Bobby
Making it in hip-hop for some is impossible. The genre, like most, is saturated with wannabes and hopefuls, all hoping that they will in turn get their chance to make a difference.
For Bobby, making it as an mc is not an option it is an obsession. Having ensured his penmanship is up to par since a very young age, this new york native is happy to carry the torch for his city and his genre.
How did you get your start in music?
I actually got my start in music when I thought to combine a passion for writing and poetry and a love hip hop music together. After that I just through in some back stories and deep emotions. I really got into writing when I was in the fourth grade. I had a teacher (ms. Fry) who made it her business to have us write several short stories and poems and journal entries through out the day.
I'll never forget, at the beginning of the year, she asked who enjoyed writing and I didn't raise my hand and she looked at me and told me that by the end of the year I'd love to write. Its crazy how right she was. Ever sense then I was hooked. Even throughout the summer, I'd be writing poems and short stories just for the hell of it. It continued too. Even when I came back to N.Y. And continued my education, I excelled in English courses.
Its funny because I knew I was good at it, but not until I was in the 7th or 8th grade did I really attempt to write song lyrics. Like most people I was a Pac fan. I can recall myself listening to that Scarface and Pac track..."smile". I had the single for it so I would just replay it n replay it and one day I decided to get creative. I jacked Pac's flow and just put my own words and it was on point. I can't remember the lyrics to save my life, but I can remember being real proud of it.
Of course I spit it to one of my cousins and a few friends and they were all digging it. After that there was the 8th grade talent show where I decided to share my hidden talent with everyone. By this time I had write a few rhymes here and there just because I enjoyed writing, I never thought about spitting them for people, or anything along those lines. They were works of poetry I kept in my poetry book and that was it, but one day I say hey, why not.
I wrote some lil' 16 bar rhyme about money and ill put it on that Canibus "2nd round knock out" beat. Because that was the hardest joint ill could find and when the time came for me to do my thing, I went up there and spit my heart out. My class mates were on there feet and running to the stage, teachers where giving me props and I felt like I had the world in my palm. It was at that moment right there where I figured yo... I can get used to this.
Now obviously being a battle rapper means having an extensive vocabulary and a unique ability to string words together, how do you master that? Is it a hidden talent?
Well to be real, I wouldn't really consider myself a "battle rapper" to begin with. When you're a battle rapper... That's all you are and I can't just be thrown into one category like that, but I have had my share of battles here and there.
And yes when battling, you do have to have a bag of tricks, an extensive vocabulary, a hot flow, your word play has to be on point and to be real you master that like you master anything... Practice. Any down time freestyling by yourself or with your crew and you're freestyling for the fun. After a while you'll get the hang of it, and find your way. A lot of the time, people write their battle verses and so when you don't have anything written you've really gotta be on point with yours.
What has been the hardest hurdle for you to overcome so far?
Hmmm... My financial and living situation. Not too many things in life get to me. I guess I'm what you can call, a man of acceptance. When something is out of my hands then, I let it go, but when it comes to things such as money and this music thing, then its hard for me to just call it quits because I want it so much.
This whole music thing is my life in more ways than you think. I'm sure you hear of a lot of people that say "yo I live in the studio". Well I live in the studio too, but its not because I'm working in there 24 hours. Being a homeless man is as real as it gets.
You can walk in to our studio right now and you'll see equipment, you'll see my notebooks, and then you'll see my sneakers clothes. I don't just live in the studio... I live in the studio. I never thought I'd be in a situation like this, but it is what it is for the time being and I know that my situation will change.
Here in Europe, fans love to see their favourite hip-hop acts perform live. How important is stage presence to you?
Stage presence is everything. No one wants to spend money to see some one stand in the middle of the stage with a mic rapping. While on stage there's a number of things to do. If your hook is catchy you can have to crowd get involved, you can express your lyrics with strong body language and if possible go on in to the crowd.
Interact with them, grab their hands, give ‘em dap get ‘amped and they'll feed off that energy. I went to see jay-z perform and along with him he had a crazy line up. In that line up was bust rhymes and spliff star and no one has energy like them. They were just bouncing and their body language was just so intense they had everyone hyped up. I try and have every show that I do similar to that. Have people getting just as excited to see me perform as I am to perform.
