Published: Monday - April 17, 2006
Words by Shaun "Scheme" Redwood
Naledge (Photo: Rawkus Records)
It's amazing how small the world is, and with the advent of AIM, MySpace and Facebook, the world is clearly becoming even smaller, and even more prone to stalker like activity. Aside from that, Naledge, like many other artists in the industry, utilizes these means of communication to keep in touch with his fam, friends, and fans. So not surprisingly, yet still somewhat unconventionally, BallerStatus hooked up with Naledge through these means to wax philosophical about politics, music, and his future.
Shortly after confirming his record deal, BallerStatus chopped it up with one of the northeast's hottest prospects and in this informative interview, Naledge states clearly his position on the issue of reparations, and why you won't see scantily clad scallywags in star-spangled banner thongs dancing in his music videos, unless the song happens to be about star-spangled banner thongs. Naledge also discusses the minstrel show currently dominating the hip-hop scene, and maybe even calls out names. Get comfortable in your high chairs, break out your highlighters and prepare to be schooled, crumbs.
BallerStatus.com: You mentioned in an earlier interview that you were a Jack & Jill type and that you had a relatively comfortable upbringing. Do you feel that the black upper and middle class do enough for the black poor, and do you think that is even their responsibility?
Naledge: Coming from Chicago, and growing up how I grew up, it's a unique place. In the inner city of Chicago, it works a lot different than other cities. Everything is still pretty much very geographically segregated by race and you'll have a black area, which is the south side, you'll have a black area, which is the west side, and then you'll have the north side [and] downtown, which is mainly executive...Caucasian. And then, you have Mexican neighborhoods and everything of the sort. So, when you take that into account...you know, I didn't grow up knowing that there was a difference. Nobody pointed out to me, "Oh, you shouldn't be hanging out with this person because you're in this class level," or "You're in this socio-economic status" or whatever. My parents always instilled in me that there was a fight for the cause of black people as a whole, so that's kinda something that's always been embedded in my mind, even as I rhyme now and I make songs, and even when I do interviews and encounter people. I don't look at myself as being better than anybody. I don't think anybody is better than me. Everybody is equal plane as far as I'm concerned and everything I'm trying to do with my music is for the upliftment of my people as a whole. But, I do think there is definitely a culture of elitism among upper class African-Americans. Whether that is going to change, probably not, because you have that same segmentation among every race.
BallerStatus.com: If you're not familiar with Dr. Conrad Worril, he's an advocate for reparations and I was wondering, what is you're stance on that? And if you do agree that reparations are due to African-Americans in this country, what would be the most effective way for it to be disseminated?
Naledge: Truthfully, I feel like if money could go toward education in basically what they call "high risk areas"...I feel like the foundation of the problem of urban blight stems from the family being broken down and inner city kids not having access to important outlets [and] information, [meaning] being able to know what's out there and being able to be prepared for the future. Preparation plus opportunity equals success. Not only are we not prepared in our inner cities, for the most part, we're unaware of the opportunities that are out there and we feel like there's no hope. I don't feel money should be distributed to people's personal account, but I feel like if areas and neighborhoods were banded together and resources were given to those areas, that would be a better way to give out reparations than to send a check to Joe Blow at 73rd street or send another check to Joe Blow on 87th street. I don't feel like that would do too much good. You would just have a lot of cats riding around on rims and having dope ass chains.
(Interview was interrupted at around this point, because Naledge had Rhymefest on the other line)
BallerStatus.com: But you do feel reparations should be given out?
Naledge: I definitely think it's something that's owed, but I'm not as strong of an advocate as some people are because I think that it can cause issues. I think if they were to be given out, they probably should have been given out a long time ago. And you're giving money to people who didn't really...who might not necessarily understand where the money needs to go, and might not necessarily understand why we're getting reparations. It's a touchy subject...
BallerStatus.com: It's complex.
Naledge: It's a touchy subject. If somebody said instead of reparations, we're gonna give money to all the schools in the inner cities where these at risk kids are, or we're gonna give money to after school programs and we're trying to get kids off the street, that would be just as good as reparations for me. Because if we can build our own wealth and not take handouts, I would LOVE that to be the case.
BallerStatus.com: Along the lines of black intellectuals, how did you get Cornel West on one of your songs ("My Country")? And for people, who may not be familiar with him, just give a little brush up if you can.
Naledge: He's a philosopher/activist/pretty much everything. He's a professor at Princeton [and] a modern day...I don't wanna say revolutionary, but I guess you could say he's definitely at the forefront of the black intellectual scene and he has a lot of interesting ideas on democracy and race...a lot of different things, especially keying in on the African-American community.
As far as getting the vocals on "My Country," that was just an idea I had and I expressed it to Just [Blaze] and we switched it around and you know, made it happen. Abra cadabra, hocus pocus. [laughs]
BallerStatus.com: Aight, so lets be real here. Do you think there are any rappers out in blackface right now and um...
Naledge: Wow...
BallerStatus.com: And um, who's cooning? Who's doing it man?
