Post by Adam B on Jul 19, 2005 10:27:00 GMT -5
Storm The Unpredictable Interview
by Adam Bernard
It's something almost every artist ponders at some point during their career. A self-defining, potentially psyche-breaking, moment. Storm the Unpredictable knows this moment. At one point a handful of years ago he asked himself the question: "am I really an 'underground' artist or am I able to connect with and touch a great amount of people?" Thankfully for Storm, to get his answer all he had to do was perform "Get Your Weight Up," which has nothing to do with drugs. "I've had women come up to me and actually cry," he notes. "The song was funny but it was actually about a serious issue, society's view of who's beautiful and who's not."
With more and more music videos featuring women with less and less clothing constructing a song that attacks the media driven image of beauty is an idea that a lot of MC's aren't bold enough to take on, but Storm The Unpredictable isn't your typical MC. He explains his songwriting style saying he prefers "to make songs about things other people haven't talked about, or come at them from a different angle people maybe haven't considered." This is the reason Storm, who's from Oxon Hill, Maryland, which is right outside of Washington DC, feels the suffix "Unpredictable" suits him well, saying "when you get a record from me you don't know what to expect."
His unpredictable nature also spills into the musicality of his work. Storm, a former trumpet player who's played in Jazz bands and Brass bands over the years, feels what he's learned through those experiences has influenced his flow and delivery. Another influence for Storm is his degree in Biotechnology. "With research you don't settle for 'oh that's probably right,'" he explains "it's a very exact science and if you're off by just a little bit it's going to throw everything off. And with the music if something seems just slightly off.... it's gotta be on point." He also adds that the extended vocabulary of scientific field has found its way into his music, saying "I definitely use that in my lyrics."
So with a degree in Biotechnology what's Storm The Unpredictable doing rapping? For starters, it was never anything he planned on making a career path. "The whole thing was I was having fun," he explains "so I never sat down and was like 'I could really get rich off of this." In fact, despite rapping since the mid 80's Storm notes "I didn't even put out my first official single until '97. I had one song that had lasted me for about five or six years or so." Without an album he explains his career took an interesting turn, "for about nine years or so it was strictly performances."
Those performances were no small matter. Storm's performed on the same ticket as artists such as 7L and Esoteric, The Arsonists and Akrobatic to Ludacris, Fabolous and Ashanti. Getting to perform in front of such varied audiences opened his eyes to the different types of Hip-Hop fans. "The underground, the independent crowd," he explains "they seem to be a lot more attentive to exactly what it is that you're saying in ALL your songs. At least with me I can definitely see they're really attentive to the lyrical content where as when I did the shows with Fab, Ashanti and Ludacris I would say the audience was more caught up in the vibe of the whole thing."
Storm considers his part of the shows "very interactive. You're not just lookin at me like you're watching me in the studio and I know a big part of that is because of the fact was that before when I had one song and I had to do a twenty minute set I had to come up with so many other things to do."
Performing in and around the DC area has become a bit of a challenge of late as Storm laments "the only thing that we've had a problem with lately is places to actually get up and get together for performances. There were two major places and they both ended up closing. People aren't just satisfied with being the cipher MC on the corner and hopefully that will continue and help the scene grow."
Just having cipher MC's on the corner is a major step for a city that, despite it's close proximity to the birthplace of Hip-Hop, took a while to embrace the culture. "Go Go was very prevalent," Storm explains "I even played in Go Go bands. '86 was when I really started as far as writing things down as saying 'this is a song.' Hip-Hop was an anomaly, there just wasn't a lot of people doing it there. There was definitely a scene but it was severely overshadowed by the whole Go Go movement."
With a smaller scene Storm and his fellow DC area MC's were forced to think on their feet when it came to the best ways to get their music to the people. This was even shown off recently when Storm, along with Priest The Nomad and Poemcess decided to go in together on their vinyl. "The cost of vinyl was skyrocketing," storm notes "(so) we're each taking a record off our perspective albums and putting it all on one vinyl single. It doesn't take away from anything anyone else is doing and so far things have worked out great."
Storm's very long awaited debut album, "A2 What Should Have Been," should be in stores in late spring / early summer. The album will feature songs some people have known for a minute, such as "Darker The Berry," a song about how his complexion has affected his life, "Get Your Weight Up," his anthem about loving one's body for what it is, "Contradictions, " a song about the self-contradictory nature of rap music, and "Ya'll Know The Name," which is straight up lyrical warfare. The album might also feature a track with his group Plexis, which consists of Storm, Priest The Nomad, KoKay and Sub-C (KoKayi and Sub-C were previously signed to BMG France).
The album will feature Storm's unpredictable lyrical nature and subject matter, but he's going to do it in a way he hopes will affect more people. His overall goal is to make "music that has an old school influence but is still relevant to a younger generation. I don't think you have to sit there and dumb down all your lyrics and everything just because everybody's younger. There are a lot of intelligent young people even though they do stupid things." Speaking to a younger crowd will be made easier being that Storm doesn't curse in any of his songs. "It's a thing where the music speaks to a lot of people," he explains, adding "I feel as though I can do my thing and hold my own with anybody and I don't mean that in an egotistical way at all. I can do this the way that I'm doing this and still measure up with the other people out there."
