JERSEY'S OWN: BILLBOARD P

NEW JERSEY | BILLBOARD P

INTERVIEW TERRELL “REALIFE” BLACK PHOTO SHONDA BROWN

“I MEAN THE PEOPLE STILL LOVE GOOD VISUALS, BOOM BAP, LYRICS AND CREATIVITY. I MEAN WE HAVE A FAN BASE WITH AN ACQUIRED TASTE AND WE DELIVER.” - BILLBOARD P

VALIDATED: BEING A NATIVE OF NEW JERSEY, WHAT’S YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY OF HIP HOP CULTURE?

BILLBOARD P: MY EARLIEST MEMORY HAD TO BE GOING TO MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS HOUSE PARTY AND SEEING CATS BREAKDANCING AND POPPIN’ TO HIP HOP AND THEN SEEING THE MOVIES “BREAKIN’” (1984) AND “BEAT STREET” (1984) HIT THE SCENE SHORTY AFTER. THAT WAS THE FIRST IMPACT HIP HOP HAD ON ME. 

VALIDATED: WHICH NEW JERSEY HIP HOP ARTIST INFLUENCED YOUR FLOW AND WHAT IF ANYTHING DID YOU “BORROW” FROM THEM?

BILLBOARD P: WELL, IT WAS ACTUALLY A FEW, SOME WELL KNOWN LIKE TREACH (NAUGHTY BY NATURE). HE WAS LIKE GOD OF HIP HOP PERIOD TO ME AT ONE POINT IN LIFE. THAT'S BEFORE I EVEN REALIZED THAT I HAD BARZ TOO, THEN YOU GOT MY COUSIN “NAF CAPO” WHO ACTUALLY SPIT THE FIRST THING FROM A REGULAR PERSON I KNEW AND I WAS LIKE “WOW! WAIT, HOW YOU DO THAT?” SO FROM THERE I KNEW I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO THAT, I WAS MAYBE 13 AT THE TIME. 

VALIDATED: WHAT’S YOUR AFFILIATION WITH BOYZ-LIFE AND WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MOVEMENT?

BILLBOARD P: “BOYZ-LIFE“, WELL NOW WITH THE ADDITION OF OUR PARTNER AND ARTIST GODDESS DAYE IT’S ACTUALLY BOYZ-LIFE/GIRLZ WORLD. I'M DEFINITELY THE FOUNDER ALONG WITH MY PARTNER BOTTOMLINE. BASICALLY WE BEEN CARRIED THAT BL FLAG SINCE 2008. FOR ONE THE SLOGAN IS “STAY POSITIVE, WE ACTIVE” AND WE ARE A FUNCTIONING IN HOUSE PRODUCTION TEAM ALONG WITH OUR PARTNER BILL WORKZ EDDINGS CINEMATOGRAPHY/PHOTOGRAPHY, JUST TONE AUDIO ENGINEERING/PRODUCTION AND OUR NEW ADDITION “ALARAFATZ” ENGINEERING/PRODUCTION/MIXING AND MASTERING. THESE ARE THE COLLECTIVES THAT POUR THEIR PASSION INTO THE BOYZ-LIFE/GIRLZ-WORLD MOVEMENT. ONLY THING WE OUT SOURCE IS PR AND PROMOTIONS. WE ARE HIGHLY ACTIVE IN THE COMMUNITY. WORK WISE AND COLLECTIVELY WE ALWAYS SET AIM OUTSIDE AND ABOVE THE NORMAL. WE BEEN THE NEW NORMAL. LOL

VALIDATED: YOU WERE ONE OF THE FIRST HIP HOP INDIE ARTIST TO HEADLINE THE “NEW JERSEY PAC” IN 2004, HOW DID THE OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT?

BILLBOARD P: THE NJ PAC SITUATION CAME ABOUT THROUGH THE LEGENDARY BLACK 45 NEWARK, NJ HIP HOP STREET ICON. AT THE TIME THE NJ PAC OPENED THEIR DOORS TO HIP HOP AND THE EVENT WAS PLANET HIP HOP WEEK AND BLACK 45 PLUGGED ME. FROM THEN IT WAS A WRAP,  I PERFORMED 3 YEARS IN A ROW AFTER THAT AND HEADLINED THAT FIRST YEAR. IT WAS A GOOD TIME FOR JERSEY AND HIP HOP IN THE CITY OF NEWARK!

