Watch Saudi people drive Beamers on their sides after the break 🙂 

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Lil Lody holds it down for Kate and William down in the dirty 🙂

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Creemore huh?

Yeah, yeah, I’m sippin muthafuckin Creemore. Sippin Creemore all year.

Is that Canadian?

[pointing to the label on his beer] Ontario to be exact.

Really?

Creemore, Ontario.

Have you ever had it before?

Naw, I told the brother to give me his best Canadian beer and this is what he came up with.

Is it you who had the different beers on your Twitter?

No, but I am somewhat of a beer connoisseur. I wouldn’t call myself an alcoholic but I would call myself a beer connoisseur.

What do you like?

I like Blue Moon, Modelo, I like Shock Top which is kind of like Blue Moon.

Blue Moon’s crazy. I went to school in Wisconsin and they drink a lot of it there.

Blue Moon’s my favorite probably. Red Stripe. Now I pretty much sound like an alcoholic.

[laughs]

Pretty much, man.

What’s your Canadian experience been like?

It’s been amazing. I know the first Canadian thing I ever experienced was Feist. That was my first taste of Canada, her music. And then like Drake and k-os, or maybe k-os was first. I don’t know, even further back, what’s that dude’s name? Kardinal Offishall.

He’s still around.

Yeah, he’s still doing his thing. But overall I’ve been everywhere, Saskatoon, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton. Yeah, I’ve been to a couple places out here and they’ve just embraced me. I was here with Brother Ali and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever done, back in 2010, in Toronto I believe.

Oh, well, we appreciate the love.

And I get to go back tomorrow [to Toronto]. I couldn’t be more excited.

The laws are pretty relaxed too. Toronto’s like a mini Amsterdam these days.

Awesome, well hopefully I get to stay out there longer than planned.

If you go around the SkyDome, which is the baseball stadium, you just get wafts-

Word up.

It’s strange.

That’s not strange to me. I admire that kind of smell. I admire places like that.

What’s happening with your new album?

My new albums-

The Champagne one, what’s it called?

Champagne & Styrofoam Cups.

It didn’t come out yet, did it?

Naw, just a couple videos off of that project came out, but the full project as a whole hasn’t come out yet. We dropped “Skating Down The Block” and then we dropped another record by the name of “Generation F”. We dropped those two, and those are just a glimpse of what Champagne & Styrofoam Cups is. It’s really just a juxtaposition of street life and the luxury life, champagne sippin and celebratory shit. The styrofoam cups represent the struggle in me, and what we know just standing on the corner all day and hustling and stacking and living that life. For my life, personally, transitioning from Fresno, an economically deprived place like Fresno, to a place like Los Angeles, that’s what it is to me. That’s the difference between the two, and if you drive from L.A. to Fresno you’ll notice the difference fast. It’s evident.

That’s crazy. I’ve been to Carson, California.

Carson is a place… in Southern California.

The Home Depot Center is there.

Yeah, I’ve never been there.

I actually played tennis there.

That’s awesome. I’ve played tennis before, in middle school, for no reason.

But you were a XXL Freshman right? Was that last year?

Ah, that was 2010, the same year I got to come out to Canada. I was crowned with Most Artistic of all the classes. Because every year they give each freshman their own little title, like Freddie Gibbs was Most Hood.

Who else was with you?

It was me, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Freddie Gibbs, OJ da Juiceman, Big Sean, Donnis from Atlanta, Pill who’s on Maybach Music, and I think that’s it.

What do you think made the difference between then and now? There are guys like Wiz Khalifa, who’s got a major label release, there’s J. Cole who is a little different, and then there’s you-

Who is a little different. I think it’s exactly where it should be. Everybody took their own path, creatively and business-wise, and I think we are all exactly where we want to be. I always wanted to keep my foundation as the MC or the artist who never sold out, never got too mainstream or mainstream period. I always wanted to keep my core foundation, and still to this day people come up to me and are like, “Man, you’re my favorite underground MC.” That shit makes me happy. [laughs] Because at home I’m like the most famous rapper, then I come out here and go to New York and people will come up to me like, “You spit that underground shit. You spit that raw shit.”