While sales numbers of his "A2 What Should Have Been" may never reach the heights of "Get Rich Or Die Trying" Storm The Unpredictable already has his answer to the question "am I really an 'underground' artist or am I able to connect with and touch a great amount of people?" He knows he can touch a great amount of people. All it's going to take is for those people to open their ears and give his music a listen.
by Adam Bernard
It's something almost every artist ponders at some point during their career. A self-defining, potentially psyche-breaking, moment. Storm the Unpredictable knows this moment. At one point a handful of years ago he asked himself the question: "am I really an 'underground' artist or am I able to connect with and touch a great amount of people?" Thankfully for Storm, to get his answer all he had to do was perform "Get Your Weight Up," which has nothing to do with drugs. "I've had women come up to me and actually cry," he notes. "The song was funny but it was actually about a serious issue, society's view of who's beautiful and who's not."
With more and more music videos featuring women with less and less clothing constructing a song that attacks the media driven image of beauty is an idea that a lot of MC's aren't bold enough to take on, but Storm The Unpredictable isn't your typical MC. He explains his songwriting style saying he prefers "to make songs about things other people haven't talked about, or come at them from a different angle people maybe haven't considered." This is the reason Storm, who's from Oxon Hill, Maryland, which is right outside of Washington DC, feels the suffix "Unpredictable" suits him well, saying "when you get a record from me you don't know what to expect."
His unpredictable nature also spills into the musicality of his work. Storm, a former trumpet player who's played in Jazz bands and Brass bands over the years, feels what he's learned through those experiences has influenced his flow and delivery. Another influence for Storm is his degree in Biotechnology. "With research you don't settle for 'oh that's probably right,'" he explains "it's a very exact science and if you're off by just a little bit it's going to throw everything off. And with the music if something seems just slightly off.... it's gotta be on point." He also adds that the extended vocabulary of scientific field has found its way into his music, saying "I definitely use that in my lyrics."
So with a degree in Biotechnology what's Storm The Unpredictable doing rapping? For starters, it was never anything he planned on making a career path. "The whole thing was I was having fun," he explains "so I never sat down and was like 'I could really get rich off of this." In fact, despite rapping since the mid 80's Storm notes "I didn't even put out my first official single until '97. I had one song that had lasted me for about five or six years or so." Without an album he explains his career took an interesting turn, "for about nine years or so it was strictly performances."
Those performances were no small matter. Storm's performed on the same ticket as artists such as 7L and Esoteric, The Arsonists and Akrobatic to Ludacris, Fabolous and Ashanti. Getting to perform in front of such varied audiences opened his eyes to the different types of Hip-Hop fans. "The underground, the independent crowd," he explains "they seem to be a lot more attentive to exactly what it is that you're saying in ALL your songs. At least with me I can definitely see they're really attentive to the lyrical content where as when I did the shows with Fab, Ashanti and Ludacris I would say the audience was more caught up in the vibe of the whole thing."
Storm considers his part of the shows "very interactive. You're not just lookin at me like you're watching me in the studio and I know a big part of that is because of the fact was that before when I had one song and I had to do a twenty minute set I had to come up with so many other things to do."
Performing in and around the DC area has become a bit of a challenge of late as Storm laments "the only thing that we've had a problem with lately is places to actually get up and get together for performances. There were two major places and they both ended up closing. People aren't just satisfied with being the cipher MC on the corner and hopefully that will continue and help the scene grow."
Just having cipher MC's on the corner is a major step for a city that, despite it's close proximity to the birthplace of Hip-Hop, took a while to embrace the culture. "Go Go was very prevalent," Storm explains "I even played in Go Go bands. '86 was when I really started as far as writing things down as saying 'this is a song.' Hip-Hop was an anomaly, there just wasn't a lot of people doing it there. There was definitely a scene but it was severely overshadowed by the whole Go Go movement."
With a smaller scene Storm and his fellow DC area MC's were forced to think on their feet when it came to the best ways to get their music to the people. This was even shown off recently when Storm, along with Priest The Nomad and Poemcess decided to go in together on their vinyl. "The cost of vinyl was skyrocketing," storm notes "(so) we're each taking a record off our perspective albums and putting it all on one vinyl single. It doesn't take away from anything anyone else is doing and so far things have worked out great."
Storm's very long awaited debut album, "A2 What Should Have Been," should be in stores in late spring / early summer. The album will feature songs some people have known for a minute, such as "Darker The Berry," a song about how his complexion has affected his life, "Get Your Weight Up," his anthem about loving one's body for what it is, "Contradictions, " a song about the self-contradictory nature of rap music, and "Ya'll Know The Name," which is straight up lyrical warfare. The album might also feature a track with his group Plexis, which consists of Storm, Priest The Nomad, KoKay and Sub-C (KoKayi and Sub-C were previously signed to BMG France).
The album will feature Storm's unpredictable lyrical nature and subject matter, but he's going to do it in a way he hopes will affect more people. His overall goal is to make "music that has an old school influence but is still relevant to a younger generation. I don't think you have to sit there and dumb down all your lyrics and everything just because everybody's younger. There are a lot of intelligent young people even though they do stupid things." Speaking to a younger crowd will be made easier being that Storm doesn't curse in any of his songs. "It's a thing where the music speaks to a lot of people," he explains, adding "I feel as though I can do my thing and hold my own with anybody and I don't mean that in an egotistical way at all. I can do this the way that I'm doing this and still measure up with the other people out there."
While sales numbers of his "A2 What Should Have Been" may never reach the heights of "Get Rich Or Die Trying" Storm The Unpredictable already has his answer to the question "am I really an 'underground' artist or am I able to connect with and touch a great amount of people?" He knows he can touch a great amount of people. All it's going to take is for those people to open their ears and give his music a listen.