Where do you think the melancholy feel of your music comes from? How do you feel about it?
It’s hard to talk about where I go for inspiration, both in a traditional sense - painful experiences are difficult to turn into conversation - and in a more specific kind of way - like if I told you I’d have to kill myself. Two reasons. 1) Analyzing the work like this makes me feel pretentious as hell. 2) Once I get over that I’m left feeling like a hypocrite, because most of the music comes from a fear of being left alone with whatever awfulness inspired the damn music in the first place. Better to share said awfulness with a piece of paper, or a piece of production, and turn it into something substantive. Then what began as a shit feeling becomes a part of something potentially cathartic. After a day or so of being a self-absorbed asshole I can crystalize those feelings and get back to life - what was once an all consuming emotion is now a three minute bit of singing and rapping and beats and FX’s and such. “The you + you = more” aka the easier answer? I write songs to deal with things I have a hard time dealing with. Otherwise, some of those things are overwhelming and near impossible to deal with at face value. Others are so small they make me feel bad for even giving them the time of day. How do I feel about it? Pennywise the Clown gave me my swag. Ahem, I’m happy to have an outlet, and the opportunity to share my bit of shit with other people. Maybe someone can relate? Maybe my mess can provide clarity for someone else? The potential to affect someone else with whatever you’re going through is the key. Never knew what the whole “if a tree falls in the woods” cliche really meant until recently. At some point it's not enough to simply go through something, nor is it enough to write about said something. If there isn’t someone there, someone invested journeying through those somethings with you, then the whole enterprise starts to lose it’s meaning. If no one is listening then why not keep it to yourself.
What do you feel is the strongest line you’ve ever written, and why?
Alright. I’m going to pick a line from a song off of - You Knew I Was on the Way. It’s the mixtape featuring “You Used To” and I’m limiting my search for two reasons. 1) Feel like I owe you for being so damned long winded with my previous answer, my bad, and 2) music is so subjective that the idea of “strongest line” is truly in the ear of the beholder (we talking punchline, wordplay, rippity-rappity-BARS, catchy melody, sick flow, the list goes on…no?). Instead, let’s go with what for me feels strongest in the context of a specific project, in this case - YKIWOTY. (You Knew I was on the Way). From “Stoneheart” Hold off judging me, because you wasn’t me. Unless you was with me and then I’m so sorry. Stoneheart is one big ol’ confession. Didn’t realize it was 2 minutes of owning up to the worst of myself until weeks after we’d already tracked the damn thing. Keeping it a buck with you bruv, the whole song feels like my favorite line. Each part sets up the next so you gotta vibe the whole thing for the proper effect (lemme know and I’ll shoot you an advanced copy). The song is a punchline for the entire mixtape, a twisted reveal I’d rather not spoil in an interview.
What’s a life motto you try to live by?
Don’t let the measure of anyone be the measure of you.
What do you think makes St. Louis hiphop music unique from the hiphop coming out from the rest of the country today?
Tough for me to comment on the wide range of acts here in St. Louis, not to mention the massive amount of talented artists around the world contributing their voices to the culture, but I will speak on the few folks from home that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. They are soul artists - through and through. Every single one of them. From the most “lyrical” to the best suited for turn up. The cats going crazy with autotune melodies and 808’s to the boom bap enthusiasts still chopping up samples on an MPC. They are all of them representatives of the blues, jazz, & rock n roll movements that built the wave.
What was it like collaborating with Killer Mike? How did that come about?
The only reason I was able to rock with Killer Mike is because of Trackstar the DJ. He’s an amazing dude, a close friend, and the DJ for Run the Jewels. Every thing else came down to a lot of good fortune for us, and the fact that Killer Mike is straight up a man of the people. He doesn’t know me from Adam, but he still came through that day and blessed us with two joints. One verse became https://soundcloud.com/
I’m just lucky to have a few features from one of the best in the world. The word thankful doesn’t seem to cover my gratitude completely but until I write a song on the subject it will have to do.