For many, she is known as ‘Snoop’ from the infamous HBO show, The Wire. While actress Felicia Pearson shared her name and Baltimore roots with her character, she definitely has done more good for her city than bad and plans to spread that love with her talents. From candidly writing a book about her life and experiences to popping up on A&E giving Alicia Keys and America a tour around her city, Pearson is utilizing her voice and platform to spread knowledge of injustices and fight for human equality. Recently, Pearson took the time out to talk with RESPECT. about her controversial upcoming movie Chi-Raq, giving back to her city, and the importance of living your truth.

RESPECT. Magazine: For someone who fell into acting, you definitely take your craft seriously. You’ve taken diction classes, acting classes, and have gone out of your way to portray a character that’s the complete opposite of yourself in an effort to perfect your craft. Steven King has even attributed to your talent as he has stated you portrayed the, “most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series.” Which actors do you look to or which resources do you utilize for inspiration and methodology when it comes to your approach to acting?

Felicia “Snoop” Pearson: First, I go to my brother Michael K. Williams, who played ‘Omar’ on The Wire, because he’s been doing this longer than me. [For] this role that I had got for Da Sweet Blood of Jesus when I played a prostitute, I had to look at Wesley Snipes when he played that drag queen because I never played a…I’ve never been a girl, per se, like heels, makeup, and all that type of stuff. It was easy for me to see and practice off of Wesley Snipes for a role like that because he’s a man trying to become a female so I’m a female trying to become a female (laughs). It’s hard to say, but I’m an aggressive female. Everybody knows that I don’t dress up like that on no everyday stuff or nothing like that, but for me to prepare for that role, that’s what I looked at.

RM: You’re starring in French Montana’s upcoming movie, Respect The Shooter alongside your co-star from The Wire, Michael K Williams. Tell me about your role in that movie and what the movie is about.

FSP: They don’t really want me to speak about it for real because everything ain’t ironed out on that so they just said, “Hold out.”

Felicia “Snoop” Pearson while shooting Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ with La La Anthony.

RM: You’re also starring in Spike Lee’s latest upcoming movie Chi-Raq alongside Angela Bassett, John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and more. What’s it like to get casted to be in a Spike Lee movie not once, but twice? I feel like that would be his way of saying, “You’re a valued talent and I trust you to portray my vision.”

FSP: I feel honored. Spike Lee’s a legend, you know what I mean? He’s a genius. Chi-Raq…that movie has a message. Everything that Spike does always has a message to it. I was just blessed for him to even think about me like, “Come on, let’s do this.” (laughs) I was just blessed, not once, but twice. I was like, “Wow!”  

RM: What do you have to say to the Chicagoans who are in an uproar over the depiction of their city in the trailer?

FSP: If I wasn’t in the movie and I would have heard the title of it, I would think it’s like some wild wild west type stuff. A lot of people said, “How you gonna get this person to play a gangsta?” I’m like, that’s just Spike. The movie–there’s a strong message behind it, first of all. Some people know how Spike Lee works, so if you said, “Oh, that’s a Spike Lee Joint,” you’re going to think of Do The Right Thing, School Daze…he got a few of them that brings a strong message to it. A lot of older people in Chicago know how Spike Lee works. It’s not that gangsta or nothing. How can I put it? Some people say it’s funny and you making a joke about what’s going on in Chicago. He’s not. You know it’s not. It’s just, it’s a movie; it’s supposed to get you entertained and interested in what’s going on. At the same time, do you think Jennifer Hudson would be in the movie? You know what happened to her family [out there]. You know what she went through. It’s a message. Do you think Angela Bassett would be a part of the movie if it was on some dumb stuff? You understand what I’m saying? It’s a message. It’s a message. All I’m saying is, I just hope people give him a chance, you know. Just give him a chance. Give the movie a chance.

RM: Yeah, I feel like once the movie comes out and people see it, it’ll be a little different because I feel like the people who are in a uproar are just being close-minded and taking it at face-value.

FSP: Yeah, because once you hear Chi-Raq, you’ll think it’s some real hardcore gangbanging, you know what I mean? Spike’s old school, man.

RM: Yeah. Like you were saying, it’s not like people don’t know what his work is about. Alright, so one fact about you that I don’t believe a lot of people know is that you’re a published author and you’ve already signed on for a second book deal. In your first book Grace After Midnight, you told the story of your life. What do you have planned for the second book?

FSP: Just life after The Wire up until now what’s going on in my life. There’s a lot of things like, my books be real life struggles. That’s why people really relate to me. Part one is still selling in Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, whatever your bookstore is. Tell everybody out there; let them know part two is on the way so you have to get part one. If you don’t have part one, you’ll want to catch up. You’ll want to understand (part two), but you’re not going to understand if you ain’t got part one.

RM: While you’ve alway been candid about your personal stances, you seem to be transitioning into this position as a humanitarian as you’ve been vocal publicly a lot more more, as of late, about your beliefs and stances. You’re associated with the The Same Difference documentary dealing with the struggles of the LGBT community,  you’re a part of the Akoo 11xHUMAN campaign detailing corruption in inner cities, and a lot more. What made you feel like it was necessary for you to make more of an effort to be more vocal and take a stronger stance on your beliefs and speaking your truth?

