Equipto may be calling it quits on a solo career, but he has a busy future ahead
A wise man once told me never to use the word “unique” when describing music or a musician, because surely there was something similar. He is right to an extent, but I can say with much confidence there is no equivalent to Equipto. Born and raised in San Francisco to a Japanese mother and Colombian father, Equipto started rapping in the early ‘90s, first making his mark in 1995 with his group Bored Stiff. A champion of the underground, his career has spanned nearly two decades including nine solo albums, five group albums with Bored Stiff, four as a duo with Andre Nickatina, two with Mike Marshall and a handful of other one off collaborative albums. The quantity of the releases was always matched with quality, and the scope of subjects was just as vast.
From the beginning it was clear Equipto had something to say. He spoke with maturity and rhymed with integrity, aware of the impact of his words and what he was bringing to the culture. Citing inspiration from Gil Scott-Heron and RBL Posse, Equipto’s music has always been a perfect blend of socially aware and street. Perhaps his most distinguishing trait is his honesty. In a genre masked in fantasy, Equipto never hid who he was or what he stood for, speaking on his strengths and citing his short comings alike, basically admitting to being human. Listeners identified with his words, and to sum up a career in a sentence, allowing him to thrive as a world recognized independent artist for nearly two decades.
In late 2011 he released his most comprehensive solo album to date, Illych (his name by birth), and about a year later, he announced he was going to retire. Rappers typically don’t retire, but again, Equipto isn’t the typical rapper. His upcoming Stress Free tour with Z-Man, Lucky I Am, Otayo Dub, Mike Marshall and L’Roneous will be his last. Selfishly, this is hard to accept, but as he detailed in our conversation below, this is a life decision, and one that will not completely relinquish him into obscurity in the rap world.
A few months back you announced your retirement. What prompted this decision?
When you’re trying to do music and reach release dates and hit the road like 50 percent of the year, you miss out on a lot. Everybody is different in their own way, but for me, I want to be a part of helping my niece and nephew read, pick them up from school and stuff like that. My momma is getting older, so I want to enjoy time with her. I want to get my label, Solidarity, in good position, and get my studio right too. Things like that are what I want to focus on.
I can’t imagine you not making music, so how are you defining this retirement?
It’s from performing, and more or less solo projects. If Bored Stiff wanted to do something, it’s not like I’d say, “No.” I want to be more of a project coordinator now. I want to be behind the scenes. I want to help young artists live out their dreams and do things that people didn’t do for us. In order for that to happen, I need to take the backseat as an artist. I’m not trying to be a manager but more of a motivator. It’s like the corny shit people say like, “Stop and smell the flowers.” I need to do that and enjoy things. Basically, I will be taking a step back. I have so much material though so it’s not even going to be like a retirement, I’m just not going to be out pushing it.
You’re such a staple in San Francisco. Do you think it will be hard going forward to separate yourself from Equipto the MC?
I accept who I am and who I became. The city means so much to me. I would never be the person who I am, and the opportunities I was given to be who Equipto is. A Japanese/Colombian out of San Francisco…in a lot of places I wouldn’t have been able to survive the way I did, or do the things I’ve done. I owe a lot to the city and my environment. I’ll always accept who I am and what I did. I am Equipto, but that’s who I am on that microphone. Everything is from the heart. It’s not as gratifying if you can’t connect with the people. You want to know who appreciates you at the same time. You don’t want to keep going just to go, like treading water. I want to know who my fans are, who know my lyrics from songs that weren’t heavily released. I can’t get back to them if I’m always pushing.
I get the feeling that this isn’t about falling out of love with music, but more what the game has turned into. Is that fair to say?
The love for the music is always there. If I hear a beat, I’m going to nod my head naturally. I came from a different era and it’s not me being stubborn, but it’s different now like with the whole pay to play to advance your career. I understand why things are, and respect it, but at the same time I can bow out gracefully, and people should respect that. I respect people’s hustles, it’s just not who I am. Bored Stiff and myself, we’ve built our legacy on not giving a fuck. It’s almost defeating the purpose if I keep trying to push and go further and do a song with this guy when I’m not even friends with him, or pay to get on a bill. Those kind of moves are mandatory in the game now, like people look down if you keep with your same recipe. It’s tiring, and I don’t want to be a part of it.
With the politics of today, what kept you going?
It came in stages through stages. At times it was like I was retiring because I was tired of everything, but I reached a point where I am content and proud of the work I’ve done. I’ve played my part, whether I was an inspiration or whatever. I feel like our generation planted a good seed in hip-hop. Everyone looks at the Golden Era of hip-hop, but years down the line, I think this era will be looked at as special like that. The underground is strong, there is a lot of dope music out there, you’ve just got to search. Just like how we love Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, but there were cats on the under too, and you wonder how they weren’t millionaires like Marvin Gaye, but those are the underground cats. The music that I’m involved with, and the people I’m involved with, we are going to be those rare finds, those gems for youngsters to find. I take pride in being a part of that.
See Equipto when his Stress Free tour hits Blue Lamp in Sacramento on March 14, 2013. The show gets underway at 9 p.m. and tickets start at $8. For more info, go to Bluelamp.com.
