I'm interviewed at Jewcy.com, as part of their profiles highlighting the 100 of us who are being honored for this year's The Big Jewcy. The party is next Wednesday, June 15th, at Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg. Just to clarify - Best Sex Writing 2012, which I'm finishing this month, is going to be my 42nd anthology. I'm a dork and keep track of those things. It sounds like a lot. I guess it is (I almost said it wasn't, and also almost said it gets easier as you go along, which was true until right about now, when things are not easy at all).
Here's a snippet:
Why and when did you decide to become a sex writer?
I don’t think I ever decided to become a “sex writer” and it’s a label I struggle with; I’d much rather just be called a writer. But when I was in law school at NYU back in my early twenties, I was reading a lot of erotica and at one point thought, “I could try that.” And I did, and my fictional story about Monica Lewinsky, “Monica and Me,” was published in a book called Starf*cker. From there I went on to write probably over 100 short stories and then that led to a sex column in The Village Voice, and now one at SexisMagazine.com, and my full-time job as Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations. It’s funny because in college I was deciding between law school and journalism school and part of why I picked law was that I never thought I could make a living from words, and now I do.
Do you have any specific goals you’re trying to accomplish with your writing?
I don’t know if I’ve ever had goals per se. I feel like I fell into doing what I do and sometimes I look around and have to pinch myself that I get to do all the various things I do and make money at them. I want to try to be as rigorously honest with myself and my readers as I can; sometimes the allegiance to the work outweighs an allegiance to anything or anyone else, and that is a tough balancing act. I learn a lot about myself by writing both fiction and nonfiction, but I’m also aware that, especially around sex, I’m never just writing about me. So I try to keep that in mind. My goals are to not let my fears discourage me from even making the attempt at trying new things in my writing.
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Watch me on Gabcast with Jessica Delfino talking about hotel sex, the mile high club, people pleasing and more
Check out my interview with the very talented, funny and smart performer Jessica Delfino, who graciously had me on her show to talk about sex in hotels and on planes, where I learned about ice hotels, as well as people-pleasing and sex in the news and more. Some screen grabs are below.
Watch us here and follow @loveisp on Twitter to find out who else she's hosting and of course visit jessicadelfino.com where you can see more of her work, including my favorite song of hers, "My Pussy is Magic." And you can catch her performing at In The Flesh. Speaking of which, well, it's not coming back, but I am working on a special fall NYC multimedia extravaganza. Stay tuned.
I'm wearing my new favorite piece of jewelry, the demi necklace by Objets d'Envy in Honeysuckle, Pantone's color of the year. Love their jewelry!
And look what she served me for breakfast! I'm totally tempted to be all rock star and have a rider that I want crepes at every interview.
Watch us here and follow @loveisp on Twitter to find out who else she's hosting and of course visit jessicadelfino.com where you can see more of her work, including my favorite song of hers, "My Pussy is Magic." And you can catch her performing at In The Flesh. Speaking of which, well, it's not coming back, but I am working on a special fall NYC multimedia extravaganza. Stay tuned.
I'm wearing my new favorite piece of jewelry, the demi necklace by Objets d'Envy in Honeysuckle, Pantone's color of the year. Love their jewelry!
And look what she served me for breakfast! I'm totally tempted to be all rock star and have a rider that I want crepes at every interview.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Susie Bright interview and slut-shaming article at Alternet
Heading to DC this weekend - excited for Momentumcon, but kindof wish this were a stay-in-NYC-and-be-warm-and-catch-up-on-scary-to-do-list weekend. That'll have to be next weekend, I supposed. Very behind but determined to put Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and my kinky couples anthology (deadlines today!) to bed before I leave for Seattle in two weeks. Or as damn close as I can get. I have this mantra on repeat kindof like "I think I can," but in my case it's "The perfect is the enemy of the good." In-fucking-deed.
I interviewed Susie Bright for SexIs Magazine about her memoir Big Sex Little Death.
I wrote "Slut Shame: Why Are We Still Attacking Women for Having Sex?" at Alternet.
I didn't write either headline.
I interviewed Susie Bright for SexIs Magazine about her memoir Big Sex Little Death.
I wrote "Slut Shame: Why Are We Still Attacking Women for Having Sex?" at Alternet.
I didn't write either headline.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Interviews with me at Street Boners and Oysters & Chocolate
Two new interviews with me:
"WTF Does an Erotica Writer Do All Day?" at Street Boners with a gigantic version of the cover of Best Bondage Erotica 2011 (which you can also read at Luke O'Neil's blog put that shit on the list)
Excerpt:
You’ve written for a pretty lengthy list of publications. Is it hard to switch between your sexy hat and your normal journalist hat? Ever accidentally slip in an orgasm metaphor where one doesn’t belong?
I think I navigate fiction and nonfiction pretty easily, that’s the biggest switch. I fight hard not to be relegated only to writing about sex, because I have plenty of other interests. I think the biggest challenge for me when I’m writing fiction is to not personalize it too much, and lately I’ve been trying to write characters who are very different from me, like a transgender man into erotic boxing in “Punching Bag.” There is always a little bit of myself in my stories though, even if it’s about, say, a gay couple competing in a “Sexathon.” It’s not that I’ve actually done that, but in some buried corner of my fantasies, it sounds fun, and in fiction I get to “be” all those people doing all those wild things.
Talking about my story "Blow Me" in Nice Girls, Naughty Sex at Oysters & Chocolate
Excerpt:
What makes the character(s) in your story nice but naughty?
Well, this is a story where there’s no actual sex in it, just a very wicked fantasy, so I think that qualifies as “nice,” but the fantasies the characters do have are decidedly risqué.
"WTF Does an Erotica Writer Do All Day?" at Street Boners with a gigantic version of the cover of Best Bondage Erotica 2011 (which you can also read at Luke O'Neil's blog put that shit on the list)
Excerpt:
You’ve written for a pretty lengthy list of publications. Is it hard to switch between your sexy hat and your normal journalist hat? Ever accidentally slip in an orgasm metaphor where one doesn’t belong?
I think I navigate fiction and nonfiction pretty easily, that’s the biggest switch. I fight hard not to be relegated only to writing about sex, because I have plenty of other interests. I think the biggest challenge for me when I’m writing fiction is to not personalize it too much, and lately I’ve been trying to write characters who are very different from me, like a transgender man into erotic boxing in “Punching Bag.” There is always a little bit of myself in my stories though, even if it’s about, say, a gay couple competing in a “Sexathon.” It’s not that I’ve actually done that, but in some buried corner of my fantasies, it sounds fun, and in fiction I get to “be” all those people doing all those wild things.
Talking about my story "Blow Me" in Nice Girls, Naughty Sex at Oysters & Chocolate
Excerpt:
What makes the character(s) in your story nice but naughty?
Well, this is a story where there’s no actual sex in it, just a very wicked fantasy, so I think that qualifies as “nice,” but the fantasies the characters do have are decidedly risqué.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Interview with Lena Chen about my anthologies and feminism
I've been busy with multiple writing and editing projects, plus was hit by a whammy of a headache/illness this week, so haven't had much time to blog, but wanted to share this interview Lena Chen did with me about erotic writing and feminism. While I don't characterize my 35 erotica anthologies as "feminist" per se (I don't feel it's my place to one way or another), I do think I bring a feminist bent to the Best Sex Writing anthologies I've edited and...stay tuned next week for the announcement about Best Sex Writing 2012, with a fabulous guest judge and a very firm May 1st deadline.
I'll be very eager to read your nonfiction submissions. And in the meantime, I have an April 1st deadline for calls for my erotic romance, kinky couples and Best Bondage Erotica 2011 anthologies which are all wide open - I read submissions on an ongoing basis and so far have gotten very few submissions, so I highly encourage you to get yours in early and make them stand out! (Note: I consider all submissions received by the deadline, but since I consider stories as I go, the later stories are sent, the fewer spots that are open. I always welcome excellent writers though and have so many great stories in my upcoming books which I will be sharing closer to pub date - this summer/fall Obsessed and Women in Lust will be out!)