FSP: Because somebody gotta speak up. It’s like a lot of people be afraid to speak up whether it’s…sexuality or being out on these streets dealing with the police with police brutality type of stuff. Just me personally, I’m still trying to find my purpose in this world. I do have a strong background as far as my testimony; I have a strong testimony that I have to let the world know what I’ve been through. Even [with] my sexuality, I don’t care what you talking about; if you see me in a dress, you know it’s about some money.

Me and Alicia Keys was just talking about my past and how I did get harassed on the streets. How the Freddie Gray situation can happen to anybody and it is happening to every and anybody in every state or city. If people look up to me, that’s a blessing because I never expected myself to be a role model, but since I’m turning this new leaf…Yeah, I could help a couple of people if they could listen…if they ain’t afraid to say what’s on their minds. Be blunt. Sometimes when you’re being blunt and outspoken, people will listen. They love that shit because you’re real. You know why? Because they know you ain’t portraying something else or somebody else, you’re just you all the time.

RM: Yeah, that’s when you become trustworthy because people know there’s no bullshit associated. Also, I want to talk about how you seem to be able to weave in and out of the realm of hip hop without even really being a rapper. It seems like it’s really an association thing. I remember recently when the Chi-Raq trailer came out and I was like, “Oh, she’s acting now,” completely forgetting that you were on The Wire! (laughs) And I use to watch The Wire! That’s the main thing I know you from so it’s like, “Damn, why did I think she was a rapper for a second?”

FSP: Wow!

RM: I hope you’re not offended by that! (laughs)

FSP: Nah! That means that if you seen me in Chi-Raq, then my character or whatever on Chi-Raq was very strong. You just forgot all about The Wire. It’s just like, “Wow, she’s a rapper or something. Oh nah, that’s Snoop!” (laughs)

RM: Yeah, because I had to check myself right after like, “What is wrong with you?” But you were on the Out in Hip Hop special on VH1 talking about homosexuality in hip hop. What kind of impact do you think that special had or could potentially have in hip hop?

FSP: Hopefully, everybody will be equal, but like they said, your talent gotta speak for itself. If you’re talented, no one can ignore it. If no one can ignore it, then you’re a beast. Just have talent because [in] hip hop, they’re very, I won’t say judgemental, but they’re very… I don’t know. If you’re a gay rapper, just have your talent speak for itself.

RM: You recently filmed a special for ABC News and A&E where you showed Alicia Keys around your hometown of Baltimore and talked about the issues affecting the city that also reflect the issues of the nation. Why do you think it was important to have such a mainstream media outlet as ABC follow you two around your city as a native and broadcast it to the nation?

FSP: I mean, I was honored especially in my hood. Everything I can do as far as bringing attention to my neighborhood, my city, I always do. They probably wanted to go somewhere else and do the interview, but I was like, “Well, why do we have to go there when I got a whole neighborhood and we can go here?” I always try to give back. Not to glorify what happened down there, but it brought attention back to the city. Then, Alicia Keys, she’s in the hood walking through the alley. I mean, she got down gritty. She’s a very sweet, humble person and everybody was just like, “Oh my God! Wow!” They were just so shocked. Just to see people’s faces, that shit meant a lot to me…I mean I give back, I always give cookouts or stop the violence block parties and all that type of stuff. I just had recently done that, but for a megastar like Alicia Keys [to be] in the heart of Baltimore, East Baltimore in an alley somewhere? Come on, that’s huge! She’s taking pictures with everybody: kids, grown folks, it don’t matter! She was out there really in the streets and I respect that and I love that!

RM: Do you understand the importance of you describing Freddie Gray as a ‘wonderful person’ on national television on a media outlet when there are so many depicting outlets trying to depict him as anything but that?

FSP: That’s what they do because the lies and the negativity is more entertaining than the truth. You understand what I’m saying? You see how you just said, “Oh, you just went on there saying he’s a fun-loving person and they’re trying to describe him as an animal or something.” People pay attention to that. You know why? Because he’s a Black man and he was getting arrested. Come on, man. You have to add negativity to that story. No, let’s get to the nitty-gritty! Alright, he was this, that, and the third, but what happened to him? Don’t escape the real reason why we’re discussing this right now. Let’s get down to the truth.

RM: It’s always just like, “Oh, this person got arrested and…,” it could be, “Oh, this person was jaywalking so the police have every right to do whatever they did!”

FSP: Yeah! It don’t matter, he got locked up!

RM: You’ve got your hand in so many pots; you’re an actress, writer, humanitarian, and probably more things than I even realize. What are you trying to accomplish with all these titles?

FSP: Yeah, I’m an actress and an author or whatever, but I don’t even look at myself as all that. I really still think I’m just a regular person. I just follow my heart. Look how you just said, “You speaking means this, that, and the third.” That means people are paying attention. I must be doing something right. It’s not so I can get in this lane and get in this lane. Nah, I’m just speaking what I feel and what I’ve been through. That’s all.

RM: So, is this your way of telling your testimony?

FSP: Exactly. This probably is why I’m still on this Earth. This is probably the reason because I do want to get a foster care [house], first of all because I’m adopted. I’m ready to get that together because I want to give back. I want each [one] of these kids out here in these streets to feel love. It starts at home. You gotta find some type of love; somebody has to show you some type of love. My foster care’s going to be about love.

RM: Yeah because when you don’t get the right type of love, you look for it in the wrong places.

FSP: Yeah! We go out into the streets and for real, the streets don’t love nobody! Once you go then, somebody’s going to take your place. It’s over.