What artists have you been inspired by when it comes to performance?
Like I mentioned earlier, bust rhymes for one. He's full of so much energy he just lights up any stage he steps on. I've never seen him perform in person, but from the videos I've seen, Tupac was an amazing entertainer. He had experience as a dancer so he'd do a lil dance to keep every one's eyes entertained and he perfected what I mentioned earlier... The whole using body language to express emotion.
You couldn't tell me he didn't mean every word he spit out and that every person in the crowd felt what he felt. Another person is Cee-Lo. He's another one with a lot of energy, and now that he's doing the whole Gnarls Barkley thing, the way they go about doing shows is crazy. It seems like every time they're performing, they have a different costume on just to get even more attention.
And I can imagine how well that works because I'm not even watching live, and I'm like wow, what are these guys wearing. And then they make great music so you have a comedic performance with really good music. You cant go wrong.
Tell us one thing about you that people might find surprising?
One thing that people would find interesting is the fact that I am a homeless man. I attempt to do the house hopping thing, but it always doesn't work out so then I'll sleep in the studio. If its too hot in the studio (because we don't have an air conditioner) I'll take my ass for a walk outside, if I've gotta take a piss, then I'm heading outside as well.
I'm the exact opposite of what people portray in the majority of hip hop music today. It seems as if everyone wants to talk about the money, the cars, the women, the jewellery and the homes. I on the other hand speak on the lack there of all that. I'm what's defined as a haven't and its a movement I'm running with. I'm representing those that are coming up from nothing.
Which track of yours would you say has the most meaning to you and why?
Well from my mixtape I'd say the most meaningful songs to me are "picture me rolling'" and "fate". On these two songs I feel that I opened up into bobby the man, not just bobby the artist.
"Picture me rolling'" is about exactly what it's saying. It's a bout me picturing myself with it all and seeing myself in the mists of fame and fortune. The first verse is talking about me and how I don't got it and in the 3rd verse I'm painting a picture of myself with all kinds of rings and chains and what not and then I wake up and I talk about how I have to make it. I was really funny and animated on this track, but it's honestly how I feel a lot of the time.
"Fate" is pretty is like the theme song. Its that anthem where I'm just going in explaining my hunger. Its three verses of passion and hunger. I talk about how I want it, and how I deserve it. This song came to be when I was just going through some old beats. I heard the beat and it spoke to me. It was smooth and relaxing and then when the hook came in... It wrote itself.
Besides the mix tape I'd say the most meaningful song, I've ever done would be "Things Change". It's a song about how sometimes things pull a complete 180 and its just not the same and a lot of the time in the end sometime you have to let it go. In the first verse, I spoke about an old love and our past and current situation from my perspective and then in the second verse I spoke about an old friend who I honestly would call family.
I touched on the way we separated for a while and just happened to view a lot of things differently which made us grow apart. Its not any kind of a diss track or anything like that, this is just a smooth beat with me speaking my mind on it... Now that I think about it, yea I'd say that's definitely the most meaningful song I've ever done.
Why should the readers of FemaleFirst go out and buy your cd?
Well I don't just make music for one group of people. I'm not just speaking about the things guys can relate to. My music is for every one. Yea I have song that most men would really dig because I'll be talking a fly girl or something along those lines, but I have songs where women can relate to as well.
For instance a song I put down by the name of "my women". Its a song where its as if I'm talking to a female in an abusive relationship, and I'm just telling her to keep her head up and that she doesn't need that. I know a lot of women and yea I can remember a lot of time where this song was a reality. I have old many girls that I know exactly what I was saying in this song.
Don't really get how a man calls himself a man and then stoops to the level of beating the person he says he loves. Besides songs like that, I've got my ghetto romantic tracks (laughing to myself). There's a song I have called "come on ova'" and this song is about me talking to a girl and I'm telling her to come on through to my crib, and how its not the most luxurious place in the world, but "its the best that I've got". This is that have-nots love song. This is bigging' up the dudes that don't really have it, but they doing' it. Yea there have been several instances where that's me. I'll take a girl out knowing damn well I don't got it, but I make it happen. In all I have several songs that not just entertain , but empower women.
If there was only one artist you could listen to, who would it be and why?