I'll be very eager to read your nonfiction submissions. And in the meantime, I have an April 1st deadline for calls for my erotic romance, kinky couples and Best Bondage Erotica 2011 anthologies which are all wide open - I read submissions on an ongoing basis and so far have gotten very few submissions, so I highly encourage you to get yours in early and make them stand out! (Note: I consider all submissions received by the deadline, but since I consider stories as I go, the later stories are sent, the fewer spots that are open. I always welcome excellent writers though and have so many great stories in my upcoming books which I will be sharing closer to pub date - this summer/fall Obsessed and Women in Lust will be out!)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Kiri Blakeley on her gay fiancé, dating in New York and her memoir Can't Think Straight
Some of you caught Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love author Kiri Blakeley doing her very first reading from the book at Comedy Sex Night at In The Flesh last November. I just interviewed her for SexIs Magazine about finding out her fiancé was gay, dating in New York (she paints a very vivid picture of the confusion that can cause for women who like men), sexual orientation and whether her memoir is a "slut-fest."
One of the most compelling people describe in your book is James. You wrote: “For James, and men like him, fucking a girl was like watching a movie—something to do to pass the time.” You admit that when you started dating again, you were like that too—at first. Was that important because you felt you missed out on something by meeting Aaron so early?
I met Aaron when I was 26, so it wasn’t that early, but I had not dated much before him. I lost my virginity very late, at 24. I never was the type to sleep around. So yes, suddenly, when I got out of this relationship, I felt the need to go a bit wild.
Frankly, I was horny. I was in my mid-thirties, a peak sexual time for women, I felt comfortable with my body and what I wanted, I felt confident in my sexual abilities, and also, very important, I hadn’t had much of a sex life in the past five years. Aaron hadn’t shown much interest in it--for reasons that became obvious later--and I eventually lost interest, too.
Read the whole interview here
click above to buy on Amazon, where I wrote this review below. There's a line that I can't find but it was something about holding hands and I wish I'd had my usually ever-present stickie flags with me while reading (note to self, keep stickie flags on you at all times!) because it really was this perfect, perfect line):
In this often-humorous memoir, Kiri Blakeley explores both the aftermath of her ten-year relationship after her fiancé comes out as gay, as well as her emergence into a NYC dating world that is very different from the one she had encountered in her twenties. There is lots of drama here, from checking a lover's text messages and online dating profile to figuring out whether she can, or even wants to, have casual sex. Blakeley also goes from anger at her fiancé to a friendship that evolves along with her outlook on their years together; the scenes where they reunite show the resilience of their relationship, now in its platonic form, as well as the loneliness each of them feels as they move forward with their new lives.
Her relationship with James, who makes it clear he wants a casual relationship, a friendship, and is seeing other people (as is, at times, Blakeley), is both the most disturbed and problematic, but also the most compelling. After he says that can be both friends and lovers, while encouraging her to go on dates with others, she writes: "Sometime in the very early morning, I feel him tightly curling his hand around mine. When I attempt to pry my fingers from his so I can go to the kitchen to get water, he grunts his disapproval and clings tighter. It's moments like these that kept me coming back, I suppose."
There were times I wanted to yell at Blakeley, tell her she's better than some of the guys giving her the runaround, but she captures both her sense of freedom (albeit involuntary freedom) tempered with her increasing sense of attachment to her lovers. The ongoing drama makes for a gripping as well as realistic read, and the "mixed-up" of the title refers not only to her former fiancé, but to her as she tries online dating and the pickup scene, while assessing what went wrong (and right) with her ex. For any SATC fan, this is the real thing.
One of the most compelling people describe in your book is James. You wrote: “For James, and men like him, fucking a girl was like watching a movie—something to do to pass the time.” You admit that when you started dating again, you were like that too—at first. Was that important because you felt you missed out on something by meeting Aaron so early?
I met Aaron when I was 26, so it wasn’t that early, but I had not dated much before him. I lost my virginity very late, at 24. I never was the type to sleep around. So yes, suddenly, when I got out of this relationship, I felt the need to go a bit wild.
Frankly, I was horny. I was in my mid-thirties, a peak sexual time for women, I felt comfortable with my body and what I wanted, I felt confident in my sexual abilities, and also, very important, I hadn’t had much of a sex life in the past five years. Aaron hadn’t shown much interest in it--for reasons that became obvious later--and I eventually lost interest, too.
Read the whole interview here
click above to buy on Amazon, where I wrote this review below. There's a line that I can't find but it was something about holding hands and I wish I'd had my usually ever-present stickie flags with me while reading (note to self, keep stickie flags on you at all times!) because it really was this perfect, perfect line):
In this often-humorous memoir, Kiri Blakeley explores both the aftermath of her ten-year relationship after her fiancé comes out as gay, as well as her emergence into a NYC dating world that is very different from the one she had encountered in her twenties. There is lots of drama here, from checking a lover's text messages and online dating profile to figuring out whether she can, or even wants to, have casual sex. Blakeley also goes from anger at her fiancé to a friendship that evolves along with her outlook on their years together; the scenes where they reunite show the resilience of their relationship, now in its platonic form, as well as the loneliness each of them feels as they move forward with their new lives.
Her relationship with James, who makes it clear he wants a casual relationship, a friendship, and is seeing other people (as is, at times, Blakeley), is both the most disturbed and problematic, but also the most compelling. After he says that can be both friends and lovers, while encouraging her to go on dates with others, she writes: "Sometime in the very early morning, I feel him tightly curling his hand around mine. When I attempt to pry my fingers from his so I can go to the kitchen to get water, he grunts his disapproval and clings tighter. It's moments like these that kept me coming back, I suppose."
There were times I wanted to yell at Blakeley, tell her she's better than some of the guys giving her the runaround, but she captures both her sense of freedom (albeit involuntary freedom) tempered with her increasing sense of attachment to her lovers. The ongoing drama makes for a gripping as well as realistic read, and the "mixed-up" of the title refers not only to her former fiancé, but to her as she tries online dating and the pickup scene, while assessing what went wrong (and right) with her ex. For any SATC fan, this is the real thing.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
@RealWizKhalifa interviews with @DDotOmen.com at Rock The Bells DC
Wiz Khalifa sheds some light on the future of his music, not going on tour with Drake or signing with Ricky Rozay and signing with Atlantic
*sidenote* You peeped ORANGE right?
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
@RealWizKhalifa interviews with @DDotOmen.com at Rock The Bells DC
Wiz Khalifa sheds some light on the future of his music, not going on tour with Drake or signing with Ricky Rozay and signing with Atlantic
*sidenote* You peeped ORANGE right?
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
Lauryn Hill Interview With @ToureX On Return To Music (Video)
Lauryn Hill goes in depth with a rare interview with @ToureX explaining why she's been gone so long and why she decided to return to the music. She says she desired normalcy for her and her children. She returns with "...the need to express myself." While there is no promise of a new album, more new music from the legendary ARTist seems promising.
Word to ddotomen.com for the original post
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
Lauryn Hill Interview With @ToureX On Return To Music (Video)
Lauryn Hill goes in depth with a rare interview with @ToureX explaining why she's been gone so long and why she decided to return to the music. She says she desired normalcy for her and her children. She returns with "...the need to express myself." While there is no promise of a new album, more new music from the legendary ARTist seems promising.
Word to ddotomen.com for the original post
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
Friday, August 6, 2010
iLL Prophet Interview Oct '08
So I was going through old emails and found this interview from a couple years ago. It's funny going back to read this stuff and seeing how my mind has grown, works, and developed.
BB: First off. What's good?
Ill Prophet: What's up bruh? Everything kosher man. I'm living life and trying to enjoy every moment of it.
BB: Your music has a very unique style and refreshing style. Who are some of your influences you grew up to?
