Shinobi Interview

[QuietTruth]

How have you been 'Nobi?

I'm good, I'm chilling, lounging right now. I got some new beats, I'm writing, doing what I do.

Who is Shinobi?

I'll put it to you like this. I'm the voice for the people who don't have one. All these rappers claim to be that voice, but they talk it in a foreign language, like cars, jewelry…people that I know don't have that. We still on the come up. I rep that Gritty Lyf Music, which basically means "built and created for struggle" we represent the have-nots. Niggas who ain't got nothing, never had nothing and don't know what it feels like to have something. I'm the voice for those people, that's what I represent. I just spit whatever's on my mind. You can't label me underground, conscious, mainstream, whatever, because I do it all. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna label myself "thought provoking."

What's up with Gritty Lyf?

It's a label I'm trying to start up, but we're also a family. Everybody came up together. There's me, my little brother Syah Lord, my man Big Pro, Trev Munroe, Verbal Kent, Boog Monsta, and Judge, not to mention the niggas we fuck wit who don't even rap. There's a whole bunch of us. We're just trying to do it real big and get in the game. I'm the one who put it together and I'm the one moving a little more forward than everybody else. So once I get on, you know how it go, you kick in the door and let everyone else in.

What inspired you to write "Never Say Never?"

If you can't relate to "Never Say Never" I don't know what type of world you're living in. I don't live in a world that's too different from anyone else. That song is life-inspired. And I got about a hundred more "Never Say Never's." A song like that is not hard to do because you're speaking about real life issues.

It sounds like you've been through a lot…

The same shit everybody else goes through. Jail, losing homeboys, the streets…the everyday struggle. I've been through a lot. I've done some time in jail, but I don't really talk about shit like that, that's some corny shit when a nigga be bragging about how much jail time they did. I ain't with that. I'd rather tell you "don't go to jail." I see rappers in magazines and shit taking pictures in jail, and then they say they're not glorifying it, but that's what you're doing. I'm not with that shit. I've been through everything man, and that's what I talk about. Everybody's had their heart broke before, but not too many people talk about shit like that. I just try to talk about the things the average rapper won't talk about. That's me. I try to catch your left ear while they stay in the right because the left is closer to the heart.

What do you want to give people through your music?

With Hip Hop, a lot of things is just entertainment. I don't mean to say keep it real, but you have to keep it real. You have to talk about what you're going through because people can tell when you're fabricating a story. I don't talk too much gangsta shit. That's not my thing. If I do talk like that, I'm talking on the defense, like somebody's coming at me and I'm defending myself. I don't run around wiling out like that though, but don't get it twisted. I'm a shadow, I can still move on the dark side. You got heat we got heat too, its nothing. But besides that, I'm just the average nigga trying to come up.

What do you bring to the game?

I bring ingenuity. I bring change. I bring honesty. I can make it ok to talk about not having a dollar in your pocket. That's why I respect rappers like Sean Price and niggas like that, who talk about the money they don't have, instead of the stuff that they do have. A lot of us don't have a lot, and we want to hear music we can relate to. That's everybody's whole thing, am I right? You can't shake your ass all day. I'm gonna bring change to the game. Don't get me wrong, when you talk about things you want in life, its cool too because we all want and need more, but I don't condone stylin' on niggas and flashing your shit in a broke nigga's face. Because you know what that leads to. 50 Cent said, "death is on the tongue if you talk about death enough, death is sure to come." Well, I feel the same way about success. That's my whole thing. Like, I said it's thought provoking music. I wanna make you think.

Who do you see as competition in the game?

Competition? I don't even see no competition in the game right now. And I'm not even hating or on any cocky shit, but I don't see any competition in the game right now. I respect a lot of dudes lyrically but I don't respect niggas' characters. Anytime you get on a DVD and feel you gotta point ya man's gun at the camera to show how "real" you are, that's corny man. Hip Hop police watch these DVD's too you IDIOTS. I see niggas standing on their blocks and you can see the avenue signs behind them. And they want you to see it. These niggas look like clowns man. They all gonna hang themselves and I'm going to still be standing, that's why I feel like there's no competition.

How was it working with Tragedy?

