I have been working day and night, for this blog. Its my first piece, and I am honored to be doing it. It's on the artist of the IE. What is the IE you ask? It's about 60 miles out of Los Angeles , CA. Though the IE may not be something you heard of, or ever been to I bet you will love whats coming out of it. I bet you already do, not even knowing the man blasting in your head phones, is straight out the IE. Maybe your apart of the JERK movement, one of the movements biggest artist Audio Push are from the IE, but instead of me trying to explain it I will let the artist in which Iinterviewed better explain it.Sondria Bailey 
The first person I interviewed is a short story writer by the name of Sondria Bailey, or Sondriawrites, which is the alias she uses for social networks such as twitter, and for her blog:
www.sondriawrites.com. To read some of her shorts stories check out her blog every 1st of the month, under the title "1st of the Month Fresh Fiction: Better Than a County Check". So seeing how this blog is about dreams the first thing I asked Mrs. Bailey was What is your dream, she answered in a way that she would describe as cosmic. She said, "To bring the world together, like water" now I was like “huh, water?” she said, "yeah, you know, water connects every living thing. How different can we be if we all need water?" See most dream of money, cars, clothes, she dreams of a better place cant knock her for that. So I am going to let you guys in on a little secret Sondria is one of my greatest inspirations, she is goal driven , and absolutely amazing in all that she does her having such a big impact on my life made me to ask her who has a great impact on hers she told me "Toni Morrison, she has book called Paradise. It’s about a community of blacks that separate themselves from society. She inspires me because of the way she portrays the black woman in her novels. She always makes them powerfully magical." Now me being a being a black woman that alone gives me even more inspiration, there she goes again inspiring me without trying. Now Sondria has a short story called "The Results" which you can find on her blog. I enjoyed it very much and I had to know when her next story was coming out she told me "My next story is called "Maternal Instinct" out on the Oct-1-2009 for "First of the month fresh fiction, better than a county check." I bet you thought I made that up huh yeah I am not that clever oh back to what she was saying "It's demystifying maternity, the main character never wanted to be a parent and now she is, but she doesn't have the instinct that mothers are allegedly suppose to have."hmmmmmmmm sounds like a really good plot I am excited the 1st actually can’t come fast enough, but by time this is published I’m sure it will here wooohooo , that means you better go read it i am not kidding guys go read it. All that mom talk made me wonder where will she be in five years, and guess what she said "I will be 30, and I see myself happy,writing, a much better writer than I am today I expect to have a novel under my belt or a couple of collections of short stories." There wasn't anything about kids in there but maybe that is what happiness means I guess we will find out in 5 years huh. Sondria is one few who has had the privilege of living on both the East and West Coast, but I wonder which one she actually considers home and I wondered what does the IE mean to her, and she told me "The IE to me is the industry exception. I am down with the community. It wasn't like that when I left. I love LA, NY, the valley. I just don't feel home unless i am in the IE.i know everything about it the streets everything. Right now the IE is inspiring to me, because of people like the Hii hatts, Noa James, Ricky from BBi Clothing." Pretty cool huh, I guess the IE is pretty dope, wait I knew that already. She named off some people up there I wonder if there going anywhere, I Hope so, wait I know so and so does she. She told me" I think they have made it, I think anyone who has dreams and takes the steps to make them happen put themselves out there, they have arrived they don't need to be a part of major industry. And theyaren ’t underground, they ARE the ground. Cultivating life and lifting it straight up through the roots.” Straight up! I must agree they are doing the damn thing. You will learn I tend ask different questions, and one of those different questions is what 3 words best describe you? Sondria then replied to me in her most playful tone "Scorpio,writing,student" So what I took from that is she is a freak nasty that loves to write, and always willing to learn something new, no wonder why she loved by so many she is DOPE. Off all that serious iishh , I want to know how writers have fun you know you watch movies and there sitting in a coffee house listening to some crazy shit so asked Sondria like yo what do you do for fun? She said "I love to read and write, smoke the pot, and hang out. I love being around people, observing, I’m a huge people watcher." So that puts that stereotype to rest, I guess rappers aren't the only ones who like hitting CLOUD 9hehehehehe :). The next thing I asked her kinda had her stuck because she couldn't even find the words to answer it. I was like complete sentence. Writing equals and she said "a lot, writing = nothing there is no equivalent to writing its EVERYTHING." I just got quiet and realized she is really fulfilling her dream, she is writing, I love the passion in which she said those word to me for that second I felt how she felt, got her 100% and completely. So I hit her with one more even though I was still in a dazed by the answer in which she has given I asked her what is something you want the world to know she replied without second thought "LITERATURE IS NOT DEAD" and what that being said I knew she was right because she is one of the biggest things keeping it alive.
