Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
With the presidential inauguration behind us, and a new commander and chief in the white house, the United States is anxiously awaiting for change to come to America. With this same mentality, we need to ask ourselves, What about Hip-Hop? We found one artist from Washington, D.C. who is ready to take on the challenge of change, and spearhead a new movement in the music scene. LunchBox tha Narcoleptic, alongside his crew members of OMNi, are aiming to create a dominant force in Hip-Hop. Lets hear what he had to say about his future plans, views on the current state of Hip-Hop, and his newest release "Peep Now or Forever Know You Sleep", (download it FREE after the jump).
What's good Lunch? First off I would like to thank you for taking the time out to conduct this interview. Can you tell the people who don't know you a little bit more about yourself? Who is LunchBox tha Narcoleptic and what do you do?
I'm a lyrical cat from Northwest D.C. a place that's heavy on skill but often doesn't get its proper shine as such. Often a dude may come from D.C. with a gimmick hit, or a quick pop single, but no album that holds any weight. I hope to change that and show that heavyweights exist here. I used to run with a crew called "13th Floor" back in 1999. I moved on to form OMNi and been putting it down ever since. I appeared on some of Nicolay's works such as "City Lights" and "Dutch Masterz" and also dropped 2 offerings of my own. "Don't Say I Ain't Never Gave You Anything" and my newest "Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep".
Speaking of the new album, how has the response been so far? Also, can you explain a little bit on how you came up with the concept for "Peep Now or Forever Know You Sleep?"(which I might add is a dope name)
The responses have been better than I expected. DJs have reached out to me to play some songs on their mix shows, supporters have responded telling me their favorite tracks, and most importantly... telling me they listened to the whole thing. I was most happy to see folks went through all 39 tracks with no complaint or even feeling like it was 39 tracks. Mercury Waters and myself worked on the sequencing. I came up with the idea of how 1-4 should merge into each other. I also made a statement that I wanted "Still Going Strong" to be last. With the exception of making a last minute change on a skit, and placing that in front of 'Panic The Crowd,' the rest of the sequencing was all him. So I think the way the songs flowed helped the listener forget it was 39 tracks to listen to. I came up with the concept Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep from the phrase, Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace. I flipped that last deal breaker for weddings by relating it to artist such as myself that folks often sleep on. I hear the complaints of how they don't have the dopeness from their favorite artist or how they wish someone would come with the golden era sound, or how they wish their favorite artist stuck with the sound that got their attention and continued their growth with that element, embracing others to expand but not fully abandon it. This album/mixtape is to tell I hear them.... do they hear me?
Now you mention Mercury Waters, who is a resident of illmuzik.com. How did you two link up? Also, can you go into a little more detail on what OMNi is, and what it's going to eventually be?
Me and Obsidian Blue were working on our own project back in 2005 which is now finished. Around the time of recording, I too was working on Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep. The places I was going to in order to record were not as reliable as I needed them to be, and I needed ready access to the studio. Blue had thrown a beat I didn't want to Merc. I was kind of salty about it since he slayed the damn track, LOL. Blue brought up his name again as the guy who has a studio at his crib. Merc was down with me coming to his spot to record and our first song together was Avid Thinker slated for the V.S.O.R (Vivid Strokes Of Reality/Various Signs Of Reason) project with me and Blue. Since the chemistry was so powerful, we then linked minds on other ideas such as the Bullets album with me and him, Peep Now... and the OMNi album.
OMNi is the latin word for "All" and was a dream of a self contained unit of 13 artist and producers. Each with something to bring to the table and each with something unique that the Hip Hop world maybe didn't pay attention to but needed to hear. The lowercase "I" stood for no man above the team. I thought that the ones I hand picked before were like minded with this concept but they weren't. Many felt they had their own idea of what they wanted to do with their career and didn't believe in something that they joined. While working with them friendships were tested and some new ones forged and 4 of the original 13 left. There's been a lot of talk about me spilling from them that aint true but I don't care to defend myself on this matter. I'll make my music and tend to my crew and whatever I choose to say won't be to entertain a crowd or get folks on my side about this matter. Now OMNi is a work in progress through trial and error. Merc mentioned to me I took on a hefty job of trying to get 13 folks to see things on the same page and he was right. I took a step back from recruitment and agreed with Merc doing so since it seemed like who I recruited failed me to an extent. 9 out of 13 ain't a bad number but I thought I hit all 13 on the head and I didn't. So far the first who Merc recruited is incredible. That person will be featured on The Bullets album. What OMNi will eventually be to the public is up to them. I wrote a line in one of my songs that goes "this is for you to listen to but not to determine my worth" and I stick by that. So having said that OMNi has become already what it has set out to become which is a significant stamp on Hip Hop. What Obsidian Blue, Mercury Waters, myself, Earl Flynn have released thus far has been far from bullshit and it's respected. We will continue to do so.
