Wildstyle Magazine

Here we go with the first of five exclusive Kooley High artist profile interviews. I made them about two years ago. Sorry for not posting it earlier Rapsody! This is a very lengthy and interesting read. Make sure to download 9th Wonder Presents: RAPSODY REPLAY and keep supporting good music.

Name: Rapsody aka Rapdiddy aka Rap

I started out writing poetry. During the summer, when Def Poetry Jam would come on, I would just sit and fall in love with the spoken word. As well as, Mos Def hosting, he is one of my favorite artist.  So, we started the H2O (our student run hip hop organization) and I needed an alias. Rhapsody: poetry spoken with great emotion. And thats how I got the name. That what hip hop is, poetry spoken with emotion.

Rapdiddy came while I was writing a verse for one of our songs. It just kind of came out.  ’’ Rapdiddy ease thru…its RAPDIDDY’’  Foolery took the song to 9th for a listen and the next couple of times I went to record with him, I would get in the booth and he’d say, ’’Now say ’ ITS RAPDIDDY’ like ya did on that Fooelry joint“. Lol! There ya go.

Age: 25 (08)

Im an 80s baaaby! Thank God for that, too!!! I just did make into the ’’golden era’’ of hip hop! 9th has a theory that most of the 24 and under crowd are lost if they didnt have any older siblings or extended family to pass the torch. Thats why we arent easily impressed with gimmick rap. In the 90s you had to be DOPE to get on! Thats why it was the golden era. Cats were just nice! And you had cassettes in the early part. So, you had to have a good songs. Because there was no ’’skipping’’ records on the cassette jams. They had to be dope beginning to end! I had three older sisters and older cousins who were always playing the jams when I was growing up! And, my dad loved music, too! I am in LOVE with Luther Vandross and Michael Jackson because we would watch videos together and record them on VHS! You could ALWAYS find me sitting on the floor, Indian style, glued to Video Soul, YO! MTV RAPS, Motown 25th Anniversary…..all that!!! I LOVE MUSIC!!!!!!

Hometown: Snow Hill, North Carolina

Very small country town. But, I think im a city girl at heart! I love NY! Mainly because there is so much culture there, and art! It has been in me to do music since I was 5 and imitating Michael Jackson! I cant sing to save my life, tho! Lol! But, in small country towns, when I was growing up, music isnt always the thing to do. I was informed about careers as a doctor, lawyer, veternarian, and accountant because thats what my sister went to school for.

So, when I told my family I wanted to do music, they were like, ’’yeah, ok’’. I was still in school, so I guess they let me have ’’fun’’ with it. But, I didnt stop. Its not that they dont think Im talented, its just they dont know anyone who made a living off music, especially rapping! Youre parents wanna see you get a good job and not struggle like they did. But, they’re coming around. Lol! My mama tells me when she lends me money (because we’re some starving artist) that Im going to have to pay here back when I start making some money. We’re trying mama!! Lol!! I love my family more than anything!!!!!

Profession: Hip Hop Artist / Sales associate

Rapping isnt paying the bills like Id like it to. So, I have to push these Nikes, Jordans, Timberlands, Adidas, New Balances, and other fly kicks on the side! I can’t wait until I can QUIT! WHEW! Lol!

Crew: Kooley High / The Academy / M.E.C.C.A. / Its  A Wonderful World

’’1, 2, 3, the crew is called Kooley“, Charlie Smarts, Tab-One, Foolery, Sinopsis, Ill Digitz,
Mecca is the Kooley High label featuring Halo de NY emcee, Kash on the beats,  Inflowential the NC roots like band. The Academy is like the 2008 and beyond Justus League featuring E. Jones, M1 Platoon, Actual Proof, Tee Three, Carlitta Durand, Young Swift, and more rappers, producers and singers. Its A Wonderful World is the 9th Wonder label Im on. My manager is Vince Clark, the best manager everrrrr.

