RESPECT. INTERVIEW: Cousin Stizz On His Roots and His Future

Cousin Stizz is quickly garnering a buzz and has become the new face of Boston hip-hop. After the success of last year’s Suffolk County, he dropped his new project MONDA last week.

We spoke to Stizz the day that the tape dropped, just hours before he released it to the world. We talked about the things he learned from growing up in Boston, going to school in the suburbs, being his own biggest critic and what he thinks can be done to help push the world forward in times of need. Cousin Stizz is polite and inquiring during an interview with humility that is easy to spot within him. His future is bright in the music industry and we’re looking forward to his takeover. Read our conversation below.

RESPECT.: Mr. Ill Smith The Fresh Prince, what’s up with you?

(Laughs) Hey! I’m good man, I’m chillin’. What’s about you?

RESPECT.: I’m good man. Is it a little hectic for you right now? You’re just about to drop the tape today right?

Yeah I’m about to drop the s**t. But you know, I’m maintaining. I’m cooling. How about you, what’s going on with you?

RESPECT.: I’m good man, I just woke up (laughs) I don’t have too much going on today so I can’t complain. So you’ve been working on this project for about a year now, are you excited to give this one to the people and show them the new stuff?

Oh absolutely man. I’m really excited to get this s**t out there into the world and get it going.

RESPECT.: Yes the Twitter feed is looking pretty funny right now with all the memes you’re retweeting about the wait for the tape.

(Laughs) Yeah the ‘where is Waldo’ s**t that’s been going on!

RESPECT.: So funny. So, you’re from Boston. Were you disappointed that KD went to the Warriors instead of the Celtics?
Yeah listen, I’m not really mad at his decision because I understand it, you know what I mean? I understand it. So I’m not upset at KD at all. Can’t be upset at KD. The Based God Curse is lifted so how can I be upset? I’m chillin’.

RESPECT.: You know what, I think the Based God lifted that curse because he was getting a little bit scared that the Warriors would just win and he was like ‘I don’t wanna look like I’m wrong.’

(Laughs) Nah the Based God’s honourable, he wouldn’t do that.

RESPECT.: Yes you’re right. I shouldn’t put that into the universe. I apologize Based God (laughs). So what did you learn from growing up in Bean Town? Just a couple of things that you take with you on your journey from growing up as a kid there.

S**t, I learned just a lot about people bro. Understanding people because Boston is a melting pot of everything. So I just learned a lot about people, understanding how people work, how to work with people, and the way people move too. I definitely learned from growing up in the city.

RESPECT.: Word. Fields Corner is known for its Vietnamese Food, were you a big fan of pho as a kid?

No I was not a big pho fan. I got introduced to pho really late in the game. It was a game changer, but it was really late in the game. It was like a twenties thing for me. So like, I wasn’t really into the pho I was really into some stuff. That was my steeze.

RESPECT.: It was like when you’re playing 2k or something, and like late in the game someone tells you the spin move… and it just changes everything?

Yeah! That’s exactly what that was (laughs).

RESPECT.: Are you still with the people that you came up with, your boys that you grew up with?

Oh yeah. Yeah, hell yeah! Everybody. Every single one of ’em. I got ten-year homies still that I kick it with to this day. Ain’t much really change with success.

RESPECT.: Really? You didn’t have to kick anyone out of the crew because of jealousy or things going wrong along the way?

Nah bro. Like, I ain’t worried about all that s**t. That s**t weeded itself out way before. Anybody who I’m not around anymore, that was a while ago, but nothing that happened recently.

RESPECT.: Having good people around you is necessary.

Hell yeah dawg. I got great people around me. I’m blessed.

RESPECT.: I also read that you were given the choice of either attending school in the suburbs or military school, what made you choose that? And how do you think attending school in the burbs shaped who you are now?

Yo, that was a really easy one. Military school, I don’t want to be in an all boys school and I don’t take well to authority, so that was simple. It was probably the best 4 years of my life, well besides what’s going on now. But like, with everything that was going on then, I live in the hood, you know what I’m saying? And I go to the suburbs for school. And everything is possible there. Big houses and fancy cars and s**t like that. And then after, at 3 o’clock I’d go back to the hood. So it was the spectrum of understanding people. I met some of my best friends there and it just made me understand life. It just made me respect life so much more. It made me realize there’s so much more out there than what I knew.

