Bizarre (D12) Interview

[Lunatic]

http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/2377/54/

Raptalk.Net hooked up with D12’s very own, Bizarre. With a new album, “Friday Night at St. Andrews” dropping May 18th, the Detroit beloved and larger than life rapper gives us all the juicy details on his new record.

With St. Andrews being a significant meeting place in Detroit, Bizarre explains to us not only why this record is very “Detroit-esque”, but how he feels he has become more and more like Proof, the deceased D12 member and Detroit legend.

Bizarre also explains why he feels his music and persona sometimes get’s lost in translation, and why this project is as close to his debut EP, “Attack of the Weirdo’s” as it gets.

Coming up as a battle rapper, Bizarre is no stranger to competition. To attempt and make his upcoming album stand out on a jam packed May 18th release date (also retail releases from Styles P and Keak da Sneak who we do have forthcoming interviews on, Nas & Damian Marley and more), Bizarre chose the Tech N9Ne assisted single, “Believer” to try and capture the listener’s attention.

Of course we get Bizarre to touch on the recent three year death anniversary of his close and personal friend and fellow band mate Proof, and even shares a touching story with us.

With that being said, we get an update on the next D12 album as well as the status of a possible Dr. Dre appearance.

Eminem recently released the first single for his forthcoming “Recovery” album – D12 didn’t appear on “Relapse”, will they appear on “Recovery?” We have the answer for you below…

Enjoy.

Full Interview:
http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/2377/54/

[Lunatic]

Raptalk.Net: How you doing Bizarre? You’re right here with www.raptalk.net

 

Bizarre: What’s crackin? What’s going on with you?

Raptalk.Net: We’re hanging out. We want to focus on “Friday Night at St. Andrews”, you’re upcoming solo album in stores May 18th. Go ahead and tell our readers why you decided to title the album what you did?

Bizarre: “Friday Night at St. Andrews” basically is about Friday night at St. Andrews and that is hip hop night where all the rappers used to come [to] and meet up. Dilla, Eminem, D12, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Slum Village – we all used to come to St. Andrews. It really is a historic place for everybody.

Raptalk.Net: For those who don’t know, it sounds like St. Andrews is some place of significant in Detroit.

Bizarre: Yeah, in Detroit.

Raptalk.Net: What is it? Is it a club? Where would all these artists meet?

Bizarre: It’s a church converted to a club.

Raptalk.Net: Now that sounds interesting.

Bizarre: Oh yeah.

Raptalk.Net: Could you attend Sunday mass and then get your drink on?

Bizarre: (laughs) whatever you wanna’ do.

Raptalk.Net: The album was originally titled “Live at St. Andrews” – why did you change the “Live” to “Friday Night?” Is it because Friday was the significant day when everybody would come out?

Bizarre: It was “Live at St. Andrews” first but we didn’t want people to get confused thinking like it’s a live music album. I just changed it to “Friday Night at St. Andrews” because Friday night was the night that everybody used to be there. We just had to make a small adjustment.

Raptalk.Net: No doubt. The album drops May 18th as we said – what label is releasing the album?

Bizarre: Average Joe Records out of Nashville and Atlanta.

Raptalk.Net: How did you hook up with them?

Bizarre: I’ve known the CEO Shannon Hutchinson for a minute. I met him about 7 years ago. He used to manage Bubba Sparxxx. We kept in contact with each other over the years. He had this new situation come up and he gave me a call and asked what I had on my agenda. We hooked up and the rest is history. It’s been a real blessing man. He’s a hip hop dude so he understands what’s poppin’ and what’s needed. This is a real fine album.

Raptalk.Net: You said you’re bringing it back to raw hip hop with this album. Did you feel like you had to take it back? You came up from battling.

Bizarre: I had to take it back man. I had an EP when I first came out called “Attack of the Weirdos” that I put out independently. That was me more in a battle state of hip hop. When D12 blew up, everybody had to play their own role or character. I just wanted to let loose and take it back to my battle rap days. This is hardcore songs right here. I didn’t want to go down in history as a comedian rapper.

Raptalk.Net: Everyone knows the comedic side of Bizarre but on this record, you want to show the serious side of Bizarre.

