25 year old Supastition got the rap bug at the
tender age of 9, when he first heard Dougie Fresh’s "The Show." After
stints on such labels as Lo Key Records (owned by Kurtis Blow) and Mends Recordings,
Supa has shared microphone duties with such rap acts as Pumpkinhead, Bad Seed,
Jean Grae, Yaggfu Front, Apathy, and Danja Mowf.
Now signed to indie label, Freshchest, Supastition
hopes to break from the underground and make a dent on the national scene.The
rapper is preparing to release his album, 7 Years of Bad Luck which will
chronicle his trials and tribulations as an MC.
AllHipHop.com: What’s up with your album
7 Years of Bad Luck?
SUPA: It’s doing good. It could be doing
a lot better. The label kind of stuck the album out there with out doing a 12”
first. By the time DJ’s got the 12” they were like when is the album
dropping and I tell them the album has been out since August. We will probably
do a second single soon along with some remixes.
AHH: What do you think about Underground artist
getting commercial airplay? I know at this point it is nonexistent almost. But
do you think its possible?
SUPA: Actually I support that cause a lot of
commercial radio stations here play my music in there mixshows and its like
a lot of college radio shows don’t really support this type of underground
music that I make. The play the more abstract than anything. So now it’s
like commercial radio is our only outlet. It’s like we are being pushed
out of the underground.
AHH: Yeah, the abstract is definitely dominating
college radio.
Supa: There is a place for it, but I don’t
think that should be underground hip-hop. A lot of the emcee’s I have heard,
they lack a lot of the fundamentals like rhyming on beat and just being creative.
Then the production most of the time has no soul to it.
AHH: Are any of those cats making any money being
abstract?
Supa: A few are because they have a fan base.
The Def Jux cats I think they picked up where Rawkus Records left off. Rawkus
left a sour taste in a lot of Underground cats mouths because they wanted to
do something bigger, so they kind of left a void there until Def Jux came in
and took this “ Backpacker crowd”. A lot of them make their money
mainly off of touring.
AHH: Tell me about the first single "The
Waiting Period?"
Supa: I had my first recording contract when
I was 16 and then I had another recording contract back when I was 19. I’m 26
now and I just got the Freshcrest deal maybe a year ago. Before that I was signed
with Rasco from Cali Agents label. The song basically describes what every artist
goes through. Everybody that is a DJ, MC or producer can feel that song because
we’ve all been over looked; we have always watched people with less talent
make it. I basically just documented everything that I went through.
AHH: What do you think the future of Underground
music is? Where do you see it being around 2005? Far as making money as an Underground
artist where do you think it will go?
Supa: I think the abstract music will kind of
fade away because for one it doesn’t have standards. Anybody can do it;
you don’t have to be a certain level of emcee to do it.
AHH: Tell me about the one cut one your album
featuring the sample from “The Queens of Comedy?"
Supa: I have one daughter with my baby’s
mother which was my first kid, here first kid. That is my only kid. After that
she had 5 or 6 children after that by maybe 3 or 4 different guys. Once I think
someone was talking to her about me and was like “oh he’s nothing,
he’s a bad example, bla, bla, bla”. Up to that point I was always
quite about it because I said I was always going to give her that respect. The
situation went down where one of here kids died at 4 years old and the Dept.
of Social Services came in because all the kids had lived with her at the time
and took all the kids away. So my mother and me had to fight to get my daughter
back because they were treating it like I
don’t exist. She went to trial and ended up getting off on probation. So
that song basically let people know the whole situation and how it went down.
It was saying basically don’t call somebody out for being a bad father
when I’m the only father that is there for any of your kids. Everybody with
a baby Mama must feel that song.
AHH: What do you think about vinyl? Will it be
around for all the Hip Hop , Reggae and House DJ’s or this CD thing will
take over?
Supa: I think vinyl will be here forever man.
I noticed a lot of other DJ’s are getting the CDJ’s (A Cd turntable
made by Pioneer) but they are getting it as an extra. But I don’t think
it will replace it ever.
