via FSD

The post New Music: Twista – “Whitney Houston Tribute” (prod. The Legendary Traxster) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Some examples of Pareidolia are seeing faces and animals in clouds, seeing Jesus in your coffee, Jesus in your toast, Jesus in your cupcake icing, or perhaps technicolor acid rain clouds overtop Gotham City in a Jimmy Chiale painting. “Even when I look at this tile,” mused Jimmy, pointing at the floor of his barbershop at 498 Queen West in downtown Toronto. “I see these visions, I see designs and faces and all these things in the tile. I’ve always been like that. So that’s what I try to capture in my art.” Jimmy, 24, who hails from Paris, resides in Toronto, and dreams of New York, paints large murals, or rather, doodles, all done up in a wild array of colors, from hot pink and blazing red to aquamarine blue and prison shank silver. “I don’t really know how to describe my work,” continued Jimmy, rocking back and forth on a barber’s chair. “It’s all by accident. I get some money and go to the art shop and I do it right on the spot.”

And by the look of his gallery, which is essentially the Proper Reserve clothing shop at Queen and Portland, Jimmy knows what a Benjamin is, or for us Canucks, a Sir Robert Borden. Walking into Proper Reserve the first thing you notice are all the canvases up on the walls, overtop of clothing racks, the register, as well as bordering the small barbershop at the back of the store – there must have been 25 in total. When Jimmy’s not painting (or blazing) he’s supplementing his income by doing custom hair designs, or in our case, doing press. “Should we get some fresh air?” suggested Jimmy, once we had finished up with our interview. “I like your shirt,” he went on. “It looks African.” Jimmy led the way out onto the street and then down an alleyway on the opposite side of Queen. It was in this decrepit alley, after Jimmy had perched himself inside a graffitied-ridden doorway, that I was finally able to conceive an accurate portrait of this artist as a young man.

From the toes up, Jimmy had on worn black sneakers, white socks, black cargo pants with paint stains and zippers running diagonally across the front of the legs, and a matching black hoody, which he had pulled down over his curly black hair. Jimmy spoke with a Parisian accent, exposing a sole gemstone on his upper right cuspid. He had a skinny face, dark complexion, and fidgeted in the brisk January wind… that crept up the alleyway, swung onto Queen, and whistled softly beneath the screech of the streetcars. “You ever heard of CocoRosie?” asked Jimmy, loading up one of their jams on his iPhone. “Nope,” I admitted. “But I don’t miss much. So it must be good.” Jimmy played the song for me, and of course, it was fantastic. Then he tucked the remainder of his doobies back into his pocket and we came out onto the street. “Well,” I said. “I guess that’s it,” and I shook Jimmy’s hand. I was about to go on, utter some more syllables, but I saw that Jimmy was already halfway across the street, his sights set on Proper Reserve. Jimmy was back in tunnel vision, whereas I had to drive back to the suburbs and go to work.

What kind of music you into, man?

A Tribe Called Quest, I’m stuck on that old school stuff. I listen to this new jazzy stuff too. Do you know The 6th Letter from Toronto?

Yeah.

The 6th Letter, Double X.

I saw them the other day…

At the A$AP Rocky concert, they opened. They opened for Royce da 5’9”.

Yeah, that’s where I saw them.

Yeah, they’re dope. And Brisk In The House.

The whole Bakers Club.

Yeah, this is sick. This is my shit right now.

You think you could introduce yourself, where you’re at?

Well, my name is Jimmy Chiale. Right now I’m based out of Proper Reserve and I’ve been selling my paintings from here. I’m always trying to come up with events, do something different like an event at Sick Kids or something like that.

The abstract stuff is your main focus right now?

Yeah, and I’m a hair stylist too. I’ve been doing hair for a long time, but recently I’ve been scaling down to really focus on my painting. That’s what I’ve been doing, pure abstract.

Where’s that come from?

I don’t know, man. I guess I always loved doodling when I was younger. I took it to another level when I came to Canada because I started painting on canvases. I just merked doodling on canvases. I love it. This is what I get distracted by.

What do you mean ‘distracted’?

Well, sometimes I get an idea not as abstract, but when it comes in front of my face and I’m starting it my hand just automatically goes- like I can’t even help it. I get distracted. Because I get too excited by the abstract.

Is that how a lot of your work comes out, having another idea and then-

No, actually I believe my style is about making mistakes, and making mistakes look good. A lot of times when I start my canvases I choose my color but I just fuck around. I fuck around, and then this spot here and there I connect them and make it look good. A long time ago when I was not doing that I used to draw things that I would see in like… stains for example. If I had a stain of ink on the floor I would see something in it, like maybe a Japanese dude in a crazy robe, doing a crazy sign.

Jesus in your coffee.

Yeah, some shit like that. I would draw that and it would be sick. It’s hard to explain. I actually never explained that before. For example here [pointing to the floor], in the tile there, I would see this color and shape or whatever and then put it on canvas, but I would change a few things. I would get inspired by that.

Seeing stuff in the clouds almost.

Exactly, exactly, exactly, like the clouds, or even the bench right there [pointing to the bench I was sitting on], the wooden brown thing inside it, there’s always shit you can see. I used to do a lot of that, like the clouds, see a face. Now when I paint it’s automatically there. People always see things like I see things in other stuff. They’ll see dogs, fish, birds, some crazy things like parking spots. It works just like the clouds.

Where do the colors come in?

The color comes first. I have a good set of colors, and then I surround them with black sometimes. I add my axis after, the little dots, maybe some gold, some splash.

How much do your paintings go for, if you don’t mind me asking?

$1500

Is that how you make most of your income?

Now, yeah.

That must feel pretty good.

Yeah, I’m not at the top yet. I wish I could sell paintings every week, because I paint every day. I have stacks and stacks of paintings.

You paint every day?

Pretty much. It’s been quiet lately I would say. I haven’t been painting as much.

You feel like you have to?

No, I just constantly buy canvases. When I have a little bit of cash I go to the store, get a canvas for $40, $50, $60, $3200 bucks and bang, I just merk it on the spot, at night.

Right away?

Yeah, I don’t have time to come-

It’s sporadic.

It’s puking of expression. I shit that thing. [laughs] It comes so quick, and then it’s gone. Maybe I won’t remember it. There’s pieces I see in stores downtown and I don’t even remember them. I’ll be like, “How the fuck did this piece get here?” Or, “Shit, I forgot I did that.”

Do you do any graffiti as well?

