Interview: London Rap Artist Hazzardd Talks About His New Mixtape "Inside Out", His Musical Inspirations and More
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Hazzardd is a talented teenage rapper from London who just released a very DOPE mixtape entitled "Inside Out". After we vibed out to Hazzardd's new release a few times, we felt that it was more than justified that we dig a little deeper with an interview into the mind of an artist who you will be hearing a lot of in the near future.
After reading our exclusive Q&A with Hazzardd, be sure to stream/download the "Inside Out" mixtape and follow him on his social media streams.
Tell us about how you got involved in the rap scene in your hometown of London and who are some of your musical inspirations that motivated you to pick up the pen and pad in the first place?
I've listened to hip hop my entire life. I started super early and I remember dressing up as Eminem for my 4th birthday as he was my idol in my early years. It's also been my main genre of music and thus I got inspired to write & record my own shit.
Writing songs is such an easy way to get your feelings down on a page and allow burdens to get off your shoulders. I started writing like a year and half ago when everything just came on top of me, breakup, school stress shit like that. It was just such an easy way to escape and feel happy. Then especially when you get praise and perform songs you wrote, its a great feeling. I got way too many inspirations for me to count, people often say I sound like Rejjie Snow & Loyle Carner, who I definitely listen to a lot. I'm also a big fan of Madlib, especially his Quasimoto persona, his style is so creative and original that it encouraged me to progress my own music. Otherwise, I love Michael Jackson, his presence on stage and his talent is astonishing, Stevie Wonder too. My favourite rapper has changed over the years but its been Travis Scott since like 2015 when Rodeo dropped; he's not afraid to take risks in both music and life and again his performances are crazy.
Congrats on your new mixtape "Inside Out". From start to finish, how long did it take you to complete the mixtape and how did you decide what tracks made or didn't make the cut?
Thanks a lot man it was a long road. After I released my first EP, I was writing almost straight after it dropped, so like from September to now? Had some delays along the way but I'm grateful for all the people I worked with to help me pursue my dream. As for the other question, I needed some sort of attachment to each song to continue working on it and so that I can imagine others bumping it. I trashed like fuck, 3-4 songs? I wasn't feeling them for a number of reasons like lyrics or flow etc. You gotta be 100% with each song.
Can we expect some visuals to come from the album?
Damn, I would love to, we'll see what happens.
The rap scene in London is really starting to gather recognition and respect in the United States. Do UK rap artists such as yourself seek recognition by music fans in the US or does it not really matter?
US is where Hip-Hop started, so we must not forget about the major influence US rappers had on us. I'm always trying to promote my shit overseas to get it heard, I also work with people in the US on beats and shit. Shout out zuzi & CTHGraphics they helped me a lot on the mixtape and they're based in the US.
With "Inside Out" in the can, do you plan to release any more projects in 2018? If so, do you have a date in mind?
Yeah I'm always working on shit, definitely have something out again this year. I find it hard to juggle everything but expect some more music! I'll never stop doing my shit and writing songs.
Who are some other UK rappers or singers you have on your radar to collaborate with?
I'm not gonna lie I like doing shit solo, but I always team up with my boy Sid Sasha & Billybee as well for some songs. I always work well with those two and they're both very close to me. So yeah, Imma just keep grinding and see what happens.
Stream/Download "Inside Out" on Spotify
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