Illuminati 2G

Illuminati 2G kicked it with Michigan's own, Tek for a exclusive interview. We talk about the current state of hip hop, his new single, Not 2 Day, his upcoming album, Black Market and much more so check it out.

Illuminati 2G is here with Tek how's it going?

Just chillin, how are you?

Good. Tell me a little bit about how you got your start in music and who are some of your musical influences out there?

Pretty much how I got my start in music, I got my start in high school, writing poetry for class, creative writing. Over time it just turned into rhymes and the poetry just turned into lyrics and I always liked rap music so I decided to just try it one day in 2000. I was in the 10th or 11th grade, that is really when I tried recording and stuff like that. My influences are Jay-Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes, 2pac, Biggie, just pretty much the classic hip hop. Music with meaning.

Tell me a little bit about the music scene where you are from in Michigan? What is the music scene like in Michigan right now?

You have 2 different scenes as far as hip hop goes. At least to me in my eyes. You have the traditional...., well they are both kind of traditional, so I should not say one is more than the other, but you got the K-Deezy and the Eastside Chedda Boyz, Detroit street music. Then you have the J. Dilla, Black Milk, Slum Village, more soulful, Motown type hip hop. That is pretty much how the scene is. It is one or the other when it comes to hip hop around this way in Michigan.

You have a new single that hit the net called Not 2 Day, tell me a little bit about how that single came together for you.

Ok no doubt. That is my boy from Montreal, Young Blaze, he produced that. He is pretty much the producer that I work with. He is my right hand man and I work with him the most, so when I started to work on this project, I reached out to him first. He goes to school at the same time so the beats come slow but he shopped me some beats and the beat for this song happened to be last years beats. But to me they are brand new, so that is how that first song came along. That beat was in the first batch of beats he sent. It was also one of the first songs that I recorded for the album. It ended up being a good fit for the first single. Because it is just me on the song and I feel that the hook is very catchy. It gets stuck in people's head pretty quick.

The single is from your debut album, Black Market that is getting ready to drop soon. Is there any details you can give about the album, guests, producers, release date?

It is set to release in August. I am going to start off just locally in a couple Best Buys but as far as online it will be available worldwide. Through CD Baby, I-Tunes, Napster and all of the usual digital distribution stores. As far as features, I got a few pretty nice names..., let's just say that they are nice features but we still in negotiations right now. I am going to try and not get too heavy on features but I will have a few on there. As far as hometown people though I know my boy J-Hustle, he is out of Pontiac, Michigan. Besides that there will be a couple people on there that are worth checking out for sure.

Ok, you can keep that under wraps it's no problem. What are your thoughts right now on the state of hip hop? You happy with the music that is coming out, you think it is alot of BS, just what is your personal thoughts on the music?

Honestly I watch how I give my opinion on that because people like to judge on you like you talking bad on it. I respect everything, everybody does their own thing. As far as what the radio is playing and all the videos right now, I think it is one sided to the 100% commerical songs that are just based on a gimmick or a dance. It is really one sided as far as that goes, I don't think there are alot of songs that have alot of substance. Everything is a dance or whatever the new fad is. I don't think that the music is saying anything that the people can relate to.

By the way I did not mean that question to come off as a loaded question or anything like that. I always ask people what their thoughts are on it. My personally I think that music is starting to get back more towards lyrics. I think that whole dance craze is starting to die out and you are starting to see alot more meaningful songs. You may not see him as far as singles or videos on BET or MTV though, but I always ask people just about the music that is out. Nothing personal against a particular rapper or anything so I hope that question did not come off like that to you.

Nah fo sho. I just know that is a touchy thing, but I know you did not mean it like that. I agree though too, all the fads are starting to die out. But I see that people do not want to let it go, but it is looking like hip hop is coming back so I can see it.

What are some albums you may have bought or picked up online the last couple weeks or could be a old school album, that you have been bumping right now that you have been feeling alot lately? At the house or in the Ipod?

I am always banging J Dilla, the old J Dilla. I can't remember what Slum Village was called back in the day. I bump him all the time and Slum Village. As far as new cats, I like that cat Blu out of California. That cat Jay Electronica, I heard some songs from him lately that sound kinda ill. But nothing really in particular. I don't listen to alot of music nowadays that much. I like to listen to 90's hip hop alot as far as my inspiration.

Do you have any upcoming shows or tour dates you got coming up in the near future that you want to let the people know about?

Pretty much as far as tours and shows, I am going to be holding off on that till the next calendar year. I am going to finish up in the studio and doing promotion for the album and stuff like that. I am going to make sure that is all set in motion before I go on tour, but definitely after that I will have plenty of shows all over Michigan and probably over in Canada too. I am definitely going to focus on the whole Midwest region after this next year or so.

Do you have a label situation or are you currently doing the indie thing?

I'm independent. The label name is Organized Rhyme Entertainment. I am really just trying to......, unless the right deal comes along and presents itself, I would rather just stay independent and just get distribution and do it that way. That is how I feel is the best way. So that is my situation right now as far as the label goes.

What is your myspace or website information for people looking to check out your music?

www.myspace.com/tekneekkotp. You can look it up at tekneek3@yahoo.com that is the email you can look up the page for myspace with. If you have any questions about buying music or anything like that, you can email me at rawsoundz08@gmail.com. As far as buying music, everything is available on the page and all the contact information is there as well.

Well that is all the questions I have for you, appreciate you getting down for the interview. Is there any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?

Look out for the album. I put alot of hard work into this one and it is the best one yet. I am just eager to see how everyone accepts it. I just appreciate the love and you giving me the interview.

Not a problem man, appreciate the interview.

Aight bro.