Ill Prophet: Ha. I love this question. Of course the typical Biggie, 2Pac, (ATCQ) A Tribe Called Quest so on and so forth had their influences somewhat here and there, but to be honest if I went through every influence and HOW they influenced me, you would have to dedicate two entire magazines to it, broken down in two parts. I guess the artists that really influenced me to initially say, "Dang, I want to be an artist are Mos Def, Common, The Roots, and Outkast. Let's just say a lot of everything from modern jazz, old school hip hop, and disco to gospel, soul, rock, and reggae played in on my styles. I could seriously name drop my musical influences all day...Curtis Mayfield, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Reverend James Cleveland, John P. Kee, Janis Joplin, Kenny G, Fourplay, Santana(Black Magic Woman), and on and on. lol My mom had all these old vinyls she used to play ALLL the time.
BB: What do you think about the current state of hip hop? or music in general?
Ill Prophet: Shoot sometimes I feel like John Kerry when they dug up all his stuff from his congressional term. Really I don't know. Sometimes I feel like THIS IS SOME BULL ISHT WTF IS WRONG WITH THE MUSIC WORLD and then other days...I'm feeling like it's just a different time. The only concern I have and will continue to have until it changes is the people not diversyfing what we listen too and the radio not diversifying the music they're playing. The radio and tv stations will play the music we request if we requested it in masses. On my hip hop stations how come I have NEVER heard Jean Grae? Little Brother? or even local emcees that have blown up such as Wale or Tabi Bonney? I hear Tabi and them in DC now more, but how come not in Baltimore? Why aren't Kanye's singles still being played from Graduation? I still hear Lollipop from Lil Wayne and Ayo Technology from 50? Why isn't Mos or the infamous Jay Electronica getting any play PERIOD. It's starts with the people. But the people can't get the information if they aren't even given the chance to hear it! Man shit, I'm gonna leave that question alone.
BB: Do you feel hip hop can have another golden era?
Ill Prophet: Golden era? Call me a rebel but I sort of feel like the golden era of hip hop may actually be RIGHT NOW! Hip hop music is bigger than it has ever been. Being a lyricist I have always been one to argue the need for better lyrics and music that has true meaning but we forget what our "Golden Era" really consisted of. I hate to burst folks bubble but EVERY SINGLE STYLE of music we have now was out even back then. Even during the 93-94 GOLDEN YEAR of hip hop. Wikipedia puts it best - ()"The artists most often associated with the phase are Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.[4] Releases by these acts co-existed and successfully competed commercially in this period with those of gangsta rap pioneers Schoolly D and N.W.A, the sex raps of Too $hort, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, Heavy D, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.[5]" "Look it up yourself. Keyword is CO-EXISTED. Soulja boy is our Kid N Play, Jazz and Fresh, Heavy D, 50 and, most definitely Game are our N.W.A., Pretty Ricky is our Too Short, Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell and so on are our ATCQ, De La, and so on. There are tons more that we know about but are getting any play. So the era is here. It's right now! It's just up to the people and the media to make it happen like they did back in the 90's. We as artist are delivering the material. www.myspace.com/illprophetic !! All day everyday! I'll mail you a cd if you want. My art is free. It's on facebook.com, reverbnation.com, letsbeef.com. I'm everywhere.
BB: Who are you feeling in hip hop today?
Ill Prophet:...that's rough...Me. Damn. lls. It's a list. There are just a lot of real MC's that deserve some serious shine. I like to follow up with why and I feel emcees don't get to do that often but I can talk all day about some folks. So simply put, COMMON first. He's stayed so true to himself. How can you not respect that? Kanye West, Jay Electronica(Get to know the new Badu Boo Jay Elec = SICK!!), 88Keys(Absolutely amazing and growing producer), Snoop (Now more than ever we see the old man in Snoop and that's some off the wall psychedelic isht that I love), KID CUDI, Q-Tip(Gettin Up is classic), MF Doom, Gnarls Barkley, OutKast(Andre AND Antwan will ALWAYS be OutKast nigga!), Soulja Boy, Pharrell, The Roots(B. Thought is still one of the sickest emcees with brotha ?uesto workin production), WALE, TABI BONNEY. D.C. emcees ALLL day. The list could go on but those are the first that come to mind and I have their albums going in steady rotation on the Zune. LET THE BEAT ROCK!! LET THE BEAT ROCK!!! HaHa!
BB: What have you been working on lately?
Ill Prophet: Everything. I'm networking like crazy. Getting people to know who you are is everything but at the same time I'm continually developing my style. I'm co-working on my mixtape Ill Prophecies and getting in on these shows. Shows are everything to me so if I get nothing but ten minutes on a stage I want to be on that stage. Not open mics but actual hip hop features. I love to perform. Also I'm building up my fanbase. A lot of folks might have 100,000 myspace friends but of that number probably only 20 or 30,000 actually rolling with you. Real true fans. It sucks but that's the nature of people. So I'm trying to hit everybody in every place cause you never know who might be your next biggest fan.
BB: How would you describe your style of music?
Ill Prophet: Ecclectic. Soulful. Heartfelt. IN YOUR FACE. Straight to the point. Off the wall. Hyped. Relaxed. My music is ever-evolving and developing. With that I hope to bring the listener along with me for this journey into greatness. People should be ever-evolving and changing and that's how my music is. To throw the idea in the air, my style of music is like a massive super saiyan spirit bomb, wrapped in Phoenix's flames, submerged in the seas of Atlantis, hidden in the swamps of Naboo. Digest that isht right there. In laymen's terms, it's out of this world.
BB: When can we be expecting an Ill Prophet Lp?
Ill Prophet: When my right brain and left brain decide to stop being anti-social and cooperate. HaHa:) Regardless we're looking at the end of '09 or so. I really want the mixtapes to flow through the streets and the underground before I really let the ball of energy loose. I'm messing around with way too many different sounds and elements to drop something this year. But the mixtapes are coming and as they come, everything else is coming together too. Just stay on the look out. IllaProph never stops moving.
BB: Alright music to the side. Tell us about Ill Prophet's life growing up.
Ill Prophet: Well I was born in D.C. I've lived pretty much all my life in and around different parts of Maryland. It's always just be my mother and me but life was ok. We struggled like I feel most single parent or even two parent households do. I've had the drug heads living right next door to me and my friends getting locked up at 8 for bringing semi-automatics to school and knives and all. That was one moment in my childhood. Then in another part the last roughly ten years of my life before I graduated high school, I lived in a military suburban community. I haven't seen it all but I have seen a lot. It's life. I've had first hand looks into both sides of the economic spectrum. Broke and in hoods you've only scene on t.v. and then where people have money and big houses and three cars and crazy ish like that. I'm well rounded because of it though. I'm prolly missing a lot but that's all I can really think of.
BB: When did you decide to try pick up the mic?
Ill Prophet: When I finally got one. ha. Man I'm geeking. Years ago. Many years ago. I had to have been in maybe 7th or 8th grade. I started writing poetry first. I was spitting other emcees rhymes but the poetry was the first self procreated art. As far as spitting I don't even really know. Must have been the night I saw a rerun of Martin. It was the International Player's ball episode with Jerome. lol OutKast performed at the end of that episode. They moved me soo much and around that time I had saw the video for The Roots - Next Movement. That song/video/lyrics were so raw for me I had to do music. I love everything about The Roots man. No homo but damn. If ya think you know The Roots holla at me. We can go back and Pass The Popcorn with just Tariq and Ahmir hitting the boom boom bip ba boom boom bip. Classic.
BB: At the end of the day, what do you want to do for hip hop and be perceived as?
Ill Prophet: Honestly I don't know. I don't have an agenda for hip-hop. I barely have a real motive or agenda for myself. All I want is for my music to be remembered and live on through time. I don't want to be restricted to just hip hop. Forget that. I want to cross genres. I want to be on Beatles status. Everybodoy knows who the Beatles are no matter if you're black, white, American or Russian. Michael Jackson could quit right now and never release another album, single, ad-lib, or even a breath and his music will be played. From lil Mike J of the Jackson 5 right up to now. His legacy, though clouded by other bull, lives on. Our kid's kids will hear Michael. Even LL Cool J has songs like that. These people will live on through music forever. We still sign Marvin Gaye tracks and he's been passed for over 20 years. I want my music to have that affect on the world and music industry.
BB: Anything else you'd like to add?
Ill Prophet: Support support support. I can't stress it enough. Not just me but all your favorite emcees.
