M.I.S.T.R.O (Fort Worth, TX) – Q&A Interview

1-Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?

Austin, TX The Live Music Capital of the World. I grew up wanting to go the NBA because of my love for basketball but Austin is where I developed a love for writing & music & that’s where I call home even though I currently live in Fort Worth, TX. The very 1st song I recorded was called “Fresh” with 2 of my cousins in 2006 but I didn’t begin a steady stream of recording for myself until 2011.

2-What influences you in making Hip Hop?

Life. Just life in general, from the lessons I learn on a day to day basis to various ups & downs of finding out who you are while managing to tell my own story at the same time.

3-Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?

I take major pride in quality over quantity. The reason the landscape of todays music is so overpopulated in my opinion in Hip-Hop is because a good portion of the people on the outside looking in don’t believe they can’t rap because the standards are so low. If you take basketball for example when you watch LeBron James play there’s a “Wow” factor that makes you question how he makes all of these unbelievable plays and some people are deterred because they realize that it’s a certain skill level required to be in the NBA let alone that great & that doesn’t exist in Hip-Hop. I want to restore that feeling. I want to restore the respect being a rapper used to have because people knew you had a unique talent. My music serves to represent an art form that takes years to master & because I respect the culture of Hip-Hop so much I refuse to do anything other than put my best foot forward every time I put the headphones on & step behind the mic. When my career is over I want fans to remember me as if not THE best one of the best there ever was.

4-Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?

Honestly, I haven’t done many collaborations outside of my circle of people like Killa Kam, Chrome Rome, & WonderBoi all of which are on my mixtape “Rise & Shine”. I’ve been approached to collab with some local artists & I personally only like to collab if it makes sense meaning the song can marry both of our styles on record but I’m open to collab with anybody. As far as who I would like to collab with definitely Big K.R.I.T, Kendrick Lamar, Jeezy, & my dream collaboration would be to get a song done with the legendary OutKast & have both members actually be in the studio with me because Andre 3000 is my favorite rapper & I’ve derived my style from him but as a whole the list of people I want to work with is a mile long.

5-Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?

Underground Hip-Hop to me means raw & uncut. It doesn’t have the gloss & the machine that mainstream Hip-Hop does. It’s more pure in terms of the artist is the dictator of the content, sound & direction of the music with major labels it has to be approved to an extent because other peoples jobs are on the line & the main purpose of mainstream music is to generate money & sales & not so much on how the music impacts the fans lives & making the best music possible. That’s what makes the underground Hip-Hop scene special.

6-Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production?  And who would you like to work with?

Production wise I love music. The feeling I get from live drums, or live guitars & horns inspires me to write quicker & deeper more often than a beat that was digitally programmed. Nothing against the digital way at all because you have an unlimited sound bed to choose from to make something completely original but I just love the sound & the rich feel I get from live music. I don’t have any one set person that handles the majority of my production it comes from various people I meet or are suggested to by somebody I know if I feel they compliment my style I have beats from Soundclick producers like SuperStar O & Euphoria I basically search everywhere & anywhere for great production. I would love to work with Pharrell I admire his ability to be a chameleon & really make any kind of sound you want, Timbaland is a legend & still a beast, 9th Wonder is the classic Hip-Hop sample King, Kanye’s ambition would lead to some really creative work, Mike Will, & definitely any producer associated with The Dungeon Family are people I want to get in the lab with.

7-Any current or future projects you are promoting?

“Rise & Shine”. Just dropped that off last month & that’s all I’m focused on promoting right now anybody reading this should definitely go check that out if you haven’t already & if you have put somebody else on it. Extremely quality music & I’m super proud of it.

8-Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of “Rise & Shine” LP? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover.

With “Rise & Shine” I wanted to tell the story of embarking on a life changing journey & detail the emotion, lessons, trials & tribulations involved. Rise & Shine as a title means don’t be afraid to make your mark on history, rise through the bad times & shine in the good times & if you listen to it from start to finish what I’m speaking on as well as the morals of the songs are chronologically connected to paint a cohesive picture of some things I’ve seen & other things I’ve personally lived that illustrates the point of everything you go through in life builds you up to be the person you’re supposed to be before you pass so appreciate the good times just as much if not more than the bad times because they’ll make you appreciate the good times even more. The cover art was done by @REALMIAMIKAOS1 is his Twitter name a super dope dude by the way but I wanted the cover to represent standing out from the crowd and being the best YOU. No 2 people are made the same everybody is unique in one way or another & everybody has a special talent that helps them shine above all else. I just wanted to capture the moment that shows me doing what I do best while showcasing art at the same time & I feel we achieved that. It’s captivating & it’s makes you feel as if you were a part of that time in history because if you listen to this tape then in all actuality you are.

9-Where can we find your music and info?

 You can find my fan page on Facebook at Facebook.com/MistroMusic, Twitter @SergeantMistro, Youtube.com/MistroFWT I don’t update my Youtube like I should but I’m working on some videos to engage my audience that way so stay tuned for those, & Soundcloud.com/MistroMusic-1 is where you can find all of my current music including my mixtape “Rise & Shine” once again please go check that out & download that if you haven’t already & if you have put your folks on it & help them keep up with what’s current in Hip-Hop right now.

10-Any shout outs?