OPIO  (November 2008) | Interview By: Javon Adams

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Interview was done in October 2008

Questions Asked By: Javon Adams

Opio Interview Audio: Listen Here

Opio Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout: Listen Here

 

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Dubcnn: Dubcnn welcomes Opio from the legendary group Souls of Mischief & Hieroglyphics crew. Once again how are you? Sittin’ in the hot Sun out here man.

I’m chillin’. Out here on the Freshly Dipped Tour with Hiero promoting the “Vultures of Wisdom” album. Just really looking forward to performing because the album is out. It’s like a celebration.


Dubcnn: I know you guys are road warriors so how many dates are you into the tour right now?

We really just started so we’re not really too deep into it. I’ve been doing it for years so it’s kinda like muscle memory. I’m used to sitting in a moving vehicle for hours on end. So it’s not that bad and I don’t have any complaints. I’m blessed that I’m even able to come out here and do this. I’m lucky to have this opportunity. I know people that aren’t as fortunate as me and aren’t able to have these opportunities. I love it and on top of that I get to do my dream come true. I don’t have any complaints.


Dubcnn: One of the reviews of “Vultures Wisdom Vol. 1” said, “He’s so damn good at his craft that he fools you into thinking that his freshness is effortless.” Does creating high quality music with top notch lyrics come easy to you? How do you go about maintaining that hunger?

Well, within Hieroglyphics there is a competitive nature. It drives us all…there’s no beef or anything but nobody wants to be outshined. It happens though. I might be doing a song with Casual and he might shine on me. It’s not a good feeling but it keeps you on your toes. People around me were excelling and getting better. Metaphors were developing and vocabulary words were crazy. Being around that type of creativity and that original real Hip Hop type of things…and the dudes that I’m with are naturally competitive too. They throw those darts at me. Not in a beef way but just to keep us on our toes. It’s like sparring.


Dubcnn: My friend likes to say that ‘Iron sharpens Iron’.

Exactly


Dubcnn: That same review went on to say that you are one of the top rappers in the game. You touched on it but I was going to ask about the competition in Hiero. What I like about Hiero is that everybody has a unique voice so it’s not as if you get drowned out by having the same type of style. Everybody comes in a unique way.

“Vultures Wisdom” is a trilogy, right?

Yeah, well there’s different volumes of the work that I’m doing with Architect (producer). On this album he produced everything. That’s basically the concept behind the record that he’s producing. That’s how it developed into volumes because we had so much material. We recorded one record and didn’t want to stop and did two more records. We have the material right now and just wanted to let people know that we have stuff coming. It’s not just going to be this one thing. We’re going to hit people with more stuff. I’m antsy to get it out there. As an artist I like to have everything out there right at that moment but you have to let people digest this record.

I know there are people that are saying, ‘Oh I heard it! I want the new one out there now!’ I want to get it to those dudes but I gotta be patient. It’s fire.


Dubcnn: You talked about being in that zone. I’m not saying that this is the first time you’ve written or recorded tight sh*t but was that the first time you’ve been in a zone like that? How does being in that type of zone feel?

It’s not necessarily the first time it’s happened but this project is a first time thing that happened to me. I’ve always basically worked with Hieroglyphics. Everybody produced my stuff. I’ve had few cats that I fool with but for the most part every time you hear or see Opio it’s all underneath Hieroglyphics. I’ve been in zones with Hiero when everything is clicking but this is a little different. All of those dudes I grew up with and they are all my boys. It’s second nature to us. We can go outside and punch each other in the face and come inside and do a song. We’re brothers more than homies.

Architect is like an artist that I had a lot of respect for and I’ve been a fan of his music for a long time. To have the opportunity to work with him was exciting. He has a lot of material and we were inspiring each other. It was a new zone that I was in this time because I was working with somebody outside of Hiero. It was so effortless and natural. It just happened real organically.


Dubcnn: When you’re used to working with Hiero did you have to approach it with a little hesitation when you were working with an outside producer for so much?

Things kind of just evolved into that direction. We linked up because he had a studio right next door to us at Hyde Street Studios. That’s where we did all of our old stuff like “93 til Infinity” and all those records.


Dubcnn: That’s in Frisco, right?

Yup, in Frisco. He was renting a spot right next to one that Hiero was renting. We would see each other every night when I was working on my album. I told him that I had to get him on some beats. He would come in and peep my stuff and I would go into his studio and he’d be fu*kin’ with Planet Asia or Encore or whatever. I’d just be in there chillin’ listening to his music and say, ‘Man, I gotta get you on my record.’

It didn’t happen because of time schedules but I would always see him and bump into him and say that we had to do some music. Finally he told me that he was doing some music and experimenting with his beats. He said that it was coming out hot and he suggested that we do an entire album together. Architect is hungry and I’m sure he came at a lot of cats like that. When I heard the beats I knew I could f*ck with it. That was the lane that I wanted to f*ck with.


Dubcnn: You sound perfect over that production. Very natural.

Exactly. It was exactly what I was looking for and it was coming from my people that I already had a relationship with. It was dope and we were on the same page creatively. We’re both mature artists so we’re not hung up on hella stuff. We knew that the end product was going to be dope to the listener. We’re not going to be hella meticulous and go over it with a fine tooth comb but at the same time we respect and honor the music. We’re not going to put out any bullsh*t but we wanted music to happen. We didn’t want to waste time with all that other stuff.


