MOE and 2nd Child – Q&A Interview

Tell us a little about yourselves. Where you are guys from? How long have you been making Hip Hop together as family?

MOE:  We are born and raised in Maryland.  Our dad is from Pakistan and our mom is from India.  I started rapping in 2006, my first year of college.  And my sister copies everything I do so she thought she could rap better than me and she sucked…but she practiced and now she’s good.

2nd Child:  I started rapping in 2008 when I was in high school. I saw my brother started getting good and making better music so it motivated me to get better.

What influences you in making Hip Hop?

MOE:  The memory of sitting in the school bus every morning all through middle school and high school, listening to 400 Degreez, Word of Mouf, Country Grammar, and any and every 2pac and Bone Thugs album makes me want to rap because I want to be the guy that some kid is listening to in their school bus.

2nd Child: Stress.  Stress influences me to make Hip hop music.  Anytime I’m feeling stressed the best form of therapy for me is rapping.

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

2nd Chid:  First of all, I’m the first hijabi female rapper…thats one big separating factor.  2nd of all we’re a brother and sister group.  That is something Hip Hop has never seen unless you want to count Brandy and Ray J.  Our sound is versatile.  Its fun to be able to rap a verse and then break into a melody when I feel like it.  When we make music we don’t feel like we have any format that we have to fit into.  We do whatever we feel like.

Being a brother sister group, has there been any set backs regarding making music as family or has it been the opposite?

MOE:  Sometimes one of us starts a song and the other one doesn’t want to finish it.  Sometimes one of us likes a beat, the other one doesn’t.  Sometimes we get into an argument and we don’t finish a song.  But for the most part the reward is greater…cause when we’re both in the same zone I feel like we do a good job bouncing ideas off each other.

Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?

MOE:  Underground Hip Hop is what sets the trends for mainstream Hip Hop.  Underground Hip Hop is like the hippy that Urban Outfitters finds on the street and then will choose their designs based on.  Without Underground Hip Hop there is no Hip Hop.

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

2nd Child: Production wise our influences are Pharrell, Dark Child, Kanye West, and Timbaland.

MOE: We have a wide range of talented producer’s on this mixtape.  One of my favorite producers is Osym Beats.  I would like to work with ID Labs, Wax Poetic, and Timbaland.

Any current or future projects you are promoting?

MOE: Right now it’s all about No Translation.

Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of No Translation? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover.  May we ask why are there 2 versions of the project art cover as well?

MOE: I picked the beats that I wanted to rap on and I wrote to them.  And she did the same.  Each one of us would then rap on each others songs if we were feeling them.  It became kind of competitive at a certain point.  If I brought a song that was hot she would try to kill me on it and vice versa.

The first cover just explains what we mean by “No Translation”.  Moe Malik designed the cover with the words “No Translation” in bold written in the center in English.  Then you see the words “No Translation” written in over 75 languages faded in the background.  The title “No Translation” means that we are not changing or explaining ourselves and if you don’t get what we are saying you will never understand us.  This cover was went to be more direct.  The alternate cover takes a lighter approach.  It was designed by me, and it shows more of our personality.  I wanted to have 2 covers because I remember how cool it was when Eminem released the Marshall Mathers LP and he had 2 covers, I wanted to recreate that excitement.

Where can we find your music and info?

MOE: You can download No Translation on DatPiff and SoundCloud.  You can also check out music videos and updates at www.moewizard.com

Follow us on Twitter @MoeWizard and Instagram MoeWizard.  2nd Child doesn’t have any social media because she’s a creep.  If you want to say anything to her you can just say it to me and I’ll relay the message.

Any shout outs?

MOE: I want to give a shout out to all the people that listen.  I want to give a shout out to the Health Inspectors.  I want to give a shout out to U-Haul for always keeping me on the move.  I want to give a shout out to my mom and my dad for making me.

2nd Child:  I want to give a shout out to all our supporters.  I want to give a shout out to Hey Arnold for teaching me about relationships!