He said "Right across from White Castle," and there it was: Merlins, what seemed to be a shabby hole-in-the-wall bar in South Minneapolis.
Crista and I were on a mission: to consume cold beverages and to get to know a musician that has recently appeared on the radar locally, and since this summer's release,
Recession Music, nation-wide.
We sat and Prof spotted the pair of out-of-place girls in a booth and he kindly joined us for a little chat. Soon into the interview, a woman approached our table
and offered our guest a paper bag of...vegetables? "Home grown!", she yelled over the boisterous live band and pub chatter, "Get some fiber in your diet, get your ass pumpin out that poop!"
Suddenly humored and well into our first round, we started the interview inquiring about the relationship between Interlock and Stophouse (Interlock was a well-known Indie label
with such artists as Kanser/New MC, Twisted Linguistics, Prof & Rahzwell, St. Paul Slim, Acoustic Beatdown, and More Than Lights whose artists abruptly dispersed into other projects).
Jamee &Crista:
"SO what's the deal with Interlock and Stophouse?"Prof:
"Big Zach met Dylan Parker, who was the head of Interlock...with Mike Campbell. And you know me, Slim, Rahzwell got together. I met all those dudes and I was a part of Interlock and blah, blah blah. I think 3 years ago?"C:
So you were a part of Interlock, which desintigrated, and now you're in Stophouse.
P: "Stophouse is a different label with a different focus."C:
Who is officially a part of Stophouse?P:
"Myself and Slim, Rahz comes with me, and helps me do the live shows."J:
"Is the label looking to sign anymore acts?"P:
"We're looking to get new artists, but...no one's really good right now. We want really, really good ones."We all laughed.
The conversation rolled off our tongues easily. Then I thought of my Lethalville friends and asked:
J:
"So how did you get associated with Black Clover?" P:
"Soulcrate had invited me to do a show in Sioux Falls and we had a really good time," he said, grabbing a tomato from his bag
, "They were just really, really nice and that hospitality stuck with me."As he took a bite, his tomato exploded.
As he attempted to clean up the mess, he contined,
"They were doing sold out shows, I was definitely fuckin' with 'em. Definitely planning on doing more with them."J:
So are there any more projects coming up with Black Clover?
P:
"Actually myself and Slim just made a song with Mac." Crista cooed over Mac
"Aww I love him!" As we all giggled he contined,
"It's over a mainstream beat. Mac texted me sayin "DUDE! HOW FAST CAN YOU WRITE A VERSE!?" And I was like "Pretty fuckin fast, since most of my verses take around 15 minutes to write. I said 'Why the hurry?' he said: "ONE WORD: NIKE!" I'm not sure he was serious, but yeah."We chatted about studio renovations, the niceness of Black Clover, and the bacon guys at Beerfest.
J:
What is your story until now?P:
"It's like a lot of people's. South Side Minneapolis, sorta hood, not a lot different than anybody else. I don't go outta my way to call myself "underground".J:
Do you find the over-saturation of rappers in Minneapolis a way to step your game up, or is it frustrating?P: "
I'm not sayin 'Yo, I'm another white rapper. It's a good pedigree of people coming out of Minneapolis, I just want people to remember my music. Not my story. Blah blah blah."J:
I've noticed a bit of playful aggression toward women, epecially in Recession Music, and I wanted to know if being raised by all women affects you. P:
When I'm with my people I'm myself. I've got black friends, I've got white friends, and when I'm with my girl friends I might slap 'em in the ass and call 'em sluts. It's funny that comedians can play on all sorts of racist and sexist issues, but when an artist contradicts himself or says something degrading, he's in trouble. I'll say shit about guys, I'll tell rappers "I'll murder you." If a dude is a douche bag I'll let him know. I almost think it's sexist if you don't hold women to the same level. Once I try to be politically correct here, then someone will pounce on the time I said something different there. When I'm on the dancefloor, sometimes I want ten of the best models, a bottle of champagne, and a blunt." He continued: "Sometimes when I feel like partying, it'll be like that. Other times my girl is the only thing in the world."
