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An Interview with: TAM – YEG to the World

Q- In HipHop, competition comes with the territory. As an emcee, I’m sure you have experienced several examples of that fact. In fact, on your song ‘Brand New’ feat. Choclair and BMoney Grenier, I felt like you went in extra hard because of the level of MCs on the track. You are also a professional soccer play for Bucaspor in Turkey and have competed all over Europe. Obviously, you are a competitor. However, which brings out the competitor in you more? HipHop or Soccer?

A- Definitely soccer.
I’ve been doing it well over a decade already and at the start and end of the day, I do it to put dinner on the table. haha.
But when it comes to it, the competitive nature I have from playing soccer all these year also has to be given credit for the work ethic it takes to really come up with bars that hit like I felt they did on Brand New.
Those bars were actually targeted at certain people from my soccer past that seemed to go out of their way to cut down at what ever I would try to grow. In soccer and then ultimately with this whole hip hop thing. So the platform was there for me to let it out and let them feel how ever they want to feel about it.

Q- You are a very creative midfielder! Is there a similarity between controlling the flow of play on the field, and controlling a crowd at one of your shows?

A- I’ve actually only done two shows in my career. Both in Edmonton when I was home in the off season this past June. And as nervous as I was, I actually felt comfortable and good being in front of people who came to see me perform. I had a lot of help from the people that are co starring in the songs, in particular from Choclair himself who came down to help us put on the benefit concert and its an empowering feeling to control a crowd. In this case i’d say even more than in soccer as a midfielder because in that position you normally play more of a supporting role, where as on stage I was now in the leading role. But I loved it and definitely want to play that role more often in the future.

Q- My two favorite tracks on your album ‘YEG To The World’ are ‘Hi Haters’ and ‘What’s Next’. In both, you touch on the subject of hate and having haters. What is your advice to young people out there experiencing hate in whatever they do?

A- The same thing everyone in hip hop says about it. Let the hate motivate you. But I don’t mean that on the superficial level though. The hate does get to you and it does wear you down. And its all good to keep appearances and all that, but the true battle against hate is within yourself to really believe that its unwarranted and better yourself for the sake of get what you ultimately want. You don’t need the hate to motivate you to do that, but it’s a 100% proof way to not let it hold you back! When you get it, then you can sing the hook from “Hi Haters” with a big smile on your face. haha

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