Interview w/ Qwel

[ “You don’t make yourself a king, other people make you a king.” ]

Rapper/graff writer Qwel of Galapagos4 hands over the keys to beats, rhymes and life:

Me: How did you get into hip hop, Qwel?

Qwel: Well, my first participation in hip hop was graffiti. I grew up in Harvey on the South side and I moved to Chicago right before I became a freshman in high school. It was funny ‘cause we didn’t have no graffiti writers in Harvey – it’s super ghetto, just gangbanging bullshit. So there was no organized hip hop scene, it was more like gangster shit. But I was always doing graffiti. I used to live right by the Metra tracks over on a 147^th and man, I’d just go paint those freights by myself before I even knew there was a world of people painting freights. But when I moved to Chicago in ’93 – we moved uptown – there was this big-ass wall called the Wall of Fame and it was right off the Sheridan stop on the El. There’s a big cemetery and there’s like a huge alley that’s right under the train and it’s painted – it’s like two and a half blocks long. Man, I used to just walk past there and see all these pieces and trying to read them and I would be out bombing doing my own thing. I didn’t even know that there were crews! I’d see X-Men and UAC and I was just like, ‘That’s a weird name for someone’s nickname…’ Then I found out they were abbreviations for crew names. But there was actually a building over there, between Clark and Broadway – I think it was the Alderwoman Helen Schiller’s headquarters over there. And she’d let some of the greatest Chicago graffiti writers of all time write over there. And the whole building would be decked and it wasn’t a big building, so it was like, really respectful – you’d let pieces ride. But I didn’t know nothing about graffiti, I’d just bomb little tags. But then this one day I was walking to the store with my mom and I walked passed and this guy DJ Trust – used to run All City Records – he was over there with these dudes Thor and Sec and KC and all these legends were just over there painting. So I just went and chilled and watched these guys for a while. I was like 13, 14, something like that. And they were super cool – super chill with me. They were showing me how to do it. So I’d say I’ve been actively participating – and it’s probably thanks to that Alderwoman, Helen Schiller, she’d just let motherfuckers paint over there. And it was broad daylight! But yeah, I met Denz over there – just prolific graff writers over there. And that’s how I got in and started learning about crews and dudes and heads of crews and beef with other crews – they just broke it down for me, they fathered me in that shit. So I’d say it was like ‘93 when I got into graffiti really hard. But, I mean, everybody listened to hip hop our whole lives. Everybody who was born after 1980 – we all listened to Too Short as kids and NWA and then went crazy when Sun Rises in the East came out and Nas came out. It was a good time for hip hop. And I participated but I don’t think I was that aware of the implications of participating in a culture, I was just trying to get my nut off, you know? I wanted to bomb for me, but the culture helped me learn – it’s interesting how it does that. It’s like a little underground railroad or whatnot. You can do it all your own but you save 10 years worth of making mistakes just talking to somebody who knows. It’s like passed down secrets to young bucks… But I didn’t even start rhyming until like ‘99…

How would you describe your music? What kind of message are you trying to pass on?

It’s hard… I would say my message – ‘cause I mean, I do songs about weed and songs about graffiti and whatnot. I guess if I have a message it’s like, trying to be the man ain’t that big a deal and while we’re in this motherfucker, the thing that’s important on this plain of existence for us now is to communicate between each other. We have to be honest with each other. And love isn’t always being nice to somebody sometimes. Love can be tough. Love can be mean. Vincent Van Gogh said that the only thing he could think of that was necessary for art to be classified as art is that it has to be consoling on some level – it has to console, and that’s what it is. That’s all this shit is. It don’t matter how cool I am, how slick I put my words together, how well I teach you two plus two is four or none of that shit. Man, you are not alone and I am not alone and we relate to each other on that level and that’s a beautiful start for anything, everything – that’s a good start. Love is something you do, it ain’t just some thing that happens – you know you gotta do it, it’s a verb. I could go on forever and ever about all the sub-messages but I don’t have a main message, I guess. I keep growing, I just had a kid and he just turned one. I got another baby coming in June. Man, you think you know what’s going down in the world and then you have a shorty and then you really know what’s really going down in the world. And you don’t know what’s going down in the world the whole time, you just kind of move along with it.

