Cleveland native Chip Tha Ripper talks about Cleveland hip-hop, working with KiD CuDi, his upcoming Gift Raps album, and more.
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interview
Mike Posner talks about his upcoming debut album, 35 Minutes to Takeoff. I was pretty surprised by a lot of what he said (no guest features?!), but I trust Mike and I think it’s gonna be a really good album.
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Young Hollywood gets a behind-the-scenes interview with Chiddy Bang while they’re in the studio.
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“HardKnockTV caught up with Nas and Damian Marley to talk about how K’naan influenced the making of Distant Relatives, why they picked Nneka as the opening act of the tour and about Nas jumping on the remix to Heartbeat. The interview concludes with Nick Huff Barili asking Nas about his lyric on Ludacris’ I Do it for Hip Hop “(They say I’m so low key, I’m socially awkward”). After the credits Nick asks Nas about the possibility of him doing a hip hop/jazz album with his father.” – HardKnockTV
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A couple days ago, The MuSiK Box got a chance to catch up with Cleveland rapper MGK on one of his school tours. The interview’s pretty quick, and we apologize for the poor quality, but that’s what happens when you gotta do a last minute interview with a cell phone video camera. MGK talks about his mixtape, his upcoming album, and more. Hit the link to preview and download 100 Words and Running for yourself.
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D. Julien is an upcoming rapper from Brooklyn that contacted us back in November because he wanted a feature on the site. We were just starting out back then and didn’t really have much time to listen to all the artists that wanted features on our site, but I wish we took the time to listen to this kid. He’s dope. Here’s an interview where he talks about his parents’ thoughts on his career, Notorious B.I.G.’s influence on him, his upcoming projects, his first rhyme, etc. Check out this freestyle to ”Never Change”, an old Jay-Z track produced by Kanye and watch the interview below.
Never Change
Interview
BarrelHouseBklyn Presents The “Never Satisfied” Series (Hip-Hop Artist D. Julien) from Ashani Allick on Vimeo.
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I love hearing interviews with J. Cole because I know he’s the future of the hip-hop game. He’s humble, yet he knows he’s the shit. He’s simple, yet so complex. Check out this interview at the Levi’s/FADER Fort
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Check out this interview of Tech N9ne with XXL. Tech N9ne is dirty and should receive a lot more recognition than he does. If you don’t have any Tech N9ne music, go cop some right now.
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The MuSiK Box got a chance to have an exclusive one-on-one chat with Start Your Own Rebellion, an awesome new virtual band signed to Dreamville, J. Cole’s own record label. They’re definitely one of our favorite new artists out right now, and their upcoming mixtape looks like it might be one of the year’s best. Check out two of their songs below, and click the link to go to their official website to listen to all of their music and find out more about the band.
“Million Miles Away”
“Special”
1. Start off by giving us a little background on yourselves and your band. Where are you from, what kind of music would you classify yours as, etc?
Maza: We currently reside in the Desolate Zone Surrounding Octagon City, before that I lived in Octagon Tower. Kid.Digit-Ø was the first person I met when I moved out to the Desolate Zone…
Kid.Digit-Ø: I’ve known Maza for years actually…from way before we met in the Desolate Zone. Our parents ran in the same circles so I’d run into him here and there… But Maza’s ego is so ridiculous he don’t remember that I guess…Ceddy and I left Octagon City together then me and Maza bumped into 07017 shortly after.
Maza: ummm yeah anyways, It’s hard to classify ourselves musically….like we’re the only ones doing it, StartYourOwnRebellion and a few others in our circle…I’ve heard rumors that there are others scattered in different Desolate Zones throughout the world that do music also, but as far as I know it’s been banned for the last 700 years and we’re bringing it back.
2. You guys have a mixtape coming out soon. Do you have a specific release date for it?
Kid.Digit-Ø: We’re waiting for our camera man to chop up various clips of our run in’s with Cozack Corporation. When that is done we’ll put the end result to music and drop the mixtape.
Maza: Basically, we’ll have it done within a month or so…give or take a week or two.
3. Can you give us any other details about the mixtape? Should we expect any guest features?
Kid.Digit-Ø: The only feature we have is from J.Cole.
Maza: The mixtape is incredible if I do say so myself. LP3020 is gonna signify what’s going on in the year 3020. We get a chance to express what everyone feels in their hearts but never speak on because they are afraid of the repercussions.
4. All of the songs you’ve released so far have been using Ratatat beats? Can we expect to hear a lot more Ratatat on the mixtape?