No, not really, no. I don’t have time to get caught first of all. I’m not here in Canada to get caught doing graffiti, definitely not. And two, I don’t have the money to spend. I’d rather spend my money on canvases, rather than spray paint and graffiti that could get me arrested. I don’t have time for that. As much as I’ve tried and I love graffiti, and how much I’m inspired by it, it’s just not for me.

How old are you?

I’m 24.

And you came here when you were-

When I was 18.

Why?

Lots of reasons. My parents moved. They came here. When I was in France they were here a little bit before me. I came right after the riots. A lot of things were going down in France. I needed a change so I came here.

Where are you from there?

Paris, east side.

That’s where you grew up?

Yeah.

Where are your parents from?

My dad’s from the Caribbean. My mom’s from France.

Where in the Caribbean?

Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Do you ever get inspired by music?

Yeah, of course, for sure. Obviously I listen to all kinds of music.

Do you listen to music while you’re working?

Oh yeah, always. I usually start my nights at 10 or 11 with the music really loud. I put that busy stuff, and then through the night I go down into the jazzy stuff and then I turn it off. When I’m tired I don’t listen to music, because I want to finish my piece. My ears are just like zzzzzzz by that point, so I turn off the music. It’s much better.

So you blast your music?

Yeah, I blast my music constantly.

What about the neighbors?

Pshhht, I live in a fucked up neighborhood. They don’t give a shit. My neighbor doesn’t give a fuck at all, so I blast that music.

That’s funny. You definitely got to see that movie [the Scorsese part of New York Stories] because the artist, he blasts music while he’s working too, he’s always working on abstract stuff, but like 8 times bigger than your stuff.

Yeah, that’s what I’m going for. I’m going for huge. I’m not going for anything small.

How do you fill the whole thing?

It’s whatever, man, I just merk it. I do crazy ass shit. [laughs] I may be wrong, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that style. As long as it keeps changing sizes and stays exciting.

Is anyone else doing your style?

Not my exact style, no.

How would you describe your style?

Well, there’s a lot of people who do urban graphic, street, abstract, so that’s how I would describe the style. I’m sure I’ve seen people doing that, but my work is just meant to be. It’s beautiful, it’s powerful. I don’t know, man. Everyone just goes crazy every time they see it. They tell me they’ve never seen anything like it before. Even a guy yesterday, who bought a painting, he was an older man, because my clients are usually over 40. These people are older and they know about artwork, or at least I would think so. They’re either art collectors or have big houses or have bought art before. They know what they like. They know what’s attractive and what’s not.

What do they say when they come?

They’re very surprised. When I have a client come in and he sees the work and he sees me he’s kind of surprised. [laughs]

I’m picturing a man and his wife, and the wife goes, “Hmm, the aesthetics of this one are rather striking-” [laughs]

No, no, but people love explaining my work, man. They love describing it. They love telling me the things they see in it, and I love that too. People get very surprised, because it’s different. They’ve never seen it before.

You have any clients that you remember, who stick out in your mind?

Well, all of my clients in a way, but I had a very interesting one once. There was this girl I met in the streets. I was bringing a big painting to a show and this woman walked by in Yorkville, she walked by me and she looked at the painting, and then she walked away and came back and asked me what’s up, like “Where are you going with this big ass painting?” I’m like, “I’m going to a show.” She was like, “Oh, too bad I can’t go.” So I was like, “Okay, bye.” And the next day I went back to work in the hair salon, and in the hair salon there’s a big window, and in front of the window there’s this bench. So I’m doing a haircut and this woman, the same woman, she comes back and she sits down on the bench, in front of my window where I’m doing a haircut and then she’s looking at me. It must have been a week later, because she didn’t recognize me right away. She’s on the other side of the window and she had a book. She wrote some shit down in the book and then my client was like, “This girl’s writing about you.” So I’m finishing my client and this girl comes in the salon and asks about me. She was like, “Oh, I’m waiting for this guy, the painter.” I go see her and she’s like, “Yeah, since I saw the painting that you had with you last time I couldn’t forget it. I’ve had it on my mind since then and I’ve been going through a rough divorce and stuff.” She told me she didn’t have money right now but she really wanted that piece. She begged me to keep it. I’m like, “Okay, I will keep it.” I asked her when she would have the money and she said in a few weeks, and a few weeks became a few months, but whatever, I still had the painting. She kept in touch with me, saying she really wanted it, she was saving the money and she was going to come back. But I didn’t hear from her, and then one day she came out of nowhere. She was so happy. She had the biggest smile on her face. She’s like, “I’m ready. I have money. Here it is,” and then she asked me to deliver it to her house. I found out about her story, you know? Pretty much the painting had changed her life. She saw something in it that she never thought she would see. She’s a teacher at University of Toronto.

It just clicked for her.

Yeah, it made her feel so happy.

Where’d she put it?

She put it in her living room. I hung it there. She had a bottle of champagne, some wine and cheese and grapes. [laughs] She was so happy.

You wish all your clients were like that?

I have a lot of them like that. Women get really excited.

[laughs] That must be the best part.

It’s crazy. I come out of the house and I’m like, “Yeah!” I’m dancing in the streets. I’m happy as fuck.

Who are your idols?

Jean-Michel Basquiat. Picasso. Definitely Picasso.

Why?

Because of his lifestyle.

Which was?

Well, when I was really young I saw his studio and that’s what made me want to be an artist, because of the space.

What about your space?

It’s pretty similar, not as big but similar, as messy, full of paintings. My place is a typical artist’s studio. And it’s not even a studio. It’s an apartment I’m trying to make into a studio. I’ve got a dog, three cats.

What are there names?

Jack, Black, Dennis.

Jack, Black, Dennis? [laughs]

Yeah, Jack and Black are the cats, Dennis the dog, and then Skylar, that’s the other cat. Three cats and a dog. It’s fucked up. But I like Michelangelo a lot too, because of the power of his paintings, the power, the mystery, the history.

[recording ceases momentarily as Jimmy and I talk movies, then resumes when I bring up New York City]

I’m definitely going to New York soon, man.

Why?

Because I feel like, I’m from Paris, Paris born and raised, then Toronto is like a stepping stone, at least in my art career. I feel like if I’m going to New York it’s my graduation.

Toronto’s like a mini New York.

It is like a mini New York. Exactly. I always call it baby New York. I feel like here it’s university time, I’m learning what I can do, learning about myself, discovering my talent, discovering about people, and then New York is like the big move. You go in there to make money. You go in there to make major moves. You go in there to merk shit up. I know what I’m going to do first. The first thing I’m going to do is find an art supply store, get a big ass canvas, and find the chillest street, where it’s busy but I can still post up and paint with my boom-box, just paint right there and give away my business card. That’s my vision of New York. I don’t envision it like a big thing.

