BALANCE(July 2010) | Interview By:
Javon Adams
Balance has been a tireless worker since he dropped his first mixtape in
2004. Respect the hustle. Whether dropping a solo joint or teaming up with
the likes of Big Rich for a collabo project, Balance creates high octane
West Coast Hip Hop for the listener. Dubcnn linked up with Balance to
discuss his latest opus, a mix-cd called We All In. Don’t get it twisted as
this project is top notch and can stand up to any album in the marketplace.
Read on to find out what Balance has up his sleeves for the remainder of
2010 and how his networking has positioned him to reach the goals he has set
for himself. West Coast Hip Hop is here to stay and Balance looks to be an
integral part of the continued legacy.
Read on and enjoy. As always feel free to hit up
javon@dubcnn.com with questions or comments.
Balance Interview Audio - July 2010: Download
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Dubcnn: Alright, this is Javon with Dubcnn.com. A little over a year ago
I had the pleasure of hooking up with an up and coming emcee by the name
of Balance. It is my pleasure to continue our conversation. How are you
doing man?
I’m good. Just dropped the mix CD so there’s been no sleep.
Trying to hustle and get that out everywhere and promote. Trying to make
sure…you know, the day of release you’re always looking to see how
people respond and what the feedback is. Trying to make sure it gets to
everywhere it needs to get to. So it’s a hectic time but I love it
though, you know?
Dubcnn: Cool cool. I know the name of the mix cd is called
We All In and
I see you on Twitter and really using those social networking sites. I
know you put a lot of work into the mixtape so what has the response
been like so far? And did you approach this like an album when you
recorded this?
Um, you know what’s funny is so far the response has been
great. Shout out to Dubcnn because y’all were the first to actually drop
the mixtape. It’s only right. But at first I was going to drop the
mixtape in (last) October and I was going to put together a whole bunch
of songs that had been released. One of the things about the internet
and about fans attention spans is that now…sometimes I notice a lot of
people will see a song on a site or will hear a song. They may not
necessarily know who it is or they may see that it’s a Balance song but
they don’t click it. So one of the reasons why I put this project
together was to put all my joints on one project along with some new
things and tighten everything up.
I was going to drop it in October but it became bigger than what it was
going to be at first. I actually took it very serious and like most of
my projects I ended up taking a long time with it. From October until
know it has taken me a minute. I did new joints (in fact) I just did a
new joint with Freeway and Jayrock. I did some new freestyles and I did
a joint called Bootleg Liquor with Fashawn, U-N-I and Mistah Fab. Every
project I go at I want to make it like an album because I feel that you
only have one chance to make an impression and I want to be known for
putting out quality projects.
Dubcnn: You mentioned some of the features you have on the album or
mixtape I should say. Just from the names you mentioned and looking at
the listing it reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of artists. How do those
relationships come about? Is that just your tireless networking that
takes effect? How does that come about for you man?
Pretty much it was networking. That’s how its always been. I’m
constantly listening to new music and I’m constantly reaching out to
different artists that I see that are up and coming. I’m always in L.A.
I just came back from South By Southwest performing in Texas. It’s like
a big music convention. I ran into JayRock, Freeway, Fashwan…so it’s
pretty much like people I look up to music wise. They respect my grind.
They respect my music so when it was time to reach out to them it was
all love.
Dubcnn: You mentioned South By Southwest…it seems that you are always
increasing your awareness. What has been the biggest change since our
first conversation with Dubcnn? It seems like you are everywhere. What’s
been the biggest change? Give us an update on what’s been new.
Probably the biggest thing since last time is that the last
time I talked to you…I think I had dropped Golden State Warriors or
something like that?
Dubcnn: You had some upcoming collaboration projects and I know you did
one with…
…with Big Rich. Yeah, yeah…really the past couple of years I’ve
just been trying to rejuvenate myself and recreate myself. It takes a
lot of hard work. Constantly putting out quality material to the point
where you build a fan base of people that actually trust you and you
name brand.
So I would say the thing that changed is I started getting more radio
play. I dropped a video that got on MTV Jams. I had a few big records in
Northern California that were playing in the clubs. I went all around
Northern California doing different shows and politicking and kissing
babies. (laughs). And I feel like now I’m positioning myself to be one
of the…you know every artist no matter where you’re from you want to be
looked at as one of the top dudes from your region. I feel like I had to
put in that grind and that hustle. And I think coming into this next
project that I plan on dropping in July that I’m really going to signify
me as being one of those dudes from the West Coast that you can really
count on for making some music to look for and into the future. I had to
recreate myself and come anew because fans…you have to constantly remind
people that you are out and you are active and that you have some hot sh*t.