or follow her on twitter @Sondriawrites
Curtiss King
The second person I had the chance interview he is a Mc/Producer by the name of Curtiss King, and a king is exactly what is he is. He is Originally from Carson,CA Curtiss King 24 years old has a dream, and this is what he told me it was "My main dream with regards to my music is I wanna be heard out on grand scale. I want people that don't even know the language to feel the universal emotion I put into my music. On a personal level I want my music to give me the opportunity to support my family financially."He is man who wants to take care of his family, I think we need more of him out there, and sure many of you would agree. So before I got into my interview with him I found out he was inspired by hip hop in general, he gave names like Outkast, Busta Ryhmes A Tribe called quest,but I wanted to know what lyrics, actually motivated him to do music, he responded with "My favorite verse of all time is the 4th verse of the song "Elevators" by Outkast's Andre 3000. The verse basically showed me the amount of freedom and real talk Hip Hop allowed you to put out. In the verse he's basically talking about how he comes across a lot of people who feel he's made it,when it reality he still has bills to pay." Then he spit the verse to me:
"True I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me
to the end of the week, I live by the beat like you live check to check
If you don't move yo' foot then I don't eat, so we like neck to neck"
Even though he was just spiting it me, he said with so much emotion, it could have moved a crowd. His favorite artist is one of the greatest of all
times in my opinion, who is the great I am talking about? Me, but of course, Only joking it is 1/2 of the award winning rap group Outkast, a man by
the name of Andre 3000. So I asked Curtiss what would he say to him if he had the chance, and his answer wasn't what I thought it would be he replied "Thank you. Hands down I would tell that man thank you for just doing the music that he did in the way in which he did it. The freedom in his music is why I'm not afraid to go crazy in mine." I don't know if I would call his music crazy but I will call it GREAT, in every aspect of the word, I
recently been listening to "The Storm on Mars" it's freaking DOPE, I had to ask him when his next album "Raging Waters" was going to be released
because if its half as great as "The Storm on Mars" then I would die with art in my ears so he let me know "I'm looking to release Raging Waters at the beginning of 2010. However I'm currently working on a mixtape entitled "Snick At Night". Basically I'm going to sample all the 90s Nickelodeon TV themes I can get my hands on and put a new spin on them. That should be out in a few months." I am overly excited for that. Mostly because I can actually hear his voice when he gets off on a track its not on that T-Pain type shit, I wondered how he felt about the hype of Auto-Tune, and his outlooks on the Music Industry he didn't answer how most artist would, he said "I LOVE the way the industry is nowadays. The power is back in the hands of the artists. Thanks to websites such as Twitter, Myspace, Wordpress, and Blogspot us as independent artist now have the ability to be heard on such a major scale that we can now broker our own distribution deals with these major labels. In terms of the style of music being put out, I love that to, even when people say its not quality music, because them saying that in turn forces them to seek out music that is quality. Case and point, the music of the "Blog-Hop" genre. What is this Blog-Hop he talks of well:
"Blog Hop is both a new genre of music as well as the new term I'm pushing for Independently
created and distributed music. Blog-Hop as a culture involves any and every aspect of how music
is moved nowadays, whether that's via Blogspot, Wordpress, Myspace, Twitter, etc. It's how you can
find the latest Cool Kids feature or Drake freestyle via Z-Share and Media fire links. Its basically an
up to date approach to the music we all love in this digital age."