How far off in the future is this?

I’m thinking this year, man. The problem is I lost my passport twice, in a year. I’m just not good with my papers. I haven’t been taking care of my papers. I lost it, got it back, and now the government is bothering me to get it back again. But I’m working on that right now. I will get there. New York’s not going to fly away anywhere. I’m not going to fly away either.

photography by @raymondgemayel

– By @petermarrack

The post Exclusive Interview: Jimmy Chiale appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Behind the scenes photos from Red Cafe’s “Let It Go” video shoot featuring Diddy, 2Chainz and French Montana. Photography by Garen. Video by Aristotle coming soon.

The post Behind the Scenes Photos: Red Cafe, Diddy, 2Chainz and French Montatna appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

introduced by @MrFarFetched
interviewed by @petermarrack

“Get me a whole tray,” Fat Trel said when his manager asked him how much Alfredo fettucini he wanted after he was done laying down the adlibs for an upcoming track off his next mixtape, Nightmare on E Street. A week before Trel crushed five pounds of Parmesan slathered pasta, he talked with RESPECT.‘s Toronto based correspondent, Peter Marrack, about his two-timing former manager, his family tree and how getting shot by his best-friend taught him an important lesson about how to make it in the rap game. We even got him to pick up the phone after the interview and call his pops to find out exactly where his great-grandma was from. Tatted from his cheek to the bottom of his belly, the Fat Foolio is giving NorthEast D.C. a reason to stand up. Fat Trel smells like the product Lil Boosie and Young Jeezy would cook up if they were stirring out the same pot. So yesterday’s release of TM103 couldn’t have been better timed for D.C.’s SluttyBoyz artist. After finishing off the Alfredo last Thursday at the photoshoot, Trel slipped us an unheard track – On Top of Your Girl – for you to bump while you read.

Catch the complete interview after the jump.

Awesome verse on “Rollin”, man, with Rich Hil. I’m a big fan of Rich, and you nailed your verse as usual.

Yeah, man, I appreciate it a lot. I’m a huge fan of Rich too. That shit was wonderful. I had to take my time and do what I gotta do.

I heard the unfortunate news about the Nightmare on E Street delays, as a result of your manager cheating some money from you. That’s fucked up. What happened?

Yeah, yeah, that’s correct. It happens all the time to be honest. Some people who know that they are smarter than others- and in my case my manager was smarter than me. I guess some of it was my fault. I put too much trust in him, and I did tell him I didn’t want to do too much of the business. Yeah, that’s how it happened, man. I fired him, and then of course he had most of my music, which was ready and prepared for Nightmare on E Street, the majority of it was in his email and he told me he wasn’t giving me my music, you know, go record another Nightmare on E Street, shit like that. It is what it is.

When you do release it, will it be the same music?

I got a couple songs back, but a lot of it will be new. It won’t be the same Nightmare on E Street that would have been released.

At least you can take out some of that frustration and channel it into your music.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s the plan. That’s how the world works, so it’ll be coming soon.

You never know who you can trust. Do you think the dude deceived you from the beginning, did he change, or did you detect any warning signs?

I detected the cockiness. Things did change, but I thought it came with the lifestyle and moving on up. Because he discovered me and I discovered him at the same time. When I first started rapping it was new for me from the beginning, and when he started managing me it was new for him too. It was his first time that he ever managed an artist. I figured we both got the same amount of shit to lose if it all falls down, so I figured we’d be good together, but as soon as the money came he started dipping. It just got ugly.

That’s unfortunate. With Nightmare on E Street, what kind of sound are you bringing? It is keeping with your previous mixtapes, or are you switching things up?

I mean, just because it’s called Nightmare on E Street doesn’t mean the whole tape will be about nightmares and shit. Basically I’m describing my life through this tape, and how I feel my life was a nightmare, even when good things were happening or even on a night when I had a Kool-Aid smile, I still felt like I was walking down a nightmare. That’s basically what it is. Everything that’s happened in my life, up to this point, will be poured out on Nightmare on E Street.

I thought it was funny that it was named after a horror movie, because you don’t like horror movies. [laughs]

Yeah, I don’t, I don’t. That’s the truth right there.

What’s your heritage? Not so sound weird or anything, but you have pretty unique eyes, green with a yellow tint…

It’s funny. I have to be honest, you’re the first person who’s asked me that. When I say it to people they think it’s ridiculous, but my father’s grandmother was actually Indian and white, not black at all, and my father’s grandfather was 100% black. A lot of people don’t know but I’ve got blonde hair in my hair, I got blonde hair all over my face, and I got these crazy eyes because my great-grandmother on my father’s side was Indian and white.

It comes down that far in the family tree, huh?

Yeah, yeah. Dude, if I were being really honest, I’d say I’m Indian, black, and white.

That’s interesting. Going back, where does your family come from? When did they come to D.C., or where were you born?

Honestly, my great-grandmother on my father’s side- that’s funny you ask me that, because it’s going to make me call my father when I hang up to actually find out where my great-grandmother’s from. I honestly don’t know. I never asked that question. It never even dawned on me to ask that. That’s a good question, so I’m going to ask that. I was born in Danville, Virginia. I think when I was about four, maybe three, my mom moved to D.C.

Why did you guys move there?

My mother has a soul of a go-getter. Down in southern Virginia, Danville, Gretna, Blacksburg, Chatham, all that, it’s filled with people who graduate from high school and then stick around. My mother couldn’t do it. The money wasn’t enough for her, and I think she had a girlfriend who stayed in D.C., and she was telling my mom how the economy was up here, and how easy it is to get a job. As soon as my mother moved to D.C. her first job was at KFC, you know, then she worked at CLC, Computer Learning Center College, and she graduated from there and then never looked back. She never ever thought about moving back home, and I’m glad she didn’t.

When you came do you remember being a little bitter about the move, leaving friends behind, or how old were you again?

Naw, I don’t even remember that. Like I told you, I moved here in first grade. The friendship situation didn’t even dawn on me. I just remember growing up here and then we’d always go back home for Thanksgiving. I would always go back home for the summer, my birthday in the summer, the Easter holiday, and family reunions. I would always love to go down there to visit my family, but I always wanted to get back up to D.C. as soon as possible.

Switching topics a bit, you like to walk around shirtless, and you’re very open about sex, the Slutty Boyz thing, and you have all these tattoos. Have there been any moments where you’ve frightened someone?