Wow. That's not fair... I would have to say Cee Lo Green. He's my definition of good music. His music is soulful, fun, and timeless. And if that wasn't enough, he can't be categorized. He's just Cee Lo.
There are tracks I can remember with him and the dungeon family were crazy, his solo tracks were equally crazy and now that he's doing the Gnarls Barkley projects... I can't even put a word to it. Like I previously said... He's good music. I think I listen to his song on the first Gnarls Barkley album at least once a day called "smiling faces". In all honesty, that song just taps in to my soul. At times he'll go off into the deep end, but I dig it, even when he gets a lil' abstract I feel it.
Melanie Cornish
Making it in hip-hop for some is impossible. The genre, like most, is saturated with wannabes and hopefuls, all hoping that they will in turn get their chance to make a difference.
For Bobby, making it as an mc is not an option it is an obsession. Having ensured his penmanship is up to par since a very young age, this new york native is happy to carry the torch for his city and his genre.
How did you get your start in music?
I actually got my start in music when I thought to combine a passion for writing and poetry and a love hip hop music together. After that I just through in some back stories and deep emotions. I really got into writing when I was in the fourth grade. I had a teacher (ms. Fry) who made it her business to have us write several short stories and poems and journal entries through out the day.
I'll never forget, at the beginning of the year, she asked who enjoyed writing and I didn't raise my hand and she looked at me and told me that by the end of the year I'd love to write. Its crazy how right she was. Ever sense then I was hooked. Even throughout the summer, I'd be writing poems and short stories just for the hell of it. It continued too. Even when I came back to N.Y. And continued my education, I excelled in English courses.
Its funny because I knew I was good at it, but not until I was in the 7th or 8th grade did I really attempt to write song lyrics. Like most people I was a Pac fan. I can recall myself listening to that Scarface and Pac track..."smile". I had the single for it so I would just replay it n replay it and one day I decided to get creative. I jacked Pac's flow and just put my own words and it was on point. I can't remember the lyrics to save my life, but I can remember being real proud of it.
Of course I spit it to one of my cousins and a few friends and they were all digging it. After that there was the 8th grade talent show where I decided to share my hidden talent with everyone. By this time I had write a few rhymes here and there just because I enjoyed writing, I never thought about spitting them for people, or anything along those lines. They were works of poetry I kept in my poetry book and that was it, but one day I say hey, why not.
I wrote some lil' 16 bar rhyme about money and ill put it on that Canibus "2nd round knock out" beat. Because that was the hardest joint ill could find and when the time came for me to do my thing, I went up there and spit my heart out. My class mates were on there feet and running to the stage, teachers where giving me props and I felt like I had the world in my palm. It was at that moment right there where I figured yo... I can get used to this.
Now obviously being a battle rapper means having an extensive vocabulary and a unique ability to string words together, how do you master that? Is it a hidden talent?
Well to be real, I wouldn't really consider myself a "battle rapper" to begin with. When you're a battle rapper... That's all you are and I can't just be thrown into one category like that, but I have had my share of battles here and there.
And yes when battling, you do have to have a bag of tricks, an extensive vocabulary, a hot flow, your word play has to be on point and to be real you master that like you master anything... Practice. Any down time freestyling by yourself or with your crew and you're freestyling for the fun. After a while you'll get the hang of it, and find your way. A lot of the time, people write their battle verses and so when you don't have anything written you've really gotta be on point with yours.
What has been the hardest hurdle for you to overcome so far?
Hmmm... My financial and living situation. Not too many things in life get to me. I guess I'm what you can call, a man of acceptance. When something is out of my hands then, I let it go, but when it comes to things such as money and this music thing, then its hard for me to just call it quits because I want it so much.
This whole music thing is my life in more ways than you think. I'm sure you hear of a lot of people that say "yo I live in the studio". Well I live in the studio too, but its not because I'm working in there 24 hours. Being a homeless man is as real as it gets.
You can walk in to our studio right now and you'll see equipment, you'll see my notebooks, and then you'll see my sneakers clothes. I don't just live in the studio... I live in the studio. I never thought I'd be in a situation like this, but it is what it is for the time being and I know that my situation will change.
Here in Europe, fans love to see their favourite hip-hop acts perform live. How important is stage presence to you?