C:
I've noticed there's a lot of party music, and a lot of songs about your mother. I haven't seen "this is my story" or typical hip hop songs about your past.P:
"Uuuhhh I dunno. I got a song called Baby Jacob about me being a little kid and being on welfare and my parents split. "C:
Yeah there usually is one serious song and the rest are rowdyP:
I've seen a bunch of fucked up shit, but sometimes I just laugh. When someones pissed at me, especially my girlfriend, I'll just laugh cuz the whole thing is funny. It's gotten me in some trouble, but if you take life too seriously then fuck.C:
What's Gampo??P:
Gampo is a person, gampo is a way of life. Deep in South Side, Richfield," he was interrupted by drunken singing from our favorite Irishman(who is on
Recession Music)
, "when we were kids, one of my best friends. A friend in LA right now, he was CRAZY. He'd make people cry. This dude Gampo was just crazy. He would do he craziest shit I've ever seen in my life. To be pretty Gampo, I'd just eat someone else's food, take someone's drink here, climb trees when you're drunk.C:
How did you meet Rahzwell and Fundo?
P:
I met rahzwell when we had the same class when 9/11 happened and we were all watching the tv. I turned to him and said "This is pretty fucked up" and he said "yeah man" and we just started talking about stuff. And he evenually started making beats and I rapped to 'em. We had a setup at my hosue- keyboard, computer, mpc. We got in a big fight and he went to Chicago for 8 months, we never talked. Then he came back and we..." The Irish man interrupts again, and we just can't help but listen to him speak.
P:
" I met fundo through the scene, and Slim through Dylan Parker. There was a million people in Interlock and money everywhere, and Dylan helped us focus up."C:
I NEVER knew who you were before now.J:
I remember seeing you and Rahz back like 3-4 years ago opening for Golden.P:
"We used to be the one's getting in fights. Halloween one year there was a fight outside Dinkytowner at a show. Everyone's all dressed-up fighting in the middle of the street, I was swingin and there were hockey players and everyone had costumes and whatnot. I didn't know if I was hittin someone I knew. It was crazy. These days fighting in or around shows is real fucking stupid. Me and Rahz constantly find ourselves liking to on the road... you'll get someone coming up to you after shows sayin you aint shit, your a fag, or something stupid. That's when you got to check your situation, take a step back and realize that your in a very lucky position, your in a public position, and you got to let that slide. I cant tour the country on some crusade mission. When you think about it, the more people who know you, like you, love your music, the more people would like to fight you, or at least try to get you angry. You'll always get those one in a hundred. You just got to keep your eyes on the other ninety nine who are very happy to see you, and focus on those relationships."J:
What should we expect in the next year?P:
"We're calling the project Gampo 2 but it's gonna change. Really good rap, singing, good shit."C:
Everyone is saying Recession Music is one of the best projects of the year. What do you think of that?P:
I expected it. We worked really hard. We put in a lot of work.We breezed through his CalSurf sponsorship, his sold-out show at Fine Line (CD Release Party) and his plans "To sell out First Ave. That's my goal." We explained Lovefest and our goals to expose our favorite bands/artwork/and interests through awesome blogging. Apparently he was a little intimidated:
P:
Were you hurt when I called a woman a chickenhead?We laughed, and Crista explained:
I respect what you do, and I think "you know, he's doing something totally different."J:
I see a lot of insecurity in hip hop, where some people are afraid to touch the issue, and others like to slap the bitches up. Your music finds the middle ground."Prof explained that in a previous interview, a woman mentioned that "A Month From Now" really hurt her.
P:When you get someone who's telling the truth, whether it's good or it's "Fuck that bitch" people are shocked by that, but it's real. Know what? That's a good thing. I'm a painter. I like movies, and sometimes I like being scared, some things make me hurt. It's real. I don't wanna be politically correct all the time."My inner artist geeked out. "
So do you do art anymore?" P:
"I love painting. I did the artwork for Recession Music, I'm the creative director of Stophouse." We talked about paints and methods and art history, and the conversation began winding down.
The rest of the night included Jameson, an interesting horseshoe-like game called Quoits, and erotic vegetable photography. One reading this might feel there is no shortage of ego with Prof, but even if that's true, it's well-deserved. Living by a work-hard-play-hard ethic has payed off for Prof and Rhazwell (as well as his Minneapolis peers), and in typical Midwest fashion: if nothing else, Prof can drink you under the table. Don't make him bring out the Gampo side...
Catch Prof & Slim at First Avenue with P.O.S this Saturday (10.24.09) ALL AGES!!
To download Recession Music Click
here!
