Over my long history of interviewing artists, almost 90% of all rappers have said that when they’re deciding on what lyrics to pen, they draw inspiration from their environment (the block, the hood, the ghetto or the corner) and personal life experiences (life, death and everything in-between).
Izza Kizza Interview Transcription:
DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on, everybody? It’s your boy “Z,” doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is an MC who is entrusting the start of his career with the Grammy Award-winning Timbaland, and upstart production duo, the Soul Diggaz. Please welcome the guy who has the coolest rap name in the biz, Izza Kizza – how you doin’?
Izza Kizza: I’m great, man. How’s it goin’?
DJ Booth: It’s goin’ well. I’m hoping winter ends soon, though, because in Chicago, it’s been hell. I don’t know where you spend your winters, but it’s gotta be better than Chicago.
Izza Kizza: I’m in New Jersey right now spendin’ the winter, and it’s horrible, man. I love the Southern winters, ‘cause you don’t really have a winter in the Southern states.
DJ Booth: Exactly.
Izza Kizza: I’m lookin’ forward to gettin’ down there and soaking up some of that good sunlight.
DJ Booth: Kizza, since your rap style is completely left-of-center, let’s jump outside the box for this first question. Let’s pretend that Izza Kizza is a professional wrestler, and you’re about to make your entrance into the ring. I hand you the mic and I say, “Introduce yourself to the people, so they know what to expect.” You grab the mic from me and you say...?
Izza Kizza: [laughter] That’s a good question! Wow, I never expected that one… I would grab the mic from you, I would probably say, “People! Are you ready to f*ckin’ rock?! Let’s go!”
DJ Booth: Okay. Allow me to congratulate you; I peeped your MySpace page, and you have, by far, the dopest layout ever assembled in the history of MySpace layouts.
Izza Kizza: You think so? Wow…
DJ Booth: Definitely. Whether it’s a layout concept or lyrics for your material, where do you begin to draw inspiration from?
Izza Kizza: It’s like the mind of Kizza. When they see my MySpace, or when they see my pictures, or when they see the visual, they hear the audio, they hear my name, they’re gonna automatically know what my music sounds like. I want my pictures; I want my whole outlook to be what my music sounds like. When you’re goin’ to my MySpace, you’re basically gettin’ a visual of my music. When you hear Izza Kizza, you’re gettin’ ready, you’re gettin’ yourself prepared for what’s about to happen.
DJ Booth: A full experience?
Izza Kizza: I draw a lot of inspiration from just bein’ different, man. I go to everybody else but I say, “You know what? I wanna do something different.” So when I go to my photographer, I say, “Hey, look, man, let’s try something new.” It’s all about bein’ new and innovative.
DJ Booth: Do you feel like you’ve always been different, or did you just wake up one morning and say, “I’m gonna take this in a different direction?”
Izza Kizza: I’ve always been a charismatic person; I’ve always been an attractive person that other people were drawn to. I think it was the people who made me different; everybody, all throughout my life, since I’ve been doin’ music forever. Even before I was signed or even before I was in the industry, people would say, “Hey, man, I love your music. Keep doin’ what you’re doin’, man; one day you’re gonna make it!” And it was those people who got me where I am.
DJ Booth: As I mentioned in the open, behind you are Timbaland and the Soul Diggaz. You have distribution deals set up with Interscope. How much pressure is there to succeed, knowing all of the backing you possess?
Izza Kizza: I don’t really worry about that, man. I just go into the studio and I do what I do. I hired Soul Diggaz to what they do – they’re a great production team, they know what they’re doin’, they’re serious in what they’re doin’. My management team, I hired them because they know what they’re doin’. So, I just figure, if everybody knows what they’re doin’, everybody’s great at their job, everybody does their job and the machine gets rolling – wham, bam!
DJ Booth: Timbaland is personally responsible for the success of artists like JT, Nelly Furtado, and, to a certain extent, the great Missy Elliott. With that success, however, comes some criticism that none of those artists would be who they are today without Timbaland behind their projects. Let’s say the Soul Diggaz didn’t get an imprint deal with Mosley Music, and Timbaland had absolutely nothing to do with this project – are you one hundred percent confident that your style, your sound, and your image would be accepted and would flourish?
Izza Kizza: I mean, definitely. I carry my own trait there. Even if Tim never got into it, or Soul Diggaz never got into it, eventually I would’ve made a breakthrough, if it wasn’t the independent. I was always a go-getter. I’m never sittin’ on my back pockets, man; I’m always out tryin’ to find some new, innovative, creative way to further my own career, because it’s all inside the person.
DJ Booth: Okay, so the short answer is yes, you are one hundred percent confident in your abilities?
Izza Kizza: Definitely, I’m one hundred percent confident.
DJ Booth: I spoke with K-Mack of the Soul Diggaz in an interview this past November. He mentioned that because of the huge money in ring tone sales, no matter what an artist says, they want their music to appeal to the audience that is buying these ring tones. When you think about your ideal demographic, what type of hip hop listener comes to mind?
