"If revolution had a movie, I'd theme music" rijmde Common ooit. Samen met Kanye West leidde hij een muzikale revolutie in zijn home city. Een ontwikkeling die nog steeds in volle gang is; een sterke industrie opbouwen kost immers tijd. Toch is er al verandering te merken. Talentvolle artiesten zijn lokaal in opkomst, maar moeten nog steeds het onderste uit de kan halen om zich op landelijk niveau te ontwikkelen. Een unieke artiest die lokaal door is gebroken en momenteel ook in andere staten voet aan grond zet is, is SoulStice. (Tekst: Engels)
You grew up in Chicago, home of some of the greatest rappers; Common, Kanye, Twista…How would you describe the hip hop scene over there and what do you like and dislike about it?
There’s no place on earth quite like Chicago. Just walking down the street, the city’s got a certain vibe to it. Chicago music has a rich history of jazz and blues and that feel really permeates the city. I think the signature hip hop sound coming out of Chicago is a direct descendent of that jazz/blues era music. There’s so much soul in it. With Common and Kanye there’s a very obvious connection to that older music, but if you really listen to what artists like Twista have to say, it’s definitely there too. The indie music coming out of Chicago is some of the best in the world. Being a part of that scene, there’s positives and negatives just like anything else. When I was doing my thing in Chicago, I was at an earlier stage in my career. The thing I liked best about the scene was the raw talent of the emcees there. I’ve never gone anywhere else with such a collection of talented emcees. On the negative side, there’s really not a lot of opportunities as far as the music industry goes. You see a lot of indie labels and cats doing the mixtape thing in Chicago because there’s not a strong industry presence like you’d have in New York or in LA.
When did you decide to pursue a professional hip hop career and how did you develop your rhyming skills?
Deciding to get serious about the music thing was a long process. I started out rhyming with my friends and my brother in junior high school because we had fun with it. I loved the chance to express my thoughts that way, and bumping our mixtapes in the car was the greatest feeling in the world. I became addicted to it. The rhyming skills matured along the way while I matured on a personal level. Becoming a better emcee really means learning to put more and more of yourself in what you write and how you spit "" raw and unfiltered. To do that, you have to know who you are. In college it got more serious. I started rocking shows and I even had my own radio show for a while. During grad school I recorded North by Northwest and once that really got out there and did its thing, that’s when I felt strongly that my purpose in life was to make music.
How did you start to build a name for yourself locally?
In 1997, I started college and that’s when I first started getting my name out there. My first time on stage was a “Champaign vs. Decatur” battle. Champaign is the city that the school was in and Decatur was a nearby town. I used to get nervous on stage and the mic would be shaking in my hand. I started doing more battles and got in the paper a few times. Then I got away from the battles and started doing performances at every venue I could. After a while, I’d pretty much hit every venue in the area, including the stadium where the University of Illinois Big Ten basketball team plays.
You work at a Physics Laboratory in Maryland, where you do submarine detection and classification. How do you manage to combine a job as an engineer with your musical career, and what route will you go if it would become impossible to combine them?
I’m engineer from about 7:30am in the morning until about 5pm in the evening Monday through Friday, and the rest of the time I’m a musician and an entrepreneur. It’s not really that cut and dry though. In reality, I think each thing helps me to do the other in its own way. I’m always using both the creative and analytical sides of my brain and doing one always keeps the other one fresh when you come back to it. Obviously, doing both things keeps me very busy so it’s tough at times. But I’m lucky enough to deeply enjoy both things, so it’s all good. I’m dedicated to taking music as far as I can go with it. At some point it will become impossible to do both things and at that point I’ll transition to music full-time.
You released your debut album North by Northwest: Solid Ground in 2005. How would you describe the overall vibe of the album?
I’m a Gemini"¦like me, the album’s got two different personalities happening at the same time. On one hand, it’s a deeply soulful album with a “coming of age” vibe from the perspective of a musician finding his voice. On the other hand, it’s a hungry young emcee proving that he can spit with the best of ‘em. The album covers a wide range of different emotions and every track bangs.
In contrary to what’s hyped in hip hop land, there are hardly any guest appearances on the album. What’s the reason behind it?
North by Northwest is a very personal album. It’s a conversation with the listener about me and how I see the world. A lot of hip hop albums have too many guest spots and wind up having the feel of a compilation rather than a continuous piece of music or a work of art.
The bonus track “Always” will be featured on your sophomore album Dead Letter Perfect. How far is the album from being done and can you already lift a corner of the veil on song themes, production and guest appearances?