There we have it, but even though he is doing his own thing I figured there had to be a label he wanted to be signed to, me being one to assume
I figured he would throw out things like "Young Money" or "ROC Nation", but once again I was wrong he told me "Well my motto is if I can't do ME creatively I'm better off doing it independent. However if I was approached by say a Lizard King Records (Home of Santigold), Purple Ribbon Label (Outkast Record Label),and or oddly enough Top Dawg Ent. (Home of Jay Rock, K-Dot, Ab-Soul) I would seriously be down." He never stops amazing me. Being a California girl to the bone I have has the pleasure to witness this "Jerk Movement." Well one of the movements great artist is a two man group by the name of "Audio Push" hailing from the IE though they are well in doubt more talented then just jerking, there hit song "Teach me how to Jerk" has mos def put them on the map, so I asked Curtiss if he felt they were gonna be just one hit kind of group he responded "I know you're not going to hear a lot of mid twenty Hip Hop heads say this but I am excited to see the youthful energy Audio Push is putting out there. Not to mention that aside from the mainstream tracks they can spit their asses off. And personally I don't hate on any artist that's out there making people dance and feel good about life. You saw how many people we loss this summer. We all got hit by that recession. So hell yeah, some of these kids need to jerk to get their aggression out. I rather them do it that way then out there robbing
somebody or getting into negative energy." Very well said I must say. So I wanted to get risky, So asked him how he felt about Drake,is he the next bigthingor not? This time his response honestly made my jaw drop his response was "I feel that Drake is a great artist in terms of putting words together. But in terms of making music that I can listen to with my heart, aside from the relationship tracks, I still need to hear more. Especially not enough to crown him top anything in Hip Hop right now. I think that the people might be so eager sometimes for quality music that they give the first artist that can put 4 coherent bars together the label of genius or next legend. But in the IE alone I've seen more." Wow! I know his honesty it what makes him even greater. He makes a shout out to IE at the end of that statement, I think he feels pretty strongly about it, but thinking isn't allowed I wanted to know how he feels about this place he now resides. Is Carson Or the IE home? he said "Well Carson raised me. I learned a great chunk of my life lessons moving in between Carson and Downey . For that I will forever be thankful and they will forever be my first home. However I've been out here in the IE for about 6 months, and already its starting to feel like a better home for my music and family. Carson and just LA in general is completely over saturated with rappers and producers. Not to mention that the audiences out there just aren't excited anymore by the things their artists do. The energy in the IE however rivals that of the early 90s where the only thing you had to be was dope and original. Being out here with this energy and love has made me a better artist and individual, so without a doubt this is looking a lot like home." Home Sweet Home, I guess home is really where ever make it. So right now " The Storm On Mars is playing LOUD in my ears, and I realized I totally forgot to mention how he came up with the name its actually a funny story see there was a man and a taco bell, wait that's not how it happened how about I let him tell it. "Well I was having a random conversation with my best friend about trying to find happiness when you're in the midst of a painful time. And everyone's heard the phrase "I'm coming out of a storm" or "I'm in a storm". Well as we discussed this concept a vision of a Storm On....what I always considered to be a dope planet visually...Mars came to mind. When I got the vision I remember repeating it to him and the first thing he said was "You gotta make that an album title" and 2 years later here we are." Pretty random, huh greatness tends to be. He doesn't describe himself as great believe me I asked him, but in order to keep it interesting I asked him to do it in three words,and he responded "Humble, Intelligent, Hard-Working" now I know that is no where near enough, but hey I like to make them struggle sometimes. So I am seriously crushing on this guy like groupie status,so I hoped maybe I had the same effect on him that he had on me. So I asked where do you see yourself in the future hoping his answer would be, with you Duh Shanti, yeah I was wrong he told me "In the immediate future I see myself making a good living off of my production so that I can further support my craft on the emcee side of things. I honestly feel that my production will be my foot in the door, and when that happens having my music distributed by a major label would be the next step." Yeah I know I was way off, but his future still looks pretty bright to me. Man he is driven isn't he just wants success, but what is success to everyone its something different so I asked him to define success in his eyes want to know what he told me he said "The ability to out due your past...over and over again." It seems he wants just wants to achieve success over and over again I wonder if he will ever be satisfied, most likely not he will most likely be creating on his death bed, some things never die, and his talent is one of them.You know we all have our muses you know the thing