H-Twenty // Q&A
by "The Wanderer"
1) H-twenty, thanks for taking time out of your day to do this. I know
things are crazy for you right now, How is everything overall though
man?
Everything is kool, God is good. "Life of a Superstar" is getting
good reception, the fan base is growing daily, I have a lot to be
thankful for.
2) Good to hear. So I will be very direct in saying that I hear and
listen to a lot of music everyday searching for a story and some days
my search goes unfulfilled. Literally there are millions of rappers
and it is beyond a stereotype, in my opinion but what is your overall
take on that notion? Is it good for the industry or bad?
You know it can be frustrating, tryna fish through the bullshit to get
to the real. You gotta be anointed to do this. Anybody can't lay some
vocals on a track and call themselves a rapper. It's like somebody
picking up a hammer and saying they're a carpenter, It's more to it
than that. Its definitely bad for hip hop because the quality of music
is declining. Hip Hop is the most influential genre of music on
society, yet there is only a handful of platinum artist.
3) What does H-Twenty add to the hip-hop game? Taking it one step
further, what do you add to music in general?
I bring that "feeling" back to hip hop. You know how PAC, BIG, and
JAY make you feel when you're listening to their music. Their music
affects your emotions. They made you feel anyway they wanted you to.
I have the ability to connect with my audience, which a lot of artist
can't do. I have an identity, and that's what makes me different.
4) So if you don't mind I want to get a little background on H-Twenty,
I know you are posted up in Atlanta right now, but my understanding is
that you were born in Tennessee right? Do you think your homeland
bleeds through into your music? Do you fuck with any TN cats on the
music side of things?
Yeah I was born in Knoxville. I grew up listening to 8ball & MJG, 3-6,
and a few other cats, but I also was influence by PAC, BIG, JAY-Z, AND
NAS. All in all my style is a mixture of all these artist. As far as
working with other cats from TN, I'm not against it, but I'm just
doing me right now. Im sure there will be a TN connect on the album
though.
5) What was the first track you EVER made, and does it have special
meaning to you?
The first track I ever made was "Do it Better". It's funny cuz my goal
at the time was to make a club song, only better than everybody else's
at the time. I succeeded but I still have to go back in and recut some
things on that song. "Do it Better" is going to sound totally
different when the album drops. My outlook on life is to do everything
better than the next, so this song was easy as well as fun to make.
6) Moving forward into some of your current hits, listening to "Life
of a Superstar" it definitely has a southern feel, but your own,
southern feel. It's refreshing to hear. Amira sounds great too. Seems
complete, tell me more, how did this track come about? Who is on the
beats?
I appreciate that. The song actually came about when I was in New
York recording some material. Amira who is signed to Sparq also was
recording in another studio in the same building. They were originally
going to use the beat for her, but they decided to go with a different
track. My manager Sparq felt the record and thought it would be a good
fit for both of us and it worked. The rest is history! Shout out to
Amira, she is an amazing Pop artist and you'll hear a lot from her.
She's going be huge!
7) You received (5) stars from allhiphop.com for "Dirty South Anthem".
Being such an established group of hip-hop tastemakers at AHH, What
was that feeling like, and how did you first find out?
It felt good, it was definitely an accomplishment. The AHH crowd can
be some of the hardest people to please so it meant a lot. I actually
got a phone call from my homeboy Rick back in Knoxville, and he woke
me up with the news. It's definitely something I'm proud of.
8) I have the joint you did with Carvelli on my Myspace page : ) how
did you first link up with Carvelli? Will you be working with him
again? Is there any opportunity to see you with other Shadeyville DJs?
Me and Carvelli clicked from day 1. That nigga's on some "Im tryna be
great" shit like me. He seen the vision of what I was tryna do, and I
seen his. He's helped in so many ways. Shout out to DJ Carvelli and
the rest of the Shadyville DJs.
9) Who else are you working with, or who do you have immediate plans
to work with?
Right now I'm just tryna focus on me and creating the best album to
ever hit shelves. I'm not against working with other artist, I just
want to make sure I create an identity of my own before I go getting
features. It'll definitely be a time and place for that though.
10) So do you have a few tracks you are working on now? What can we
expect from H-Twenty?
Anything you get from me your going to appreciate it, because I make
high quality music. I'm getting so much love because people
appreciate that they can come to my myspace page or come to a show
and know every song they hear is a banger.
11) OK H-twenty, this is something new that I am trying out,
Just fill in the blank with the word that comes to your head first.
a) My name is H-Twenty and I am: The Introduction to Greatness
b) Growing up, I always listened to: Nas
c) When I finally make my first platinum album, I will look back and thank: God, My family,My fans.
12) So with the economy down, jobs being lost and all that negative
bullshit that you won't see much of on TMO : ) I have to ask, what's
your take on the following
a) President Obama will: definitely be better than BUSH!!!
b) The economy problems can be fixed fastest by: Educating society
on financial responsibility
c) My first charity choice is : The PayeBack Foundation which is
motivated by changing lives for the better daily