Midwest Leak Magazine

Rhymefest on Revolution

Rhymefest

By: Le’Deana Brown

You’ve had your name placed aside some of the biggest talent out of the Midwest, so you’re proof that there’s talent here. What do you have to say to those that say the Midwest isn’t on the map?  First I would like to know who said that. The only people that say that are people from the Midwest because they haven’t made it yet or because some of their favorite artists havent made it as much as they wish. You have Jay-Z who has withstood the test of time. But you also have Kanye who is withstanding the test of time and Eminem.

The biggest complaint is that when people do make it from the Midwest they don’t claim it or promote a Midwest Movement. I think that’s what we’re really talking about. Why don’t Midwest artists come together and mess with each other like Atlanta artists do or Texas artists do or New York artists do. I think it’s because it’s so hard making it from where we’re at we just try to covet the little bit of success we got not realizing that to not work together and not form unity amongst each other really makes the lifespan of everybody shorter.

Chicago can claim Kanye and Detroit can claim Eminem and St. Louis can claim Nelly…Chicago can claim Rhymefest! And Indianapolis can claim Rhymefest! Honestly, I got my record deal out of Indianapolis. So to those people that claim you can’t make it out of Nap…The guy who helped me get my record deal was Ron Miner (aka) Indiana Jones. He’s from Nap. I bought a crib out there, a Cadillac, a motorcycle. Everything I got was from there. I can’t deny Nap and messing with 625 and Reddy Rock. Doing the MC battles in Broad Ripple. That definitely added to who Rhymefest is!

Speaking of MC battles, how does it feel to say you remember beating Eminem in a battle? I don’t look at it like that. At the end of the day, that dude won the war. He’s a great artist. I try to focus on my music and trying to sell albums. I can’t live in the past or I’ll be doomed to it. I’ve got to live for the future.

What inspired you to go for the record for one-hand pushups? The director of that video Konee Rok and I were talking. I made the song “One-Hand Pushup” first so when people exercise they have a motivational song.They were like why don’t you break the record? It was like 75 in a minute. I was seeing if I could do more than that. Just being creative.

What’s the meaning behind the title of your album El Che? My real name is Che. I was named after Cuban revolutionary Che Gueverra. This album is about who I am as a person…I have something on here to symbolize every moment in life. I want this album to be the theme music for your life.

What is the symbolism behind the red tape? It represents the struggle. When we talk about revolution, a lot of people died trying to communicate ideas. That’s what revolution is. An idea that starts to manifest into reality. People that have brilliant ideas are often de-magnetized. Look at how Michael Jackson was evolving, not just as an artist, but as a human being…they de-magnetized him and tried to make him look crazy, like a child molestor…Think about all the rappers that have epiphanies about what they should be doing in the neighborhoods and they stop rapping about selling dope as much. What do they do? They don’t play them on the radio as much, they don’t sell. They get de-magnetized.  With El Che I was saying we’ve got to not depend on the machine to promote us. We’ve got to promote ourselves.