Artist: Wordsworth
Interviewer: Alex Fruchter

From the New York battle scene, and the Lyricist Lounge, to working with Punch and other prominent hip hop artists, Wordsworth has been in the game a long time. Throughout his time making hip hop music, Wordsworth has continued to improve and perfect his style. His first solo album, Mirror Music has come out to strong reviews and positive feedback from various sources. Wordsworth recently took time out to kick with me. Check out what he has to say about the new album, his growth as an artist, and his own role in getting the word out on the importance of getting Bush out of office.

SoundSlam: Last time I interviewed you was about 2 years ago. How is Wordsworth now different from Wordsworth of two years ago?

Wordsworth: Just more focused on songs that really mean something. The more I kept doing songs, and writing, and performing on stage, and working at the music, I was defining myself as far as what I can do. I’m trying to find myself more and more. A lot of people started off doing the battle scene and all that. We’re accustomed to getting on stage and saying some real braggadocios rhymes. But then I was just trying to help myself and make the transition to talking about some things that spread across the nation, about people in general, rather than just how good I am.

SoundSlam: Do you ever find it difficult balancing between the fans that know you from the battle scene and Lyricist Lounge and want that, and finding yourself and doing more songs about subjects rather than just how dope you are?

Wordsworth: At one point I did. I would say I did when I was trying to figure out how to make the transitions to making songs about other things besides battling. At this moment, nah. It’s really just the music. If I hear a track that says do a certain thing, that’s what I do. I think a lot of people now, and probably before, whatever track they heard, they were trying to brag on it. You got to pick the music and say what you think should be on it, actually fit the mood on it. All the rhymes I write, I write them to the tracks. I don’t have any pre-written verses. I write everything to the beat, I zone out with it. That alone helps a lot.

SoundSlam: Do you find yourself taking longer writing songs?

Wordsworth: Yeah. I take more time writing my own songs than anything for anybody else. Everybody else has deadlines. If somebody wants me to rhyme on a record tomorrow, I may have to write the rhyme tonight, or even an hour before. With my own stuff I can actually take two weeks and figure out what I’m trying to do.

SoundSlam: I remember when I heard On Your Feet, that was 2 years ago, and now the album’s coming out now. What were you doing in those 2 years?

Wordsworth: I did the On Your Feet joint. Then after the On Your Feet joint I did the J-Zone record, the Not Me record. That helped me. After I did On Your Feet and That Way, I knew I had to come with something else after that. I didn’t have an album deal. But I knew, alright those songs held me down as far as people questioning, ‘what could I do?’ So then I was like, ‘OK, I gotta do it again.’ The J-Zone record, the Not Me record, kind of solidified that I could make good records, that, and Wildlife. Wildlife was talking about my personal life. It gave people more a perspective on that side of my life.

SoundSlam: How many songs do you have done and how did you get it down to the 20 you have on there?

Wordsworth: I had probably 50, or maybe more. A lot of them didn’t pertain to what I was doing. They were coming out as I was growing making the music. As I got closer to constructing an album with certain songs being made I started figuring out what picture of Wordsworth I wanted to represent me. So that’s what made me decide what I wanted to use and what I needed, and what I felt was right. I did the Seven Heads song, I had Thank Y’all For Coming Out, I had Backstage, those were songs that were recorded when I started recording by myself. I had a lot of other songs from when Punch and I started doing our own stuff. I had mad songs. So, the more songs I did I just knew what was that feel of a classic, like it will stand the test of time. Some songs were good for the moment. Some songs will stand the test of time and give a picture of me as far as career wise when I’m on stage and I want people to feel me. Not just when I’m a battle rapper, but that defines me as a human being.

SoundSlam: A lot of songs on Mirror Music are stories. Are those based on real-life or is some of it fiction?

Wordsworth: I would say all of it’s based on real-life. Not particularly my life, but real-life. Every song on there is based on a situation that people can relate to and have gone through, or I’ve gone through. Trust, that’s definitely me. Guardian Angel is me. Run is people I grew up with around my way. Seeing them go from house to house, ‘yo, I’m at my grandma’s crib.’ I never had a grandparents’ crib to go to. Head High, that’s just something that’s around a lot of people’s neighborhoods and just being stereotyped. Not Fair, those are things that me and Punch talk about, or anybody, anybody can talk about living standards over here and being an artist and trying to survive over here and how the world is not fair.