My music is free so there is no reason why a "fan" shouldn't have it. Give it to friends. Spread it around. Tell people about me. Talk about the other hip hop that's out here. Hit me on myspace. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ILLPROPHECIES I just want to say thanks for the time. I appreciate and have much respect for people that stay true to themselves and strive for what they believe in.
Thanks again,
peaceluvNspaceships
-------
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
BB: First off. What's good?
Ill Prophet: What's up bruh? Everything kosher man. I'm living life and trying to enjoy every moment of it.
BB: Your music has a very unique style and refreshing style. Who are some of your influences you grew up to?
Ill Prophet: Ha. I love this question. Of course the typical Biggie, 2Pac, (ATCQ) A Tribe Called Quest so on and so forth had their influences somewhat here and there, but to be honest if I went through every influence and HOW they influenced me, you would have to dedicate two entire magazines to it, broken down in two parts. I guess the artists that really influenced me to initially say, "Dang, I want to be an artist are Mos Def, Common, The Roots, and Outkast. Let's just say a lot of everything from modern jazz, old school hip hop, and disco to gospel, soul, rock, and reggae played in on my styles. I could seriously name drop my musical influences all day...Curtis Mayfield, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Reverend James Cleveland, John P. Kee, Janis Joplin, Kenny G, Fourplay, Santana(Black Magic Woman), and on and on. lol My mom had all these old vinyls she used to play ALLL the time.
BB: What do you think about the current state of hip hop? or music in general?
Ill Prophet: Shoot sometimes I feel like John Kerry when they dug up all his stuff from his congressional term. Really I don't know. Sometimes I feel like THIS IS SOME BULL ISHT WTF IS WRONG WITH THE MUSIC WORLD and then other days...I'm feeling like it's just a different time. The only concern I have and will continue to have until it changes is the people not diversyfing what we listen too and the radio not diversifying the music they're playing. The radio and tv stations will play the music we request if we requested it in masses. On my hip hop stations how come I have NEVER heard Jean Grae? Little Brother? or even local emcees that have blown up such as Wale or Tabi Bonney? I hear Tabi and them in DC now more, but how come not in Baltimore? Why aren't Kanye's singles still being played from Graduation? I still hear Lollipop from Lil Wayne and Ayo Technology from 50? Why isn't Mos or the infamous Jay Electronica getting any play PERIOD. It's starts with the people. But the people can't get the information if they aren't even given the chance to hear it! Man shit, I'm gonna leave that question alone.
BB: Do you feel hip hop can have another golden era?
Ill Prophet: Golden era? Call me a rebel but I sort of feel like the golden era of hip hop may actually be RIGHT NOW! Hip hop music is bigger than it has ever been. Being a lyricist I have always been one to argue the need for better lyrics and music that has true meaning but we forget what our "Golden Era" really consisted of. I hate to burst folks bubble but EVERY SINGLE STYLE of music we have now was out even back then. Even during the 93-94 GOLDEN YEAR of hip hop. Wikipedia puts it best - ()"The artists most often associated with the phase are Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.[4] Releases by these acts co-existed and successfully competed commercially in this period with those of gangsta rap pioneers Schoolly D and N.W.A, the sex raps of Too $hort, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, Heavy D, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.[5]" "Look it up yourself. Keyword is CO-EXISTED. Soulja boy is our Kid N Play, Jazz and Fresh, Heavy D, 50 and, most definitely Game are our N.W.A., Pretty Ricky is our Too Short, Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell and so on are our ATCQ, De La, and so on. There are tons more that we know about but are getting any play. So the era is here. It's right now! It's just up to the people and the media to make it happen like they did back in the 90's. We as artist are delivering the material. www.myspace.com/illprophetic !! All day everyday! I'll mail you a cd if you want. My art is free. It's on facebook.com, reverbnation.com, letsbeef.com. I'm everywhere.
BB: Who are you feeling in hip hop today?
Ill Prophet:...that's rough...Me. Damn. lls. It's a list. There are just a lot of real MC's that deserve some serious shine. I like to follow up with why and I feel emcees don't get to do that often but I can talk all day about some folks. So simply put, COMMON first. He's stayed so true to himself. How can you not respect that? Kanye West, Jay Electronica(Get to know the new Badu Boo Jay Elec = SICK!!), 88Keys(Absolutely amazing and growing producer), Snoop (Now more than ever we see the old man in Snoop and that's some off the wall psychedelic isht that I love), KID CUDI, Q-Tip(Gettin Up is classic), MF Doom, Gnarls Barkley, OutKast(Andre AND Antwan will ALWAYS be OutKast nigga!), Soulja Boy, Pharrell, The Roots(B. Thought is still one of the sickest emcees with brotha ?uesto workin production), WALE, TABI BONNEY. D.C. emcees ALLL day. The list could go on but those are the first that come to mind and I have their albums going in steady rotation on the Zune. LET THE BEAT ROCK!! LET THE BEAT ROCK!!! HaHa!
BB: What have you been working on lately?
Ill Prophet: Everything. I'm networking like crazy. Getting people to know who you are is everything but at the same time I'm continually developing my style. I'm co-working on my mixtape Ill Prophecies and getting in on these shows. Shows are everything to me so if I get nothing but ten minutes on a stage I want to be on that stage. Not open mics but actual hip hop features. I love to perform. Also I'm building up my fanbase. A lot of folks might have 100,000 myspace friends but of that number probably only 20 or 30,000 actually rolling with you. Real true fans. It sucks but that's the nature of people. So I'm trying to hit everybody in every place cause you never know who might be your next biggest fan.
BB: How would you describe your style of music?
Ill Prophet: Ecclectic. Soulful. Heartfelt. IN YOUR FACE. Straight to the point. Off the wall. Hyped. Relaxed. My music is ever-evolving and developing. With that I hope to bring the listener along with me for this journey into greatness. People should be ever-evolving and changing and that's how my music is. To throw the idea in the air, my style of music is like a massive super saiyan spirit bomb, wrapped in Phoenix's flames, submerged in the seas of Atlantis, hidden in the swamps of Naboo. Digest that isht right there. In laymen's terms, it's out of this world.
BB: When can we be expecting an Ill Prophet Lp?
Ill Prophet: When my right brain and left brain decide to stop being anti-social and cooperate. HaHa:) Regardless we're looking at the end of '09 or so. I really want the mixtapes to flow through the streets and the underground before I really let the ball of energy loose. I'm messing around with way too many different sounds and elements to drop something this year. But the mixtapes are coming and as they come, everything else is coming together too. Just stay on the look out. IllaProph never stops moving.
BB: Alright music to the side. Tell us about Ill Prophet's life growing up.
Ill Prophet: Well I was born in D.C. I've lived pretty much all my life in and around different parts of Maryland. It's always just be my mother and me but life was ok. We struggled like I feel most single parent or even two parent households do. I've had the drug heads living right next door to me and my friends getting locked up at 8 for bringing semi-automatics to school and knives and all. That was one moment in my childhood. Then in another part the last roughly ten years of my life before I graduated high school, I lived in a military suburban community. I haven't seen it all but I have seen a lot. It's life. I've had first hand looks into both sides of the economic spectrum. Broke and in hoods you've only scene on t.v. and then where people have money and big houses and three cars and crazy ish like that. I'm well rounded because of it though. I'm prolly missing a lot but that's all I can really think of.
BB: When did you decide to try pick up the mic?
Ill Prophet: When I finally got one. ha. Man I'm geeking. Years ago. Many years ago. I had to have been in maybe 7th or 8th grade. I started writing poetry first. I was spitting other emcees rhymes but the poetry was the first self procreated art. As far as spitting I don't even really know. Must have been the night I saw a rerun of Martin. It was the International Player's ball episode with Jerome. lol OutKast performed at the end of that episode. They moved me soo much and around that time I had saw the video for The Roots - Next Movement. That song/video/lyrics were so raw for me I had to do music. I love everything about The Roots man. No homo but damn. If ya think you know The Roots holla at me. We can go back and Pass The Popcorn with just Tariq and Ahmir hitting the boom boom bip ba boom boom bip. Classic.
