Q&A With Marcellis, Chicago’s Hottest New Hip Hop Artist
Hey Marcellis! We appreciate and love your new cutting edge Hip Hop sound coming out of Chicago. Please tell us how many years have you been making music? What part of Chicago are you from?
I started writing music my junior year of high school. So I’d have to be sixteen. And I was born in Chicago and raised there til about 6th grade then I moved back and forth from the suburbs. My mom wanted me and my siblings in better school which was perfect timing because our school in Chicago, Parkman Elementary School, closed down along with several other CPS schools that next year.
A lot of Hip Hop greats are from Chicago! How are you being 100% original and different? What is separating you from all the other up and coming MC’s coming out of Chicago.
Well I can’t rap as fast a twista. I can’t produce like Ye. I actually can’t do a lot like Ye. I don’t sound like common, Chance, Chief Keef, or anyone really. But I think I’m pretty damn great at telling a story. Summer Cherries from, start to finish, does a great job of showing that. I also love being versatile and making songs that give you thrills and different emotions all in one song. Having a song that can fit everyone is what I believe makes me stand out.
How do you describe your sound?
Not sure what my niche is yet but I try to not put myself in a box for one type of style. I don’t want to come out as just boom bap rap and then get shit when I make any other type of music. That’s why I made sure that Summer Cherries, though the majority was good vibe and fun rap, had many different types of songs from intense songs like Grimy to singing like So Titanic because I know I’m a moody ass nigga. Whatever I’m feeling that day is the type of song I create. I just want to have that freedom forever.
Tell us about your Hip Hop and/or music influences? Any local city?
I have a lot influences. When I first started rapping, I had to do my googles and study the Jays, Cubes, Snoops, Nas’, Big’s, Pacs, and other legends off rap. Even down to the Big Daddy Kane’s, Cool J’s and Big L’s. Some of my influences that are more prevalent today are Gambino, Joey Bada$$, Kendrick, Kanye, King Los, and many more. There are many that I listen to but those 5 in particular helped me understand the craft and how to move as an artist.
Please breakdown the creative process of your new album “Summer Cherries”.
Initially, it wasn’t going to be about Summer. It wasn’t until I got about 8 or 9 songs of it done, that’s where I got the understanding of where everything was going. And when I did get it, the timing couldn’t have been better because summer was coming up soon anyways. The song “Summer Cherries pt 1” was probably like the 10th or so song I wrote. Pts 1 – 3 were basically to pull everything together.
Rappers nowadays think by throwing up a few videos up on social media and pushing quick projects, they can blow up overnight! Give us your view on how over saturated the market is right now with so many MC’s/Producers but not to many quality music.
It’s pretty frustrating at times lol. But it’s also pretty motivating. When you see someone getting shine off 1 hit they made in their basement, my initial thought is that if I had that platform, then I would be even bigger than them. They couldn’t touch me because I’m actually skilled. Then I think well if I were as good as I think, I would have blown up already or at least have a song that has blown up without sacrificing the integrity. It just gets me more motivated to get back at it and make even better music. On a more realistic note, that stuff is LITERALLY one in a million. It hardly ever happens. And if you do sacrifice your quality for a hit, the record becomes bigger than the artist and more often than not you really don’t hear much about that artist in a few years. And just posting average post about average music never got anyone anywhere. Even those who seemingly blew up overnight put SOME money or some type of investment into the song. So if you’re really that lazy, you’re never going to succeed. I’ve seen it too many times. If you want more notoriety, then invest either your money or time or (preferably) both and get your name out there. You’ll see the difference is huge.
If it came down to 1 ALBUM only, what underground Hip Hop album would you consider THE BEST OF ALL TIME!!!???……One 1 album you can choose.
My personal favorite underground tape is Joey Bada$$’ 1999. It was the tape that got him on the scene and it’s still one of my favorites. Plus that was right around the time when I started rapping so I have a bit of bias.
Here it is! Our most popular question! What is your definition of “underground hip hop”?
To me, underground hip hop is all of the style of rap, rappers, and verses that haven’t been heard or discovered. There is so many unique styles that have yet to surface because their name isn’t big enough yet; on top of that the artist are just hungrier. You can hear it in their songs because they aren’t in the position they want to be in and they’re willing to do anything to get it.
Where can people find you on the web? Drop all the vital links.
My Website – http://marcellisworld.com
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/1Dk6BhtsD9Ky9DlLdw5xfX
iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-intro/id1249567406…
Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/whoismarcellis/sets/summer-cherries
Facebook – https://facebook.com/whoismarcellis
Instagram – https://instagram.com/whoismarcellis
Twitter – https://twitter.com/whoismarcellis
Lastly, and shout out?
Shout out to my 4 big sister and my big brother. My moms and dad. Every single person who took the time out to listen to my music, whether you liked it or not. My homies who helped me film videos and promote. Thanks to Advercity Mgmt for making this journey so much easier. Of course, thanks to Underground hip-hop blog. And obviously, all thanks and glory to god!