SoundSlam: One question about the first track, where did you get that sample that starts out the track?

Wordsworth: To tell you the truth, I have no idea. The track doesn’t even start like that when I got it. I just knew that’s how I needed to start the album. So I cut it and edited it like that so it could be like that. I knew that’s how I want to start the album, with the ‘Oh Lord, Oh Lord.’ I think that gives you an adrenaline rush when you hear that come on. That’s how that happened. Ayatollah came with the track and I have no idea where that’s from.

SoundSlam: In Gotta Pay you were talking about your process of being an Emcee. You say, ‘In the beginning I watched though.’ Are there specific people and situations you’ve learned from?

Wordsworth: I watched a lot of my favorite artists come up and drop albums. I watched Ice Cube. Death Certificate was one of my favorite albums and he has some narratives on there. I like Common. I like Run-DMC. I like Kool G Rap. There were just so many artists that came before me that I felt I had to represent that well. I was like, ‘man, I watched all these artists come out. I need to come out under that caliber.’ So, that’s what I meant. In the beginning I watched, then I learned the business. When I was like, ‘OK I gotta put something out to gain attention.’ Each line was showing the growth, and saying the things I did before I came out. I think a lot of people don’t do those things anymore. A lot of people don’t care cause it’s so easy to get the record made in your crib. I don’t think people take time. I definitely honor a lot of those artists. So, if I’m going to make music I gotta do it at the caliber they’re doing it.

SoundSlam: Do you think being from New York and Brooklyn gives you a different perspective than someone from St. Louis or even Chicago?

Wordsworth: Yeah. There’s a larger light placed upon you as far as lyrical capabilities. But there’s people that got lyrics all around the country. New York is just known to be one of the Meccas of being a lyrical Emcee. The most elite dudes, you would not say they were not lyrical. In other places you got artists that may not be as lyrical as some of the New York dudes, but it’s also a different thing as far as what’s lyrical. Because lyrical in hip hop deals with being able to relate to people. If somebody’s from Down South and they’re speaking in a different slang, to you that may be lyrical cause you grew up there. To me it might not be as lyrical as it is here because I haven’t grown up over there. There’s certain different ways you place the category of lyricism when you speak about emceeing. I think New York holds some of the finest lyricist. When you think of somebody’s top five or six, it would be people that were born in New York.

SoundSlam: Do you do any ghostwriting?

Wordsworth: Punch does a little something. I haven’t done any ghostwriting. I’ve been really focusing on myself. But I definitely wouldn’t mind. I would love to do it. The last time me and Punch wrote something it was for Joe Pesci the actor. He did a rap song we wrote and they did a video for it too. Otherwise I’ve been more focused on just rhyming on people’s stuff and getting my thing together. But if it approaches I wouldn’t mind to do it.

SoundSlam: On Gotta Pay, you ended the second verse with, ‘I don’t need to dumb it down, you dudes is dumb already.’ Now, the pure lyricists aren’t being pushed. Did you feel any pressure, or wrestle with, ‘I could make a song like this and it may sell, but it’s not me.’ Did you wrestle with that?

Wordsworth: The only thing I wrestle with is being clear and clever. I think that’s the main focus. As far as doing my records, when I do my records I want to be clear and clever and to the point. As concise as possible so anybody can love it. Anybody can love it. Whatever type of fan you are, the most underground fan, a commercial fan, a regular adult, your mom, your aunt, your uncle, I want all of y’all to understand what I’m saying and think it’s incredibly put together. When I rap on other people’s features I feel like the belt is loosened. A lot of the features I rap on are really underground joints. It allows me that space to really kind of zone out if I want to and wild out if I want to. That was really just a struggle. I think that’s a struggle a lot of artists have. As far as trying to make it to a certain level in this game and come up, and figure out how not to change. If they can’t change they’ll usually just cop out and say forget changing. But I never changed anyway. I always stuck to the guns. I just figured out how to be more clever with it and speak to everybody. That’s really the transition I wanted to make. I know a lot of producers that when somebody comes on their track and doesn’t know what the hell is going on they’re like, ‘ohh, come on.’ Have them hiding their ‘A’ beats cause this guy isn’t saying anything. I definitely had to take time out and figure out what I’m trying to say. How can I affect the world if they don’t understand me?