Bizarre: Right. I’ve been through a lot of shit in the last couple years. My group has been through a lot of shit man. Music is all about emotions and your experiences. We’ve had a lot of tragedies and different things happen to us over the last couple years. That changes the subject matter a little bit.

Raptalk.Net: We’re going to get into all of that. The first single off the album was “Believer” featuring Tech N9Ne. That’s an ingenious feature for the record, meshing your two styles together. What was it like recording that record?

Bizarre: It was dope. The producer C-Note had given me the beat and it had the hook already. I thought it was such a dope joint. Actually when I was recording the song, a Tech N9Ne song was playing and it seemed that he was going through a lot of pain on that song [that was playing]. I thought damn, I should get Tech [N9Ne] on this one. He definitely came with it too.

Raptalk.Net: Go ahead and tell the readers who else appears on the album besides Tech N9Ne.

Bizarre: We have 7 Da General from Detroit. I got my man Yelawolf from Alabama; you have my man Reggie Noble otherwise known as Redman. We got Royce da 5’9 on there, Kuniva from D12. Monica Blaire is on there and she’s blowing up right now. I got a lot of people on there.

Raptalk.Net: What about the producers? We know C-Note produced on the record.

Bizarre: I got a lot of cats from Detroit man. I wanted to give my city a chance to shine. I got a solid roster on there. They’re heavy on the beats. I got these new kids, literally like 18 years old – these kids called North Star and they did the song “Rap’s Finest”, the song with Royce Da 5’9, Redman and Kuniva. I got DJ Swiff from OutKast. I got J. Wells from the west coast. I got a couple of joints from these cats in New York. Basically if you have something hot, I’ll fuck with you. I don’t have any politics at all with what I do.

Raptalk.Net: I’m reading here that there is a record called “I Love Canada.” Is that correct?

Bizarre: Yeah.

Raptalk.Net: Go ahead and talk a little bit about that. I’m born and raised in Canada so I want to hear about this one (laughs).

Bizarre: (laughs) Alright, you want to know about the Canada song, huh? Well basically what it is, D12, every time we do a tour, when we get to Canada, half of your crew gets left at the border because of immigration problems and criminal records. A lot of people don’t get a chance to hit Canada hard. We did this tour with Joe Budden and Royce Da 5’9 in Canada; I had never been to Canada like that. I had been to T-Dot (Toronto) and that was it. We got to hit the whole country for two weeks and then again for a month. We went through all the small towns like Red Deer and Medicine Hat. Canada became like a second home to us. I came up with the joint “I Love Canada.”

Raptalk.Net: So which was your favorite?

Bizarre: I have to say Toronto. It definitely reminds me more of home. It lets me know that I’m back in civilization. It has a U.S.A. feel to it; it’s hip hop and it’s one of my favorite cities.

Raptalk.Net: And it’s so close to the place you call home, Detroit.

Bizarre: Yeah. It’s only a few hours’ away (laughs).

Raptalk.Net: You mentioned the group going through some personal tragedies. We just passed the three year death anniversary of Proof. You wrote that letter to the XXL, something very personal. How important was it for you to get that out, and to make sure that nobody ever forgets the memory of Proof? What an impact he had, especially on D12 and in Detroit.

Bizarre: He had a definite impact man. I just wanted to make sure that he doesn’t get forgotten. That dude did so much for hip hop and so much for Detroit. The things that he did, that’s the things I see myself doing now. Proof would pick random producers like that. He would take a homeless dude off the street and give him a place to stay and help him make beats. So many people can say this guy [Proof] took me from nothing to something. That’s the type of dude he was. He would take the last shirt off his back.

I’ll never forget the first time Eminem went on tour. I had gone to visit them in Chicago. Him and Eminem were like “what are you about to do? You need to come on tour with us.” I was like what? I don’t even have any clothes here. They told me to forget about all that and I went with them. I never went home after Chicago for another two months. Proof, he never gave me a chance to ask Eminem for money or anything. He just took care of me and everything. Things were always tight man. He always made sure everything was cool. Anybody that was up under Proof, from his producers to the rappers that knew him, they’d all tell you the same thing. It was nothing but love.

