Author Topic: N.R. Inyerview  (Read 137 times)

Mota

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N.R. Inyerview
« on: March 24, 2002, 09:29:43 PM »
Breaking into the game without having to change faces is seemingly impossible. Too many characters have made the art run amuck, and rare is the artist that can be successful without sacrificing self. Enter Nappy Roots, a group comprised of six men that refuse to compromise their souls for riches and fame. Skinny DeVille, B. Stille, RC, Big V., R. Prophet, and Scales make up a vast amount of talented MCs that takes pride in never changing what they were raised to become. Being the first crop of Hip-Hop artists to represent the Bluegrass State, they have one common goal in mind: Enter the game Nappy, and leave the game Nappy. Riding the coattails of success with their debut album, "WATAMELON, CHICKEN, AND GRITZ," they intend to take over the world, but never sacrificing that good ol' Southern flavor in the process.

AllHipHop: Talk to me about the new album. What's the concept and idea behind it?

Ron Clutch: The name of the album is "Watamelon, Chicken, and Gritz." The reason we named it that is because the album is so flavorful. You got your watermelon tracks, which are your feel good tracks, your party tracks, the ones that make you shake your ass, you know? You got the chicken in there because, you know, everybody like chicken. Those tracks are good for filling up your soul. Then you got your gritz tracks on there. You can eat grits once a day and it's gonna stick to your ribs all day. Metaphorically, the album is fulfilling. It's food for the soul.

AHH: I can dig it. So, is everyone in the group from Kentucky originally?

RC: Four of us are from Kentucky. Scales is from Georgia, and R Prophet was born in Oakland, but he moved to Louisville, Kentucky. My man Big V. is from Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is where we all met up at. We all met at Western Kentucky University.

AHH: I know y'all was upset when Western Kentucky got beat in the NCAA Tournament, huh?

RC: Yeah! You saw that, huh?

AHH: I saw clips of it on Sportscenter. That was the first time in years that Western Kentucky had got a bid in the tournament.

RC: Scales used to hoop for the Hilltoppers also. He sacrificed his basketball scholarships to rap, and it paid off for him.

AHH: It sure did. Man, I've been seeing y'all all over the place. Magazines, websites, and all that, so it seems like y'all are doing y'all thing.

RC: Yeah, we did the David Letterman show a couple of weeks ago. That was a good experience, working with Paul Schaeffer. A lot of artists don't get a chance to do that once... even in a lifetime, so that was some god publicity for us.

AHH: Who is Paul Schaeffer?

RC: The one who leads the band on Letterman, the white, baldheaded guy.

AHH: Oh! I know who you're talking about now.

RC: Yeah, he dug our music 100% working with the live instrumentation… that was just like, man… it was an experience.

AHH: Besides Jazze Pha, do y'all have other guests on the album?

RC: We got Larry Dotson from the Barkays. He's on one of the bonus tracks called "Ho-Down." That was one of the first tracks we did at the sound stage in Nashville. He's an old-school cat who's a veteran in the game. He came and did his thing. That was another good experience for us.

AHH: You guys are currently doing your promo tour, right? Do y'all have a particular name for the tour?

RC: We call it the Po-Folk Tour. We're touring in a sweet pickle bus!

AHH: (laughter) Let me ask you this… I'm considering myself to be a historian of hip-hop, and I don't recall any group or solo rap acts coming out of the Bluegrass State. Do y'all feel like you have to raise the bar just because no one from Kentucky has broken into the mainstream format?

RC: Since we are the first ones out of Kentucky, we gotta make it happen. We gotta do it for our folks, but at the same time, we are trying to raise the level of rap in the whole country. We want everybody to feel us, not just folks from back home, but the whole world. We are changing the game in hip-hop.

AHH: Y'all get treated like royalty back at home, I'm sure.

RC: Yeah, I mean, they show us love, but just about all the spots we've been to have shown us love. We represent the common folk, and the world is like 99% common folk. So, if you love good music, you are gonna feel it.

AHH: On the album, y'all use a lot of live instrumentation, not just your basic drum and bass machines, right?

RC: We use a combination of both, actually. My man shows his ass on the track "Awnaw." We used a lot of guitar and things.

AHH: Your debut single, "Awnaw," got a nice buzz. Where did y'all shoot that video, man?

RC: We shot it in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We did it in a couple of locations in Bowling Green. We only had friends and family come out to shoot the video. We enjoy the fundamentals of life. Taking what you got and making the best of it, and enjoying love, friendships, and our families.

AHH: Y'all sound like y'all have a very deep spiritual connection with God.

RC: Music is a gift from God, man. Anything you write or spit about has to come from the soul. That's what makes us unique. We come straight from the soul and spit the obvious. It's so obvious that people have a hard time trying to figure out what draws us to it. It's the basis, the fundamentals for us. The game has gotten away from the fundamentals, so we are trying to bring it back.

AHH: Do y'all have major influences when it comes to the music?

RC: Being from Kentucky, we are pretty much influenced by everybody, man. Anybody from Michael Jackson to the Geto Boyz, Barry White to Stevie Wonder, Wu-Tang, Outkast, Goodie Mob, we are just about good music. It don't matter what coast you on. If you are spittin' it from the chest, then we are going to bang this, regardless.

AHH: Describe to us Nappy Roots' style, meaning what y'all do and don't do.

RC: The word "Nappy" is the equivalence of real. "Roots" is simply the foundation. You gotta keep it real to the foundation. Our best quality is our chemistry, man. For you to have six individuals coming together for one common cause is phenomenal. We are like neutrons and electrons.

AHH: After this project is over, are any of y'all looking to do solo projects?

RC: Right now, we got so many different combinations that we can do, but we are thinking as a family. Later on down the road, maybe we will pursue solos, duos, and trios… but we are just enjoying us, tryin' to take over the world. The world needs a savior, so here we are.

AHH: At the end of y'all career, when everybody has sat down and said we have accomplished everything we ever wanted to, how would you want fans to remember Nappy Roots?

RC: We came into the game Nappy and we are leaving the game Nappy. We are folks like everyone else, and we made it. It don't matter how much money or fame we got, we still are gonna keep one foot on Earth, continue praising God, and staying humble. We can't go wrong with that.

(allhiphopDOTcom)
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