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 Gift of Gab

What's up Gab?

Gift of Gab: What's up?

Who's in The Mighty Underdogs and how did you guys come together?

Gift of Gab: The group is myself, Headnodic and Lateef the Truth Speaker. We came together about a year and a half ago. It was one of those types of things that it was a really dope chemistry that came out of nowhere. Lateef was doing songs with Headnodic and called me. He like, "Yo I got a couple of these songs, you should get on some of them". At first it was going to be the type of thing where we do a few songs. The chemistry was so good right away that we just kept going and finished the whole album.

The Prelude EP is available now. Are those just songs that didn't make the album and what can you tell us about the full-length?

Gift of Gab: Two of the songs that are on the EP are on the album as well, U.F.C and Gun Fight. Everything else is exclusive to the EP. The full length album is called is Dropping Science Fiction. The album is based off fictional storytelling, damn near every record on the album. Gun Fight is a good example of what you can expect on the album. Sonic-wise it's very diverse. A lot of the songs are basically fictional storytelling in a lot of different directions. I have a lot of guests on there; Lyrics Born, Casual from Hieroglyphics, Damian and Julian Marley are on there. It's a record I'm really excited about; it's going to come out like May of this year.

Did Headnodic produce the whole project?

Gift of Gab: Yes he did.

What do you think he brings to the table as opposed to some of the other dope producers you worked with?

Gab: I think Headnoic as a producer has a whole lot of range. He's from our generation and he understands the full spectrum of Hip Hop. He's one of those producers that can take a sample and have some musicians come in and make the live playing sound better than the sample.

You have a contest where fans are entered into a raffle and can win a chance to spend a day with you guys. What kind of experience can the winner expect?

Gift of Gab: You know, get flown out to the Bay, get put up in a nice hotel, come to the Quannum office and meet some other members of Quannum. Maybe even go to a club that night just hanging out, you know what I mean?

Are there any details on a Mighty Underdogs tour when the full-length drops?

Gift of Gab: The full length drops in May. We wouldn't want to tour till the record is out and sold. So we'll probably start touring the same month the album is dropped which is May.

If all goes as planned, will you bring along Crown City Rockers or maybe some other Quannum acts? That could be a big one.

Gift of Gab: Oh, definitely. We always tour with them so you never know who exactly you're going to get.

What is giftstribution.com?

Gift of Gab: Giftstribution is my own distribution company. I put a mixtape out last year called Supreme Lyricism. We are also putting out the Mighty Underdogs; well we are partially putting the EP out through it. I have a couple other projects I'm putting out this year. Giftstribution is projects I fund and put out myself.

So if there was an artist you were really feeling would you put there stuff out?

Gift of Gab: I don't know because with that my resources are limited. I would use as much promotion as I could. I'm not using any record companies or anybody to do the promotion. I'm going to be paying college radio myself; I would never want to be a record company, a one man record company for an artist. I would definitely like to help artists find companies, find ways to start their own, but I would never want that pressure.

You said your next project is called Escape 2 Mars? Is that a solo album and will you also handle that release?

Gift of Gab: That's an album, that's like an eleven song album that I will be dropping in March or April, though my site and through a few other distribution channels.

Who'd you work with on the album and did you experiment with any new sounds that may be new to Gift of Gab fans?

Gift of Gab: The album is produced by Dnae Beats. He did a lot of songs on Supreme Lyricism Volume One. It's basically something different than anything I have ever done; it's definitely its own sound. It's kind of like classic Hip Hop but there's a lot of live keyboard instrumentation going on as well. It's definitely its own world, I'm really proud of this record. I almost might wait to put it out on a label, but I really just started dedicating myself to putting projects out myself.

You seem to be more self-reliant these days and also stepping into the digital age. Were these conscious decisions given the market?

