President John F. Kennedy. Photo Credit: History.com

Former U.S. Secret Service agent Clint Hill tells Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson what happened the day JFK was assassinated. Press Play Below To Listen.

50 years ago, former U.S. President John F. Kennedy was killed.

Many conspiracy theorists believe that more were involved in the death than just Lee Harvey Oswald, the believed gunman who assasinated the former President on November 22, 1963.

Today was the deadline mandated by Congress to make still-secret documents, which also include  FBI and CIA files, public.

Yesterday,  President Trump tweeted that secret government files on former U.S. President John F. Kennedy would release today.

The long anticipated release of the #JFKFiles will take place tomorrow. So interesting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2017

This afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered 2,800 records related to the assasination of former President John F. Kennedy to be released tonight. 

The CIA is asking only for some redactions, not for all the documents to be held. According to CBS News, it is possible that some records may remain secret.

Former Secret Service agent, Clint Hill, the man who was protecting Kennedy during his motorcade in Dallas, Texas made his media runs today discussing that encounter.

Secret Service agent Clint Hill chatted with me on Scoop B Radio about it. Press play above to listen.

Below is the transcript of our chat:

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Can you run us through the day that President Kennedy got shot and more specifically what was your detail?

Clint Hill: I was in the Secret Service at the time and my principle responsibility was Mrs. Kennedy and we had gone to Texas the day before on November 21st, 1963 and we traveled through San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth and spent the night in Fort Worth. Then on the 22nd we traveled from Fort Worth to Dallas for the President to make a speech at the Trademark in Dallas, Texas but they wanted a motorcade through the downtown section of Dallas because the reason for the trip was to give maximum exposure to President and Mrs. Kennedy, Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, Governor and Mrs. Conley because they were very concerned about the election in 1964 which was about a year away. They hadn’t done too well in 1960 in Texas and they wanted to improve that, so they wanted to give the people of Texas an opportunity to see these people. So, we went through Dallas using open cars, they were specially built secret service cars but they were convertible cars so people would have the chance to really be up close and personal with their president. They crowds in Dallas that day were very large and enthusiastic and for the most part friendly and everyone in the Presidential Party was really pleased with the way that things were going, we traveled down Main Street in Dallas and the crowds were 15 to 20 deep on each side of the street screaming and hollering. People were hanging out of windows on the side of buildings, on rooftops, fire escapes and wherever they could be to get a better view of the president and as we progressed we had to make a turn off of Main Street to enable us to get to the destination for the speech and that put us right on a street called Elm Street which passed us right by a building called the Texas School Book Depository and as we progressed down Elm Street I was right

President and Mrs. Nixon emerge from the roof of the limousine during the 1969 Presidential inauguration as agents scan the crowd. Photo Credit: Clint Hill

behind the running board of the car directly behind the presidential vehicle, it’s called the Secret Service follow up car and I was on the left hand side in the forward position because that put me closest to Mrs. Kennedy. I was observing the areas to the left which was a grassy area with a few people not many and immediately ahead there was going to be a triple underpass, we had to go under to get to the highway that would take us to our speech site and then all of a sudden over my right shoulder I hear this explosive noise at first I thought it might have been a firecracker or something because it really didn’t sound like a gun and I started to turn toward that noise to see if I could identify what it was and I only got as far as the rear of the presidential vehicle with my eyes because I saw what happened and I saw the President grab at his throat, move violently to his left and I knew something was wrong and apparently it was a gunshot so I jumped from my position and ran towards the presidential vehicle with the intent to get on top of the back of it as a shield for President and Mrs. Kennedy so that no more harm could be done and so I was running and there was a motorcycle officer immediately to my left making a lot of noise with his motorcycle unit and they told me later that there was a second shot when I ran but I couldn’t hear it because that motor noise and then just as I approached the presidential vehicle a third shot rang out and it hit the President in the head and I not only heard that but I felt it because it was so violent that when  it entered the President’s skill it entered low in the rear and then it erupted out of the right rear side of the President’s head and blood, brain matter  and skull fragments came out of that wound and was all over the car and all over me and Mrs. Kennedy and as I started to get out Mrs. Kennedy got out as well and started climbing up to the back of the trunk and was trying to reach some of that material that had come out of the President’s head and she didn’t even realize that I was there. So I grabbed her and put her back into the back seat and when I did that his body fell into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap and the right side of his face was up and I could see that his eyes were fixed and there was a hole in his skull and I could see no brain matter was left in that area and I could see that it was a fatal wound so I turned and gave a thumbs down to the other agents in the follow up car and screamed at the driver to get us to a hospital and we took off down the freeway at a high rate of speed going to the hospital.