Naledge: Wow! You know, I'm a politician. I'm not going to fully out the minstrel shows that's going on in rap...but, I was having a talking with Just [Blaze] and truthfully, I don't see a lot of these rappers as necessarily being coons...I think that's a strong word. I only take offense to it when you're portraying a lifestyle you never have lived, or you're exaggerating a lifestyle for the sake of a business model or the sake of getting money. I don't think money is more important than your dignity. Your money isn't more important than representing yourself and being responsible towards the images you portray, especially to the younger kids who are watching you and idolize you.
I mean, if that's your reality...if your reality is messing with girls and pimping, and if your reality is busting guns, that's fine. If your reality is pumping drugs, I mean, that's your reality. At the same time, know that you don't have to broadcast it on a level...there's a way to frame any message without inspiring other people to do that. That's the problem that I have with it, is that people aren't being genuine.
I have talked to people who feel that conscious rap will become a trend and you'll have a lot of cats trying to be conscious, just for the sake of being conscious. Now is that cooning? If those cats are putting on kufis and wearing Africa medallions and putting on cowery shells just for the sake of getting money? Like say, I go platinum and they're like, "Yo, I wanna be like Naledge because he's selling!" To me, that's fake, that's cooning. If you make it, you have a responsibility to your community afterwards. But, I think cooning is a strong word, although I have used that word in some of my raps. I won't necessarily out who I was referring to or thinking of when I was writing those rhymes.
BallerStatus.com: The public can use their imagination.
Naledge: Watch "106 and Park," you see them everyday. I don't have to say any names, you kind of know.
BallerStatus.com: True indeed. Now do you find sexism and images of women of color in hip-hop videos to be a serious problem? And what can we expect in that regard from Naledge videos or from Kidz In The Hall videos?
Naledge: [laughs] You banging me in the head with the politics.
BallerStatus.com: I gotta do it.
Naledge: Nah, go ahead. I mean...obviously, a blind man can see there's misogyny in hip-hop. Hip-hop is a very masculine domain. It's still not at the point where it's equal in any way for female emcees. As far as images portrayed in videos, I think there's a tasteful way to portray sexuality without being raunchy. There's a way to be classy about it. I mean, what you can expect from me...obviously, I don't have any raps or any songs necessarily referring to any outrageous, ludicrous things, so if I have an image of a female, it's because the song is congruent with that image. I'm a grown man, I'm an adult, so I can touch on sexuality. I can talk about relationships and I can talk on certain things, so if you see imagery, its going to be congruent with whatever the song dictates. You're not going to see "My Country" with big booty girls with star spangled banner thongs on, that's not going to happen.
BallerStatus.com: Give your top two albums ever, and give your top two books that every person in this country needs to own and why.
Naledge: I would say Common's Resurrection and Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder. Those are two albums that have probably influenced me the most.
I'm reading a book right now called Prophets of the Ghetto by Imani Perry and I feel like its dope. It's one of the only books that I've encountered that has looked at hip-hop from an aesthetics perspective and has actually examined hip-hop as an art form. I think a lot of people, when discussing hip-hop in academic terms, they always go to socio-economic status. They don't discuss hip-hop as an art form. They don't discuss the inventiveness, or how the fact that hip-hop is basically inherent to the African Diaspora...you know, as far as the improvisational aspects of it, the performance aspects of it. A lot of it is just inherent and I think that book is one of the first that I've read that really attacks how hip-hop is an art form. I think the layman, if they were really to read it, they would really be able to understand it and be able to look at hip-hop the same way we look at jazz. I feel like that's where hip-hop is headed. Books like this are definitely taking us on the right path, and it's a groundbreaking book in my opinion.
Um secondly, let me think...I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson. That's probably my favorite book of all-time, probably because I'm a baseball nut. But, it definitely was a book that changed my life, as far as me being self-determined and knowing that greatness is only as far as you take it and how much you put into it. Success is a journey, not a destination. That's what I learned from that book. I've read it at least twenty times.
BallerStatus.com: How far are you into recording the debut album for Rawkus?
Naledge: I'm recording all the time man, I'm an artist! I write songs, upon songs, upon songs. We're at least 40 records in. We're kinda just going to keep making records, and keep making records, and keep making records, and then put songs on chopping blocks and cook it up for you guys, then give you guys a classic. I think I have the sleeper album of the year. I feel like people are going to be surprised at what I'm able to do lyrically and also the messages. And musically, I think it's very refreshing. It's a throwback to an era -- the "golden era" of hip-hop. I think that's where we're headed.
BallerStatus.com: So when can we expect the album?
Naledge: You can expect the album early fall, probably August. [On production] Just Blaze, Double O, No I.D and this new cat SC. A couple other special guests, you know what we do...sprinkle a little bit of this, a little bit of that, put it in a pot and see what goes down. I got a lot of good people around me, a lot of good, musically inclined people around me that are not going to let me put out garbage, so that's the fact of the matter.
For more information on Naledge, visit KidzInTheHall.com
Editorials & Columns Soulstice From France Blog #3: Day 4 Embarking on a 9-show winter tour in Europe, one of my goals was just making it through the tour without getting sick. ... full story
Digg It
Del.icio.us