Website: myspace.com/rapsodymusic and myspace.com/kooleyhigh and kooleyhigh.com

Rapping since: The summer of 2005. Its going on four years now. Kooley started a hip hop organizaton, H2O, to bring hip hop back to campus, North Carolina State University. Because the hip hop scene was stale! I believe one year for homecoming we had a country artist to headline the big concert. What??? So, we would host rap battles, and free shows on the yard. One summer we decided to put together and H2O compilation for fun. And, this is when I wrote and recorded my first two songs, ’’The Life’’ and ’’WANNA BE CLOSE ft TAB-ONE’’. I wouldnt play those for yall today. But, 9th came by and listened to the compliation and gave the group good feedback. Shortly after, we became Kooley High.

Releases: THE HIGH LIFE, LP by Kooley High, ONE DAY the movie featuring Kooley High and directed by NAPOLEAN WRIGHT, Prelude to THE RETURN OF THE B-GIRL the Rapsody mixtape, THE RETURN OF THE B-GIRL the Rapsody LP, THE TABLOIDS by Tab-One, THE TITLE by Charlie Smarts and Halo, KASH POINTS by Kash, THE  WONDER YEARS by 9th Wonder

Wow! We have jams coming. The most important is ’’THE HIGH LIFE’’. Kooley Highs debut album set to be released August 2009. A fifteen track collage of beats, rhymes, and life! With production from Foolery, Sinopsis, and 9th Wonder and guest appearances from Halo of MECCA records, Median of the Justus League, and Carlitta Durand the fenale voice behind Little Brother hits.

On January 24,2009 the Kooley High documentary ’’ONE DAY’’ will be available to watch. A day in the life of Kooley High outside of the music directed by Napolean Wright of MECCA Records.

I have two solo ventures in the works.  The prelude to the Return of the B-Girl is the mixtape soon to be available for download.  The Return of the B-Girl the album will be done by spring of 2009, no release date.  Along with solo ventures from Tab-One, Charlie Smarts, Kash, and Halo. Its going DOWN!!!!

Also, keep a ear out for 9th Wonder’s new album, THE WONDER YEARS. 9thwonder.com

Featured on: The Dream Merchant interludes and The Wonder Years by 9th Wonder. All Kooley projects, Raleigh’s Finest mixtape, The Summer Sessions EP, and The High Life LP.

Influences: LAURYN HILL above all! She is so talented and her music is fun, soulful, and true! There is really no need to say because we all know why. But, SHE is one of the greatest artist of all time and I hope to follow in her foot steps. JAY-Z! One of the greatest hip hop artist of all time! His flow and delivery are nuts. When 9th heard my first songs on the H2O compliation heghave me homework to help me get better. He had Foolery binig me to Missy Anne’s (where THE LISTENING by Little Brother was recorded) for a meeting. He heard something in me and told me to listen to THE BLACK ALBUM again and study his flow and how he said his words, along with TRIBE CALLED QUEST and CYPRESS HILL. ERYKAH BADU is another one of my influences.

I remember one day I was coming home from work and I called 9th to see if he was at the studio. I was trying to get some work in. He happened to be in New York shooting the BET Rap City episode wth Talib Kweli and Erykah Badu. So, he (9th) goes, ’’hold on’’ and I hear him in the background say, ’’this is one of my artist, Rapsody’’. So, they get on the phone and Im talking, ’’hey, how are you..etc’’ and I finally say, ‚’’Im sorry, but who am I talking to?’’ and they say, ’’ERYKAH’’. Now at this time I didnt know why 9th was in NY and who he was with. But, he had an assistant at the time who’s name was ERICA, too, but this didnt sound like her. So, I say, ’’Erykah, who’’. And, before she could answer it clicked and I said, ’’UH! OOOOOOOOOO ERYKAH BUUUUDU (i said it like that the country way), and she says, ’’NO, Erykah BAAA’DU’’. And I just fall out in laughter and apologize, and Im just shocked.  But, she told me to DO ME AND NOT LET ANYONE STOP ME, NOT EVEN ME’’. And, I have never forgetten that and I never will. I live by that!