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The post JFK Files Release Partially Delayed, Secret Service Agent, Clint Hill details ‘no brain matter’ once Kennedy was shot appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

John F. Kennedy. Photo Courtesy of People Magazine

Former U.S. Secret Service agent Clint Hill chats with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio about protecting former U.S. President John F. Kennedy te day he was assassinated. Press Play Below To Listen.

Earlier today, U.S. President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he will allow the release of classified government documents about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy “subject to the receipt of further information.”

Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2017

Those documents have been kept under lock and key since JFK’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963.

Former U.S. President, Lyndon Johnson, JFK’s successor, created the Warren Commission to decipher whether Oswald acted alone. The Commission did not honor witnesses, supporting documents and film footage that suggested some sort of conspiracy.

The Warren Commission created a 26 volume report that housed a multitude of documents that the CIA and others fought tooth and nail to keep secret.

President Trump’s announcement comes as he’d been given an October 26 deadline mandated  by Congress to make still-secret documents, which also include  FBI and CIA files, public.

So what really happened that November 22, 1963 day that President Kennedy was assassinated?

Insert former Secret Service agent, Clint Hill. Hill served under five U.S presidents; from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gerald Ford. Hill is most notable for his act of bravery when President Kennedy was assassinated during his presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

During the assassination, Hill ran from the car immediately behind the presidential limousine, leaped onto the back of it and shielded former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy and already stricken president with his body as the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Hill, who is the last surviving person in the presidential limousine that arrived at Parkland Hospital chatted with me in a Q & A about the experience on Scoop B Radio.

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Can you run us through the day that President Kennedy got shot and more specifically what was your detail?

Clint Hill: I was in the Secret Service at the time and my principle responsibility was Mrs. Kennedy and we had gone to Texas the day before on November 21st, 1963 and we traveled through San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth and spent the night in Fort Worth. Then on the 22nd we traveled from Fort Worth to Dallas for the President to make a speech at the Trademark in Dallas, Texas but they wanted a motorcade through the downtown section of Dallas because the reason for the trip was to give maximum exposure to President and Mrs. Kennedy, Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, Governor and Mrs. Conley because they were very concerned about the election in 1964 which was about a year away. They hadn’t done too well in 1960 in Texas and they wanted to improve that, so they wanted to give the people of Texas an opportunity to see these people. So, we went through Dallas using open cars, they were specially built secret service cars but they were convertible cars so people would have the chance to really be up close and personal with their president. They crowds in Dallas that day were very large and enthusiastic and for the most part friendly and everyone in the Presidential Party was really pleased with the way that things were going, we traveled down Main Street in Dallas and the crowds were 15 to 20 deep on each side of the street screaming and hollering. People were hanging out of windows on the side of buildings, on rooftops, fire escapes and wherever they could be to get a better view of the president and as we progressed we had to make a turn off of Main Street to enable us to get to the destination for the speech and that put us right on a street called

Former U.S. Secret Service agent, Clint Hill. Photo Courtesy of: clinthillsecretservice.com

Elm Street which passed us right by a building called the Texas School Book Depository and as we progressed down Elm Street I was right behind the running board of the car directly behind the presidential vehicle, it’s called the Secret Service follow up car and I was on the left hand side in the forward position because that put me closest to Mrs. Kennedy. I was observing the areas to the left which was a grassy area with a few people not many and immediately ahead there was going to be a triple underpass, we had to go under to get to the highway that would take us to our speech site and then all of a sudden over my right shoulder I hear this explosive noise at first I thought it might have been a firecracker or something because it really didn’t sound like a gun and I started to turn toward that noise to see if I could identify what it was and I only got as far as the rear of the presidential vehicle with my eyes because I saw what happened and I saw the President grab at his throat, move violently to his left and I knew something was wrong and apparently it was a gunshot so I jumped from my position and ran towards the presidential vehicle with the intent to get on top of the back of it as a shield for President and Mrs. Kennedy so that no more harm could be done and so I was running and there was a motorcycle officer immediately to my left making a lot of noise with his motorcycle unit and they told me later that there was a second shot when I ran but I couldn’t hear it because that motor noise and then just as I approached the presidential vehicle a third shot rang out and it hit the President in the head and I not only heard that but I felt it because it was so violent that when  it entered the President’s skill it entered low in the rear and then it erupted out of the right rear side of the President’s head and blood, brain matter  and skull fragments came out of that wound and was all over the car and all over me and Mrs. Kennedy and as I started to get out Mrs. Kennedy got out as well and started climbing up to the back of the trunk and was trying to reach some of that material that had come out of the President’s head and she didn’t even realize that I was there. So I grabbed her and put her back into the back seat and when I did that his body fell into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap and the right side of his face was up and I could see that his eyes were fixed and there was a hole in his skull and I could see no brain matter was left in that area and I could see that it was a fatal wound so I turned and gave a thumbs down to the other agents in the follow up car and screamed at the driver to get us to a hospital and we took off down the freeway at a high rate of speed going to the hospital.