VALIDATED: YOU PERFORMED AT THE 2015 “HOUSE OF BLUES, “S.C 2014”, “OKTOBERFEST TRI-STATE TOUR” AND “ROC STEADY”, HELD IN NEW JERSEY ANNUALLY. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST FROM THESE PERFORMANCES?

BILLBOARD P: FROM ALL THE PERFORMANCES ABOVE I LEARNED THAT YOU HAVE TO BE MORE THAN JUST AN ARTIST, YOU HAVE TO BE A WORKER, YOU HAVE TO BE OUT THERE PROMOTING AND GETTING TO KNOW THE PEOPLE AND YOUR CROWD BEFORE YOU HIT THAT STAGE. BECAUSE EACH SETTING YOU WALK IN HAS A DIFFERENT VIBE WAITING TO RECEIVE YOUR ENERGY. THOSE BIG STAGES CAN GET LONELY QUICK SO YOU GOTTA HAVE IT TOGETHER AND KNOW WHO YOUR ARE ADDRESSING WHEN YOU SPEAK INTO THAT MIC. 

VALIDATED: YOU’VE SHARED THE STAGE WITH ARTIST SUCH AS DMX, RUFF RYDERS AND FRED THE GODSON, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THOSE EXPERIENCES?

BILLBOARD P: THE BACKSTAGE TREATMENT IS EVERYTHING. THE HIGHLIGHT IS SHARING THE STAGE AND OPENING FOR ARTIST LIKE THAT IS A BIG RESPONSIBILITY AND ALSO THE GREATEST FEELING YOU CAN HAVE AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST. YOU LIKE “DAMN, WE HERE!”, FEEL ME! 

VALIDATED: UNFORTUNATELY, THE HIP HOP COMMUNITY LOST FRED THE GODSON RECENTLY TO COVID-19, WHAT’S YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION?

BILLBOARD P: DAMN IT, LIKE FRED, IT'S A SAD SITUATION. I SAY THAT BECAUSE FRED WAS ALL AROUND DIFFERENT, A FAMILY MAN AND EXCELLENT SPITTER. ON TOP OF THAT HIS STYLE COULD NOT BE REPLICATED. TOTALLY ORIGINAL AND TOTALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD. JUST WISH THE HIP HOP COMMUNITY WOULD’VE RECOGNIZED HIS WORK AND HELD IT HIGHLY WHILE THE MAN WAS ABOVE GROUND. CAUSE HE WILL BE TALKED ABOUT FOREVER AS BAR FOR BAR THE NICEST. SIMILAR TO HOW WE LOOK AT BIG L, RIP TO 2 OF THE GREATEST. 

VALIDATED: IN 2016 YOU LAUNCHED THE “DEAR JERSEY TOUR” AND PUT TOGETHER THE PLATFORM, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT IT?

BILLBOARD P: “THE DEAR JERSEY TOUR” WAS A PLATFORM PUT TOGETHER TO GIVE ALL ARTISTS AN OUTLET. ITS MAIN GOAL WAS TO COMMUNITY OUTREACH THROUGH POSITIVE MUSIC AND CREATIVITY. SO I BOUGHT TOGETHER THE BEST OF THE BEST AND WE PARTNER WITH SOME NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION EYES LIKE MINE, “THE COVENANT HOUSE” AND “WE GOT US KIDS”. I WORKED ALONGSIDE A COMPANY THEN CALLED “SOCIAL MOMENT” THAT SPECIALIZES IN EVENTS AND MADE THEIR CEO AT THE TIME PROJECT MANAGER OF THE WHOLE THING… REACHED OUT AND BOUGHT DJ DREWSKI AND SKY ON BOARD FOR ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC RELATIONS. ALSO TO GIVE THE ARTIST INVOLVED A DIRECT LANE TO RADIO AND 80% OF THE ARTIST INVOLVED MUSIC HIT HOT97’S “ THE NEW MVMNT” SEGMENT. IT WAS CHALLENGING, WELL NEEDED AND ANOTHER GREAT TIME FOR NJ HIP HOP. IT WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL AND I STOPPED WHILE WE WAS ON TOP AND THE GOALS WE WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH WERE COMPLETED. SHOUTOUT TO ALL THOSE THAT WERE INVOLVED AND TRUSTED MY JUDGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP. 

VALIDATED: YOUR UPCOMING ALBUM “THE GAME AIN’T FREE”, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE PROJECT? 