That must be the rewarding part.

Yeah, of course, man, and on top of that I get to support my family financially and all that stuff, and travel the world. I just got my second passport like yesterday and I’m already using it.

What do you mean your second passport?

Well, I got the first one stamped up, stamped out, and then I lost it traveling, as a result of traveling too much. Or as a result of being irresponsible. [laughs]

You been to some crazy places?

Yeah, I’ve been to some amazing places. One of the craziest places I’ve been is Moscow, Russia. That was crazy. I got to do graffiti on the trains. It was snowing just like this, maybe worse. I just remember the fucking hotel lobby smelling like sex and drugs. [laughs]

What were the fans like?

They were great. I actually DJ’ed that night too. I took the turntables and started DJ’ing and you would have thought I was rapping the way I was controlling the crowd. It was crazy.

They speak English there?

Yeah, they speak hip-hop. That’s all they need to know. All I have to say is, “Yo!” or “Wassup?” Those are the key words in hip-hop. [laughs]

I listened to Higher Learning 2 on the way up here, man. It was sick.

I’ll probably play some records off that tonight.

The first track is incredible.

“Manny Pacquiao”, yeah it was like 80 bars or something. That only came about because I didn’t know how to write a chorus to that song. It was so repetitive but still impactful. It was that same mood the whole time but I didn’t know where to stop rhyming at. I just kept going.

You turned it into something amazing.

Yeah, it’s making a strength out of your weakness, I guess. I never was a big chorus rapper, like big hooks and shit. That’s why I don’t have the number one song on the charts, but I don’t care.

You got the love when you travel to different cities.

I can go anywhere I want and blend in, man. It’s cool.

How old are you?

I’ll be 24 this October.

Is your family from Fresno too?

Yeah, born and raised. Well, technically not. My mom’s from Los Angeles. My dad’s from Hawaii. My brother is from Inglewood.

Inglewood?

Inglewood is always up to no good. It’s in L.A. Tupac had that on a song, “Inglewood always up to no good,” on “California Love”. At the end of the song he was like, “Even Hollywood tryin to get a piece baby.” He was talking about all the California cities, like Oakland, “Inglewood always up to no good.”

Have you ever been to Big Sur?

Yeah, I went there. It was the most beautiful place ever. I wasn’t working. It was the most beautiful thing ever. I got to just relax. It was chill. I’ve got a picture of me and my family there, it looks like I’m standing in front of a painting. It’s beautiful. It’s like my favorite beach in California. It’s nothing like Venice Beach. It’s nothing like Newport Beach. It’s just got its own feel, Carmel Beach, Big Sur.

I read a book about it. It said the highway is crazy when you pull in there, with the cliffs.

Yeah, it’s scary. One time we got stuck, I was coming back from a show with Wiz Khalifa in Santa Cruz. The car was already foggy if you can imagine. We were just smoking and riding. It was the winter time and it was foggy, and then we took the wrong road and we ended up on the Big Sur cliffs. It’s a huge mountain. You just keep going up and up and up, and you’re like, “Where the fuck are we going?” It was foggy and just like the most intense thing ever.

There were a lot of amazing artists who did great stuff there.

There’s got to be.

Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Baez, Henry Miller, there should be some rappers going up there. [laughs]

You know what? My friend was like, “We should go out there and just write music and go try it out.” And I’m like, “I should.”

You think that would make a difference, what comes out?

Yeah, because of the environment. It’s the calm of it. Sometimes it’s nice not to see walls with graffiti on them or sand with glass and urine in it, sometimes just to see what that brings out of artists, it’s necessary. It’s always necessary.

And you live in L.A. now?

Yeah.

You ever seen the show Californication?