Unfortunately I do. I do scare a lot of people. That’s part of the reason I like to go out and I like to talk to people because a lot of people have the wrong perception of me, by listening to the music and taking a look at me. They think I’m like this 100% douchebag, this ‘don’t give a fuck about nothing’ type nigga, but that’s not the case. I do like to go out and let them know. That’s part of the reason people love me so much, because it ain’t what they see, it ain’t what they thought it was going to be. I like it that way.

You think that’s ever helped you, maybe in business, people are afraid to say ‘no’ to you?

It has its pros and its cons. Off of my music alone, certain people won’t allow me to perform at their venue. Let’s say for instance, I put out the No Secrets tape and I had shows booked, shows booked, and by the time I dropped April Foolz, when they heard that type of tape they weren’t expecting that, so when they heard that a lot of people cancelled. It is what it is, you know. I knew it was going to happen. We roll with the punches, man. Like I always say, this line about a bitch, either you gonna fuck me now or you gonna fuck me later. That’s how I feel about shows and shit like that. You going to book me now or you going to book me later. I never worry too much about it.

I wondered about the flip-side too. Does anyone frighten you? Does LT [Trel’s publicist] whip some fright into you ever?

Oh yeah, most definitely. That’s what she does. That’s the role she’s playing, and I need that. I guess she could feel the vibe that we can all speak how we feel, like, “Let me know what you think is best, why I should do it, why I should not ignore it.” I listen, you know. I listen. Like I said, I’m not a douchebag, it’s not, “It’s my money and I need it now and I want to carry it this way and this is the fuck how I’m going to do it, and if not then fuck it.” It ain’t like that. Because it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than the artist at the end of the day. Out of all the people who’ve helped me, it’s bigger than me. I have to think about a lot as far as everyone else is concerned, how they can benefit off of it, off my music. It works both ways.

Growing up in your neighborhood, who were some of your mentors, not so much role models, but people you dealt with everyday?

A lot of people don’t know this, because music-wise people think that I was a mentor to the Slutty Boyz, but to be honest, when I was out in the streets the Slutty Boyz were my mentors. Of course my big brother Kel, he was my mentor, my mother, and the OGs in the hood. You look up to them, you listen to them. They tell you what’s right, they tell you what’s wrong. They might not say, “Man, go to school, listen to your mother.” They might tell you to go to school and then skip out. They told you ways to go about it without hurting your mother’s feelings, and that’s what it was about, because they knew we were going to do what we wanted to do at the end of the day. They just showed us how to do it in a better way, to cause less harm to your parents, because your parents don’t want to know about the shit we’re doing. Shit gets ugly, and that’s how parents get evicted off not even knowing what their children were doing. It’s honestly not fair, but as knuckleheads we didn’t really know that that was possible. So the old heads would let us know how to do it, because they were doing it since we were babies.

What about enemies? Have there been people you’ve had beef with, but then they taught you something valuable, something you couldn’t learn from your friends?

Of course. I was shot by a friend I grew up with in my hood. That lesson alone taught me so so much. I never understood the saying, “people who smile in your face are your friend”, because around my way that line don’t exist. I loved them, and they loved me, and we’d do anything for each other, but as time went on and we got older and older and older, certain people were deceiving and certain people were suffering. That’s where it all came out. You knew who your man was because muthafuckers stopped helping each other, and niggas started robbing niggas they grew up with. It got ugly. So my best friend shooting me taught me one of the biggest lessons in the world, period.

Speaking of getting shot, you have a lot of Twitter pics of guns. Recreationally of course, what’s your favorite gun?

Yeah, I do have a favorite gun. My favorite gun is a .40 Smith and Wesson. I love .40’s. I love all .40’s. I like .357’s, but I love Smith and Wesson .40’s. That’s my favorite.

Why?

Growing up in the hood, before I really started rapping rapping, Lil Boosie always rapped about .40’s. I was always like, “Why does Lil Boosie love .40’s so much?” The bullets were big. The bullets were big, if not as big as a .45, they were like bigger. In the hood everyone wanted extended clips on their guns, so you might have been the shit in the hood if you had a .40, but if you had a .40 with 30 in it, you were like ‘that nigga’. In a certain neighborhood, if you’re in hostile territory and you had a Mustang you’re the shit, if you’re in my hood and you had a .40 with a 30 you were that nigga. That’s why it’s my favorite.

It’s too bad about Boosie.

Yeah, yeah, man.

Why does a rapper need to have guns around?

Rappers need guns because it’s a certain kind of music we make, I mean, you got 100% knucklehead assholes who have nothing to prove at the end of the day. It’s just hate. It’s just hate, for real. Like I told someone the other day, I’ve met a man, a man who I knew was older than me, he had to be between the ages of 25-28, asked me was I Fat Trel, I told him, “Yeah.” We in the club mind you. He was like, “Ah, man, I love your music. He bought me a drink.” After that he asked whether I could take a picture with his girl. I said, “Yes.” Two hours later, I’m leaving the club, that same man tried to rob me at gunpoint. So if you’re in the club and you meet a huge fan who tells you they love your music so much, buys you a drink, and then they got so much pride that they ask you to take a picture with their girl, but then they don’t have the courage to do it, and you leave that same night and they try to rob you, it’s like, “Who do you trust?” At the same time on the outside looking in, the dude’s looking at it like, “He got it. I don’t. When I get it from him he’s just going to do another show tomorrow and get it right back.” So I feel it’s very urgent, and I let people know that I’ve been rapping for about four or five years, and during my first three years I was riding nowhere armed, and with no armed security, but after some of the new music dropped shit started rolling around. Shit got real. My birthday on June 26, 2011, I got shot at, going into the parking lot of a club for my birthday.

You never know.

Yeah, I’m always on the defense, man. I mean, our job is to perform, our job is to take pictures, our job is to do interviews in front of the camera, in the V.I.P., that’s our job. People who are less fortunate, not being funny or anything, but people who are less fortunate, or those 9 to 5 workers who look at our lifestyle as so glamorous, they’re like, “Fuck that, what does he got that I don’t? If he can do it I can too, fuck that. I need that. You see that pinky ring he worked so hard to get, I need that. I need that bracelet, I want that. Those shoes, I want that.” It’s just ridiculous.

Defense is the important factor, right?

Yeah, most definitely defense. For judges and police to not look at it in that type of manner is just crazy. I’m good here and in Virginia, but if I’m in Miami, I’m fucked with a gun, technically-speaking. I had a show in Nashville, I was fucked. Ain’t no way around it. I can’t even 100% know that I’ll be safe. I can’t trust an arms officer to shoot for me, I don’t know what the fuck he’s going to do. I didn’t grow up with this nigga, I don’t know his background, I don’t know if the promoter’s setting me up for something. I don’t know if you know it or not, but a long time ago Biggie and E40 had a slight problem. A lot of people don’t know that E40 booked Biggie for a show in Oakland and when Biggie got there there was absolutely no show, period. Shit like that, you just never know. You’re trusting a promoter with your hotel information, address and the hotel room. That shit is risky. People don’t know the risk that we take.