whispers in your ear to keep you going, well what he told me was answer I have never heard in my life it was "I honestly get off on seeing artists and producers that are better than me. I've never been one to be jealous of another man's God given gift. I rather learn from that man or woman. I enjoy being under the tutelage of anyone who is dope. And even when some of these individuals are doper than me and don't want to offer assistance, it still motivates me to step my game up." Well since he is so motivated I wanted to know what impact does he plan to have on today's music industry and of course he answer for that it was "I want my music to be a fresh perspective on what it means to be a Hip Hop artist. We don't all have criminal records, were not too cool to clap louder and yell louder for our fellow artists. I want to be able to show musically that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or it's cheesy ass font, it may have words that can save your life or make your day."Hmmmmm he already makes my day. Sorry sorry back on topic, well he is the future of Hip Hop in my eyes, but then who has the crown now, I wonder. Lately the News has been buzzing with talk of the VMA's how Kanye West doesn't deserve anything, blah blah blah blah blah, well I wanted to know who he though didn't deserve credit in today industry he told me flat out "I don't really feel that it's my place to say. I think everyone at some point had to grind at something or with someone consistently to get where they are at. So to each his/her own." Great answer I know right, well after all that I still needed to KNOW ONE MORE THING. It was what he wanted the world to know about him Curtiss King it flowed out like freestyle in the late 80's "I come in peace I mean no harm, but I do want to make you think." He has me thinking, what about you? Then he give shout outs to other great IE artist like Noa James, Ramone Jones, Stevie Crooks, Faim Kills, Neighburhood Watch" So watch out Hip Hop here comes Curtiss King....
and follow him on twitter @Curtissking
Ricky Montano (Bbi Clothing)
Next in line is a clothing designer by the name of Ricky Montano. He is one of the creators of Barely Broke Intellects(BBi), and boy does this man
know what he is doing. If I was a guy i would actually be dead broke, because Barely Broke Intellects would mos def be taking my Doe like bam! He
knew what he wanted from jump, this was a man with fashion on his mind since the age of 12. I was like Ricky What's your dream and he replied
"To be a successful fashion designer and have a successful line" now anybody who knows him will say that he is well on his way there. He
comes from humble roots, I know this because when I asked him what inspired him to do this he told me "Basically my family my mom was she was a seamstress all the women on my moms side made money by doing this, I grew up around it my whole life." Yes his mother, a lot of men say there fathers or a male figured inspired them to do something, but this kind hearted guy said his mom, it kind of makes my heart melt. Even though he was inspired by women his line isn't for them but he told me this " It's males for now, I want to get in to woman's clothing but I wanna focus on one thing then venture off later on." So don't be sad ladies he will have something for us one of these days, and I am sure we will love it. Ricky is a IE is local so I needed to know what the IE meant to him, I wonder? He told me "honestly maybe a couple years ago it was something i wanted to get away from there was really nothing out here there wasn't a lot of people supporting each it was just scattered right now its amazing I wouldn't even wanna move to LA anymore its so unified everyone is starting to support each other. its so much love, its DOPE." Are you guys sensing a trend with IE artist, yeah me too. So what's the fuel, that keeps Ricky's fire burning, he told me "The passion for fashion, and other clothing lines inspire me too." A passion for fashion, what can I say a man with an eye, and he's straight, the world is a better place. Seeing how he is inspired by other lines, I figured he must be into other lines, so I told him Ricky whats your favorite clothing line, I was expecting to hear something Prada,Gucci,LV you know that popular shit, but give a line that never heard of before but I quickly schooled my self with the help of Google. He told me it was "Rock Smith a brand that started in Tokyo, and is New York based right now. He I love the pastel look, and that's what they are about, The color Schemes are amazing I love it." It's nice I must admit. He sure knows a lot about fashion.But I wanted to know how long BBi Clothing has been around he told me "In January 2008 is when the line actually came out, but the concept and came around in 2006. I was sitting in class one day and realize this not what I want to do I gave up school to do this, to design fashion." So he also let me know that he got his Associates Degree, but decided not to go on, but he was accepted in Cal-State. So Barely Broke Intellects is a pretty DOPE name for a brand. I wanted to know how he came up with it and story began like this "Originally it was just Barely Broke, but I had a child hood friend in who had a clothing line called Intellects I was always supporting him, I had always thought about having my own brand, when I graduated I came up with a name Barely Broke, I got it from song from the early 90s I copyrighted it me, and my boy Darron were doing it then I started talking to my boy from Intellects and then we collaborated .. Which gave us our line. We are barely broke but rich in intellect." Here comes my most famous question I made him describe himself in 3 words and he said "ambitious,loyal,passionate" I know right just smile! So I heard from abirdy that he was making all his stuff himself, and I didn't believe it so I asked, and he said "Last season we had collaborated with another artist, but everything else has been done by us." He's good with his hands,hmmmmm just keeps amazing me. Now I though Ricky was doing it by his self but that US kinda stuck out to me so I asked Who was all Incorporated with this line? He then told me "Demontre Norwood,Darron Ayres is a lot of inspiration of the brand but he is right now not contributing to line he has a calling with ministry. But he has been there from the beginning, and I can't hate on him bettering his life so I still consider him apart of the line." He then finish it off with this "Basically i just want everyone to know that we are doing clothing for the love it's make take to millions, its good quality clothing for a good price I just wanna have a successful line if i become rich i do, if I don't I don't I am living up to line barely broke but rich in intellect. Always for anybody." He isn't out chasing the dream of money, he is chasing the dream of greatness in my opinion. He just wants the world to witness his line, and he wants everyone to wear it, not just rich people, or just urban its made for anybody. I see nothing but greatness in the future for this man, so make sure you support it help his dreams come true.
Check out http://barelybrokeintellects.blogspot.com/
Follow him on twitter @BBi_Clothing
DJ CORNBREEZE
Next up Fiki Fiki Fiki DJ Cornbreeze on the 1 & 2s, and boy do his fans love it. He is a man ladies, a real man, and he doesn't get mad when you fuck up, not once, but twice I know from personal experience. I had the chance to interview him, and The first thing I had know was "What is your dream?" he said "I just wanna leave the world knowing that I repped my city as hard as I could,and be the only DJ without turntables to do it!" I hope that his dreams come true, so far he is doing a damn good job to get there. The next I asked DJ Cornbreeze was "What are your goals and what inspired you" he replied "Well I want to start a hip-hop after school program for lil kids called Hip Hop need a hug,it will be designed to teach the kids the true principles of hip hop culture.I wanna give them a "hands on experience" being able to touch the turntables and picking up a mic and using a spray can and use spinning on their backs as a form of dance. I wanna incorporate realbboys/bgirls,mc's,dj's and graff writers.Teach the kids something other than 50 cent and jerkin." DJ Cornbreeze born Brandon Walker resides in the IE, and I wanted know "What does the I mean to you?" he then told me with a ethusasic approach "OMG,the IE means everything to me It is my town I love it, and it loves me. For a while it seemed like the IE was missing something, a movement, a purpose, a few guys had good intentions, but me still being in HS,I couldn't do much about it so I linked up with a cat namedDj ADSEG, and another cat named Noa James and from there it was history" I needed to know what kind of music he spins he told me " I spin all kinds of music first and foremost,I respectfully do not play electro nothing against the people who do but everyone has they're something and mine is NOT electro.but I am very much so rooted in Hip-Hop it was my first love and it will be my last" Since electro as he puts it wasn't his thing, I wonder what is his favorite thing to spin? so asked ,and he replied "My fave fave thing to spin is beats I play everything from Hudson Mohawke to Samiyam to
Flying Lotus right down to Captain back up to Mike Slott and back down to Afta1 these guys make music for the future currently I'm listening to J Dilla" So I didn't know who any of those people were, and he told me the interview was over, and I was so sad like this :(, but he was just kidding :), and so I asked him to describe himself in the 3 words he said "Spontaneous, Gentleman, Progressive" and since he is all about progress I was like "What projects do you have coming out" he said "Well right now I'm compiling tracks for 3mixtapes. "She <3's class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1254785250_1">
Cream of the Crop" mixtape all of which feature IE artists Oh and I am also working on a soul project with Jynxx called The Black Brown Soul Revue" I told him I like SHE loves her Cornbread makes me :) he told me " well that is the sole purpose of the mixtape to make the ladies forget about it all and smile!" AWwwww that's sweet huh...Ok so I then asked him "Where do you see yourself in years?"he said " In 5 years I see myself alive and well,doing what I love and getting paid for it! but hey who knows,the future is unforeseen" I then wanted to know what his definition of success was, and he told me "My definition of success is doing what you love,and having the respect of your peers for being the best at your craft." So last but not least I asked "What is something you want the world to know?" "I want the world to know that 909 is the area code,a lot of cats try to front actin like they don't know,and even tho we may be on the other side of the planet,we be making that hot shit,haters can't stand it!" Well I love it, 909 is the shit great things are brewing in that place, and I am happy to be here to see it make sure you check out DJ CornBreeze's blog
cornycollinshow.blogspot.com.