No, I don’t watch TV. I just work a lot.

Yeah, you haven’t stopped rapping since you’ve been here. You always like that?

Yeah, I’m always like that.

24/7, every day of the year…

I basically live this shit, man. I wake up to it, go to sleep to it, and eat it for breakfast and dinner. This is my life, man. I love it. Before I was here in Canada I was in my studio in my living room and before that I was in The Alchemist’s studio or chilling with De La Soul or some shit. That’s regular. The other day I woke up and Maseo from De La Soul was in my living room. The next day Murs was there. The next day Planet Asia comes. That’s my life, man. I live a duel life though. My life in Fresno is way different.

You go back there?

Yeah, that’s where my family is. That’s where all my foundations are.

You have a girlfriend, wife?

I’ve got a mother of a beautiful daughter. She’s two years old going on three.

What’s her name?

Her name’s Hannah.

Oh, that’s a nice name. Why’d you pick that name?

Because it means grace, and I feel like her birth saved me, so I was saved by grace basically. Her birth put my life on the right track. As soon as I planted that seed I got my first record deal, coincidentally, and I had my first album. She was born a few days before my album came out. It was a beautiful era in every way possible. I had just turned 21. It was like a culmination of everything. It was pretty cool.

Yeah, it’s a beautiful name. I have good associations with it.

Yeah?

I know a lot of good Hannah’s.

It’s a powerful name. It’s a strong name.

What do your tattoos say?

‘Cen Cal’ is what separates my area from Too $hort’s area or Eazy E’s area. This is Fresno. This is the foundation.

You ever been down this street, Rosecrans?

I know about Rosecrans.

The dry cleaners?

Ah…

DJ Quik told me when he got famous he bought the whole Guess Store out and took the clothes to the dry cleaners on Rosecrans and when he went to go pick them up the next day they were all gone, stolen.

[laughs] I can imagine that. Rosecrans, that’s the hood, man, as far as the Rosecrans I know. Pac shouted out Rosecrans on “California Love” too, “Let em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans, bumpin and grindin like a slow jam-” Rosecrans is a famous block. “It’s west side so you know the row won’t bow down to no man.”

– By @petermarrack

photography by Loni Schick @elle_aye

Special thanks to Tim Fundament Stuart, Notes to Self, DJ Frank, and of course, Fash.

The post Exclusive Interview: Fashawn 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.

I was just listening to your rant about ‘89 babies. I was enjoying it thoroughly. My birthday’s February 5th, 1989.

Word?

Yeah.

Sweet, man. You understand what I’m saying, man?

You pay any attention to horoscopes?

Naw, I really don’t, man. These girls be trying to tell me shit about it, like, “Ah, you’re an Aries so that means-” But sometimes they be on point.

Yeah, I don’t know how they get that stuff right. But you’re not an Aquarius, you’re an Aries?

Yeah, I’m an Aries.

Oh, that’s right.

Yeah, March 23rd.

What’s the significance of ‘89, as opposed to ’90?

Man, I don’t even really know. Maybe I just started early. Maybe I started early on a lot of shit. I have a couple homies who were born in the 90’s, and shit, I got homies who were born in ‘89, and I don’t know, it just seems like they’re different. Everybody be like, “You’re only one year older than me.” I’m like, “It just don’t seem like it though.”

The 90’s babies grew up on different cartoons.

[laughs] Word, they grew up on different cartoons, different music. They don’t like certain shit. I don’t know how to explain it, man. I fuck with the ‘90 babies, the ‘91 babies, all of them, man. It’s crazy. But Est. In 1989 (Last Of A Dying Breed) was a little deeper than that. That’s why I had the baby picture, because if you see me right now I’ve got on a Jordan t-shirt, a snapback, and these new Jordan Timbs that just came out. I got that shit on right now. This shit really ain’t changed, and I was just at my mom’s crib and I was going through the pictures and I saw that picture, and I’m like, “Shit, this is crazy. I was fly when I was just a young nigga.”