07017: The whole project was created from Ratatat music we found in our archives. Kid.Digit-Ø uploaded it into my Operating System.
5. You guys hail from Dreamville Records, which was J. Cole’s label before he signed to RocNation. What can you tell us about Dreamville?
Kid.Digit-Ø: Dreamville Records is J.Cole’s label. He owns it. He’s family… He supports what we’re doin’ and vice versa.
Maza: Shout out to Ib, Mike, Elite and Omen…..oh yeah, Shout out to me to….I’m dope.
Kid.Digit-Ø: Shout out to me…I’m doper than Maza.
6. You guys have 4 band members? What is each band member’s specific role when it comes to making the music?
Maza: We all write…I normally come up with the melodies then Kid.Digit-Ø helps me get them tight..we both write the words to capture the mood we’re aiming for…Ceddy is the enforcer, he handles the business end (Pounding fist into palm) if you know what I mean…07017 does the Production. Any music you hear is being run through his Operating System.
Kid.Digit-Ø: Oh and I engineer everything and do all the real work while Maza’s out bullshitting… I’m the brains ya dig?
Maza: What can I say…I am the star.
Kid.Digit-Ø: That’s True! You’re like the global president but I’m like the chip in his arm that controls everything Ha ha.
Maza: Next question please….
7. Where does your inspiration for making your music come from?
Maza: I’m inspired by life, everything I see and experience makes it’s way into my music.
Kid.Digit-Ø: We draw our inspiration from the oppression we see in Octagon City and our urge to change it.
8. Who are some of the other artists you guys enjoy listening to/draw inspiration from?
Maza: J. Cole, SoundwaVVe, Canei Finch, Elite, Omen, Bryan Ellis and ummmm other musician down with the cause.
Kid.Digit-Ø: Besides that we also listen to all the old music we have stored in our archives…the database is extensive.
07017: Database: Music: Artist: Radiohead, DeathCabforCutie, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, Outkast, Beatles, The Fugees, Bob Marley and the Wailers,
Wu Tang Clan, Rage Against the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Bob Dylan, Erykah Badu, Gnarles Barkley, Gorillaz, Micheal Jackson, Rolling Stones, Tupac, Justice, Ratatat.
Maza: 17, Cut it….don’t get him started, that list will literally go on for weeks.
9. Where do you guys hope to go with your music? Are there any specific plans for what you’ll do after the release of your mixtape?
Maza: We’re working on an album. We’re also going to be releasing lots of footage of us running throughout Octagon City . We’re gonna do it big.
Kid.Digit-Ø: Aside from the music look out for more video’s, also we document our travels in book form so check for that!
10. If you guys had to compare yourselves/your music to another artist, who would you chose and why?
Maza: No one compares to the mighty SYOR Outlaws…STARTYOUROWNREBELLION!!!!!!!!
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Asher Roth sits down with Clinton Sparks for a very interesting interview about his next album, what he’s listening to right now, and more.
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Kid Cudi dominates everything that he touches, and acting appears to be no exception. His show, How to Make it in America, premiers February 14th at 10 p.m. on HBO and chronicles the life of two twenty some year old dudes trying to make a hustle in the fashion game. Cudi co-stars. Check out the trailer below and the interview where he gives us his take on his first acting experience and keeps it real by telling us his favorite part of it all is the partying and the hot chicks. Way to keep it real, Cudder.
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If you haven’t yet heard of E-603, you probably will soon. Anyone who’s into mashups or sample-based music should know that E-603’s one of the best artists out there now, and it won’t be long before this guy is put on the same level as Girl Talk. We got a chance to have an exclusive one-on-one chat with him about his music, touring, his current listening, and more. Easily one of the chillest dude’s you could ever meet, he was also hilarious. Did you know that the name E-603 comes from his actual name which is Ethan Ward and his area code is 603? Now you do. Be sure to download Torn Up, E-603’s latest album here.
(Download the nasty album here)
Dirtbag Baby
1. So give us a little background on yourself and how you got started in music.
I started making music when I was young cause there were always a bunch of instruments lying around the house, and I taught myself to play a bunch of different ones. Then, when I was about 12 years old I started making actual recorded music, but it was all super experimental and bizarre stuff that was pretty odd. In high school I started making electronic music, and that was also when I started sampling other artists to put new lyrics on some of my instrumentals. Then, about 2 years ago a friend of mine suggested that I make a completely sample-based album, and I thought it sounded like kind of a cool idea. So I started working on it and spent, like, 15 hours a day working on this album, and that became Something For Everyone.
