ATLLAS  (August 2008) | Interview By: Javon Adams

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Interview was done in August 2008

Questions Asked By: Javon Adams

Atllas Interview Audio: Listen Here
 

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Dubcnn: Alright Dubcnn introducing you to one of Arizona’s finest, Atllas. What’s up?

What’s up? Appreciate it man. Just out here chillin’ trying to survive the heat. You know what I’m sayin’?


Dubcnn: I’m gonna get right into it. Statik Selektah, Kay Slay was building a relationship with them easy given the exposure that you received on MTV and the magazines like XXL and The Source?

No, not at all because with every step that you take you still gotta prove yourself. And me coming from Arizona, even though I’ve had a lot of big media opportunities you still have to prove yourself on a music level. So you still have to show these cats that you’re coming with tracks and you’re not just some dude that lucked up and got on TV and got onto a magazine. That you are really getting this attention off of the merit of your music, you know what I’m sayin’?

So you still have to prove yourself and I really had to work to prove myself to those cats. Because they are dudes of notoriety and to be a new cat and breaking through to show them what I really had took some work. But it got the job done because it comes down to the music after a while. You can get all these big looks and all that but after a while it comes down to the music. That’s what got to speak eventually.


Dubcnn: Speaking of music, explain Rawkus 50.

The Rawkus 50 is basically a collection of 50 artists nationwide that Rawkus Records feel are the next prolific emcees in the game, you know what I’m sayin’? So they went through a real crucial screening process to get cats involved. You had to submit music and a whole lot of stuff. They had a panel of A&R’s and the CEOs of the label were active in choosing the artists for the Rawkus 50. It’s more so just a helping hand to get you to that next level of exposure, you know what I’m sayin’? So now you have an actual label and you are able to work in their system and expand your brand. It’s kinda like a helping hand to help you get out there a little more.


Dubcnn: Speaking of helping hand, what opportunities have come about as a result of that opportunity and the Rawkus situation?

Touring opportunities. I’ve been doing a lot of spot dates all throughout the country. Been getting a lot of good overseas looks. Working with my man DJ Aims right now out of London. I’ve been able to do a lot of traveling and just the network. A lot more press which is always a plus when you are an emerging artist. The exposure has been the best thing man. The extra press and the show opportunities those are the things that any come up artist needs. That network gets you out to the entire world so it’s helping me establish my name and the Atllas brand in (places like) Germany.

We get hit up from cats all over the world that listen to the music scene, (saw) MTV Made and now it’s really starting to build a connection. And that’s what album sales come from, building that connection. So the Rawkus 50 is really helping me build a lot more connections and expand my brand which is priceless.


Dubcnn: You were talking about having exposure and being able to do some spot dates out of town and what not. I know you have children and you hustle and grind real hard. Is it ever hard for you to leave and go do those things? To go out and hustle and build that Atllas brand?

You know, it’s real hard man because I try to be a real active parent. I always tell my friends that I’m trying something new. I’m going to be the dad that actually stays in his kid’s life, you know what I’m sayin’? I’m trying to set a new trend so having that philosophy I’m really trying to be hands on. I mean my son is six right now and it’s a real crucial time cuz at the same time you have to get out there and make this money.

But what I try to do is create a good balance and try not to let the music and the business side over shadow my family. So, up to this point I’ve been fortunate and been able to pick and choose what I wanted to do. If my son has something important going on I made sure I didn’t plan nothing around that. I know it’s going to get heavier the bigger I get and the more I start getting out there but right now I’ve been pretty fortunate. But it’s always hard to leave the house but you gotta do it man.


Dubcnn: Speaking of eating, that brings me to one of your recent projects “Hunger and Starvation”. Looking back on that I know you moved 40,000 copies of that would you do anything different about that?

You know what, I think I would have ran it a little while longer. Because it was an independent project I think we could have done so much more with it. We got to a point where we were ready to move on but I think we moved on prematurely. I think we could have went way deeper with videos and really used that project as a springboard to really create some dominance.

It really did help start getting me out into other states but I think we could have done more but I think we pulled the plug prematurely on it. We should have kept it running.


Dubcnn: You’ve had some radio success most notably with your song ‘Hood Famous’. Do you find yourself trying to emulate that and make another ‘Hood Famous’ or is it just letting the music speak for itself?

Yeah, you know I’ve never been…I’m gonna keep it 100 with you. There was a point in my life where I never thought I would make a song better than ‘Hood Famous’. I really thought that was my peak and like there was nowhere else for me to go, this is it. But once you get into the process of creating and you keep working that is when you see if you have the talent for it or if you just lucked up.

I’ve created bigger and better music since then so the point I’m at right now I don’t look back anymore. You want that hot record…because I’m still looking for that big hit so ‘Hood Famous’ was great and I think that was kind of the process too because it was a big record out here but it wasn’t a smash hit. That showed me that there is still further for me to go. That in itself has prevented me from trying to chase that. To me that wasn’t even big enough. You need to go after something bigger and if you are chasing these last little moves that you did you’re never going to progress.

Nothing I did at this point has been big enough for me to relax or to quit pushing. I feel I’ve had a lot of success as far as expanding my name but I still have so much farther to go with everything I’ve done. I’m only looking forward, I’m not chasing anything behind me.


Dubcnn: As we look forward, “Arizona Caesar” is the next official release. It seems pretty self explanatory but why that title? And what should make people want to purchase and be on the lookout for it?

