Why do you create?
At first, it was a way for a very quiet and odd kid to have some sense of control. Some sense of power. Doing a drawing or making a painting gave me a world that bends and grows at my whim. Rapping allowed me to have a voice that would often get dismissed, disrespected or lost in the shuffle.
Now, creating is what keeps me stable. It is the vehicle in which I process and articulate the glut of the human experience I am presented with daily. The joy of saying a word combination and creation of a mental image that never existed until that point. I never kept a journal and may never write a book so this is how I convey my thoughts to the world.
Who is the most under-appreciated Chicago artist?
No comment (written while laughing)
What is your favorite SKECH185 lyric?
“At a distance, even the greatest man is just an ant.”
Do you prefer working solo or with Tomorrow Kings more?
Those are such different beasts; We (Tomorrow Kings) were outcast from all of the corners of the Hip Hop and Poetry scenes. We all had our individual respect to varying degrees but lived comfortably on the fringes. Because of that, when getting together, we become a force of nature indicative of the often overlooked generation of MC’s from Chicago: aggressive, intelligent and uncompromising. TK music gets us to leave or individual corners and create something we couldn’t make alone.
As a solo artist, I try to throw out a lot of Rap song structure and that’s harder in such a large group. When working solo I can write more in a voice particular to my lense. There is just space create my own spin on English that I couldn’t in a group setting.
What’s one thing you don’t like about the current era of hip-hop?
The lack of “fuck you” attitude that I always felt was important to Rap.
Explain your line, “Cannibal human improving the race by consuming the stupid.”
It’s an immediate reference to Population control. Whereas I’m not keen on the sociological standpoint, from a Battler perspective (I used to battle a lot) it combines the classic “eat an MC”. Also, the line is an additional nod to two of my favorite crews Cannibal Ox and Company Flow (who have a song called “Population Control”).
What shall we expect from the next Tomorrow Kings project?
The beautiful thing about the crew is we don’t walk in with a blueprint. It will uncompromising though and at least as confrontational as any of our music before.
Describe your flow in three words
Bebop Trumpet Solo
Tell us about your favorite book
“Existentialism and Human Emotion” by Jean Paul Satre. It’s a short book that expounds upon his beliefs on your will being the sole vehicle of your success and failure. It had always given me strength when I thought wasn’t being heard to just keep going and raise the volume. It is the reason I stopped wanting to be an outstanding member of an already established crew and build my own.
What do you want people to take away from your music?
This is my happy, happy travel through space and time.
Chicago Creatives 