Post by Adam B on Jul 19, 2005 9:56:50 GMT -5
Substantial Interview
by Adam Bernard
If you haven’t heard of Substantial yet he has a message for you, he rhymes better. The 25 year old New Yorker, who was born in P.G. County, MD (45 minutes outside Baltimore), gave birth to an anthem when he first dropped “F.Y.I.R.B. (f**k You I Rhyme Better)”, and his affiliations with Extended Famm and Ope Entertainment have kept him in the ears of numerous listeners. An international sensation who's still considered underground in the states, Substantial took the time to drop some knowledge on us about his definition of being underground, why life can be better for artists overseas and what’s up with all the slanguage.
Adam Bernard: Before we get to your affiliations, who is Substantial the a solo artist?
Substantial: Me as a solo artist, basically I just set out to be as true to myself my family and friends as I possibly can. I’m not the kinda artist that’ll sit up here and change up my style or change my personality up to fit what’s hot right now. As long as I do me I’ll always be original. Being that I’m the kind of artist that tries to push the envelope, I’m keepin up with it or I’m ahead of it. That’s just the kinda person I am in general, not just the kinda artist I am.
AB: You released “Substantial Evidence” last year. What drew you to releasing a compilation album like that?
SS: It was mainly because, the following I established in Japan, the cats over there are well aware of what I've accomplished, but the cats over here didn’t really catch on until the EFamm album came out. They didn’t know that before that album I was doin things. With “Substantial Evidence” I tried to mix what got me my popularity overseas with some of my underground stuff here and give everyone a mix of everything I’ve done over the years. Here’s your opportunity to play catch up before I release another solo album.
AB: Did you just say you have a following in Japan? How did you end up big there?
SS: What happened with that, I think it was the summer of ‘99 I had been workin on a demo, originally I was workin on that demo for DJ Enuff, long story short, during the process of doin that I was doin a few mixtapes here and there and Sphere of Influence, right before he went to Japan, he asked for my math (phone number) and I gave him that and he had just copped the mixtape I was on. After he got to Japan he was workin at a record store called Guinnes Records owned by Nujabes who owns Hideout Records. Nujabes came up to him and asked if there were any dope MC’s he was feelin. He played my freestyle and a song that he had on that mixtape. Dude was feelin it and he asked if Sphere had my contact info, so sure enough he did. So one day my black ass gets home from work, I’m tired as f**k, next thing I know my phone rings with this dude with a thick ass accent. Dude was from a record label, said he was feelin my stuff and wanted more and if he liked what he heard he’d fly me to Japan to record my first album.
AB: How’d that work out?
SS: Sold 2,000 copies the first two weeks. Flew out there, did a six or seven city tour. During certain weeks and in certain stores I was outselling Ja Rule and Angie Stone. The reason I started "Substantial Evidence" with “Home Sweet Home” was it was my biggest single, sold nearly 5,000 copies. A lotta cats don’t realize..... you wanna know how well my first stuff did, there were 5,000 copies pressed up of every single I did, look for it and when you can’t find it you’ll know how well it did. Like I tell people all the time, sometimes it’s better to blow up overseas because they pay better. You can be yourself and still get the recognition you deserve.
AB: Let’s talk recognition, how many units have you pushed on your own?
SS: Probably 30,000+ just based off of how well my first album was received and then the fact that out of all of the singles I released the one that did the worst (still) did over 2,000 copies. I tell cats, I don’t know how people handle their hustle game as far as music’s concerned but a lot of times I be doin business by other people and I think people get agitated by myself or my associates because we handle biz. In this game people are going to walk all over you, they’re going to take advantage of you, but we take a business approach. It’s not all about the money, we love the art form as much as the next man but at the end of the day if you’re going to have a business you have to take care of the paper. I’m workin with brothers who have children and me, I don’t have no kids yet, but I plan on havin em. So my apologies to anyone who’s tried to work with us in the past and feels we’ve been hard to work with.
AB: A lot of fans think Indy is the way to go, is there any part of you that would much rather be hooked up with a Major?
SS: I’ll say this, I don’t necessarily go ahead and saturate mainstream companies saying sign me, a lot of times we try to get inside connects so that way we can get to the higher ups and that’s how we handle it. I have no problem signing with a major if they’ll let me do what I do and let my company play a major role in what we’re doin. We got a production team and a lot of powerful things in our camp already so I’m not gonna sign with a company and have them kick everyone out. I wouldn't mind but they’d have to be open minded as to what my future goals are and who I am as a person. I can only be me.