SoundSlam: Along the same lines, how do you feel that your English Lit background and going to college helps you in your rhyme?...How does education and being around literature help you out that you could teach to younger kids?

Wordsworth: When I got into it, it made me realize there were more things out there that dealt with poetry, or just writing dealing with rhymes or imagination. For the most part I was just listening to CD’s thinking, that’s really my poetry. For a lot of us it is. A lot of us don’t read books, or don’t care to read books. We just listen to the songs and go off of that inspiration. When I got in school it made me well aware there were other things and other techniques. There are different techniques to writing poetry, as well as other techniques to writing rhymes in rap songs that people use that we’re amazed by. It made me stronger cause I was able to practice a lot by doing the work. I would write the papers in rhyme. Being that they allowed me to do that I was actually just practicing to get better at the same time. It broadened my horizons because at the same time, being I was able to write in a rhyme and still do what the professors asked they were more willing to listen to what I would say. A professor asked me about a Shakespearean sonnet, and I was like, ‘that’s cool, but I like this Nas song.’ I raised my hand in class and I said, ‘that’s great but you need to check out this Illmatic.’ And being that I was abiding by her rules, it made her kind of like, ‘Ok, let me see what he’s talking about.’ She wrote down some of the albums I was mentioning. I don’t know if she ever listened to them. I was at least able to get in her ear about something besides what she’s thinking. A lot of them think it’s only in the hip hop music, and a lot of them think it’s only in the books. I’m able to meet them half-way.

SoundSlam: What pushes you to keep going in music? You write that you’re up all night when the sun is resting. What pushes you to be up all night?

Wordworth: No phone calls! At night time there’s no phone calls. As soon as 12 or 1 comes I can just zone out with nobody bothering me. What keeps me going is the fans. And being a fan of the music myself and enjoying it. Hearing some dope beats and being able to work with the dopest producers. Hearing something from them gives me the battery to make music. And the reaction of the people, when they tell me about a line I said or a verse I said. It makes me realize there’s a bigger picture to me than just rhyming. I had to come to the realization that there’s something bigger than me just rhyming then going home and going to sleep. I know there’s a bigger purpose for me doing this. I’m just taking it in stride.

SoundSlam: I wanted to talk a little bit about SlamBush. Can you give a run down about what it is and how it got started?

Wordsworth: SlamBush.net I think it started maybe a couple months before I got involved. A friend of mine named Biko from Contrabanded.com, told me about some friends that were trying to get Bush out of office. I was like, ‘what do you need me to do to help?’ The main thing was, I never voted. My main stance from when I got involved with politics was watching the 9/11 thing go down and then going over for a war over nuclear weapons that were never found. I didn’t dig that. That’s when I really said, ‘man, I don’t know what this guy is doing right now.’ My man Biko was like, ‘we want you to do something where you’re going against George Bush.’ I said, ‘I don’t know what you guys are saying. Email me a proposal about it, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’ Then he emailed me the wav file of Bush. ‘You just want me to write a rhyme against what he’s saying? Alright, cool.’ Literally, I went out there one day. I flew out in the morning to San Francisco. I wrote the rhyme in two hours, then videotaped it and flew home the next morning…It wasn’t like I got involved in it cause I knew 800 things about George Bush and why we should get him out of office. I only know a few things cause I just started getting my political awareness happening. I wasn’t going to try to front. ‘We need to get rid of Bush cause of this and that…’ I’m not going to jump in the fire. If I don’t know anything about something I’m not going to be ignorant and talking junk. My reason for getting involved was, I feel I shouldn’t be complaining if I’m not doing anything. Also, people look at artists as role models. For me to complain and not say anything, I don’t think that’s right. We should try to get people involved. Even if we get them registered and they don’t vote, or we get them registered and they do, I think the whole act of getting them to do something is the most important thing.

SoundSlam: Do you think you’re going to vote this time?

