Illuminati 2G

Jehuniko: Kemo has helped me more than anyone with my music, from going to Europe to structuring songs and all along he was mad cool to everyone around him. I remember one time Kemo checked an undercover officer at the Hotel for falsely accusing him of doing something he did not and so calmly he told homie to chill out, funny. Alot of people come and go in this music but for all you cats out there doing music, think about it if 10 years later, crowds were going buckwild in foreign countries for your classic songs. I remember seeing Raza in these snowy German towns coming out so dedicated to hear Delinquent Habits and the Spanish in those tracks coming from Kemo. Since then, you might've heard Kemo rapping in a Ford Commercial during the Olympics in movies, or maybe off of his latest album. So check out the Blaxican and see why it is indeed a marathon and not a race.

J: I told you before, it is a big deal that after 10+ years, that you are still putting out records...So it came out in June, what have you been up to since
then? 

Kemo: It’s the everyday grind. I pretty much just been since June, Record came out in June the first thing I did was have a record release party in Santa Monica  at Zanzabar celebrating the release of the new record “Not So Rich & Famous” it is what it is 10 years… 10 years plus. You know when you get started in the record business you just don’t know exactly where things are gonna go where they’re gonna lead so I feel very fortunate to be able to record and put out records as long as I have. Being that it’s an independent project, once you’re done recording a record you put on the business and marketing hat. Ever since the release of the record I’ve been getting it out there, pushing it, promoting it, rockin as many shows as possible.

J: This album has more of a grimy direct feel to it...

 

Kemo: That’s a trip to me because I felt Simple Plan was a more grimier record in terms of the production than this one. It was just a little dustier, grimier production wise, very much a lyricist album, where as this one is a very well balance record production wise it’s solid it has a grimy touch but something about it sounds pristine. The beats are all slammin. I think there across the board it will be pleasurable for every hip hop fan. Doesn’t really matter whatever you’re really into exactly. It’s a well balanced record that a lot of people are going to dig and lyrically as well it’s much easier dose to swallow, being that the language barrier isn’t quite there on this record. I primarily did this record with hits of Spanish in there. And so my take would be that being Simple Plan had that grime to it… this is that next level shit! 

J: I see the addition of more babies in your life affecting your music, what do you think?

 

Kemo: Personally I feel any time you have children it definitely causes you to consider every situation differently. When you have kids you have to think of life situations from a parent perspective opposed to some cat living life. You have a responsibility now to think differently and to look out for your children. That may come thru in my writing. It gives me the opportunity where I always felt that anything I ever wrote in the past even in my DH days even though at times some write ups would call our music party music. I always felt every time I wrote I  included something that was going to be provocative or eye opening or thought provoking so to me it’s very similar to what I’ve been doing in the past, only now I have the opportunity to direct it to my children if I want to. When you’re a parent you think of your kids a lot and it shows in my writing and I think it’s just a natural progression. 

J: I see a more political perspective on the new album, what brought about this?

Kemo: There’s a song on my album called Rebel that is definitely more on the political side, more on the conspiracy theory. Open your eyes see the truth type of cut. I’ve always felt and had my views on politics. I felt the urge to write something specific about it on this record, but I pretty much just feel like I’ve done it in hits in touches of it prior to this and I just felt the urge and the opportunity to do something tailored to that on this album. It’s a combination of studies and things that you read you start to see things clearer sometimes. It’s not always up front but when you read between the lines you start to get deeper and  more things come to light and there’s a moment in time you want to capture. You capture your thoughts and feelings of where you’re at in a song and that’s just pretty much about how that has come about on this album.


J: So you met Sen Dog of Cypress Hill at the gym and you flowed for him at the gym and he was feeling you? How did that all go down? I am sure the people would like to know.

Kemo: That’s funny. Yeah I met Sen Dog at the gym. I used to work at the gym, Ballys in Norwalk way back in 1990, something like that. There’s a cat I knew there Jerry Johnson and I’d been talking to Jerry for a minute and telling him about the demos I had been recording and how I was trying to get in the rap game. He happened to know Sen and Cypress who used to come and work out at the gym. I didn’t know they came through that gym, but he introduce me to Sen that dayand after that I had the opportunity to slid him a demo of mine and I slid him a record he took it home
with him I guess over the weekend and a week so he came back and  gave me his feedback on record. And I took what he said and I took it constructively. He gave me some advice and I just rolled with it. Ever since then it was pretty much encouragement. He told me two things… I got a dope voice and keep writing and that was it.

And I took that as very positive and I just kept on writing and tried to develop my writing skills my flow, everything from where it was and tried to develop that and get it to perfection and so like anybody else it was  a starting point and I wanted to progress from there. It was quite some time ago and when I think back on that it’s crazy how things happen how they develop, where you meet people, where things lead. You just never know. I got a lot of respect for Sen. I truly believe if it wasn’t for him I was gonna keep on my path and eventually continued on my past and eventually cracked the business but I feel he was definitely, well the timing would have been different, entirely different and who knows exactly where the style would have lead. There were a lot of influences there’s a lot of mentoring that come on from Sen at the early stage of my rap career I guess you could say.


J: I remember when Delinquent came out, you had the midget skateboarder in your video, tell me about that time period....