Follow Him on twitter @DJcornbreeze
Marie Lou Camit
Next up we have the amazing styling, of stylist Marie Lou Camit. At 25 she is doing the damn thing. I asked her to tell me what
her dream was she said"To be where the fashion is. My own line, styling/hair make-up agency. Pretty dope I am waiting on that maybe I can
a discount. Only kidding, kind of. I asked her what drove her to be a stylist she replied "I wanted to start getting my feet wet in fashion. While I was
in school I decided I wanted to start styling. I've been complimented on my style many times. I also feel I have a great insight into people's personalities and have a good eye for individual style." She knows how to read peopleohhhh cool right, I do think so myself. So asked her what's her feelings about the IE? She replied"The IE breeds great talent. I think soon every talent will shine. Were positioning ourselves for when we all meet right opportunities. And when that happens, were shutting it down." Yes, yes they are I love how hard the IE reps the IE! So I wanted to know if she would style me, but I beat around the bush I asked her "What kind of people do you represent?" I can't say represent a certain crowd of people. I'm pro-individuality. Whoever is gravitated towards myself (and those I surround myself with) are also encouraged to be themselves!" so maybe she will. I asked her todescribe herself in three words and she said "Wordly. Compassionate. Funny!" I don't think it was enough she forgot things like beautiful, talented, and loved by many. I see a bright future ahead of her she is ambitious, and goal driven. I asked Marie "Where do you see your self in 5 years?" she replied "In five years I want to have launched my clothing line/store.I also plan to have property in my homeland, Philippines,for my parents to go vacation at!!!!" I love the Philippines it's a beautiful place. I most def had to ask her what is her style and she told me"I like this question because I don't know how to answer it. Ill say this: my life has been influenced by revolutionary music, punk music, rock music, and hip hop music. My soul has been influenced by worldly factors like culture, spirituality, and travel. And I feel like I incorporate all that in my style. U would have to see me, know me, and u can see how that all fits together lol .." I guess I will make a point to make that happen, to me it already fits! So I love the way some of these celebs dress I wanted to know who Marie thought was the biggest fashion icon out right now she told me "At the moment, Rachel Zoe is pretty popular. Her eye for fashion is impeccable. She can dress anyone and she has a fabulous collection.Personally, my all-time favorite is John Galliano. An artist and true lover of his craft. His work takes me to a whimsical world; sometimes its a fairy tale or it can be debauchery. I love it." Whimsical wow this girl really knows how to get her point across. So I asked her what she does for fun? She said "I like watching movies, playing dominoes, hanging with my girls and do girly things, go on random adventures especially.." Random adventures we all know about those, when your doing something you never thought you would, kind of like your in a dream. So I finished up the interview with her closing statement and she
told me she wanted the world to know "This universe is infinite; nothing is impossible. Be open to discover more of the world you live in and more about yourself." With each person I interview I become more inspired. Marie is something great, ladies feeling a little down about your wardrobe call Marie Lou Camit.
Check out her myspace http://www.myspace.com/waverly_lou
Follow her on twitter @WaverlyLou
Jelani Fr3sh
Who's that guy ? Jelani Fresh is his name and photography is his talent. I didn't get a chance to get to really know Jelani Fresh, but I did learn this I asked him what his dream was and he said "Gees…This is kind of a broad question…but basically I would have to say…just to be successful at whatever I put my heart into...& for those who are around me to be successful as well…& to live the most peaceful life as humanly possible. Besides that, to travel the world in luxury." I can see that him on a jet, just living it up. So I wanted to know what inspired him and he said "I’ve been a creative person all my life (God Bless), drawing, making clothes, etc...So I would take pictures of whatever I made or would be wearing. I didn’t really started focusing on photography until after my best friend was killed. I purchased a Canon EOS 40D and I told myself I was going to take pictures often as possible of friends because you never know what this life has in stored for you…now almost 2 years later..Here I am..." 2 years later, and here he is, wow
I am sure he will be around for many more years to come. This next question I asked I was figuring hmmm a young guy he's going to be like I want to photograph naked chicks, and swim suit adds, but boy was I was wrong. I asked "If you could photograph anyone or anything what would it be?"