You have a daughter and a son too, right?

Uh-huh.

How are they doing?

They’re doing wonderful, man. My daughter is actually participating in a talent show at her school today. It’s crazy, my daughter’s four years old and she can really sing. It’s crazy. The first time she sung for me I cried, but they’re doing fine. My son, I love him to death, his name is Harlem. He just got all the swag in the world. He’s just like his mother. He’s adorable. I love him. I love him to death.

You got to get him a pair of those lime green North Face pants. [laughs]

Yeah, I know, I got him the whole blue North Face suit. The North Face letters are written in the lime green, like the pants that I got, so it matches what I got on. He’s good money. We’re going to take more pictures of him, because all of the Slutty Boyz have kids.

He’s got to be the flyest kid at school.

He is, no question.

All the labels are coming around now, trying to sign you and shit, which is great. It’s great to know you’re in demand. What kind of contract are you looking for, or waiting for? What would do it for you?

I always say this, the kind of deal I’m going to get is the kind of deal that I deserve. I won’t settle for less. I know what I’m worth. I’m not going into the offices of all these labels with the attitude that this is what I want and this is what I deserve. I let the numbers speak for me, the amount of shows, the fan-base, everything counts, and I feel like I’ll get what I deserve. I can’t really tell you what I’m looking for. I’m looking for an equal chance, an equal opportunity to do great without being fucked, just because you think I’m a hood nigga who doesn’t care about the business aspect of it and the money situation. I just don’t want to be fucked, that’s all. If I’m going to go into a situation and give you my 100% as an artist, and I’m going to rep this label, then why not be fair?

– By @petermarrack

The post Exclusive Interview: Fat Trel, D.C.’s Fat Fooligan appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Words by Nick Harwood

Photos by Ahmed Klink

To hear Kendrick Lamar tell it, he’s already made his Reasonable Doubt.

But Kendrick Lamar isn’t talking about the self-titled, I’m-here-now 15-song “FreEP” he dropped in the final hours of 2009 or last year’s impressive follow up, O(verly) D(edicated). And he’s not talking Section.80, his most recent effort, which hit the web like a velvet glove stuffed with quarter rolls when in dropped in July and sold 10,000 digital copies first week. He’s not even talking about the series of K. Dot tapes you can find online, recorded before he honed the smoothed out, hyper-verbal flow that has propelled him to the forefront of the New West, rolling shotgun with Dr. Dre as Detox (allegedly) rumbles toward release.

Nah. When Kendrick Lamar places his output in the company of Jay-Z’s classic debut, he’s thinking even further back, to his first tape, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge, which he pressed up himself eight years ago and distributed 500 copies hand-to-hand around his way.

“God willing, [nobody] finds it until I’m ready to put that motherfucker out,” the 24-year-old Cali native says, seated in a dimly lit Manhattan recording studio the day after shooting the video for Section.80’s “Rigamortis.”

“It’s very dear to me. It’s like my masters – my Reasonable Doubt masters.” To say Kendrick Lamar is feelin’ it would be an understatement.

The rest of the article, after the jump.

Born and raised in Compton, Kendrick Lamar grew up in one of the country’s most notorious neighborhoods, a late ’80s baby surrounded by gangbangers. Uncles, cousins, and friends all felt the pull of the flag, but Kendrick was one of the lucky ones raised in a stable, two-parent home. “I wasn’t born to be a Blood in the projects,” he says today. “At the end of the day, I go back to my pops. He always said, ‘A man stands on his two feet, and that’s what defines him.’ So that’s how I chose to live – [on] my own two feet.”

Kendrick’s commitment to stand strong on his own has stood him well. Since settling into himself and releasing Kendrick Lamar, he’s carved a lane through the New West by tackling themes that go far beyond the scene’s dominant swagged-out, style-first stance, choosing to dive deeper in search of more substance instead. “I write my raps in the form of a kid searching for answers, if that makes sense,” he says. “Some paths I do know where to go, and some I don’t because I haven’t experienced it. I’m not scared of that. I’m 24-years-old; I don’t know everything.

As a result, Kendrick Lamar’s young catalog (much of it crafted in conjunction with a small stable of producers led by Sounwave, who he met in ’03) is marked by the intimate and the introspective – a testament to coming of age in Compton in the digital age that takes heavy cues from the work of Kanye and Drake. But on record, Kendrick, who’s referred to himself as “a close cut to Common and Gucci Mane” isn’t as proud as Kanye or as paid as Drake, and his pen can be found just as often pushing lines pointed at empowering the community just as often as promoting himself. It’s an approach and a philosophy that he dubs HiiiPower on the Section.80 track of the same name.

“[HiiiPower] represents heart, honor, respect,” says Kendrick. “My whole thing I try to get across is taking the negative energy that they placed upon us and making something bigger than that. We need some type of morals, because we in a world now where we can’t really believe nothing, nothing that nobody tell us… and if I can do that through music, so be it.”

Though Kendrick rejects the “conscious” tag – “I don’t really like to say conscious because I think everybody’s conscious, long as you’re breathing” – there’s no doubt that his is a different rap. And yet, of the West Coast’s current crop of up-and-comers, Lamar looks to have a better-than-average shot of taking his mixtape message to the mainstream stage. His group, Black Hippy — a collective of artists signed to L.A.-based Top Dawg Entertainment, composed of Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, in addition to Lamar, who joined the label shortly after releasing YHNIC — has been gaining traction as Lamar and Jay Rock’s careers have begun to take off. He’s also got the cosigns. He’s already cut records with Gucci Mane and RZA and there’s been talk of a collaborative tape with J. Cole coming soon. Just days after dropping Section.80 a video hit the web of Pharrell Williams in the studio with Lamar talking up Lamar’s work and the work of his crew. At one point in the clip, Pharrell turns to the camera and offers a simple two-word assessment: “He’s dope.”

And as for Dr. Dre, who told Power 106 in November that he’d like to work with the young spitter and has been making good on that wish since? “He give me that push and that motivation to better myself, period,” says Kendrick, brushing aside any rumors of a possible move to Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. “Seeing the work ethic he has and the passion that he has for his music, it lets me know I’ve got to work ten times harder and eventually one day I will be on his level of creation.”

