Daily Flava » Interviews

[INTERVIEW + MIXTAPE] NAPALM- #TheMANAfestation

hollajmarks — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 00:30:36 +0000

NAPALM is currently a 4 member HipHop collective that stems from Hamden, CT.

With 4 great spitters and 2 great producers they find themselves self-producing most of their material.

With influences from 90′s hiphop and a great grasp on new age hiphop & rap music, as well as a love for other types of rock and jazz/blues, they found a way to blend their influences in a way that is fresh and unique; seemingly un-imatatable.

With members DHZA; an abnormal spitter with visions of bringing substance & entertainment, clouded by a fog of weed smoke, Rellevance; a GREAT producer (seemingly far beyond his years), fitted w/A tongue as sharp as a double edged sword & flows smoother than water itself. Then there’s Guererro; another multi talented producer, as well as musician and rapper, his messages and lyricism are STRONG and abstract the same time. Finally we have Cognition, the newest NAPALM member, but a long time friend, he’s been with us through all of our artistic ventures. This is the artist with so much emotion in his words you can FEEL it through the headphones, everything he does is A1 ENTERTAINMENT.

1. First of all, can you tell the readers who NAPALM is, and how you came up with the acronym?

Cognition – I wasn’t personally there for the creation but I feel were more of a movement.

DHZA – I feel the same way or at least I believe we’ll become a movement. Our name stands for NEW AGE PEACE AND LOVE/LIFE MOVEMENT. Nice lil play on words.

2. How long has NAPALM been making music together and when did you start releasing your songs?

Cognition – I’ve been working individually with these dudes for over a year. But as apart of NAPALM I’d say about 4 Months.

DHZA – NAPALM was originally myself, Guererro and Rellevance. We made NAPALM about 6 months ago, after the end of another group we were apart of. Few months later we asked Cognition to be a part of NAPALM, but we always knew we wanted him in.

3. What is your writing and recording process like, do you listen through beats and freestyle or do you sit down and write? Or is each member different?

Cognition – Some beats will just literally click and I’ll have a 16 off dome, other times I’ll think a verse out and really try to put it together.

DHZA – I really like writing. I hear a beat and get tongs of ideas and writing really gives me the chance to experiment over instrumentals. Shoutout to another member, Rellevance, he really got me to see music differently. I like to freestyle when I wanna feel like Wayne.

4. Tell us about your newest project “#TheMANAfestation″?

DHZA – TheMANAfestatin is supposed to mean exactly what the name says. In time it will be understood, maybe a year or two. On the basic level, its a dope SELF PRODUCED, self promoted, self written, project. Everything is real and its a compilation of all of our styles.

Cognition – The MANAfestation is indescribably dope, but it’s a congressional of 4 conscious artists.

5. Do you think working with a collective is more beneficial than working solo in the music industry?

DHZA – In my opinion yes, there’s someone for everyone when there’s a collective. But that’s my opinion, I feel as though my brothers help me, if u mess with people who will drag you down and don’t make u better, your wasting your time.

Cognition – I definitely have benefitted from working with these dudes.

6. What does NAPALM have planned for 2014-2015?

DHZA – Definitely expansion , affiliate wise and member wise, not just musicians though. Prolly some more locals. But also branching out and more production & verses from different people.

Cognition – Expect a rash of enlightening audiobooks in 2015.

DHZA – (LOL).

7. Anything else you want people to know about yourselves

Cognition – You gotta listen if you wana learn. Listen.

DHZA – Were different from the rest. Were real. But you should see that.

Follow DHZA & Cognition:

@_DHZA_ & @Low_Sensitivity

Follow NAPALM : @WeAreNAPALM

Soundcloud.com/wearenapalm

Checkout their NEW mixtape : Napalmmusic.bandcamp.com

Soundcloud.com/wearenapalm/sets/themanafestation

[INTERVIEW + MIXTAPE] KiD Jone$- Late Nights Vol.2

hollajmarks — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:48:22 +0000

Seattle rapper Kid Jone$ is already making noise even though he just graduated high school. After successfully dropping LNV1 last year Kid Jone$ has consistently been making moves, and is building a name in the northwest scene. Daily Flava wanted to highlight his work ethic and talent.

1. First of all, can you tell the readers who Kid Jone$ is?

KiD Jone$ is a young man who is all about doing whatever he can to make sure his Mom is alright and that his family will never have to struggle again..

2. When did your rap career begin, and how long did it take you start recording and releasing your songs?

I started writing lyrics when I was about 12 back when I was listening to “choosin season 1″ by Royce the Choice. I always wrote poetry so I began putting a beat behind it and realized how far I could go. My first recorded song was a freestyle to “Imma Boss” by Meek Mill and my cuddy DezzyBooTrilla mixed and mastered that song and a lot of people liked and and a lot of people hated it. I love both.

