- Mon, 2010-09-20 14:39
Bizarre belongs to one of the biggest Hip Hop collectives in the world, D12. Formed in 1996, the Dirty Dozen have sold over 10 million albums worlwide, and though their line-up has changed across the years, they remain one of the most influential rap groups to have sprung from the streets of Detroit. Current members include world-renowned Eminem, Bizarre, Denaun Porter, Kuniva and Swifty.
As D12 grew around the globe, so the persona of Bizarre as the shower-cap wearing, burger-eating, psycho-thinking, comical rapper ensued. With his 2010 solo-album Friday Night at St Andrews, Bizarre aimed to twist this image on its head, revealing a little more about what makes him tick, and the pressures of maintining a comical image, particularly following the death of founding D12 member Proof from a gunshot wound in 2006.
I Like Music caught up with Bizarre for the second time (our first was in 2005 - link at end), to chat about his new solo album, the perception of hip hop in the media, current hip hop trends in Brooklyn, the first rap he ever wrote and why, for him, the music is the only thing that matters.
"I Like Music because… it's spiritually healing, physically, mentally; it can take away whatever is wrong off your mind and help you get through that.” Bizarre, D12
ILM: Hello, how are you?
Bizarre: Yeah, I'm alright. Been rehearsing all day. I gotta show with Marshall and Jay-Z tonight.
ILM: What do you look forward to the most about playling live?
Bizarre: Oh man, just going out there and having fun. Creating a vibe and putting on a performance. Just putting on a real show for the fans.
ILM: Which have been some of your most memorable shows?
Bizarre: Overseas, you know what I'm sayin'...some we did at the Oxygen Festival in Ireland was memorable, those fans were crazy!
ILM: How are you feeling now Friday Night At St Andrews is all wrapped and completed?
Bizarre: Yeah, yeah, Friday Night At St Andrews...it's a good feeling. First solo album and all that. I was just making sure I was giving homage to the city, Detroit. Giving people a little history about my city and the hip hop scene.
ILM: How would you describe the current hip hop scene in Detroit right now? What's new?
Bizarre: We're trying to keep it together. It feels a little slow right now though. We're trying to keep it on the map, you know what I'm sayin? We've gotta tight industry here, we all know each other, Slum Village, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, D12, Obie Trice. We got a lot of successfull artists that have come outta here.
ILM: What do you think it is about Detroit that breeds successfull artists?
Bizarre: Haha! Oh man, I don't know! I think it's just in our blood, in our genes... It's also our standard of how we get down, the expectations of how we wanna do it.
ILM: When did it all start for you? When did you first fall in love with music?
Bizarre: Probably fifth grade. I had this music teacher, Mr. Johnston. I loved the idea of singing but realised I sucked at that, so I just started rapping...
ILM: Do you remember the first time you put pen to paper? What were you spitting about back then?
Bizarre: OH MAN....er... The first rap I ever did was a rap about Dr. Martin Luther King...then the second was about Halloween. I was a little kid, I was rapping about positive things back then before I became a psycho...!
ILM: How would you describe your music making process today? How do you like to work?
Bizarre: Very, very open. Very unorthodox, no standard form. I don't really write when I'm not in the studio, I don't really write without a beat, you know what I'm sayin'? I just try and use my gift, I don't over-work myself and try to be the best lyricist, I just do me. I'll just play out my career with the music, the music tells me how and what to write.
ILM: With Friday Night at St Andrews, which track did you have the most fun laying down in the studio?
Bizarre: Er...probably the last one with Monica Blaire Louise. That was tight. I liked that one.
ILM: You've talked about the pressures of having to maintain a comical image when it's not always how you feel. Image seems to play a big part in hip hop, particularly when translated across to the media. What are your feelings toward the portrayl of hip hop in the media today?
Bizarre: Hmm...I dunno, sometimes you know, people believe everything they see on TV. Sometimes that's hard. You can't believe everything. You gotta know that not everything you see in our videos is real...
ILM: What would be your advice to all the young artists that look up to D12?
Bizarre: Oh I would just say work hard. Don't wait for anybody to give you anything. You gotta go out there and get it. Build up your fan base well, go out there an do as many shows as you can. You know, don't wait on anybody. Be your own boss. Build up your own business, your own label if you can. Then they'll all come running to you.
ILM: How do you deal with fame?
Bizarre: It's crazy you know? You just take it day by day, I mean...this is what we signed up for! We wanted to be rappers. You gotta take good with the bad, it's part of our job.
ILM: When you look back over your career so far, what have been some of the biggest highlights for you?
Bizarre: Oh shit...the biggest highlights? Marshall getting together with Dr. Dre, Marshall being the biggest rapper in the world. Selling millions of records. That's the biggest accomplishment for me. Sometimes I don't know what more I need to accomplish!
ILM: What can we expect from you and D12 in the future?
Bizarre: Oh yeah, there's another D12 album coming. We're working on it right now!
Guest Edit #4: Bizarre Take a look here