What are your thoughts on Chicago hip hop?

Well, first off I have to say that Chicago is, in my experience – and I’ve been to almost every major capital in Europe and every major capital in the US – there’s nothing like Chicago. It just breeds art. I just know from hip hop and the shit I know intimately, like my guys, the Nacrobats, the Molemen dudes, and all of our guys are just like… Other cities, they can have a good team – the Lakers can have their little three championships in a row and New York can have their big-money Yankees and all that, but when Chicago is the champ, Chicago’s the all-time champ, you know? Chicago’s not concerned about your little trophy, we’re concerned about having the greatest basketball team in the history of basketball, the greatest football team, you know? I think it comes from the third man complex that we have. Like, in Chicago, you’ll be in a cipher and your shit will be wack and they will let you know. And that’s what I mean about love not being nice all the time. I don’t think it’s out of hatred though – I’m sure hatred is everywhere though. I think we really feel a sense of urgency – just the mind state you get from living in Chicago. It’s this little square block by block city – just segregated little sections. It’s this ‘go big or stay home’ kind of mentality. And the thing is, Chicago doesn’t have an image. The hip hop scene does not have an image. You find more diversity, just if you look at DC5 or CMW. Man, they have more styles of graff writers in their crew than whole other cities, just because we don’t have no image. We have to make our own way. I think it’s a good place where people will be in a cipher and people will be honest with you and be like, ‘Man that shit is garbage, you better go work on that shit a little bit.’ It makes you go work on your shit. Something about the music – the blues in the city – I don’t know… But with the scene right now, it’s hard to say. I think what’s happening is that there’s going to be a big backlash. Five or six years ago people were like, ‘Man, fuck commercial shit. All that shit is wack, blah, blah, blah’ – never would listen to 50 [cent]. Now, some of the most righteous emcees listen to 50. I think ‘cause there’s a sense of Kanye blowing up and Lupe blowing up that people are starting to reach for the money. I think when they find out that you’re not gonna get paid because of your skill or your talent, necessarily – that there’s a whole other thing – I think Chicago’s underground is about to become really strong. And I tell you for a fact right now, when we go to LA, they are a hundred percent Chicago. The kids there like, ‘Chicago has the freshest underground music on the planet!’ We go to Berlin, the kids there tell me Chicago has the freshest underground music on the planet. When we go to Vienna, Paris – everywhere we go, except for New York ‘cause they don’t really give a fuck about nothing except for New York stuff. Everywhere now is like, ‘Man, Chicago is running the game.’ But we’re not getting rich or living their standard of running the game. As far as the art coming out, there’s nothing coming out of Chicago that doesn’t earn the utmost respect in other places. It’s funny. A lot of my homies, until people were jocking them out-of-town we didn’t get no love in Chicago. But I think a lot of the get-rich-quick-let’s-do-the-political-musical-latter-to-the-top-and-let’s-do-videos and all this bullshit everybody’s trying to reach for, that’s gonna wither away sometime pretty soon. People are gonna realize that it’s about the music you make. And in the meantime, all you can do is make good music, so just focus on that. There’s a lot of people who have been doing a lot of dope shit for a long time that ain’t getting their props. Matlock, The Molemen – they get some props but I mean, The Molemen should be making beats for everybody on the top of the game. I think it’s gonna be dope though when it does get discovered – the whole complete scene. I think somebody’s gonna be honest. Somebody’s gonna blow up from the scene and tell everybody about Chicago and then the world is gonna come in and start digging up old Nacrobats tapes or Ill-Nature shit or Vakill and them guys and Qualo and all this shit and it’s gonna be a treasure trove for the world. It’s an honor to be part of the Chicago scene ‘cause it is one of the world’s best-kept secrets. People are going to find it all at once and there’s gonna be so much diversity and style, man, people are just gonna gobble that shit up.

