Knawledg Interview (Speaks MathMadix, Knocturn'al, Album, Mixtape, More)

[Lunatic]

http://www.illuminati2g.com/knawledginterview.htm

I2G chilled with Mathmadix member, Knawledg for a exclusive interview. We discuss his new album, Deleted Scenes, which is a warm up for his upcoming album, Based On A True Story, his ties with Knocturnal and Mathmadix, and much more so check it out.

Illuminati 2G is here with Knawledg how's it going?

Good, good.

Tell me a little bit about how you got your start in music and who are some of your musical influences out there.

I got my start in music when.., realistically I was in 8th grade or a freshman in high school. I recorded at one of the homies house, no real studio, just some ghetto shit back in the day. There was only 1 microphone and we would just pass it around and do our verses. If one person fuck it up, we got to start the song all over again (laughs). Back then I was on my west coast shit, Too Short was one of the first artists back then that influenced me. NWA, The Chronic, all that good west coast shit. A little bit later in high school I started digging on Biggie and Wu Tang and Mos Def.

I like a blend of different music, 2pac is my dude, but I have to say that west coast music is my biggest influence.

How did you end up meeting Knocturnal?

Knocturnal, the famous Knoc story. What I did was, I had a show out here in Arizona, at the San Pan, and he happened to be in town, he was doing a jewelry commerical. I was in the club that night performing, and he was in the VIP and I took my hustling ass in here. My hair was shorter back then, I had the Ashton Kutcher look, the skateboard look. So I walked up to him and he was looking at me kind of funny and I told him don't trip, I am from Cali.

Don't let the look fool ya, I get down. I told him basically what does it take to get down on the team. That was huge for me to talk to him, back then he was the muthafucking man. This was right around the time when The Way I am came out. I just hit him up and told him I don't have no record deal or anything, I am a hustler who bought my own studio with my own cheese and I am trying to get it in.

He liked my style and he told me to come down to the commerical shoot and from there he stopped by the studio and from that he has been my dude.

Was that also similar to how other people in Mathmadix like Ripacut, J-Beam, did Knoc form that or was that already in place?

Nah, I actually met Beam through Knoc. Beam lives out here in Arizona, which was crazy because I was already out here. Beam had met Knoc in LA because he is also a engineer along with being a writer and producer. He was engineering for Knoc in Cali and I guess I met Knoc a little before Beam did. Me and Knoc clicked immediately, a week after we did our first song, he invited me to come out to LA to kick it and of course I am trying to get on so I headed out there.

Next thing I know I am going to Nate Dogg and Warren G's houses and it was some really cool shit. I felt like I am living out my dream, I would say at least a year or so after I met Knoc, I met Beam. One night we were in the studio and I was telling Knoc to pick out a beat. Knoc said man I will have someone bring some heat right now, I will call someone over. Beam came over and that was when I started fucking with him.

We were homies before it became a rap click. Me and Rip, we go way back when we were kids in Cali. After I started working with Knoc, I brought Rip into the picture and we all just started kicking it. We were all drinking buddies, we all like to do the same thing, drinkin, smokin, and west coastin. After that we all decided that we really make some good music together, we might as well make this click and it has been gravy since then.

How involved would you say Knocturnal is with your music? Is he hands on or does he let you do your own thing, do you take music to him and get his two cents on it? What is a normal studio session with Knoc?

I don't think there is such a thing as a normal studio session with him. Knoc is a beast, he is the reason why I go as hard as I do. I have had alot of musical influences coming up, but I would not be where I am right now if it was not for Knoc, he gives me that much love. He is very involved with our music, at first he was very hands on because he was teaching me the game and the ropes.

Everyone thinks that they can grab a beat, spit a 16 and they are a rapper now. That is not how songs are made, songs are different then raps. Knoc showed me that and the different techniques in the studio. So he was really going hard on me and he would not go for any bullshit. We would be in the studio for 48 to 72 hours in a row. We would just go at it and finally when I started getting comfortable and he seen I was taking that role.