BB: At the end of the day, what do you want to do for hip hop and be perceived as?
Ill Prophet: Honestly I don't know. I don't have an agenda for hip-hop. I barely have a real motive or agenda for myself. All I want is for my music to be remembered and live on through time. I don't want to be restricted to just hip hop. Forget that. I want to cross genres. I want to be on Beatles status. Everybodoy knows who the Beatles are no matter if you're black, white, American or Russian. Michael Jackson could quit right now and never release another album, single, ad-lib, or even a breath and his music will be played. From lil Mike J of the Jackson 5 right up to now. His legacy, though clouded by other bull, lives on. Our kid's kids will hear Michael. Even LL Cool J has songs like that. These people will live on through music forever. We still sign Marvin Gaye tracks and he's been passed for over 20 years. I want my music to have that affect on the world and music industry.
BB: Anything else you'd like to add?
Ill Prophet: Support support support. I can't stress it enough. Not just me but all your favorite emcees.
My music is free so there is no reason why a "fan" shouldn't have it. Give it to friends. Spread it around. Tell people about me. Talk about the other hip hop that's out here. Hit me on myspace. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ILLPROPHECIES I just want to say thanks for the time. I appreciate and have much respect for people that stay true to themselves and strive for what they believe in.
Thanks again,
peaceluvNspaceships
-------
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
iLL Prophet Interview Oct '08
So I was going through old emails and found this interview from a couple years ago. It's funny going back to read this stuff and seeing how my mind has grown, works, and developed.
BB: First off. What's good?
Ill Prophet: What's up bruh? Everything kosher man. I'm living life and trying to enjoy every moment of it.
BB: Your music has a very unique style and refreshing style. Who are some of your influences you grew up to?
Ill Prophet: Ha. I love this question. Of course the typical Biggie, 2Pac, (ATCQ) A Tribe Called Quest so on and so forth had their influences somewhat here and there, but to be honest if I went through every influence and HOW they influenced me, you would have to dedicate two entire magazines to it, broken down in two parts. I guess the artists that really influenced me to initially say, "Dang, I want to be an artist are Mos Def, Common, The Roots, and Outkast. Let's just say a lot of everything from modern jazz, old school hip hop, and disco to gospel, soul, rock, and reggae played in on my styles. I could seriously name drop my musical influences all day...Curtis Mayfield, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Reverend James Cleveland, John P. Kee, Janis Joplin, Kenny G, Fourplay, Santana(Black Magic Woman), and on and on. lol My mom had all these old vinyls she used to play ALLL the time.
BB: What do you think about the current state of hip hop? or music in general?
Ill Prophet: Shoot sometimes I feel like John Kerry when they dug up all his stuff from his congressional term. Really I don't know. Sometimes I feel like THIS IS SOME BULL ISHT WTF IS WRONG WITH THE MUSIC WORLD and then other days...I'm feeling like it's just a different time. The only concern I have and will continue to have until it changes is the people not diversyfing what we listen too and the radio not diversifying the music they're playing. The radio and tv stations will play the music we request if we requested it in masses. On my hip hop stations how come I have NEVER heard Jean Grae? Little Brother? or even local emcees that have blown up such as Wale or Tabi Bonney? I hear Tabi and them in DC now more, but how come not in Baltimore? Why aren't Kanye's singles still being played from Graduation? I still hear Lollipop from Lil Wayne and Ayo Technology from 50? Why isn't Mos or the infamous Jay Electronica getting any play PERIOD. It's starts with the people. But the people can't get the information if they aren't even given the chance to hear it! Man shit, I'm gonna leave that question alone.
BB: Do you feel hip hop can have another golden era?
Ill Prophet: Golden era? Call me a rebel but I sort of feel like the golden era of hip hop may actually be RIGHT NOW! Hip hop music is bigger than it has ever been. Being a lyricist I have always been one to argue the need for better lyrics and music that has true meaning but we forget what our "Golden Era" really consisted of. I hate to burst folks bubble but EVERY SINGLE STYLE of music we have now was out even back then. Even during the 93-94 GOLDEN YEAR of hip hop. Wikipedia puts it best - ()"The artists most often associated with the phase are Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.[4] Releases by these acts co-existed and successfully competed commercially in this period with those of gangsta rap pioneers Schoolly D and N.W.A, the sex raps of Too $hort, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, Heavy D, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.[5]" "Look it up yourself. Keyword is CO-EXISTED. Soulja boy is our Kid N Play, Jazz and Fresh, Heavy D, 50 and, most definitely Game are our N.W.A., Pretty Ricky is our Too Short, Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell and so on are our ATCQ, De La, and so on. There are tons more that we know about but are getting any play. So the era is here. It's right now! It's just up to the people and the media to make it happen like they did back in the 90's. We as artist are delivering the material. www.myspace.com/illprophetic !! All day everyday! I'll mail you a cd if you want. My art is free. It's on facebook.com, reverbnation.com, letsbeef.com. I'm everywhere.
BB: Who are you feeling in hip hop today?
Ill Prophet:...that's rough...Me. Damn. lls. It's a list. There are just a lot of real MC's that deserve some serious shine. I like to follow up with why and I feel emcees don't get to do that often but I can talk all day about some folks. So simply put, COMMON first. He's stayed so true to himself. How can you not respect that? Kanye West, Jay Electronica(Get to know the new Badu Boo Jay Elec = SICK!!), 88Keys(Absolutely amazing and growing producer), Snoop (Now more than ever we see the old man in Snoop and that's some off the wall psychedelic isht that I love), KID CUDI, Q-Tip(Gettin Up is classic), MF Doom, Gnarls Barkley, OutKast(Andre AND Antwan will ALWAYS be OutKast nigga!), Soulja Boy, Pharrell, The Roots(B. Thought is still one of the sickest emcees with brotha ?uesto workin production), WALE, TABI BONNEY. D.C. emcees ALLL day. The list could go on but those are the first that come to mind and I have their albums going in steady rotation on the Zune. LET THE BEAT ROCK!! LET THE BEAT ROCK!!! HaHa!
BB: What have you been working on lately?
Ill Prophet: Everything. I'm networking like crazy. Getting people to know who you are is everything but at the same time I'm continually developing my style. I'm co-working on my mixtape Ill Prophecies and getting in on these shows. Shows are everything to me so if I get nothing but ten minutes on a stage I want to be on that stage. Not open mics but actual hip hop features. I love to perform. Also I'm building up my fanbase. A lot of folks might have 100,000 myspace friends but of that number probably only 20 or 30,000 actually rolling with you. Real true fans. It sucks but that's the nature of people. So I'm trying to hit everybody in every place cause you never know who might be your next biggest fan.
BB: How would you describe your style of music?
Ill Prophet: Ecclectic. Soulful. Heartfelt. IN YOUR FACE. Straight to the point. Off the wall. Hyped. Relaxed. My music is ever-evolving and developing. With that I hope to bring the listener along with me for this journey into greatness. People should be ever-evolving and changing and that's how my music is. To throw the idea in the air, my style of music is like a massive super saiyan spirit bomb, wrapped in Phoenix's flames, submerged in the seas of Atlantis, hidden in the swamps of Naboo. Digest that isht right there. In laymen's terms, it's out of this world.
BB: When can we be expecting an Ill Prophet Lp?
Ill Prophet: When my right brain and left brain decide to stop being anti-social and cooperate. HaHa:) Regardless we're looking at the end of '09 or so. I really want the mixtapes to flow through the streets and the underground before I really let the ball of energy loose. I'm messing around with way too many different sounds and elements to drop something this year. But the mixtapes are coming and as they come, everything else is coming together too. Just stay on the look out. IllaProph never stops moving.
BB: Alright music to the side. Tell us about Ill Prophet's life growing up.
Ill Prophet: Well I was born in D.C. I've lived pretty much all my life in and around different parts of Maryland. It's always just be my mother and me but life was ok. We struggled like I feel most single parent or even two parent households do. I've had the drug heads living right next door to me and my friends getting locked up at 8 for bringing semi-automatics to school and knives and all. That was one moment in my childhood. Then in another part the last roughly ten years of my life before I graduated high school, I lived in a military suburban community. I haven't seen it all but I have seen a lot. It's life. I've had first hand looks into both sides of the economic spectrum. Broke and in hoods you've only scene on t.v. and then where people have money and big houses and three cars and crazy ish like that. I'm well rounded because of it though. I'm prolly missing a lot but that's all I can really think of.
