One-2 Interview on Hoodstars.net/Great Interview!

[therealwest]

http://www.hoodstars.net/interviews/09-06-one2.shtml

A new face appeared on the west coast in the last year. No, he's wasn't a relation to Snoop Dogg. No he wasn't another member of he still ever expanding G-Unit roster. And no, he wasn't even American-born. Enter the twenty-something face of Armenian-descent-Iranian-born rapper 'One-2'. Ever since people first heard him on mixtape tracks with west-coast rhyme slinger Crooked I, One-2 has steadily been gathering momentum, with the upcoming release of his new mixtape, 'New Day, New Money'. HoodStars.net sat down and chopped it up with the one of the most exciting emcee's in the new west movement to find out why he thinks he deserves to be acknowledged as one of the top four in the new west order ... ... ...

"The revolutions in the late 1970's early 80's when Hezbollah started taking over and changing ways of society, it wasnt as peaceful anymore, definitily not a place for christians to inhabit so we had to move," he tells us about how he came to leaving the land his birth, Iran and find himself on thr left coast. After leaving Iran, his family headed first to the most unlikely of places, Sweden.

"Yeah everyday sweden has more immigrants moving in to the country. I grew up there and my dad passed away in a car accident at the age of 6, so its been tough domestically since then. We didn't have a solid provider in the house, so mom had to take on some shitty jobs here and there. Being that we we're in sweden getting a job was almost impossible as an immigrant, but we pulled thru somehow and found our way."

And in 1999, a new chapter in One-2's life began, and his family moved again. This time to the U.S.A..

"Most of mom's relatives live out here, and there's not alot of opportunities for an immigrant in sweden. So my mom wanted me to have a future, and i had already sparked an interest in hip hop iin sweden so coming here was a plus."

With middle-eastern tensions at an all time high, and attacks on Arabs living in the U.S.A. on the increase and middle eastern politics being at the forefront, especially with new tensions between the U.S.A. and Iran, One-2 must feel torn. "I have a lot of family out in Iran, I would hate to see the states attack them. But with Bush in power, you never know what's gonna happen. I think the currrent leaders of Iran are way too barbaric to be in power. Long live the days when there was King in control. I don't notice too much discrimination for being born in Iran, cause after all I am an Armenian who's only born in Iran. I just hope all this tension cools down so I don't have to hear about my relatives being caught under heavy amreican bombing raids."

Once the discussion about middle eastern politics has subsided, things get back to familiar territory, with One-2 telling us the day rap took hold of his life. "It was New Years 96-97. My cousin got me Tupac's ALL EYES ON ME as a gift, that's where it started. I started sinking into it and eventually writing my own lyrics. By the time I came here in '99, it was on and poppin'!" And it was from there, One-2 eventually found his way onto Treacherous Records.

"Well this one cat named Super Sako had worked with me before I met Treacherous. He would come to my high school shows; stand in the corner and check me out. So he introduced me to Treacherous when I was working as a dish washer at some restaurant, they scooped me up after work one day, gave me the 4-1-1 and the relationship took off from there."

Treacherous Records first grabbed people's attention with their rosterwith acts like Crooked I, Jayo Felony, Big Syke, Knocturnal, all big names in westcoast hip hop game in 2004. Then appeared a strange name, 'One-2', and people were saying "Who is this guy One2?" Then something happend. A song called "Motherfuckin W" leaked, and people saw someone else beside Crooked I, One-2.

"That felt real good," tells One-2. "The fact that Crooked took me in and placed me on a pedastole like that. I've learned alot from working with Crooked. At first I was nervous but then I understood my role more and more and just rolled with it."

But for someone like One-2 to suddenly find himself going from washing dishes to suddenly being thrown in amongst names like Crooked , Big Syke, Jayo Felony, KnocTurnal, all of whom were in the game for long time already, One-2 took it all in strides usually only taken by long established veterans.

"I was just myself, went in there and did my thing. I like all the guys and we have great relationships. There's a mutual respect, old school, new school, don't matter, we have a common purpose and that's the green dollar (laughs)"

In 2005 he released a mixtape called 'High School Dropout',which was a big surprise for hip hop fans. It showed him and his talent and his potential. Looking back on working on the mixtape and seeing people's reactions back then, One-2 knew he was doing the right thing.

"It was great! I mean the project took like one and a half years, even though it was a mixtape, it was my first impression on the world so I wanted it to be perfect. I like the way it came out. It's a solid mixtape which is good cos now I have a high standard for future mixtapes so it's satisfaction guaranteed for fans!"