Watch Felicia “Snoop” Pearson in the A&E special focused on tackling race in America, Shining a Light tonight (11/20) at  10 p.m. EST.

The post RESPECT. Talks with Actress Felicia “Snoop” Pearson About ‘Chi-Raq’, Her Latest Book, and Being an Eclectic Humanitarian appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo by Chelsea Memmolo

It’s easy to view Rhode Island rapper B. Dolan as a man of contradictions: he rejects the term “political rapper,” yet he pens songs like “Film the Police” and “Lucifer;” he performs at metal bars, yet he smiles during his set; he’s an independent rapper (i.e. not rich), yet he gives discounts at the merch table. How can one person sustain these discontinuities? By rejecting them, of course.

Joining us for an engaging, 50 minute conversation before his riveting performance at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, B. Dolan gave us one of our best interviews of the year. Read it below. He’s passionate about hip-hop and its artistic and political potentials in wholly original and refreshing ways.

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RESPECT. So my first question is what have you been listening to lately?

B. Dolan: I’ve been listening to a lot of Circle Takes the Square and United Nations because for the past ten days I’ve been on tour with them [laughs].  Which has been really cool. Because I don’t always make an effort to seek out hardcore music, but I’ve been around that scene and that scene is big in Providence. We came up around those shows as well as rap battles and hip-hop events and spoken word events. But it’s been cool to be on this tour and listen to these guys a lot. And see them in a live environment with their friends and how their music is translated and all that.

I’ve been listening to James Blake this summer. I really like that album a lot. The song “Retrograde” is still the song of the year for me. So I’ve been really inspired by him. Also a lot of my friends have put out music this year. Prolyphic & Buddy Peace from Strange Famous put out an album and produced a bunch of new material, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip have a new record. Strange Famous has put out a lot of stuff and obviously I’m very involved in that and hear everything that’s going out. I think there’s been a lot of inspiring music out this year. And I’m also always listening to old stuff for digging and inspirational purposes. I have weird little obsessions with labels and imprints.

Do you follow their entire history or something?

Yeah, like there’s an imprint called Cadet Records and I obsessively collect all the records that they put out. They were an offshoot of Chess Records and they worked with a lot of famous blues musicians like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. But the engineer at the time was a psych rock engineer and so there’s this group of albums that has like blues songs with psych rock production and engineering, which is really interesting. There’s a lot of separation: drums in the left channel and guitars in the right channel, that kind of stuff. There’s a lot of breakbeats on it too. I’m always seeking a lot of music and listening to a lot of music at the same time.

What do you think the significance of “Film the Police” is after learning about the NSA’s mass surveillance?

I think in general filming the police is…we made that song in the wake of what happened with Oscar Grant. And that was a great demonstration of how important it can be for citizens to document what’s happening in the streets, especially when it comes to the people who have a monopoly on force, which is the police. And certainly I do think that since 9/11 there’s been a large trend towards more surveillance, less civil liberty and expanded police privileges and protections, as well as just money that’s been dumped into police departments for homeland security budgets that has resulted in militarized cops with these like futuristic weapons and riot gear. And so it’s more important than ever that we be able to document them.

The NSA stuff is almost a separate issue to me because that deals with our privacy and our ability to communicate with each other without being monitored by the government. I guess in some ways you could draw a comparison and say that filming the police is our way of counteracting the government’s surveillance of us. It’s just symptoms of an information age where power is in images and information. To the degree to which we can capture those things and disseminate those things ourselves, that’s how we’re going to have to resist huge overreaching government and all that comes with it.

I ask because one of messages of “Film the Police” is that you see your rights being violated in your face and you respond to it by documenting it. And with mass surveillance, even though you’re right in the sense that it’s a different kind of violation, I feel like just thinking about The Wire, they use that surveillance to be more brutal as police officers. You don’t even have to be charged with anything, but what they do to you is “justified.”

Yeah, I can see that. I’m not quite sure what else to say about it. What do you think?

On the relationship between “Film the Police” and the NSA?

Yeah.

It’s kind of embedded in another question I was going to ask, so I’ll ask that. So John Pike, the UC Davis guy that maced those students, was recently awarded a worker’s compensation amount that was greater than the settlement received by the people who he assaulted. And I was kind of wondering, what do we do when filming the police isn’t enough?

It certainly seems to have been that kind of summer. George Zimmerman got his gun back from the state of Florida. They really gave that guy his gun back. You don’t need a better symbol than that [laughs]. And certainly, filming the police was never meant and has never meant to be a fix-all. I try not to even make statements…I try to be clear that this isn’t a fix-all. It’s just an immediate practical thing that you can do. To me, when I think about making political music, I personally am turned off by emcees who rap in sort of feel-good bumper stickers and generalities about social issues. I think it’s really easy to get applause saying something like, “Every politician is the devil!” You know, just the generalities that we all know are true. Yeah, politicians are fake and fucking government is corrupt and shit’s fucked up, etc. You can say that shit and people will go along with you because it feels good to agree with that, but in the end, you’ve just produced a song that to me isn’t going to do anything.

So when I make an [overtly] political song, I try to be very clear and very explicit and even narrow in what I’m talking about. So “Film the Police” is literally about filming the police. It’s a reminder that if cops are doing some shady shit in front of you and you have a camera in your pocket and should use it. It’s just a reminder like, “Hey, that phone you’re carrying around can take pictures!” So if you find yourself in a situation where you see someone is being abused or you yourself are being intimidated or harassed, you’ve got a weapon there and you should use it. That’s literally the beginning and the end of that. Yes, it’s attached to other issues. Yes, it’s become a thing that’s gone beyond that song. And it will mean other things to other people and I’m happy about that.