he said "First my best friend, Charles “Cj Stylez” Marshall, because the quality of my images have changed so much from just that basic ‘point & shoot’ camera I use to have & great minds think alike so that would be dope...Next would be some influential people to me...like Pharrell…I know those images would come out amazing…& Timbaland...i’ve been following these guys careers since I was in middle school…so it’s not a game...lol."
Art never is game. So where does he see his self in 5 years I bet some place crazy like Africa, maybe not he said "Successful & definitely ballin’, becoming international with what I’m doing…having a stupid network & rapport with all types of people & maybe even married." Married huh hmmm well ladies he describes himself as "Creative, Unique & Lovable" so hey maybe you will be his partner in jet setting crime. Even though he seems to have it all together sometimes things are that easy, I ask him "What is your biggest accomplishment?" He responded "I would have to say overcoming my best friend’s death..." As Jelani would say "Fresh in Peace".
So him being from the IE it was a MUST that I ask him "What does the IE mean to you?" he says "I mean…I’m from San Bernardino...a dying city...I had a fun childhood, which is a blessing...alot of people out here get caught up in the wrong things...it’s so easy to. You gotta separate yourself from the b/s as much as you can and focus on your goals. But again...it ain’t where ya from...its where ya at & Im tryna take it to the top.." No doubt he is going to make it. He ends it with this "Fr3sh in Peace Cj Stylez, Shouts out to my Team Fr3sh mi familia…& my Surf Club homeas...God Bless..."
What else I can say......
or
Follow him on twitter @JelaniFresh
Some say save the best for last, but I cant say that Noa James is the best but he is one of the GREATEST! We went through a lot of just missing each other, and phones dying to get this interview, so I jumped right in with "What is your dream?" He said "My dreams is to forget about my past, forget the pain my mom & my pops put me through and forget about the things that I did in the past because I know karma still hasn't caught up to me yet. That is my ultimate dream; my dreams don't have to deal with the music, I have a real good feeling I'm going to make it, I have been signed before, my dreams are about music but, they are more about something more personal." Already coming off with a different answer then most I knew this interview was going to be an inspirational one. What inspires Noa James? "I do, I inspire everyone." Just kidding he says "My grandfather and I can say blues music got me into music just listening to my grandfather hummmm, like B.B. King. Biggie was coming out when I started rapping; I had no confidence, but when I seen he was a big dude I got so cocky my confidence shot threw the roof, I talked to any girl I wanted. I stared listening to Big L, Big Pun, Rakim, Common, and a lot of soul like Jill Scott, Maxwell, Angie Stone. My inspiration came from a lot places at certain points in my life, now my motivation is IE. IE as a whole, we have gone through a lot of struggles." Another artist for the IE, I wonder what the IE means to him. He told me "The IE reminds me of NY because of the different flavors of MCs, clothing brands & different scenes. It wasn't like this a couple years back, it took a lot of patience go get it how it is now. I love the unity of the IE, and the people in general when we have a show out here they go crazy. When U-N-I or Pac Div perform in LA the crowd in LA looks like they're tired they have no energy, even though they're hype and giving out mad energy. When we have shows in the IE people go crazy, they know your lyrics, like your cousin Sondria knew lyrics, punch lines I had to give her a shout out, like when people know your lyrics its crazy." He's been flowing since the age of 12, and he describes himself as "The Intelligent, Elegant, Elephant" Lol..sorry it made me laugh, but that's not when the laughs ended I asked him "Where do you see yourself in the future?" he told me "Preforming for another black president but hes gonna be fat, and I am gonna open up, I am gonna do a show for him, and that's where i see my self in the future hes gonna be the 3rd black president, i am gonna be that big that i am gonna preform for him, and i wanna be in a twilight movie as a wolf i wanna be in the underworld as a lyken, and I wanna be featured character in the boondocks, and Aqua-teen hunger force and the 1st Calvin Kline underwear model big boy edition." Okay take a breather, and we are back. I wanted to know what Noa James
