Exclusive Interview: OnCue

OnCue has a cold. Even over the phone you can hear the effect it has on his voice, deepening his already baritone heavy vocals. It is this same voice that lends such freshness to the music Cuey, an emcee hailing from Connecticut, makes. Influenced by a mixture of hip-hop and indie rock, Cuey’s baritone can be found one moment spitting a sixteen and then next singing his own hooks, something he was doing during the same time (if not before) artists like Kid Cudi, B.o.B. and Drake were perfecting their craft. But even with a handful of stellar mixtapes like Cuey Sings the Blues and Can’t Wait on his resume, Cuey hasn’t found the same large scale success the aforementioned artists have enjoyed. That seems like it’s about to change. With record labels calling and Just Blaze on board on the production side, Cuey’s time seems to be almost here. RESPECT. caught up with the emcee on a break from the studio to talk about how he developed his style, the frustrations of being called commercial and working with a legend like Just Blaze.

On one of your earlier mixtapes, Cuey Sings the Blues, you’re rapping over tracks by bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Dave Matthews and Modest Mouse. It seems like you have a strong indie rock background. How did this affect your style and did it lead you to incorporate signing into your music?

It’s kind of simple. It was just a natural progression. I grew up in the suburbs so I was clearly influenced by hip-hop at the time. My dad and my mom, when I was growing up they would play classic rock and roll and it was funny because when I was real young, when I was like a young teenager in middle school and junior high, I hated rock. I rebelled against it almost because my parents listened to it so I was like “nah, that shit’s wack.” But it wasn’t until high school, like my sophomore year I started getting into the pop-punk shit for a couple of years. I would listen to Fall Out Boy and Motion City Soundtrack and stuff like that. Early Fall Out Boy before they kind of became like a Top 40 band. It wasn’t until senior year of high school, freshman year of college I really started indulging in a lot of indie stuff. It all kind of started because of Death Cab For Cutie and then I started listening to Bloc Party and Animal Collective and MGMT and all that shit. So with my style, I like to say that it’s like a melting pot of all the stuff that really, truly influenced me.

The singing kind of came naturally as well. The singing started off by accident, really. I was doing a record called “Inhale, Exhale,” with a friend of mine by the names of Chanes, he’s from Detroit. He showed me this beat that was acoustic guitar, and this was my freshman year of college, I was at Hofstra at the time. This was at the peak of me really starting to discover indie rock and alternative rock and getting into it heavy and he sent me this record with this acoustic guitar and I just naturally did what my instincts told me to do. And that was on a mixtape called Elevator Muzik which is a tape prior to Cuey Sings the Blues. It was really that record that kicked off the whole me actually taking this alternative, indie influence that I was listening to recreationally and finally putting it back into my own music. Then from there I did a Red Hot Chili Peppers mash up project and then it eventually led to Cuey Sings the Blues.

So do your various influences lead to a diverse demographic at your live shows?

I mean, a lot of it is college kids. Clearly, at a lot of rap shows right now you will see college kids, whether it be me or Wiz Khalifa. I do actually, surprisingly, have a lot older fans too. Like, I remember once in a while, not to be narcissistic, I searched my name, and a couple in Canada, their wedding song was “Crashing Down” off Cuey Sings the Blues. I was like, “Yo, I’m only a 22 year old kid.” I’m reading this and I’m like, wow, this touches adults like that too. So it is more of a variety than I think people would assume. I think a lot to do with that does have to do with the eclecticness of the music but also the content as well. My shit tends to be a little bit more mature than some of my peers.

Your content definitely has a very mature aspect to it, and you are also very open in your music, you talk a lot about the experiences you’ve had in your life. Why are you able to be so forthcoming with your listeners?

That’s a good question. No one has really asked me why am I able to. I think it goes back to really what I enjoy. Like what I really found so interesting. I respect [Eminem]. But I’m more of a Jay-Z fan. Even though I wasn’t a straight up Em head like every white kid out of the suburbs at the time I was growing up was, I respected that. That was the one thing that did make me gravitate towards music. Now don’t get me wrong, I was a fan and I had all his CDs and stuff like that. Also I was a big Joe Budden fan growing up. I just genuinely think that was what I respected in artists, period. Because I have kind of an abnormal uprbringing, it can be therapeutic for me as well. Writing songs helped me cope with the turmoil that was going on within my life anyway. It kind of just makes sense to me. I feel right doing it too. I didn’t feel right doing anything else.

You have on a line on your song “Feel Tall” off of Can’t Wait where you say “Just because I sing that’s why you’re calling me commercial?” This kind of criticism has also plagued guys like B.o.B. and Drake. Why do you think people are so quick to dismiss hip-hop artists once they hear them singing, and do you find your music gets that same critique?