One Block Radius rises out of The Dump and embraces a new music model
For seven years, One Block Radius’ sound has come forth from one location in North Hollywood, The Dump. It’s difficult to imagine recording in such a claustrophobic trash heap littered with Monster Energy cans, discarded potato chip bags and Del Taco wrappers, but the beginnings of OBR trace back to original members Marty James and MDA living in their trashy workspace.
It is one of the least glamorous tales with an attachment to Hollywood that you will read. James and MDA no longer live in The Dump, but it has remained the group’s recording temple. “Right now it’s at a new level of stank its never reached before,” James said. “I think the dumpier it is, the harder I work.”
The philosophy is common for producers: stop showering and grow a questionable moustache, anything to keep people out of your workspace so you can create in isolation. James knows that a gaggle of groupies won’t try to hang out amid the junk food dregs and lingering stale stench. “There’s no room,” he said. “Me and two other people can sit in there if I move some boxes around. At the same time, I keep connections with other studios should a more established artist come through. You can’t really be asking E-40 or Sean Kingston to come through The Dump.”
Recently Marty produced music for Motown recording artist MoZella for her The Straits EP. James said she brought her guitar to The Dump and even though she clowned on it, she survived the stay. “There’s no frills,” he said. “It’s where men come to make records. There’s no foo-foo bougie shit in there. It’s just get down.” It’s a workspace he intends to always keep, even if it’s merely for nostalgia.
With third member Z-Man living in San Francisco, the group clocks ridiculous travel hours that include James producing a foundation for a song at The Dump, then taking it to Street Symphony studio in Fremont, Calif. James said he values those trips to the Bay as opportunities to sink into artist mode. Living in Los Angeles, he’s consumed with being in collaborator/writer/producer mode. “I’m from up that way so I click into my artist mode,” he said. “It snaps me out of the songwriter hustle I’m always in.”
Originally from Chico, Calif., Marty earned his stripes with trips to Vallejo, Calif. Only a teenager, he worked in Rated Z studio, while they were recording ’90s hip-hop group N2Deep—maybe you remember “Back to the Hotel?”
“I got in with those guys by sending packages to any address I could find,” James said.
N2Deep producer Johnny Z took James under his wing, loaning out his MPC in the studio and allowing James to take his SP1200 back to Chico. James spoke of this era in his life with great significance as the engineers and music clerks he met in Chico lacked the knowledge of hip-hop production he gained in Vallejo. “I’d be playing them Ice Cube songs, and they’d give me all kinds of wrong information,” he said. So wrong they invented (only in their minds) an instrument called a “synchronizer” to explain the tricks of the trade. “I was going to music stores asking people for synchronizers,” he said.
James moved to Vallejo, forming his own group, Scapegoat Wax. The group released a few underground records until he moved to L.A. in 2001 and began his conquest of the industry. One Block Radius dropped its debut Long Story Short in 2005. The exposure from the debut, a mixtape and the “You Got Me” single led to a major label signing to Mercury/Island/Def Jam—a short lived experience.
With the terrain of the industry drastically shifting, major labels are essentially lost without a paddle as to how to properly promote a record. Still relying on radio play and other archaic promotional tools, OBR never had a chance at national success. James has no ill will toward the dissolution of the contract. “We were doing pretty good on the charts,” he said. “When momentum started to slow down we put our album out. It came and went fast. We probably should have held off, but there was a lot of good that came out of it.”
James said it was a learning experience, that given his prior history, he should have known better. For him, it was easy to get caught up in the whirlwind and excitement of being signed after years of independent grinding. Major labels aren’t suffering from an abundance of clients, but understaffing. It’s inconceivable that a rep can manage more than three acts in a day, let alone 15, which does happen! It only took a few months of major label life to recognize that the contacts James had established on his own would be all he needs to build a career. “The greatest part about the industry now is music can travel,” he said. “The first album still has a word of mouth attached to it.”
James recently inked a deal with DAS Communications, which handles The Black Eyed Peas, to manage OBR. He said he’s acted as his own manager throughout most of his career, but saw this as an opportunity to focus more on working in the lab, while his management handles his Twitter, Myspace and Facebook accounts. Because that’s the direction of the industry; being accessible digitally and not just having music, but being a personality in those vehicles. “It’s a challenging time to be an artist,” he said. “I think what’s happening is, no one is getting rich anymore and so the people that really want to be in music are the ones that stay in it.”
James is optimistic for OBR in this new world of music. He sees it as a singles driven market that rarely involves a well-conceived album. He’s not entirely turned off to a record deal as he is still in talks with people, but he said securing a record deal is low on the group’s priority list. “A group like us who is still just buzzing, we need to drop multiple singles,” he said. “We’re too self-sufficient to bother with a deal unless we are looking for radio play. I’ve yet to see a deal that does something for the group that we’ve not already created ourselves.”
This has been the core plan. James continues to build his name as a writer and producer, rubbing elbows with industry elite, while OBR works in the wings crafting catchy singles like “You Got Me” and its latest, “Broke Ass Holiday.” The single is a positive song about being grateful for what you have. For a group that began in a place called The Dump to still speak positively after seven years of being relegated to that spot, speaks to a humble presence in its members.
One Block Radius played The Blue Lamp on Feb. 10, 2010. First Place and The Freshmen also preformed.
