Mike Bars is Gay" or someth ing. It was actually prelly fun ny, and I respect the guy lor standing up for his homie that way. Aller an tagonizing for a day or Iwo, I eve ntuall y told him I had respecll()r him , and that the song wasn't mean t to be taken quite so seriously. Aller that, he cooled 011' a bit, I think. Heally, the so ng is one big hypocrisy, and tha i's ki nd of the poin t. It's lor everyone to take in Iheir own way, and I actually have a lot of respect lor a good percentage of the rappers I di ss in Llle song. It's all in the message, how you take it, and I thi nk it stands as one of my better tracks.
Your upcoming release "The Mikerophone" has been underway fo r quite some time now, what ca n your fan s ex pect from this album? \Vhat I'm tl),ing 10 do, is creale an underf,'Tound clas路 sic. I always shoot for the stars, so who knows where I'll land, but m)' dream is to give hip hop its next Illmatic. I wanna make the next '\Vord Of Mouf', "The Chronic 200 1', or eve n "The Em inem Show'. Of course it won't sound anything li ke those al hu ms ... 1t wi ll sound like The Mikerophone. I've been working o n this album for over three yea rs, and that's all due to my almost OCD路like drive fo r perfection. I'm nol llirillg proless ional sound enginee rs, pn)(lucers, or write rs. Just about everything on the album I do Illysdf~ so it's a much di/lerell t process than main路 stream albums like the o nes I mentioned would usc. I have 10 learn how to do everything 011 my own fi'OIl1 scratch , and it's a lot of wo rk. Not just how to create basic sounds ami m ixes ... bllt the more intricate and su btle s tufl ~ like creating my OWll claps, kic ks, eilects and synths, to get the EXAC r sound I'm looking lor. At lirst, creating The Mikero phone started ou t as a mission to make a strictly hip hop album. But then I got the idea to incorporate some things no one would cye r ex pect to add to a hip hop song, and pretty soon, the alhum was lIO longer just a hip hop album. There's goi ng to be hip hop, rock, reggae, funk, g-funk, blues, full o n orchestras, synthesizers, guitar solos, sto ries, and even a fCw things Ihat are more on the electron ic side, which I wouldn't normally do, but the mood happened to strike me injllst the right way. Not everyone is going to like every song on the albulll because not very Illany people <Ire eclecfic in their music l'astes, hut that's the point. I love e\'el)' song on
The Mikerophone, and hopefull y alier giving a few of the songs you wouldn't normall y listen to a chance, a few people wi ll learn to become more acce pt ing and appreciate some di lfc rent styles of music. I haven't just busted ou t 400 songs and picked the ones 1 liked the best. )'ve been working on nearl y the same 20 some songs for 3 years, reworking them , rewriting thcm , rem ixing them until they are EXACfL Y how I want them to sound. The alhum's been "close to done" I<)r ye;lrs now. II's just a matter o f gell ing the songs to sound perfect. I think people will be surprised at the catchin ess of the album, heGluse that's no t usually something an und erground rapper Gill accompl ish very well. One or my main goa ls with The Mikerophone was to make the album that I always wanted to hear, and have it he something you want to put on repeal for a month and a halL
access to tons of exclusive liTe Mike Bars tracks, including my 2nd single Ii'om The Mi kerophone, called "Grown Folks". It's a hig deal. T he music vid eo will be hiuin the net soon.
Any last words? Throughout nearl y 10 ycars or rapping, one of the most important th ings )'ve learned is that nohod )' is going to hand you shit. You !J;lve to work for your respect, alld any cent you make, bu t if you have a dream and it's something wOl1h lighting lor, then neve r, eve r, give up. 1 learned that li'om Michael Jordan , man. I may nol he ahle to hoop like the guy, but I app ly hi s mentality to my music evel)' day.
"Vhat do you have in store for the remainder of 201 I, a nd when can f~lIls expect "The Mikerophone" to drop? The biggest thing my billS and supporters can ex pect rrom me in 20 I I is hearing more or what I have lip my sleeve for The Mikerophol1e. It's gonna he huge. Music videos, shows, merchand ise, the works. I would love to go on tour sOlllctilne in 2012 (as long as the world does n't ex plode) and reall y expand my audience. Until then, I'll con tinue opening i<)r hig name artists along the \Ves t Coast to reall y di\'crsil}l my fan base. I may drop a lew mixtape joints in betwee n singles for The Mikeropho ne, so kee p your C}'es open ror thalloo! The Mikerophone is set 10 be released in January, 2012 and I can't stTess enough that there is nothing I look lorward to more , then seeing thi s album linall y released to the pu blic. It 's been undcr wraps lo r 100 long.
\rVhere can ou r readers go to find out more about M ike Bars? Check o ut www.m ikc bars.co m. From there. you G ill read my hin. fo llow me on twitter, or like my /;u:ebook page to see all the o lfensive and bizarre shi t I post just to fuck with people's day. On my website. I also have a section wh ere you can listen to all my oid mat erial , (i'om hack when I was Mickey Dec and eve n all til e srul1'li'om my group, Til e Verbal Felonz. Make sure you join that mail ing li sl, haby! You G\l1 gel SAVUTIII m.FOIIi 115
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you introduce our readers Lo Da III One? \Vhats up SavNatioll 1 ~lll.~P I am Da-ill-one of thc Hitsquad click! I'm a rapper, singe r, producer, & lllusician who loves 10 he in the booth, at a show or an ywhere hip hop is Ihe vihe! 011 and I'm down lor co llahs... lol, had to get that in there. I can't say I am north , sOluh , cast, or west, it's just depending on thc Iceling thc instrumental gives me is ",kit comes out as a Me. I am a certified OG ' 路ct and reaJl y ready to shinc, I' m ready to puttlu:; nortlm路cst o n my back so, Ict's get together asap!