2. So you made this album while you were in college. Were you studying music at the time?
No, I was actually a film major in college. I had studied music in high school some, but I decided that I wanted to study film in college.
3. What sort of equipment and software do you use to make your mashups? Have you always used the same equipment?
When I first started making music, I was using tape recorders and stuff, but when I started doing sample-based stuff I got Cubase. Now I use the best version of Cubase and also Pro Tools a little bit. I’ve actually dug up some of my old stuff that I did before I had this good software, and it’s not too good.
4. Are you a Mac or a PC guy?
You know, I’m really sort of split down the middle? I do all of my producing on a PC, but that’s not cause I don’t like Macs or anything. I own a few macs and I like them a lot, but I started out producing on a PC and sort of just continued using them because it had all my music and stuff on it. I don’t know, though, I might use a Mac for my producing in the future.
5. How many songs do you have in your iTunes library?
Well I have a couple different computers, and they all have iTunes libraries, but I think that on my primary computer I have like 12,000 songs.
6. Does that include all the acapellas and instrumentals you have for your mashup work?
No, those are kept in a separate library.
7. Your mashups seem to have a lot of hip-hop influence. Is that the type of music you listen to most?
No, I actually listen to a lot of punk rock music, but it’s hard to sample that stuff because it’s so noisy. So I listen to a lot of good stuff that you won’t hear in my mashups because it’s really hard to sample.
8. Is music a full time job for you or do you have any other line of work?
No, I don’t have any other job. Right now I’m spending about 9 hours a day doing music. I’m finishing up a remix for a band called Southern Belle, who I met at a bar a while ago. I also did a remix of “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry with some samples and rap lyrics that I threw in there.
9. As a mashup artist you probably don’t get as much recognition as other artists. Do a lot of people know you as E-603 in everyday life?
Yeah, I mean I definitely don’t get as much recognition as a lot of the other guys, but people will recognize me in the weirdest places. Or some people will just see my face on a show poster or something and they’ll know me from that.
10. Are most of the shows you play college shows?
Yeah, the majority are definitely college shows. I think I appeal to that demographic a lot. It’s a good crowd because it’s got a lot of people my age.
11. More than anyone else, we’ve heard you being compared to Girl Talk a lot. What do you think of those comparisons?
I like Girl Talk a lot, and it’s a pretty obvious comparison because we’re both sample-based artists and our music’s similar. I honestly never thought I would be compared to Girl Talk, so it’s pretty cool that people are putting me in that light. I would say that my music is more similar to his first album in which it’s really choppy and electronic. With Feed the Animals, he started dragging out samples more, but Torn Up is more like his earlier stuff.
12. Have you ever met Girl Talk?
Yeah, several times. We hung out a while back. We like to kick it if we’re in the same area.
13. What exactly is your area? Are you a Boston guy?
Yeah, I sort of live there. I don’t have a house there, but I’m there a lot of the time and I have a bunch of lifelong friends who live there.
14. Are you doing a lot of touring now?
Yeah, I’m touring all over the place. I’m sort of taking it day by day, but I’m doing like 1-2 shows per weekend. Nothing too extensive. I’ve been focusing a lot on producing lately.
15. What music are you listening to a lot lately?
I’ve had Julian Casablancas’ album on repeat lately. I also played a show with Passion Pit and their keyboardist turned me on to The Joy Formidable. And I listen to Paul Simon a lot.
16. Have you had any contact and/or feedback from the artists that you’ve sampled?
Yeah, and all the feedback has been 100% positive. I sampled Passion Pit and they invited me to do a show with them.
17. Are there any copyright complications with using only other artists’ material?
You know, I try not to worry about that. I haven’t had any problems so far and most of the artists appreciate the fact that I’m creating a new piece of art.
18. If you had to choose your favorite song that you’ve ever done, what would it be?
Hm…that’s a tough question. I would probably have to say “Lights Out” from Torn Up. It’s partially because I really like the way it sounds and partially because I really worked hard to get that song to sound the way it does.
19. Okay, so we’ve got one last question for you. If you could play a show with any other artist, who would you play with?
Wow, that’s a super tough question. I don’t know if I can even do it. I guess if I had to say I would probably want to play with The Misfits. And then probably She and Him with Zooey Deschanel. I’d love to shake her hand, maybe kiss her on the cheek.
Smash That
To get E-603’s music, hit up his website for free downloads (or pay what you want) of both of his albums.
Or, check him out on Myspace.
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