Rasar’s break from Sacramento gave him plenty to write home about
Words by Andrew Bell • Photo by Sonia Seelinger
When you’ve spent years as an artist getting the local media and venue owners to support you and you’ve built up a solid fan base that supports your music, what reason would you have to leave? This was the question staring Rasar (formerly Random Abiladeze) in the face almost a year and a half ago. On the other end of the phone was legendary beatbox innovator, and close personal friend, Butterscotch with an invite to Sin City that he couldn’t refuse.
When Rasar left for Las Vegas in December 2013, his path was unclear to a lot of his fans. It turns out this was because it was still a little unclear to himself. Trusting that path would lead him from being an usher to the ringleader of a renowned Las Vegas side show stage complete with aerialists, stunts and circus acts.
“It’s a long, crazy story of late nights, a $40 million budget, celebrities, a woman who shot an arrow with her feet and a man who could fit himself through two tennis rackets while dropping life-changing philosophy,” Rasar says of his time as part of the Vegas Nocturne show at The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino’s Rose. Rabbit. Lie. supper club.
After a stop at SXSW, and on the heels of his recent release of “Viral Video” on Youtube, Rasar is returning to a Sacramento stage for the first time in over a year May 9 at Harlow’s for Joseph in the Well’s release party. Before that, you can check him out in Davis on April 30 at Sophia’s Thai Kitchen. One can only imagine how Rasar’s already electric stage show has grown since finding residency on the Las Vegas Strip.
Offstage, Rasar is reserved and contemplative, more likely to talk about the destruction of Alexandria’s libraries than the latest club banger (although he IS the one who put me on to Lil’ B. Thank you, Based God). Yet in the time since we last spoke, he has become the centerpiece of a modern vaudevillian circus side show.
I caught up with Rasar to talk about his new band The Lique, the current cultural climate for hip-hop artists with a positive message, how Sacramento prepared him for Sin City … and of course, to get some gambling advice.
{Photo by Butterscotch}
How do you think Sacramento prepared you for taking on Sin City?
I’ve always said that Sacramento is a great place to hone your craft and move on, so it definitely prepared me for bringing the goods. I’m getting more into the local scene of Vegas, but I still say that Sacramento has a much more cohesive, growing scene with more talent per capita. There are tons of talented people in Vegas, but there’s just not nearly as strong of a series of movements among locals right now. I’ve been more focused on traveling the world than just being a local all over again, though.
On that note, Sacramento did not prepare me for the amount of opportunities that truly exist across the world. The downside of coming up in Sacramento is that you can get either too comfortable or jaded to realize it’s time to move. It was hard to leave because I had so many good things going there, why would I leave? Getting out of your comfort zone is essential to success. When you step your game up, you find yourself having to summarize over a decade of work into a 10-second elevator pitch.
No one cares much about what I did in my hometown two to 10 years ago. It’s all about what you’re doing now and what have you done that’s nationally or internationally recognized. I don’t like this part of the business, but it’s true.
How has Vegas influenced you as a performer?
Vegas influenced me to step up my showmanship. Everyone on the strip is awesome at what they do. You really have no choice but to set yourself apart. I actually stood out with a more refined approach than the loud insanity that everyone expects from all the bright lights, but I know to get the crowd going.
What’s the next move for Rasar?
I’m on my Cali Is Home Tour April 29 through May 16, 2015. I’m doing at least 13 shows in 17 days. No sweat. Joseph in the Well’s new album features me on “Happy Song,” which we’re soon shooting a video for. I have two duo albums produced entirely, yet separately by two Sacramento-area producers. Tesla Carver with Medl4 is an album I wrote last year and features Poor of Tribe of Levi. I just need to record.
The other album is the long-awaited album with Styles 1001 under the group name Mellow Nine. That album is called Divine Science. Nine songs never took so long. It will be well worth the wait. That album will feature Sean LaMarr of DLRN, Poor, Annie Jay and possibly another feature.
I just want to tour the world. I’m tired of staying anywhere too long. I need to be on the road.
You’ve always had a socially conscious message. Do you feel it is getting easier or harder to promote positivity in the current industry climate?
Speaking of Mellow Nine and our album Divine Science. Now that Kendrick [Lamar]’s To Pimp a Butterfly has opened so many eyes, our album will make even more sense. I think with D’Angelo, J.Cole, Kendrick, Janelle Monae’s Wondaland Records, specifically Jidenna, there is no question that people are ready for the real again and that being unabashedly black in your music, showing our humanity and sophistication alongside our struggles is currently hot.
I believe most people are humans still, but we need to step out of this post-race utopian lie where one’s ethnicity and genetic heritage should be swept under the rug to fuel some off-base false-hippie nonsense about color-blindness. Just because I love being black doesn’t mean I dislike others that aren’t. That’s what the music I rock with today is saying, and that’s what I’m feeling. I don’t have to make everything about race. I know people like to say it doesn’t exist but I’m not going to hide from it. The music industry is foul, point blank. It’s up to us to make a difference through embracing who we are, all walks of life, and seeing ourselves as world citizens who don’t have to apologize for living our lives how we want as long as it doesn’t directly hurt anyone else. I’m more into spirit than the material world, but I have to find a way to marry those worlds through my Word.
Tell me more about The Lique.
The Lique is a dream come true. My new band based in Las Vegas has come up quite nicely in just a matter of months thanks to their dedication and talent driven by my vision and incessant effort to expand the reach. I didn’t even ask for this directly. The guitarist, Sean Carbone, asked around for original lyricists and I had already put in enough work in the Vegas underground to be the first person recommended from a highly respected source in that scene, Rahmaan Phillip. We’re jazz-based hip-hop that extends into funk, psychedelic, metal and R&B. I even do Michael McDonald and James Brown impersonations during our sets. It’s funny, poignant and classy. Above all, it’s a soulful project. We mostly play my solo material and remix hip-hop covers, but we’re building our original material. The Lique is pronounced “leak” and I came up with the name based on a funny incident from touring Switzerland with Butterscotch last year.
Any last message for Sacramento upon your triumphant return?
Sacramento, it’s been a long time coming, but I’m so glad to be coming home! I love Sacramento so much and have learned to appreciate it so much more now that I’ve finally taken this musical mojo across the globe. I still keep in touch with many people there and I miss all the vegetation. I live in the godforsaken desert. You don’t realize how amazing it is to be surrounded by so much greenery. [Pauses] I don’t mean that kind! I can’t wait to see all my people May 9 at Harlow’s with Joseph in the Well and Ike Torres! Thank you for supporting me both as a local and now that I’ve left the nest. I always rep Sac Town on every single stage I hit no matter where I am in the world. 916 til the end!
Should I put my money on black or red?
Substantia nigra.
Rasar returns with two area performances. First up at Sophia’s Thai Kitchen in Davis on April 30, 2015 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 for this 21-and-over show. He will then play Sacramento’s Harlow’s on May 9, 2015, an all-ages show that gets underway at 7 p.m. Tickets for that performance are $10 and can be purchased through Harlows.com.
Comments