Ganxstaizm.com:
Hello Cyco, Could we start this interview by you giving the readers a rundown on yourself?
Cyco:
Well pretty much, I'm one solid person to work with, I really love hip hop, I hate the state that it's in, in some ways, but in others it's good. As you know I dwell with the darker state of mentality. That is my forte, whether it's grimy, dark, or manic, or just the struggle. I'm one of the few artists I know that is still a student of the game. I try to stay lyrically sharp as well as craft cinematic portraits of my mentality.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What hip hop artists did you listen to when you were growing up and who influenced you to start rapping?
Cyco: I started with of course the Sugar Hill Gang, but I got heavily influenced by the aggressiveness of LL Cool J (the Radio days).
Ganxstaizm.com: In 1988 you released an EP, what label was this on and who produced it?
Cyco:
It never was on a label, it's was actually a EP we put together-Shakespear, Emdee, Dj Streek and myself. Shakespear and I actually produced the EP, then of course we did a single release on Egyptian Empire Records, the single was "Armed and Dangerous" which had "Slow and Ill" and "M.M.O.B (Mobstyle Chronicles) and "Nine Millameter w/a 13 clip. The idea was Shakespear's due to he and Emdee are from North Chicago/Wakegan area. Back then we were called "His Majesti".
Ganxstaizm.com: In 1992 you released "Grim Reality" on Nasty Nes' Nastymix Records, how did you get hooked up with Nastymix?
Cyco: Rodney O and I were already connected through Egyptian Empire Records and I was living and working with him on his projects that were on Nastymix Records, so it was only natural to go there. They signed me based on the single "How ya gonna reason with a psycho".
Ganxstaizm.com:
How did "The Nitebreed" come about and do you still have contact with any of the members?
Cyco:
The Nightbreed was just a group of different mc's that was down with me but the only REAL original members were "Boogeyman, D.A.L. (who is my brother), Pope and Emdee, everybody else were the homies who could bust.
Ganxstaizm.com: In 1996 you released the "Blacc Plague" album on React Records without Emdee but with a mc named Pope, where did he come from?
Cyco: Pope had always been down, He was my dog. Emdee introduceed me to him when I came back from Chicago for a brief stint. Pope isn't a mc or business partner, that is my other shade, Two shades of a killa, my dude is family, We have been thru thick and thin. We are fam b4 he even began to rap.
Ganxstaizm.com:
On the track "You Better Ask Somebody 96" you dissed Rodney O, was this for business reasons or personal reasons and have you since squashed the beef?
Cyco:
It was personal reasons and I was young following someone who didn't know his business well at the time. There's always 2 sides to a story, but Rodney will always get me respect due to I got to travel and see different shit, I was always in a box, NO ESCAPE, But dude recognized my talent and put me on, shit is definitely squashed now, but it was mad personal, cuz I was getting offers to sign with other labels and that is some snake shit anyway when they know you're down with a certain team, but that is the industry anyway, but I found out that Rodney was trying to set up deals thru me (indirectly), stating if you want Cyco you gotta take us also, which fucked up some deals for me, but I still road with him cuz he put me on.
Ganxstaizm.com:
In 1998 you got signed to M Boogie's label Black Berry (Ill Boogie) and released the "On Deadly Ground" battle record against Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, the "Let Em Know" EP and appeared on the "Laid In Full" and "DJ Revolution" compilations, how did you get involved with M Boogie and why did you leave the label?
Cyco:
M-Boogie is a personal friend, he used to dj, he's from Irvine, Ca., He finally broke thru and started a label and all I was doing was putting out some singles, getting the name out there. He's still my dude but he don't fuck with the game no more because the shit is mad trife. A whole lot of backstabbin and shit. He and Pope were cool, but my dude Pope is a killa, He straight outta Compton and was still gang bangin at the time so he was not gonna let ANY bullshit come my way. So he kinda scared off people and that stemmed from an altercation with Rodney O and Our manager at the time Michael Mavroles.
Ganxstaizm.com:
You returned in 2003 with your "Faith In Chaos" album on your own label Grim Reality Entertainment. This album reflected strongly on modern society and talked about issues such as the September 11 attack, school shootings, the Washington sniper etc. Did these events inspire you to make "Faith In Chaos"?
Cyco:
Oh yes of course man, I live this shit, no doubt, I wanted to make an updated Grim Reality but now and the world provided me with the imagery.
Ganxstaizm.com:
How many tracks have you made for your upcoming album "Fallen From Grace" and do you have an expected release date?