What do you think about the development of the hip hop industry in Chicago?

There is no hip hop industry in Chicago. There’s consignment at record stores still for some of the best emcees in the city. The politics in Chicago is going to single-handedly destroy underground hip hop in Chicago ‘cause they’re trying to make everything 21 and up for all the shows. Well, by the time you’re 21, if you’re not a fan already, you don’t give a fuck who’s on stage. You get the fire from hip hop when you’re like 14, 15 maybe – some younger, some a little later – but that’s when you’re really trying to climb the mountain and shout from the top of it, “This is my shit!” And if you can’t see shows until you’re 21 years old, all them kids are gonna be chillin’ at keggers complaining about ‘there’s no scene’ when there is a scene but you have to go buy beers to witness it. It’s fucked up man. One of the best places we ever had in Chicago to do shows was the Bottom Lounge – perfect size, perfect sound. The sound was butter. It was a perfect little club – low ceilings, the bass doesn’t resonate too hard – beautiful. And we did two shows over there – sold out. Crackin’ shows, all ages, no bullshit, no beef, no bullshit at all – just positive vibes. But then the dudes who throw the hip hop shows were like, ‘Yeah, the Alderman says we can’t do shows over here because the underground hip hop attracts punks and they go and tag up the block.’ They did that and they fucked themselves over. Now the building is gone and it was a perfect location, right off the Belmont stop. Same thing happened over at the Hothouse. G4 became like a pillar of hip hop in the city. People would come out and so much building got done. Our crew doubled in size just from communicating. We started helping put other people on. Then they were like, ‘Sorry, 21 and over now.’ They are going to kill this shit if they keep doing this. Nobody wants to go over and learn about hip hop at SubT[erranean]. No disrespect for that, but if you’re going to SubT you’re going to have a drink and kick it, you’re not trying to build.

What’s your goal with hip hop music?

Man, if I was trying to make money I’d’ve stayed in college. I would say my goal in this music – I want to ensure that while I’m here, none of the bullshit is going to be passed off as real shit. Every second I get is a chance I get to set the record straight. I want to be known as the illest of all time. I want to be known as being honest in an age of phoniness. And I love the fact that I’m not rich. And every one of my fans knows and every one of my homies knows that if I wanted to go make the money I could’ve made money off of this music – that I would’ve taken some deals that these people have come to me with already. And I could go do that bullshit. But instead I want my kid to listen to my music when I’m gone and by like, “Man, my pop was on some real shit. He did what we were supposed to do. He was trying to console people. He wasn’t just sitting around trying to do something he could’ve did flipping burgers” – you can rich flipping burgers too. I want this shit to get better, man. I compare us to the kids from 15 years before us and I see the advancement. And I want to hear our advancement. I want to hear the kid that grew up listening to my shit and now he’s twenty times better than me. I can’t wait to hear what that sounds like.

Where do you fit into Chicago hip hop?

I guess it was the Nacrobats. It was the first emcee crew that I was ever down with. They were the first dudes that ever showed me the ropes. They were honest with me. They let me get on music. And then Scam Artists – that dude Prime – hella put me on. Pugz hella put me on. Those two dudes are the reason you even know who I am. I was just some scumbag kid with no direction and just started freestyling with ‘em and shit and they were like, ‘Yo, man, you kinda cool. Let’s do a track.’ I was like, ‘Serious? We can do tapes?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah. Doin’ tapes is easy.’ And I was like, ‘Man, just to hear myself on a song would be fucking unbelievable!’ Then I think the Molemen really helped me get out of the city. Where I stand in Chicago hip hop – I think I’m one of the most respected. I think people really have a good sense that they can trust that I’m not gonna turn my back on the city after my shit is good or after I’m in a better position. I don’t know, I think maybe I can be the one that can be honest and tell the whole world, ‘Man, you never heard of Qualo? You love that double time shit? You love that chop shit? So why not go listen to some of the originators of that shit?’ Or, ‘You guys like punchlines? You ever heard of Vakill or Juice? You ever heard old Rhymefest shit? Why don’t you go check that shit out? Why don’t you go check out some PNS beats, while you’re at it? Why don’t you go check out NoID or Doug Infinite, you ever heard of him? Just go check this shit out.’ I hope I’m a king in this Chicago hip hop scene. But you know, you can never know you’re a king. You don’t make yourself a king, other people make you a king.