Wordsworth: I’m voting this time for sure. My album drops the same day as the primary, so I’m going to go do that first. Then go to my in-store. Then I’ll be casting the vote after that too.

SoundSlam: What do you say to people that had a similar stance to you before, ‘I don’t see how I’m effected, I don’t relate to any of the candidates, what would you tell them to get them involved?

Wordsworth: My thing would be, you can’t complain and say nothing’s going to change without trying to make it change. You can’t say nothing’s going to change if you haven’t tried anything. Now you’re trying to talk facts without evidence. And it can’t be fact unless you try to prove it at least. I deal with dudes around my way, that be chilling on the corner. I don’t know if they’re voting, or they care to vote, or whatever…I know they’ll be booing Bush when something comes up. ‘Alright, you’re booing him, but let me see you when it comes time.’ I had registered to vote a while ago. I don’t know how long it lasts, but I made sure I went and registered again recently. I had to make sure I’m eligible so I’m not just talking junk too. What if he doesn’t leave office, but we come close? It might discourage a lot of people like it doesn’t work. It might also encourage a lot of people, it was close, we’ll get them out next time. It’s just about encouraging people and getting them involved.

SoundSlam: What’s up next for you? The album drops September 14th. What’s in the future for you?

Wordsworth: Right now I got this ESPN commercial, promoting ESPN clothing. It’s airing in Philly and Chicago, I still haven’t seen it yet. I’m on some underground joints, some other people’s joints. I’m trying to stay in that same loop like it never stopped. I stay doing the same things. I’m trying to work some screenplays. I woke up this morning with a crazy dream I had of some movie in my head. It was a wild dream, I just started writing it this morning.

SoundSlam: Whenever you got open casting, just let me know.

Wordsworth: I got you man…I’m still trying to get this screenplay picked up about my life in college…Just working on more music. I started thinking about a new album. I started working on some music with Soulive. The video is coming out real well. We shot a video for Gotta Pay and Trust. That’s coming out real well. Just promoting the album. I think a lot of people are surprised at the album. I’ve been getting a lot of good reviews. A lot of people wanted me to do well and come with some dope stuff. A lot of people have been let down by previous artists too. I just want to maintain that and keep doing the stuff I’ve been doing. Not fall into the pressure of really making something good, just stay doing what I’ve been doing. Just make good music and stay down to earth with the people that supported me. That’s it right now. I’m trying to get the pre-orders up crazy for this album. If the distributors can’t get a certain amount sold, or the people can’t find the album, it’s only going to be on me. There’s 250 million people in the country. I’m not sure how many joints are going to be in the stores, I know it’s not like if I’m on the major. If there’s 6 thousand, 10 thousand in stores, I need them to go that first week because if not then it’s going to be all on me. If there’s 100 copies in some state where nobody knows me, it’s not going to fall on people not going to buy it, it’s really the distributor. But in actuality, they’re going to look at me as far as not getting people to buy it. That’s really the issue I have right now as far as with any distribution company. We need to find out where the records are going.

SoundSlam: That’s big, reaching the right market.

Wordsworth: Your joints are just in stores in places you’ll probably never sell. I think that needs to be a huge strategy….That’s another thing Word Wide Communication, I’m working on some stuff with that too. I wanted to get a bigger distribution deal for it. Hopefully me sparking off right, and getting some things going for Halftooth, I’ll get a bigger offer to get Word Wide jumping.

SoundSlam: Any last words?

Wordsworth: Just go out there and support the album. If you download it, cause it’s bootlegged already…It’s all over the net. It’s cool if you’re definitely going to buy it. For an independent artist it’s much more important to buy it. For a major you still might sell 250 thousand that first week, but it’s important to buy his too. Don’t get me wrong. But, make sure you support it. You can order it online. Check out the website wordwide.com, halftooth.com. Just take time with the music. It’s so easy to make a CD in the crib that nobody really cares about the time it takes to put into it. They just care about getting it on the shelves so fast….It’s gotten so out of control. There’s no buffer. It’s to the point where I don’t buy anything really. I go into the stores and I’m looking at the shelves at people that have no identity because they didn’t go on the grind, or didn’t care to go on the grind…That’s really it. And like I say, there is no me without y’all.