Yeah, I was wondering if that photo had been photoshopped-

Naw, that’s real. I have a whole bunch of photos where I’m fresh. I had older sisters and shit.

You predicted the trends, man. You were wearing snapbacks when you were like three.

Exactly, man. I was looking for them probably four, five years ago. I was like, “Bruh, I want a snapback. You can’t find snapbacks anywhere.” Matter-of-fact five years ago I was wearing this Charlotte Hornets snapback, and then I was looking for more snapbacks. My homies used to be like, “Yo, why the hell do you want to wear a snapback. Are you crazy, dawg?” I’m like, “Naw, my nigga, I’m telling you, bruh, that’s the shit.” I fucked around and found a Sacramento Kings snapback in the mall one time, and I used to rock that shit. That was four years ago, then I lost that one, and I couldn’t find any more snapbacks. Then they started going crazy and ended up being the new trend.

That’s funny.

Yeah, and with Est. In 1989 I’m saying that’s basically where it started. When I was in elementary school, like 4th grade, I told this one girl, “I’m going to have my own label. I’m going to have my own music company one day.”

How old were you?

I was in like 4th grade. But you know what the craziest thing was, I wasn’t even doing music back then. I don’t know who the fuck I thought I was. I was playing basketball back then, and baseball, and football, and I just told this girl in 4th grade that I was going to do music. I drew out this label and shit and was like, “This is going to be my logo. I’m going to be poppin one day.” And she kind of laughed and was like, “Oh yeah?” I’m like, “Yeah,” dead serious. It’s crazy because when I see this girl today she tells me like, “Man, I remember you told me this in 4th grade, that you were going to pop off on the music shit.” So that’s where I get the Est. In 1989.

Yeah, I was wondering what sports you played, because you said your dad was shocked when you quit the sports and started doing music.

Yeah, I started off playing tee ball. I was playing basketball too. I had a basketball net in front of my house. We used to hoop from sun-up to sundown, through the rain and all that shit. I played football for about three years, then I kept playing basketball. I never got cut from any basketball team but then I fucked around and got cut in high school. So I was just like, “Fuck this, man.” The music stuff was coming natural. But my pops was like, “Hold on, you quit baseball, you quit football, now you’re talking about quitting basketball. You’re talking about picking up music. Naw, man. I can’t let you become a quitter, man. You got to keep going with the basketball.” I was like, “Naw, this music is it.” He was like, “Man, I haven’t heard it before-”

But wasn’t it his brother, your Uncle Al- or was it your mother’s brother, who was big into music?

Naw, it was my Auntie’s husband. He always did the music. I used to go over there, and he could play the guitar right then and there. This man could lay the drums from the keyboard, he could play it all the way live. He’d play the drums for three minutes. He didn’t do no looping. He’d come right back and play the guitar over the drums.

He was like a wizard.

Yeah, he’d come right back and put the keyboard on top of what he did with the guitar. I was like, “This shit is crazy. How the hell does this man do this for four minutes?” And then when I started making beats he used to try and teach me the old school notes, like, “If you hit this key, this is the key Motown used to be in. This is the key da da da used to be in.”

When your dad was put off by the music how did you move past that, that your parents didn’t support it? Were you just like, “Fuck it, I’m going to do it anyway.” Or was it an ongoing struggle?

It was really, “Fuck it, I’m going to do it anyway.” When I started doing the music the homeboys and I had a crazy buzz on our side of town. I was only 14. I wasn’t doing too much rapping. I was facilitating, getting our shit to the DJs, setting up our little shows, and then I was making the beats. I used to be on the phone with the homies and they would tell me to switch around stuff, but I was like, “Naw.” Then all of a sudden we had this crazy buzz and started performing with niggaz like Dem Franchize Boyz and Shawty Lo, when they used to come on our side of town.

Dem Franchize Boyz did “Lean Wit It Rock Wit It”, right?