Then, maybe, he can rerelease YHNIC.

“God willing, I have a longevity in this music business,” Lamar says. “That’ll make people appreciate [it] even more, after all the accomplishments and everything – I put something out when I was 16.”

The post RESPECT. Online Exclusive: “Compton’s Most Wanted” – An Interview with Kendrick Lamar appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photography by Loni Schick

RESPECT.‘s Peter Marrack recently caught up with French Montana during his stay in Toronto. French addresses Coke Boys branding, drug accusations, and one very special birthday cake.

Read the complete review & interview after the jump.

My ex Tamara and I were rolling through Yorkville in my dad’s Escalade when I came to the conclusion that some questions are better left unanswered, especially the question of Moroccan-born, Bronx-bred rapper French Montana. Montana is the popular dude behind a string of successful mixtapes, entitled Mac & Cheese 2, Coke Boys, Mr. 16: Casino Life, Coke Boys 2, Coke Boys Run NY, and Lock Out, on which he collaborated with Brick Squad phenom Waka Flocka Flame. Frenchy, as his fans call him, is somewhat of an enigma, in that his music and live performances arouse heated questions within the tight-knit hip-hop community, such as 1) Will Frenchy sign to Bad Boy, Maybach, or GOOD Music, or will he sign at all? 2) When will the ears of a Coke Boys’ concert-goer recover from French’s hard-hitting bass and thundering ad-libs? 3) How does French Montana make so much money, being a newcomer in the game? These are all questions I set out to answer during French’s brief stint on the Canadian concert tour, performing for the Toronto crowd this past weekend at the Kool Haus.

As of late, rumors have circulated that French Montana will sign to the GOOD Music imprint of Def Jam Recordings, while other sources speculate that the Mott Haven-native is more likely to sign with Maybach Music Group or Diddy’s Bad Boy. No matter where Frenchy ends up, one thing’s for damn certain. He’ll go where the money is. “I need more money,” demanded Frenchy over the phone, gazing out at the Toronto harbor from his room at the Westin Harbour Castle. It was Saturday evening, 24 hours after Frenchy’s sold out performance at the Kool Haus, and French was busy dismissing rumors that his performance had sparked two drive-by shootings which occurred after his show. “I don’t understand how that has anything to do with French Montana,” Frenchy complained, addressing a room full of his supporters, LoLa of iLuvLola, a dude named Fresh, the Spiff TV guy on Maybach’s payroll, and of course, yours truly. “Maybe you got them so revved up they went out and shot up the block,” joked Fresh, but French was already back on the phone (locking in a feature for fifteen grand) and couldn’t respond properly. “Naw,” was all he said. Now, all this may sound fine and dandy for a so-called ‘Coke Boy’ from the Bronx, however, if you paid close enough attention to my paragraph you would have noticed the bit about a media guru on Maybach’s payroll. Hell, I assume Rozay’s bankrolling the dude, as he adorned a Maybach Music chain up on-stage the night before… Regardless, what’s Ricky doing sending a photographer out to shoot Frenchy if he isn’t about to ink a deal with him? Logic tells us something’s probably in the works there.

Moving on to the show, LoLa of iLuvLola has to put on the most commendable, if not best, hip-hop events in all of Toronto, and French Montana was no exception. First of all, rumor has it that LoLa is hooked up with the same high-powered Canadian attorney who coerced customs officials to let Lil Wayne into the country (for three hours) to perform at Drake’s OVO Fest. She negotiated a similar deal with Frenchy, making up for the Waka fiasco a couple of weeks prior. LoLa also managed to convince Kool Haus security to look the other way when it came to blatant smoking violations, as concert-goers toked freely for the entirety of the performance, even during the opening acts when the floor wasn’t so packed. Hell, I’ve never witnessed so much weed being smoked in public as I have in Toronto over the past couple months. The city is beginning to act like a mini Amsterdam, spurning French Montana to remark, “I may even buy a house here”. The only downfall of the show had to have been the extreme sound levels they had the speakers jacked up to. My right ear is still ringing from Frenchy’s coke-slanging anthem, “Move That Cane” featuring Waka Flocka, 48 hours later. It didn’t help that the Coke Boys’ DJ insisted on treating the show like an extension of Frenchy’s mixtapes, unleashing violent gunshots and Coke Boys ad-libs every couple of seconds, to the utmost discomfort of my Vestibular nerve. In terms of the set, French ran through some of his more recognizable mixtape records, including “New York Minute”, as he swaggered around stage between an usually-cumbersome pack of supporters, including fellow Coke Boys, dressed in various leathers, designer belts, and sparkling diamonds, and a few too many caramel honeys done up like Drake’s pros from Club Paradise. The only odd moment was when French brought out Canadian artist Belly, who’s managed by LoLa [correction: LoLa does Belly’s online marketing], to perform the record, “Num8ers”, off his new mixtape, The Greatest Dream I Never Had. The feature appeared more like a business transaction, arranged by LoLa, than a gesture of mutual respect by French. But hell, who’s to blame a gal for taking care of business, right?

The only further (relevant) question pertaining to French, that I was able to squeeze in as we convened in his hotel room overlooking Toronto Harbour, Lake Ontario, and beyond that, Niagara Falls and Lewiston, had to do with his jewelry, the Mr. 16 pendant, his diamond studded ring, and a blinged-out bracelet. “I like your jewelry,” I said, seated across from French in a chair by the window. “Is that all from rap money?” “50/50,” he responded. “What’s the other 50?” “Construction,” said French, which drew a smirk from his fellow Coke Boys lounging around the beds. “Hmm,” I thought. “So the Coke Boys thing is not really a show, or a performance huh?” French looked at me sideways. “Are you asking whether I sell drugs?” I grinned, and said, “Well, not necessarily now, but in the past.” French made no comment. “Okay,” I regrouped, “Well, then can you tell us when you started in construction?” Another chuckle came from French’s camp around the room. “I can’t tell you about that either,” smirked French. “Maybe one day when I’m in a better mood I’ll tell you.” [read the complete interview below]

And that’s the exact story, word for word, I recounted to my ex, hours later, as we toured the ave’s of Yorkville in my dad’s Escalade, pumping A$AP Rocky’s new mixtape, Live. Love. A$AP. “I can’t believe I came out empty-handed,” I kept complaining to her, tugging at the wheel, when Tamara cut me off and said, “Wait a minute, maybe the questions are more interesting than the answers, right?” After all, French Montana is foremost a businessman, and it’s in a businessman’s best interests to stay elusive, even if that means putting on a ski mask and rocking out to “Chopper Down”, as Frenchy did in Toronto. I contemplated this idea some more, watching Tamara skim through the queue at Club V. Then I revved the engine and swept the Caddy back onto Avenue Rd., accelerating off into the night.