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The post Scoop B: Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill Recounts Protecting JFK, Jackie-O During Assassination In Dallas, Texas appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT’s Charles Barkley chats with RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio Overtime. Photo Credit: Angie Vasquez / Scoop Vision Media

Over the last week, we’ve seen two instances where journalists, TV watchers, radio listeners and folks who read articles can get a quote from a notable figure and misinterpret it. For print and multimedia journalists: we get the spicy headlines, report what we saw and go about our day. But in cases where you’ve got unorthodox figures who are either very direct, don’t care or you have to know them to love them, what you see on tv cannot be easily translated to print.

The first instance came this past Friday when New York Knicks team president, Phil Jackson suggested that Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks might be better off going their separate ways. 

The Knicks did finish their season with a 31-51 record. New York has endured their fourth straight season out of the playoffs.

“We have not been able to win with him on the court at this time and I think the direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talent somewhere he can win or chase that championship,” Jackson said Friday.

New Yorkers, Knicks fans and NBA fanatics were ticked! 

Honestly, reading the quote vs. seeing Jackson on television discussing Anthony seemed entirely different. It was reminiscent of the perception that viewers had in watching vs. listening to the 1960 Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

Radio listeners thought Nixon won the debate. Television watchers thought Kennedy won the debate! Seeing and hearing are truly interesting things!

Back in basketball land, Jackson recently inked a two-year extension with the New York Knicks to remain their team President. Anthony, 32, has one year left on his current deal, with his no-trade clause still in effect. Many believe Anthony will wave his no-trade clause with top teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers as likely suitors for the small forward’s services.

Tuesday night on TNT’s Inside The NBA, Barkley replied to the criticism, stating:  

“I want to address something that really bothered me,” Barkley said. “I heard that all these nitwits, fools, idiots were complaining what I was saying about Isaiah Thomas the other night making me uncomfortable. Number one, I don’t care what y’all think. I don’t care what your mom and daddy think either, just for the record. But to insinuate what I was trying to — what I was saying, I’m uncomfortable talking about his pain and then going to basketball. For all you nitwits, scumbags, idiots, punks, to try to make that a story because y’all don’t have ratings and use my name to draw ratings, don’t do that. You don’t have any talent, it’s the simple fact, you don’t have any talent. Let me be me.

“I’ve talked to Isaiah. He didn’t take any offense to that. What I was talking about, I wish him and his family nothing but the best. For you punks to try to make a big deal out of it, it just pisses me off.”

Charles Barkley, just like Phil Jackson, speaks his mind in a candor that is more suitable for a family cookout. You know that one uncle who says whatever he wants to say however he wants to say it, whenever he wants to say it? We all have those in our family. Barkley reminds me a lot of my grandmother; she’s kind, loving, opinionated and some would say that she doesn’t give a damn and she’ll tell you why. Barkley is the same way.

“It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t make everybody happy,” Barkley told me in a recent interview on Scoop B Radio. “I think I was 24 or 25 when I took over the Sixers team and I wanted everybody to like me and then I realized: ‘I can’t make everybody happy.’ No matter what you say, you can’t make everybody happy. I feel an obligation to try and be honest. That was difficult for me in the beginning.”

Hear Charles Barkley & Scoop B Break Down Music and More On Episode # 25 of Scoop B Radio

Barkley meant no mal-intent, but if you have a question; darnit, he has an answer. If he’s wrong, he surely corrects himself. I was reminded of that, in a recent interview with Sir Charles on Scoop B Radio Overtime, where he, just like many Americans, amitted that he was wrong in assuming that Hillary Rodham Clinton would win the 2016 Presidential Election.

Appearing on Scoop B Radio Overtime, Barkley broke it down.