If you search the hashtag “#filmthepolice” there are plenty of people talking about it that have never heard my song and I’m excited by that. I think that’s really great that I can contribute just a useful phrase. But at the same I time I know that it’s not a – when I perform it live, during one of the choruses I say, “And fuck the police. Still fuck the police.” “Film the Police” is not meant to supersede “Fuck the Police.” It’s more like we have a new way to fuck the police: this camera in our pockets. But I know…what does filming the police do to fight globalization? Nothing. The fucking device you’re taking out of your pocket is itself probably a violation of worker’s rights in another country and has not been produced under ethical standards, and represents people being taken advantage of. And that’s apart of things we’ll have to fix before we can get to being a more just society and world. There’s a lot of shit to tackle [laughs]. And I try not to get lost in that. If you think about everything, you get overwhelmed. If you narrow your view and think about something immediate and tangible, I think we can make small, incremental steps. Children of Men is my model for revolution [laughs].

I haven’t seen it yet.

It came out around the same time as V for Vendetta and I began thinking that the contrast between those movies was like fantasy vs reality. The fantasy is V for Vendetta, where a guy with a mask is gonna get on tv and say the right combination of words that will trigger a mass consciousness shift in the world population and the revolution is going to start today. With Children of Men, everyone does what they can for five minutes and will pass this precious cargo along to the next person, who does what they can for five minutes. Most people probably don’t even get to see the end result, but we’re still working and just handling what we can in the present and offering ourselves where we have the power to act, which is often in our immediate environments with family and friends.

You mentioned being narrow, or rather being very specific. I think that’s apparent in songs like “Lucifer” and “Come to Jamaica” where you mention Warren Anderson and Bugsy Siegel. I feel like by focusing on them you’re able to make your criticism and also note how that criticism is very specific. I think that that actually helps the songs travel further than ones full of generalities.

I’ve always been conscious of characters and of the power of a character, like the name and a person with a certain personality. That’s interesting. Whereas a generality is powerful in other ways, I feel like people connect more immediately when they can picture a person. And that for whatever reason seems to find it’s way into my writing a lot. I do a lot of character studies in my writing. Whether it’s people like Warren Anderson or Justin Timberlake, or Joan of Arcadia or Vin Diesel. I like describing people and personalities. Because the personal is political. The generalities are kind of boring. They’re kind of abstract and kind of stale and sterile. But all of these political ideas do touch down in peoples’ lives. And that’s where the stories and the humanness are. So yeah, in any instance, I’m more interested in where the political ideas come home and manifest in people’s actual lives. Which is why I object to the term “political rapper.” What’s political? What’s personal? Where is that line? Politics is in my day to day life if I can’t feed my family. Or even if I never have to worry about feeding my family. Politics is deeply entrenched in peoples’ realities.

That really relates to my next question. In “Which Side Are You On,” you say hip-hop is “folk music grown from the struggle” and I agree with that statement, especially as far as the origins of hip-hop. But considering its origins as well as what it has become, what do you think the politics of rap are at the most fundamental level? Not just in terms of a song being overtly political, but even a song like “The Hunter,” how is that  a political utterance?

“The Hunter” is actually a really political song but nobody knows it.

I know it’s about becoming that which you hate.

Yeah, I’m glad that you dealt with it on that level. A lot of people think that it’s just a cool ghost story about a vampire hunter. But I was thinking about soldiers in Iraq doing horrible things for what they thought were good reasons. And they have that moment of realization where you look in the mirror and realize that you are the monster. You think you’ve been out there hunting monsters all your life, but then you realize that you are the thing to fear.

Okay, well maybe that wasn’t a good example.

[laughs] But no one knows that because it doesn’t necessarily come across in the song. But to talk about hip-hop is almost dangerous at this point because it’s such a huge genre with a lot of different artists making a lot of different kinds of music for totally different reasons. So for me I try to just judge people on the merits of what they were trying to make. So I’m not judging Kanye against Chuck D against Pharoahe Monch against nerd rap against Lil Jon. Those emcees might as well be in different genres. It’s like who’s a better jazz musician, Miles Davis or Louis Armstrong? They’re years and years apart and playing in different eras and niches of jazz. So I try to be careful about blanket statements for all of hip-hop. But for me, what inspired me about rap was when I heard Chuck D say that hip-hop is black people’s CNN. And Scarface, in a song with Ice Cube, said, “We were always considered evil. Now they’re trying to bust our only mode of communicating with our people.” And I was like, “This is what rap is.”

As time has gone on and the influence of rap has spread, I consider rap at this point to be poor people’s CNN too. It’s kind of transcended the black experience and become something that millions and millions of people worldwide are apart of. And I think that the power poltiically in it is that yeah, at it root, it’s a decentralized art form that can happen spontaneously anywhere. All you need is a dude that can bang on a lunch table and enough rhythm to rap your thoughts. In that, it has a power for people to speak with each other and be with each other in a way that doesn’t have to pass through a filter.

