Interviu cu Sean Strange (Interview with Sean Strange) (EXCLUSIV)

Sean Strange nu e nou în underground-ul hip-hop-ului american. Și-a câștigat respectul cu 6 albume independente, un album oficial în 2010, albumul de anul acesta împreună cu Snowgoons și PMD sub numele de Goondox, colaborări cu D12, PMD, Smoothe Da Hustler, Nature, Bone Thugs N Harmony, ILL Bill, Q unique, Necro, Vinnie Paz & mulți alții. În ultimii 2 ani a susținut doar în Europa peste 200 de concerte.

(ELADIO) Wassup Sean? Welcome to www.hiphopdinromania.org !

(Sean Strange) What up everyone. Thanks for having me here for this interview and supporting the movement.

(ELADIO) Some people might not know that you a NGP member. Are you workin’ on something as a group?

(Sean Strange) Unfortunately, NGP as a group is no more. We broke the group up a few months back. We are pursuing solo careers. As you know i have been doing my solo thing seriously since 2006. However, NGP was together since 1998. Myself and my brother Jay Gill (Stress of NGP) just formed our own company under the name NAH BRO ENTERTAINMENT and will be releasing some projects this year in stores including: Swifty McVay of D12's solo album "Live Evil Where Evil Live", The new Sean Strange solo album and we have a few other upcoming artists we are adding to the roster as well. I still work with ODoub of NGP musically as well as him being one of my best friends, However, I do not work with Raida of NGP anymore and you probably won't hear any records with me and him ever again,we never speak on a personal level much either. The new company NAH BRO will also be involved in several joint ventures with ILLSEED Entertainment and its CEO Cody "Gustapo" Masino. For those that don't know I and Mighty Fuzz Young are also partial owners of ILLSEED Entertainment. Therefore both companies will be working close together on these upcoming projects.

(ELADIO) You have released “Street urchin” back in 2010. How do you feel it as the debut album?

(Sean Strange) Well most of my fans would tell you that "Street Urchin" was not my first album. It was my DEBUT as far as releasing a solo album in stores through a distribution company. I had 6 cd’s released before obtaining the deal for "Street Urchin", but I was always putting NGP first. To me though "Street Urchin" was exactly what I wanted my in store debut album to sound like. It gave you a very in depth view on my personal life and beliefs and also displayed my skill as an emcee and producer. My fans and most underground hip hop fans consider it a timeless classic underground hip hop album. It also was powerful enough to have 25 fans around the world tattoo my name, lyrics and artwork on their bodies. The music video for the single "Walk The Line" was on MTV U in rotation and was the #2 Freshman Video of February 2012. I am very proud of that album and I will always look back at it as something to cherish and honor as my first real noise maker in the Hip Hop world.
Also in 2012 I released a Full Length album titled "Truth Serum" for FREE DOWNLOAD and it received over 17,000 downloads worldwide and I sold over 1500 physical copies on tour. The album featured artists like Swifty McVay of D12, Nature from The Firm, Snowgoons, Bone Thugs N Harmony & More. It's definitely a banging album. I released it for FREE to say Thank You to all the fans who been supporting me over the years.

(ELADIO) This year, you, PMD & The Snowgoons dropped the 1st Goondox album, “Welcome to Goondox”. How did the project start and how was the feedback?

(Sean Strange) Yes WELCOME TO THE GOONDOX is In Stores right now so make sure anyone reading this goes and picks it up. The album really started from myself, Snowgoons & PMD touring together. But my relationship with PMD goes back to 2003 when he recorded a track with NGP. Later in 2009 he recorded a verse to be featured on "Street Urchin" and after my album came out I organized a tour with Snowgoons, Myself and PMD and on the off days of the tour we started recording songs. After the first 2 were done we thought "Damn these tracks are banging and we should record a project together" It was supposed to be only an EP but the response from fans was so big that we made it a Full LP. And honestly, the feedback has been amazing and overwhelming. The reviews from fans have been incredible and the sales numbers have been fairly impressive and it has only been out for less than 3 months. So it will keep growing no doubt. We have not done much touring for it yet, so, once that happens it will explode even more.

(ELADIO) You will drop a new solo album this year. Can you tell us more?

(Sean Strange) Yes I will definitely be dropping a new solo album this year. I have a title for it but do not want to announce it yet. I can't give away too many details on it yet but I will say the album will be executed produced by Mighty Fuzz Young & Myself and will easily be my best work to date. I also will be introducing some new sounds in my music, but will definitely keep the Sean Strange sound my fans love and respect me for. As of right now the only guaranteed feature will be the Big Homey Swifty McVay of D12. But the album is not really near full motion movement yet. So much more will be coming to the table. This summer though I will release an 8-10 track EP to get everyone ready for the new LP. The EP will be limited to only 500 copies pressed for online sale and then will only be able to be purchased on I TUNES and on Tour from me personally.

(ELADIO) Let’s go back to “Welcome to Goondox” album. A lot of US rappers like to work with The Snowgoons. How did you and the Goons meet? What about Parish?