' '''here are yo u originally from and where you do currently reside? I was born and ril iscd ill Baltimore, j\'laryland and now rcside in Portland , OR .. (I"x the second time ... lol. I li se to Slay IIt.;re back in '98 ill Tigard .\lId had a lilli e girl at On.;gOtl 1-Ie,lIth Science Uni vers ity and moved to the 20M for a duration due to thc 1;\cI that I had no f;nnily here ami she had ple nty in Idaho 181UVUnoi 1Sm_
where I wellt to school and played collegc ball. I 1I0W stay in South 拢'Ist Portland with my f;unil y and love it here. So much Illu sic in such a small city compared to wh ere I was raised.
"Vhat brought yo u La the Northwest? The northwest has held a spot in my he;lI"! fix a whil e now, POl11and was a gi lllllle! I was Eunilia r with iI, as well as, lo"e the area and had been following ",1I .. t the hip ho p world was doing oul here and fdt like I could make a strong contribution and have so you could say this is full cirde lor me.
Before making hip hop YO Ll were already a musician with a back ground in piano, bass guitar, and rhythm a nd lead guitar; how has having that background affected yo ur music regmding hip hop? \ Vell I have a unde rstanding of Illu sic lheory so that trans lates \\'ell t( ) ul H.ierSI<l lldi llg \vila! otllc r pro(lucc rs wa nt (i路OIll me, as wel l as, whell I producc myself... it
makes il a hell o r a 101 easier 10 understalld whal all alt ist wants li'o m me as \n::11. I leel like having a hi story in rock and gos pel ilnd blues dcJinitcly influe nce the way I write more so as a sillger f~x hooks lo r sure. Plus I'm always looking lo r tracks that Ill<lke me lecl a cCl1'aill w'ly. in on".;r to bring sOlne e motion 10 the track.
Wilh the musical backgro und lhal you have, do you also create beats a nd instrumentals as well as perlo nn? I do ,lIld so metimes hack in Ihe d ay, I really tho ught thai was how I would make my nic hc in hip hop. Since th en ho\\"(,,;\'(..: r, even though Dr. Ore is still my all till1C 1;lvori lc producc r due to his versatility, whe n I got into the hoolh thc first time it was a wrap, I fClt likc a spiritual connection hclwccn the music and my voice and I've hccn chasing that feeling since Ihe n. I refe r to il as Ihe zonc and have BEEN BLESSED T O VISIT IT FIlEQlI Ei\TLY!
I-Iow long have you been creating hip hop, a nd do you still create and perfo nn other l)1)es of music? I\ 'c heen creating hip ho p since 2004, rca lly in a way Ihal I wou ld call it good music. At first il was just really to mysel f and thc n with confide nce I began to share il with my rrie nds and f;ullil y ulltil a monste r was bo rn ... today I still play gu itar (although not as much as I should) and still reel a deep love for Spanish !"l.litar and lovc to progra m and play th e drums, but I'm really conccnl rating on hip ho p and making the I-l itsquad Cl ick a houscho ld name.
venl , pnKCSS, and heal from all kinds o r trials and Iri bulal ion s in my life and this even t would be no di lle rc nl. ( channeled so much pain and grie f into my music at first Ihal I d.tre no l share Ihose tracks, hut res il has been a life challl,ring evcnl that stillmorivales me to wrile 10 th is d ay.
Yo u arc a member of the Hit Squad Click, ca n yo u tell our readers about them and yo ur involvement with the group? Th e I-1 itsquad Click was sta rted in 2005, by You ng Reezy () f AI I()tta Hit Record s (also lo ullder) all(l e< )JJsist o r mysel f and Young Reezy. Rcezy has bee n a produce r and ra ppe r lo r ovcr a decade now ;lIld has a knack f()I' di scoveri llg, Ilromoling, and distri buting [ale nt . \ Vc actuall y me t thru MySpace o n a message Ihal I wan ted to get to know him and what kind of music he did. I was s[ayi ng in Bo ise Idaho , and alie r a le w da ys o r lalking over Ihe pho ne, we me t and gOI like 5 tracks do ne ill j ust a lew days and decided we might not wanlla lix a damn thing that isn'l hroke. He has produced Ilumerous ;ut ists 10Gtlly and has quile the I ~III base Ih rough ye;\I"S of loyal and dedic,lted te;\l11\\'Ol'k. Having inl roduced me 10 work with such west ('(last legends as Kurupt, Yo ung COlli of the Dogg Pound and J ay T ee o f N2 Dccp, it 's bee n a hl essing to havc Ihc ho nor to work with him. Now simply put, ('m I-litsquild click lor life 10 1.