Dubcnn: You talked a little earlier about the muscle memory when you perform. I wanted ask if you have family and if it takes a toll on you to be away from your family?

Just to keep it real, I don’t have kids. A lot of my brothers (Hiero) have kids and I know it’s hard for them to be away from their children. Any parent knows…I’m not a parent but I can understand. I can’t fully comprehend it because you only learn through experience but I can understand because that’s my homie and I know how much love I have for their children. I can just imagine (the love) that they have and it takes its toll.

For me, I might have relationships with women that don’t like it. I’ve been doing it for a minute and I’m more of a veteran at it. All the stuff that I did when I first hit the road when I was fresh out of high school and wildin’ those are the stereotypical actions that people think about when you’re on tour. In this day and age I’m not as bad as I used to be. I get a bad rap man. But other than that it takes it toll on relationships because it is such an important part of your life and you have to do it. It just takes you away from whatever is going on in your real life.


Dubcnn: This is your second solo, right?

Yup


Dubcnn: Can you explain the process of recording a Souls of Mischief album or a Hiero album? I know that when you are in a group setting that you go along with the group’s mission statement. When you’re solo it seems like you get to expound and do things you wouldn’t do in a group setting. Is that how that is?

It’s kind of funny how that happens because I’m so used to being in a group setting and I kind of enjoy it. Even this (Vultures Wisdom) is kinda like a collaborative thing. I always enjoy collaborating with other artists. I like being around other artists because it’s inspirational. When you’re doing your solo thing, for me at least I did venture off and do something that wouldn’t always happen in terms of Hieroglyphics.

It’s almost like when you have that freedom…it’s not just the fact that you have to fill up more space. You’re there by yourself and you’re not bouncing ideas off of anybody so everything is on you. It’s hard in once sense because you have to think of it all by yourself. But every body knows the saying of ‘Too Many Chefs…’ I think Hieroglyphics has a good balance on it. It’s a democratic process so it’s going to be different than if you had just one person. It’s a group dynamic and all that. I can’t say that I lean toward one more than the other. At times I just want to zone out and do my thing and other times I want to be with the crew. I basically have the best of both worlds and it keeps me sharp. Like you were saying, iron sharpens iron. I produce too. I make beats so I’m always trying to stay immersed in music.


Dubcnn: I wanted to ask you about that. On your first album you produced most of the album. Are you planning on raising more awareness for your production? I know produce but it doesn’t seem like it’s as well known as your mic prowess.

Producing, for me to be honest I just felt like nobody is really giving me what I felt like it was worth. In terms of anybody wanting to get down with something outside…It’s kind of hard to hear Hiero over your music and then hear somebody else over it that really won’t do it justice. Some cats just want to get their beats out there and get known and get their cheese up. All of that is real life…you have to feed your family but at the same time and maybe it’s a little illogical on my part but I just can’t see myself parting with hot sh*t and just giving it to just anybody. I haven’t had the opportunity to produce for anybody that I really felt was on that level. Not that I really tried but I feel like all the stuff that I’ve done with Hiero has been pretty strong. I just want to have everything I do be represented up to those same standards.


Dubcnn: You and A-Plus have been described as the creative core of Hiero and Souls. What inspires or motivates Opio in terms of creativity or is that just who you are?

My father was a musician and I learned a lot about music with how it makes you feel and people’s appreciation for it. The creative process always intrigued me as a young kid and I’ve been blessed to be able to do what I like to do. I’m just fortunate. It’s not more about the inspiration…I don’t want to sound like, ‘Ah, I am so motivated and I just think about stuff.’ I’m not tooting my own horn. I just got the opportunity to do what I like to do and be creative. I take advantage of it and I don’t take it for granted. I try to respect the blessing that I’ve been given. It’s not that I have to search for too much inspiration. I know God will provide so I just…you gotta have faith if you’re going to do this music business. *laughs* Really, more than inspiration you gotta have faith. Because it gets rough.


Dubcnn: Let the folks know where they can get the album.

If you come to the shows and check us out you can always cop what we have. Hit up Best Buy and whatever local record store that has it. You can find it online at amazon.com. It’s on itunes and you can go to Hieroglyphics.com and order it there too. It comes with a DVD too. The artwork is done by my man Dave Flores.


Dubcnn: Is the Don Julio video on there?

Yup. All the videos are on there. Cartoons and most of the stuff you’ve seen on YouTube and some other stuff.


Dubcnn: Tell them what it is one more time

“Vulture’s Wisdom Vol. 1”. Go cop that. Hieroglyphics Imperium Records and we’re celebrating a decade. Solid and real hip hop


Dubcnn: The first album came out in 2005 and it’s 2008 now. Are people going to have to wait three years for Vol. 2?

Nah, that’s what I was saying. The music is basically done. I’m not just selling Wolf Tickets. I have music ready. I wanted to give the people that too because this record in particular was for hardcore Hip Hop fans. My mom could probably listen to my last record and say ‘This is nice.’ The new one is probably too gritty for her. It’s for the heads. I feel like this record is that ‘one’. I’m excited about it.