AB: Everyone talks about the politics involved with the major labels, but tell us about the equally aggravating politics that go on in the underground.
SS: Yeah, oh my God. I ain’t gonna do no name droppin , but basically you got some record stores, this was even during my success, they wouldn’t carry my sh*t unless I was on with somebody else already established. I would go there lookin for it and they’d be like "oh bring it through” and I’d say “no I don’t have to bring it through, I have distribution” but since it didn’t have this artist on it or that artist on it they weren’t pickin up. It wasn’t until the success of EFamm that some of these people would start to pick up my other stuff. That’s damn near what mainstream artists do, "we ain’t checkin for this artist cuz he ain’t workin with 50." People are real confused. People think underground is a sound, like unpolished. Overseas they’re using the same equipment but they’re intentionally makin it sound dirty, that’s madness. It has nothing to do with your style it’s simply the level you’re at at that point in time. Underground as opposed to mainstream. You haven’t made it to the next level yet. It has nothing to do with your style or because you rock a backpack, all it really comes down to is where you’re at career wise. Now you have certain people settin out trying not to be mainstream and that’s cool everyone has the right to chose their own path but I'd rather be independent. I can be independent and still see success. We get too caught up in the clicks, people want to be big fish in a small pond. I know I have a pretty good message I’d like to share with more than just the people I see everyday. I feel like it’s my duty to push myself to the next level.
AB: When it comes to underground classics you have “F.Y.I.R.B,” how did that song come about?
SS: That song was one of the songs I recorded for the original demo. Written in ‘98, it wasn’t recorded till ‘99. A lot of people didn’t realize it was a solo song first. When I first started performin heavily in NY with PackFM (and) we started recording as EFamm he wanted to bring it back. Sometimes it pays to be a lot more to the point. For underground cats it’s damn near a household slogan. Sometimes some of the cats who I run with are credited with comin up with it, but it’s all good.
AB: Speaking of EFamm How did you link up with them?
SS: That all started with me first linkin up with PackFM. I was put on to Pack by my homegirl Illumeenous. I met him, started runnin with him, doin shows, and eventually Tone Deff had moved up here and Pack mentioned how dope he was. Tone was buildin with Session already. One day he called up Pack and myself to do a posse track. The track was so hot we decided to be a group and I said “yo we should call it Extended Famm”
AB: The new catch phrase of the day is “Make Da Face.” Where did “Make Da Face” come from?
SS: Make Da Face that’s the official slogan of UVInk and Ope Entertainment. I think this was maybe a few weeks before we were preparin for Scribble Jam last year and one day my boy Ope comes through to the crib and he was talkin about how well he handled somethin and was like “oh yeah, you like that bitch, make da face” and the second he said it we knew it was golden, then we were just looking for reasons to say it. The great thing about it is no matter when you say it or who you say it to they always make a face.
AB: How’d you link up with Ope Entertainment / UVInk?
SS: Unlimited Vinal / UVInk is somethin I’ve been sittin on for years, before I had moved up here for good I had already been plottin making that company. As for Ope Entertainment, that’s O*Asiatic’s company, that’s the company PackFM was originally signed to. I had met Ope though Pack. I was always buildin with him cuz I was talkin with Pack a lot. I knew as I was gettin more popular I knew I needed management and Ope was a person I trusted because we didn’t always talk biz. We merged our companies.
AB: Now, this is something I think a lot of people will find interesting, there’s a word you avoid using in your rhymes.
SS: I don’t use the N word anymore in my rhymes. I struggle with it in my personal life in everyday conversation. I’m aware that those words, those lyrics reach more people than I do in everyday conversation. I’m tryin to better myself, at least with the writing process it’s easier to control that. I try to improve myself there and better myself everywhere else in time.
AB: If you weren’t an MC what would you be doing?
SS: Graphic Design, which I do already, a lot of the artwork in my albums I did.
AB: Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
SS: I’m someone basically who loves this art form as much as the next person and everyday that I write, that I sit down and make a beat, my intent is to make sure people get good quality music and music they can feel and that is all I will ever do. Just sit back and let me keep doin what I do and you’re gonna find something you can feel.