I read that you really began to write following d, e loss of yo ur child in 2005; how has thar starting point affected the way you write and what you write about? Se ptember :iOlh , 2005 was the most defining day o f my life.... on this day I tragically losl a daughte r Adora kylyn Lee Davi s at 7yrs old. She was struck by a car while crossing a hus)' street in her home to\\11 in southeaste rn Ida ho. I li ved my darkest ho urs in the years to come and still lind it hard to cope wi th Oil a daily basis. Music has always been the way fix me 10 SAVNATIUI ISmJIIIl19
' ,Vhat Prqjecis do YOLI have available and what projects ca n we look fo rward to? Look lo r us to drop 2 alhums at the end o f sUlllmer 20 11 ! \Vc will h;\\'c the HitsCJuad d ick album rcle;lscd by Allotta Hit Records with such singles as '''This Is Fo r ;vl y Niggaz· as well as "Coo d Time T o night" • "Family", and 'High Low" which are some o f the II,Kks you G Ul find at re\'erhnation. com/ dai IIOileo ft lle llit s<!uadd ick and at http://www.face boo k. co m/ pagcs/ Da-ill-on e-ol:.theHitsquad as wdl ;IS Rcezy's so lo albu m called" boss and Rcezy can he lound at move" hup://www.blcd)()ok. cOln/ HOTCHICANO and at IIIl p:/ / \\,W\\' . reveri)l lat ioll,C( Un/ youllgreezy I Also, I just took a posit ion as the talent scou t for pbyllo use Peekabou's (IlttP://\\'W\\'.pcc kah()ospbyll ouse.inloj) an internet radio station that plays all genres of music with a speci;d interest in the N\¥ , As the talcnt s(:(mt my job is to round up as Illany N\V artists as possible lI'om all ge nres o f music for n mside l, lIio n fo r illlmediate rotalio n. In other words, if YO li ha\'e some tJ, Kks that you would like to ex pose to a glo bal market, submit your lagged (meal li llg all inlc) alloW Illc II, Kk i.e.; title genre date rdeased hand name and memhers on track and album name to (laill()lle20 I I@/-.rmail.colll. Al so look lo r mc 10 (li a N\¥ hip ho p show coming soon at this station, and remember Ihough we arc not looking fClr insanely vulgar mat erial , it is an int ernet radio station so we can air it all! Lol, I repe,lt I am looking lor all
genres o r music to bc submitt ed ASAP! To all y',ill N\ 'V hip ho ppers o ut there spiltin' to represenl thi s N\V thang o lle love and keep on doin ' ",h;lt rou doin ' my I;un, The hip hop game truly needs us!
"Vhere can our readers go to learn more aboul Da III O ne as well as The Hit Squad Click? You G ill lind me in the hooth lo!! No rcall y you call lind IIl C at re\'erhnat i<)I1.(,()Ill/dail lollcoIU ldlits(IUadcl ick and at ht Ip:/ / www. race boo k.com/ pages/ Da-i II-on e-of:'t heHitsquad and fo llow ya hoi on twitter at http://twitt er. com/ #!/daillone @dai llonc and 011 the block swallowillg wack cmcces ami we do have a page that should be up and running by the time you rdc,lse ass al1ide 101 ;It this do pe II ttp:/ /\n \'w.rc\'crhnal ion .com/ dldl itsq uadc Iic k. . <111<.1 j ust to kee p it way too re;tI. I j ust w ;mL to th;Ulk Ihe slall' o r this great magazine lo r giving us ,u1ists a vo ice and a place to come together fo r the causc_ Oh and I really alll down lo r thc ('ollabz' people hit me at 503 7.538290 or at cl aillone20 I I@gm ail.colll ;md I will hit you hac k! lEI
Can yo u tell o ur readers a little abo ut yourself and where YOll are from? I am tJ1 C hardest grinding a rtist in the Northwest with HEA L slats to match! If I' m not moving fast I am slowly d ying, yOLI know? I am from a Nati ve AmcriG Ul Reservatio n in \ ,Veste rn Mo ntana, the land o f the real sav's, you think you've seen hood and ghe tto, yOll haven 't see n shit, go to my rez everybod y go in, but I've always bee n back and forth Ii'o lll Mo ntana to ' rVashinb1oll Slale but I've been stationed in Spo kane , ' rV A lo r so me yc;m; now.
I-Iow did yo u get started in hip hop, and what wo uld YO LI say were the three biggest facto rs that led yo u to purs ue hip ho p as a career? I got started with m)' sister's boyfri end Biaq Santa, he's was like Mozart, that fool was li ke 14 o r 15 husting out Dr. nrc beat s! I could be like play "A mbitions Az a Ridah" he'd play it pe r/eel, then I say play "Hull Hyde rs A nth e m ~ and he would knock it out! So I was likc fu c k, I need to rap! I could be the shiniest rappc r but with Blaq Sa nta o n m y side, ill com c o ut like .Iay-z! A nothe r !;lCto r is that music helped us get away li'om the streets and la p into o ur creative processes.
At 16 years old yo u were charged with Assa ult with a weapon, can you tell us a little abo ut that, and how yo ur music was affected? It didn 't reall y affect my music bu t it made me wanna do music mo re, so I could ste p away from the dumb shit for a minute!
You have released fo ur mixtapes, and two albums (correct me if I'm wro ng) and you've preformed at over 200 shows; based on that, what advice wo uld yo u give to a yo unger artist that came to you fo r guidance? Yo ur right abo ut the street album s a nd 5 mi xla pes, but the first mi xtape I did I o nl y released like 200 copies. Th e on ly ad vice I can give is d o n't sto p , kee p grindi ng and you might be do pe, but if your hustlc ain 't right you ain 't gO llna be shit, a nd that's also just my op lillon ,
You've preformed with many of the indusuy's LO p acts, looking back, what wo uld be your most memo rable show? A show back in 2007 in C rca t Fall s, MT wilh E.40 it was like 2,000 people d eep in the venue ;md it was the biggest show I rocked whe n I first started pc rfo rming live a nd ÂŁ40 a nd Big O meezy showed mad love and even pull ed us o n stage during their set.
Alo ng with perfo rming, you also run Nine Side Productio ns and D.C.V Clo thing, how do yo u manage the three and make sure that each is productive? N inc Side Product.ions/ Desib"l is my day jo b a nd I d o a big pa rI o f helping d cve lo p no rthwes t hip-ho p a rti sts into bigger artists with profess io nal d cs ib"l a nd ma rke ting, the b usin ess be hind th e mu sic is whe re I gel' <lll m y cash. D VC is on the sid c right now until more investors a rc ready.
Yo u've recently released "Guerrilla Goon Gang: Out of Body Experience DVD & I I-late Humans Mixtape" what response have yo u gotten, in regards to uni ts moved and fans ga ined? Eve rybod y loves it becau se \\'e took a Iii step back fro m the ave rage rap DVD. " Ve didn 't wanna just show guns and drugs and all that, I mean the re is some fem ales in it but whateve r, so it e nd ed up turning into a d ocume nta ry of us C lowning all the way a round the Uni ted Slates, gett ing love everywhe re we went all the way, 100!