Yeah, “Lean Wit It Rock Wit It” and they had that “In My White Tee” song back in them days. They used to come on our side of town, and one of my homeboys did production and he started popping off, so I started getting tunnel vision, like, “This shit could work.” We were already the shit on our side of town. I started spending all my time on the beats, and then I met Gucci.

That was when you were 17 right?

Yep, I met Gucci. We linked, but then I fell out of contact. Then Waka and I linked back up when I was about 16 or 17 and he was trying to link Gucci and I back up. We finally got in the studio and we knocked them joints out. When I was 18 the joints started coming out, No Pad No Pencil, Guapaholics with Shawty Lo, shit like that.

The movement back then was pretty underground, but could you tell at that time like, “Damn, this is going to explode at any second,” or were there times when you were skeptical?

To tell you the truth, when Gucci did those with me, the 15 or 16 songs to my beats, I didn’t know what the hell he was going to do. I didn’t know if he was just warming up on my beats, but we had a couple classics. I loved the records because they were on my tracks. I used to ride around to them. Gucci always used to tell me like, “Bro, we’re going to do a mixtape. We’re going to do a mixtape, my nigga.” So I was like, “Let’s get it.” We used to ride around and Gucci would love the songs. Everybody fucked with the songs, because I brought a whole different sound, different than Zaytoven and them.

Were you still going to school at this point?

Hell yeah. I was going to high school. Really though when I was going to the studio with Gucci, I wasn’t in high school. But when those songs got done, it was the year I graduated. That was ‘07. That summer we knocked the tracks out and then in the winter I started going to college.

Which college?

I went to this one school, Chattahoochee Tech, and then I transferred and went to Georgia State. I was going to Georgia State and then it was just like, “Man, I don’t even understand what I’m doing.” At the same time I liked the fact that I went to college. College helped me out and got me thinking how I’m thinking now, because I was taking marketing classes. I was taking introduction to the music industry classes.

Business stuff.

Yeah, understanding the business. I took accounting classes, understanding assets and liabilities. I try to keep liabilities away from me at all costs. I learned a lot going to college, but at this one point my pops was like, “You got to graduate, just put the music shit on hold and focus on the school. When you get out of school you can go back to the music.”

Did you graduate?

No, I didn’t graduate. I was just like, “Hell naw.” I kept telling him that I couldn’t do both. There was no way.

So that was two times you defied him.

Yeah, if that’s what you want to call it. I just couldn’t do both. I was messing with all these artists, all these artists were messing with me, boom, I’m going to these clubs, I’m waking up and trying to go to school. But I still had good grades. I had real good grades and shit. I had a 3.1 or something like that. This one semester I told my pops, I was like, “Yo, I’ve got tunnel vision right now and I’ve got my plan together. I’ve got my sound together. I’m not going to school next semester.” He was like, “Naw, you got to go to school next semester.” I’m like, “Well, shit, I’m not.”

Were you paying for it?

Yeah, I took loans out. But I was like, “Naw, I’m not going.” And he was like, “You got to register,” and I never registered. He was like, “Have you been going to school?” I was like, “Naw.” He was hot about that, and at that same time when I didn’t go, boom, I landed “Tupac Back”.

So this was all pretty recent?

Yeah, at the end of 2010 I was going to school.

What’s your dad saying now?

He was like, “Shit. I’m happy you had a plan together.” His whole thing wasn’t that he wanted to knock me, he just didn’t want me out here with no plan and just being another cat chasing the dream.

Well yeah, he wanted the best for you.