I noticed you have somewhat of an infatuation with the number 13, do you mind explaining?
Sure. I used to roll with a crew called 13th Floor. Looking further into the number and saw that not only did it represent change, I was also of it. I was born 1976, 7+6=13. I graduated school in 94, 9+4=13. My first name's first initial is the letter M. M in alphabetical order is the 13th letter.
With such a large crew, and diverse style OMNi could easily be compared to Wu Tang Clan, has anyone ever brought up this comparison before or have you thought about this yourself?
No. Crews of large numbers have been around long before Wu-Tang and long after Wu-Tang and they have all had their unique sound to contribute to Hip Hop. And no one has brought up the comparison before.
Do you plan on going the independent route, or is getting signed to a major label something that OMNi is shooting for?
I'm not opposed to doing anything with a major but it has to be the right deal for everyone involved. I see often with a major the stipulation is that folks change who they are and I'm not with that for myself or my artists. On the flipside, I'm not trying to hold back doing music just because I'm not signed. I have a passion for this whether signed or not, I and my crew are a problem to deal with. As long as we have the means to drop music we will. What OMNi is shooting for on a whole is to put a indelible mark on Hip Hop and let the world know we existed with dope music.
The passion and drive you have is very respectable. I'm curious to know, what is your outlook on the state of Hip-Hop as it stands today?
Saturated. It saddened me to hear folks say cats like Heltah Skeltah is too old to rap. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. To me if you still dope then you can still carry a torch, point blank. I was listening to DJ Premier in an interview saying that he didn't like how folks can say a dude is too old to rap, and how he didn't understand that either and it made me feel a little better. Rock and Roll artists can still take their act on the road any day because the fans still support them. Their career never goes out of style. Yet here we have an artform that's highly mocked and picked from and highly influential that no one supports past a certain age. That's ridiculous. Then when we no longer have dope material due to a dry spell we wonder what happened. I'll tell you what happened, you stopped listening and supporting the folks who were bringing that shit you fiended for. Though I have received considerable feedback from folks who gave this project a listen, it baffled me how folks were reluctant to even download something that was free. One dude asked me could I make a quick "best of" list of the songs I had uploaded and make a "separate" upload for "him" to listen to before he decided to download the whole project. Now I can understand someone hesitant to download something you have to pay for.... but something that's free? It either has a date with your MP3 player or an appointment with your recycle bin, but the moment you start acting like you can't even check something that will cost you nothing, that explains the state of Hip Hop.
What can we expect to hear in the near future from LunchBox tha Narcoleptic?
Projects projects and more projects. The two CD themed offering from The Epoxy (myself and Obisidan Blue) - "Various Signs Of Reason/Vivid Strokes Of Reality" will be dropping soon enough because it's done and going through sequencing as I respond to this. The EP "We Got It From Here" from Spitters Union (myself and Earl Flynn) will be coming at you soon as well. The album "The Discipline" from Michael Kilpatrick (myself and Kil Beats) will be coming shortly after those projects. The Bullets (myself and Mercury Waters) will drop "The Washington Post" very soon as we're a few tracks away from finishing a very impressive debut album from ourselves as a duo. That one may drop after or during the release of one of the two LPs from The Epoxy. I have an EP finished from myself and Kneegrow called "Knee High". I'm going to let 'Peep Now' have its run first before I spill that one out there.
Any last shout outs or words before we sign off?
I would like to extend appreciation for the ones that really showed interest in contributing to this effort I just released, as well as other efforts I have worked on. Katrah Quey, Trek Life, Phonte, NYOil, K-Hill, Gomez Beats of Bayroot fam, OMNi members Mercury Waters, Obsidian Blue, and John The Baptist, Vic Grimez, Vice, DJ Kingstun, buildingblock, Sylen, and Dose. For those out there that want to continue to down talk me behind my back, shit on my efforts to drop music, or act like you don't know me anymore, you're not going to get a holiday or street named after you so stop putting in all that work.