BILLBOARD P: AWWW MAN 360 LYRICS, CREATIVITY AND IT'S A WHOLE NOTHER ZONE. IMAGE ALL YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS STYLES AND CREATIVITY IN 1 PROJECT TOGETHER BUT FROM 1 EMCEE. THAT’D BE THAT, IT'S TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE BECAUSE I’M NOT AN ARTIST THAT BOXES HIMSELF IN…  I’M AN ATHLETE OF GENRES. 

VALIDATED: WHAT’S BEEN THE REACTION TO THE FIRST SINGLE “CARRY ME”? 

BILLBOARD P: THE REACTION TO THE “CARRY ME” SINGLE IS CRAZY, ESPECIALLY ‘CAUSE IT DROPPED WITH THE VISUALS AT THE SAME TIME, SO IT WAS ALL PACKAGED WELL! IT SMACKED THE SCENE HARD, ALL IN HOUSE PARTIES PLAYED THEIR PART DOWN TO MY WIFE WHO ACTUALLY STAGE SET THE KINGS TABLE SCENE. I MEAN THE PEOPLE STILL LOVE GOOD VISUALS, BOOM BAP, LYRICS AND CREATIVITY. I MEAN WE HAVE A FAN BASE WITH AN ACQUIRED TASTE AND WE DELIVER. 

VALIDATED: YOU RECENTLY COMPETED IN DA INPHAMUS AMADEUZ’S “WHO GOT BARS?” AND WON A SPOT TO RAP ON SHADE45. HOW IMPORTANT TO HIP HOP CULTURE ARE OPPORTUNITIES SUCH AS THIS FOR INDIE ARTIST? 

BILLBOARD P: VERY, FREE OPPORTUNITIES ARE THE 1’S THAT MATTER ‘CAUSE NO ONE HAS A MOTIVE AND THE GOAL IS THE GOAL. THE “WHO GOT BARS?” SERIES PUSHES THE CULTURE FORWARD. I HATE POLITICS THOUGH IT’S EVERYWHERE AROUND US, HOWEVER, IT HAS NO PLACE ON THE “WHO GOT BARS?” PLATFORM, JUDGES ARE HONEST, THE HOST INPH KNOWS BARZ. HE KNOW HIP HOP, HE’S AN ARTIST HIMSELF, HOWEVER, HIS LOVE FOR THE CULTURE ALLOWS HIM TO ALSO BE A FAN OF OTHER ARTIST. MOST ARTIST CAN'T GROW OUT OF THEMSELVES, HE BIG KING FOR THAT AND THE PLATFORM IS THE ROMANS SAND, IT’S THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN, A DUEL TO THE DEATH…  BARZ! I WILL FOREVER SUPPORT THE PLATFORM AND EMBRACE MY EXPERIENCES THERE. 

VALIDATED: WRITING AND RECORDING ARE YOUR PASSIONS, HOWEVER, FAMILY COMES FIRST BUT HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE TWO?

BILLBOARD P: I DO BALANCE WORK, FAMILY AND MUSIC... I CONDITIONED MYSELF TO BE UP EARLY TO GET WHAT I NEED TO DO FOR MY PERSONAL GOALS OUT THE WAY AND BY THE TIME THE HOUSE START IT MOVEMENT I’M ALREADY STATIONED AND READY TO ASSIST. IT TAKES A LOT OF CALCULATED PATTERNS, SELF PLANNING AND REPEATED DISCIPLINE... IT’S ALL WORK. EVERYDAY IS DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME. 

VALIDATED: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM BILLBOARD P FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2020?

BILLBOARD P: I MEAN, I BEEN SET MY SAIL AND I’M GOING WHERE THE WIND BLOW ME. DEFINITELY A LOT OF INSTAGRAM FREESTYLES ‘CAUSE I LOVE DOING THOSE. THAT’S LIKE WHERE I GET TO JUST LET LOOSE IN THE SHOOTING RANGE. DEFINITELY “THE GAME AIN'T FREE ALBUM”. I'M LOOKING TO RELEASE MY PARTNER GODDESS DAYE ALBUM. WE GONNA RELEASE “95 VIBE”, MY PARTNER BOTTOM LINE AND PRIVY LIFE QU AMAZING MOST COLLABORATIVE PROJECT. SO YEAH I'M EXCITED!

VALIDATED: WHAT’S YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS AND WEBSITE?

BILLBOARD P: FACEBOOK - RUDOLPH SPIVEY AND BOYZ-LIFE, INSTAGRAM - BILLBOARD.P AND THEREALBOYZLIFE, TWITTER - CHUBBYBOYP AND THEREALBOYZLIFE

BIG SHOUT OUT TO VALIDATED!