Yo u recently hosted the 20 II Eastern Washington Freestyle Battle Champio nships; ca n yo u tell o ur readers about the turnout, the show and who took ho me the top ho nors? Th e turn o ut was do pe, around 200 people attended with 18 diflerent ra ppe rs battling a young ca t from Spo kane, \ Va na med NO BE, who took the top spot thi s year! Last year's c ha mp U nique, came ill a cl ose 2nd.
What projects do yo u have lined up fo r ti,e nea r future? I Stay wo rking 0 11 proj ects, I am dropping "NOIt hwest Kingdo m Vo l. 5" o n 11-11-11 a nd the n my Docume ntary "Northwest Ki ngdo m DVD" a nd I have a n albu m I a m rel easing with \ IVa piki ya Reco rd.s called ~C u s to m er Service" next year sometime featuring Jay Rock, G unplay fro m th e T ripl e C's, G lasses Malo ne, Mi sta h Fa b, Cool Nutz and Mo re ... My Nine Sid e team is also d roppi ng a new mixta pe called. "20 12"!
Where can o ur readers go to find out mo re abo ut Yo ung Jay? Yo unglayNSC o n cve ry social si te Face book, 'T'wiue r, Yo utuhe cel. NincSideM usic.co m or NortilwestKingd o m. com G
forget th aI. They wan ted me to gel o n a song with the m hut th c)' wc re more about the gTinu instead of the rhymc. So I cal led the studio myselr and did a kw songs. I I(>lllld my love, musid! Theil a lew weeks later the studio dosed. I was leli with nowherc to record. I \ 'Vhal 's go ing down y'a llthis is Craziness the Chief o f the looked all o\'c r tOWIl and could not find a studio. So Rebrion!! I was born in Spokane, \Va anu was rai sed by thell one day Illy hall' brother called me li'om Portland Illy mother with two o r m)' brothers. My lilther liveu ill and said 路You kllow I founded thi s music cen ter and you Phoe nix, Az ;md I wou ld stay with him every summer can come record an ytime". I took him up 011 the One) until ahout 5th h'Tade. I have I;uni ly ill Missoula, Seattle and we nt to Portland lor I \\路eekend . I reconJc(1 ;t full and Portland so I've always loved to trave l. mixtape and cve n made covers. It's runny bccausl: m} first CD "';IS made in P0I1land. Then I wenl back to How did YOll geL started creating hip hop, what Spokane with :100 C D's. Sold the m for SI0 and they ;i11 would you say has been the most important wen t 1 ~ls t! I was like -Damm I just made 3 G's like tha t ~. moment that has led yo u to be where you are From thi s point I st;u1 ed th inking about making my OWII today? studio. Now, I lo"e my mom <lIld bless her heal1 but I \ 'Vell I have alwa ys loved music, all types of music! W;IS rai sed in a hoarder's hou se. \'Ve had <\ big basement \-Vhen I was just a kid I would peace togeth er stereo but it was full oljunk. I'm talking-junk tall er them me, all equipment and uo the wpe to tapc tiling, 101. Good the way hack! It look a full summer and about 20 timcs! Around the age of 1/), some of my homies Ii'om homics jusl to get all the junk out. This is the St'lI路t 01 my hood took me to thc studio 'Bop Tech" I will ncve r Final Cu t Henml s. \ 'Ve appropriately namcd the studi o
You are originally fi-om Spokane, \,VA and have roots in Portland, O R; can yo u introduce yourself to our readers and tell the m what Craziness is all about?
Starting a record label is nowhere close to being easy, and you staned your label Final Cut Records at 17 years o ld, looking back, what were some or yo ur biggest challenges?
How has working with children influenced or yo ur stage persona "Craziness"?
anc.~cLed
Let 's put it thi s way, I am who I am anti I call 't change lhat. I will he the fi rst to tell you that I\e made mistakes, J've made had choices. Now you G lIl take it from me or Till thi s day it's still a chall engc. I ha\"c a lew h... 路eat guys learn it th c hard \\"ay. Do n't be like me, hc helle r than "Bill & Cortez" on my tcam and " "c work reall y hard at it. me! \ Vc arc ill a rq.,'; o n th,lt docs n't get m <~j or exposurc and absolutely no allenlionli'om the music industry. Let's just You are seL( 0 dro p your new EP Versatility, what ca n yo ur f~lI1s expect from this EP? say it 's <I struggle.
You have released II albums in the last II yea rs, making you one o f the velY few Nortll ' Vest C:lltists, t.o consiste ntly release new mate rial. In terms ort3ns, how hns yo ur base grown and expanded into new regio ns over that II year period? \ 路Vell, Illy Em hase is still growing and is gelling bigge r by the day! It started wit h Ij'ien ds and famil y, then Spokanc, th en the Nonh\Vest rcgioll. Now I'm sclling 1,000's of download all o\"el" the US and cven thc \\"Orld. I was happy to see I'm selling records in places like Paris & Sydney. It shows me that I'm way morc thall local whell I Gill go an ywhere and my mu sic still holds its wcigh!. ..
vVhat cities arc you getting the most love from Ulese days? You know it 's reall y hard to say! Spokane is the hest for me whell it comes to doing shows hut I get a 101 of love in Portland as well. As I()r people !Juying my mu sic I have been sc llill ~ a lot ill rvl iami and the Florida area.