It was your birthday the other day, right?

Yeah, on the 9th.

Happy belated, man.

Thank you. Thank you, bro.

What did you guys do?

We had a stripclub party.

In New York?

Yeah, everybody came out for me.

Who was there?

Lloyd Banks, Flocka, Uncle Murda, I think Amber Rose. Mad people came out. Shout out to the whole city, DJ Clue. Everybody came out.

Did you receive any incredible gifts? Do you have anything left to wish for, at this point?

I mean, I got gifts, but the best gift I got was my birthday cake. It was nice. It was with the Pillsbury Doughboy on it. It was fly.

What kind of cake was it?

It was regular cake, but just the whole theory-

What is that? You guys keep talking about the theories.

Yeah, yeah, that’s Spiff’s dictionary.

Is that going to show up on the mixtapes?

Yeah, it’s already on the mixtapes.

Which one?

[speaking to Spiff of Spiff TV] He’s asking you about the theories.

Spiff: He wants to know about the theories?

Yeah.

Spiff: He can’t know about the theories yet. [laughs]

[laughs]

I listened to Coke Boys 2 again the other day. Did you record that while you were smoking? I have my own theory [laughs]-

[laughs]

If the artist records something high, I think it’d probably sound better high.

I was definitely high and drunk.

So I guess that’s why it sounds so good.

It sounds a lot better that way.

Yeah, “Yah Mean” is fucking incredible.

Crazy, right?

Yeah.

Thank you, bro.

Coke Boys 2 sounds almost like a movie, in the same way Reasonable Doubt sounds like a movie. You said Smack, the film, inspired you.

For the DVD, for the Cocaine City DVD. It was kind of doing the same thing.

Are you inspired by movies a lot?

Movies, yeah, all I do is watch movies. I love watching movies.

What have you watched lately?

Lately I’ve been watching Scarface. Scarface is funny to me. It’s action but it’s funny. It’s the accent and everything, the way he runs things, it’s funny to me.

Any recent movies?

I want to go see that new one, The Immortals, it dropped today. It looks cool.

The Immortals, yeah, my buddy wants to see that.

He said it’s good?

He doesn’t know, but he said it’s supposed to be sick.

Yeah, so I’m going to go see that tonight, but I love movies. I think movies can brighten up your mind about a lot of things.

Speaking of movies, I wondered how big of a role performance plays in your music. Obviously you’re going to assume the persona on-stage, but how much of it is you?

I feel like when you make music it’s like a movie, because you picture it. When you write something, you thinking about it being done. It’s like you’re doing it, like an action thing. Like yesterday when I performed “Chopper Down” with the ski mask on- were you there?

Yeah, I was there. My ears are still ringing.

Yeah, when I put the ski mask on and came out. That’s like a movie scene, bringing it closer to the song.

Was there a moment when you were coming up, when you thought, “Okay, I need to brand myself like this,” you know, create something out of yourself?

Yeah, that’s all I think about every day, how to brand myself.

Any more you can elaborate on that?

I mean, it’s branding, brand myself as like- I try to brand myself as far as making the same street music, but being separate. I don’t know if that makes sense. Like when they hear that sound they know it’s the Coke Boys. Like the beat could just drop, and they know it’s some Coke Boys shit.

Distancing yourself from the Lex Luger thing, kind of like that, but on your own.

Yeah, on my own, like see how Coke Boys 2, if you hear something off that, I want them to be like, “Damn, that’s Coke Boys 2”. It’s branding yourself. A beat could drop right now, and you could tell it’s a Dr. Dre beat, cause you brand yourself.

What producers are you working with to accomplish this? You work with Harry Fraud a lot, right?

Harry Fraud, yeah. He’s my brother. He’s my main producer.

How did you meet him?

I met him way back, a couple years ago. I met him through a mutual friend. I’ve just been building with him. I heard something in his music, so I said we’re going to make it happen.

And speaking of branding yourself, do you ever worry about losing touch with the kid who grew up in New York? I look at someone like Rick Ross and I think, who really is Rick Ross? Does anyone know?

[Spiff chimes in] We know who he is. We know who he is.

Yeah, yeah.

Spiff: His boys in his crew who’ve been with him know who he is.

That’s what is is, yeah, yeah. As long as you keep your immediate family with you, you going to keep making the same music. I don’t feel like Rick Ross’s music changed. I feel like it’s the same music. He just grew. He grew as an artist. But after a while the immediate people who grew up on your block not going to like you anyway. At the end of the day, you can’t go by their opinion. That happens with everything. You make it big in anything and there’s always going to be some dick riders, there’s going to be niggas who hate you, there’s going to be family, good people around you, that’s how it is, how the game goes. I don’t give a fuck if you play rugby.

I like all your jewelry.

Oh yeah, thank you.

And the chain you were wearing.

Oh, the Mr. 16?

Yeah, what is that?

It’s the Joe Montana jersey.

Ok. Ok. Ok.

Flocka gave me that idea.

And this is all from music money, the jewelry?

Huh?

All music money.

Half and half.

What’s the other half?

Construction.

Yeah, because I wondered-

[laughs]

Is Coke Boys part of the brand, or is there truth to that?

Are you asking do I sell drugs?

No, not anymore. But I don’t know. No disrespect.

Naw, man, we do music, sixteen songs, we do shows.

What about in the past?

No, I don’t know nothing about that. I just do music.

Okay, let me talk about the construction then.

Yeah.

Was that before your music?

Naw, I don’t know nothing about that. I just do music, my brother.

What about Waka?

Yeah, Waka’s my brother.

You ever party with those guys?

He’s the one who took me to the airport to come here. He’s my brother, man, we’re on the same label. We’re under the same management.

What about Gucci?

I don’t know. I can’t tell you if somebody’s crazy.

What can you tell me?

[laughs] You’re asking the wrong questions. You want me to talk about selling drugs, you want me to tell you Waka’s crazy. That’s negative shit. I don’t need any of that in my life. [laughs] I want you to talk about something positive, like we the hottest niggas in the streets, we about to get these M’s, you know, theories.

What Toronto artists do you like?

Um, Drake, Belly.

How long have you known Belly for?

Oh, for a little minute. I’ve known Belly for a while. I’ve seen him grinding. I’ve seen his work ethic.

You listen to the new project, The Greatest Dream I Never Had?

Yeah.

What stuck out that was different about that?