What's good Lunch? First off I would like to thank you for taking the time out to conduct this interview. Can you tell the people who don't know you a little bit more about yourself? Who is LunchBox tha Narcoleptic and what do you do?
I'm a lyrical cat from Northwest D.C. a place that's heavy on skill but often doesn't get its proper shine as such. Often a dude may come from D.C. with a gimmick hit, or a quick pop single, but no album that holds any weight. I hope to change that and show that heavyweights exist here. I used to run with a crew called "13th Floor" back in 1999. I moved on to form OMNi and been putting it down ever since. I appeared on some of Nicolay's works such as "City Lights" and "Dutch Masterz" and also dropped 2 offerings of my own. "Don't Say I Ain't Never Gave You Anything" and my newest "Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep".
Speaking of the new album, how has the response been so far? Also, can you explain a little bit on how you came up with the concept for "Peep Now or Forever Know You Sleep?"(which I might add is a dope name)
The responses have been better than I expected. DJs have reached out to me to play some songs on their mix shows, supporters have responded telling me their favorite tracks, and most importantly... telling me they listened to the whole thing. I was most happy to see folks went through all 39 tracks with no complaint or even feeling like it was 39 tracks. Mercury Waters and myself worked on the sequencing. I came up with the idea of how 1-4 should merge into each other. I also made a statement that I wanted "Still Going Strong" to be last. With the exception of making a last minute change on a skit, and placing that in front of 'Panic The Crowd,' the rest of the sequencing was all him. So I think the way the songs flowed helped the listener forget it was 39 tracks to listen to. I came up with the concept Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep from the phrase, Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace. I flipped that last deal breaker for weddings by relating it to artist such as myself that folks often sleep on. I hear the complaints of how they don't have the dopeness from their favorite artist or how they wish someone would come with the golden era sound, or how they wish their favorite artist stuck with the sound that got their attention and continued their growth with that element, embracing others to expand but not fully abandon it. This album/mixtape is to tell I hear them.... do they hear me?
Now you mention Mercury Waters, who is a resident of illmuzik.com. How did you two link up? Also, can you go into a little more detail on what OMNi is, and what it's going to eventually be?
Me and Obsidian Blue were working on our own project back in 2005 which is now finished. Around the time of recording, I too was working on Peep Now Or Forever Know You Sleep. The places I was going to in order to record were not as reliable as I needed them to be, and I needed ready access to the studio. Blue had thrown a beat I didn't want to Merc. I was kind of salty about it since he slayed the damn track, LOL. Blue brought up his name again as the guy who has a studio at his crib. Merc was down with me coming to his spot to record and our first song together was Avid Thinker slated for the V.S.O.R (Vivid Strokes Of Reality/Various Signs Of Reason) project with me and Blue. Since the chemistry was so powerful, we then linked minds on other ideas such as the Bullets album with me and him, Peep Now... and the OMNi album.
OMNi is the latin word for "All" and was a dream of a self contained unit of 13 artist and producers. Each with something to bring to the table and each with something unique that the Hip Hop world maybe didn't pay attention to but needed to hear. The lowercase "I" stood for no man above the team. I thought that the ones I hand picked before were like minded with this concept but they weren't. Many felt they had their own idea of what they wanted to do with their career and didn't believe in something that they joined. While working with them friendships were tested and some new ones forged and 4 of the original 13 left. There's been a lot of talk about me spilling from them that aint true but I don't care to defend myself on this matter. I'll make my music and tend to my crew and whatever I choose to say won't be to entertain a crowd or get folks on my side about this matter. Now OMNi is a work in progress through trial and error. Merc mentioned to me I took on a hefty job of trying to get 13 folks to see things on the same page and he was right. I took a step back from recruitment and agreed with Merc doing so since it seemed like who I recruited failed me to an extent. 9 out of 13 ain't a bad number but I thought I hit all 13 on the head and I didn't. So far the first who Merc recruited is incredible. That person will be featured on The Bullets album. What OMNi will eventually be to the public is up to them. I wrote a line in one of my songs that goes "this is for you to listen to but not to determine my worth" and I stick by that. So having said that OMNi has become already what it has set out to become which is a significant stamp on Hip Hop. What Obsidian Blue, Mercury Waters, myself, Earl Flynn have released thus far has been far from bullshit and it's respected. We will continue to do so.
