Interview By: Brendan Lee
SOL is a rapper – probably a statement you will never hear the young Seattle emcee utter himself. Fresh off a trip around the world and just hours before playing a homecoming set at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, HHV caught up with him to talk about his recent travel experiences, new album, the Seattle music scene and more.
HHV: Being from Seattle, and seeing how Bumbershoot has been around for like, 40 years, do you have any fond, early, Bumbershoot memories?
Sol: Man, if not thee first, some of the first Hip-Hop that I ever saw was at Bumbershoot. You know, like, they were booking really dope, kind of underground acts. Like I remember Mos Def came here right after he was poppin out and I saw Wyclef here… I saw like, Dilated Peoples, De La Soul. These were some of the first Hip-Hop shows I saw, y’know? I got to soak that in and it was in a super local setting where it was just like, Seattle people coming out. It’s just always been a good festival, and now it’s really recognized all around the country. That’s really dope. That’s why it’s such an honour to play it.
HHV: What’s your earliest memory of the Seattle music scene? Is Bumbershoot a part of that too?
Sol: Yeah, I mean. The local shows I started to see…. honestly, I started rapping before I met anybody from the scene… so, the first shows that I was really exposed to were the ones I was playing. That was in front of like, twelve people, at clubs that don’t even exist anymore. And then, I was like, man, now I have to find somewhere else I could see this, and Bumbershoot was the place where, you know, a lot of national acts weren’t really hitting Seattle as far as Hip-Hop goes. It’s changing now. More people, stop here on their tours. But really, Bumbershoot was the only place where you could see some of those big national names. You know, in your town, right outside. The national artists, those guys were skipping Seattle, they go to Portland or Vancouver or whatever… we’d miss ’em. And I wasn’t 21. It wasn’t an all ages environment.
HHV: Did you have a chance to check out anybody this weekend at Bumbershoot?
Sol: We had rehearsal yesterday, so on Saturday, most of the Hip-Hop was that day, so I checked out like, the homies, like Dave B, he’s super dope, he’s from Seattle. Grynch, Nacho Picasso, The Physics, obviously saw Kendrick. I was racing over to try and get to see Joey Bada$$ but didn’t get there in time to catch him. But yeah, I was checking out everything I can that day. Charles Bradley, too, I don’t know if you saw him. He’s a soul singer, he’s super dope. Just like, old school.
HHV: You just got back from a huge trip, travelling the world, I’ve been kind of keeping up-to-date with your Twitter, it seems really tight. Did travelling the world influence your music or style in any way?
Sol: Definitely. I have a new record out, I wrote most of it abroad and just, you know, being surrounded by these different environments is like having a totally different palate to paint with. So, to be able to write these raw visuals and experiences that I was able to have and be exposed to, I guess really had a profound impact on me as a person and an artist. So I think my content is… although, I’m still the same person but I’ve grown a lot. From a very personal level, I’ve grown a lot as a human being…
HHV: You kind of saw things in a bigger picture…
Sol: Yeah, I just kind of like, all the excess, all the bullshit has been chipped away. Man, this last year, these experiences, it like, it breaks you down to your core being of who you are. You’re really out there. You’re travelling alone. You’re meeting new people and you realize who you are, or when you present yourself to somebody else and the things you choose to share about yourself. The things that happen, the type of people you meet. I’ve benefited from that experience and now, I’m be able to share with people who I am. As an artist, that adds a lot to your art.
HHV: Did you happen to play any shows while you travelled?
Sol: Yeah, I was trying not to work like, I didn’t want to be out there with this agenda, you know. I was more focused on really just, soaking up game and not trying to impose myself on other people and other cultures. It’s so easy to bring what you have to the table but I wanted to really kind of recieve as much envy and be hopeful to give that back in return. I feel, still, avoiding “work” I found myself in these bizarre music situations just cos of like, who I am. It’s how I meet people. It’s the common language. So, I performed, I recorded in India, some of my record was recorded in India, I recorded in Uganda, performed in South Africa, I performed at Carnival in Brazil, a couple of hundred thousand people at Carnival.
HHV: What was the response like there? Obviously people there didn’t know who the hell you were?
Sol: Yeah, I would say 99.9% people didn’t know who I was, but I was linked up with these dope Hip-Hop artists from El Savaldor and they hella took me in and we made music together and performed together and then I was in a totally different part of Brazil and Carnival was happening and they hit me up. They were like, “man why don’t you come rock with us?”, you know? I was out there and it was crazy man, the reception was great. But again, I was receiving the experience more than anybody was. I’m the lucky one.
HHV: I guess it was kind of a mutual thing.
Sol: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. It was a cultural exchange.
HHV: How do you feel ‘Eyes Open’ would be different from your previous work?
Sol: I think sonically, I’m still building my sound, I’m finding out who I am more and more. But with content, something that was changed a lot is that, it’s kind of hard to explain. I think that, I feel like an adult now. When I made ‘Yours Truly’, I was nineteen to when I was, maybe twenty-two. And I was figuring out who I was. And now, I feel like you’re always going, but I’m much more comfortable with who I am and there’s less question marks. That’s what ‘Yours Truly’ is all about. There’s a lot of questions on that album. I think this one, I’m starting to be, I wouldn’t say there’s answers now, but I would say I now know who I am and what I want to do and what kind of impact I want to have. And that’s changed how I view my responsibility as an artist and the type of things I rap about. And basically the kind of legacy that I want to leave and what kind of person I want to be.
HHV: Did you work with any new artists or producers that you haven’t worked with on ‘Eyes Open’?
