RESPECT. Interview: Radamiz is ‘Writeous’

When God and good lighting unite.

Just as we slipped past the SOBs coat check and into the backstage holding area to look for Radamiz, he emerged. John Thompson white towel draped over his shoulder, he seemed startled yet pleased to see friendly faces. “Pre-show portraits?” Radamiz willfully sacrificed his final moments of solace to pose for some classic images as his predecessor, Bobby G entered the last song of his set.

Whether or not Radamiz is a conscious Hip-Hop artist is not up for our judgment. What we can certainly say is that Radamiz is cerebral. His answers are cryptic and indirect at times, but always thoughtful and intelligent. Radamiz is not the type of modern artist who offers the minutiae of his daily travels for mass consumption on social media. Rather, he shares his inner-workings via the music.

“$100,000” is a hustler’s anthem that Radamiz released in 2013. Something inspirational for the underdogs: “For lent, I gave up lint.” Envisioning riches on wax is not a groundbreaking concept, but $100,000 delivers a musicality that sets Radamiz apart from the pack and it was this song that alerted me: Radamiz is on his way to stardom.

Hailing from Bed-Stuy’s Sumner Houses, Radamiz is no stranger to poverty. His worldview is also shaped by his native Dominican Republic, years of study at New York University (Class of 2015), and years of membership in the Mogul Club. The Club is comprised of multimedia artists – MCs, producers, cinematographers – and unified by a noticeable covering of brotherhood.

It is not possible to explore the artistry and possibility of Radamiz without a concurrent exploration of the Mogul Club. Radamiz succeeds as a solo artist, but not as an independent actor. When the release date for Writeous was finally announced, members of the Mogul Club began shouting “April 18!” from their social media rooftops too. There is a prevailing myth in New York City Hip Hop that artists do not support each other, and the Mogul Club constantly defies that. Everyone is lauding and promoting the greatness of Writeous with the vigor that artists typically reserve for their own projects, but therein lies the beauty.

Radamiz has delivered a project that has been four years in the making, not to mention its lifetime of development in New York City public housing. The most recent single from Writeous is “Sumner,” an ode to the Sumner Houses where Radamiz honed his art form. The record finds Radamiz in a comfortable yet triumphant pocket as he reflects on the rats, roaches, and junkies in the Ps while championing the faith and perseverance that have delivered him through.

Faith shines through heavily on Writeous — “Stacking every penny, still got Jesus by the dresser” — and on the introductory track, Radamiz wholly ascends. “God Talks to Me A Lot” sets the tone for the album and announces Radamiz as king. The second verse, though. Radamiz is joined briefly by a Lauryn Hill soundbite and a thorough closing verse from Mogul Club veteran Madwiz. The two have been collaborating musically since their high school days, as evidenced by the hidden YouTube gems that only the real fans know about.

Wordlessness is a rather prominent current Hip Hop trend, but Radamiz seems intent taking the culture, or at least his own music in a new direction. He packs myriad messages and metaphors into each bar, demonstrating the relentlessness that has been able to keep him persevering through the struggles. The rapid flow that he employs on several songs — including the thumping “poweR” that features Mogul Club member History — conjures positive memories of Kendrick Lamar on “Cartoon and Cereal.”

To be brutally honest, one may find difficulty getting straight through Writeous because this album truly demands replays to soak in all of the content. However, when an artist is operating at this level —