Sub-Conscious interview
Based in New York, Sub-Conscious has been on the underground rap scene for a little less then a decade. As a solo artist he debuted with the indie single " Pushin' Orbitz, " and has since created an impressive catalogue with some pretty high caliber singles and features. Unfortunately, as is the case with much underground hip-hop, he's remains under the radar of a larger audience who would no doubt view his music as a breath of fresh air.
I found it to be just that after having bought his last album, The Holdoverz , directly from him in a hand-to-hand sale. While waiting for a friend on 17th street and 7th ave Sub-Con approached me, and after a few minutes of sampling the album, I snatched the bait. He took my money, passed along some promotional info, and kept it moving. The same focus is found in his music, where his signature is elaborate wordplay and vivid imagery.
When I met Sub-Con again for this interview he was in the same mode as that first day. On 14th street, near the waterfront, he was hustling his newest album, SubTalk, outside of a free concert being held by some better-known, but (as we both noted) less talented musicians. The clouds were gray and ready to soak anyone who hadn't listened to the weather report that morning, yet Sub-Con was still there. He was there, and he was focused.
How did you get started as an artist, and as a rapper professionally?
I started out in 1992, just doing theater and dramatic arts. I started to realize the politics and the amount of work you had to put into theater for directors, working with screen plays... all of that, and I basically figured out that if I wanted to have control over my art form I had got to find another venue, another genre. So things started to make sense. I was always a poet, always a lyricist, and I just said "you know what? If I start doing my thing with my music I can self-sufficiently make this thing happen." And that's when it all started to make sense. So I started making records in 1996. I dropped my first album then.
Well you figure '94 was the end of that era. That was the illest year. You got Jeru The Damaja dropping, you had Common Sense, you had all types of guys, Group Home was coming out... I think you had Digable Planets. It was the era. Then around 94, 95 here comes Biggie really introducing party rap, this really... I don't want to say party shit cause even Sugar Hill was doing that, but just the commercial stuff with Bad Boy, and all this type of music coming out. It's what it is... but since then you figure there's been a steady decline into the negative aspects of that. There's still cats buying, still cats making good music, but for the most part it over saturated now. So I would say now is the time where it's another decade, just like in 86 with Rakim and Kane. In 96 with B.I.G. and Pac and a lot of other things going on, then boom, groups like OutKast drop and it's a new era. Now here we go into 06 and you got cats like Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo doing new things. Every decade the shit changes, you know. Hopefully we'll see some good changes this time around.
In your particular music career have you tried to shop around your work to major, or at least more mainstream labels?
Been at many table dawg... many tables. Major labels and indie labels. The problem is, I want to do music my way, and when you step to majors they say, "This is great. You got a lot of catalogue, but we want you to do your thing with our producers now." They make you have to record new shit. With my need to control my music I had to do it independently. That's the way it went down.
...It's like this: popular music is not conscious music. You always get your few that slip through. You know, the Beatles, OutKast, but at the end of the day it's not conscious music. So if your doing progressive sounds it's not going to be able to fly over four thousand, five thousand copies unless you gonna do some thing with the touch of an indie label behind it. But on a major? Nah. [Shakes his head] It's not going to work like that. They got too much control over the market and they don't want to see you encourage people to think for themselves. They want to see you buying into the consumerist mind state. Keeping people nulled, and in the condition they in.
In your music career now is there anything your excited about doing?
Just growing. Getting better with hooks, getting better with lyrics. Learning how to be more effective with my listeners. I'm a very intricate rhyme scheme type of emcee and a lot of times you lose listeners like that. So I'm learning how to package it differently so that I can reach a bigger audience now.
What's going on with your current project?
The last album to come out was called Sub-Talk. It came out on a label called Eastern Conference records in 06, March 6th. That came out and my man DJ Eli dropped it. He did all the beats. I did all the rhymes. Cats had been looking for that album for a while because I had done a couple of touches with Eli and this other cat named Breeze Bruin from the Juggaknots . We did a single called Bezerkowitz . My people saw the production behind that and they also saw him doing my first track on the album lyric luverz Deluxe in 2002 on a label called Low Tech records. So it was a long time coming, and we made it pop. So the album is sitting in Virgin, and Best Buy, F.Y.E., all that now. But at the same time... I'm still here doing most of the promotion on my own, so that's been the latest.
Right now I'm working on a record with Breeze Bruin. Getting ready to do another album. I'm also working with my man DJ logic who's on a label called Ropeadope. We about to do an album... I wanna basically get a collaboration thing going so that people can see more of what I can do with other MCs that's more known before I drop another record, cause I don't wanna piss that in the wind.
Who are your main partners in crime in the music biz?
As far as music is concerned my main dudes right now is Breeze Bruin from the Juggaknots and DJ Logic. I got a couple of producers around me. But it's all still in potential form, it's not Kinetic yet. Building with a lot of producers. This dude J-zone, B-Money. A lot of indie cats. I'm just doing my thing, trying to make this work.
Thinking about your rhyming style, and in particular the bonus track from "the holdoverz" there seems to be an emphasis on creating mental imagery. Who's been your influence in writing stuff like that?
That song, specifically, came off of that Biggie line. You know: "it was all a dream/ I used read word up magazine/ Salt & Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine." I started thinking about that and something just hit me. I had a dream, literally, of being a dream in first person. Trying to get to people and hit them with a message. The song just flew from there, just off the head.
Any general influences that you have when crafting your music?
When I first started out I was listening to cats like Del Tha Funkee homosapien, Pharoahe Monch from Organized Confusion, to Chuck D, listening to Rakim. There were a few cats that really influenced me... Jimi Hendrix too, I mean, I'm trying to get more bluesy with my music now... But all in all those are like the four major cats that really influenced my style when I was growing up. Then with the Pharcyde, Das Efx, D Nice... a bunch of cats. But for the most part those were the cats I really respected. I went from there.
I want them to walk away with a potential understanding about what this music can be about as far as creativity is concerned. As far as spawning thoughts and inspiring people is concerned. I'm not necessarily concerned with you getting a message my way. [in deeper voice] "You've got to hear what I'm saying." I'm trying to figure out how to get you to walk in my world. You walk away with what ever you going to get. It's on you. Hopefully it'll inspire you. Hopefully I'll seize control of the power that I have to release these words through music the right way. Keep it healthy. That's all...
[It starts to rain heavy and he chuckles] Yo, It's getting crazy out here. Ha, ha, ha...