Words By: Jason Vorheez
Harlem's Cash is one of those rappers that take little to no time to get used to. Once you hear some of his bars, you will instantly demand more. For that exact reason, we dropped a mixtape with him last week that I guarantee you will enjoy in one way or another. After the jump, get familiar with the man himself.illRoots: With hip-hop sales being at an all time low, and technology at it's highest, a lot of artists are using the internet as an outlet to get music out there. Some artists have expressed displeasure with this. Do you think it has helped or hurt the industry?
Harlem's Cash: Me being an artist that has used the internet to further my reach (i.e illRoots.com); I believe it has helped a lot of us (MCs) because you can be a dude from the middle of America and create a situation and a lane for yourself. Another example, is if you take a look at the XXL cover in Dec. 08 issue with the "Freshmen Ten," compare to last year's Leader's of The New School issue (most who were signed or had a single out on radio or a video on tv), in just a year we have seen the direction Hip Hop is going, and how technology has played a huge role in creating the new hip hop stars of tomorrow; at least 6 of the Freshmen Ten have used the blogsphere to get themselves buzzing. As far as record sales go, if your hot your hot, you can't say sales are slipping, creativity is lacking that's all, the consumers aren't dumb, just cause your album has a different name than your last doesn't mean anything if the music is the same. Wayne wasn't selling a million records a week every album, he stepped out his comfort zone, made his self marketable and experimented with different sounds, found one that works and boom "a millie a millie" first week, put your all into your craft and the rewards will show.
iR: I notice that you fly solo on alot of your songs, is that something that will change in the future? And if so, do you have a wishlist of artists that you would like to collab with?
HC: You hear me dolo a lot for two reasons, I have no patience to wait for people and I really don't believe a lot of today's artist are that dope. Most of them are so gassed, they just write anything and think you can get away with it, what happened to pride in knowing that your ill, I repeat, KNOWING that your ill not believing it. I guarantee when the Lox first got their chance to rhyme wit B.I.G. or when Kanye got to do a song wit Hov, they put their all into it, that's why those collabs came out the way they did. I hear so much collabs that sound like "I don't really fuck wit homie so ima spit some bullshit" when it should be ok this nigga got a fan base, I'm a kill him and make his fans mine, feel me? That's why I fuck wit Wayne and Kanye right now, Wayne would jump on your track and not even talk about the topic. Just go in, same wit me if you ever heard a collab with me and another rapper 10 out of 10 times I'm trying to make him feel like damn I should of wrote harder.
I think a session with Kanye would be dope because he would push me to a point I would want to create a new sound and change the face of music because at this point in his career nothing is cemented he could switch up his style at any moment and as artist we should all be able to do that, as far as elevate our music, much like how a painter doesn't have to paint the same image all the time, he/she creates new ones, each different from the last.
iR: Who are some of the up and coming artists that you think are dope?HC: No promotions for anybody but my dude The Kid Daytona. [Laughs] Nah let me stop playing, I like what CuDi brings to the table with the harmonies, Asher Roth is dope, he speaks for a demographic that hasn't really had a face in hop hop really and that's the college student students. I like Mickey Factz, he has a drive that's crazy, to be honest I may not know one of his songs word for word but one thing for sure is that I know his name and his face, he is all over; for that alone he will win. Curren$y is ill, he really talks about everyday life in its simplest form, he had a song talking about burning a hole in a chicks couch and putting a pillow over the burn, that's shit my niggas do so to me that's was ill, I mean right now there is a lot of talent, but this one kid name Harlem's Cash he is the clear stand out, he has the look, he is a trendsetter, his music is different sound and I'm just in awe of him [Laughs].
iR: Harlem always had the reputation of having some of the flyest dudes in NYC. Since i've known you, you have always proved that to be the case. Where do you get your sense of fashion?
HC: I have always been into fashion. When I was a kid my mom worked at Saks 5th Avenue and she would always have me there with her but not with her (you know). So I would just roam the store and check out the latest inventory, my favorite department was shoes, they had a pair of polo boots that to this day I want, you know the really high joints with the buckle across the front, well those joints were the ultimate to me. She even would put me in the annual fashion show the store had, (and this is like 1992-1993) So I was dumb young walking the cat walk in Coogi sweaters, this is long before they went urban. I had no idea what I was wearing and how iconic and ahead of the fashion curve I was. I was basically a baby into the fashion thing, I had everything from Hilfiger to Cross Color that's why now that I'm older I love the street wear movement that's going on, the preppy look, even the rock star look, but my thing is more high end tailored fashion like that runway shit. Imagine this, a dude from the hood talking revolutionary block shit, over Coldplay-ish beats in couture .
iR: How long was the process in creating this mixtape?
