Q&A With Hip Hop Artist King Khazm
Yo King Khazm!! We are blessed to be able to get exposed to your great Hip Hop music!! One of our main contributors BOOM really loves your new album “Diaries of a Mad” and reviewed it, giving it 8/10! Please tell us a bit about yourself? How long have you been making Hip Hop!
Bless up and much thanks!
I’m a Seattle born emcee, music producer, visual artist and community organizer who started making noise in the local scene with a Hip Hop crew I co-founded in 1995 called MAD Krew. We evolved from a graffiti and Hip Hop crew to a multimedia company and indie label. Our first big breakout was with a Northwest Hip Hop documentary we produced called “Enter the Madness” in the late 90s which became a nationally renown cult classic in the Hip Hop underground. From there we produced a live television show called “Hip Hop 101 TV” which became a huge platform for exposing local and national artists throughout the Pacific Northwest on local cable which aired from 1999-2009.
Much of the community organizing and activism work began also in the late 90s and would expand with my involvement with the Zulu Nation. In 2004 I co-founded 206 Zulu and collectively we began to use Hip Hop elements as a lens to unify, educate and empower communities, hosting events and festivals, classes in public schools, workshops in juvenile detention centers, charitable benefits, etc. In 2005 I co-founded a weekly radio show called Zulu Radio on KBCS 91.3 FM which still broadcasts to this day. Around 2009, we moved our base of operations to Washington Hall, and began to manage the 110 year old beautifully restored 700 capacity venue and community space.
As for the music, I started producing for local cats in the late 90s/early 2000s and really started building a buzz as an emcee with a rap group called Cyphalliance that debuted in 2003. Over the years, I’ve had a chance to work with alot of extremely talented people including Gabriel Teodros, Suntonio Bandanaz, DJ Scene, Abstract Rude, Jake One, Vitamin D and many others. In 2009, I linked up with my man Dume41 and we merged our labels to form a newly revamped Fresh Chopped Beats. That’s pretty much it- I’ve been rocking ever since and been mad fortunate to perform all around the country and world with my music.
Tell us about the underground Hip Hop scene out there in Seattle? Is it growing or is it stagnant! What is you take on this…
Seattle and the whole Northwest region has a Hip Hop scene that’s been thriving since the early 80s and has always been rich with incredible talent. Being that we are so isolated from the rest of the country and music industry pockets, it’s become sort of incubator. The rolling grey clouds and rain keep us insulated in our respective labs. Although the Northwest Hip Hop scene might be somewhat under the radar minus Sir Mix-a-Lot and Macklemore as for the mainstream, there are tons of artists who’re making national and international waves. Just a small sample includes artists like Shabazz Palaces, Raz Simone, Stas Thee Boss, Gifted Gab, producers like Jake One, Vitamin D, Bean One, djs like Supreme La Roc, DJ Scene and dance crews like Massive Monkees and Circle of Fire. That’s just the tip of the iceberg and the community is continuing to expand and evolve over the years.
Let’s face it, social media since 2015 has grown tremendously, especially IG!!! Tell us how is your IG grind looking, and how have you been able to keep up with the high demand on social media?
To be honest, it’s a challenge to keep up with everything. Thankfully I have a dope team that helps keep things sane and moving forward. I like to keep it organic and just build it naturally.
Please breakdown the creative process of your album “Diaries of a Mad”?
I had originally produced, written and recorded much of “Diaries of a MAD” when I was in the hospital and bedridden for over 6 months. It was sort of autobiographical piece that touched on many intersections throughout my life. After I got out, I dropped a “Preludes: Diaries of a MAD” vinyl and was going to follow it up with the full length. As fate would have it other projects became a priority and it wasn’t until over ten years later that it was released. Turns out I was low-key having trouble letting it go into the universe as it was a very personal and introspective project. In order to set the climate and context, with the strength of Director Olisa Enrico, I created a Hip Hop theater show that incorporated acting, performances, dance choreography, special lighting, projected videos, traditional Japanese instrumentation, a samurai scene and more. That was the first time doing a theater show of that magnitude and the run was a huge success.
How often do you perform live?? Any indie DIY tours in the works?
I’m more about quality than quantity, so I tend to focus on less shows with more better production value. There is a special tour in the works however we haven’t made any announcements for that yet. I can say that we’ve secured sponsorship for the “Diaries of a MAD” theater show and will be bringing it back in 2019!
How do you feel about the whole XAN & LEAN trend these kids nowadays are on!!!..LOL??? Be honest, do you use some of that stuff??..LOL
I’m good with all that stuff man. I know we all got our demons and stuff to deal with- and I’m far from perfect- but glorifying them kind of things and just the overall ignorance in the music isn’t really helping the culture. Not everything has to be super lyrical and positive, but cats should be a bit more cognitive on how their influence shapes others. Alot of peeps out here ODing and dying unnecessarily. We gotta stop this.
What you got cooking next? Anything special for late 2018!!??
Right now we gearing up to release a new album from Afu Ra (of Gangstarr Foundation) called “Mazterchef”. A true school classic, I think yall will enjoy. Got some dope features as well including Jeru the Damaja, Big Shug, Sizzla and more. I was honored to produce a joint for Afu featuring Sadat X and Sean Price which is bananas.
Also be on the look out for the next King Khazm record, produced entirely by this cat who’s starting to make noise out of Seattle named Third Eye Bling- he’s a beast and I’m sure you’ll be hearing alot more about him in the near future. The album’s title is not finalized, but it is finished and in the post production phase. Alot of dope features on this one as well including Kurtis Blow, Percee P, Myka9, Moka Only, Julie-C and more!
Our most popular question, what is your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Your don’t have to be watered down. You can be yourself, whoever you are. Not everything is surface level and sometimes you have to dig deep to find the treasure. To be underground is to be rooted. My name is Khazm, because like a chasm, it’s my life mission to break open the ground to expose the underground!
Where can fans find your music? Drop all links!!
www.FreshChoppedBeats.com
www.KingKhazm.com
www.facebook.com/kingkhazm
www.instagram.com/kingkhazm
Any Shout Outs??
Peace to all the real heads out there keepin it true school! Shout out to all my Zulu family worldwide. Much love and appreciation to everyone who’s supported or shown love over the years!