“We were dead wrong, said Barkley on Scoop B Radio Overtime. “You know what? I look at it like this: we didn’t win, it was difficult I was probably in a funk for a week, but you know what? I’m gonna try to do everything in my power to support the President because he’s the President of The United States.”

Charles Barkley Talks Trump, NBA TV Theme Songs and Michael Jordan On Scoop B Radio Overtime 

“I mean we got to get behind him, he’s done some things already that I don’t like, I’m against the Muslim ban, I’m against the immigration deportation, he’s got to stop trying to paint everybody with a broad brush. I mean It’s just wrong, most of these Muslim people here are amazing, hard-working people same thing with these illegal immigrants, they’re here, they’re hard working people. I think most people don’t want gangsters here, people don’t want terrorists here we all understand that, but people have to be able to be treated with respect and dignity.”

The cast of TNT’s Inside The NBA live in our living rooms.

They’re like family. Families have disagreements, families shoot straight from the hip and family apologies when they’re wrong. Phil Jackson has been wrong on a number of fronts throughout the season. Jackson is seemingly out of touch with today’s NBA in calling the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and his friends a ‘posse.’ and as an employer he’s publicly bashed his employee, Carmelo Anthony.

Jackson hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing. But Barkley has!

Where do we go from here?

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Paypaman is back with a refined sound that describes the culture of Chicago “Ballin or Politickin.” Produced by Xcel Beats, Paypaman uses this simply track to spit lyrical metaphors, comparing himself to Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving. Putting himself in boss status, Paypaman describes not only his ability as an artist but his lifestyle. Campaigning to be the best out of the Chi, Paypaman brings a unique edge to music that has been missing in Chicago hip hop.

Check It Out:

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On an overcast Friday, I found my way into the inconspicuous entrance to Williamsburg’s Bowery Studio. A white kid with an Oakland Raiders cap (a producer who goes by RC Bankwell) leads me into the studio, where apparently Raekwon shot a video one week before. It’s a gorgeous, quaint studio, with wooden walls enclosing sound rooms and booths, a corner bar and dim lighting. In comes Rilgood with a black leather jacket over a yellow T-shirt with none other than the 35th president on it. The JFK image not only faces me during the interview, but also graces the cover of Rilgood’s first mixtape aptly titled JFK.

As sound checks from a nearby studio session filter through the studio’s infrastructure, Rilgood discusses his vision, upbringing and his mentor, Dot Da Genius, who oversaw the project while also working on his and Kid Cudi’s WZRD. Here, the story of Rilgood unfolds.

When’s the first time you figured out that you fell in love with hip-hop and the craft of MCing?

Rilgood: I fell in love with it more as a culture. I’m not from here; I was born in Nigeria. I came here when I was 7. My dad dropped me in the heart of Bushwick and the only two kinds of music we listened to was hip-hop and whatever was coming out of the Spanish people’s speakers.

It was like a culture shock and I just liked it. There were two groups that I took to: it was Wu-Tang and Boot Camp Clik. And I took to them for how rugged they were. They were just mad cool with their Tommy Hilfiger…and they ran in a crew. That’s key to creating something that’s gonna withstand time: Before the people pick it up, you got to pretend the people already picked it up by having a lot of people around you. So I bought into it. And then there was a point where I just felt like ‘I can do this.’

What was that catalyst that sparked to transition from listener to performer?

It was the revenge of the nerds, kinda. I was feeling like, ‘When’s the last time a New York rapper really did it?’

Take somebody like Mac Miller. He comes from Pittsburgh. I’ve been to Pittsburgh once. There’s nothing there. Yet, he’s able to package Pittsburgh for the whole world to see. And he had a number one album in the country at one point. New York is great, but it seems like the rappers don’t understand the packaging of New York. I travel a lot. New York is always gonna be the number one city in the world no matter what. But yet, there hasn’t been a rapper than can kinda package it and sell it to the world. The last major rapper that popped from New York was 50 Cent. That was 2003, if you think about it. The only other person close is Nicki Minaj, but she had to go attach herself to a southern brand. There hasn’t been a guy from New York that’s said, ‘I’m this guy from New York doing my thing and I’m gonna take over the world.’ And I will.

So you just released the JFK mixtape. How has the reception been so far?

Oh, it’s been great, man. Honestly, the industry insiders are chasing me now. 2 – I’m getting fans from all over the world, and that’s how you know I’m gonna be that guy for the next five years. I know it because of the fans I got. On top of that, there’s people who picked it up on their own, like LiveMixtapes, I didn’t reach out to them, they put it up and I’m like #3 on their Indie [list].