(Sean Strange) I first came into contact with the Snowgoons when I was working on "Street Urchin" a mutual friend of mine told me about them and I reached out to them for some production for the album. Then I was added to a Canadian tour with Snowgoons where I was able to meet DJ Illegal in person and also be featured on the "Global Domination" song & video from Snowgoons. Myself and Dj Illegal found that we have much in common as far as love for music, similar grind and mutual respect. Also we have been through a lot of struggle in this game and relate to each other. DJ Illegal once said "Once you develop a real friendship with someone making music and grinding together is the easy part" And I can honestly say he is one of my closest friends and business associates. Shout out to my brother DJ Illegal and the rest of the Snowgoons camp.
Like I said in my last question answer. I met Parish back in 2003 when he recorded a song with NGP. I stayed in touch with him over the years and we did some local NYC shows together and he started to really respect my skill level and work ethic and once we started really touring together, we became great friends. Shout out to PMD and remember WELCOME TO THE GOONDOX is In Stores right now.

(ELADIO) By the way, what do you think about the European hip-hop?

(Sean Strange) I do not know many artists in Europe but throughout my travels there I was able to meet many artists from all different countries and gain a big amount of respect for them. It's amazing that Hip Hop is a worldwide thing. From every country in the world comes people doing Hip Hop with a message and feeling of their own and it's beautiful. Shout out to all the artists doing their thing. Also when I was on tour in Palermo, Sicily (ITALY) on my off time from the show I recorded a song and video with about 10 Sicilian artists who are on the come up and the video should be on You Tube soon. So stay tuned for that.

(ELADIO) Any European tours in your schedule?

(Sean Strange) Right now no European shows on deck. I did about 200 shows in Europe over the last 2 years and surely will be on my way back out there on tour in the end of this year so stay tuned for updates. Next up in August 2013 we got the Welcome To The Goondox Canadian Release Tour. Also I am working on a Sean Strange Australian Tour right now for late 2013 as well. It's gonna be a great year, and many more years to come of touring the world. I love the fact that I can get paid to travel the world and do what I love doing. Thanks to all the promoters for booking me, flying me out there and giving me beautiful hotels to stay in.

(ELADIO) You got so many dope rappers on your featuring list. Who would you like to have a featuring with?

(Sean Strange) Yes I have been blessed to work with so many people I grew up listening to and also to work with them just off of us respecting each other for talent and work ethic. To see that I earned respect for these legendary artists is amazing in so many ways. I have worked with: D12, PMD, Smoothe Da Hustler, Nature, Bone Thugs N Harmony, ILL Bill, Q unique, Necro, Vinnie Paz & more. And when it comes to sharing the stage, Wow I shared the same stage from people like DJ Premiere to Nas, to Slaughterhouse, to Mobb Deep to Lady Gaga even it's pretty crazy when i think about it. But honestly one of my dream collabs would be to work with Eminem. I honestly think eventually it's gonna happen. Because I have worked with so many of the artists in the Shady Records camp and I am sure I have crossed his radar. Already honestly it is an honor to be doing this album for Swifty McVay of D12 due to the fact D12 is one of my favorite groups of all time and i always felt Swifty was one of the strongest members of that crew. And I was heavily influenced by the Big Proof movement so all of this is an honor to me.

(ELADIO) You are a producer too. When it came to making music, what tools/instruments do you use?

(Sean Strange) I am very well-rounded with production. I use and own lots of equipment like: MPC 1000, Native Instruments Maschine, Korg x50 Synthesizer, Korg Triton, to Core I7 PC towers, and I also love programs like Cubase and Fruity Loops as well. I think all production should be versatile and well-rounded as far as what equipment you use. I gotta shout out Mighty Fuzz Young for that because he is one of the best producers I know and he has so many different pieces of equipment and programs and plug-ins and his sound is so well-rounded it is super impressive. So producers do not limit yourselves.

(ELADIO) Do you have a message for your fans and the people who are reading this?

(Sean Strange) Yes Thank You to every fan supporting me now and over the years and the ones who will continue to support me and the ones who do not know they will be supporting me yet (LOL). And also make sure you look out for Swifty McVay of D12 "Live Evil Where Evil Live" LP which will be Executive Produced By: Sean Strange and 90 % of the beats produced by me as well. It will be in stores and online late 2013 through my new company NAH BRO ENTERTAINMENT and will feature some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop history and made some of my dream collaborations come true. So look out for that. Also make sure you pick up "Welcome To The Goondox" by PMD of EPMD, Sean Strange & Snowgoons in stores and online now and also my album "Street Urchin" is still available in stores and online now. Also all my mix tapes and album "Truth Serum" is still available as well. Also make sure you check me out at seanstrange.com, facebook.com/seanstrangemusic, twitter.com/seanstrange718, and youtube.com/nogoodsean. Thanks to Hip hop in Romania and all the supporters and fans reading this. HIP HOP MUSIC FOR EVER !!!!!