I noticed you have somewhat of an infatuation with the number 13, do you mind explaining?
Sure. I used to roll with a crew called 13th Floor. Looking further into the number and saw that not only did it represent change, I was also of it. I was born 1976, 7+6=13. I graduated school in 94, 9+4=13. My first name's first initial is the letter M. M in alphabetical order is the 13th letter.
With such a large crew, and diverse style OMNi could easily be compared to Wu Tang Clan, has anyone ever brought up this comparison before or have you thought about this yourself?
No. Crews of large numbers have been around long before Wu-Tang and long after Wu-Tang and they have all had their unique sound to contribute to Hip Hop. And no one has brought up the comparison before.
Do you plan on going the independent route, or is getting signed to a major label something that OMNi is shooting for?
I'm not opposed to doing anything with a major but it has to be the right deal for everyone involved. I see often with a major the stipulation is that folks change who they are and I'm not with that for myself or my artists. On the flipside, I'm not trying to hold back doing music just because I'm not signed. I have a passion for this whether signed or not, I and my crew are a problem to deal with. As long as we have the means to drop music we will. What OMNi is shooting for on a whole is to put a indelible mark on Hip Hop and let the world know we existed with dope music.
The passion and drive you have is very respectable. I'm curious to know, what is your outlook on the state of Hip-Hop as it stands today?
Saturated. It saddened me to hear folks say cats like Heltah Skeltah is too old to rap. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. To me if you still dope then you can still carry a torch, point blank. I was listening to DJ Premier in an interview saying that he didn't like how folks can say a dude is too old to rap, and how he didn't understand that either and it made me feel a little better. Rock and Roll artists can still take their act on the road any day because the fans still support them. Their career never goes out of style. Yet here we have an artform that's highly mocked and picked from and highly influential that no one supports past a certain age. That's ridiculous. Then when we no longer have dope material due to a dry spell we wonder what happened. I'll tell you what happened, you stopped listening and supporting the folks who were bringing that shit you fiended for. Though I have received considerable feedback from folks who gave this project a listen, it baffled me how folks were reluctant to even download something that was free. One dude asked me could I make a quick "best of" list of the songs I had uploaded and make a "separate" upload for "him" to listen to before he decided to download the whole project. Now I can understand someone hesitant to download something you have to pay for.... but something that's free? It either has a date with your MP3 player or an appointment with your recycle bin, but the moment you start acting like you can't even check something that will cost you nothing, that explains the state of Hip Hop.
What can we expect to hear in the near future from LunchBox tha Narcoleptic?
Projects projects and more projects. The two CD themed offering from The Epoxy (myself and Obisidan Blue) - "Various Signs Of Reason/Vivid Strokes Of Reality" will be dropping soon enough because it's done and going through sequencing as I respond to this. The EP "We Got It From Here" from Spitters Union (myself and Earl Flynn) will be coming at you soon as well. The album "The Discipline" from Michael Kilpatrick (myself and Kil Beats) will be coming shortly after those projects. The Bullets (myself and Mercury Waters) will drop "The Washington Post" very soon as we're a few tracks away from finishing a very impressive debut album from ourselves as a duo. That one may drop after or during the release of one of the two LPs from The Epoxy. I have an EP finished from myself and Kneegrow called "Knee High". I'm going to let 'Peep Now' have its run first before I spill that one out there.
Any last shout outs or words before we sign off?
I would like to extend appreciation for the ones that really showed interest in contributing to this effort I just released, as well as other efforts I have worked on. Katrah Quey, Trek Life, Phonte, NYOil, K-Hill, Gomez Beats of Bayroot fam, OMNi members Mercury Waters, Obsidian Blue, and John The Baptist, Vic Grimez, Vice, DJ Kingstun, buildingblock, Sylen, and Dose. For those out there that want to continue to down talk me behind my back, shit on my efforts to drop music, or act like you don't know me anymore, you're not going to get a holiday or street named after you so stop putting in all that work.