Gift of Gab: Yeah, because I feel as though record sales are down the industry is going crazy but at the same time, if I put out something that doesn't do as many numbers as I wanted on a bigger label, if I make all the money I'm still doing well. And everybody will know it's good quality music, so I'm still doing well. If I sell five thousand units which is very easy to do, but it's not a lot of numbers that's fifty grand in my pocket. I'm definitely an entrepreneur when you look at it like that. Also we have myspace now and all of my fans are at my finger tips. I have over one hundred thousand friends right now and with myspace you don't really need magazines or radio for promotion. You send your myspace friends' bulletins and they can be aware that you got some product out. In this age I think its vital for independent artists to become aware with the way the internet is we have a lot more power now then what we used to have. We have easier access to our fans.

So do you think it's unnecessary to have your CD or music readily available in stores across the country?

Gift of Gab: Oh no, I'll always do that. I mean the Mighty Underdogs album will be out in May everywhere. I have another solo album other than Escape 2 Mars that I'm working on that will be out probably January 29th.  I'm just working a lot right now and I'm writing all the time and I'm recording all the time. There are a lot of projects I want to just put out myself on a super underground level. I want people to be able to get it from the web site and wait for everybody else to catch on.  At the end of the day I want to make good music.

What's the next project you will release with Quannum?

Gift of Gab: Most likely the next Gift of Gab solo record which will be in 2009.

You appeared on the band Galactic's new album. How'd you hook up with them?

Gift of Gab: Well we've known Galactic for years, we used to tour with them back in the days. It's the type of thing where we struck up a friendship and there was mutual respect on a musician level. So they called and it was no question.

A lot of artists like working with live instruments, are you one of them?

Gift of Gab: I love it. I love making music, I love the adventure and experience of making songs and making albums and making music. I like the journey, I like whether it's samples, whether it's live instruments, I like discovering new shit. I like learning from different producers, MC's and different musicians, you know?

You seem to have a pretty full plate these days, any word on a new Blackalicious project?

Gift of Gab: Right know with Blackalicious, we are giving ourselves a chance. We always like to do that between albums. It gives us a chance to get whatever out of our system artistically that we need as individuals. I would say we are definitely going to make another Blackalicious record. I would say after I do my solo record which will come out after the Mighty Underdogs. We have projects we're working on as well, so maybe after that we are going to re-emerge and go back in and do another Blackalicious record, but it's definitely coming.

What's Chief Excel working on while you handle all of this other business?

Gift of Gab: He's just as busy as I am. He's working on a record with this soul singer right now. Incredible album!  He's working on stuff with Honeycut, he's working on a Chief Excel record. I mean we stay busy. We are very like-minded, that's why our chemistry as a group is so good. We are really all about creating the body of work.

It seems like you're always challenging yourself in terms of rhyme patterns and flows. Are you really critical of yourself in terms of always trying to bring it to the next level?

Gift of Gab: I never want to do the same thing three times. I'm definitely a style MC. I'm into like you said, cadences, wordplay and I'm into how can I invent a track. Like has somebody already done this or am I retracing steps? Sometimes I do. Music recycles itself but I'm definitely always looking for new ways to approach the beat.

What are you working on at this moment? When you wake up tomorrow morning what will be your focus?

Gift of Gab: I'll wake up tomorrow and my album is a huge focus. I would usually train with my personal trainer for an hour. After that I'll probably head out to the studio and work on this Dnae record. After I leave the Dnae studio I'm probably going to the Headnoic studio. I'm on the Mighty Underdogs mixtape and that's it. I wake up, eat and I'm either in the studio or I'm in deep writing mode. If I'm in deep writing mode then I'll either write at the crib or go the library. Maybe even get on the train and go for a ride, put on the headphones and write. My whole afternoon is dedicated to either writing or being in the studio. I mean I take some days off, because it's good to give yourself a break and inhale for a minute. When you're writing you're exhaling so you got to inhale for a minute and let your creative juices fill up. That's pretty much my day.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Gift of Gab: Nah man, just thank you for your support.


Drew & Andy