Representing the new breed of West Coast MC’s comes El Prez from the city of Inglewood, who was first introduced to many on the underground scene with his song “Uaintuponthis” featuring U-N-I back in 2008. El Prez is a continuation of the growing diversity of Hip-Hop from traditional hard-core gangster rap areas which have been at the forefront of the West Coast scene since the late 80’s. Trading in bullets for punchlines, rhymes and good times, El Prez is out to show the rest of the world that the West Coast is recreating its image and style through a creative process. AllHipHop.com’s Breeding Ground would like to further introduce this talented hardworking young artist and let you decide if he’s worthy of your fanship or not. AllHipHop.com: Please start off by giving us some background information on yourself. El Prez: I’m an artist from Inglewood, CA. I’ve been out since 2008 when I dropped my first video called “Uaintuponthis” with U-N-I. That video got some internet exposure through the blogs and I’ve released a couple of projects since then. My first project was called Prezanomics: Supply And Demand which was released in 2008 and my second called Animal Style was released earlier this year in February. I’ve been on the frontlines in L.A. for awhile and I’ve worked just about every club out there too. Video: El Prez Feat. U-N-I and Dale Danja: Uaintuponthis AllHipHop.com: For somebody who is from Inglewood, CA you have a pretty unique sound and style. How did you develop it?El Prez: I remember a time when people thought that West Coast rappers couldn‘t rhyme. My mission has been to prove people wrong when it comes to what they think a West Coast MC is made of. I listen to everything from Nas to Ice Cube. Actually anything out there that’s lyrical, I’m on top of it. The one’s that stand out to me are the artists that can be versatile and stand out on just about every track they are on. Some artists find one good avenue and they are running with it. Me? I’m trying to be the type that rolls all throughout the city. AllHipHop.com: Did that hurt you around L.A. at all? The fact that you sound a bit different than most artists from there?El Prez: Yeah. I went through a few years of boot camp here, just trying to find something that would work for the people. While I was listening to all kinds of Hip-Hop, my homies from Inglewood and South Central were listening to street and hood sh*t. I had to get around that barrier because I want them to listen to my music along with everybody else. I’ve made some strides in to that market. I had to ask myself, “How can I still be me without selling out?” To where I can make my kind of music and still have the homies want to bump it in the ride. For the longest time I had everybody but my homies listening to my music because it wasn’t the music that they were trying to bump. I had to put my lyrics on to something that bumps and once I figured that out it was all good. There was a lot of trail and error to it. I’ve been putting out CD’s since College. At first I just wanted to so Soul-sampled stuff and that was my whole lane and I didn’t care what nobody else thought. I was just leaning on my punchlines. It took a lot of songs to figure out what people were feeling and what they weren’t. It took a challenge of getting out of the comfortable cirlce that I was in. I love it that there are more MC’s these days from South Central that are diverse. There is a diversity coming back to the Los Angeles and California scene. Video: El Prez Feat. Shawn Chrystopher: Inglewood AllHipHop.com: I do see a diversity of MC’s coming back. Why has it taken so long?El Prez: The industry had a lot to do with it. There was a time where if you didn’t have a certain sound from the West Coast, they wouldn’t deal with you. The West Coast had to die off so that it could resurrect like a Phoenix. AllHipHop.com: The audience has gone through a transformation too. El Prez: True. One thing I’ve noticed that is different from back in the day is that there are more black kids listening to different kinds of genre’s. I don’t know if it’s because of the Internet but these kids listen to everything and their horizons are broadened – instead of just listening to Gangsta Rap. I mean that was all they wanted to listen to back in the day. The audience now wants to hear a bit of everything. When you do a Los Angeles show, you are going to see people of all colors and backgrounds. It took a while for the audience to get there. Los Angeles is a hard city to make it in. It’s gotten easier but it could still even be more easier. AllHipHop.com: You have an association with the group U-N-I. How has that helped you out?El Prez: Tremendously! I released that video “You Ain’t Up On This” while they just started poppin’. Plus their Fried Chicken & Watermelon project was just released too. I was able to grab the attention of a lot of their fans. I was able to make in-roads by just kickin’ it with those cats – and we are all from Inglewood so that helps. All of the run down or underground spots that new cats from Los Angeles go to perform – we’ve performed at all of those together over the years. I know the struggle that U-N-I went through so it was only natural when we started working together. It’s helped me a lot but I’ve also had to spread my own wings too. AllHipHop.com: You released Animal Style earlier this year. What’s next on the horizon for you?El Prez: I’m still pushing Animal Style. I’ve got a single from it called “I’m Gone (Beating My Chest Like King Kong).” DJ Felli Fel from Power 106 FM is supposed to premiere it for their “New at 2” segment. In the meantime I am working on a EP with a couple of cats like producers THX & Polyester. It’s called Never Say Die and its scheduled to drop at the beginning of the new year. I also have a group called The Treehouse Club with my partners Dnez and Chris Focus and our project is called Golden Days, Purple Nights. You can keep up with me at twitter.com/elprezdeLA and www.elprezdela.com Visit El Prez at:www.elprezdela.comtwitter.com/elprezdeLA