When it comes to those people who catch the attention of the hiphop fans with razor sharp delivery, one thing even more impressive is razor sharp lyrics which come from somewhere inside an artist, and for One-2, his inspiration for how to write a song and his approach is simple.

"Everyday life. I just live my life, observe and absorb. I read alot of books. I'm into politics and philosophy. I don't know but it might be noticable in my music. I'm just an analytical cat who's been through the struggle, and through the gift of poetry I'm telling my story."

Ask him about his recipe for a good song, and his perception of that recipe, and how things can sour."[It] has to be a banging beat and some impressive lyrics or rhyme-schemes. Virtue is a must when behind the mic as well. If it's obvious that the person flowing is a phony then press the skip button."

But then again, this is why One-2's track with Crooked I, 'Muthafuckin W' was so ravenously downloaded by Crooked I fans, which in turn led people to seek more tracks by the young rhyme slinger. It also led to more tracks by the artist leaking on the internet, all of which are from his upcoming mixtape.

"It's called 'New Day, New Money' and it should be out sometime in September. It's slightly different from high school drop out, the sound is more mature and comfortable. My boys tell me it's hotter- let's hope the world feels the same. There's visible maturity in me and my vocals. It's the same production team pretty much, MG and Komplex behind most of it, but volume 3, that's coming out sometime in winter [and] is gonna be mostly other people's beats cause we're starting to work on my album and we need as many original beats as possible."

HoodStars.net had heard a track due to be released on this mixtape called, 'Shoot To Kill' which became an instant hit within the team. "Oh yeah me and Crooked hit the lab and cooked some more venomous shit. This one is just out of this world. It's a full solid song with Ice Cube's vocal sample on the chorus, Komplex produced. You'll just have to wait and see, it's bananas. Me and Crook do alot of shit talkin' I gotta say, (laughs) it was fun."

One-2 and Komplex go way back, before Komplex became the inhouse producer at Treacherous Records. "Yeah I've known Komplex since Sweden. We have a very tight relationship. Been in the same soccer team's since we were young and shit. Yeah he's workin' with Crooked alot which I'm very excited about. Komplex is a pure genious, his music is all made on impulse, the guy was born to do this. He has alot of bangers on Young Boss Vol. 2 [ED: Crooked I's recent mixtape]."

As with any artist, there's usually a group slash crew slash team that follows hot on the heels of one of it's members blowing up. For One-2, it's the Xpand Crew.

"Well X-Pand is gonna be the first international rap group ever. We have emceess from different countries rapping in different languages. So far we got English, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Russian and we're constantly expanding looking for new members. It's a global union. Can't give out more info- the world will see in due time."

But the world has been getting a look, and the Xpand Crew have doing their own shows lately and put up videos on their MySpace page. The vibe at shows with his crew has been suprising for him.

"It's good, it's good," he explains. "It's purely for personal practice. I hadn't done shows in such a long time I was startin' to feel rusty so I got back on track and now I'm open to do shows anywhere anytime. Gotta hustle baby!"

But you'd think with all this going on, how could he possibly fit any more work in? There, you'd be wrong. One-2, never one to rest on his laurels and has been in the studio recently every waking hour of every day."

"I'm gonna release about four mixtapes before an album. The album is still uncertain what year or with who it's gonne be released. Right now we're focusing on the mixtape scene."

But, for people who have ben following the explosion onto thre new west scene of his label, Treacherous Records one question for them is simple; 'What's going on at Treacherous Records?' Fans have been rabidly waiting on Crooked I's long anticipated debut album, 'B.O.S.S. Music' since 2004, Jayo Felony never dropped his album and left to join G-Unit. Big Syke never dropped his album and left and K-Young's album was a disaster. So fans wonder and how long they will be waiting for a One-2 album. One-2's answer is one that says it all, and shows that Treacherous' own artist are as as mistifed as the fans of their artists are.

"To tell you the truth, that's a question I can't really answer Cuz. I don't have an answer. I have no clue!"

[Episcop Cruel Cvrle]

yeah nice interview...mixtape will be fire..

[Lunatic]

good interview. They better drop this Crooked I, Knocturnal, One-2. Big Syke left the label?

[therealwest]

what i know of crooked i , one-2, knocturnal , k young, and big syke are still treacherous..but lets not get off topic please this thread is for one-2 interview if you need to here some shit from him go to www.myspace.com/one2music and that will also speak for itslef