For more info on Substantial hit up www.Substantial-Music.com
by Adam Bernard
If you haven’t heard of Substantial yet he has a message for you, he rhymes better. The 25 year old New Yorker, who was born in P.G. County, MD (45 minutes outside Baltimore), gave birth to an anthem when he first dropped “F.Y.I.R.B. (f**k You I Rhyme Better)”, and his affiliations with Extended Famm and Ope Entertainment have kept him in the ears of numerous listeners. An international sensation who's still considered underground in the states, Substantial took the time to drop some knowledge on us about his definition of being underground, why life can be better for artists overseas and what’s up with all the slanguage.
Adam Bernard: Before we get to your affiliations, who is Substantial the a solo artist?
Substantial: Me as a solo artist, basically I just set out to be as true to myself my family and friends as I possibly can. I’m not the kinda artist that’ll sit up here and change up my style or change my personality up to fit what’s hot right now. As long as I do me I’ll always be original. Being that I’m the kind of artist that tries to push the envelope, I’m keepin up with it or I’m ahead of it. That’s just the kinda person I am in general, not just the kinda artist I am.
AB: You released “Substantial Evidence” last year. What drew you to releasing a compilation album like that?
SS: It was mainly because, the following I established in Japan, the cats over there are well aware of what I've accomplished, but the cats over here didn’t really catch on until the EFamm album came out. They didn’t know that before that album I was doin things. With “Substantial Evidence” I tried to mix what got me my popularity overseas with some of my underground stuff here and give everyone a mix of everything I’ve done over the years. Here’s your opportunity to play catch up before I release another solo album.
AB: Did you just say you have a following in Japan? How did you end up big there?
SS: What happened with that, I think it was the summer of ‘99 I had been workin on a demo, originally I was workin on that demo for DJ Enuff, long story short, during the process of doin that I was doin a few mixtapes here and there and Sphere of Influence, right before he went to Japan, he asked for my math (phone number) and I gave him that and he had just copped the mixtape I was on. After he got to Japan he was workin at a record store called Guinnes Records owned by Nujabes who owns Hideout Records. Nujabes came up to him and asked if there were any dope MC’s he was feelin. He played my freestyle and a song that he had on that mixtape. Dude was feelin it and he asked if Sphere had my contact info, so sure enough he did. So one day my black ass gets home from work, I’m tired as f**k, next thing I know my phone rings with this dude with a thick ass accent. Dude was from a record label, said he was feelin my stuff and wanted more and if he liked what he heard he’d fly me to Japan to record my first album.
AB: How’d that work out?
SS: Sold 2,000 copies the first two weeks. Flew out there, did a six or seven city tour. During certain weeks and in certain stores I was outselling Ja Rule and Angie Stone. The reason I started "Substantial Evidence" with “Home Sweet Home” was it was my biggest single, sold nearly 5,000 copies. A lotta cats don’t realize..... you wanna know how well my first stuff did, there were 5,000 copies pressed up of every single I did, look for it and when you can’t find it you’ll know how well it did. Like I tell people all the time, sometimes it’s better to blow up overseas because they pay better. You can be yourself and still get the recognition you deserve.
AB: Let’s talk recognition, how many units have you pushed on your own?
SS: Probably 30,000+ just based off of how well my first album was received and then the fact that out of all of the singles I released the one that did the worst (still) did over 2,000 copies. I tell cats, I don’t know how people handle their hustle game as far as music’s concerned but a lot of times I be doin business by other people and I think people get agitated by myself or my associates because we handle biz. In this game people are going to walk all over you, they’re going to take advantage of you, but we take a business approach. It’s not all about the money, we love the art form as much as the next man but at the end of the day if you’re going to have a business you have to take care of the paper. I’m workin with brothers who have children and me, I don’t have no kids yet, but I plan on havin em. So my apologies to anyone who’s tried to work with us in the past and feels we’ve been hard to work with.
AB: A lot of fans think Indy is the way to go, is there any part of you that would much rather be hooked up with a Major?
SS: I’ll say this, I don’t necessarily go ahead and saturate mainstream companies saying sign me, a lot of times we try to get inside connects so that way we can get to the higher ups and that’s how we handle it. I have no problem signing with a major if they’ll let me do what I do and let my company play a major role in what we’re doin. We got a production team and a lot of powerful things in our camp already so I’m not gonna sign with a company and have them kick everyone out. I wouldn't mind but they’d have to be open minded as to what my future goals are and who I am as a person. I can only be me.