Knoc taught me the no writing technique. I have not wrote a song in 3 or 4 years. So everything that I do is off my head. He was teaching me those things and once I got the range, I put the Math on my back. That is what he has been telling me, he wants me to be the front runner of what we have going on. He wants to be more in the background, poppin his collar type of shit.

One of the albums that I bump still to this day is that Mathmadix 2.5. It is basically a street album, I really would not even call it a mixtape, all original beats, original concepts and lyrics.

Exactly, that is where we fucked up calling it 2.5 or a mixtape. The only reason I called it that is because I had 2 previous mixtapes and those did not have all original music. That was some of the older, wacker shit. 2.5 was all original shit, all raw music, but it kind of threw off the whole frame. We should have treated that more like a album because that is what it is. I am glad you listened to it though, you up on your history. That's good.

Yeah that is one of my favorites joints from a year ago. I bump that all the time, especially when I am traveling, going to Arizona and different places, I always throw it on. That is one of those albums that you can play from track one and it had like 30 joints on it, like literally 30 joints. There was not really any interludes that I can remember, but you can just let it play from beginning to end and it is just a listening experience.

I definitely big up yall for putting that album out, that is a bangin ass album.

Thank you, we put alot of work into that piece. That album was me once again going through that transition and being comfortable from becoming a rapper into a songwriter. Once you learn how to develop songs, you learn how to develop projects. Rather than just putting 15 songs on something because it is hot. I like to go outside of the box and give the people what they want.

It does take a while, the creative process. I was learning protools and it was not like I had a full time engineer other than Beam when he was available. So I had to do alot of hands on shit myself, but yeah that project was the business. That was why I wanted to drop Deleted Scenes because it had the same concept as 2.5.

I wanted it to be a complete album that you could play and be like wow I did not even realize I was on track 12. Deleted Scenes feels more personal and that is why I fell in love with that shit.

That leads perfectly into my next question. You dropped the Deleted Scenes album a month ago. Tell the people about the album, what can people expect, guest appearances, production and where can people pick it up at.

www.mathmadix.com, I want to start off by saying that. You can go download it for free and that is the beauty of this album. What people can expect is.., if this is the shit that I am giving away for free, imagine the shit that I am going to sell. The retail shit is going to be off the chain. For me, Deleted Scenes is a album of I don't want to say throwaway songs, there are alot of them on there that I really love. It was music that did not make my album but I still wanted to put out there because it is hot.

Besides that the fans wanted new material. People tell me all the time, man it has been a minute since 2.5 dropped and any new material has come out. So I wanted to give people a appetizer before the big meal comes. In A Class Of Our Own is insane so Deleted Scenes is a album that I put together with my homeboy Dez.

Dez is our producer and he is a very good artist as well. But the album is the prelude to Based On A True Story is going to be.

Based On A True Story, is there any details you can give about the album? Projected release date, how far are you into the project?

I would say I am about 80 to 90% done with the album. Release date I am not sure because I am looking for distribution on that album. So I am pushing real hard on Deleted Scenes because I want distribution for Based On A True Story. I want that album to be bigger than just popping in a couple states, a couple records from it.

I want it to be worldwide and global because I have been sitting on this one for a while. The title explains it all, it is my life, I am a rapper's rapper. There are no gimmicks from me, no funny shit. I am telling on my self alot on this album, that is what's really happening. It is not the smartest thing but it is what it is. I am trying to get the fuck out of this game man and the only way to do it for me is to be 110% real.

Unfortunately for me, being 110% real leaves alot of speculation and questions. That is all I can do, like I told you I don't write no more. When I get into that booth, all I can do is tell you what is on my mind and that is why I go so hard and speak so real. That album is my baby and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did creating it. I got songs that I have been sitting on for a couple of years because of that album.

You had mentioned also earlier the album, A Class Of Our Own. That is the duo album with J-Beam correct?

Yessir.

What is the status currently on that album? I know towards the end of last year there was alot of advertisment for it and J Beam was even talking about doing a album release party for the album in Scottsdale.