What Chicago artists do you consider to be legends of hip hop?

Capital D. That motherfucker threw the whole punchline age into many different phases of hip hop trend that people caught on to back in the days when Chicago emcees would front like they were from New York and didn’t give a fuck about the city. He always was just doing his thing. Probably all the All Natural dudes. I’d have to say the most slept on is probably Qualo – I love that shit. Some of their shit is a little bit rough for most people, but it’s journalism. That shit’s phenomenal. Their shit is nasty! The Molemen – they get respect but it’s a shame they get more respect out-of-town when I go places. Kids in Germany never heard of nothing I ever did except for shit that’s been on compilations I did with the Molemen. Man, there’s so many. For music, I’d say Juice – you can’t sleep on Juice. That motherfucker… it’s probably easier for him to freestyle than for him to conversate. I really love Kanye’s beats. He has already changed the bigger mainstream, he dropped a rock in the mainstream that put ripples and now everyone’s trying to put the same ripples in the stream now. I really respect Matlock a lot – he’s really witty. Infinito – he was putting out vinyl back when we were still trying to get our mixtapes. Pugslee gets the most respect from me out of everyone in Chicago, just for the fact that he was the gateway for more people than will be honest with you than I’m being. He is one of the main reasons why probably 60 or 70 percent of everybody in the city is rhyming right now, just because he wasn’t like, ‘Hey, get on my record,’ he was like, ‘Hey, let’s go a compilation record. Why don’t you get your shit out and then I’ll show you how to do this shit yourself and then you go do this shit yourself?’ Prime has been grinding on this shit – he’s changing his music right now and it’s really hard to know that people are conscious of one of your sides and then you try to show them another side. That’s really hard for a man to do – it’s just making yourself vulnerable. But I think once he gets through that shit he’s gonna have a lot of people’s respect. And then, for hip hop in general – Raven, a graff writer from SB Crew. That motherfucker’s a school teacher. He teaches kids how to break. Walka from the Brickheads teaches youth classes for breakdancing. That’s another thing about Chicago people forget about – Chicago people ain’t no joke, especially compared to the rest of the people on the planet. Chicago’s one of the last b-boy cities there is. …Just everybody, man. And I’m excited about this generation too ‘cause I think this generation is more willing to instruct the youth. I was lucky that those OTR and THC dudes were cool with me ‘cause a lot of the crews in those days didn’t take on young bucks – I don’t think our generation is like that. I think we’re gonna make it better. The list goes on and on. Of course, my crew. My crew been through so much shit – just individual walks of life…still being broke. You know one thing that’s really hard is knowing that you’re one of the freshest emcees on the planet – and not being egotistical – but just knowing that you’re one of the most innovative crazy motherfuckers that’s changing this shit and just being broke as fuck while wack-ass dudes are getting all the shine …but that’s just how it works. You know David Bowie records didn’t really sell until after they came out? People didn’t discover the shit until years after they came out! Same with Pink Floyd. Same thing with grips and grips of motherfuckers who are innovators. I talk too much. Speaking of which, I gotta go, man – gotta go pick up some groceries with my girl… Peace.

Check Qwel's home page: http://www.myspace.com/qwelg4