AllHipHop.com: How do you feel your lyrical sound will stay afloat in an industry with commercial music?

Ellis: I think it’ll take me far; some people say it’s lyrical and some say its music but it’s just me. I just speak from the heart and say what the music is telling me to say. I don’t sound like anyone else. Once I’m put in the forefront then ill shine, because I don’t sound like anyone else; it’s only one me. I don’t think it’s lyrical to where it gets boring – I think its lyrical to where it’s witty but at the same time its relateable; people can still relate to what im saying.

AllHipHop.com: Would that be because you’re telling a story?

Ellis: Yes – well yeah, some of them are actually stories. A story told in a different way to where it might not seem like that but yeah, a story – that’s what it is.

AllHipHop.com: Who are some of your musical influences?

Ellis: Nas, Pac, BIG, Wu Tang, The Dogg Pound, UGK, Scareface, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, AZ, The Lox, Mos Def, Common – all the greats (laughing).

AllHipHop.com: Tell me about your background and growing up in Baltimore and how you got into music.

AllHipHop.com: How did it all come full circle for you to where you have established management to represent you and establishing your own label?

AllHipHop.com: BMC – what does that stand for?

Ellis: B-More Careful. It’s a book that a young lady from Baltimore wrote, called “B-More Careful”; a story of someone taking something looking real negative and turning it into something positive where she got her life together at the end of the book. The book was just inspiration – it is a little crazy out here and everyone needs to Be More Careful. With anything that you do, you want to be as careful as possible, especially in this industry. You’ve got to have your business together or you’ll get taken advantage of.

AllHipHop.com: Have you experience any shady business within the industry thus far?

Ellis: Not really so much as to shady business – I’ve been lucky enough not to jump into anything without talking to Toni first or other people that I trust. One thing that I’ve learned is that nothing is free. I thought, coming into the game, that you just made some dope music and you were on!  And that’s not how it works. At the end of the day, you’ve got to have money. The people that shine, the people that you see on TV and the people making the most moves – they’ve got people behind them. I’ve had people come up to me, rather it be DJs or whatever and they’re like secret fans. They don’t want to come all the way out and show support because you haven’t put money in their pockets and the way the industry is, you’ve got to have a co-signer. Most people don’t even want to listen to you if people they don’t like hasn’t given the okay.

AllHipHop.com: How is your buzz and network in Baltimore with DJs and Fans? Are you performing and doing shows in Baltimore?

Ellis: We did a big show this Summer but Baltimore Hip-Hop scene is not a real big scene. A lot of the shows that I do & a lot of the looks that I get are shows in New York. I did the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival and that was big – I was the first dude from Baltimore to ever do that. I haven’t had a song in regular radio rotation but they have played a track or two. Without the support of radio, the Baltimore Hip Hop scene just isn’t much right now. There aren’t a lot of Open Mics or Talent Shows and that’s not how I started. I’ve never performed at a showcase or Open Mic – Toni opened doors and put me straight out to doing shows. I’ve been doing shows from the beginning so it’s kind of hard for me to progress back and do an Open Mic because you just don’t get the same feel from it. I’m definitely looking forward to doing SXSW this year – that should be crazy!

AllHipHop.com: Would you consider moving out of Baltimore to gain more exposure?

Ellis: Not move, but definitely do more traveling. I would tell any artist from Baltimore, “You’ve got to get out of here”. Moving is a big financial risk to take because you may move and not blow up but you got to travel and get your music out to people in other regions. I’m trying to be the greatest to ever do it, so my mind is already thinking globally. The internet is cool and you can touch a lot of people through the internet but its not like getting out there and meeting people; you got to get in the street. Even if you were signed, that’s still something that you would have to do.

AllHipHop.com: If you had to have any of those musical influences mentioned to cosign, sign you and you work with exclusively, who would it be?

Ellis: He’s gone, Man – Pac! Other than Pac, I’d have to say Nas. He’s the one that really made me want to get into this. When I first saw “It ain’t hard to tell” video and listened to what he was really saying, I told myself that I had to learn how to do that.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned that you want to be Independent but if you had a select a label that’s established right now, which direction would you want to go?

Ellis: I got to go YMCMB (Young Money Cash Money Billionaires) – might as well go with the winners! At the end of the day, I think GOOD Music (Kanye West’s label) would be a better fit for me. But Cash Money has the marketing dollars to push a project – artists don’t get recognized these days because they don’t have that type of backing. But after that, its on to the music – how far can your music take you after that? And I feel that my music will get the job done, its just a matter of getting the music to the masses and I think hands down that they do a great job with getting the music out. But as far as where I should sign to for musical content and where I fit, I would say GOOD Music because they fit with more of what I do. BUT if I had a choice, it would be YMCMB.

AllHipHop.com: Where did the BLURAY-E title come from?