Randy Mason revient en force avec sa deuxième entrevue EXCLUSIVE pour le Hip Hop Café, cette fois-ci avec Termanology. Ce dernier vient tout juste de sortir son nouvel album en collaboration avec Statik Selektah. Cliquez sur le lien ci-bas pour l’entrevue. Bonne lecture!
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Randy Mason comes back strong with his second EXCLUSIVE interview for the Hip Hop Café, this time with Termanology. He recently dropped his new collaborative album with Statik Selektah. Click on the link below for the interview. Enjoy!
A few years ago, I heard a new song, “Watch How it go Down”, that caused me to stop what I was doing, and pay attention. Though the signature sound of legendary producer Dj Premier is quite difficult to ignore, it wasn’t just Premier’s beat that stopped me in my tracks. Instead, it was a new voice, rapping clear clever lyrics, that made me
pause, rewind, and replay the song over again. That voice belongs to Massachusetts bread emcee Termanology, who on “Watch How it Go Down” spit multi-syllable tongue twisting rhymes reminiscent of the late Big Pun, instantly gaining my interest.
Since then, Terminology has acquired a loyal fan base, and much recognition on the underground releasing several mix-tapes, and a few albums most of which include scratch heavy beats produced by long time friend & colleague, producer DJ Statik Selektah. His brand new album titled “1982” produced by none other then Statik Selektah has officially hit the streets this week, and has already been receiving lots of love from both the people and the industry alike. It features emcees such as Inspectah Deck from the Wu-Tang Clan, Xzibit, Cassidy, M.O.P, and more.
Randy Mason: When did you know you wanted to pursue rap as a career?
Termanology: I always wanted to be an emcee since I was a little kid. I’ve been rhyming since I was 9 years old. It was more of a dream back then. Around high-school, freshman year I started taking it serious, recording demos and stuff like that.
Randy Mason: How did you come up with your name?
Termanology: I got the name Termanology around 1997. At the time it was a real lyrical time in Hip Hop. Canibus was just coming out, Wu-Tang was reigning supreme. Big Pun came out, Eminem. It was a crazy lyrical time, it was all about that, so that’s kind of
where it came from.
Randy Mason: Who inspired you musically?
Termanology: So many people. Snoop and Dre when I was a little kid. When I started getting old enough to buy my own music it was more like Nas, Wu-Tang, Biggie. Fat Joe was a big influence on me. To me, Fat Joe was the only person speaking from a Latino perspective in the game with the exception of Cypress Hill. He was speaking from a Puerto Rican standpoint. I come from a Latino area in Mass. I felt like he was speaking directly to me. Later, in the late 90’s, it was heavy Big Pun, heavy Gangstar. Every year I get inspired by different people.
Randy Mason: How did you meet Statik Selektah?
Termanology: I met Stat when I was a teenager. We would meet up at house parties in Mass. I would see him DJ-ing and would grab the mic and kick flows for the people in the crib. From there, he moved to Boston and starting doing HOT 97 Boston radio, and producing for Edo G, KRS One and many others. At the same time, I was doing my mixtape, and we thought it would be a good idea to get up and work. When he moved to NY it really started popping off. I would be in his crib every weekend recording.
He started putting me on records with different artists and breaking my records to the radio. For the last 5 years he has been one of my best friends in the world. He is like my brother, so it made sense. We already chillin’, we already in the studio. Why not make some heat.
Randy Mason: What is your writing process like?
Termanology: My biggest song is “Watch how it go down.” That song took me like 30 days to write. I would write like two bars, and come back to it in a week and write a few more bars. Write some more, leave it alone, and come back in another week, write a
verse. Then I have other songs where I wake up at 4 in the morning with a random thought and I’ll sit up and write 60 bars, record it on the spot and the song ends up popping off. Sometimes you put so much effort straining your brain, and sometimes it just takes a
couple minutes. It’s always different.
