Monday, September 22, 2008

Q & A With Tonedeff

If your vocab is as minuscule as mine, here are some definitions to help you out as you read this post.

Poignant (poi-gnant): being to the point. Function: adjective

Catharsis (ca-thar-sis): a release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit. Function: noun

With having that helpful tool which some of you may need, I feel confident starting the interview portion of this post.




















I read somewhere that you can spit 13.5 syllables per second.
Were you born with this gift?
iCON the Mic King told me that it was weird that I didn't speak spanish (although being Cuban/Colombian), because how easily words seemed to roll off my tongue. I dunno, I guess it just kinda comes naturally to me. Hopefully, it sticks around, so that I can do cool "Grandpa" tricks at my future retirement home.

The track you did with KRS-One "Clear 'Em Out" is rumored to be directed at Nelly. Anything you want to add to this assumption?
I think that assumption was pretty much answered in full the day it came out - hence the huge amount of media coverage and the record war that song started. (For those of you who missed it - google it).

I didn't realize we were making a diss record at the time, and I'm not 100% sure KRS did either...but had I know, I actually woulda wrote something far more poignant to the situation.

What has working with CunninLynguists done for your career and vise versa?
Well, they're my favorite rap group to begin with, and I believe both of them (Deacon & Kno) are incredibly talented musicians. We're all on the same QN5 team, so we help eachother out however we can - whether it's shopping beats, setting up tours, designing covers, trading verses, etc.

Granted, they have 4 amazing albums and 2 mixtapes out, and they have a much larger fanbase than I do...so it's definitely a blessing to be able to appear with them on songs and tag along with them on the road. Those dudes are like family to me.

What's your take on skit songs and what do you think it adds/subtracts to or from the cd as a whole?

I think when Skits work...they work. And when they don't - it's instant skip material. Muffuckas been doing skits since De La Soul is dead...and like anything in Hip Hop, it got kinda outta hand for a while. But I think it's settled into the Hip Hop landscape enough that people kind of expect them to see other sides of their favorite artists besides what's being presented on the songs.

Like, I didn't have any skits on Archetype, cause I didn't believe they fit on the record, but Extended Famm's "Happy Fuck You Songs" had a bunch...and I STILL crack up from the skits on that record. Good comedy is as timeless as good music, so if you can find the balance...you're good to go and I don't see a problem with it.

You passed up on some deals with a handful of major record companies to pursue a college degree. How did you come to that decision?
Basically, I was 16/17 years old and I could already feel the machine trying to change me. Not to mention, I was supposed to be working with an ex-manager who I didn't see eye to eye with regarding my career. They basically wanted to turn me into The Fresh Prince Part 2 and have other people produce my music. I only make music because I get to MAKE the music I rhyme over - so this was pretty much the deal killer for me.

Industry people have never known what to do with me, cause I'm Latino and rap in English and I don't really make music that people in Junior High get into. Since I was able to realize this early on, I pretty much could give a fuck about what anyone expects from me or wants me to do. I'm a musician first and foremost and I go wherever the Muse takes me. So, at the end of the day, I figured a college degree in design would suit my future better than gambling it on rap. I'm glad I did too...cause there's about 50 people that can live off rap alone in the states...and I'm certainly not one of em.

In your opinion who do you think are the top 5 producers of all time?

Well, 'Producer' for me isn't just someone who "makes beats". Also, I try to take in all the music I can, from all different genres. I generally respect folks who can flip musical styles and develop the sound of multiple artists differently, so that the artist's record is the best recorded version of that particular artist possible.

So, with that said, all time, all genres, no order - Sir George Martin, Dr. Dre, Jon Brion, Quincy Jones, Rick Rubin...with an honorable mention to Timbaland. 6th Man!

At the age of 16 you were on the Arsenio Hall show and ended up winning the grand prize of the shows national talent search. Can you describe this experience?
I go into the whole thing in depth on the song "morethanthis" from Underscore. Without paraphrasing it too much...I think the most valuable thing that I gained from that whole experience was seeing how the people around me reacted to a little exposure. People really lose their fucking minds and weird shit happens. I really don't like what fame does to people - even at that limited scale. I didn't change at all though...so that's definitely good piece of mind for me.

Can you explain your verse on the CunninLynguists track "Love 'Aint"? Were you going through any particular heartbreak at the time or was this verse based purely on past experiences?
That verse definitely came out of a rough patch in a relationship. Those are very REAL words and experiences in there. I think the verse is pretty self-explanatory as a whole, but do know that I wrote it as catharsis.

Also on CunninLynguists track "The Gates" you talk about interracial relationships and racism. How have these things affected you?
Well, "The Gates" is a fictitional story about a fictitional character who has a conversation with St. Peter at the gates of heaven. Interracial relationships in his story were a complicated thing that this character manifested his uncertainty and lack of strength of in very evil ways.

As a Latino, I've definitely had my share of fucked up experiences dealing with ignorant folks who can't tolerate seeing me with a white woman, etc. It's just the world we live in today. It sucks...but I live NYC, so those attitudes aren't as prevalent as they might be in other parts of the world.

Check
out Tonedeff on his myspace and his QN5 blog!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tonedeff interviews are always good.

Anonymous said...

Really interesting interview! not the same old ass questions always asked!

thanks for the interview

Phat Lever said...

Thanks a lot man. Glad you enjoyed!