3. What is your writing and recording process like? Do you just go in the booth and spit what comes to mind, or do you sit down with the beats and write?

The way I record is crazy in a way. I open my email to beats sent to me from my producer A$tro and I just listen to it 1 full time thru…then after I listen another full time thru and at the same time write my verses and a hook. By the 3rd time I play the beat thru I rap my lyrics over the beat to make sure it’s on point then I record. It usually takes me 15-20min to record a song. But I have always been into freestyle sessions so I sometimes just take a beat off the Internet and murk it.

4. Tell us about your newest project “Late Nights Vol. 2″

I spent 8months working on Late Nights Vol.2 and it was my best work so far. I chose features that I knew would have a strong impact on the certain songs and beats. The production was excellent. The cooperation was on point and people were genuinely exited for me to release it. After 1 full week I already have more than double the amount of downloads on Late Nights Vol.2 than I had on Late Nights Vol.1. God is Good , God is great and I pray to The Lord everyday that at the end of it all I will have food on my plate…

5. As someone finishing up high school, do you feel collaborating with older artists has helped influence and prepare you for the music industry?

I feel that even though I’m just now graduating high school, the life I have lived so far has made me grow up quicker and realize things that most kids my age have yet to realize…I have an old soul so I tend to see things for what they really are. Collaborating with older artists has made it so others can see that I’m not just another youngn in this rap game but I’m Next up…

Twitter: @Polo_Dipped206

Download Late Nights Vol. 2

[INTERVIEW + MIXTAPE] Leek – In My Backyard

5XT — Wed, 07 May 2014 18:37:11 +0000

My favorite thing about SoundCloud is discovering new artists, and I recently I found a rapper by the name of Leek. After seeing Leek’s track reposted by A$AP Ty Beats (producer of Pe$so and Purple Swag), I decided to give his mixtape a listen, and I throughly enjoyed what I heard. Peep the interview below to get a better idea of this young Harlem artist, and download In the Backyard here.

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself? How did your rap career come about?

I was originally born in the Bronx but I moved to Harlem in 1998 when I was 7 yrs old. It’s the only place I’ve considered home because every other place my family lived we didn’t stay for longer than a year or so. I’ve been a fan of music in general since the youngest I could remember. My grandfather was a radio personality back in the 50′s and 60′s and my grandmother had a group called “Cleo & The Crystaliers” back in the 50′s as well. My mother and father would always play different types of music in the house when I was younger and I was always drawn to it. As I got older I grew to love Hip-Hop music and I would find myself playing around writing little rhymes pretending to be a rapper. I use to battle my little brother as if we were really battle rapping for money or something lol. When I was 16 I was in a after school program which had a music production class where I recorded my first song. It was kinda amateur but I loved the whole idea of writing to a beat, recording it, and listening to the final product. Ever since then, I’ve been taking it serious and creating music.

2. Where do you draw the most influence from? Your favorite rappers, your surroundings, or something else entirely?

I draw my influences from lifetime experiences whether it being my experiences or from the people around me. I also watch a lot of movies too, it helps with my imagination. I’m a huge fan of the Golden Era of Hip-Hop. My favorite rappers would have to be Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Method Man, Nas, Big L, and Tupac.

3. I noticed your tape does not stick to just one style. You went in over beats ranging from soulful to trap to electronic trap. Did you do this intentionally to demonstrate your versatility?

Yeah. I wanna show people that I could do things outside the box. Tell stories, Tell you how I’m feeling right now, and tell you things from my point of views. Plus standing out is always a good thing to do.

4. What was the process like for this tape? How long did it take, and what did you take away from this experience?

This mixtape is like a year in the making. I kinda pushed it back a couple times because each time I felt like I could be better. One thing I never do is rush a project because I feel like when you do rush a project it doesn’t give you enough time to reach your highest potential during the creating process. When I was starting ‘In My Backyard’ I didn’t have management but now I do so having a team behind me made things a little better. I feel like it was all worth it at the end of the day because the feedback was phenomenal. I’m very proud of myself.

5. What do you have planned for 2014-2015 project wise? Are you going to focus on another mixtape or work on singles and collaborations?

Right now my management (Johnny Park Records) are putting together a compilation album featuring myself along with my label mates Racks Hogan and Dom O Briggs. That should be dropping some time this summer. I also may be dropping a EP before the end of the year.

Download In the Backyard here.

Twitter: @iamleek

SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/iamleek

Johnny Park Records: http://soundcloud.com/JohnnyParkRecs