Future Glitterati - Prof-ac

[Interview Transcript]
Prof’s been rapping since the age of 13. I’ve seen him go from a dude with a high level of skill that’s rough around the edges to straight up dope MC. Now he’s making a name for himself in the competitive market of New York City, I know a few of you have maybe heard of that place. We’ll get to know some of his history and get to know some of what we can expect from him in the future.

What’s goin on Prof?

Ahh Nothin much. You know what it is man. Landmind all day

You know what? You’re actually the first person I know who’s taken that leap into a career in hip hop. There were only a few artists in Bermuda at a certain point in time that would consider them-self a rapper. Were you influenced by any of Bermuda’s early emcee’s?

“Roddy” Roderick Nesbitt. Roderick Nesbitt aka Chubby the Riddla. Now he has a open mic known as “Chewstick”. Bermuda’s popular and only open mic. He definitely was an influence. I guess I could say that Omega influenced me. He was the first rapper I met on the island that rapped and made his own beats. So I could say, as far as locally, him {Roddy}, Omega, Ink Squad which is ECB, Ricochet and Jonathan aka South Paw. So you can pretty much label all of those guys as the local influences I had in Bermuda.

You ‘re the second person I’ve interviewed who made the migration from Bermuda to the big apple. How has that affected your music?

Being in that New York competitive market where everyone’s very passionate about it {hip hop}. More passionate than anyone in Bermuda I had to step my game up. I always had the words, I just needed the delivery and the cadence and the word play. So I don’t think if I stayed in Bermuda that my word play and my delivery would be as on par as it is. Plus there were more people in New York that were willing to take me under their wing and school me and tell me what I needed to do to improve.  I had my Bermudian influences but they weren’t as willing to take me under their wing. They knew what they knew and for some reason they either didn’t have the time or desire to tell me exactly what I needed to do to improve. New York everyone was in love with what I could say but I guess they saw more potential. I don’t wanna say one is better than the other. It just basically seemed that more people in New York gravitated to what I was sayin more than people in Bermuda.

I remember being a basketball player in Bermuda and leaving the island thinking that you’re nice. And then getting outside {Off the island} and playing with some other cats and realize, ok, maybe I wasn’t as nice as I thought. I mean I’m still decent but you know, I gotta step my game up if I’m gonna compete with these guys in this other market. Would you consider that...

Kinda like that because I didn’t really believe that I was better. I knew New York was definitely more scary than Bermuda because Bermudians at the end of the day aren’t really, well at the time, die-hard hip hop fans. But this is the home, this is the Mecca that I’m going to so I’d definitely be under some heavy scrutiny. But it seemed like after my first cypher they embraced me instantly. After they heard what I was spittin and what I was about. I think I was humble. I wasn’t big-headed when I went there.

What inspires your music?

Real-life situations, listening to other dope creative artists really makes me reach for mine because it always puts you on that creative edge. I think after I heard 125 Grams Part 1 by Joell Ortiz it made me so frustrated because he was sayin dope shit that I pray to God and I wish I could come up with first. But definitely once I listen to good material it inspires me to say, aight, I wanna do better then that. I wanna surpass the affect that song had on me. I take a lot of my real-life experiences and turn them into songs and do my best with that. I don’t really try to make up false stories. I try to be me to the best of my ability but make it work for me.

So how would you classify your style?

It has East Coast roots. You know I can’t even say it has East Coast roots because when I was growing up I listened to everybody, you know what I’m sayin? I listened to everybody from West Coast... I was definitely a student of the 90’s what they would deem as the golden era of hip hop. Where what you said made you dope. When a lot of people listen to my stuff, that’s what they compare me too. I guess you could definitely say that I’m keen on my lyrics. I guess if you wanted to classify my style I don’t want to have a certain classification to it because you never know how I might be feeling. An artist is a person at the end of the day and is forever changing as the years go by. So who you were when you did whatever project you did, you might have grown and you’re not that same person anymore. So I guess if you wanted to put a label on it... Golden era hip hop. That idea. That’s definitely it.

What would you consider your greatest strength as an artist?

