Awesome Nobody – Q&A Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?
I’m the scientist of Rap! I mean that in a literal sense. I’m a full time Microbiologist working for the Worlds largest Auditing, Testing, and Inspection company by day and underground lyricist, artist, and song writer by night. Not that it gives me any other level of credibility, its just something I think a lot of other artists aren’t willing to admit! I have a job I go to everyday and I also do GOOD music.
As far as where I’m from, I grew up in Neptune, NJ, right next to Asbury Park about 45 minutes south of NYC and 45 mins East of Philly. I grew up into sports like track and basketball but excelled in academics. Aside from school and sports I’ve always had a passion for music, hip hop and lyrics. Growing up I was always the kid walking around quoting rhymes over and over again all day.
Personally, I’m a big believer in empowerment and knowledge as well as lyricism and intelligence and I try to portray that in my music. There’s always some sort of structure or consciousness to my BARS because I grew up in the era when people didn’t just rap, they were saying something.
As far as “How long have I been rapping”, well I’ve always rapped, it was just recently I doubled back to make a honest attempt at it. When I say “Attempt” I mean recording at real studios, working with real producers, not just the homies and doing shows in front of crowds larger than 10 people with some sort of audition process to it and promotion behind it.
What influences you in making Hip Hop?
My musical influences were 90’s rap, Pop Culture movies, and Music Television.
I’ve been a Wu-Tang head for about as long as I could remember, GZA’s “Liquid Swords” album was the first album I ever purchased myself and as far as I’m concerned its a classic and changed my life! Other influences are 90’s hip hop, from Jay-z , to De La Soul to Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Cormega, Tracy Lee, Boot Camp, Killah Priest, other wu-tang members etc. My list of top 5 MC’s of all time is actually crazy, it includes Jay-z, Biggie, Redman, Lupe Fiasco, and Fabolous. People always get mad at me but its my Top 5. These are the ones that I listen to and get inspired from and you gotta respect my right to my own opinion. its cool if yours is different.
Other musical influences was BET’s “The Basement” from 1995 to 1997. I feel like 1997 was the last “REAL” year for Rap/Hip Hop and for some reason this time period is when I really embraced music and started studying lyrics and songs. I used to listed not music in my room for no joke, 3-4 hours every day! just sitting upstair with my headphones on. I feel like the Basement showed me a lot when it came to what goes into song writing, artist development, and lyricism.
I’m also a huge jay-z fan but that phase came later. I picked up on Jay-z late and the first album I got was Vol. 1. which most fans say wasn’t his best, put it was a classic to me.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
I consider myself to be more of a song writer and artist than a freestyler or 16 spitter. Of course growing up we used to freestyle all day at school,but I feel like I have the Jay-z effect when it comes to rhyming. Not comparing myself to him but, that when I hear a beat, I start nodding my head, silently coming up with lyrics then posses the ability to turn that into a dope song.
As far as what separates me from other artists is my content and flow! The only way to describe it is I’m just different! My sentence structure, my voice, and my content is all what I see other rappers just don’t do it like me. I feel like I bring a conscious backpack feel to the music field, but still bring a cool, laid back, top shelf lyrical feel. I’ve done songs that have messages and other song’s that people can listen and vibe out to. I’m all about the vibe when it comes to music.
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
I am apart of a local group in NJ called “Loe Bujit”, (yeah its spelled like that) and last year we dropped a mix tape on datpiff.com, under the same name. But as of right now I work with mostly with local artists I’ve know for awhile and producers. As far as features, I don’t do a lot of features besides my Loe Bujit team because I’m developing myself as an individual artist right now, but if you check the mix tape I have a lot with them.
Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Underground hip hop to me doesn’t have to be grimy beats and back shattering lyrics, I feel like any musician making quality music, doing shows at small venues, and just trying to be heard is what the definition of “Underground Hip Hop” is. I’ve been performing and doing shows for consistently for about 3 summers now, getting my name out there and dropping singles to stay current and changing my sound from hardcore grimy beats to more of a popular sound, but I still consider that to be Hip Hop. Also Hip hop is about everybody who embraces the culture, not just about one nice MC who spits fire. If we all come together and represent the culture in a safe setting, where we can all participate and share our take on the culture, that’s Hip Hop!
Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?
As far as production I like a lot underground/ up-and-coming producers like Go Grizzly, Black Metaphor, Black Milk, illmind, Jahil Beats, I am tony Trouble, Teddy Roxpin, Caridac, Future is Fabe, and my in house producer Sware da God (@hihunnyimhome). When I hear beats by these producers I get really inspired, its almost like the beat is talking to me and from there I come up with a direction I want to take the song and manifest that into reality, sorta magic if you will.
When it comes to my production, I work with Sware da God and use a lot of his beats. If I don’t work with him, there’s some other NJ people that have good beats as well, but I’m always open if anyone wants to send me some beats.
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
I just put out the album “Awesome Intentions”and I’m just letting that breathe. No rush to get into anything else. I’m working on an upcoming EP, but no title as of yet.
Besides recording, my focus is doing shows right now. My goal is 5-10 shows this summer and so far I have 4 in. June I’m doing my own showcase in NJ at the Blue Room and by that time it will be like 8 shows in, but I’m still working the details out with that. So stay tuned. Other than my own show hopefully I get a open slot or some stage time at AC3 in the fall and SXSW next March. Events like those are always important for upcoming artists to get their name out there and buzz going.
Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of Awesome Nobody Project? Also/ tell us a little bit about the concept and idea behind your Album/Mixtape Cover Art.
Well, Awesome….Thats just part of the name…I give em the “Awe” plus the “Some” then back to being AWESOME!! The name sorta chose me, I did’t really chose it. The “Awe” in Awesome is defined as the inspiration the listener gets from listening to the lyrics….the shock value if you will and the “Some” defined as the sum of everything thing else that goes into being a good artist…. talent, charisma, charm, and lyrical skill.
When it came to the cover art I worked with the graphic designer (@sketchvet) to develop something that was the embodiment of more than music or man….something that was truly amazing and we came up with the “Awesome Nobody” logo with the space background. This represents consciousness above reality and sorta mystical and Awesome at the sometime.
Awesome is my self proclaimed attribute and short for “Awesome Nobody”. This comes from me the phrase I use stating “I’m Somebody Awesome, but Nobody Special”! I use this term “Awesome” because I’m very blessed and talented person, an “Awesome Individual” if you will, who got to experience a lot at a young age. This is the same principle behind the “the Anonymous Nobody” used by De La Soul that states No egos, no seniority, no bosses, just a group of equal ‘nobodies’ working towards one goal; making music. They also state the Term Nobody meaning a silent champion or brave individual “a nobody” that steps in to save the day who does so for the cause not because! When you use this metaphor in the industry its applicable because there are so many artists how do you make a name for yourself, in essence your a nobody, but if you embrace that its actually a strength that can be used with great leverage!
Where can we find your music and info?
You can find my music on sound cloud, my twitter and my artiste card electronic press kit.
https://twitter.com/awesomenobdy
http://artistecard.com/AwesomeNobody
Any shout outs?
I want to thank anyone who took the time to listen to my songs, watch my videos, or stand through a performance of mine. Being an Artist is a dream, I’m trying to turn into reality and I just want to say I appreciate anyone that supports that!!
Shout out to #loebujit, Central Jersey, Neptune, Asbury Park, and all the upcoming rappers and producers from there. JERSEY IS IN THE BUILDING!!!!