Kemo: That was 1996, we had just been through a couple of record deals with Rough House Records and Geffen Records. All of them recording records that never seen the light of day. Never made any public noise and 1996  was when we really had a complete album that was released to the world. Tres Delinquentes was the first single. Steven Hamft was the director of that video. He directed a lot of Beastie Boy videos. I remember checking out his reel and remembering how grimy he made things look opposed to videos. We felt it was perfect for what we were trying to put out. That whole time period that whole era was an interesting time in hip hop. You had House Of Pain doing there thing, Cypress Hill doing there thing, there was Black Sheep. You had this very unique and diverse styles of hip hop going on at once. It was quite a beautiful thing. We got to drop a record that at the same time was very unique and cutting edge and it just goes to show you how cultures have meshed together. Skating and Hip Hop, Rock and it’s just fusion of good music. That really described us very well just a fusion of it all and I guess at the time it was very fresh. I see midgets all over TV now, skateboarding midgets. Midgets are in.  I’m down with the little people.


J: How was that Tribal Tour in Japan and give us a rundown of all the countries you've performed in?


Kemo: The Tribal tour in Japan was something I’ll never forget. It was a gathering of all the hip hop cats that I was digging at the time that were making noise in the genre I was in, combined with B Boys, Rock Steady Crew, Krazy Legs, Mister Wiggles. We had Kartoon and Estevan from Joker coming through. Psycho Realm, Funkdoobiest, DH, Tony Touch. We had the Skater Dynasty, Swollen Members. It just a trip and when I took a step back to look at the scene and looking at all these cats and groups jumping on trains jumping on subways. The impact of that was powerful very powerful and the shows were even more powerful than what my eyes were seeing. The crowds were extremely perceptive, they were loving what was going on to the acrobatics that were happening on stage. I’m a fan from that point from that perspective it’s something I’ll never forget. I had the opportunity to tour all over the world. Allot of Europe. Europe was something that DH toured about two times three times a years since 1996. We went from Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Mexico, South America, Argentina, Brazil, Spain hitting all the way to Taiwan. It’s all been good all been very interesting. It’s been an experience to see that hip hop is a global thing. It’s alive and well. It’s different in all these countries. The core of it, the fans are fending for what were all about. It’s less superficial out there that’s for sure. The underground, the roots of it, the feeling, the bonding, the breaking dancing freestyle, all of that stuff.


J: Describe the feeling when you and Delinquent Habits, Big Pun, Cypress , Psycho Realm and the Beatnuts took that photo for the cover of Industry Insider.


Kemo: We went out there in New York to do some MTV things and at the same time the magazine called Industry Insider was doing a feature on hip hop artists. I think it was titled hip hop minority. And they gathered east and west coast artist they felt were making the most noise at the time. And that included Big Pun, Cypress Hill, Psycho Realm, Funkdobiest, Tony Touch, Fat Joe, The Mexikinz and ourselves, DH. And at the time it was a great energy that I felt being there at the time at Battery Park, basically doing an interview that Industry Insider interviewed all the artist asking us questions, asking us about  what challenges a Latin hip hop artist faced and the photo shoot came after. I knew I was part of something special at the time when we were taking those pictures. I have that magazine framed in my studio and when I look at it today it was such a small elite group on the cover that today if that same picture was taken with all the artist making noise now the picture would need a bigger lens. There’s a lot of Latinos in the game.


J: Aside from your music and Sicko's music, who you been listening to lately and whats the last piece of music you bought?



Kemo: Let’s see who have I been listening to lately. You know what I been listening to a lot of oldies. Lot of oldies and I just been turned onto this kid Final Outlaw and I think everyone should check him out.

J: Tell us some memories of doing shows with Duke of Psycho Realm...

Kemo: I had an opportunity to do a number of shows with him. But I mostly remember our tour in Japan. The Tribal Tour we had a lot of good conversations, good times, discussed the future, the future of hip hop. Alot of good times. Can’t really remember the shows, but I remember what struck me more was the conversations about the future plans of hip hop, the future plans of how we we’re going to evolve and develop hip hop and Psycho Realm has been able to bring that forward. They’re definitely a group that holds longevity and they always will through generations.


J: What's up with the remix that you doing with like 6 MC's was it?


Kemo: I have a song LCL - Left Coast Latino that I had originally planned a remix with a number of LA based Latino MCs that I’d like to have get on the cut the song and basically collaborate it’s Left Coast Latino - West Coast Latin Hip Hop. I think it would be tight to get these West Coast MCs on one cut. Pay attention to the west. And let the world experience our diversity.


J: You and Sick Jacken ever think about doing a movie together, him as a priest is classic.


Kemo: Ha Ha. Him as a priest is classic. I get a lot of feedback from his portrayal of priest in my Kind of Stories video. Well no we never talked about making a movie, not together at least. I do see at least a movie in my future, perhaps not in front of the camera, but behind the scenes at least. I’ve written a couple movie scripts, lets see if they make it to the big screen.

J: Speaking of which, I know you have footage for days, when will we see something fully edited by you?

Kemo: All I can say is when the time is right. 

J: What's next for you?

Kemo: What’s next for me is another album, more of the same, music, clothing, stimulation. A lot of good music. Saving hip hop one listener at a time.

J: Do you believe in ghosts and ufo's?

Kemo: I believe that it’s highly impossible that we can be the only highly intelligent creatures in this universe. 

J: Alright then Kemo, thanks again for your time and letting these people know about that quality musick.

Kemo: Thanks for the opportunity to speak my mind and spread the word about my new album. Peace.