How did you get your rap name?
Well my last name is Hayes. All my friends growing up would just call me by my last name so eventually I just changed the spelling of it and that was that. I didn’t want to put too much energy into making up some weird intricate name; I just decided to keep it simple. You can’t forget “Haze.”
What inspired you to become an artist?
When I was only 6 years old my mom sat me down and made me choose an instrument to learn from a list. I think she could tell that I was into music more than the average kid, and she really wanted me to start playing. I remember we would always have little dance parties in our house after dinner, just me and her. She would blast old Al Green songs and watch me dance like crazy until I used up all my energy and was ready for bed. Those are some of my favorite memories of being with her. My mom was probably my biggest fan and motivator. But I would have to say that my biggest inspiration to become an artist was probably my saxophone teacher, Doc Jones. He was the one who gave me the confidence and the ability to entertain people on stage. He had me play a show with him at this jazz club in phoenix called The Rhythm Room when I was only 8 years old. We did a cover of Grover Washington Jr.’s “Mr. Magic” and the crowd went absolutely nuts. After that night we knew that I would be doing music for the rest of my life. It was clear that I was meant to entertain.
What’s the first hiphop song you ever heard? Describe the moment.
I was super young when I heard Hip Hop music for the first time. I don’t remember the exact song, but I remember that I wasn’t allowed to be listening to it so my parents made me turn it off. They didn’t really understand it, and most likely had the wrong idea of it from the media. When I got a little older, maybe ten or eleven, my mom started buying me edited versions of all the CD’s that I wanted. So my earliest memories of listening to Hip Hop music was the edited versions of Nellyville, The Eminem Show, and Stankonia by Outkast. I remember showing Outkast to my mom and being like “See, it’s not all guns and violence!” From then on my mom let me listen to whatever I wanted, and that’s when I really started discovering what Hip Hop was all about.
How did Smooth Ascension come together?
Smooth Ascension was a compilation of the “smoothest” sounding songs that I have thus far. The four songs that made it onto the project came from a group of about 15 of what I saw as the best songs that I have. It took a lot of trial and error. After I graduated from U of A, I stayed down in Tucson for about a year trying to get a project done with a beat maker that I knew, but I decided that I’d just be better off on my own, working with multiple different producers rather than just one person. So that’s when I moved back home up to Phoenix and found the right beats to work with the songs I had already written down in Tucson. So all of the songs you hear on Smooth Ascension were actually written to different instrumentals. I was just lucky enough to be able to find producers out here in Phoenix who could help me replace them without losing their edge. I am extremely satisfied with the way they all turned out. I am somewhat obsessed with number 4. It’s an angelic number. So I knew that I wanted this first EP to have exactly 4 songs on it, the hard part was just deciding which ones to go with. I’m satisfied with the way it turned out though. I wouldn’t change a thing.
What’s next for you?
Now that this first project has been released I will be focusing on playing as many shows around the southwest to promote it, as well as working on recording for the next project, which will be called Busted Compass. I came up with that name because there are so many directions I can go with my craft, it’s almost as if one is working with a busted compass. I hope to find the proper funding to go on a small tour around the southwest to get my name out there, but really all I can do for sure is continue to make music and never stop. I want people to know what saxy-rap is all over the country, but I figure the southwest is a good place to start. So far I haven’t met one person that doesn’t like them some saxy-rap. It’s not something that you can necessarily ignore as a listener, and that’s what I’m most proud of. I like standing out and being different, that’s what makes being an artist so special. I never want to make anything that just fits the status quo. Saxy-rap is something different, it’s in your face and comforting at the same time. It’s like sex. I like to think that people leave my shows feeling horny and inspired.