LISTEN TO THE SNIPPETS HERE
 
 
Killer album from Chicago MC, DJ, Producer and writer Epik1. Breaks galore on this ridiculously dope new album. Features include Chino XL, Copywrite, Kwest Tha Madd Lad, Wordsworth and more. One of the nicest projects I’ve heard all year. Peep it – you will NOT be disappointed.
 
 
Check the interview below for more info:
 
 
What are your earliest memories of the culture?
 
I remember seeing breakdancing when I was a kid and being mesmerized by it. As time went on I was a artist at my school and I got involved in the culture through graffiti art.
 
 
Did you have an older brother or cousins or family members who put you onto hip hop culture?

As far as my family goes most of them don’t live in the United States but a couple cousins of mine we’re into house music and I didn’t wanna go that route or at least I didn’t feel it in my heart until I found hip-hop/Rap, then I developed my identity in the family as the guy that wears baggy clothes and listens to N.W.A. And what not
 
 
Which was the first element you tried?

The first element of hip-hop was graffiti art. I was amazed by the shapes and extreme exaggeration of characters, colors and letters.
 
 
And what came next?

When I hit high school I started networking with more graffiti artists in my freshman year. As a sophomore I got into breakdancing and the next years after that I got into freestyling and DJing and shortly after I got into production with a beat machine. It took a lot of effort to save up money for my turntables and all the equipment needed.
 
 
What element are you best at and which is your favourite?

I would say overall I’m best at making beats.I could do that all day without thinking about it. So I guess that would be my favorite one for now but it changes because there’s times that I just stay there writing and developing my pen skills. The easiest for me is DJing. I do a radio show every Sunday on 88.7 FM here in Chicago and that’s like playing basketball to me. it’s a skill that I can never lose so that is tied as my favorite with making beats.
 
 
When did you start recording your own music?

I started recording my own music around 1999 or the year 2000 I had a four track mini disc and I would put in a lot of work with that.
 
 
What artists from Chicago did you get inspiration from coming up?

Definitely Common Sense was a big motivator for me and then later throughout the years J.U.I.C.E was on another level that I wanted to reach. But all of our underground legends in Chicago definitely had an impact in my life.
 
 
Any further info you wanna add for the heads, feel free…

When I do hip-hop music I do it for people like us the people that understand. I always see it like graffiti art. I don’t do it for the average people I do it for people that could read the letters that know and get that excitement when they hear it. I do it for us I don’t do it for the masses.

As a DJ I understand what we look for and that’s what I try  to make, that real boom bap that’s missing these. I try to keep pushing myself to the next level. I always want my next project to be doper than the last project that I did. Either through the pen, writing, production or concepts, I strive to move forward and not backwards.