AB: Everyone talks about the politics involved with the major labels, but tell us about the equally aggravating politics that go on in the underground.
SS: Yeah, oh my God. I ain’t gonna do no name droppin , but basically you got some record stores, this was even during my success, they wouldn’t carry my sh*t unless I was on with somebody else already established. I would go there lookin for it and they’d be like "oh bring it through” and I’d say “no I don’t have to bring it through, I have distribution” but since it didn’t have this artist on it or that artist on it they weren’t pickin up. It wasn’t until the success of EFamm that some of these people would start to pick up my other stuff. That’s damn near what mainstream artists do, "we ain’t checkin for this artist cuz he ain’t workin with 50." People are real confused. People think underground is a sound, like unpolished. Overseas they’re using the same equipment but they’re intentionally makin it sound dirty, that’s madness. It has nothing to do with your style it’s simply the level you’re at at that point in time. Underground as opposed to mainstream. You haven’t made it to the next level yet. It has nothing to do with your style or because you rock a backpack, all it really comes down to is where you’re at career wise. Now you have certain people settin out trying not to be mainstream and that’s cool everyone has the right to chose their own path but I'd rather be independent. I can be independent and still see success. We get too caught up in the clicks, people want to be big fish in a small pond. I know I have a pretty good message I’d like to share with more than just the people I see everyday. I feel like it’s my duty to push myself to the next level.
AB: When it comes to underground classics you have “F.Y.I.R.B,” how did that song come about?
SS: That song was one of the songs I recorded for the original demo. Written in ‘98, it wasn’t recorded till ‘99. A lot of people didn’t realize it was a solo song first. When I first started performin heavily in NY with PackFM (and) we started recording as EFamm he wanted to bring it back. Sometimes it pays to be a lot more to the point. For underground cats it’s damn near a household slogan. Sometimes some of the cats who I run with are credited with comin up with it, but it’s all good.
AB: Speaking of EFamm How did you link up with them?
SS: That all started with me first linkin up with PackFM. I was put on to Pack by my homegirl Illumeenous. I met him, started runnin with him, doin shows, and eventually Tone Deff had moved up here and Pack mentioned how dope he was. Tone was buildin with Session already. One day he called up Pack and myself to do a posse track. The track was so hot we decided to be a group and I said “yo we should call it Extended Famm”
AB: The new catch phrase of the day is “Make Da Face.” Where did “Make Da Face” come from?
SS: Make Da Face that’s the official slogan of UVInk and Ope Entertainment. I think this was maybe a few weeks before we were preparin for Scribble Jam last year and one day my boy Ope comes through to the crib and he was talkin about how well he handled somethin and was like “oh yeah, you like that bitch, make da face” and the second he said it we knew it was golden, then we were just looking for reasons to say it. The great thing about it is no matter when you say it or who you say it to they always make a face.
AB: How’d you link up with Ope Entertainment / UVInk?
SS: Unlimited Vinal / UVInk is somethin I’ve been sittin on for years, before I had moved up here for good I had already been plottin making that company. As for Ope Entertainment, that’s O*Asiatic’s company, that’s the company PackFM was originally signed to. I had met Ope though Pack. I was always buildin with him cuz I was talkin with Pack a lot. I knew as I was gettin more popular I knew I needed management and Ope was a person I trusted because we didn’t always talk biz. We merged our companies.
AB: Now, this is something I think a lot of people will find interesting, there’s a word you avoid using in your rhymes.
SS: I don’t use the N word anymore in my rhymes. I struggle with it in my personal life in everyday conversation. I’m aware that those words, those lyrics reach more people than I do in everyday conversation. I’m tryin to better myself, at least with the writing process it’s easier to control that. I try to improve myself there and better myself everywhere else in time.
AB: If you weren’t an MC what would you be doing?
SS: Graphic Design, which I do already, a lot of the artwork in my albums I did.
AB: Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
SS: I’m someone basically who loves this art form as much as the next person and everyday that I write, that I sit down and make a beat, my intent is to make sure people get good quality music and music they can feel and that is all I will ever do. Just sit back and let me keep doin what I do and you’re gonna find something you can feel.
For more info on Substantial hit up www.Substantial-Music.com