Raptalk.Net: Is that one of the stories that you really hold dear to you when remembering Proof?

Bizarre: I hold that story very dear to me man. When I was recording this album and I lived in Atlanta and came to Detroit, we were literally randomly calling producers up that we had heard was hot. We told people to come to the studio with beats. They came in like they never got a chance to see a real rapper and then they got a record on my album. That’s what Proof was all about; changing lives man.

Raptalk.Net: After his death and understandably, it seemed production on the next D12 album halted. There are now whispers going around that D12 is back at work. Go ahead and update our readers on that.

Bizarre: We’re back at work man. We had a small tragedy as you know. Eminem and Proof were best friends so it was tough. Eminem took his little break and we had to take our little break too. We gathered our thoughts and got everything back together. We’re back working man and that’s definitely what Proof would want us to do. We have to keep the legacy alive.

Raptalk.Net: How is the work on the album coming along?

Bizarre: It’s coming along dope. We’re just grinding it out. As I said, we just got back from Canada a week ago. We took two weeks off to be with our families and then we’re gonna’ start hitting it again.

Raptalk.Net: Dope! Eminem recently announced that his new album is titled “Recovery” instead of “Relapse 2.” We missed D12 on “Relapse”; will we see D12 on “Recovery?”

Bizarre: Yeah, we already on that joint (laughs).

Raptalk.Net: That’s great. The fans will appreciate hearing that since we didn’t hear a D12 posse cut on “Relapse.”

Bizarre: Yeah, we’re definitely coming. The joint for “Recovery” with D12 is already done.

Raptalk.Net: Any recent work with Dr. Dre?

Bizarre: Nothing with Dre recently. We have enough arsenal beats from Dr. Dre to last us a lifetime.

Raptalk.Net: In the vault somewhere.

Bizarre: Yeah, somewhere in the vault; when we get back to the studio, will hit that hard.

Raptalk.Net: I want to touch on the comedic theme that you touched on earlier. You do have a serious side as we talked about, you’re a family and religious man, but with the D12 stuff it seems Bizarre believes that laughter is the best medicine. Is that fair?

Bizarre: yeah and I’m still having fun on this album. I just take it one day at a time. Music is about life. I’m too far at this point in my career to just be rapping senseless rap. Even if I’m gonna’ rap a concept about a party, it has to make sense. If something is on my mind that I emotionally feel attached to it, I feel I ought to speak on it. That’s what I’m doing on this album.

Raptalk.Net: In terms of the comedic stuff, you’ve said some crazy shit, especially on the D12 albums. Have you ever had a fan or anybody approach you or write you a letter completely disgusted with something you’ve said? Have you ever got that reaction?

Bizarre: I’ve never had a fan completely disgusted. I get the complete opposite. I’ve had fans who want me to sit down and see if I’ll smoke crack with them or go do some heroin in the bathroom (laughs). I’ve never had a fan disgusted.

Raptalk.Net: (Laughs) That’s crazy. I want to wish you the best of luck with the album. Bizarre and D12 are definitely on the right track. I appreciate your time and we’re going to end it on that note. Do you have any last words before I let you go?

Bizarre: Like I always say, I’m giving back to the fans. No matter if you’re in Canada or South Africa, on May 18th Bizarre is having a free release party at St. Andrews. I hope everybody comes out and can enjoy it. Thank you.

[NillerTheKid]

props, pretty good read

[Lunatic]

^ thank u!

[Blood$]

good read but I have my doubts about D12 being on Recovery for some reason and with them having all those Dre beats

hopefully I'm proven wrong on that first part though, but those Dre tracks will not come out lol just like Stat Quo's, Bishop's, etc.

[D-Nice]

Excellent read

[2euce 7even]

props, pretty good read

[J.E.]

Props.. Im actually thinking i might buy his album..

[J$crILLa]

good interview

[dubsmith_nz]

Good read bro, shot Luna! Actually made me check out that "Believer" track, vintage D12 feeling on that, Bizarre sounding better than ever, serious even lol.

Shot man, keep bringing us that real!

Yo, I haven't read that letter to XXL, do you know where I can peep it?