You have been wo rking with Ethos in Portland for over four years now, can you Lell our readers about Ethos as well as yo ur involveme nt there? Ethos Music Center is dediGlted to the promotio n of music and music hased eduGltion lor youth in und crserved communities. I was ,I le.teher lor the Urban Music Prqjecl. This prol-,'l'lm uses com pute rs and dil-,'; tal tecilllolol-,'Y to leach H ip-I-Iop fundamental s like s.unpling, bea t makin~, lyricism (MC'ing), break d,ulCin~, lurnl'abliSill (l).J'ing), video rccordin~ and cd i l'in~. In acknowleuh'llleill of thi s work I was featured on the li'Olltl);lgc of "T11C Oreg<mian."
26ISAVU.r.
ISSIE.
\Vell I()r thi s Versatility EP 111)' tms nced to think outsid e the hox. Reall y I made thi s EP to show my ve rsatility and to tell e\'eryolle "don't Gllegorize me"! I'm looking for ncw 1;\I1s and Billboard Charts 101...
Aside fro m the EP, what does Craziness have in store fo r the f~lI1 s? ' Veil I can 't givc it all away hut you can look I(JI' Ille to slay (Teati\'e. I'Ill goi ng to lead, no t follo w. I wi li continllc to be innovating, not imitate. Run the who lc rCh';OIl ami someday, The \ Vorld!!
\路Vhe re can o ur readers go to get more info nnatio n about yo u, including where {O buy your music, learn about show dates or get boo king info? To lind out more about C raziness ,lilt! Final Cut Re(:ords go 10: www.finalcutrccords.com llIJ
Can you introduce yourself and tell our readers where YO LI a re fi'om?
How have yo u go ne about holding that spot?
It 's your boy, Lilik! Coming out or Seallle! Rai sed all over the N \ 'V!
I'm still ho lding it down. Rap/ Hip-H o p. C urren tly ranked # I in rap Glob;lIly. Hours ;lIld hOllrs prOlno and networki ng and ..... uh ..... sp.llnming
or
(s lililili!) .
''''c've heard that yo ur invo lveme nt in hip hop began whe n YO LI wrote a poem arter the loss of your mothel: How has that starting point affected yo ur music? 0 ' man , it definitely put th e passion ill 111)' music right away. It pre tty much instantly e nabled m e with the ca pahility to spit Ill)' thoughts/ lCciings stra ight Ii'om the heart <I I a hl sl pace. You know, whe n YOLI lose a e m otions. So, YOli love d one you're fill ed with a lot rea lly just ha ve to ligurc out how to get Ihe m on paper.
or
"Vho and what arc yo ur biggest musical influences?
' '''hat would yo u say are the best and worst aspects of being a performer? I get stage fi路ight. Sue me. Th e Up'S!) People KNO\路V you can rip a stage ami r""" s" "" up!
With who m and where have yo u preformed? I'vc actually onl y done one show. At the rend czvous in Bc lltown with Tolke n Folk, Fro Magnum Man &
AKA
Of those artists and pe rformances, which have been yo ur most mcmorable?
Kumpl , Pac, 13TNH , Snoop, Nipscy l-IuSSle, Dr. Drc, OJ Quik, Drake ... f could go on fo rever. It 's
Bes ides m y own!) haila! Tolke n Fol k. Th e crowd loved 'em. Peo pl e were the re to sec the m , and they knew exactly what to do a nd how to do it It was a\\'cso I11C.
re;1I1y just who's got a ho t tape o ul. Bump it or dump it.
Do yo u have any upcoming prqjects, albums, tours, collabo rations?
You arc currently in the # I spot o n reverbnation.com's rap chans lor Seattle, a spot that yo u h,we held for quite some time. I-low has this ac hicvemcm alfected you professio nally?
I've always got a bunch o r collabs brc win'. rVlostly N\V COltS. Tile problem \\'ith intc rnet/long distance co llal>s is the o thcr persoll lIcve r really feels ohl igated to re turn the song in a limely manner. So I've definitel y !t:' IITled Illy Icsson Oil Ihat tip.
It 's most d e l' a grcat tool f()r exposure. More than an ything it just inspires m c to keep making good music a nd push m yself'. The re's a lot or gr ea t talent around the sound , so I'm just happy to be able to ne twork with the m.
"Vhere can o ur readcrs go to learn more about Link?
Emincm, Me thod
Man,
Messy
Marv,
\ 路Veezy.
www,!;ICc!>ook.co lllj YourBoyLifik \,,\vw .revcr! mal ion ,comj P R0 1iIi k206 \\'\\'W .twill c r.conl/lts Lifik
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Can you tell our readers abo ul Mikey Clips? Little Hock horn survivo r with e llo ugh I.de nts to se para te him self from th e ma sses. \ Vith a witty pUll chlinc flow to a ha rd hill ing sto ry te ilillg now, I have so meth ing lo r everyone to relat e 10 . "Vith Ill)' e motio nal rollc rcoastcr of a life alld lilt: ill the ghc Uos of Little Roc k, A rkansas. I feci I can ma ke it anywhe re ill whate ve r business ve ntu re I'm d o ing whethe r it's
he ing a com er hoy or selling m ixtapes.
H ow lo ng have you been creating music? I 51;II"lcd off like m ost ra ppe rs frecslyiing with fri e nd s hclt.Jl"c , during, and ;dicr schoo l, did that since I was like II or 12. Eve rybod y Ille m o ri zes they're hlvorit c songs right i} \,Vell I wo uld sometimes add stu lf to Lhe songs that kinda Iii m e alld m y style or the south 's style at the time . Oid that all the way up until I found a o ld karao kc mach inc with a cd playcr and a t'lpC playe r. So I golla couplc instrtlm clltals rrom a fri end and hurnt the m 0 11 to a CD, played the CD and record ed thc vocal s o nto a casc tte ;md that was the 1st time I l e~m le d how to rccord m yself a nd actua lly he;II' what Illy vo ice sounde d li ke. I' m not gonna lie, it was
we ird at li rst, I didn't think it sounded like IIlC at all hut thc ll I got used to it and I kind evolved into what you he ar to day. So I'd say I've hee n creati ng music Ic}r a round 14 years.