Exactly, because I’ve got family and I’ve got close friends that went hard on the music. It’s not easy to make it in the music industry. I’ve got family and close friends that went hard on the music, and shit, they didn’t make it. I just needed to get in the room with the right people. Back then I was working with 2 Chainz, and I was telling people, “2 Chainz and Future are about to be the hottest shit.” They were like, “Who the hell is Future, and why you think 2 Chainz?” I’m like, “Man, look, I’m about to be the hottest shit. 2 Chainz is about to be the hottest shit, and Future’s about to be the hottest shit.” Boom, I locked in with Future, locked in with 2 Chainz. First, at the beginning of 2011 Dirty Sprite came out. I heard the Dirty Sprite intro with Future, and Dirty Sprite started picking up in the streets. Then 2 Chainz, his mixtape came out, Codeine Cowboy, and I did that “La La” track with him and Busta Rhymes. That hit the streets and was doing numbers. Then “Tupac Back” came out. Bong. That put me on the map.

That was the big one, yeah.

Yeah.

Even my mom loves that song. My mom goes running every day and she listens to that song.

[laughs] She’s getting her energy, man. That’s what’s up. So then 2 Chainz, after Codeine Cowboy, he had “Spend It”. “Spend It” put him on the map.

The Drumma Boy song.

Exactly. Then Future had a couple joints off Dirty Sprite that were hot in the streets. He had “Watch This”.

Future has such a unique voice. Is he from an island or something, or is he just from a part of Atlanta I’m not familiar with?

That’s just his voice. He’s from Atlanta though. When you hear the joints we have on his album you’re going to be like, “This nigga’s got to be from the islands.” Word up. Because we did this one joint, and the way his voice sounds on the record-

Is that a new one that hasn’t come out yet?

Yeah, it’s going to be on his album.

What’s it called? Can you say?

It’s called “Turn On The Lights”.

I’m looking forward to that. I actually just heard “Way Too Gone” for the first time yesterday. I was going through Jeezy’s album. It’s an incredible record, man.

You like it?

Yeah, well, I really like that one with Boosie-

“Mama Know Love”?

Yeah, “Mama Know Love”, that one’s sick.

Yeah, that shit is crazy, man. I was happy I got a chance to work with Boosie before he got locked up. And we had done a couple more records too. I haven’t had a chance to hear those, but he hit me and said he had four or five joints. But that “Mama Know Love” came out-

It has like half a million views on Youtube on some random guy’s account.

Exactly. And I felt like “Mama Know Love” was a new-age “Dear Mama”. It was like the Down South, new-age “Dear Mama”.

Tupac.

Yeah. Anyway, that’s how the music shit went, man. I was getting pulled a couple different ways. When I was at Georgia State I wasn’t in the ‘in’ crowd or anything. I was going to class and then heading straight to the studio to work with all these kids’ favorite rappers. They didn’t even know. That shit ended up working out. I learned a lot.

I’m assuming you’ve paid those student loans then.

Yeah, I had to pay those off, man. I had to get those off my back.

You think you got anything on God Forgives, I Don’t?

Ah shit, I hope so.

It seems like that would be a honor, just with the way Ross has been traveling around the country to work with all the producers. Did he get in the studio with you?

We haven’t got in yet. Hopefully we will. Actually the joint “King Of Diamonds”, that was on his mixtape-

Yeah, I heard that. It’s good.

Actually that joint was a track that was supposed to be on God Forgives, I Don’t but it ended up landing on that mixtape. The streets are fucking with it. He did that “King Of Diamonds” joint the same time he did “Tupac Back”. That song was like a year old, but it came out and people were like, “Yo, the beat is crazy. This song is crazy, da da da.” I’m just like, “Man, that shit is a year old, my nigga.” That just shows me and Ross, we make timeless music.

You said once that it’s your pet peeve for artists to remove the tag from your beats, but did you feel that way about “Tupac Back”, because they took it off for that one?

Where did you read that?

In some interview for a producer’s website.