BB: When did you decide to try pick up the mic?
Ill Prophet: When I finally got one. ha. Man I'm geeking. Years ago. Many years ago. I had to have been in maybe 7th or 8th grade. I started writing poetry first. I was spitting other emcees rhymes but the poetry was the first self procreated art. As far as spitting I don't even really know. Must have been the night I saw a rerun of Martin. It was the International Player's ball episode with Jerome. lol OutKast performed at the end of that episode. They moved me soo much and around that time I had saw the video for The Roots - Next Movement. That song/video/lyrics were so raw for me I had to do music. I love everything about The Roots man. No homo but damn. If ya think you know The Roots holla at me. We can go back and Pass The Popcorn with just Tariq and Ahmir hitting the boom boom bip ba boom boom bip. Classic.
BB: At the end of the day, what do you want to do for hip hop and be perceived as?
Ill Prophet: Honestly I don't know. I don't have an agenda for hip-hop. I barely have a real motive or agenda for myself. All I want is for my music to be remembered and live on through time. I don't want to be restricted to just hip hop. Forget that. I want to cross genres. I want to be on Beatles status. Everybodoy knows who the Beatles are no matter if you're black, white, American or Russian. Michael Jackson could quit right now and never release another album, single, ad-lib, or even a breath and his music will be played. From lil Mike J of the Jackson 5 right up to now. His legacy, though clouded by other bull, lives on. Our kid's kids will hear Michael. Even LL Cool J has songs like that. These people will live on through music forever. We still sign Marvin Gaye tracks and he's been passed for over 20 years. I want my music to have that affect on the world and music industry.
BB: Anything else you'd like to add?
Ill Prophet: Support support support. I can't stress it enough. Not just me but all your favorite emcees.
My music is free so there is no reason why a "fan" shouldn't have it. Give it to friends. Spread it around. Tell people about me. Talk about the other hip hop that's out here. Hit me on myspace. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ILLPROPHECIES I just want to say thanks for the time. I appreciate and have much respect for people that stay true to themselves and strive for what they believe in.
Thanks again,
peaceluvNspaceships
-------
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
BB: First off. What's good?
Ill Prophet: What's up bruh? Everything kosher man. I'm living life and trying to enjoy every moment of it.
BB: Your music has a very unique style and refreshing style. Who are some of your influences you grew up to?
Ill Prophet: Ha. I love this question. Of course the typical Biggie, 2Pac, (ATCQ) A Tribe Called Quest so on and so forth had their influences somewhat here and there, but to be honest if I went through every influence and HOW they influenced me, you would have to dedicate two entire magazines to it, broken down in two parts. I guess the artists that really influenced me to initially say, "Dang, I want to be an artist are Mos Def, Common, The Roots, and Outkast. Let's just say a lot of everything from modern jazz, old school hip hop, and disco to gospel, soul, rock, and reggae played in on my styles. I could seriously name drop my musical influences all day...Curtis Mayfield, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Reverend James Cleveland, John P. Kee, Janis Joplin, Kenny G, Fourplay, Santana(Black Magic Woman), and on and on. lol My mom had all these old vinyls she used to play ALLL the time.
BB: What do you think about the current state of hip hop? or music in general?
Ill Prophet: Shoot sometimes I feel like John Kerry when they dug up all his stuff from his congressional term. Really I don't know. Sometimes I feel like THIS IS SOME BULL ISHT WTF IS WRONG WITH THE MUSIC WORLD and then other days...I'm feeling like it's just a different time. The only concern I have and will continue to have until it changes is the people not diversyfing what we listen too and the radio not diversifying the music they're playing. The radio and tv stations will play the music we request if we requested it in masses. On my hip hop stations how come I have NEVER heard Jean Grae? Little Brother? or even local emcees that have blown up such as Wale or Tabi Bonney? I hear Tabi and them in DC now more, but how come not in Baltimore? Why aren't Kanye's singles still being played from Graduation? I still hear Lollipop from Lil Wayne and Ayo Technology from 50? Why isn't Mos or the infamous Jay Electronica getting any play PERIOD. It's starts with the people. But the people can't get the information if they aren't even given the chance to hear it! Man shit, I'm gonna leave that question alone.
BB: Do you feel hip hop can have another golden era?
Ill Prophet: Golden era? Call me a rebel but I sort of feel like the golden era of hip hop may actually be RIGHT NOW! Hip hop music is bigger than it has ever been. Being a lyricist I have always been one to argue the need for better lyrics and music that has true meaning but we forget what our "Golden Era" really consisted of. I hate to burst folks bubble but EVERY SINGLE STYLE of music we have now was out even back then. Even during the 93-94 GOLDEN YEAR of hip hop. Wikipedia puts it best - ()"The artists most often associated with the phase are Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.[4] Releases by these acts co-existed and successfully competed commercially in this period with those of gangsta rap pioneers Schoolly D and N.W.A, the sex raps of Too $hort, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, Heavy D, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.[5]" "Look it up yourself. Keyword is CO-EXISTED. Soulja boy is our Kid N Play, Jazz and Fresh, Heavy D, 50 and, most definitely Game are our N.W.A., Pretty Ricky is our Too Short, Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell and so on are our ATCQ, De La, and so on. There are tons more that we know about but are getting any play. So the era is here. It's right now! It's just up to the people and the media to make it happen like they did back in the 90's. We as artist are delivering the material. www.myspace.com/illprophetic !! All day everyday! I'll mail you a cd if you want. My art is free. It's on facebook.com, reverbnation.com, letsbeef.com. I'm everywhere.
BB: Who are you feeling in hip hop today?
Ill Prophet:...that's rough...Me. Damn. lls. It's a list. There are just a lot of real MC's that deserve some serious shine. I like to follow up with why and I feel emcees don't get to do that often but I can talk all day about some folks. So simply put, COMMON first. He's stayed so true to himself. How can you not respect that? Kanye West, Jay Electronica(Get to know the new Badu Boo Jay Elec = SICK!!), 88Keys(Absolutely amazing and growing producer), Snoop (Now more than ever we see the old man in Snoop and that's some off the wall psychedelic isht that I love), KID CUDI, Q-Tip(Gettin Up is classic), MF Doom, Gnarls Barkley, OutKast(Andre AND Antwan will ALWAYS be OutKast nigga!), Soulja Boy, Pharrell, The Roots(B. Thought is still one of the sickest emcees with brotha ?uesto workin production), WALE, TABI BONNEY. D.C. emcees ALLL day. The list could go on but those are the first that come to mind and I have their albums going in steady rotation on the Zune. LET THE BEAT ROCK!! LET THE BEAT ROCK!!! HaHa!
BB: What have you been working on lately?
Ill Prophet: Everything. I'm networking like crazy. Getting people to know who you are is everything but at the same time I'm continually developing my style. I'm co-working on my mixtape Ill Prophecies and getting in on these shows. Shows are everything to me so if I get nothing but ten minutes on a stage I want to be on that stage. Not open mics but actual hip hop features. I love to perform. Also I'm building up my fanbase. A lot of folks might have 100,000 myspace friends but of that number probably only 20 or 30,000 actually rolling with you. Real true fans. It sucks but that's the nature of people. So I'm trying to hit everybody in every place cause you never know who might be your next biggest fan.
BB: How would you describe your style of music?
Ill Prophet: Ecclectic. Soulful. Heartfelt. IN YOUR FACE. Straight to the point. Off the wall. Hyped. Relaxed. My music is ever-evolving and developing. With that I hope to bring the listener along with me for this journey into greatness. People should be ever-evolving and changing and that's how my music is. To throw the idea in the air, my style of music is like a massive super saiyan spirit bomb, wrapped in Phoenix's flames, submerged in the seas of Atlantis, hidden in the swamps of Naboo. Digest that isht right there. In laymen's terms, it's out of this world.