Why John F. Kennedy?

It would have been cliche to do an Obama mixtape. I wanna pay homage to another great dude who was a thinker and was avant-garde and just had style. And JFK was that guy. He was the first Obama, if you think about it. He was the first [Catholic] president, he was mad young, he was getting mad bitches. He was not like anyone before and he was so young. So I was like ‘that’s how I’m gonna come in the game.’ I’m the chosen one. I’m sure he knew that, too.

Also, JFK is our international airport. A lot of these rappers, they not representing New York correctly. It’s so crazy, if I show you my Twitter and the people that are hitting me up, like Osaka (Japan) and Australia…exactly what I wanted to do is what I did. You have to go through my mixtape, it’s the airport, to what New York really is. I’m making music about New York, from New York, that they’re connecting with all over the world, which is my plan to begin with: global music.

What’s your take on New York hip-hop right now? I heard someone on Twitter say, “New York rappers need to stop using the South’s style.”

What has New York been the last 10 years that you’ve been living here? If I go to a club right now, what songs are they playing? They’re gonna be playing “Racks.” Where’s that from? Atlanta. It’s to a point where the kids – that’s what we grow up to now. Think about it. Since snap music, everything is from the South. And that’s what we have to hear on the radio ourselves. So essentially, that’s what we are too now. Ain’t no way around it. I feel like it’s the people who have lost touch and are not thinkers – that cannot pick that up. It is what it is. If I go to a club right now, I’m not going to be hearing Wu-Tang. I’m gonna be hearing Southern songs in the club. Lil’ Wayne is on the radio 24/7. Toronto – Drake on the radio 24/7.

I feel like in New York the rappers are selfish, man. The guys that have a shot aren’t really trying to paint a picture of what New York fully is, you know what I mean? They wouldn’t necessarily leave that gangsta thing alone because they want that credibility. And that’s being selfish. You’re not giving back to the culture because New York is bigger than that. You’re making a false representation of New York now. I could take you to a place in East New York that is exactly like what these gangsta rappers are talking about, though.

But then all the kids now – are in Soho, designing T-shirts and wearing wood chains. And that’s New York also, and that’s why you have to capture everything. You can’t just be that gangsta rapper because you have that street credibility you’re dying for. You’re only gonna stay local, you’re not going to do anything. Keep it real with New York and the rest of the world will keep it real with you. The world is bigger than that.

On the tape, there’s a few clips of JFK and some clips talk about revolution. Why did you choose to include the reoccurring topic of revolution on the mixtape?

With that, it was more renaissance. We gotta start a revolution over, where it’s cool to make different music. We gotta change New York. We gotta revolutionize and make New York cool again. It’s not cool. The kids are not coming here. They coming to Wiz Khalifa from Pittsburgh, the coming for Kendrick Lamar from Compton…these are the new guys that run hip-hop. New York is not cool and we gotta do something about it. And even outside of music, as a fan I’m passionate about music, but not even as a rapper.

How do you mean?

I don’t go to the studio to do freestyling ‘cause I wanna rap. I’m doing this because I paint a picture, I put the artwork together. I painted a scene behind mine to actually do something to the culture. I more so want to permeate the culture with my ideas and just bring back decency to the world. I’m not passionate about rap. I’m more passionate about changing people’s lives. I am so thoroughly passionate about music as a fan. I listen to more music that most people.

I can tell from the wide range of sampled tracks that you went off of. You used a Lonnie Liston Smith sample (A Garden Of Peace) off of the track “Rules of Engagement” on your mixtape Good Times. On the record you talk about how the record industry will chew you up and spit you out. What sort of relations have you had with the labels so far?

Honestly, I wasn’t referring to me. I was actually thinking about Wale. “Get a co-sign, they’ll pick you/ Flop, they’ll chew you and spit you.” And that’s what happened with Wale at Interscope. Mark Ronson and the whole Roc Nation people supported him. It didn’t too well. And they spat him.

You used Miike Snow’s “Animals,” as well as Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” on the Good Times mixtape. What attracts you to artists with the Indie/Electronica-type sounds?

My lifestyle, really. There’s not much a rapper can tell me these days. I’m not saying that the art form can’t still move me, it’s just that most rappers are stuck in this certain box. So, when I listen to radio, there’s nothing there for me. But when I listen to these guys, they’re so abstract that you can kinda pull certain meanings from your own life that kinda make it relevant. It’s grown man music, because it’s about you. Even though he made it about him.