Cyco:
We're taking our time with this cd due to a numerous of reasons, Its gotta be HOT, also its my most personal cd I've ever made, Nothing on it is dark, Its a reflection of pain, struggle, life, mic skills, going at mc's and just plain survival, my survival thru life and the music game. I make cd's for myself first and stay true to myself that way and my real fans understand that. I can write songs about anything that is real to me and they dig it cuz its not fabricated b.s. I try to put my heart into everything I write whether is battle shit, wicked shit, or just survival shit.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What is behind the name "Fallen From Grace"?
Cyco:
My life and Hip Hop, I fell from grace the moment i exited the birth canal. Hip hop fell from grace the moment corporate America got a hold of it. Hip-Hop is not Rap, there is a difference. Its not the beats you choose to spit over, its how your represent the culture, for instance how could KRS ONE lose a battle to Nelly, plain and simple..The industry machine, Its cool that they pump Nelly, nothing wrong with that, but you could pump KRS ONE the same way. But $$ is the main thing crackin, payolla, all sorts of shit.
Ganxstaizm.com:
On your website (http://www.insanepoetry.com/) you said this will not be a dark cd but a more personal album, what does this mean?
Cyco:
I was mad all the time, a pessimist when I wrote the prior albums, this one I'm a grown man with grown man issues, real issues, job issues, car issues, baby momma issues. 100% unfabricated truth.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What other rappers will appear on this album and could you tell us a little something about producer/rapper Jason "JP" Pearl, how did you hook up with him?
Cyco:
I got Tre Dizzle on the cd, I got Jp, my cousin Spark, Lowdown-this cat is a beast. Not too many tho, I wanted the focus to be about my personal experiences. My mixtape though will have a variety of different people on it. I met Jp like 3yrs ago at a mall at Sam Goodys, he did some production for a down south artist by the name of "Po White Trash". He just got back from Texas fuckin with that dude and had a bad experience, i.e. They were jerkin dude and everybody gets the dick sooner or later, so he experienced that early, Now he know what the fuck is crackin. Jp got mad skills on the production and is only getting better with every track.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What other projects do you have in the works?
Cyco:
Creative Destruction (The race against Death mixtape). Jp's "Hustle and Grind", Tre Dizzle's "Racin' Life Backwards" and I'm on the Messiaz mixtape messiaz.com, features K-Rino, Necro, Dope E, and a assortment of talents, its a blessing to be on that project, I'm also releasing Unreleased material, re-releasing "Blacc Plague" and "Ain't got no Brain Cells" featuring Boogeyman and a possible "GRIM REALITY" again.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What rap albums do you have in your collection and who are your favourite artists?
Cyco:
I have an assortment from Non Phixion to the Game, underground to overground, Royce da 5'9 is one of my favorites along with Ill Bill cuz I think we think in similar fashion, the whole Psyhological squad, their business frame of mind and the serious in your face shit. That's Insane Poetry. Of course Em is one talented dude, but there's alot out there, I like Young Buck cuz the shit he speaks is real as death, Jada, and Redman is my nigga. West Coast cats like Brotha Lynch, E-40 a gang of west coast artist too many to name, Michael Myers, Rass Kass, X to the Z..The Liks, I wish they would put another cd out, they personified west coast b-boy shit.
Ganxstaizm.com:
What do you think of the current state of hip hop?
Cyco:
It sux ass, but its still music and it helped me learn how to craft songs instead of just bustin 50 to 100 bar verses, that shit gets old to, so I mix it up.
Ganxstaizm.com:
I noticed on your website you have members from all around the world in countries such as Australia, Germany, Norway, Finland etc. Why do you think people from all around the world from all walks of life can all associate with your music?
Cyco:
Because the struggle is universal we're against the grain, a lot of people can relate to that shit, around my way, I didn't see a Bentley till I started workin in a rich area. We live on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which will be my next Insane Poetry cd after the FFG cd.
Ganxstaizm.com:
Is there anything you want to say to any one reading this that has never heard any INSANE POETRY album?
Cyco:
Cop the cd's, blow some purple, turn off the lights and take a different type of ride, My music is not for everybody, but for people who have that hunger for the morbid truth.
Ganxstaizm.com:
Thanks for the interview and good luck with the new album "Fallen From Grace".
INTERVIEW BY EMVEE.
MP3:
Insane Poetry - Concrete Vietnam
No comments:
Post a Comment