B-Real has Swagger

Here is part one of my interview with hip hop recording artist B-Real of Cypress Hill. There is plenty more where this came from, so come back for more.

How do you feel about the internet explosion where the blogs are the streets and the street soldiers are now the bloggers?

In this day, in this game right now you have to go those extra lengths that you normally wouldn’t go, you know what I mean? There’s so much more competition out there. There are so many rappers out, as apposed to 10 years ago when there was only a few, and even back then there was limited rotation. You kind of have to keep your name in the streets.

People were doing it through mixtapes at one point, and now, obviously, it’s via internet because there is more interaction with your fans and possible fans. I found it to be a way to stay connected with those fans, to keep your name up, and possibly win over some new fans. I started B-Real tv for that fact.

Cypress Hill hasn’t had a record on the market for maybe 3 and a half years now. I have a solo record coming out, but even before that I had to put mixtapes on the street so that the name doesn’t fade away. I think a lot of rappers, up and coming and vets are utilizing the internet to market themselves and keep their name out there.

Here is how you can keep up with B-Real online:

B-Real TV

B-Real on Twitter

B-Real on myspace

With B-Realtv and mixtapes, are you trying to find a balance of old and new, or are you completely changing over?

I think you have to do a little bit of both. You have to keep the traditional ways and values that come along with putting out a record, but at the same time you have to adapt to the new way that it’s going down. Otherwise you get left behind.

The old way of thinking is slowly but surely dying out. There will be things that will never die out, but you have to adapt because the game evolves and if you don’t evolve with you become a dinosaur, you get left behind and you can’t have that.

If you have a competitive nature and you want to be regarded as one of the best out, old or new, you have to keep yourself out there and stay relevant. The only way to do that is to evolve. You have to see what the new cats are doing and you have to see how much better you can be than they are, but fit in to what’s going on right now.

How will it change the way Duck Down, or you personally, push this album as apposed to the way you’ve done it before?

Duck down is an independent label and they were one of the first so they have a formula of how it should be done traditionally. But at the same time they have a lot of cats that have a lot of ideas and they go with the new way, the new order of things. It’s a great balance and I think they have it down tight.

I’ve always been the type of dude that was open to new ideas. I don’t just stay locked in to one particular formula because, like I sad, it gets stagnant and redundant. You gotta do new things to take your shit to another level. I think Duck Down, as a label, understand this. A lot of labels don’t understand this and they try to do the traditional way and they only have so much success behind that now.

The labels that have been able to impliment the new way of thinking, and the other things that you can do to push a record they have been moderately successful. Duck Down has withstood the test of time, so they definitely understand what’s going on. They had to evolve with the way the game changed as well.

That's enough for today. Make sure you come back next time when B-Real gives advice to up and coming artists on how to get in the game, some solid words for aspiring spanish MCs, and some good old weed talk.

Have Fun.

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