Legendz

Once again, Nobodysmiling.com has the pleasure to catch up with another Chicago rapper, who like many of his comrades, offers the game a touch of uniqueness with a whole lot of passion. Not cussing in his lyrics is just the beginning for Bullet who has enough room in the shell-case to shoot out emotion with incredible conviction. He began rapping in behavioral counseling, as a way to express his bottled up feelings, which is perhaps what kept Bullet’s music so personal, expressive and relevant. Nobodysmiling.com catches up with the man who is after the mainstream madness (while having Mellow Madness on his production roster) to discuss his upcoming LP, Back to the Lyrics, the battles on Columbia College campus and why Chicago should not expect a handout.



Nobodysmiling.com : What are you working on right now?

Bullet : Right now, I’m working on project, Back to the Lyrics. It’s 95% complete.

Nobodysmiling.com : Break it down for us.

Bullet : It was going to be a mixtape at first and how it ended up being structured at the end of the day, everybody told me to turn it into an album. I didn’t want this to be my first album because I wanted my first album to be a Major release or something like that. I was gonna turn it into an EP and it ended up having 16 or 17 songs on this joint. So everybody’s like “Skip it, and turn it into an album”. It didn’t have a structure anyway and everything’s original and all of that stuff. Producers, I just stuck with everyone in my camp which is like Vanysh and this guy named Slot-A. And another group from Atlanta, Christian Rich. Features, I got this guy named YoungBlaze, his Internet buzz is crazy, you should check him out. The Cool Kids, they were gonna be on my first single but we talked about it, we was just like “Let me do everything myself first and they’ll come afterwards”.

Nobodysmiling.com : You hooked up with Mellow Madness as well who did work with Joe Budden. How did that happen?

Bullet : I knew him from SoundClick. This was years ago. And then I seen him on Joe Budden’s album, and he just caught my attention so I hit him up. He heard some of my music on MySpace and my website. He just sent me the joint for free and I recorded it that weekend. Sent it back and he loved it.

Nobodysmiling.com : Very interesting. What’s your goal with music?

Bullet : I feel like most people’s problem with Chicago is that they’re trying to be the savior or Chicago like “I’m the one that put Chicago on”. That’s not my thing. My main goal is to get big enough to help put people that I know are talented on. ‘Cause if I come out, and we already got the Cool kids, Lupe and all of that, that’s more doors opening for new artists to come out. And musically, I really want to head toward the pop culture, not just not being Hip Hop, but being very mainstream while still keeping a conscious effort of what I’m doing.

Nobodysmiling.com : You began to write rhymes in behavior counseling. Can you tell us about that?

Bullet : I’m usually a very guarded person so if somebody does something to me or anything, I wouldn’t express it. So my mom sent me to a counselor. And they were just telling me that I can’t keep holding things in, ‘cause I would end up exploding one day and just do stupid stuff. They got me a notepad or whatever and told me to just write in a journal or whatever like that. And I started rapping with those feelings and started putting it into music.

Nobodysmiling.com : How long ago was this?

Bullet : This was maybe my sophomore year of high school; five or six years ago.

Nobodysmiling.com : You battled at a Columbia College campus. Who did you battle?

Bullet : I battled everybody, every single person that claimed they were a rapper in Columbia, I battled them [laughing].

Nobodysmiling.com : What did you take in school?

Bullet : I took Art Entertainment Media Management.

Nobodysmiling.com : How’s that working for you?

Bullet : It’s going great, it’s going great. Mostly it’s everything I know already. I know 90% of everything they’re telling me but it’s also good just to hear them say what you already know, just to make sure you’re on the right path.

Nobodysmiling.com : How does that help you in the Hip Hop industry?

Bullet : Columbia is a college so there’s your fan base right there. And then more of the legal side, like contracts and stuff like that, it just teaches you a lot more than an average person that’s trying to be in the music industry who doesn’t really know anything about contracts, lawyers and things like that, so I have a less likely chance being screwed.

Nobodysmiling.com : Why did you decide to pursue Hip Hop over academics?

Bullet : I decided it because when you know you’re meant to do something – I didn’t know I was gonna end up doing this at first – but when you know you gonna do something…and plus, academics with me is cool but it’s just like what you do what your degree, especially in a climate right now, is something that I can’t see myself not doing right now. I have a passion; my drive and determination is just crazy.

Nobodysmiling.com : How’s the scene in Chicago?

Bullet : The scene here is more diverse now. It’s just more 80s; then you still got the lyricists and stuff but it’s more dance right now [laughing].

Nobodysmiling.com : Really?

Bullet : Yeah.

Nobodysmiling.com : What artists are you bumpin’ right now?

Bullet : Of course Lupe; of course everybody in FNF. And the Cool Kids; and this guy named Mike Terror, he’s doing good.

Nobodysmiling.com : Is it fair to say that Chicago is living off of Lupe’s, Kanye’s and Common’s success? That they’ve opened doors for Chicago?

Bullet : I definitely feel that. I feel they’ve opened up way more doors for next up-and-coming artists to come out.

Nobodysmiling.com : On the other hand, many Chicago cats complain about Chicago not holding down its own.

Bullet: I see it from a certain standpoint but at the end of the day, their career is not your career. I feel that if you really want something, you shouldn’t expect a handout. The people that complain are people that really nobody knows. If you don’t have a name in your own city, or in general period, why should Lupe or Common or anyone help you if they got a buzz on their own? They didn’t get any handouts.

Nobodysmiling.com : Right. Who did you vote for?

Bullet : I voted for Obama.

Nobodysmiling.com : You sound like Kanye. Did anyone tell you that?

Bullet : [Laughing] No. actually a couple people told me that.

Nobodysmiling.com : Why do you think that is?

Bullet : I think certain records that I pursue. That’s why I like Joe Budden so much, one thing that’s missing is people getting personal. And I think people can relate to that more than a party record.

Nobodysmiling.com : What do you see in Hip Hop today that you don’t want attached to your music?

Bullet : I don’t curse. I don’t take that away from nobody, that’s just a personal preference for me. Certain rappers can’t write songs. People hate on 50 Cent a lot but he’s one of the dopest song writers. So I just think people rap just to rap but I don’t want that; at least say something, and if you don’t, at least structure the song right.

Nobodysmiling.com : Thank you.