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Yo u weill thro ugh a 10 1 of family hardship growing up, ho w has yo ur upbringing affcclcd how you wIiIC, a nd what your music is abo ut? 1 think it taught m e how to put pain into my writing, how to voice the e mptiness I had inside mc. It really W;IS the o nly outie t I had at th e timc to unload all the e m otio ns 1 h;ul bo ttle d up ins id e mc. No w the way 1 write, I th row thinbFS in th c re that rise c moti o ns o ut me , I mc'lIl if I don 't fcd a nything whe n I hear a song, to m e it' s just not som cthing I'll waste m y (-imc listening' to, and that 's what I think sets me aparl from a lot rappe r/ lyricists, is tha t I G ill writ e a story te lling song and gel rcal lyrical o n e n'l' as well as rap a hout the nashy st reet life lilal we all hear abo ut.
or
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Loo kin g bac k, what wo uld you say were the three most defining mo ments in rega rds to m aking music?
I'd say whcn I was 17 ami I won ;1 di stri ct rap cmnpetition and later movi ng on to state, then nationals in Denver, Colorado. That was probabl y the first time I got the rush of being on stagc ami hearing the crowd o f more than 150 people. Second , would probably be when I was ill d own town Portland ami I heard some ones phone rin/.{ and the rinl-,rtone was a son/.{ I had donc a couple months earlier with Iny cousi n (You ng stucy/ K-Nasty).Finally I'd have to say when someone who lived a hou r away callcd IllC and told IllC Ill y song "Am I Dreaming" was playing on thc Northcst Brcakout radio and Cool Nuts was talking about it. Moments like those is what keep me making mus ic, kee p me excclling until one da y I reach national status with a Ill,\jor label record deal.
I've read that yo u dabbled a little in the dope game, how did you make the transition into cutting records? II' was easy plain and simple, one hustle to the nex t is how I lookcd at it. Only dille rcncc is I lovc making Inus ic, every aspcct of it, frOi n tllc creativc level ;tll tllc way up to the production and the promoting, getting feedback. \ 'Vorking!) Getting 011' that soup? \ 'Vasn't rea ll y that appealing to tell you the truth, and th e mon ey, if you rcall y thought about, wasn't really that good, I me;U1 unless u got a good conncct. Really to me it was li ke a regular 9 to 5 . I-lit a li ck, /.{ct somc bubble and get it 011', 101 then rinse and rcpeat. Only thing I didn 't like was having to constantly look over my shou ldcr, lot a shystic cats will usc you as a comc up if you I-,rlve tllelll a cilallCe, tllat 's \VllYyou go ge t tile biggest cat on the bloc k to watc h you whi le you working and stay with thc burncr. That why when the firs t opportunity came up I jumped at the cha nce and slowly bcgan building up record ing equipmcn t and char6ri ng people 60 a song and before you know it I was out o f thc dope game ... That casy!
You're originally from Little Rock AR, what brought you out to the North West? "I ori6ri nally Gun e to the N\ t\f becau se of my cousi n (young stuey/ K-Nasty) who I had previously had hu siness ve ntu rcs with in Phocn ix,AZ. \ 'Ve soon started our s;un e schedule of making music and getting off that soup. nut likc I said I soon grcw out of that wholc o rd eal. \ ,Vith my cousin in and out of jail, getting caught for what we had hoth been doing. I decided 321SAVUIIIJI 1$$1('"
Ill y luck would sooner o r lalcr run ou t. So we stuck our heads togethe r and did our lirsl mixtape called "Constan t State of Crisis" latcr re named "Broken Silence" Ullder the name S.P. U.N, Sadistic Poets Utili zing Narcotics. Following the release, m y cousin wen t to jail o n a dope charge and kept on pushing out new music everyday to a newly lormcu ;ll1d gTowing 1 ~\I1 basc."
How docs the hip hop scene in the NW compare to Little Rock? I don 't know.. .Imean it's hard to say since they' re two completely diflere nt styles o f music and genre. It's more about the way you rap as opposed to wha t you rap about in the N\ 'V. And personally I think thcre are way more opportunities in th e N\V. \ ,Vay more outlets fo r an arti sts to get the ir music heard and I also thi nk there's Inore local love lix artists up hear. All in all , I !"eel the N\V is making bigger moves then in Little Hock, too man y hat ers and cut-throats in Tha Hock.
How do you feel you have been received in the northwest music scene? I mean like I said, I already have a 1~1Il base, ladics love me, 101, I mc;m I'm not hraro.,rl ng or nothing, hut
I am a nice looking dud e, tlnd that 's a plus because gi rl s see me first or hea r ahout me from fi'icllds tlll.;n they he;umy music and like damn this guy got tale nt and he loo ks good , lo!. The il the re's the street side where I make like re;ll strcet b'Tim), joints, punch line he;\vy lor the guys in my fan hasc. I mean I really try to play both sides sin('c I got "that look" li'om what )'ve been to ld. I mea n so 1;\1' its worked o ut , I've done colla hs with 10(';11 artist, heen 0 11 local rad io program s like the Northwest Brcakout show hosted by Cool Nuts, doing shows at locals dubs and and com pcti tio lls illterviews ... reaJly evc rything I Gill ge t m y hands into, I'm doing ami just ho ping Ic)r the best.
