Interview: Chicago Based Artist Emcee Monte Talks About His New Single/Lyric Video "#BlackLivesMatter"
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“I want everyone that listens to this track to feel a sense of urgency and to be moved to act now. The only way we can change what is happening right now in America is to change it ourselves. That is what this song is all about.”
Congratulations on the release of your new single/lyric video “#BlackLivesMatter”. What inspired you to create this timely and relevant track?
Thank you. I was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement that has been going on for some time now. I was inspired by the injustice and the police brutality that we see every day in this country. I was inspired by the activists that came before me and made change happen in America during the civil rights movement.
Creating beautiful art out of the pain and suffering we experience in America has been apart of the black story. It is in my DNA to take what I see, hear and experience and channel it into something positive, beautiful, uplifting, and also rebellious and revolutionary!
When someone listens to the track for the first time, what do you want them to take away from the experience?
When someone listens for the first time, I want them to feel the pain that we go through daily being black in America. I want them to feel the anger and the sadness that the families of victims of police brutality feel. I want them to feel an awakening, a moment of clarity, a moment of solidarity, empathy, and more.
I want everyone that listens to this track to feel a sense of urgency and to be moved to act now. The only way we can change what is happening right now in America is to change it ourselves. That is what this song is all about.
Can we expect to hear this track on an upcoming EP or mixtape? Also, do you have any plans for an official video?
I will be releasing a 4 or 5 track EP next month titled “Change Gone Come” featuring this song as well as “Change Gone Come”, “They Don't Care” remix and “Lean On Me”. The sound is very reminiscent of the early 2000s Kanye West or J Dilla style of production.
I would like to make an official video for “#BlackLivesMatter”. Chicago is preparing to enter into phase 4 so we shall see how possible that idea is and how I can make it happen right now. It would be great to get the Chicago activist community involved in the official music video for “#BlackLivesMatter”.
How would you say that the city of Chicago influences the music that you create?
Chicago has a huge influence on the music I make. I am very happy to live and have grown up in Chicago. I see the beauty, the diversity, the culture and the creative community Chicago has to offer. It is such a unique city. But, I also see the segregation, the injustice, the economic disparities, the violence, the over-policing and I want to speak on it all.
Chicago is two different cities in one but I love it and I am proud to call Chi-town my home. I came up with an idea for an album about my experiences growing up in Chicago years ago, so I think it is about time for me to make that project happen next!
What would you say the state of Hip-Hop is in 2020? Do you think too much focus is placed on rap and not the other components of Hip-Hop like breakdancing and DJing?
First let me start by saying that I love hip hop so it is from love that I answer this question. Second I would like to say that I am honored and humbled by the fact that I had the best hip hop mentors that anyone could ask for. My teachers taught me all the elements of hip hop and instilled in me the duty to share what I learned. Through them, I learned to be a practitioner of all of the elements of hip hop. I am one of a few people that can say they do all of the elements of hip hop.
I feel like the state of hip hop has a major divide and it has been this way for a while now. There used to be a balance of styles and a variety of rap music on the radio and in the media. Now there is no balance.
Everything presented in the mainstream media is the same. If you want to see, hear, or experience something different, new, or just like variety, you have to be apart of the underground scene. On one side you have the people that have been holding it down. People in the hip hop community, people that participate in the culture, that recognize the importance of the history and the significance of the birth of an art form that would grow to be the most influential art world wide, have been repping hard and preserving the culture as a whole.
On the other hand, you have the people who have been taking from the culture and not giving anything back. Appropriating hip hop and using it for personal gain. Or just trying to be hip hop without knowing anything about the culture, the history, where it came from or who created it. Profit has been placed over cultural preservation.
But, with the current black lives matter movement demanding black art be treated with respect, our contributions be recognized and that everything we create is appreciated and not appropriated, I feel a shift coming in a positive direction. Certain outlets and people have always shown the importance of sharing the history of hip hop but mainstream media has never been about that. So it is cool to see when organizations and artists make it a priority. On July 1st the USPS has a new set of stamps coming out that pay tribute to the hip hop culture. Seeing that actually put a smile on my face and I think that is cool.
There are 5 elements or pillars of hip hop culture. 1. DJing 2. Breakdance 3. Rapping (MCing) 4. Graffiti and 5. The Teacher. The 5th element is not widely known or talked about but it is the most important. Without the teacher passing down the knowledge and history of the culture, the culture dies. That has happened a little bit over the years.
Record labels and appropriation have contributed to the death of hip hop. Thankfully there has been a revival, a resurrection and if I have my way, hip hop will continue to live on, forever! There has been too much focus placed on rap and people look to rap and rappers to represent all of hip hop but that is an incomplete representation. Rap is only one aspect of hip hop. Hip Hop is and will always be a culture.
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