Like Passion Pit, (singing from “The Reeling”) “It reels and calls me towards it confounding destiny.” It’s my destiny right now. And that song is relevant to what’s going on right now. So that’s what I mean with the abstract way they make their music. The actual production is cool, but on top of that, the poetry and the abstract writing, you can pull your own life out of the music. That’s not really prevalent in hip-hop.

What’s your creative process like?

I write my raps in like 3 minutes. I don’t organize it. And I’ve been getting a lot of hate on the Internet saying, “this nigga flow is wack.” And that’s because I don’t take time. To me, the music matters more. The rap is just what you’re saying. I’m not a perfectionist with raps. It’s about to change though. ‘Cause now I’m getting eyes on me, so I wanna show you that if I take my time, I could be a great rapper. But right now, it was more the music as a whole. The verses are just there to carry the song. But now, I’m getting exposed, I’m like ‘Alright, I’m gonna show ya’ll niggas. I’m gonna take my time with the raps.’

You ever feel like you have to compromise your music or your content to cater to any demographic?

In terms of compromising lyrics, I did, but it came from an organic place. It wasn’t a compromise like ‘oh, this is how I’m gonna pop.’ What happened was – I’m a college graduate. I can really talk about intellectual stuff, my life, the grind and doing this music thing – my life can be mad complex. I don’t wanna have to digest music to the point where I’m deciphering lyrics, so I dumb down. And it’s not dumbing down to gain more fans, but it’s like Bob Marley, one of the greats. He’s one of the simplest lyricists ever, but so powerful. When he said ‘We don’t need … no more trouble,’ that’s so simple, but yet so deeper than a rap talking about hieroglyphics.

I’ll touch a little bit on some more stuff, but I don’t really want your ears all hurting like you getting an ulcer from listening to it. Something cool, not too much, but definitely say something. The kids have to know. That’s how your music becomes timeless – you need substance, because that subject is still gonna be relevant 20 years from now.

How did the relationship with Dot Da Genius come together?

We met through my cousin, OBreeze. He’s on the mixtape as well, he’s on “Metropolis.” He just brought me around and he was like ‘I’m about to start making music.’ And Breeze and Dot’s dad are both pastors. So they be going to church conferences and I guess they had to bring the kids. And I guess they clicked. Breeze told me to come through and Dot was the first dude to develop me, when it took me 3 hours to do a 16. I guess he saw what I could be, without [me] having the skills yet. And Dot was just like, “I’m going to keep recording you, I’m going to develop you.”

Him and Kid Cudi have an album, WZRD that came out yesterday, February 28th. It’s known that this is going to be different for Cudi, it’s going to be more rock ‘n roll inspired. Do you make it an effort or is it more a natural process for you to experiment with different sounds?

It comes natural. There’s a few tracks on JFK that are up-tempo. And a lot of people will think it’s some jiggy shit, or some Flo Rida or Pitbull, trying to be some pop artist… No! Last year, I was on tour with Kevin Saunderson, the founder of black electronic music. Him and his friend brought electronic music to America. Period. This is how authentic this is for me. I listen to this. It’s in my fiber. One of my closest producers, his nephew, Kweku Saunderson, he just hit the charts on Beatport. And he’s like a regular black dude from Nostrand. So we’re not really forcing this at all.

Do you ever feel like there’s a need to tie in your African roots? Like K’naan does or Wale sometimes does?

No, but I will though. Not because I’m African or what I listened to when I was growing up, it’s solely because I love music. I love Amadou & Mariam. I don’t even listen to Nigerian hip-hop. I’m not into that, but I’m so into Amadou & Mariam and they’re from Mali. And Youssou N’Dour. I will do it and I have done it, but it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m African.

On Twitter, your username is Ril Scott-Heron. What’s your inspiration behind that?

Gil Scott is a legend. And he’s a revolutionary. This was around the time he died, the more he was sampled, the more familiar I got with him. When he died, New York Times had this article about it. I was like, ‘this guy was crazy.’ Drugs, he had bitches in Paris, he was just an ill dude, but at the same time a revolutionary. So that’s just me paying homage to him. That’s just me saluting him and showing that we young rappers study. I probably wouldn’t have this platform if he wasn’t doing the things he was doing. It’s no disrespect, I’m not on his level of revolutionary shit.

Do you ever see yourself progressing to the point where you’re as driven to stir up a revolution?

I plan on it. It’s part of the master plan. And I wanna do it right now.

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