Postmodern mythology seems to constantly weave it’s way into the lyrics of high caliber MCs. For the mighty Wu-Tang Clan this manifested as fragmented allusions to comic books and old kung-fu movies. In Illecism’s case, anime seems to be his muse of choice. With Molotov for example (his last mixtape release of 2010), he even chose to piece together clips from some of his favorites for the full-length accompanying video. For the uninitiated, the main sources for the visuals boil down thusly: Kite, Ninja Scroll, Mezzo Forte, and Akira.
Keep that last one in mind.
The film follows the story of Tetsuo, a bullied teenager who suddenly discovers an awesome power source that gives him superhuman abilities. It’s a film that Illecism likes to have on in the background during his home recording sessions — and it happened to be playing on a particularly rainy day in Sacramento when he spotted his microphone by the TV set and began writing his best blog-offering of the past year. The film itself is a classic, and it’s a metaphor for the budding career of one of the game’s most overlooked disciples.
“I compare myself to Tetsuo because I have almost 10 albums, you feel me? I been getting slept-on — which is basically the same thing as getting picked on. I know what I have as far as my ability goes.”
And ability he has. After spending years working the left-coast underground circuit and slowly building connections, Illy first began to turn heads on the blogs back in ‘09 by winning 2dopeboyz’ Illa J/J Dilla remix contest. Several mixtapes later, it appears that the man who’s rap name came from a freestyle he kicked back when he was 11 years old is ready to step into the ring with the big dogs. His beat selection is impeccable, and that distinctive Northern California twang of his gives his occasionally subtle wordplay that much more bite. The MF Doom-produced Molotov is evidence enough of all that, and it’s release last November served as the perfect seque into his first solo LP, Cloud Strife, which is a nod to the sword-wielding main character from the infamous Playstation RPG Final Fantasy 7. Like Akira, this is another cult classic, and another character that seems to parallel Illecism’s artistic journey. In the game, Cloud is a highly skilled warrior who is rejected from the elite Shinra military outfit. For Illecism, the story hits far too close to home to ignore, being that his own forays into the rap-game have largely been overlooked. While Cloud joins up with the AVALANCHE resistance group as a countermeasure to his rejection, Illecism took the opportunity to form the Fly High Crew, and he’s been making noise ever since. When asked what separates him from his peers, his answer was simple:
“Cuz I have bars! And I know I have bars. I’ve battled hella people, and to be 21 years old and to have as much good music as I have from the years of putting in work — I feel like I should get my respect. And if I don’t get it, I’ma just keep going for it.”
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