For some reason, the concept of Philadelphia-rap music makes me feel cold all over(sans the jovially-neon Fresh Prince–though even he departed for sunny Bel-Air). Perhaps it’s the town’s deeply-rooted Protestant work ethic or maybe it’s a manifestation of populist pride against New York City’s glitz, but in a genre that revels in showcasing the ascension from poverty to posh, guys like Freeway, Beanie Sigel and Black Thought have always given off the impression that they’re proud to remain scrappy. Certainly no exception to said-zeitgeist is Reef the Lost Cauze whose latest offering, Fight Music, hears the Philly-MC clawing through producer, Guns-n-Butter’s murky beats with domineering confidence. However, as frosty as Reef’s lyrical right-hooks are, he warmly shines some light upon his hometown as well as things that make him laugh and things that make him mad(sometimes simultaneously):
URB: You’ve always come off as a mellow guy in-person but the title of your new record, “Fight Music” suggests some aggression.
Reef:Actually I’m not aggressive at all. Originally the idea of the album was more a of a sad thing I had going on. The whole idea behind “Fight music” started back in ‘07. I started hanging with with Guns-and-Butter and his beats had an aggressive feel to them. I guess that kind of worked with how I was feeling at the time; just because of what I was going through. I wasn’t happy when we started collaborating. It was during that period I had a lot of things going on: failed relationships, I wasn’t so happy living in the city I was living in, and even friendships, I was questioning those too. But as for aggression, I’m still smiling all the time, everyday.
“Get me Outta Here” is a fairly socially aware song. You tap into things like poverty and gentrification.
Like I said, when I was recording the album, lots of stuff was going on; I was suffocating in the city. The inner city is weird: there are millions of people packed in, really close to one another but you feel alone and isolated. I’m not too political but man, all my friends had no money–they were broke and starving, yet here we were, as a country, at war and the stock market is now at war with the public. The main idea for that song was to show how they wanna clip wings but we wanna fly. I just felt like I needed to fly away and get my mind right.
Guns-n-Butter did the whole album. Was that just a case of good chemistry?
It began as a friendship. before doing shows we’d hit the studio and just work. It began with us planning to do a song, then it became ‘let’s do an EP with a couple of songs’ and then our song-count kept growing and we decided to do a whole album. It was a great way to do an album, there really wasn’t much plotting; not much of Fight Music was thought up beforehand. Most of these tracks were written on the spot.
Despite being an accomplished battle-rapper, I know you gave up battle-rapping because you grew jaded with it. However, whenever I read a story on you, you’re billed as an “established battle-rapper.” Is that frustrating?
It is. I haven’t battled in 4 years and Fight Music is really my 5th or 6th album and I think if you were to hear my projects you’d hear that I have a lot more to offer than just being a “battle-rapper.” I mean I can’t really hate on the entire battle-rapper thing–it did help me establish myself and helped me form a bunch of great relationships. I initially did it to get noticed so I can’t hate it but the battle rap tag is an old hat and it just feels worn out.
Lately, you’ve been tweeting a lot, mainly your thoughts on rap music. Your posts seem to have a mixture of anger and humor. Does that sum up how you’re feeling these days?
Wow! I would say that sums me up perfectly. My buddies would probably also say that’s a perfect analysis. I’m wired really strangely and I’m always laughing and getting pissed off at the same time. My views on music change daily. Sure, I hear a lot of bullshit but sometimes I’ll hear a gem. With Twitter, I’ll say a lot of stuff, sometimes it’s mean or whatever but sometimes I don’t mean half the stuff I say; it’s just human nature: I say things I wanna take back but I think that’s really the raw beauty of human nature. One of my favorite things about twitter is being able to ask questions and get raw answers back.
Do you have any favorites that you follow?
Typically I like following the funny guys like Gary Busey and Wheelchair Jimmy, who’s based on Drake’s character from Degrassi–I enjoy them. My favorite hip-hop dude to follow is this up-and-comer, Pill from Atlanta. He’s one of my favorite guys coming out and he’s a hilarious tweeter. I like his spontaneous commentaries about stuff he sees in the club and about weird stuff people wear. I’ll admit I love gossip so I follow Miss Info and Angie Martinez. I like a sense of reality but there’s guys like Tyrese, he’s got like over a million followers and he says the worst inspirational crap like ‘if you chase after the bus you will catch it.’ It’s like shut up, dude. What are we supposed to do with that?