But, not to go on and on. I also dig, ANDREA 3000, MOS DEF, COMMON, KANYE WEST, MC LYTE, QUEEN LATIFAH, THE FUGEES, MARY J BLIGE, LITTLE BROTHER….I can go on for days. But, that 90s era is what influenced me in a nut shell!! Fun, skillful, jams!

One of your lines: ’’I raise blood pressure like the salt on the cracker’’ from THE FLOW

It is saying I want you to get excited about the return of a B-Girl. A female rapper breed from the 90s female movement. Anticapte the return so it excites you to the point of rapid pounding in ya chest. Lol!

Independent vs. Major: INDEPENDENT!

The rise of the indie artist is the best route to go these days. Major labels are crumbling as we speak. I think because they made it more about the money than the music. They invest in gimmicks more than the skill of the artist. Which means the records have maybe 1 to 3 hot songs, including the single, and thats it. So, albums arent selling like they once did (along with the impact of the internet and ipod).

Artist on major labels dont have control over their music like they once did. Independent gives you that control back. The marketing may not be as good widespreed and far reaching, but I was told the music will sell itself. If you get it out there and get people talking about and the DJs spinning it, everything will fall into place. Its not easy, as we are finding out, but its not super hard either. Make good music and go with the flow, and network. You get out of music what you put into it!

(click on the cover to download “9th Wonder Presents: RAPSODY REPLAY”)

Studio vs. Stage: Both for different reasons. But, if I HAD to pick one, it would be the stage. One the stage the audience, your fans, get to see the emotion, energy, fun, and love of the song. You get to tell youre story face to face and get their reaction. Shows are always nuts! You see the impact your music has on people.

But, on a nother note the studio is where the magic happens. Where we get together, hang out, JOKE AROUND ALL THE TIME!!, and just kick it. Where all our feelings and emotions and creativity come out. Its a good process. I love it!

Battles: We (Sinopsis and myself) have joke battles. And, we have music battles with 9th. Sin and I battle on black jokes. One of my favorites is, ’’you so black when you go wash your hands you make coffee’’. Lol! And, at times 9th will get all the producers, rappers together and have beat and song competitions. Its fun and we get a lot of work in when its a competition.

I remember the first one. There was one producer and one rapper grouped together. It didnt matter if you were part of Kooley, M1 Platoon, Actual Proof. They were just paired however. We all cramed in the studio at Central, about 30 people, 5 groups, 5 jams. All the jams were so hot, no one could pick a winner. Good fun competition and makes you better as an artist, too!

Freestyles: I freestyle for fun. I try to focus more on my writing as an artist. Tab-One is the illest freestyler out of the group. Long ago, when we were just kickin it in Digitz’s basement we had the round robin of freestyles. About 7 rappers, Digitz on the wheels of steel, just gettin it in having fun. Well, Tab kicked a freestyle that lasted about 5 mintues straight.  And, it all made sense!! Dope! A yessa yes yall! Some of the freestyle sessions can be found on youtube at MECCArecords. Go check it out!

Mcing: Its an art form. Our creative spoken way of expressing ouerselves. I would be mesmerized listening to Lauryn, Jay, Nas, Tribe, Dre, Snoop, Lyte, De La, and on and on just spittin.  Like, how do they do that? It is beautiful. One of my favorite lines from Ms. Hill is, ‚’through all my logic and my theory, I add a mutha****er so you igorant n****a’s hear me.’’  That one line is as deep as the ocean, and as wide as the universe. Emcees are artist painting pictures for the world to see through lyric. You have to respect their skill, mcing.

B-Boying: Whenever we throw a Kooley show, party, or Scion rolls through NC,  the b-boys and girls are never far behind. It brings this raw feel of nostalgia to you. The emcees, deejays and b-boys are in the place to be. You see cats having fun with the music, break beats, doing their thing. Its dope to see who as the freshest moves.

