Stretcherous – Q&A Interview

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

As a kid I moved around a lot, Denver, Chicago area, Philly, and then onto San Francisco. I spent the majority of my childhood in Pennsylvania though. I been out in San Francisco / San Jose for almost 10 years now. I been rhyming since the mid to late 90’s but back then I was doing this shit more so as a hobby… I just did it because I love hip hop. I’d make little demos here and there but like I said it was just something for me and my boys to do on the side. Before I got locked up in 2012 I was working on a mixtape, trying to make things happen. I caught my case towards the end of 2012. While I was locked up I just went hard with writing. I told myself I’m not going to just sit around in a cell so I picked up where I left off and just put my all into it.

What influences you in making Hip Hop?

Life, man. The shit I’ve been through, the stuff I’ve seen. The world around us, society in general. We live in a fucked up time in a fucked up place, there’s plenty of shit going on that makes me want to write. I’m 31 and I’ve been into hip hop for a long time, so of course I’m very influenced by the MCs I grew up listening to… Kool G Rap, Pun, Mobb Deep, Nas, Wu, Rakim, Beastie Boys. Those are definitely some of the MCs that really made me wanna be an MC myself.

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

My roots are in hardcore so I think that’s definitely something that sets me apart from most MCs. I grew up playing in bands, touring all over the place. I’m fortunate enough to have gotten the opportunity to play shows at places like CBGBs, Gilman St, all over Europe and the US. I’ve been blessed to tour with everyone from Snoop to the Cro Mags to Agnostic Front to Ghostface. Being that I came up in the hardcore scene, you can definitely hear it in my music. I’m not into to doing what’s popular, I could give a fuck about what’s hot right now, I just do me.

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

As of right now that list is pretty small. Of course, C Lance produced almost my entire album. I got to collab with Ruste Juxx and my homies Ron Donson, DJ Scratch Dee, and C-MC, but to be honest I kind of wanted to stray from having a million big features on my first record. I didn’t think it was necessary. Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely a lot of cats I’d love to work with… there’s a ton of great MCs out right now in my opinion. I’d really like to collab with G Rap obviously, Ill Bill, Rugged Man, Vinnie Paz, Sean Price, Immortal Technique.. and of course producers man, Premo, DJ Muggs, Psycho Les, Necro. Will I get to? Hopefully, but I can’t really say, I’m just going to keep doing my thing, paying my dues and let things unfold how they’re meant to.

Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?

It’s hip hop in its purest form. No gimmicks, no bullshit… just raw uncut dope, man. Mainstream music, especially Hip Hop (if you can even call it that) is so watered down. Everything sounds like a carbon copy of something else. It’s all style over substance. I can’t stand that shit, and I ain’t about to ever sacrifice my sound. I grew up when shit like Wu Tang, Biggie, Mobb Deep, etc, was on the radio. I don’t fuck with trap, I don’t listen to frat hop. To me it’s all a complete disgrace to the culture.

We notice that you are currently based out of the BAY area & as we all know there is a huge Underground Hip Hop music scene out there, other than yourself what other new MC(s) has come out of the BAY who has really made noise in the UG community.

I’ll be honest, there’s not too much shit from the Bay I really fuck with that much. I’m an east coast dude at heart and I think I’m biased in that sense. No disrespect to the west coast, this is where I live, I love the west. There’s a few dudes though. That cat G-Mo Skee is pretty dope. That dude Locksmith is definitely ill. I don’t know that you’d consider E-40 underground, but I think E puts it down. I know hip hop is huge out here in the bay, nor cal definitely got a lot of cats holding it down for the bay but in terms of real lyricism and production, it just ain’t my go to. But I know for a fact a lot of these dudes is making noise for sure.

Any current or future projects you are promoting?

Yeah, I got a few projects coming. I’m working on an album with my homie Ron Donson from NYC, we got a group called Stereo Terrorists. That’s my top priority right now. I’m also working on a couple of records, one with an up and coming producer, C-MC based out of Europe. Also I’ll be starting on my next solo joint. I just dropped ‘High Strangeness’ and I’m definitely proud of this record. I think it’s great, especially for a first release. I’ve had a lot of great feedback so far, and I’m just getting started man. I’ll for sure be working with C Lance again in the near future, that dude is family.

Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of “High Strangeness”? Also/ tell us a little bit about the concept and idea behind your Album/Mixtape Cover Art.

Most of the lyrics I wrote while I was locked up fighting my case. I was facing life in prison so all I could do was write rhymes to keep myself sane. I’ve got hundreds of songs written, literally. As soon as I got out I got in touch with C Lance and made it happen. I recorded the whole record at Red Eye Recording Studios in San Jose with my man Johnny Hits. The cover art is by Michiel Walrave and it’s basically a depiction of the insanity that goes on in this world. I feel like we’re all a reflection of this world, for better or for worse.

Where can we find your music and info?

You can download the album at www.stretcherous.bandcamp.com for free or if you want to pay for it and support it’s available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc it can also be streamed on Spotify and SoundCloud.

You can follow me on FB : www.facebook.com/stretcherous ,
Instagram & Twitter – @stretcherous ,
join the Blast Phamous Phamily at www.blastphamous.com,
you can go check out “A Good Day To Die” video on YouTube search: Stretcherous

Any shout outs?

Thanks to Underground Hip Hop for the interview! Thanks to my family and friends, the Blast Phamous Phamily, Dookie, Eye Khan, C Lance, Ron Donson, C-MC, DJ Scratch Dee, Johnny Hits, Michiel Walrave, Matty D, Cook, Jordo, Jesse, Gavel, Dolloff, and the NWC, $1000, Tait, Angry John, Jeremy, Geoff P, Ruste Juxx, Luke Rose and MRBD Clothing, everybody that downloaded or bought ‘High Strangeness’ and / or supported in any way, the Stereo Terrorists debut album will be dropping this fall! One…