Izza Kizza: The hipster crowd, hip hop heads – if you’re into gangsta-gangsta rap, you into shootin’ people and killin’, that ain’t what I’m about. You’re probably not gonna go get my album if you into, shootin’ people, or sellin’ drugs. I’ve been up those avenues before, but that’s not something I wanna do in my music. My music is made for people who love music. The hipster crowd, the hip hop crowd, people who love lyricism, people who like to hear music.
DJ Booth: So, compare yourself to artists who have been in the industry for quite some time and have an established rapport with fans and listeners. If they like blank, they’ll like Izza Kizza. Who comes to mind?
Izza Kizza: If you like Outkast, you’re gonna love Izza Kizza. If you like Missy, you’re gonna love Izza Kizza. If you like Luda, you’re gonna love Izza Kizza. If you like Timbaland, you’re gonna love Izza Kizza. If you like music to the left, then you’re gonna love Izza Kizza. If you like something that inspires you to get up, you know?
DJ Booth: Well, that’s some good company to be a part of. Off your forthcoming mix tape project, you have a song entitled, “Walk the Dawg,” featuring Missy Elliott, which samples singer Shirley Ellis’ famous “Clapping Song.” The song opens with the line, “Three six nine/ the goose drank wine.” The irony of this line, is some people probably presume you must drink or smoke heavily to come up with some of the eclectic and outlandish rhymes that you spit. Is the creative process au natural?
Izza Kizza: Yeah, man. I go in the studio and have fun with the record. I heard the record and I was like, “Hey, this sounds like a fun record.” So it’s all about gettin’ on the record. I might go see the chief real quick, but I’m not heavily into drugs and alcohol like that. It’s all about with me just fun, man – hearin’ a record that you like, and makin’ it do what it do. I’m not for all the extra. I don’t go smoke a whole pound of marijuana before I jump on the record. I just go in there and say, “Hey, this is a great record; I’m gonna try to make it better.”
DJ Booth: Okay, so you don’t need to drink or smoke in order to be creative, but let me ask you: what do you need in order to be in the right mood to create a record? Artists have told me that they need to be by themselves, or they need to eat a good breakfast – what creates the best possibility for you to be able to provide the best material?
Izza Kizza: Energy! I get a lot of energy from Soul Diggaz. We’re in the studio, I might go in here and hear somebody – if somebody’s excited about something that makes me excited about it. When I walk in there and they be like, “Ah, I just did this beat! [beatboxing],” the beat’s knocking, I’m inspired. Then I’m gonna say, “You know what? I’m gonna go make some music that’s gonna make somebody run in the room!” It’s a hot competition around here. I try to make my music where when I turn it up on the loudspeakers, everybody’s gonna run in the room and say, “Hey, yo, what’s that record right there?” If I turn my music on, and ain’t nobody runnin’ in the room, I turn it back off and I go in again.
DJ Booth: You know there’s a problem then…
Izza Kizza: Definitely.
DJ Booth: I’m gonna name three daily habits, you tell me which one you could go the longest with doing: checking your E-mail, looking in a mirror, or showering – which one could you go the longest without doing?
Izza Kizza: I can go without looking in the mirror. I’m not too much of a conceited person. I’m not all full of myself like that – I mean, I’m full of myself, but I’m not a dude who looks in the mirror, nah. I gotta check my E-mail, I gotta shower, so out of the three I would definitely not look in the mirror.
DJ Booth: Okay, well I’m glad personal hygiene is at the top of your priority list. When can the world expect a debut album from Izza Kizza, and, tentatively, what do you expect to title that?
Izza Kizza: I still have yet to say what the title of the album is gonna be. It’s still a mystery in the making. I’m not really sure yet. I know I’ve got a couple records. But you can look for it; it’ll be interesting, I’ll say that.
DJ Booth: For anybody who’s listening to this interview or has heard your music, and are on the fence of whether or not they like what you have to offer to this industry and to them as a consumer, convince them that you are the real deal.
Izza Kizza: Versatility. I’m gonna give you something that you’ve never heard before, guaranteed. If you’re bored with music that you been hearing, if you listen to the radio and you’re like, “Oh my God, I’m tired of hearin’ this music, I’m tired of hearin’ the same thing,” then the next record comes out, which is the new record, and you say to yourself, “Aw, man, this record sounds just like the last record,” if you never wanna hear two records that sound the same, come to my music. Come check out my page, or go buy my album.
DJ Booth: Kizza, give everybody a website or a MySpace page so they can find out more about what you got goin’ on.
Izza Kizza: Hey man, check me out: myspace.com/izzakizza, myspace.com/izzakizzamusic, souldiggaz.com, myspace.com/souldiggaz – however you wanna find me, find me. Come chat with me, talk to me; I’m here, baby, let’s get it goin!
DJ Booth: All right. Izza Kizza, making his presence known on the worldwide web and on DJBooth.net. I thank you for your time greatly, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck moving forward.
Izza Kizza: I appreciate your time. I’ll be on DJBooth, so if you all wanna come check me out on DJBooth, I’m always logged on. I really appreciate you calling and givin’ me a chance to even be heard.
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