I guess I manage to put more emotion and personalize my songs so when I do something you definitely get a sense that it came from a genuine place. You don’t have to stop and think, Oh man he definitely wasn’t into the song. I think the one thing that a lot of people walk away with when they listen to my music is, wow I definitely felt his emotion in that. If you wanna go on a technical level, word play. My word play I can definitely say is a strength. Metaphors definitely. If you really wanna break down lyricism. I don’t try to over use similes because a lot of rappers do. You know they always say like, like, like, like. So I try to dabble in the field of metaphors, punch-lines and concepts.

That being said. Who were you influenced by in main-stream hip hop?

If you wanna break it down as far as coast goes. East Coast it was the usual. Nas, Jay Big, Cannabis, Wu-Tang. If you wanna go West Coast Ras Kass was a big influence. Ras Kass, Exhibit the Alchoholics, Saafir. If you wanna bring it up to current day, I always been a Crooked I fan before he got with Slaughterhouse. Down South wise,  Goodie Mob, OutKast, Scarface. If you wanna talk about where you’re at right now. Canada, Saukrates. I was always a big, big Saukrates fan. If there was any Canadian MC that I listened to that I would place on the same level as these other cats it would be him. To me, he was what Jay is to New York or to the States periods. All of those influenced me. Anything with a good style, lyricism and delivery. I left out Mid-West but as far as Mid-West, you know, Twista, Common, Em, D12.

We got into this on Facebook one day. But what’s your perspective on battle rapping?

I think right now there’s a market for it because of how people utilize You Tube. Before you couldn’t see the battles. You only heard about them. Only if you managed to be a person that lived in the States and happened to know where these battles go down. It’s funny cause I was at “Bad Blood” a “Grind Time” event, and me, Charlie Clips, DNA, Conceited and Cortez were having this conversation and Clips said that the camera is definitely making a difference. I guess you could say it’s more profitable to be a battle rapper. You can actually have a battle rap career now. The Math and T-Rex battle caught about 1 million views. So there’s a market and these battle rappers find a way to utilize that market and make themselves a brand.

Hey, you get a million views there’s money in that mate.

There’s definitely money in that. That’s my general concensus. In the past it was generic ya momma jokes and a lot of purists were on that tip of, he came off the top of the head. But what got me so mad about that back in the day was that, ok, he came of the top of the head but what he said was real simple and it was basically garbage. But you’re gonna give him the win because one dude wrote his bars and the other dude came off the top of the head? I was really keen on bars and then when it broke away from that it went to alright, written is cool. But now you have guys battling each other on Smack and it’s basically filler. What I mean by that is that it has nothing to do with the person who’s directly in front of them. They don’t personalize their attacks. The only people that really did that were Mook and Luxx and the ones that are still relevant and shining today. Dudes would go to spitting something off their album or random shit about how much guns they bust, how many hos they fucked, or how much crack they sold. Now you got Grind Time where you really gotta bring it. Punch-lines, metaphors, If you thought you were gonna go over the crowd’s head or you thought that your punch-line was too deep or too lyrical go with it cause that’s what the Grind Time crowd is looking for.

The Great thing about Grind Time is that it’s such a diverse group of cats. You get people of different races and backgrounds. It’s not just, I’m a thug, I can shoot you, I can sell drugs better than you. You get the nerds, you get the thugs, country cats, you get everybody mixed in...

I think that’s another thing about it. They’re welcoming lyricists from all over now. Now I know that there ARE lyrical dudes in Atlanta and Texas and all that. What you just said, Cortez said. If you actually watch the Cortez vs Soul Kahn battle, after the battle was over says that without Grind Time you wouldn’t have a Soul Kahn and a Cortez and their kind of followers congregating in the same spot to watch them battle. After he battled in Grind Time it really made him step his game up because it made him realize how well rounded he had to be as far as punch-lines. He was so used to dealing with Fight Club and that type of vibe that he now realized that he had to be very versatile. He took something from those battles with Conceited, Real Deal and Soul Kahn which I respect him for very much. He is not one of those guys that’s so self absorbed that he won’t give you the real and tell you, I don’t know how I lost. He’ll tell you I really needed to step it up.

Are you still trying out for Grind Time?