Do you have any available projects, or any lhal are currently in the works? I clllTcntiy have a couple mixlapcs avai lable for Ij路cc download 011 Dat Piltcom which I plan 011 rc-rccording and mixing in the next couplc weeks, also I have a Ilew mi xt'a pc in the works called "Fi stful or Dollars" which will be re leased e;\rly Decembe r ;dong with /()lIr music vid eos I()r SOllh'S oil th e t;l pe. \Vith collabs from Unknockablc Ent and Young I.yfc Ent , also 1I0W wo rking closciy with Uneek, so ya, lot to expect fro m me in the coming months.
' '''here can our readers go to find Oll t morc about you? I mean they call go to any o f my sites like H eve rl)Jlati o n .co lll/~11 I KEYCLI PS , look me up 011 I;\('ehook Mike)' Cl ips, o r cvclljust hit me up o ll lwillc r and ask me wh;tlever tit twillc r.colll/ mikeycl ips. I meall if you wanl just google me, Mikey Clips and a hun ch of my music/ pictures come up. B
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I grew up pc rl()]'Jning in m y church, home in D.C ... I used 10 wri te song's for th e youth & child ren's choir that was GIlled ·Voices of the New Gene rat ion", I also
Ca ll YO LI tell LIS about you rself: where you're
from, a nd how yo u gO t started as CH? I was born .uuJ raised in \ ·Vashin:.,1on D.C., I st;1I1ed \\Tiling poetry & songs at the ;lgC 01'9. I got m y nallle c. 1-I . from my parents when I W.IS a tee nager. '\1 y moth er's name is Cherry & my father's name is Harold . I carry tlu.::ir Icgaq ' ;\IId !;\l n ily tree so I took thei r names 10 CO Ble up with my sl'age name.
You began yo ur j o urn ey wit.h mllsic ea rly in life; can yo u tell uS how your invo lvement with music has evolved over time and lip until now? 341SA'UlIII 1Sm_
pJay\,;d the drum s lor the youth and adult cho ir thai advanced Ille 10 build my own o rg;lIli Z;ltio ll called ~C l e a r !\Ilin d~, C le;u' Mind is essc ntially thc g;ltc\\'ay to opcn the minds of my peers to he inspired to gain kllo,vlcdge of tllysclf tl lmugh music, dance &. motivational spc;lking,
Look back now, what peri od or time in your life d o )'ou feel has been the most influential to yo ur music? The who le process! It 's like watching <I movie o f a ch ild hegi nni ng presc hoo l to graduating (i'om college. I started with ;1 p;lssioll, thell learned the hi story, then studied and cxperim ent ed with myself to build my level of ex press ion, It 's all a process that has to he li ved from start to lini sh.
How has your move fro m \'Vashington D.C to Seattle, Washington allcct.ed your mllsic, both professionally and crealively? Moving to Scattle madc m y music gear toward s pe~lk足 ing abo ut lilC ex periences. \\' here in D.C. it's more crowdcd with a stred mentalit y, whcre nobo dy wins. Li vi ng in SealLlc, it hriycs Inc a he tter o utlook on hie and be ing in to uch with the youth , on a hands on basis. It brivcs mc thc oppo rtunity to spcak directly at their problel11 and changc their pcrccpLioll to take mo re control o f th eir livcs.
After YOll moved to the No rth West were you able to keep YOll lim base in D.C? Yes, m y EIII hasc ill D.C. gut bigger actually. My mu sic is still on thl: radio th cre, I still make SO Il ,6"S with ;lItists that I built my GII'eer with silH.'e high school , that are in the music industry. It ex panded m y market to be universal.
You rou tinely use phrases such as "Today get big, tomorrow make histOlY" amongst others, that promote having a positive o utlook o n life. How do you feci having a posilive o utlook has aided in lhe development of yo ur career a nd life in general?
BeG1USe what you ICed the most, is what 's going to ,L,'T OW. Peop le o nly learn by re petjtion. So if I throw lovc in the air, that 's what 's go ing to spre; ld around th e whol e natio n. It 's likc ajob; if c\'cl) 'o nc h;ls a positi o n; I ha\'c to play m y rolc. My role just h;lppens to be the li fe preserver.
As with many lyricists, poetl)' plays a large part in the development of their music. How do you fCel your poelly and music relate, does o ne feed o n the o ther or are they separate palhs yo u take? It 's rcall y important that poetry feeds th e lyri cs, because it 's all emotion. ( create all my lyri cs without u s ill~ th e optioll of \\Tiling: it down on pape r, hut it 's still poctry and emotio n thaI movcs the masses.
Can yo u t.eHus a little abo ut your wo rk with Clear Mind, as well as, your involve me nt as communi t.yactivist? Yes, I am CEO & Foundcr of Clcar Mind . It 's essc ntiail y a en tertainmcnt company that's built Oil mcnto r-ship. Clear Mind is a way of living. \ Vc hold back to SCll( )()1jams, Cllristmas caroling, S. H .A. H.E. Prol-,'l,IIllS which we do nate food lix I;unilies lcss I()rtullale, youth eXlr<l\t;Jg'< ulza's at churches and much mo rc.
\'Vhat prq jecls do yo u have currently have available? On May ;-H, 20 I I (M c mo rial Day), I released my latest llIi x t;lpe entitled '''T urn iVlc Up Vol. 1I1 ~ alo ng with .) o ther mi x tapes.
vVhat projects a re yo u currently working on, a nd where can O Uf readers go t.o find out mo rc about C !-I.? ('m ill th e pro('css or sih'lling to a rccord label, (I can't
let thc secret out just yet) but I ha\'c a so lo album coming o ut in Se ptember whi ch is m y hirthday month, called "Turn Me Up~ . I'nl ho lding a back to scliool jam at Hainier Beach High School in Scattle whe n school st'arts, and for more info you can check mc out at ; www. rc\.c rhnation.co m/ d earmiml or GIll me at 20G 279 727:1 to follow m y evcnt s o n m y Turn Me Up Fan line. III!