BB: When can we be expecting an Ill Prophet Lp?
Ill Prophet: When my right brain and left brain decide to stop being anti-social and cooperate. HaHa:) Regardless we're looking at the end of '09 or so. I really want the mixtapes to flow through the streets and the underground before I really let the ball of energy loose. I'm messing around with way too many different sounds and elements to drop something this year. But the mixtapes are coming and as they come, everything else is coming together too. Just stay on the look out. IllaProph never stops moving.
BB: Alright music to the side. Tell us about Ill Prophet's life growing up.
Ill Prophet: Well I was born in D.C. I've lived pretty much all my life in and around different parts of Maryland. It's always just be my mother and me but life was ok. We struggled like I feel most single parent or even two parent households do. I've had the drug heads living right next door to me and my friends getting locked up at 8 for bringing semi-automatics to school and knives and all. That was one moment in my childhood. Then in another part the last roughly ten years of my life before I graduated high school, I lived in a military suburban community. I haven't seen it all but I have seen a lot. It's life. I've had first hand looks into both sides of the economic spectrum. Broke and in hoods you've only scene on t.v. and then where people have money and big houses and three cars and crazy ish like that. I'm well rounded because of it though. I'm prolly missing a lot but that's all I can really think of.
BB: When did you decide to try pick up the mic?
Ill Prophet: When I finally got one. ha. Man I'm geeking. Years ago. Many years ago. I had to have been in maybe 7th or 8th grade. I started writing poetry first. I was spitting other emcees rhymes but the poetry was the first self procreated art. As far as spitting I don't even really know. Must have been the night I saw a rerun of Martin. It was the International Player's ball episode with Jerome. lol OutKast performed at the end of that episode. They moved me soo much and around that time I had saw the video for The Roots - Next Movement. That song/video/lyrics were so raw for me I had to do music. I love everything about The Roots man. No homo but damn. If ya think you know The Roots holla at me. We can go back and Pass The Popcorn with just Tariq and Ahmir hitting the boom boom bip ba boom boom bip. Classic.
BB: At the end of the day, what do you want to do for hip hop and be perceived as?
Ill Prophet: Honestly I don't know. I don't have an agenda for hip-hop. I barely have a real motive or agenda for myself. All I want is for my music to be remembered and live on through time. I don't want to be restricted to just hip hop. Forget that. I want to cross genres. I want to be on Beatles status. Everybodoy knows who the Beatles are no matter if you're black, white, American or Russian. Michael Jackson could quit right now and never release another album, single, ad-lib, or even a breath and his music will be played. From lil Mike J of the Jackson 5 right up to now. His legacy, though clouded by other bull, lives on. Our kid's kids will hear Michael. Even LL Cool J has songs like that. These people will live on through music forever. We still sign Marvin Gaye tracks and he's been passed for over 20 years. I want my music to have that affect on the world and music industry.
BB: Anything else you'd like to add?
Ill Prophet: Support support support. I can't stress it enough. Not just me but all your favorite emcees.
My music is free so there is no reason why a "fan" shouldn't have it. Give it to friends. Spread it around. Tell people about me. Talk about the other hip hop that's out here. Hit me on myspace. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ILLPROPHECIES I just want to say thanks for the time. I appreciate and have much respect for people that stay true to themselves and strive for what they believe in.
Thanks again,
peaceluvNspaceships
-------
Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet
Twitter @ILLPROPHET
Ill Prophet Facebook Page Ill Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Facebook Personal Profile Illyus Prophet
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wale Interview w/ S.A.B Radio Part 1 & 2
Wale Interview - Part 1
Wale Interview - Part 2
Follow My Blogs!!
Find me on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/Illyus
Myspace - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Twitter - www.twitter.com/ILLPROPHET
Peace*Love&Spaceships
© Illyus Prophet 2009
Wale Interview - Part 2
Follow My Blogs!!
Find me on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/Illyus
Myspace - www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Twitter - www.twitter.com/ILLPROPHET
Peace*Love&Spaceships
© Illyus Prophet 2009
Wale Interview w/ S.A.B Radio Part 1 & 2
Wale Interview - Part 1
Wale Interview - Part 2
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© Illyus Prophet 2009
Wale Interview - Part 2
Follow My Blogs!!
Find me on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/Illyus
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Twitter - www.twitter.com/ILLPROPHET
Peace*Love&Spaceships
© Illyus Prophet 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
These Colorways Don't Fade: Interviews, Encounters, and Collabos
Further to yesterday's post, I must say that one of the best parts about reviewing a Dutch city bike (or at least a designer interpretation of a Dutch city bike) is that one is automatically exempted from using the terms that are otherwise mandatory in bike reviews. These terms include: hoops, stoppers, clampers, rubber, and skins. (Incidentally, in S&M circles those things plus a bottle of wine equal a romantic evening.) Furthermore, one is also exempted from citing the bike's lateral stiffness and vertical compliance, as well as referring almost sensually to the "beefiness" of the bottom bracket, as epitomized in the famous Neuvation video.
However, if you found yourself missing any of these things, perhaps this video will help tide you over until the next James Huang review "drops:"
That must be the new BB30 standard everybody's talking about.
But while I have no idea to whom the above bottom bracket belongs, I can say with assurance that it is not attached to a hipster, since hipsters tend towards the small and diminutive. (You could smother at least three hipsters to death with that posterior.) And speaking of hipsters, there is a brief interview with me in the current issue of "The Fader," which can probably best be described as a "hipster" magazine:
In my defense, I was drinking during the interview, and unlike Tom Boonen who blacks out and has "indirect contact" with cocaine when he drinks, I just say boring things to hipster magazines. Also, there's a photo of me or else someone purporting to be me doing some kind of contrived urban cyclocross maneuver. Hey, that shark's not going to jump itself. However, I will deny any accusations that I did it "for the hipster pussy," unlike this person:
That said, if I was motivated by "hipster pussy," this interview could only help, since one day maybe I'll get invited to a party thrown by "The Fader." In addition to a number of articles about various bands and rappers, the current issue contains images from one of these parties, which from the looks of it was not lacking in the Impassioned Hipster Dancing department:
Also, it appears as though furry cossack hats may be the new flat-brim fitted caps, and patterned cashmere mufflers may be the new keffiyeh. It's a good thing the woman from the BB30 bottom bracket video wasn't there, though. I have a feeling nobody would have made it out of there alive.
Of course, the fact is that even if I did attend one of these Impassioned Hipster Dancing parties, I probably wouldn't have much to talk to people about, since from the looks of the crowd they probably aren't conversant in the relative merits of the various bottom bracket standards, and they'd probably be quite bored by my thoughs on them. (Though the one person who rode a fixie to the party would probably say "square taper FTW!" at some point.) Really, the best I could do would be to refer knowingly to some of the bands on this "mix tape," which was sent to me by Barry Wicks:
Wicks actually sent me a first "mix tape" back in March, and I was extremely grateful to receive another one. Even better, in addition to providing me with Impassioned Hipster Dancing party small-talk, he also provided me with an ironic t-shirt to wear. Behold:
Yes, that's Barry Wicks with an Afro making karate-love to a flower. I can't help suspecting that Barry Wicks may be about to "drop" an energy drink, because I'm sure a beverage called "Wicknasty" with this image on the can would fly out of the bodega refrigerators. So I'd like to extend a sincere thank-you to Barry Wicks for the excellent hipster party survival kit, and if any of you wind up at an Impassioned Hipster Dancing party and see someone standing in the corner wearing a "Wicknasty" t-shirt and making awkward chit-chat about bottom brackets, come by and say "hello" because it's almost certainly me, and I'll almost certainly be really uncomfortable.
Speaking of comfort, I recently stumbled upon some photos of actress Famke Jansen looking a bit too comfortable on a Dutch city bike:
If yesterday's review inspired you to join the legions of people already happily palping Dutch city bikes, look no further than this pictorial for a guide to how to ride one properly. Yes, in a certain way the Dutch city bike is the SUV of bicycles--it's a little too big, it creates the illusion of safety, and nobody pays any attention when they're operating one.