RESPECT.: Yeah, I think seeing the possibility of something like that, that it’s possible to make it in a certain way, is something that a lot of people just don’t even get the chance to do. It reminds me of a Drake line when he says, ‘It take a certain type of man to teach, to be far from hood but to understand the streets.’ But for you it was reverse because you understood the streets but then you went into the burbs and had to understand that different lifestyle so it was kind of a cool spectrum that you got to live.

Yeah man, it was definitely, definitely a very different four years. I didn’t do well in school, but I did well in learning people.

RESPECT.: Yeah, and that’s a more important skill. You also say that ‘All of your music is based off a feeling.’ Is that feeling always different depending on what you’re going through in life, or is there a constant feeling you have when you make your music?

Nah, it’s always different s**t bro. Like, it really is always different things. I also said, I wish that I was one of those people that could just go in and write something and then boom, boom. But like, my s**t really does have to have a meaning to it. It’s not just going to come out well.

RESPECT.: Are you a big believer that you can’t just sit in the studio every night, you have to do some living in between your work in order to be inspired to write?

Well yeah, you gotta have experience man.You can’t just talk about s**t that you don’t know bro. You gotta have some sort of experience, some sort of life experience in order to write, in order to rap.

RESPECT.: Yeah I agree. I just think there are a lot of guys who will say that they’re in the studio every night. But like, if you’re in the studio every night, literally not doing anything else, then what are you writing about? Just being the best rapper and nothing else (laughs).

Exactly (laughs) exactly.

RESPECT.: You also said in an interview that you’re a perfectionist, do you think in terms of your creative process that you are your own biggest critic and how do you get over that in order to release a song?

I definitely think I am one of my biggest critic but I get over it because I have four of my other people around me who are my other biggest critics. The dudes in the studio and my man who records all of my music. So that’s how I pretty much get over it. I’ll send it out. If I’m not too sure about something, I send it off and just wait for feedback. I send off everything. Just being in the studio, I’ll ask him and He’ll be like, ‘ah maybe you should kick a song like this, or maybe you should do that different. Or try it this way.’ So having people like that around me to tell me that this s**t is trash, just helps me figure this s**t out.

RESPECT.: Having people around you that you can trust and just being able to trust in the process is pretty important. What is your biggest goal for the upcoming year and even beyond that for your career?

I just want this tape to reach a lot of ears man. I just want it to move people, you know what I’m saying? I want to give something that people can ride around to and not just try to skip through songs. Like really ride around to it and really cling to this motherf***er and I hope it relates and I hope people get a little something out of it and feel better about everything going on in this crazy a** world right now.

RESPECT.: You said you really value creating a solid body of work that sonically sounds good together. Is MONDA someone’s name? Because I saw you got it tatted on your forearm. So just explain the title.

Yeah that’s my little homie’s name. My little bro, he passed from cancer. But before he passed and everything, I told him a while back that I was definitely going to do this one for him.

RESPECT.: Do you feel like there is an extra spirit with you on your back? Like you kind of have that chip on your shoulder because he’s with you through everything right now.

Yeah all the time bro. I visit him all the time. You know, I go to the grave yard, I visit him. We talk all the time. I definitely feel him you know what I’m saying? Yeah, I definitely feel him.

RESPECT.: Word. And with all of the other bulls**t that’s going on in the world and all of the tension that’s going on in America racially, what do you think can be done to help push towards a peaceful future? Do you think that its even possible?

We got to love each other. That’s where it starts right?

RESPECT.: I agree. And I think in terms of music, it’s one of the only thing that can really connect people on a higher level so I think that you’re doing your part.

Hey thank you man. I appreciate that dawg.

RESPECT.: I appreciate the time. Anything else you wanted to say before we get out of here?

Yeah. Thank you to everybody who is reading this s**t, I appreciate everything. I appreciate it all. Love you, for real, for real.

Stream Cousin Stizz’s new project here (free download available in the description)