Writing(graffiti): It makes me think of our first H2O jumoff we had by the Tunnel of Free Expression. We all went to NC State, in Raleigh NC. There was this tunnel the students walked through to get from the dorms to the classes, library, and anything else on that side of campus. The tunnel was filled from top, bottom and side to side with graffiti. Frats and Soro’s leaving their mark, clubs, and just cats who loved to draw words and pics because they were just nice with it. Well, the first jump off we had was some us performing, Digitz playing music, bboys and girls hitting the card bord, and freestyling to bring a little fun to campus. There were the two graffers that did this big mural of a mc and dj and they wrote out H2O real big for us. I dig it!!

Djing: One of the most important elements in hip hop for the emcee, b-boys/girls, and the partaaaay! Back in the day djs woud battle and see who had the best record the other djs didnt have. That need to be different I fill is missing today in mainstream. When somebody does something that seems to excite the audience, other artist follow suit. We need to bring that need to be different back to mainstream. Bad artist copy, good artist steal.

Djing also makes me think of Kool Herc. The creator of djing and the break. From Sedgwick to the park, he gave the kids something to do other than gang violence, party.

Hip-Hop: Reinventing and creating. Whether its style, slang, flow, beats. Making something yours. Bridging the gap between the young and old, white and black, Americans and the japanese, etcerta. Hip hop is a universal language like love. Kooley High is Hip Hop.

Internet: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Lol! The internet is good because it makes the worlds a lot smaller. You can market and connect with anyone in the world with a couple clicks. It introduces you to a whole new audience, a lot faster than back in the day.

The bad and ugly though would be in regards to the decline of record sales. Because of itunes, and ipods, and napster, and lime wire no ones buys cds like the used to. They can just buy a song if they wanted to, or steal it. But, could the decline in record sales also be because good albums are lost in translation? Because you buy a record and it only has one to three good songs?

Media: I like CNN. It the past I’ve felt like the media gave hip hop a bad wrap. Only showed one dimension of hip hop. Like Oprah, for instance. She had this whole segmant about the negatives of hip hop music, killing, misogyny, drugs the media. These are all things the media tends to focus on. This is spoken poetry. Artist speak about what they go through everyday in life. Why not figure out ways to help. Tupac talked about ’’killing the police’’ because they were and are, crooked cops who pray on and murder young black men because they are black. He was speaking on how the situation made him feel.

And, there is so much postive hip hop out. Oprah didnt do a segment on all the artist like Common. She didnt do a segment on how heavy metal music affects some kids negatively. Mainly, because hip hop is black music and the media only focused on the negative.

But, these days. Its the hip hop babies who are running the country. Take our President-elect, Barack Obama, he listens to the Fugees and Jay-Z! Thats what I talking about! Hip hip is universal and deep. Today, you have hip hop not just on a entertaiment level, but a political level. The hip hop community is relevant and artist are leaders in this new age. So, the media I watch has opened its doors to hip hop. And, we’re here now! We’re not going ANYWHERE!

Politics: *I kinda touched on it in the above statement.*

Love: ’’I met this girl when I was ten years old, and what I love most she had so much soul“ – Common Sense

I am IN LOVE with music. Today, (well, for the past two weeks rather) I am having a serious Lauryn Hill withdrawal. So, I get on youtube and just check all the live shows shes done, videos, fugees videos, everything! I was watching one in particular, MTV Unplugged, when she was singing, ’’I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind“, and it touches my soul.  Music is a release of this energy you hold. Whether its love, pain, happiness, fun, you release it. And, the listner feels it! I feel it. Its my theorapy. Its the soundtrack of my life. Love from the opposite sex isnt always trustworth and dependent. But, I can depend on music. I can trust music. Therefore, I love music! The only things I love more than music is family, and God, they are my ’’Peace of mind’’.

Fans: We dont know what we’d do without ya! Come get ’’HIGH’’ with us!! We love you!

Money: Its hard out here for a peep! Lol! The term ’’starvin artist’’ is for REAL! But, its not for the money we do this music, its because we love it. If it was for the money, we wouldnt def be dong some other form of music. You know, something ’’catchy and dumbed the hell down’’.

Drugs: ’’I dont puff so I always have my breath’’ -  Lauryn Hill

I dont do drugs at all! Lol!