When I hear B-More music, I feel like I get a feel for the scene there. But–as for Philadelphia–when I hear Fresh Prince or Freeway or Reef, I still don’t quite get a cohesive sense of Philly.
Nobody really knows this, but battle-rap originated in Philly, so when you hear battle-rap you’re kind of getting a feel for Philadelphia rap. There’s a lot of history within hip-hop from here too: the Neo Soul era too and of course, The Roots. But People just get really caught up in trends. Philadelphia is really eclectic and it’s hard to say exactly what Philadelphia hip-hop sounds like; you’ve got the street stuff and you’ve got the soulful music and now we’ve even got some dudes like Diplo, doing party music. So, it’s really eclectic but because it is so all over the place, I think its one of the toughest places to be from and to get your name out. I’m just proud to be from here.
You give your mom a lot of props. And you’ve also said she initially wasn’t thrilled you’d picked rapping as your vocation. Checking your catalog, you’ve been fairly prolific. How does she feel now seeing that you’ve been so productive?
you know when I decided to do the rap thing, I was 19 and I’d dropped out of college; She’s the one who said I was a lost cause but now, she’s my biggest fan. There are times when I’m frustrated and I’m ready to stop doing the rap thing but she’s the one who always says ‘keep going!’ My mom is very involved with kids in the inner city. In terms of my art she always tells me that it’s not just about you and fulfilling your dreams; you need to find ways to use your art to help others and to inspire other people who value your art. My whole family has been really supportive; my grandma and my aunt have been really supportive too. if I didn’t have that support I’d have quit a long time ago. My mom is my best friend; it’s good to have family in your corner.
The lack of pragmatism in Underground rap, seems worrisome to me. It has always been obsessed with integrity and dropping a radio-friendly track in favor of financial stability is a sin. Does the economic reality scare you or is it “turn the other cheek” and keep grinding?
It actually is something that is scary and it’s something I think about everyday. I think of it like this: I don’t have a normal day job but I still gotta pay bills and keep food in the belly and while I do shows and stuff I can attend to those matters. But as I get older I begin to think about the practical side of it all. When I’m old, I wanna have a savings and I wanna help mom out, so if it came down to doing a radio hit to be able to have a financial future I’d consider it. I know there are guys who have probably done a track they regret but the stability that comes with it is something to consider. That being said, there are guys who are able to be indie and pay bills, like Murs, and for me I’m hoping to able to do that.
Kind of like Royce 5′9 doing a song with Willa Ford
Exactly! I mean, I bet he sort of wishes he could take that one back but there was probably a decent check in there. Gotta think about your family.
“Bosses” is another complex cut from Fight Music. It seems to have some duality to it and is trying to balance out paying homage to rap music’s pioneers while also moving on.
That’s exactly what it’s about. It was a concept my boy ran with. It is about paying homage to cats that have helped put hip-hop on the map but at the same time there are guys who get passes just because of what they did years ago. I’ve seen some shows where there are younger guys performing, that are way more relevant than the headliner but because of someone’s stature they get this unconditional throne as the headliner. I love the old school but I just feet like there are young guys who need to get props too.
On Fight Music there’s a track called “I’m a G.” “G” a term that has been equivocated and redefined many times in rap music. What does being a G mean when you say it?
When I say that I’m a “G” it means I’ve been around, I’ve seen some things. “G” used to just be short for gangster but for me it means that I’m seasoned. And, I grew up around Gs: my grandma is a G, my uncle is a G. It means I handle my business–that’s “G.” To me, getting up and going to work, taking care of your kids, helping others who cannot help themselves, all of that is G. I’ve been around for ten years and I have expectations for myself. For me being a G is also sort of a celebration, I’m almost 30 so I’m happy to get rid of some of those insecurities I had when I was younger. I’m looking forward to 30.
There aren’t too many rappers that would welcome 30 with open arms.
I’m not going into 30 kicking and screaming. Over time I’ve lost a lot of friends, so getting older is just a matter of perspective. Plus, most of my favorites rappers came out with great stuff at 30, like Jay-Z. And guys like Ghostface and Raekwon are well into their thirties and still growing artistically. And a lot of stuff I used to be closed-minded about I’m cool with now. I’m a big fan of Back To the Future, and I’d never want to go back and do things differently. I’m happy with how things have panned out. They turned out the way they had to.
Im a G
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