Right, one of the main reasons why it got pushed back is because me and Beam are both perfectionists. For the both of us, we were really coming together hard on that album. Also around that time last year we were going to drop the Mathmadix album through a label out of Texas. Basically we put everything on the back burner to put out that Mathmadix album and then all that fell through with the investor.

We were all burned out because we were putting in so much work with the album so that was the main reason that did not drop then. On top of that, we really wanted to treat that album like a album project. It has really good production and lyrics, we got Tash, Knoc and other surprises on there, so that is definitely a album people should look out for.

We are definitely going to be dropping that, I would say no later than March of this year. Because it is pretty much a wrap right now, Beam is doing the final touch ups on it and then it will be ready. That is why I wanted to drop Deleted Scenes first and get a little buzz going before that album drops.

We just want to show what a powerhouse we are with the music that we got. We have albums on deck, alot of people have problems putting one together.

Yeah that is one thing that I like about the crew. There is alot of up and coming artists on the west coast, but you guys are dropping material, and you all help each other out. You will hear a track with you and Beam or you are on a Tash track, or on Knocturnal's songs or albums. There is not a lull with your music where people say I have not heard a Knawledg track in months. You guys are constantly dropping material.

Right, and we pride ourselves on that because that is what we do. I can't say it enough man, we are the rapper's rapper. Everyone in our click is a rapper, this is our career. It is hard to be in the studio like that and drop material all the time like we do, but we do it. We can afford to be in the studio and put the work into the music that we do.

My other full time job is being a father. That is what we pride ourselves in doing, because alot of people have a hard time just making one good song. Someone will drop a single, and you will never hear from that person again. Sometimes people will luck out and that is why you see these people going crazy with these dance crazes, Stanky Legg and all that kind of bullshit.

Laughs

But that is the last you hear of that shit because it is a fad. We pride ourselves on not being a fad and being original. Even though I am from the west, I want my music to have a new twist to it. I don't want to be a imitation or a soundalike or a artist that you can put me in a certain category and I stay in that lane.

I feel we can go to any state or country and relate and interact with people and people will feel our music. I just want to continue to keep dropping quality material until the day my mind goes blank. What I have been doing the last couple of weeks is rapping over these industry beats and smashing over them.

For me it is all about work ethic and Knoc taught me that. It is just like playing hoop, if you don't play for a month or 2 and then you go play, your jumper is going to be off. The only way to keep it on point is to shoot and play everyday. Same with recording, if you are not getting down with it consistently, that is what your music is going to sound like.

I pride myself on my work ethic and that is the great thing about Rip and Beam and everyone is so talented. Even when we don't all work together, I am impressed with what the crew comes up with on their own. We challenge ourselves, it is a friendly competition, especially when you have someone like Knocturnal in the fucking group. He comes with some shit that will have me like god damn motherfucker I got some shit for you.

Laughs

Even with Tash, that is like my brother too man. We almost fought on some competitive shit in the booth, first song we made was Speakers Thumpin and that shit is a fucking knocker. If you do not have that competition, it will not make for good music. I brought out the beast in Tash on that song. It's all good, I just enjoy making music and keeping it moving.

And just as active as you guys are in dropping music, you guys do alot of shows. Do you have any upcoming shows or tour dates?

Nah man, the only thing we got coming up is the Deleted Scenes party. We are going to meet up with some club owners in Scottsdale to see what venue we will have it at. We do draw a crazy crowd and I am trying to get us to the point that we are doing all our events on our own.

What is your website information?

www.mathmadix.com. www.myspace.com/knawledg. You can download Deleted Scenes from the Mathmadix site, the album is banging. Thanks for all the support, DJs get those singles spinning out there, west up man. Big ups to the coast, the Math. I really appreciate you man and others trying to help out and spread the word man. That is what it is all about.

You got any other last words or shoutouts before I let you go?

Shoutouts to Tash out there in Vegas, Knocturnal and my whole Math family, my beautiful daughter, rap music and shout out to all you fake rappers out there trying to make music. Mathmadix till the casket drops.

[D-Nice]

dope interview, Mathmadix 2.5 is the shit, can't wait for the official group album.