That's my nigga right there! Working with Tragedy is mad easy. All we gotta do is get some Hennessey and throw the beats on and we're good. We vibe out and shit. A nigga like that, I can fuck with. He comes in the studio and it's all love. He don't come in there on no bullshit, he'll come in with some 40's and shit, we'll just drink and do us. It's real easy to work with Tragedy. He don't charge me. A lot of people don't even look at him as a legend, but he is. That dude has been in the game forever. I used to do the Running Man to that song he had out back in the day "Black and Proud." So to be a grown man and be in the studio with him is crazy. I want to do songs with niggas from back in the days. I ain't really stressing these new rappers.

Who would you like to work with?

I always wanted to do something with Jay, but he's in an out. Nas. I'd definitely like to do something with Nas. Mobb Deep, m.o.p definitely. Not too many people right now. Jadakiss, Styles, and the Lox, I fucks with those dudes. As far as producers, I'd love to work with Kanye, Just Blaze, Red Spyda, Cool and Dre. But not too many people. I like to keep it in-house and hungry. I want to find hungry dudes off the street. A lot of people in the game sound too comfortable, and I don't like that. I want to work with some hungry dudes.

What's coming up for you?

I just dropped a new mixtape, "It's Not a Game." And we got a new one coming called "see u Chumps on Top Volume Two." My man DJ On-Point is hosting that one, it's gonna be real big, trust me. Then after that, I got the "Best Of" coming out, and then a new one. I just keep dropping CD's man. Even if only my city hears it, that's good enough for me. I just want to be known as a person that's consistent. I'll drop a mixtape once every month and a half, not a lot of people do that shit, and it's not even that I got a lot of time on my hands, it's just that that's just me, that's what I do. I got over 400 songs just sitting in my man Judge's computer. So at any given moment, I could just stop rapping and I could still drop 10 CD's in the next year. How many niggas can do that? And I'm talking about all 400 is good, quality shit.

Are you working on an album?

Nah, I'm gonna fall back from that because I don't wanna be one of the niggas on the mixtape shouting out "album coming soon," and then you never hear the album. So I'm gonna just hold out on that until a deal comes through or we get a distribution deal. For now, I'm just gonna keep dropping the mixtapes.

What's been your most memorable experience in the music game so far?

It had to be the time when I performed at Riker's Island. I mean C.O.'s and inmates respected me for doing it because they said a lot of artists signed and unsigned would not do it because they were afraid of being boo'd and just afraid of the jail environment. Shit I got boo'd too because everybody we performed for felt they was better than me, and I would feel the same way if I was locked up and some nigga I never heard of is telling me "throw ya hands in the air" but they respected me. They still showed a nigga love after the show and wished me well.

You also were HipHopGame's first Demo of the Month…

Yeah, that was crazy to me, because I didn't even send the CD in for the contest, I sent it in just so you could hear it, on some "please listen to my demo" type-shit. I'm grateful for that right there. An I wanna thank all the people that showed a nigga love in those comment boxes.

How has that helped you?

It helped a lot because a lot of people look at HipHopGame. More people look at it, probably more than you realize. Ever since then, we've just been getting a lot of phone calls. People wanna do tracks, people sending in beats. Niggas on the streets saying "yo that's what's up" because they saw it on the site. It helped a whole lot. And I'm going to try to win at least four more times this year.

What do you want to tell everyone out there?

I want to tell y'all that I'm a problem. Just be on the lookout. I told y'all, I'm a voice for y'all. That's what it is. Support me when you see me because I'm not feeding you the bullshit. And you're gonna love the music, it's none of that beefing shit. I don't need none of that to get on. I'm doing the good music thing, that's what I'm doing. If you want to hear good music and you want to vibe out, fuck with me. And also, I want to tell all these up-and-coming rappers something too. Stop paying to get on these mixtapes! You're fucking the game up real bad to get on these mixtapes. Take that same money you was gonna use to pay a DJ to get on his shit to put out your own tape or DVD. Stop paying for #30 slots. I'm telling you man, you see these mixtapes and if there's 30 tracks on it, every rapper you see that's slotted on tracks 28, 29, and 30, they paid to get on. Stop doing that shit, you're fucking the game up. That shit looks real corny. Also I wanna send a special "come home soon" shout out to my nigga Verbal Kent, Ruel, and my nigga JFK. Also u can learn more about Shinobi on www.undagroundartists.com.

By Brian Kayser

Source: HipHopGame

I don't know when exactly this was interviewed but its still gettin to know this cat....he's pretty sick....Nigga even perfomed at Rikers..that's big.