So commercial rap is what commercial rap is and if you’re making music for the club, then you’re making music for the club and if it bangs in the club, then I guess it’s a good song. For me, I choose to utilize it in the sense that I can say whatever I want. and I’m lucky to be on Strange Famous with Sage, which is an independent label. We don’t owe anybody anything, so we totally control our content and say what the fuck we want. I think that’s the power. I think there’s something political about people being in a room and not at home looking at a tv or the internet. Even if nothing “political” gets said on stage, the experience of coming out into the public and being physically present with a group of people and experiencing the same thing fights against the alienation that people experience and the push to just isolate yourself from other people and just look at a box and experience reality through that. Again, the personal is political, and a lot of what we do is at its root political even if you don’t think about it.

So I guess, to sum all that up, rap in some sense, gives people a voice. And whether they use that voice to make people dance, or whatever, giving nearly anyone a voice is kind of unique.

The post Interview: B Dolan Gets Sweaty appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

ALL PHOTOS BY JOE CRUZ

OG Dutch Master has been creating since he was 15 years old.  He’s directed videos, tried his hand at photography, designed clothes, and even tattooed.  Five years later, he’s venturing into the musical world to see how he fares through the wire.  With this new medium, he aims to explore the fabric of his musical attire, collaborating and conceptualizing with an assorted group of creators, whom he cautiously surrounds himself with.  No matter where he’ll wind up, he’ll carry his Baltimore-bred hometown bravado with him.

Over a game of Spades in Queens, we spoke about the relationship he had with his father, yelled at a deli employee (‘I’m old enough to buy this Dutch!’), and explored some of the more obscure questions behind HIV/AIDS transmission. The layered darkness of his work is embedded in the reciprocal darkness of his life, which he does little more than suggest as the strength behind his work.  Not entirely trusting those he’s speaking with at any time, he doesn’t even give his government name off the record. His guarded demeanor began to fade away slowly, though, as we joked about youthful indiscretions. But his abrupt reticence reminded me of the lines he’s drawn around himself.  Through his art and the tired bags fixed to his eyes, his entire persona carries the pains that have garnished his life.

But he’s changing.  He’s emerging as an individual who wants to “…live to be happy.”  He’s got a rock album in the works, meant to set him apart even from the idea of being a rap artist.  In fact, he wants to be seen as just an artist , not essentialized as solely a musician. As the CEO of the DaCornerStore subgenre, he constantly ventures into new sounds, new alcoves of possibility that will help him participate in any musical dialogue despite being a rapper.

Discover the creative broadcaster of a guarded, meticulously arranged vision of art, and download his latest tape Blue Light District.

RESPECT: The first time we were supposed to do an interview, you got caught up with the law.  You wanna speak on that?

OG: Yeah, I got arrested for some shit, you feel me? I ain’t tryna speak on that, though.  It was some drug shit, but I’m good though.

I just wanted get that out of the way.  When did you start making music?

Ah.  It depends on what you mean by “making music”.  When you say that, do you mean when I got in the studio, or when I was just freestylin?

I mean whatever you mean by “making music.”

Aight, I would say that I started about seven or eight months ago, when I first dropped “PSA”.  Cuz I mean with this whole music thing, it’s more than just writing, there’s a whole lot more to it, feel me?  Eight months ago, even though niggas been writin before that point, but, it’s like I said, it’s more than writing for me.

When you were just writing, was it intended to become music, or was it just gonna stay on paper?

Back in the day forreal, I was on some shit.  When you’re young, you always tend to talk out the side of ya neck a little bit.  So I would write some shit, and then I would call these studios and be like “Imma hit the studio with my friends”, and then never hit the studio.  it was just on some shit just like…I don’t know, I’d call it a lyrical exercise I guess you could call it.  It was me workin on talent.

And how’d you get your name?

I got it from rollin blunts, but not just that.  I’m influenced by that OG hip hop.  So I listen to Grandmaster Flash, Jam Master Jay and shit like that.  And through them, I heard the word “Master” being said a whole lot, so it’s like, I think I’m a master at my craft as well, I do the “Dutch” thing because I’m a big smoker, feel me?

So what’s it mean to be a “master” to you?

I mean, it’s like, you have to have your craft, and always be workin’ to perfect your craft.  That’s what it is.  You don’t have to be perfect from the jump, it’s something that you put the effort into.

So it’s a process thing?

Yeah, not just the creation process, but WHAT you work at.  Like you gotta have some credentials behind yourself to become a master.  I have my credentials to prove it for me.

Like what?

I mean, like, I really stepped out as a rapper about eight months ago.  And since then, even before then, I Iooked at myself as a master even with the whole fashion/art scene, and being creative in general, yo.  Like I really changed up my lifestyle, and I mastered what I live now.  I can tie that in as well.  And before I came out as a rapper, I came out on 2 dopeboys, and that was some shit I didn’t even expect then.  So for me it’s a growing process, like, I got people reaching out to me.  Or, I reach out to a muthafukka and he already know who I am.  I don’t wanna be statin all the shit I been featured on just to state my credentials, feel me?  But niggas got some credentials, believe that. They show, I think.  Whenever I do a show, or a spot or whatever, that’s another new credential….This right here is a good look.  [Laughs]

So you’ve been creating for a while, but what’s your history with art, and creating in general?