The main reason people should want to purchase it and look out for it is because it’s like Hip Hop Soul. I write from a real perspective and I think I have a different voice than is out there right now. What I mean by that is my story and what I’ve done up to this point. There’s been a lot of independent cats and there’s been a lot of dudes from the hood that have made it but I kinda have a different spin because I wasn’t the drug dealer. All that stuff was available to me but the people that were my point of reference in that game weren’t making any real money. So I said there has got to be something else and I learned other ways to hustle and got into the promotion game and all other kind of ways of making money that were legit. And I worked. Two and three jobs sometimes. So I am the other side of that coin and I feel like right now people are being given the impression that the only way to be cool in the hood or to rap or to make it out is that you gotta sell drugs. That’s just not the case. I think somebody needs to make that statement because these kids are watching what we do.

I take the youth very seriously and the impression that I make on them. I want them to understand that I am from where you are from and I went through the same struggle but you don’t have to do this in order to make it out. You don’t even have to be a rapper. Like, I say all the time that I hate the fact that I’m like a stereotypical black man. Like we’re all either rapping or playing hoop. You know what I’m saying? But God gives you a gift and he puts you in a position for a reason. And I really…not trying to sound cliché about it but I really write to inspire somebody else to do something greater. Hopefully through my music they can really sit there and be inspired and motivated to do something else and understand that this isn’t your last resort.

Rap music was my last resort. I wanted to play hoop first but when that didn’t work out I turned to playing music because I didn’t know what else to do with myself. It was either this or the streets. And what I want to help is a kid in that same position understand that we’re not just rappers, we’re not just ballplayers. You can be a doctor, you can be a lawyer, you can be an astronaut and you can be the President.

Look at Barack Obama. Who would’ve thought in our lifetime we would see a black man legitimately running for the White House? We had the Jesse’s and cats like that but Barack is a different animal. You look at Barack and think he could really be President. Man, how inspirational is that? I want to be that type of inspiration to the inner-city and to these kids in the hood that are struggling and looking for what they are going to do for their life. So I think all of that in a nutshell is why they need to pick “Arizona Caesar” up because of the content that they are going.

The reason I went with that title…just along the lines of that whole King of AZ stuff but it’s starting to transcend that and now it’s becoming bigger. I’m a competitor man. At the end of the day I’m just a competitor and I’m gunning. If you’re not trying to be the best then what are you trying to be? So that’s what that is, “Arizona Caesar”.


Dubcnn: Finish this sentence for me. You kind of touched on it a little bit but, Atllas is…

Wow. The next legend in the game


Dubcnn: Gotcha. You recently completed a film right?

Yeah.


Dubcnn: An independent film. How did that come about?

A dude, a great director out here named Jay Cooper directed a video I did called ‘We Here To Party”. Jay actually got at me because he was inspired to make the movie off of one of my songs. My song “Streetlights”. He really loved that song and he loved the story I was telling in that song. So when he heard the song it made him think of a movie. The whole concept of the movie was based on him listening to that song so it was great that he asked me to take part in it.


Dubcnn: That goes back to you saying you want to inspire people.

Exactly. Music touches people but you have to make it where its coming from a real place in order to touch people. That is the biggest testament. I mean this dude off of one of my songs was inspired to do a movie.


Dubcnn: What’s the name of the movie?

It’s called Losing Touch. Hopefully, God willing it will be out in the Winter.


Dubcnn: Nice. Do you see yourself branching out beyond music? If so, in what way?

I definitely want to expand Fireflock Entertainment. I want to eventually get to a point where I can really sign artists, where I have my own A&R’s and I want to try to staff it with all Arizona people, you know? People who’s talent I believe in and I believe have an ear for talent and get together and expand Fireflock Entertainment. Not have it just be an Arizona based thing but really be able to use it to shine light on a lot of the talent we have out here and in the Southwest period. Because we don’t have a major label entity out here and that’s what my vision for Fireflock Entertainment is. To make it a major entity in the Southwest and the first stop or outlet for peoples music to get out. So that is really where my focus is at right now.

I only really plan on doing…


Dubcnn: Three more albums right?

Yeah, that’s it and I’m done. I want to focus more on the business side because rap was really just a conduit to other things for me. I mean I’m passionate about the music but I think I lost…I think at the point where I’m getting at right now…I think I lost my best years when I was out here in these streets going real hard. Now it’s like I’m doing it because I love it and I still see that my voice needs to be heard. But once I feel that I’ve got it out there enough then I will be ready to move on. I think three albums man and I’m gonna be ready.


Dubcnn: We gonna save that for Part 2 because I think knowing you a little bit I think it’s gonna be easier said then done.

My manager says the same thing but I know my heart though *laughs*. And I’m going to tell you why. Because how we touched on the kids earlier and I really do want to be there. Like I said, my son is six now and when he gets to ten or twelve years old I really do want to be there. I don’t want to be that dad that’s on the road all the time and they don’t know me. I really do want to be there and I think that the only way for me to be there is to be more on the executive side.

But in order to get there where I can be comfortable with the executive side I need to go so hard with this music right now and put so much into each of these songs that it carries that. So that’s why I’m so focused right now but I really do wanna be there man. I’m tellin’ you.


Dubcnn: So give them the myspace page to check you out at.

MySpace or atllasonline.com


Dubcnn: Thanks for sitting down with Dubcnn.com I appreciate it man

Yes sir, thank you.