Randy Mason: You have collaborated with a lot of legendary emcees, producers, and DJ’s. What are some things you have learned in the process?
Termanology: One thing that helped me a lot is this: I used to double and triple my vocals, but when I recorded with DJ Premier he told me, “Na, leave it with one vocal. Leave it like that as long as it’s mixed right, it’s going to be right. The clarity is going to
make it what it is.” So I was skeptical, but later I ended up seeing that the clarity is so much better and 90 percent of the time now, I only do one vocal. I toured with Redman & Method Man. They taught me a lot about controlling the crowd and how to make the time stretch. How to make the crowd responds to you whether there’s five people or five thousand people. I learned a lot from M.O.P. Im grateful to have
these people as friends.
Randy Mason: Do you have a favorite place to perform?
Termanology: I think Switzerland because the people are so cool they show so much love. Sweden is great, Spain is amazing. I’ve been to Germany, Lebanon, Mexico, Greece, D.R, Check Republic, all over. I bounced around the last two years. All these places are dope. You never know whether the people are going to like you or hate you. It’s usually always positive, it’s always dope.
Randy Mason: Memorable tour story?
Termanology: One time we went to Check Republic to do a festival, there were like twenty thousand people. Method Man was the headliner. There was like over 100 rappers on the bill. I was on stage really drunk, and I’m rocking at the after party. After I finished
rocking, I slammed the mic on the ground. The promoter was upset. At the end of the tour when I went to get paid there was money missing, and I found out it was because of the mic I broke. So that taught me to be easy, and slow down with the liquor. Funny though, because fans come up to me still to this day talking about that night. I lost a few
dollars but I gave the fans an ill memory.
Randy Mason: Who do you think is the most underrated emcee?
Termanology: That’s a tough word, because some people get a lot of props but don’t get mainstream props. Like Joell Ortiz for example, he gets a lot of love and props, so he isn’t underrated. Then, if you compare him to someone like Jay-Z you might say well Joel is underrated, he should be on T.V., on the radio all day. He is on the come up, I’m proud of him. I’ve known him for five years. Black Thought is underrated, been underrated for years. J-cole is on the come up. Easy Money from Boston. It is what it is. Underrated is cool, you are the underdog, they’re not going to see it coming when you finally pop off.
Randy Mason: Do you prefer the Indie route over the Major route?
Termanology: I think for personal sanity yes, independent is the better way to go. If you’re in it for the money, then you want to go major. You will have a big budget, be on TV, radio and more. It’s harder to get money when you’re indie, but when you’re on a
major, they tell you what to wear, what you can’t wear, what to say, what not to say, what your name is, etc… All this extra shit that I don’t have to deal with. I say this is the name of my album, this is the cover, this is when it’s coming out. I can put whoever I want on
my album. The majors are like the devil, but at the same time it can be a blessing. I’m happy to be indie but you never know what the future holds.
Randy Mason: How do you feel about your new album “1982”?
Termanology: I heard it leaked a few days early. It’s cool. My last album leaked 3 weeks early and hurt my sales a lot. This leaked a few days early so I’m not really mad at that. DJ Enuff played our single yesterday and today, Boston radio is going hard, Philly, a lot
of people are playing it. MTV Jams is playing the video. So we are getting a new type of success that we never got in the past. We always got props and love from our peers and the blogs, but it definitely seems to be that we are breaking into a new market with this album. It’s a great look, we moving, shout out to Statik.
Randy Mason: Do you have an ultimate goal as an artist?
Termanology: I don’t know, my goals change every year. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to get filthy rich from record sales. So I’m starting a few businesses, I’m auditioning for some roles. I’m trying new things. I have about ten mixtapes out
and a few albums. There is only so much you can say, I’ve already told my life story 100 different times. As inspired as I am to be an emcee, sometimes I want to do other things. We will see what the future holds. Hopefully I can continue making dope music and getting this money, so everybody can be happy.