Well, I used to be like that when I first started, but now sometimes it’s cool. I look at it like I mess with whoever messes with me. And if a person isn’t really too familiar with my sound, and they’re not too familiar with Mike WiLL Made It the brand, or sometimes the tag might just not fit in the record. If my tag gets taken off it’s no problem because at the end of the day if the beat is hard then somebody’s going to open up the booklet and be like, “Yo, who did this beat? Oh shit, Mike WiLL Made It. Who the hell is that?” Google, boom. Follow on Twitter, and then they see I did all this other shit. With Jeezy I didn’t even ask him to keep the tag on, and he kept the tag on. Gucci keeps my tags on. Future keeps my tags on. Ludacris kept my tag on.

Did you put that Tupac sample on the beginning though?

Naw, that was Ross. Yeah, Ross told me when he heard the beat he instantly came with the hook and after that he grabbed the sample and put that on. But man, when Mike WiLL Made It was taken off of “Tupac Back” there wasn’t any love lost at all. It’s out there with my tag on it and it’s out there without my tag on it. On the album my tag is off of it, but in Atlanta- or I’ve been to a couple other cities where the song is on radio and my tag is still on it. It’s not a big deal. Shit still hit the Billboard charts. It was one of the hottest songs on the streets. It popped Meek Mill off. It popped me off. We got a lot of recognition from the record, so it’s definitely not an issue.

Have you ever gotten the feedback that some of your beats have this retro video game sound to them, like when you play the old Pac-Man or Space Fighter games?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, most definitely. The new record with me, Gucci, and 2 Chainz, we sampled Tetris.

So I’m right on.

Yeah, yep. Did you hear that record yet? Gucci and 2 Chainz, it’s called “Get It Back”.

No, I don’t think so. You guys have so much material. It’s hard to listen to it all.

Exactly, man, it’s all over the place. It’s going to be on Gucci’s next project though, called Trap Back.

Lastly, is there a better combination than Chick-fil-A and Gold Peak Tea or is that as good as it gets?

Yo, you’ve been paying attention, man.

[laughs] I love Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A is the greatest, man. I’m there every day, man. I’ve gotta get my 8-count. Gotta get my 8-count and my 12-count, man, with the honey mustard, or I gotta go to the breakfast, man.

Oh, the breakfast biscuits, yeah.

Oh my gosh, man. The Chick-fil-A biscuits, and you add the 8 onto it, it’s crazy, man. You already know, but this is RESPECT. Mag so I just want everyone to know that I’m 22 and up to this point I’ve been doing everything on my own, no management, nothing like that. I’ve just been out here moving, grinding, hustling and bustling, and I’ve got my own production company called EarDrummers Entertainment. I just dropped my first mixtape Est. In 1989 (Last Of A Dying Breed), got artists like Big Boi, Ludacris, Jeezy, Gucci, 2 Chainz, and Future, on there. I’ve also got a writer, Sean Garret, that’s my brother. I want everyone to pay attention because this is just the beginning. I’m about to come out with Part 2 of my mixtape and it’s going to have different people like 50 Cent, Jeremih, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, Gucci, Future of course-

What about that thing you did with Dr. Dre?

Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. [laughs]

I saw pictures- [laughs]

I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. [laughs] But yeah, all I know is we’re working and Part 2 of that mixtape is coming out and I want everyone to pay attention to that. Gucci’s working on an album and a mixtape. I’m all over both of those. Ludacris is working on his album. I’m all over that. I’m really just working. And for all the young kids who are looking up to me, y’all go to school and finish. Y’all go to school and finish, man. Even if you don’t finish just make sure you have a plan. Don’t let anybody tell you what you can and can’t do. Straight up.

– Special thanks to Dan Friedman

The post Exclusive Interview: Mike WiLL Talks Tupac Back, Youth, 2 Chainz and Future appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

A friend in the biz called me tonight about this guy Dondada, who’s apparently got the hip-hop world in a frenzy over one a cappella freestyle (above). Rick Ross is trying to fly him down to Miami. Timbaland already has a phone call in to his manager. And where the hell is Dondada at? He’s probably on his porch right now, spitting bars and tapping his pencil.

We can see the potential, can you? 🙂

The post Raw Talent: Dondada Freestyle appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.