Still, a Dutch city bike is downright stealthy when compared to a recumbent:
9:30pm, 2nd ave Brunnette on Bike 35th st to 10th(?) st. - m4w (East Village)
Reply to: [deleted]
Date: 2009-06-24, 11:26PM EDT
Hi--
I realize the chances of you seeing this are slim, slim, slim...but just in case lightning strikes---
We were riding bikes near each other down Second Avenue tonight. You have brown hair and brown eyes. Were wearing a white helmet and blue jeans and riding a blue 10 or 12 speed semi-vintage type of bike. I was on the recumbent.
You turned onto second Ave around 36th street (and narrowly avoided a cab at 35th street!) and then rode down Second before turning left on 10th street (?) or so.
I was totally struck by your looks (and liked the way you ride) and was hoping there would be a good opening to say hi... Hard of course as we were both kind of racing down the street, but... if you happen to see this, I'd love to race you to a coffee sometime!
Then again, a recumbent is stealthy in its own way, since the rider can prowl around the city safely below eye level like a U-boat of dorkitude. Even this post is stealthy--notice how he just slipped in the fact that he was on a recumbent in the same way that you'd gloss over the fact that you're already married or you have an STD. We've seen recumbent riders on the make before, and it wouldn't surprise me if the city is teeming with them. Nor would I be surprised to learn that some of them are equipped with crotchal periscopes in the hopes of encountering Famke Jansen or oversized bottom brackets. Maybe we'll see a RANS recumbent x U.S. Submarines "collabo" in the near future.
In the meantime, though, we'll have to make due with more fixed-gear "collabos." Here's one in the P.K. Ripper "colo[u]rway:"
Yes, heads will turn and bars will spin when you make the scene on your ironic nostalgia machine. Just top it off with a "Comeplaypolo" t-shirt and you'll be a shotgun blast of cycling references. Is "warmed over" a colorway?
Regardless, it seems as though people aren't going to tire of "collabos" (or "collabia," which is technically the plural form of "collabo") and limited editon colourways anytime soon. Even Tweeting celebrity Dennis Hopper is getting in on the act:
It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for the Hopper x Krylon dayglo pussy "collabo" to drop, since Dennis Hopper seems to be wandering around his house in his underpants (he doesn't say that but with Hopper it's just assumed), rattling a spraypaint can and cooing, "Here, kittykittykitty!" He probably shouldn't have Tweeted about it, though, since now PETA's liable to join the collabo too.
But I'm sure he means well. He's only doing it for the hipster pussy.
However, if you found yourself missing any of these things, perhaps this video will help tide you over until the next James Huang review "drops:"
That must be the new BB30 standard everybody's talking about.
But while I have no idea to whom the above bottom bracket belongs, I can say with assurance that it is not attached to a hipster, since hipsters tend towards the small and diminutive. (You could smother at least three hipsters to death with that posterior.) And speaking of hipsters, there is a brief interview with me in the current issue of "The Fader," which can probably best be described as a "hipster" magazine:
In my defense, I was drinking during the interview, and unlike Tom Boonen who blacks out and has "indirect contact" with cocaine when he drinks, I just say boring things to hipster magazines. Also, there's a photo of me or else someone purporting to be me doing some kind of contrived urban cyclocross maneuver. Hey, that shark's not going to jump itself. However, I will deny any accusations that I did it "for the hipster pussy," unlike this person:
That said, if I was motivated by "hipster pussy," this interview could only help, since one day maybe I'll get invited to a party thrown by "The Fader." In addition to a number of articles about various bands and rappers, the current issue contains images from one of these parties, which from the looks of it was not lacking in the Impassioned Hipster Dancing department:
Also, it appears as though furry cossack hats may be the new flat-brim fitted caps, and patterned cashmere mufflers may be the new keffiyeh. It's a good thing the woman from the BB30 bottom bracket video wasn't there, though. I have a feeling nobody would have made it out of there alive.Of course, the fact is that even if I did attend one of these Impassioned Hipster Dancing parties, I probably wouldn't have much to talk to people about, since from the looks of the crowd they probably aren't conversant in the relative merits of the various bottom bracket standards, and they'd probably be quite bored by my thoughs on them. (Though the one person who rode a fixie to the party would probably say "square taper FTW!" at some point.) Really, the best I could do would be to refer knowingly to some of the bands on this "mix tape," which was sent to me by Barry Wicks:
Wicks actually sent me a first "mix tape" back in March, and I was extremely grateful to receive another one. Even better, in addition to providing me with Impassioned Hipster Dancing party small-talk, he also provided me with an ironic t-shirt to wear. Behold:
Yes, that's Barry Wicks with an Afro making karate-love to a flower. I can't help suspecting that Barry Wicks may be about to "drop" an energy drink, because I'm sure a beverage called "Wicknasty" with this image on the can would fly out of the bodega refrigerators. So I'd like to extend a sincere thank-you to Barry Wicks for the excellent hipster party survival kit, and if any of you wind up at an Impassioned Hipster Dancing party and see someone standing in the corner wearing a "Wicknasty" t-shirt and making awkward chit-chat about bottom brackets, come by and say "hello" because it's almost certainly me, and I'll almost certainly be really uncomfortable.
Speaking of comfort, I recently stumbled upon some photos of actress Famke Jansen looking a bit too comfortable on a Dutch city bike:
If yesterday's review inspired you to join the legions of people already happily palping Dutch city bikes, look no further than this pictorial for a guide to how to ride one properly. Yes, in a certain way the Dutch city bike is the SUV of bicycles--it's a little too big, it creates the illusion of safety, and nobody pays any attention when they're operating one.Still, a Dutch city bike is downright stealthy when compared to a recumbent:
9:30pm, 2nd ave Brunnette on Bike 35th st to 10th(?) st. - m4w (East Village)
Reply to: [deleted]
Date: 2009-06-24, 11:26PM EDT
Hi--
I realize the chances of you seeing this are slim, slim, slim...but just in case lightning strikes---
We were riding bikes near each other down Second Avenue tonight. You have brown hair and brown eyes. Were wearing a white helmet and blue jeans and riding a blue 10 or 12 speed semi-vintage type of bike. I was on the recumbent.
You turned onto second Ave around 36th street (and narrowly avoided a cab at 35th street!) and then rode down Second before turning left on 10th street (?) or so.
I was totally struck by your looks (and liked the way you ride) and was hoping there would be a good opening to say hi... Hard of course as we were both kind of racing down the street, but... if you happen to see this, I'd love to race you to a coffee sometime!
Then again, a recumbent is stealthy in its own way, since the rider can prowl around the city safely below eye level like a U-boat of dorkitude. Even this post is stealthy--notice how he just slipped in the fact that he was on a recumbent in the same way that you'd gloss over the fact that you're already married or you have an STD. We've seen recumbent riders on the make before, and it wouldn't surprise me if the city is teeming with them. Nor would I be surprised to learn that some of them are equipped with crotchal periscopes in the hopes of encountering Famke Jansen or oversized bottom brackets. Maybe we'll see a RANS recumbent x U.S. Submarines "collabo" in the near future.
In the meantime, though, we'll have to make due with more fixed-gear "collabos." Here's one in the P.K. Ripper "colo[u]rway:"
Yes, heads will turn and bars will spin when you make the scene on your ironic nostalgia machine. Just top it off with a "Comeplaypolo" t-shirt and you'll be a shotgun blast of cycling references. Is "warmed over" a colorway?Regardless, it seems as though people aren't going to tire of "collabos" (or "collabia," which is technically the plural form of "collabo") and limited editon colourways anytime soon. Even Tweeting celebrity Dennis Hopper is getting in on the act:
It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for the Hopper x Krylon dayglo pussy "collabo" to drop, since Dennis Hopper seems to be wandering around his house in his underpants (he doesn't say that but with Hopper it's just assumed), rattling a spraypaint can and cooing, "Here, kittykittykitty!" He probably shouldn't have Tweeted about it, though, since now PETA's liable to join the collabo too.
But I'm sure he means well. He's only doing it for the hipster pussy.