Yeah. Concrete Animals is the sub division / try-out division for Grind Time New York, but they moved the try-outs back to the summer. I’ve been waiting so I guess it gives me more time to get my bars together and get prepared but in the mean time there is a league known as King Of The Ring that Nuborn the sub division president suggested I get involved with. So I just might be doing King Of The Ring before Grind Time just to get me familiarized before the summer try-outs kick in. But you’ll definitely see me on Grind Time

You’re one of the founding members of Landmind Hip hop. Who’s in Landmind today? What’s the status of Landmind? What’s going on with that?

Landmind’s still alive and kicking and all the people that came in it are still there. I’m about to do the Grind Time thing and I guess do more showcases. Aside from me, Druhollah and False have been going hard in the showcase scene. Especially with J Hatch Promotions and DJ Bedtyme, who is Remy Ma’s DJ. A. Harmony is the first lady member of Landmind. She just did her first performance a couple of weeks ago. She’s also about to be on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mics all Femcee mixtape series, which is being put together by my big sis Monie Love and E-Peezy. She’s also gonna get into writing. She knows just about everyone at Toronto’s Flow. Her and Kim Davis are pretty close. She’s doing her thing. Mal’s getting that fire in him. He’s back in the studio recording. We’re all in our individual lanes but simultaneously recording stuff for the group project. You’re gonna hear that the chemistry was great on a lot of the tracks we did together.

So you guys have a big Landmind group project coming out for 2010?

Oh Definitely yes yes. It’s been me False, Dru, Harms, Mal and you know Kase. Kase has been doing his thing too. He’s really well known for doing Chewstick. He went hard at that and it’s kinda led to other things for him. His music is better than ever. He’s really come a long way and I’m proud of him cause he’s one of the younger guys. Smitty just won Producer of the Year at the Underground Awards. Musson’s out doing his schooling but I’m pretty sure once that’s done he’s gonna be back in his zone.

What’s up with Web? I always hear this “Free Web” stuff in your songs.

Ahhh Free Web. Well Web is my brother, my best friend. I love that man to death. I moved to New York in 2001, I had just started Queens Borough Community College and they have these clubs. One of the clubs I stepped up for was the Black Student Union. The first day we congregated I heard this deep, Barry White voice saying the most funniest thing I ever heard in my life. That’s when I met Web and we just clicked. We got to know each other and we just became like brothers. His family became my family. His hood, Corona. Everybody basically supported cause I was one of his right hand men. It was like his neighborhood became my neighborhood, his family became my family. If there was about to be a fight or somebody was about to mess with me, before I could defend myself he would jump in and try to take up for me. When I was broke and had nothing to eat he would always take care of me. But at the same time he was in the streets and certain things have consequences so right now he’s in Rikers. He’s been in Rikers for 3 years trying to fight a life sentence. So when I say “Free Web” I want my brother out. I miss him being a free man and I miss having somebody there to make me laugh.

A lot of your songs hit on relationship issues. You know what’s coming next! How are the ladies treating you these days?

Ahhhh. Well the ladies are always gonna be the ladies. Ladies are very complicated creatures so all I can say is that I have not given up on the idea of a relationship. I guess when it’s time I’ll have that one that’s for me but until then I keep hitting a lot of bumps on the road. It just is what it is. Relationships are complicated. Any man that’s single is gonna meet a couple of options and some are gonna click more than others so that’s what it is. I’m single. What more can I say? [laughs]

Hear that ladies?! [laughs]. Alright altright. Well Thank you. Any shout outs you wanna give?

My family first and foremost. My mom, my sister and my dad. Landmind Hip hop all day, Mal, Web, Dru, False, Kase, Musson, D-Effect and No Good People, They always look out for me. So that’s, Stress, ODoub, Sean Strange and Raida. The whole GT, especially, Cortez and the Murda Ave Gang, Nuborn, DNA, PH, Loe Pesci from Montreal who competes in King Of The Dot. Also shout outs to my big sis Monie Love and my little Cousin Layna Love. Look out for her. She’s gonna be a problem. She’s dropping her RnB mixtape soon. Shout oout to the whole Bermuda and all the artists there. Everybody to New York, especially Queens. And shout out to Jamaica, the other 50% of my bloodline. And also shout out to Tha Underground. They’ve, supported, they’ve pushed what I’ve done so there you go.

Alright that’s wassup. Thanks again Prof!


Get at Prof-ac here:
www.myspace.com/itzallova
twitter.com/Prof_ac