SAV NATlON:BARS&BEATS The CDDk Up Cool Nulz (Ju s Family)
The Cook Up is Portland Rapper Coo l N UIZ, lat est relea se , and hi s lirst as it Ji路cc downloadahle alhull!. \路Vhile there ;1I'e coundess " Ii'ce" albulll s avai lahle o nline , a \'cry slllall amount equal in compari so n [0 what you may lind O il iTullCS or 0 11 a traditiona l CD ;md [o r most part , Ihest: "Ii'cc" albums <Irc hit
& miss, and have a vcry short life in our iTuncs librar y. \ 路Vell. .. I G ill assure YOll Ihat [or one, The Cook U p , is by Ell" a "real " album , with .6'1'Ca1 production, b'Teat artists, a nd be st of all great mu sic. Bclo rc giving The Cook Up a li sten, I did a bit o f research 011 iI , and J rcad thaI Cool NUIZ was aske d, why he decided 10 give The Cook U p away for li'ce, and 10 paraphrase, hi s respo nse was so that C\'CI) 'onc who lo \'cs b'Tcal hip hop, eould gel thc ir ha nds on Ihis release! Bascd on Ihal stalc m c nl , and o n Ihe qua lily or Ihis relca sc , cvcl)'onc should havc Thc Cook Up h y no w, and ir you haven'l al rc ady, dick Ihc d o wnlo ad link helo w 10 cop ir fo r vourself.
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The King Df the NDrthWest Luck One
[[CION! CONSCIOUS
One of thc fc w norlhwcsl arlisls Ihal ha\"c heen COllsislenlly knocking o ul prqjccls, POil lan<! 's Luck One is back wilh another Mixl'a pe for the masscs . H e re is an artisl thaI has bcc n wo rking \'ery hard 10 no l o nly prescnl himsel f as a Po rtland artisl, bU I as a lla.6rship arti sl
snURC~l', /IOVE~BER 3RC, 7:30PI1l-11:00PJl1
36 1SlVUTIII I$$U(fOII
I(lr the en ti re region. So what better to do than drop a mixl'a pe entitled King of the North \Vest! \ Vh ile I'm not going to try to dispu te that st'a tement in a review, J will say that Luck One puts up a \'ery good arb'lJment with thi s release! \,Vi th "sale" qual ity production aside, the who le mixtape slaps, with great heats and lyrics, Luck One delinitely knows how to create music that appeals to the la rger hip ho p community, a skill that man y North \,Vest artists have yet to grasp o nto. Stand out tracks incl ude Can't Get O\'er You , and Only Do Me!
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Karma Iz A Bitch Vol. I Karma
Thi s mix tapc is FIRE, with product ion hy, KAFLAME, who produced the m;\jori ty of the mix ta pe and also has feat ures as well, Rapture, G Music, Klarity and T. U. H. N .. Karma ki lls it from start to finish! On the 1st track " Karma Iz A Bitch" nobod y is sale as she chops the track and anybody that should gel in hcr way. On ;'Xcna Da Princess \ 'Varrior" she continues to go in and proves her lyrical ga me is on poi nt. " Bob ]\'i;u'icy" IS a weed smo ker's an them , done as only Ka rma could do, put it on repeat and pass it around. "Golla Get Minc" introduces
to the seductivc side of Karma. "On Hcnnessy H angover" we have some Cognac and Kush music at its finest, the lyrical sed uction con tinucs on this one. "Crushing On You " fea turing Kush i O morose is dclinitely a I:lvoritc, this rad io li'iend ly track sets the mood right fo r those with that spccial someone. "Strangcr" is a bouncy look at Karma on thc prowl , whcrc she stat cs "Sto p Fu++in \ 'Vit Thcm Dimes Come Get You A Benjamin". OJ Play This Banger! "Valentine" d isplays a sortcr side o f Ms. Karma as well as her abilitv to lyrically pull us into her story. "Lazy Boyfri end" shows what happens when a woman is fed up, th is is an intelligcnt track. "Man's \ Vorl<l" shc makes hcr presence known on this one, she tells it like it is Id las should listen up. "Mad At You" Icaturi ngJ onny Coo is a batt le of th e scxes as these two toss the track back and fo rt h. "H c's Mine" takcs us down a I:unil iar path, another I:I\'orite on this mix tapc. "Rolling Stoner" she gocs in on this slap. Another one to smokc too, roll o n up and put this on repeat. On "Doin Thc Most" we arc inst ructed on how not to ovcrkill the situation , some wou ld bcnelit from th is track. "I Like Boys \ 'Vit D read s" she displays her attraction to Drcad H eads. On "Co ming I-lome" she talks about returning to Chicago the place she was born , "No Hollywood Sh it" is Karma at her best; she slaughters this track with no hcsitation. "Pain" lets us into Karma's lile as she ex prcsscs what she's been through and seen in her life this I:u'. "Stupid III " shc holds her own and Ic;t\'cs a mark in this industry o nce aga m. lIS
ElleMC Hunrin4H aters
I'm not going to front , had I not bcen invok ed with SavN ation, I would have probal )ly overlookcd tllis mixtape, what can J say hip hop culture is hella scxist, IHlt.. .I \ 'C heard of ElieMC a lew times, and I knew that she has bcen working with N\ 'V prod ucer Termi nill , so when I saw the download up on Thanort hwesLcom I knew I need to get it in here. \Vhile ElieMC as an emcce is a bit removed from thc hi p ho p J typically listen to, there is no doubti ng her potential, and I-I unti n' 4 Hate rs has me interested in see ing what el se comes from Elle MC aka Swagatha Christie. Standollt track would delini tel y be Hockstar Parking leaturing the \ 'Vest Coast Bad Boy Kenny Mack! Head over to Thano rthwest.com to hear for yoursel!1
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SAVUTDI I$$I;fU I 37
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