Sol: This is the record where I came back to when I had left and I was so excited to come back to my work relationship with my live band. So my drummer produced, I mean, my drummer and bassist had their hands on every single song. They produced six out of eight songs. We mixed it all by ourselves, we basically just like, the crew now. We have really figured out the team. So this record was more about building that unit and that family. I think there’s a lot of consistency and depth to the project because of that. And we also didn’t sample at all, so we had a lot of fun. A lot of fun just playing the music and stuff.
HHV: Are there any guest features you’re really excited about?
Sol: For whatever reason, I didn’t have any rap features on ‘Yours Truly’. There’s no rap features on this record but there’s a bunch of really beautiful voices and back up singers. It’s all Seattle talent.
HHV: So you’re more into feature on your mixtapes?
Sol: You know, whenever the right kind of song happens, I know who needs to be on it. And if I’m lucky enough, I’m able to get that person. But when I write a record, often times it writes itself.. and well, there’s no room for a feature now… and it’s like, “damn”.
HHV: I’ve been hearing a lot of talk, a lot of people saying you’re going to be the next big thing out of Seattle. Obviously with, some of the success that has been coming out of Seattle, people are talking about who’s next. Do you have any aspirations for the Billboard charts or anything like that? Or do you have a different vision for your success? Or do you not think about it?
Sol: The ultimate goal really, is to reach as many people as you can as possible. and that hasn’t changed. There’s a lot of things that have changed about me in the last little while but, I think more so than ever, the platform we have as artists and the privilege that we have, is a huge tool to do something amazing. Obviously, the recent success in Seattle has been Macklemore. Somebody who has a huge, in my opinion, positive impact with his music. He makes postitive music and I feel like I do the same thing. I want to reach as many people as possible but at the same time, I appreciate the small things in life and it’s a sacrifice, that I would be sad to give up my privacy.
HHV: He [Macklemore] has been talking a lot about how it’s been pretty difficult..
Sol: Yeah, of course it’s gotta be difficult. So, I love my life enough to make a career out of music, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll be very lucky if I could be like Willie Nelson. Seventy and up there playing music. That’s amazing and there’s people that have a balance and that’s my number one priority in life.
HHV: A lot of rappers that are older now talk about it being more about longevity than about just being a success right away. It’s more about endurance.
Sol: For sure.
HHV: That brings us to our next question, it must be weird to balance your regular self to your Hip-Hop persona. Was there ever a moment where you were just like, “whoa… I’m a rapper and people are actually listening to me?”
Sol: Yeah, it’s funny that I’m a rapper. I don’t view myself as, it’s not necessarily the way I’d like to introduce myself so this is funny that this has been my career path. But it’s always been a passion. The culture was something I grew up with, I’ve been rapping since I was ten or eleven, you know? So it really is who I am. And honestly, from an really early age, it made sense to me, to not really try to be anything besides myself. That’s why I go by Sol, that’s my real name. Even if I was to dig into the crates and show you some of my early stuff… the fake and the funk is labour intensive, man. You gotta be like, out there and be yourself. Balancing those two things are really the same thing for me. But as far as the lively hood goes, spending time with my family and the rap life, that’s a very difficult balance. But being myself, honestly, that’s the easiest part because that’s just who you are. And that’s a lot less difficult than trying to come up with some sort of alias or alter-ego or fake life or whatever.
HHV: So you’re touring the Northwest , in the fall?
Sol: We got as North as Vancouver, all the way down to L.A, San Diego, Colorado.. it’s cool, it’s my first headlining run and I”m super excited.
HHV: Any further plans to go throughout Canada and more further away like, Europe?
Sol: Those are definitely goals and things that can hopefully can happen in the near future. Right now, I’m taking care of home and I might have to get back in th studio and do a little bit more work and then get back out on the road. When the people need it, I’m a try to give it to them.
HHV: I guess it’s hard to fund a tour when you’re a indie artist…
Sol: Yeah, just in general, as an independent artist you have to believe in yourself and often sometimes you’re in positions where you really have to, like, stakes will be high, you really have to put that out there, you might get low in the bank account but when you’re making the right moves, you might be able to budget. Being an independent artist is not like it used to be.
HHV: To me it seems like there’s something special about a Seattle Hip-Hop show. I’ve been to Hip-Hop shows in a lot of different places, Seattle seems to be like, insane crowds, people go crazy. You play some pretty wild shows. Your set at Sasquatch [annual Washington state music festival] last year had everyone buzzing. I heard that it was just one of the most insane shows all weekend. People were getting thrown on stage and shit?
Sol: That was crazy.. that’s all I could say. Youtube it.
HHV: It must have been pretty crazy playing a show like that.
Sol: I was so excited. You spend so much time in the studio and working on the music and we’ve been rehearsing and I’ve been thinking about Bumbershoot for months now. So when you come out and you’re that excited and the crowd is that excited as well, man, it’s just next level.
HHV: Being Hip-Hop Vancouver, are you familiar with any Vancouver Hip-Hop artists?
Sol: I know he’s not originally from Vancouver, but Shad is super dope. He’s the homie. We’ve done shows together and all that. He’s a great guy too man, he’s the shit. I know Son Real as well. He’s a talented dude, he’s always been cool. He came out to that show that we did at Electric Owl last time. I feel like Northwest HIp-Hop, there’s a certain work ethic that people have and a humility and it’s definitely there in Vancouver. It’s a dope city.
HHV: Any other things you want to get out?
Sol: The show at Electric Owl on October 11th.
LINKS:
Bumbershoot Festival’s Website