HC: Honestly, with out sounding like a meathead, my latest tape On My Way To Harlemwood only took a week or so. I took a week to write all the joints out then went in the studio and just knocked them out, that showed me something. If you put in the time and effort anything is possible, and its not like they're some bullshit records, they are quality joints I ain't afraid to put my name on the line with, I didn't do the traditional thing and take beats everybody knows and put a verse on it, cause in my eyes that's cheating, if a song is dope to begin with people are gonna like it regardless who's on it. You see how everybody got shine with that a millie beat right? Because the beat was hot! Well me and The Government we went all around the musical world and took joints from Santogold, Uffie, The Cool Kids, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Trouble Andrews, basically we didn't care if the urban market messed with it or NOT, same with the pop market, good music is good music and that's what I do. I push the envelope. Even with the freestyle series we did where the Government re-did popular joints like "Swagger Like Us" and "Let The Beat Build", we took those joints and made them less hip hop and more musical, the reaction was crazy, you can't be serious to think hip hop is just boom bap beats, this shit is global and if u don't understand that I will show you what I mean.
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iR: What can everybody expect to hear in your debut album? And how will it differ from your mixtape?
HC: I see you are heavy with the two questions in one. [Laughs] The mixtape is basically setting up the album, that's why its called "On My Way to HARLEMwood", in these records you hear about the harsh reality that is Harlem, NYC, and the aspiration and struggle for something positive to come out of these conditions. In every dark spot there is a glimpse of light and that's what I hope to get across with the mixtape, along with the fact that I'm really spitting bars, most rappers can't go in on a spitting level then turn around and make big records, that's one of my strengths and I'm gonna show it on the album Harlemwood, Cashifornia. See Harlemwood is a place where Harlem meets Hollywood, so each record is a event, a celebration if you will, just happy to be alive able to see my sons grow up, happy to see my team eat and become what they always wanted to be while remembering the times that weren't so great and using those memories as motivation, Harlemwood, Cashifornia is the place in life everyone wants to be before they leave here.
iR: Today, hip-hop is a launchpad for other business ventures. Anything in the works or any long term aspirations outside of hip-hop?
HC: Yeah of course. Right now we have a bunch of brands that want to attach themselves to me and my project, but I'm being very hands on and strategic because when branding yourself its all about image and what works for where you are trying to take your career, but soon you will see Harlem's Cash in these print ads doing what I do best. As far as my future ventures, outside of music I'm open to anything, I don't want to start a record label or clothing line like every other rapper and watch it fail, everybody isn't Mr. Sean John or Sir Roc-a-wear, for every Apple Bottom there are a million Fetish's or Bushi's so I will keep my options open and make sure when I do expand and venture out of music I give it my all and make sure I see it through. For right now I'm focused on giving the people the best music I can and hopefully it will be appreciated.
Donny Goines - BARS 7 (Ft. Harlems Cash)
iR: One of your strongest points as MC is your witty punch lines delivered almost effortlessly compared to other rappers who seem to really "try" to be punch line driven rappers. What is your writing process like?
HC: It's all about the zone I am in, sometimes I won't write for weeks then other times I may write for a week straight non stop, I have this thing where I stand in the corner on some blair witch shit and just black out, no lie, I don't know if that's from getting in trouble all the time in grade school and passing the time spent in the corner writing but it works for me, coming up wit punch lines are way easier than most will think, its the set up that makes the line crazy, some dudes will just say anything that rhymes to make the punch sound ill but me I describe the whole shit like "new and improved/ these dudes is obsolete/ I set the bar so high/ yao would have to leap/ if I climbed to the top of a mountain/ wouldn't be my peak/ I am what Hov thought he seen in Bleek." It's ill shit being said but its not as in your face as these so called punch line rapper do it, I hate being considered a punch line dude, those dudes are trash in my opinion, I much rather listen to a song about something then a dude looking for a reaction off one line out of every verse.
iR: Who was the first MC/artist that sparked that "Oh Shit!" factor and opened your eyes to hip-hop?
HC: As a kid, I was funny I liked hip hop but it wasn't until I seen the reaction one of my homeboys got in a street battle that made me think like ok maybe this is for me. I always was good with words, I wrote poetry since like forever and when I got in my early teens like 14 or so the things around me started getting darker so my poetry started getting darker and eventually they became raps, and soon after that they became battle raps and I battled everyone from Cory Gunz, T-Rex, Jr writer, Fred da God Son, Loaded Lux, the list goes on, this is before Smack DVD battles, at this time Harlem and the Bronx had some real spitters running around just battling one another for respect, this is one of the reasons I rap the way I do, the thing that sets me apart is I realized that the world is bigger than that but I still have that fire in me so it works in my music.
iR: Last one, top five dead or alive. In order! I couldnt make it that easy.
HC: Gotta remember my Hip-Hop scene/golden era is the late 90's early 2000's before then I was to young to understand what they were talking about, but since then I did my research, so here we go:
1. Big
2. Early Jay-z
3. Illmatic Nas, Big L
4. Andre 3000, Early Cube
5. Old school Lox, Major Figgas, Beanie's first year on roc-a-fella, Kanye, Dmx, old school Wu.
And before I go, shout out to Jason and staircasemusic.blogspot.com and illRoots.com for being the first blog to REALLY support Harlem's Cash.
