Eli Gen – Q&A Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?
I’m Eli Gen, a rapper born in Chicago (IL), but I’m currently living in a town a few hours south of Chicago called Carbondale. I’ve been writing music & shit like that since I was in 8th grade; Back then everyone thought the idea of me becoming an artist was crazy hahaha.
What influences you in making Hip Hop?
Everything influences me in some way, which is a weird thing to say.. If I’m having a good day I’ll be eager to relay that feeling into a song or two; If I’m having a shitty day I’ll end up making a song w/ a more depressing tone than I would usually. I find inspiration in anything that makes me think of something new when I’m making music.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
The thing about my music that I feel separates me from other rappers is that I have my own sound; you can’t find an artist that sounds like me. I think that that’s a characteristic in making music that’s been lost for a while now. When I’m making a song I’m always thinking “Do I like this? What’s the vision I’m trying to get across to the listener? How do I make it so that they listen to this more than once?” See I’m looking forward to branching out past the genre of hip hop. I don’t really consider myself a rapper, & I’m starting to try out more ideas that’ll set me apart from not only other rappers in my genre, but other rappers I’m associated with as well.
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
The only collaborations I’ve made public are the ones that I’ve made with members of my collective Good Villain$: $emaj Roc, Stormy English, Cameraman Drake, & Eldeve, who have each played a role in making Crash Bandicoot. Look out for more collabs from me and the homies, as well as features [from other artists] that I’m betting will come as a surprise.
Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Underground Hip Hop [to me] is a label/category for any hip hop artist who hasn’t made it; All the underdogs, underrated artists, and criticized music visionaries in the world have been put under this label at some point.
Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?
Some of the producers I look to for influence are MF Doom, 9th Wonder, Travi$ Scott, and Pete Rock. I’ve got to include Yung Chop in that list too, that man creates gold every time he touches a beatpad. Of course I can’t forget the GoodVillain$ producer Eldeve, who’s been making beats for a lot of artists for a while now. I’ve produced a few of my own beats, as well as gotten beats from producers along the lines of BitoyBeatz, Thovo, & Omito (S/O to them).
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
I just released my first mixtape titled Crash Bandicoot; Everyone should go check that out. There’s a song on there for everybody.
Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of CRASH BANDICOOT? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover.
While I was making Crash Bandicoot I was also making a story. If you were to listen to Crash Bandicoot, start to finish, you can tell that I was spending a lot of time making a plotline for the tape. I’m not going to tell you what that is because that would defeat the purpose of listening to the music. All I’ve got to say is that the cover art goes w/ the story, and the story will progress w/ as I release more and more material, so be on the look out.
Where can we find your music and info?
You can find me on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/eli-gen
& Audiomack: http://www.audiomack.com/album/eli-gen/crash-bandicoot-1 , but if you’re really in a hurry to know wtf Crash Bandicoot is, you can just search “Eli Gen Crash Bandicoot” on google.
Any shout outs?
S/o to everyone who had anything to do with making this project. It means a lot to me, whether people hated or supported, s/o to you. Also s/o to Ughh blog for giving me this opportunity