In general, like…  Forreal, I’ve always been on some creative shit.  Even though I changed up my lifestyle.  When I was on my other shit, I would be around niggas, niggas that trap.  But trap for clothing, and that’s like, what I got brought up on.  Trap, and stay fresh.  It’s always been true for me.  So the niggas I used to be around when I did my dirty, they used to make clothes, and that shit was ill.  And from that point, I was attracted to that shit.  Other than trappin.  That shit’s like, creative as fuck.  You know that you step out the house, and you won’t see no one else with that.  So that being said, once I changed up my lifestyle, I started my own clothing line, at the age of 15.  And I had it in two stores, and then from that, I became a manager at a local boutique in Baltimore.  And that was by the age of 17. Creating-wise, it’s always been clothes, and if not that, I did the graffiti thing, um, other than that, I tried out some photography, videos, and I did some tattoos.  Anything that’s related to art, or being creative in general… I’m a talented muthafucka like that.

Do you think of those as “credentials?”

Yeah, but with what I do now, that shit don’t matter to people.  I push music, so I can’t talk to an A&R, and be like “Well, I used to have a clothing line.”  They don’t give a shit.  They wanna know how much money they can make off of you.

Well what made you wanna create, in a general sense?  Was there a person, or an event in your life?

I mean, I’ll keep in one hundred.  I’m not the most righteous muthafucka in the world, feel me?  But I do read a whole lot of spiritual, Zodiac process shit, and me, I’m an Aquarius.  It’s been known the Aquarius signs are creative in general.  Once I saw the line about that, I guessed that might’ve been why.  I can’t really say why I am the way I am, but it’s natural.  It wasn’t on some shit where I was a follower, like a lot of these people out here.  Niggas will see someone doing some shit, and just fall in line.  I was never, like, one to do some shit like that.  It was always those cats doing that shit to me.  Feel me.  I don’t really know, it might be meant, it was in the stars.  I just feel like it might just be meant to be.

This one’s a little random, but you once tweeted, “1 small thought of mines can fuck me up in the most negative way. its like i get submerged in the dark”.  I looked through one day after we first started talking about an interview.  How does that darkness play into your creative process?

[Quickly responds] To be honest with you, like, that, I been through a whole lot of shit through my life.  It’s hard to get into that.  I got hella songs that I wrote when I’m in that state of mind, but I’m on some shit where like I’m marketing as well.  When you’re a rapper, you’re more than a rapper.  You’re a brand yourself.  So, me being a brand, I don’t try to put that shit out there.  Like, I get mad at myself (and it’s crazy that you brought that up), but Baltimore ain’t the easiest place, feel me, it’s a whole, like, “black matter.”  When I talk on that shit, I get deep on that shit.  I’mma keep it real.  It’s like when you listen to Kid Cudi‘s Man On The Moon.  Or 808s and Heartbreak.  It just gives you a vibe, like that empty vibe.

Cudi had some isolated imagery.

Right?  I just don’t wanna give people that vibe, because music is life changing.  And when they listen to your shit, whatever you say can change somebody’s life.  So I don’t wanna put out something and the results are that somebody killed themselves.  Sometimes people connect to shit like that.  There’s a whole lotta power behind the shit that we say.  I don’t think that a lot of people think that, but we have power.  Niggas might not realize it, but this shit can be life-changing.

Did you life ever change due to a song or album in particular?

It took effect after I lost my pops.  Probably Cudi‘s “This is My World”.  It’s how he was talking about losing his pops on that too.  There’s a few others that made me think like that.  That’s why I answered the last question like that, music can really change how you feel.  Before I’m a rapper or whatever, I’m a listener.  So I know what it’s like to be in that position.  I like to apply what I do as if I was a fan, especially as a fan of my own music.

You feel comfortable discussing your father’s passing?

Depends.

In a past interview, I saw you quoted as saying that his passing “opened your eyes.”  How so, and to what?

It really opened my eyes to the world.  It was on some shit like… well, my pops, he was like my best friend.  So when he died, I lost a part of me.  It opened my eyes to be like, you gotta live to be happy.  You have to make yourself happy.  You can’t just be out here living for other people.  It’s just crazy.  It happened so unexpectedly, that it had me thinkin like, “Niggas could die TOMORROW.”  I can die right now.  It’s just that, I need to be remembered.  I’m the last of my kind.  I’m the last of the bloodline, after me, who else?  Also (and this is somewhat personal) , but the last conversation that I had with my pops, he said that he made a deal with God that he wouldn’t die until he saw me become a man.  And then he died, like two weeks later…  It was the same day that I got a job at Macy’s, but that was just a holiday spot for me.  Once that shit was over, I didn’t know what to do.  I’m still fucked up in the head.  And mind you, my father died the same day I got the job.  So I started working, but the whole time that I was in there, I was just thinkin about gettin cake.  So when I got away from work, that shit hit me, it was really piercing.  It was at the point where the only thing that I can do is music now.  That’s the only thing that I felt that I could use.  So I watched how this whole industry works, and that’s why I feel like I have a good chance of “makin it.”  It’s like, this was meant to be because of what he said to me.

Back into your music, is what you do a response to anything, socially or musically?