Totally. I’d sit here and be lying if I said I’m not hitting a lot of political roadbumps right now because I decided to sing. Because I decided to turn [“1901” by Phoenix] into a rap beat. It’s happening constantly, and I think it’s a lot to do with small mindedness and I think a lot of people are falling off and a huge factor for the fact that I sing, is because I’m a white guy. Look at B.o.B. Look at [Kid) Cudi]. They get support from the hip-hop community right now, and B.o.B. makes more commercial sounding music than I do! That’s no disrespect to B.o.B. because I support him and I root for him because I know he’s been grinding for a long time. I remember listening to Cloud 9 back when no one really knew who he was and remember thinking he was going to do some shit. I think it’s a lot to do with the fact that I’m a white kid from the suburbs, who has a deep voice when he’s rapping and when I’m singing it sounds like I’m from rock and shit. I think it throws mad people off. And I know it does, but it’s a give and take.

Does that frustrate you?

Yes and no. We all have bad days. But I know it’s going to pay out in the end. I’ve been getting label attention for a while now. And it’s not because I have the hugest fan base in the world, but they know I can write a record. They don’t have to sign me and allocate their recording budget to pay Bruno Mars $100,000 to write a chorus for said artist because that shit already kind of comes. To them right now I’m the full package. So as much flack as I’m getting, I’m getting love because of that. It’s really a double edged sword, it’s kind of funny.

You’ve been working with Just Blaze a lot lately. He co-produced your song “New Religion” and directed the video for “Kinda Late.” How did you two link up?

It’s funny. We had a mutual friend for a long time. And the mutual friend named Alex, and I knew Alex for a minute. I moved out to [New York City], I was out here for like six months, grinding, and he would bring in artists for Just, like new artists because Just is a really busy dude. He djs, he travels, this motherfucker was like in India a couple days ago. So he’s really busy and it’s hard for him to keep up with new artists. Alex connected XV and Just too. He also put the bug in Just’s ear about [Mac Miller] early on. Shit like that. Pretty much Alex felt, more or less, that I was ready to go meet Just, and Just really was just a fan of the music. He knew what I was trying to do. What I don’t think a lot of people know about Just is that he listens to a wide range of music. He’s very open minded. So I think this was in August, late summer, and we didn’t really get into the studio until December just because of scheduling. But yeah, that’s how we linked up.

How was working with Just Blaze for his direcotrial debut for your video for “Kinda Late”?

What happened was we already had the concept going around. It was the last day of tour and prior to tour we had already shot a video for “Kinda Late.” It was very similar to the one that you see except I was in it. I was in the robe, I was drinking whiskey, I was acting like a clown type shit. It was the last day of tour, and Adam Ross, the dude who stars in it, he shot “Feel Tall,” he shot “All the Way,” he shot “Crashing Down,” pretty much every video I’ve ever done. He was in the back of the tour van and he was lip syncing the words to Usher’s “Bad Girl.” And you’ve seen the video so you know why I started dying laughing. So I was like, “Yo, what if you were me in the ‘Kinda Late’ video?” And he was like “Yeah, I’ll do it.” I was kind of surprised. So when I got back to New York I was chopping it up with Just and it was ironic because Just just bought all of this camera equipment. He was like “Yo, I’ll direct it if Adam is in front of the camera.” So it kind of just naturally fell into place and Just was super excited to do it. We had a blast.

Let’s talk about your new music. With “New Religion” and “Rich Kid” it seems like your music has gotten a little more grittier, a little more straight hip-hop than your earlier stuff. Is this the direction you are trying to take?

What I am trying to do musically right now…I wouldn’t necessarily say more grittier, it kind of just ended up happening like that, that those two records ended up coming out around the same time. I’m definitely trying to make a conscious effort at least to make a little bit more upbeat of music. I’m still going to give you my personal background and that emotion that I’m really know for. But like I was saying to my team the other day, some fans were like “I like this, but where’s your records like “Better Than Before’ and ‘All the Way’?” And what a lot of people don’t understand is that if you are really drawing off your real life, you can’t just turn those records out. You’ve got to go through shit. I can’t just push out something because then it woulnd’t be real and then therefore you wouldn’t like it as much because everything I write has been based off experience. I guess really I’m just trying to make a conscious effort to make a little more upbeat music and not necessarily depress people all the time. Which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing, but with that said still try to capture that emotion which has gotten me where I am right now. Just normal artistc growth. I’ve got goals for myself. I don’t want to be pigeonholed like I’m some depressing ass, emo ass motherfucking dude, because I’m not.

What’s next for Cuey?

Right now I’m just making music and I’m putting it out. I don’t want to leave the fans and followers just waiting. I’ve been busy in the studio and I’ve been working. There might be a new mixtape, there might be a re-release of some sort. You will definitely see a “Rich Kid” video in the next couple of weeks. The video is coming out amazing. You will definitely see a “New Religion” video. That’s definitely what’s coming next. It’s a lot of content. It’s not going to be a couple weeks where I’m gone.

You can find OnCue on Twitter and at his website.