Idols and Heroes: My parents are my heros. 9th Wonder is my hero. Lauryn Hill is my inspirtation, my star, my icon, in a ungodly form.

5 Favorite Rap songs: These are my five favorites rap songs for this week.  My favorite songs change as the days the week change.  I love music so much, I cant just do top five. Lol! I have a too many top fives.

1. In My Lifetime Remix–Jay-Z
2. Nas is Like – Nas
3. One More Chance – Notoriouse BIG
4. Keep Ya Head Up – 2 Pac
5. Passing Me By – Pharcyde

5 Favorite Rap albums: These are in no partiuclar order.

1. Ready 2 Die – Notorious BIG
2. Reasonable Doubt – Jay-Z
3. Illmatic – Nas
4. The Listening -  Little Brother
5. The Score -  The Fugees

Top 5 songs of any music genre: Lauryn will always be number one, but the rest change.  So, these are for the week. Shout out to all my ladies!!!

1. Every song on the Miseducation
2. Killing Me Softly – The Fugees
3. Cleva – Erykah Badu
4. U.N.I.T.Y – Queen Latifah
5. Cold Rock a Party – MC Lyte
6. Uknowhowwedo – Bahamadia

Top 5 Lps of any music genre:

Shout out to my sistahs! I have a million albums I love, but Imma take this time to pay homage to my sistahs kickin it!  Female hip hop artist cateogory has been taken out of awards show.  We gotta take it back!!!!!

1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill
2. Mama’s Gun – Erykah Badu
3. Whats the 411? -  Mary J Blige
4. Kollage – Bahamadia
5. I Am Woman – MC Lyte
6. Black Reign – Queen Latifah

Favorite drink: I like ameretto sours, a lil weak, because they’re sweet! I dont drink Soda’s unless I have an upset stomach. Im diggin ’’Simply Lemonade“ Lemonade, Cran-apple juice, and pink lemonade Kool-Aid!

Favorite food: Soul Food! BBQ chicken, cabbage, homemade baked mac’n cheese, and sweet tea! But, if I cant have that I dig italian food,  and Bojangles!!

Favorite sneakers: Im a sneaker head! Yessa Yes! Right now, Im diggin the Retro Jordan 13s blk and red, Nike dunks, wheat Timberlandands, the the Creative Recreation sneaks, and the Run Athletic high top Legacy Top Lux and Back N the Day jams.

Favorite movies, actors:

Actors:
Cicley Tyson, Phylicia Rashad, Ruby Dee, Taraji  P. Henson, Will Smith, Don Cheadle, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Harry Belafonte, Richard Pryor, Sidney Poitier, Angela Bassett, Derrick Luke, Regina King, Mos Def, Vince Vaughn,

Movies: (There are so many)
All Spike Lee Joints, All the Black classics (Boyz N the Hood, Poetic Justice, Juice, Menace to Society, Friday, Brown Suga etc) , Legends of the Fall, Ghost Dad, Brown Sugar, The Sandlot, Home Alone, All Richard Pryor Joints….etc etc etc

Favorite sports, players:

Basketball is de ulitamite sport! Lol! My players are Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Grant Hill. My favorite teams are Duke & State (college) and LAKERS (NBA)!!!!

My favorite football squads are Redskins, Saints, and the Panters.

Advice: Be patient and doing this music is not easy. But, work hard and never let go of your dreams!  Network as much as possible!!!

Shout outs and props:

Shout out to the Evans family! Grandaddy Im workin on what I promised you we’d get! Lol! To my big brother, 9th Wonder de Great. They aren’t ready for the Wonder Years! Its going to be NUTS, I tell ya! Lol! Peace and love to my manager, Vince aka V-12! Shout out to E. Jones, Maya and Larisha of the Jaxton Creative Group, Alleis, and The Academy: Q, M1 Platoon, D. Mal, Actual Proof, Tee Three, and Carlitta Durand!  Shouts to my cousins chillin in de Bronx, Penny, Sheldon, and Danny-boy! And, peace and love to North Carolina and the hip hop lovers all around the world!!!!