You mean like a reflection, or like me fixin something?  I mean sheit man, EVERYTHING is wrong.  What isn’t wrong with music these days?  Like it’s very hard to explain it yo.  I hear all these rappers comin out, wantin a little bit of bread from one video on TV, and then get hella gold.  That’s what they want these days.  No one wants to be remembered.  Like you really have to think about this shit.  Let’s look at music as a whole.  How much has this shit changed?  And then think about the artists that’ve changed their image around with it.  C’mon man, how does the dancing scene break you in.  Like, the whole “Lean widdit rock widdit”, and “Superman” shit.  Like, niggas is gettin signed off of dances.  It’s not music no more.  Then it switched over to fuckin jerkin.  After that?  What?  Like I can respect the shit that we gettin into now.  This whole, uh, let’s see… This whole current time-period that we makin music in right now.  Feel me?  I can respect the Odd Futures, the A$AP Ants, the A$AP MOBs, the 2.7.5.  I can respect all that, because it’s a reflection of what’s been good.  It’s a reflection of what used to be good.  And I don’t give a fuck what nobody say, I pay homage to the niggas that I fucked with when I was comin up.  So it’s like, we young.  We young as shit, so it’s crazy how we’re gettin to the real feel again.  When I was in middle school, high school shit was not poppin.  It wasn’t real.  This is how you know.  Niggas is just gettin put on to Mikey Rocks.  I been bumpin him for the longest, since middle school.  That’s the shit that I fuck with.  When everybody else was just bumpin that bullshit.  It’s just not the same no more.  It’s the people who’s behind the industry’s fault.  You got the people who choose who they want to be on TV, that’s the ones in general, and then there’s the ones that’s behind the desk.  Feel me?  So, think about who’s behind the desk?  So I wanna come in, and be on some shit like, you can’t fuck this up.  I want them to know that it’s some genuine shit.  Like look at where I’m comin from.  My music is a product of my environment.  Like this is real shit, this basement rap that we push, it’s real.  This ain’t mixed-down, wannabe bullshit.  This isn’t just for a few bills.  We wanna be remembered.  Niggas said that basement rap is a genre.  Genres do not die.

What makes the Baltimore sound right now?

It’s more diverse.  Compared to the old shit that used to come out.  But I’m not gonna lie, the OGs from Baltimore, they used to put out some good shit.  Like for real.  You ever Heard of Tim Trees?  You got your Julio…  It’s crazy how like “here” it is.  It’s tough to describe.  Like, there’s an ATL, LA, NYC sound, but now we got our own.  It’s here.  We got it being developed right now.  It’s because of us.  I was a listener first, like I said, so I’ve watched muthafuckas that’s from here try this shit already.  Feel me?  Even the shit they used to cut out had the sound but it wasn’t completely there yet.

Well you don’t have a ton of tracks out, but what you do have, there’s no throwaways.  The biggest thing that I see is that up and comers do a lot of like, “flooding the market”.  Why are you guarding your material in an era where volume is success?

I guard my material because of the fact that it’s been a long process for me.  When I first got involved, like I be readin books about this music shit, like I put in work.  And Imma keep it one hundered dog.  Yo, with this music shit my nigga, this music shit is not just about that music.  Forreal.  I’m here to make a name for myself.  It’s crazy how fucked up this game is.  These niggas can keep puttin out hella videos and singles, and you stay in the same position you started from.  I’m takin a whole different route now.  To keep it one hundred, I was suppose to drop a mixtape before I even dropped the video for “PSA.”  I didn’t feel comfortable.  You got artists that hit the studio that just do hella tracks, but have no direction with this shit.  Like, I be tryna, I wanna do some different shit.  I’m not someone regular.  Like, I’m busy now, without the mixtape.  I been busy.  [Raising his voice] Like I’m not pleased with where I’m at yet!  Why would I drop a tape and then get slept on?   Then I’mma feel like I wasted hella time.  I have so many songs I could drop a tape right now.  I weed the others out.  Like if they not what I’m goin for.  Even with that dark shit we talked about, I gotta get rid of it sometimes.  I make music based off of emotions, so I can’t be puttin out a project if I just feel happy and shit, and then not have it in collaboration with songs that I make when I’m on the brink of suicide.  Feel me?  That shit won’t mix.  Niggas go through shit in Baltimore.  I’d rather take my time with it.  You got muthafuckas comin out with a deal and no mixtape.  And what’s on that contract?  You need at least one album, nah, at least two.  And then what?  Like if I did that, I already have a catalogue for that.  Why sit on it till I get a good offer?  But you know what, I’m not even gonna do that.  I’mma put something out soon because I know niggas want it, and then I’m steppin out of this regular genre.  Even though we do basement rap, I wanna do more than that.  I wanna do some good shit.  I want it to be one some shit where niggas can’t call me a rapper no more.  I want them to call me an artist.

Speak on that a little more.

I  wanna get on some rock shit.  I’mma pay homage to all the niggas I came up on, and two of them is Jim Jones and Mos Def.  When they came out with the Blakroc project with Dame Dash, that was some classic shit and niggas looked past that.  There may be muthafuckas that read this shit here and don’t know what I’m talkin about, but yo, that shit was classic.  When you can step out the box and make some wild good music, that shit is timeless.

Who would you collab with, maybe even to make the rock tape?

Well, I have a few collabs so I can already mention.  I got one with Chase N Cashe that I’m doin, then I did something with that dude XXYYXX.  That’s what I mean when I talk about gettin up out that box, because I love that different shit.  Others, yo, there’s this nigga over in the UK named Loui The Zu that released this track “Fake Friends.”  I would love to fuck with his shit.  I also really fuck with this dude Ibn Inglore, this lil nigga from Chicago, um, let’s see, also Carter from Texas, or LA, that would be mad ill too.  I’m not gonna lie, I wanna fuck with Curt@!n$ from Black Scale, cuz I was around a few days ago when I was in NY.  I really fuck with them because I can get really political with this shit too.  Niggas is ignorant, and they don’t wanna hear shit that’s real though, right now.

