Notherground Pt.2: We See Live People
www.notherground.com
[Now here comes the segue…] 6th Sense is one of those very artists. From traveling between the ‘burbs and NYC every week to sharpen his skills in writing workshops, to signing a production deal with Scram Jones’ Beast Music, his evolution has been inspiring to watch, and it’s clear that he’s only just getting started.
Strike your best Al Bundy coach potato pose and read on as Palms Out and 6th discuss the independent grind, the state of mainstream hip-hop, connecting with platinum producers, and why record labels finally got it right with Gnarls Barkley.
Palms Out: So what separates you from the average emcee?
6th: I smile. I’m courteous. I’m actually interested in talking about something relevant. I can be a million and one things besides (makes a gangsta grill). I’m a white emcee that’s not an everyday occurrence. I wear sandals…tons of stuff
Palms Out: Who is 6th Sense?
6th: 6th Sense is an emcee, hip-hop visionary. He’s your best friend. He’s somebody that’ll listen to you before he speaks to you. He’s somebody that doesn’t take things too seriously but doesn’t like to take things lightly. 6th Sense is always pleased but never satisfied. I always try with the music to take it somewhere it hasn’t been taken yet. Always have a message and a melody going on at the same time. Just kind of here to ease the pain and lighten everything up
Palms Out: So tell us how’d you hook up with Frequency?
6th: Frequency was in The Understudies with me, so when the group disbanded it was kind of like a natural continuation from that. With Frequency, he’s not as much of a hands on producers as a lot of other producers. With Nicolay, I’ve known Nicolay for a while, even way before the whole Little Brother Forgeign Exchange thing happened, so he was able to really look out. And Scram is originally from New Rochelle, so when I moved to Pelham which is next to New Rochelle when I was like 14 and I started doing the whole hip-hop thing, we crossed paths, and really only bumped into each other after he became a platinum producer and when I started doing my solo thing again. Scram’s got this thing Beast Music, so he’s getting my tracks out there and I’m helping him out any way I can. I got an artist on the album Mike Maven
Palms Out: Is he the one singing on the “My Story” joint? He’s got a really good voice
6th: Yeah, he actually has a record out called Welcome to the Goodlife Vol. 1 that I helped produce. He’s a Notherground artist and I hooked him up with Scram as well so Mike did a hook for Nature and etc. I hook Scram up with a lot of things and Scram in return hooks me up with some things. Everybody on the album is family
Palms Out: There’s a 19th century writer named T. Thomas Fortune that in much more articulate words, held the notion that aint none of us free if some of us aint. Do you think “giving back”, so to speak, is a responsibility of a successful artist? Is that something you’re planning to do?
6th: I don’t think enough artists have a philanthropic side to them as far as being able to see the bigger picture. I didn’t come from a poor background, so I’ve had certain things in my life that have always been there. But at the same time, I don’t think I can be comfortable going all out with the way hip-hop can go all out
Whether it was the youth programs I was in for basketball or tennis, it was all funded by somebody. The writing workshops [i.e. Urban Word NYC] and stuff like that- I’d love to do the same thing.
That’s a good question because I think about that all the time.
Palms Out: Tell me more about the whole Notherground movement…well, “movement” is mad cliché these days. Everyone says they’re a movement and nobody’s really movin’ shit (both laugh). So tell me, what’s different about Notherground because it seems bigger than just something on the back of your CD.
6th: I’ll always put Notherground before 6th Sense any chance I can get. Notherground, it’s a catchy word nobody thought of yet, first off. And I guess we’re underground, but we don’t feel like we make underground music, we feel like we make music that can be accepted by the masses. I don’t know if you’ll fnd too much of that on Highing Fly, but it’s definitely a prequel to what the whole Notherground sound is about. It definitely could be an imprint for one of these labels to make a whole lot of money. There’s a way to put out records that they haven’t necessarily done with hip-hop yet that could shake up a lot of things. A good example would be that Gnarls Barkley record.
It’s a good example of how a record label could just put out a good song [and it can do well]. I love that 90 percent of the people that bought the album think that Gnarls Barkley is the dude singing (laughs). But I love that, I think that’s the best thing about it, I love it, I think that’s cool [that this happened] in a marketplace that’s so driven by all the all other factors of a hit record besides the actual record.
Palms Out: So what’s next?
6th: Next we got Wildabeast’s album. We’re moving that kind of opposite with the way [we’re moving my record]. We’re going to start moving it on his block and then filter it in the opposite direction. Whereas with my album, we reached to Japan and Europe, and now we’re coming back to New York. With Wildabeast’s album, we’re starting from his room [and then reaching out] to the world. His album’s called Hood Hippie. I’ve been getting a lot of reactions to the title. Almost everybody immediately [reacts]. I’ma be mad if one of these labels takes that and puts out one of these other dudes, I’ma be really mad (both laugh).
But he’s from east Harlem, Puerto Rican dude, and I feel really strong about his music. He’s a big part of Notherground Music, the whole ideology and whole ethos behind what we do.
Palms Out: What do you think of the hip-hop that’s out currently?
6th: A lot of it I cant really embrace, and honestly, I feel it’s not really the artist, it’s how the industry kind of works around these artists. In terms of, what people think is good is shaped after a particular artist and it is what so many artists coming up try to be like. I think 50 Cent is a talented musician, but what he’s done to the industry hasn’t necessarily been the best of things. I think a lot of these rappers are afraid to be themse
lves, they’re just trying to be like 50 Cent. And it works like that [with any major artist]…Rappers just need to be themselves.
11:21 pm on November 23rd, 2006
i like his flow..real mellow..ill keep an eye out for him
11:30 pm on November 23rd, 2006
Feeling the music…keep doin what you doin man!
1:30 pm on November 24th, 2006
fundamentals indeed.
nice
1:46 pm on November 24th, 2006
You can listen to Mike Maven’s whole album for free and purchase it for less than a buck if you choose to support on Amie Street. Check it: listen to the album for free first.
http://amiestreet.com/listen/Mike+Maven
7:27 pm on November 24th, 2006
deeope
6:57 pm on November 25th, 2006
Wow, that kid really has some good points. And low and behold his music is pretty fuckin fresh. I think I’m gonna go support right now!