I like the first song on it, that “I’m Falling”.

I like the beats.

I like the production. Yeah, I like the production.

The post Concert Review & Exclusive Interview – French Montana @ Toronto appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

When Thank Me Later dropped I couldn’t stand Drake. I found him disingenuous, self-absorbed, annoying and, while technically proficient, completely mechanical and uninteresting.

But two years is a long time for a young artist and a young listener, particularly in the current time-crunch environment, where every year feels like five, and we are bombarded with one release after another, devouring fruit and spitting out the seeds at lightning speed.

Drake took his time with Take Care. It shows in craft if perhaps, not necessarily, in personal growth.

TC is not a revolutionary release. It is not as emotionally raw as mentor Kanye‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or as stuntastic as Watch the Throne. It’s never as daring or incisive as contemporary (and collaborator) Kendrick Lamar‘s Section.80 or as radio ready as boss man Lil Wayne‘s most recent hits.

TC is, however, an immaculate pop rap album, a finely calibrated hybrid creation that meets at the bleeding edges of pop, rap and R&B without daring to jump off them and really dive into the unknown. It is accessible without pandering (terrible Rihanna cameo excepted). Although it isn’t precisely catchy—it’s hard to peg a mega-hit on TC—it is a proper album rather than a semicomplementary set of songs.

In an era where the “album” seems like a conceit that’s being grasped at for no good reason (Romanticism on the part of artists? Not knowing any better on the part of everyone?), Drake went and made an album that actually sounds like an album. The production, coming primarily from T-Minus and Drake’s partner in crime Noah “40” Shebib, comprises a surprisingly cohesive combination of 808’s and Heartbreak inflected soundscapes (a style Drake and 40 have been mining since So Far Gone) and stadium-ready synths. For good measure, Just Blaze stops by to remind everyone that lurking beneath the man who made “Live Your Life” is still a producer capable of creating the grandest of anthems.Unsurprisingly, Blaze’s “Lord Knows” brings out one of Drake’s best stretches of rapping on TC and a memorable verse from the seemingly unimpeachable Rick Ross.

As far as Drake’s performance, the 25-year-old Toronto native hasn’t learned any new tricks in particular, but he has improved in almost every area. His flows are sharper (see “HYFR” for a jaw dropping technical display that would floor you were it not coming from the author of “Find Your Love”), his singing is smoother and more confident, his punchlines are generally less forehead-slap inducing (and a much smaller part of his arsenal than in past years) and his sing-song rapping is almost on 50 Cent levels (Now let that man write some choruses for you, Aubrey!).

Of course, the album and its creator will garner much hatred and probably go platinum in the process. At this point making fun of Drake is great sport. It is a game engaged in across the blogosphere in the form of often hilarious memes, and, of course, Big Ghost’s wild reviews. None of that, however, changes the fact that Drake crafted an excellent pop rap album. Criticizing Take Care for not being something else (or criticizing Drake for being “soft”) is like getting mad at an apple for not tasting like an orange. It is not supposed to, so why get mad at it when it doesn’t deliver? Just eat the damn orange!

If you don’t plan to listen to TC in its entirety at least listen to “Lord Knows,” possibly the best encapsulation of Drake’s strengths and flaws as a rapper. In one breath he drops the astute and unexpected “I wonder if they’d survive in this generation/ when it’s recreation to pull your skeletons out the closet like halloween decorations,” a line that both cleverly critiques his contemporaries, implicates himself in the process and utilizes a rhyme scheme that plays on expectations. In another instance, boneheaded blunder: “I’m a descendent of either Marley or Hendrix/ I can’t tell which cuz my story is far from finished.” Here we see the outsized sense of self and place and the misunderstanding of what makes a legend a legend (that Drake would be just as apt to criticize in a generation of the self absorbed).

And so, it’s time for a grand statement.

Drake is the artist of this generation.

In an age of constant public introspection—of the Facebook break up and Twitter beef—Drake is a rapping extension of his age group, an artist whose first album is more memorable for the fact that it featured the word “I” over 400 times than it is for any of its songs. His persona colors his worldview completely, every observation filtered through his own experience (for simple comparison, see how Kendrick can step outside himself briefly on songs like “A.D.H.D.,” weaving the deeply personal with objectivity required to critique surroundings). Drake is a constant stream of emotions and status updates, a half rapping half singing Michelin rated FourSquare check in, Tweeting his way across seventeen tracks. On Take Care, Drake turns these characteristics up to eleven, making high drama of a text message conversation on “HYFR” and speaking at great length of parties and locales experienced through the eyes of a cagey, young superstar. Drake’s on record character and content have changed little since his major label debut (though he is light years stylistically from the artist who unleashed “Best I Ever Had” on an unsuspecting public). He simply seems more comfortable now expressing his weaknesses, his triumphs and his pitfalls. Just as a group of 12-24 year olds have grown into the ever present over share, Drake has crafted a style that allows him to constantly and cleverly play the part of rapping news feed.

Ultimately, TC‘s greatest failing is part and parcel of a world marked by constant sharing: Drake says a lot without really saying much of anything at all. We have a catalog of the man’s activities by the end of the record, but we really only come close to knowing what they mean on a handful of songs. Album highlight “Look What You’ve Done” is TC‘s shining example of real emotion, a bittersweet tribute to Drake’s mother and aunt that brings listeners into Drake’s past, providing understanding of motivation and mindset far better than any other record on Thank Me Later or TC. “Look What You’ve Done” points at what Drake might be if he took more than stylistic cues from some of his heroes. While Lil Wayne could likely learn from Drake in the way of focus (hold up TC to the mess of Tha Carter 4 and tell me there aren’t lessons to be learned from Wayne’s protege), Drake could take much from Wayne, Kanye, and even Kendrick Lamar in terms of delivering raw and occasionally reckless emotion. Drake admits as much on “Lord Knows”: “And this girl right here, who knows what she knows?/ So I’m going through her phone if she go to the bathroom/ And her purse right there, I don’t trust these hoes at all/ But that’s just the result of me paying attention.” His paranoia gets the best of him. Every word is utterly calculated, every reference measured and the nameless array of women on display an acknowledgment that Drake can never be totally comfortable letting it all show in an age of 24 hour expression and TMZ as a legitimate news outlet.

If he can keep TC‘s aesthetic focus and marry it with the depth of feeling displayed on “Look What You’ve Done,” Drake will have a seriously compelling piece of music on his hands. For now, enjoy Take Care for what it is or go and listen to the latest Wu Tang compilation. It’s your call.

The post Review: <em>Take Care</em> – Drake appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.