Who would you resurrect for a collab?

OOOOOOh.  I would have to resurrect-my god you, I’m bout to go in.  I would resurrect everybody!  Foreal, I came up on Eazy E, like I’m a big Eazy-E fan, and Big Pun, too.

What’s your favorite Eazy-E song?
“Boyz in the Hood”.  I know all his shit off top, but for like two years, he was the only shit.  Yo, but one thing that I wanna know though, is that since Eazy-E had AIDS, wouldn’t his son have it too?

Only if it got passed.

This is completely off topic, but, um, I be thinkin of weird shit…Answer this question, speaking of AIDS.  Females be foul these days.  Let’s say you had a cut on your fingers, and you finger a chick who got AIDS, and she on her period, would it get passed?

Alright, this is how I’ll answer that: why am I finger bangin a chick with AIDS?

Because they foul these days!

Nah, I’m, playin.  I don’t really give a fuck, I’ll go in regardless of her being on her period or not.

I feel you dog that’s some real nigga shit!

But you would definitely catch the germ if you had a cut and she had AIDS.

I needed the public to know that I’m on some real shit.  Imma start asking questions in interviews from now on, that’s some funny shit.

Back to it.  Are there any other professions that you think you’d be good at?

Definitely designing.  Anything like that.  Websites, ideas, graphics.  I can market well, I mean, I been doin it for myself since I’m self-managed.  Everything that done came to me so far, that’s all me.  Um, other than that, sellin weed, feel me?  Ain’t too much that I can do.  The shit I done did in my past fucked me up.  Niggas don’t try to be fuckin with me.

You also gave us a little short clip of your process in the “making of” video for “Raw Dope”.  What’d that video leave out?  What else goes on behind the scenes?

Forreal, it’s just niggas smokin weed, and playin Tekken.  Everything in the video is what we do.  I made two extra tracks that day that won’t go on the tape.  That was just that session, but there might be some times when we go over Butch’s (Dawson) beat, just to see what he’s comin with.  We get automatic inspiration when Jujuan (Butch) put a beat on.

 What about live performances, what do those do for you music, what does that bring out?

That’s my favorite part of being an artist, to be honest with you.  It gives you a chance to interact with people.  Like I done had shows where niggas run up to the front row when I get up on stage.  That just shows me that my work is appreciated.  Now that I put myself in those shoes, even when I do a shy show,every muthafucka in there goin wanna fuck with me after that.  When I get on stage, I have to be A1, I have to deliver a good performance so people go home and fuck with me.  I give them that reason.  That makes it feel more genuine when I give them live performances.  Like this can’t just be on the internet for me.  I gotta go out and get my fans in person.

 The first project just came out…

Well, actually this is my second project.  I had another one that I did before I went by OG Dutch Master.  Feel me?  I had a nice little amount actually, but I won’t tell niggas how to find it.

 Who were you?

I can’t put it out there, niggas can’t find it!  But I went by [redacted] and the name I had, the second part stood for forgiveness.  And when I had that name, that’s when my life changed, the Lord forgave me for a lot of shit.  The project was called [redacted].

I won’t put it in, but I’ll go search for myself.

You better not.

Let’s talk about it like this: what did Art Of War show about you?

There’s a whole lot of tracks from there that released, but it paints a picture, and on top of that, it really gets me out of…  I really want people to know that Baltimore isn’t The Wire.  Like muthafuckas see that and be like “I’m never goin to Baltimore!”  Fell me? And when you’re hear, you can live that life, or make something different.  I’ve played both sides of the fence.  So it’s like, I have that Wire feel, but also the “getting out of this” feel.  I live a different life than you would expect.  Like I got a song about girl in a fashion show.  It shows what I go through, bein in the hood one day, and bein at a fashion show the next.  That’s real shit, that’s how I be.  That’s the image you’ll get from the tape.  It’s the Hood Fashion Show.

What’s the most Baltimore thing somebody can do?

Go to ya local carry out and order a chicken box with salt, pepper, ketchup, hot sauce ALL OVER, with a jumbo half & half , then go to the BP grab a chocolate cigarello. Make ya way to the bus stop, and kill ya food while waiting and roll ya blunt on da bus if its a seat past the back door.

Well, what’s next?

STAY TUNED.

GET BLUE LIGHT DISTRICT HERE

The post A Spade is Not a Spade : An Interview with OG Dutch Master appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If you are wondering whether or not No Malice will be featured on Pusha T‘s upcoming album My Name Is My Name . the answer is no. Pusha T gave a simple explanation in a recent interview:

The Clipse brand is so strong to me, that I don’t want to toy with that—outside of The Clipse. [If] we can figure out how to present this album to both of our likings, then you’ll have another Clipse album and we will treat it as The Clipse.

The emcee also tells us more about the origins of the album and its name. Check it out:

The post Pusha T Explains Why No Malice Will Not Be Featured On My Name Is My Name appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

It would seem as though Baltimore is on the verge of a come up with artists releasing viral material every other day. This recent offering from Al Rogers, filmed over the entire summer by DNR Films, stands out. As he talks with his imprisoned brother on the intro, the visual paints the picture of a conflicted culture and city. He reaffirms this with his lyrics and clips of martyrs like MLK, Tupac and Ghandi. The song, “Fin”, is the last track for his upcoming project, Almost, debuting at the top of next year.

The post New Video: AL Rogers – “FIN” (Prod. By 713) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.