Actually, DLP is very close to completion. I’ve got about three more songs left to record. I always take my time crafting my solo albums the way a painter would take time painting a masterpiece. In my unbiased opinion I think it’s going to be a classic album. (laughs) The songs circle loosely around the central theme of the struggle to achieve perfection in everything we do in life. It’s about struggle and drive and the sacrifice that goes along with chasing your dreams. I brought Oddisee back in studio to do a lot of the production on this one in addition to some of the other producers from North by Northwest. I had to take it back to Chicago and get production from Panik from the Molemen on a joint too. As usual, the album won’t be centered around a bunch of guest features but I’ve got some new voices on there this time around that I know you’ll recognize.
What does the process of making a song look like for you? Do you first pen a song and find a matching beat afterwards, or vice versa?
I almost never write until I’ve got a beat for a song. I really try to dig into the music and find the core emotion and write from there. The cadence and drum patterns in the beat really influence the delivery and how I say what I say. Once in a while I’ll come up with song concepts in advance and use them when the right beat comes around. I usually write the chorus first and the rest of the song from there.
The album has been released on your own label, Wandering Soul. Are you the only artist signed to the label and what releases can we expect in the near future?
I guess you can say SoulStice is the flagship artist for Wandering Soul. It started with me because I needed a home for my music and I didn’t want to waste any time looking for a label that understood where I was trying to go with it. Wade Waters is the next act to come out on Wandering Soul. Wade Waters is me and a DC-artist, Haysoos. We’re nearing completion on the Wade Waters album and it’s a monster.
What made you decide to team up with Haysoos and what consequences will this collective project have for your solo career?
We’re almost done recording a Wade Waters album for release this fall. What I like about Wade Waters is that both Haysoos and myself are established and fully matured as solo artists. We’ve got a great vibe as a group, but can turn around and create great music as solo artists. So I would say that there are no negative consequences to my solo career. It just means I’ll be putting out twice as much music! I think Wandering Soul’s catch phrase should be “nothing but classics” because I think the Wade Waters album is gonna be a classic as well. The production is on par with any major label release coming out this year and is well beyond most independent releases. This is music that indie heads will love out the gate and commercial heads will learn to love very quickly.
How would you define Haysoos’ signature sound and how do you adapt both of your styles into Wade Waters?
Haysoos is a monster lyrically. He’s that cat that’ll take a rhyme scheme and twist it in five different directions in two lines and have you rewinding it to figure it all out. He’s hungry and he’s out to prove he’s one of the best. Like myself, I think that Soos makes music that’s got a level of consciousness to it, but you can play it for your 5-year old little cousin and she’ll dig it too. We’re both hungry and soulful with it, so our styles are a natural match.
You managed to build up a strong reputation for yourself. You created a buzz with your debut album, teamed up with Cuban Link, recently signed a distribution deal with Ryko"¦looks like things are going great. How far are you from where you want to be?
I appreciate that – things are definitely looking up. Sometimes I’m amazed at how far I’ve come because when I put my first release out in 2003 I had no idea what I was doing. I’ve learned a lot in the past few years. One thing I’ve learned is that you’re never done paying your dues. Even major label artists have to hit the streets and promote their albums, because they’ll get dropped if they don’t meet expectations in the sales department. Just because an album is on the shelf doesn’t mean people are necessarily going to buy it. So I perceive myself as being in a position to do big things if I work hard enough and put my heart and soul into it. I’m in a position now to make the music I love to make and reach people around the world with it. There’s nothing stopping me from accomplishing what I always thought I had the potential to accomplish. I gave it 100 percent and got to where I am and now I’m in a position to give it 1000 percent and really have it pay off.
What’s your opinion on the current state of hip-hop and what should be changed in order for it to progress?
Hip hop is at its best and worst all at the same time. I think that some of this past year’s releases were some of the all-time best but that a lot of the music coming out now is disappointing. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hip hop, I think that’s how it is in any genre. You expect some really good music and really bad music and that’s healthy. It means people are taking chances. Hip hop will be in trouble when artists stop taking chances and everything just sounds “alright.”
You’ll be doing a show in France during the summer and you’ll most likely visit some other European countries too. What can the European hip hop fans expect from a SoulStice show, what does it look like?
Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to rocking some stages over in Europe! At first, I just look like a guy on stage with a mic. But as soon as I start rhyming you know you’re in for a brand new experience. I’ve got a ton of energy on stage and it’s always contagious for the crowd. You may look up and see a guy with a mic, but once you hear the words and feel the music, it looks and feels like nothing you’ve seen before.
Any last comments or shout-outs?
Keep an eye out for SoulStice and Wandering Soul in Europe! There’ll be a Wade Waters mixtape in summer of 2006, a Wade Waters album in fall of 2006 and Dead Letter Perfect will drop after that. Live today and plan for tomorrow!
More info: http://www.wanderingsoul.com