Dubcnn: Gotcha. Now speaking of hot sh*t…how will you measure the impact
of a project like We All In? I know you have free downloads and what not
but how will you measure the impact of it to let you know that it was a
success? Is there a certain number of downloads you want to reach? Is it
a number of bookings that come out of this particular project? How do
you measure that success?
You know what’s funny is I dropped my 1st album in 2006 so
that’s…I dropped my first mixtape in 2004. So I’ve been in the game
releasing music for about six years now. One thing I’ve learned is that
the streets and the people will tell you what they like. There’s no
hiding it or faking the funk. There’s no mystery. I notice that certain
records that I drop…the people will tell me what the next single should
be. The people will tell me what song they like the most. The people
will tell me, “I like that project. I want to hear you rap with this
guy.” So pretty much the streets tell me.
Now I do have personal goals. I have realistic goals…you need to set
realistic goals but at the same time you have your dream goals (too).
One of my realistic goals for this mix-cd was to reach 20,000 downloads
in a month and we are on target to achieve that. The reason why I say
20,000 downloads is because I know that one of those downloads is going
to touch like three different people. So to me if I can hit 60,000
people in a month or two with my music that is a great thing.
Everybody can’t be Drake, you know what I’m saying? So you have to be
realistic about your project. For me I said 20,000 downloads is perfect.
Nowadays an Indie artist may sell 2,000 units during the 1st month. Or
4,000 units the 1st month but to have your music downloaded 20,000 times
and spread around to 60,000 people…that’s the effect that I’m on. So
(right now) I’m really on this free music movement because I feel like
with the times and the recession and people not having money…I’m really
going to give out this project and my album in July for free.
Dubcnn: Ok. Now when you speak about the next project, I believe the
last time we talked there was a conceptual project you had in your mind
you were rolling around. It was going to be a day in the life or
something like that if I’m not mistaken. Is that the project that is
coming out in July? Or is it a different one that you are working on?
Naw, in July I’m dropping this album called The Exit and its
going to be very…it’s going to be like a movie. It’s going to be a
situation that happens in one day. It will be very theatrical and very
intense. I want to make it in such a way that you can play each song
separately and it will dope. Or if you play it all together it will be
even doper because it’s one complete story with skits and everything.
I feel like people aren’t doing that right now. That is going to come in
July and I’m going to drop that for free. But one reason I didn’t drop
it now was because I had to be realistic…I (said to myself) I need to
drop something else in the marketplace that can heat up real quick
before I drop that project (The Exit), know what I mean? That’s why I
decided to go the mix cd route first. Promote it and then get back and
I’m going to come with it in July. It is going to be a day, you know
what I mean?
Dubcnn: Cool. Now, I like it but Swagga Jack? That’s my stuff right there man. I love
that but I will say because I used to do the radio joint for awhile and my
DJ tried to clean that up and he came to me and said, “Man, I can’t do it.
You gotta get me the radio edit.”
Laughs
Dubcnn: You finally got it to me but sometimes…you’re my dude…
What’s funny about that some is that I didn’t even…the reason
why it was so dirty is because I laid those raps to a whole ‘nother
beat. And then Dem Jointz, a producer from L.A., got rid of the beat and
put a new beat under it.
Dubcnn: Ok
So it wasn’t like I had intentions of making a club song. Or
intentions of making something that went on the radio. It was so dirty
that later I had to go back and relay it with clean verses. You know how
some people reverse their words?
Dubcnn: Yeah. That would not have done you justice if you tried to
reverse those.
That’s why I went back old school like how N.W.A. used to do. I
went back and changed my words and re-rapped it. So hopefully you got
the clean at some point.
Dubcnn: Yeah. I finally got the clean from you. You my dude but sometimes
you get that Busta Rhymes in you. Because Busta will say the N word like
30 times in a song just because he’s in a zone. Sometimes you get that
way but the music is always hot.
So let them know where they can get We All In
They can definitely go to Dubcnn. Go to the Mix CD
section. Also they can go to…I did the mixtape with DJ Ill Will so you
can go to HotNewHipHop and download it there. Or you can follow
me on Twitter and I blast the mixcd out.
We All In is the project and look for a new song with me, JayRock and
Freeway. A lot of people have been liking that song so who knows. We may
do a group EP thing. And look for The Exit coming in July for free. And
I’m trying to do West Coast Hip Hop. Download it for free all this year.
Get it and pass it to your friends.