does "FOR FUN" he told me " I play XBOX 360, if a Will Ferrel movie comes out I go see that. I go to Phatz house and chill. Performing is fun for me (he makes expressions I don't know how to write) wanna know how I know it's fun? because I still get nervous. I like band practice, when we are freestyling about DooDoo Mamaz, and DooDoo daddies, my boy M16 & Brotha Crust are the founders
of DooDoo daddy Academy. Going to Dennys and Chillin there is never a dull moments with the cats I hang out with even the associates that I deal with we all try to have some kind of fun." Now I know he mentions his boys in there, but he does have a girlfriend, and I wanted to know how he felt
about her and he said "My girl has been with me through everything. My knee surgery, and I couldn't walk for months, and when I found out I had diabetes she made sure I took my medicine and took care of me. I took her home to my grandmother, which is big because my grandmother told me if I bring a girl to her that isn't the one she would stab her, but she quickly accepted her. The reason I think we love each other so much is because we been together for 4 years, we matured with each other. Sometimes I cant describe it. She knows I love her with all my heart. When girls talk to me she doesn't get jealous, she knows I will handle it. She loves what I do. Even when all my money was going to studio time, she stuck by me through it, and now my studio time is free, my mixing and mastering is free." Awwwww I want one lol. But really he is a sweet guy, but he wasnt always that way,
he has gone through a lot to get where he is now, life is a struggle and its up to you if you make, and he is thee example of making it. Music is around us everywhere which is why I understand why Noa James completed the sentence "Music equals" with this one word "LIFE." I agree with him 100%.
I wanted to know "What he was listening to in his head phones" he replied "Slaughter House ummmm like a lot of IE artist a few Drake songs like "Fear" "Forever." He didn't really name a "Main Stream" artist so I asked him how does he feel about the music industry and this he said in 3 simple words
" Love and Hate" I decided to finish this interview different, the way he described the love for his girl I had to ask her for this last question " What is something you want the world to know about Noa James" she then replied "Lets see, well he already puts stuff out there, people already know everything about him, he really is stubborn and hard headed when you tell him something; when it comes to his medicine he can say hes gonna take it but he doesn't. He lets everyone knows whats up Noa James isn't a character its him. If you think hes funny he isn't acting like Noa James he's being him." So what you see is what you get when it comes down to Noa James. In the brief conversation in which I had the honor of having with him I learned so much. In my eyes if Noa James doesn't make it in music which I doubt that would ever happen, but just in case he can always just talk for a living, because every emotion he felt so did I, and if I could I would talk to him everyday, in hopes of becoming as great as him.
Follow Him on Twitter @Noajames
Well this ends my Blog on the IE, Until Another Day...Love, Live Life.
Dont forget to check out http://bricktoyaface.com/
To get updates on the artist, and much more!
il to the studio Joe Moses is pursing his dreams of being rapper. With catchy tunes and sex appeal the ladies are going crazy and the fellas are giving respect. Joe Moses is a hard man to catch up with. Between doing shows, and recording in the studio I am suprised he had the chance to get back to me. I asked him with the up most respect do you mind if I could get a interview with you, without second thought he give me a yes
e me realize I had talent" Wow it's crazy how hardships can spark a persons talent. Joe Moses dreams of being GREAT! With his AOB (ALL OUT BALLIN) squad by his side I am guessing he just might be. For Joe Moses music is a WAY OF LIFE, this isn't a game it's what he breaths. I asked him what he did for a living he told me "Music is his job" which is absolutely amazing. I wanted to know what was playing in his car right now, he told me "Rick Ross B
igger Than Rap" dope shit. I asked what his favorite track was on the album he told me it was " Bosses Girl" hmmmm sick track. In 5 years Joe Moses told me " I see my son leading, and being one of the best rappers on this side period." Got to love the mans ambition, well this is it. I hope Joe Moses does great things, check out his Myspace music page asap, I think you will like what you hear. It may be his catchy punchlines, or his real life experiences he has something that all can relate to don't sleep on this up and coming artist because he might wake you up with something from out of this world.
