Legendz

If you’re a gambling a person, then odds are you’ve made a fortune betting on sports teams from Massachusetts for the past few seasons. From Redsox Nation thumbing their noses at their most hated rivals, the Yankees by taking two World Series Championships in four years, to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and the rest of the Boston Celtics proving that anything is possible, to the always-in-contention New England Patriots.

That’s where the streak of good luck comes to an end though, because the musical talent pool doesn’t go as deep as the athletic one does. Right now the talk of the town is the middle-aged Caucasian crooners known as New Kids On The Block reuniting for one last hoorah. But if you travel 25 miles north of Boston, you’ll hit the town of Lawrence MA, where an MC with close New York ties is creating a buzz all his own.

20-something-year-old rhyme slinger Daniel “Termanology” Carrillo as been able to check off an assortment of tasks that might take others a lifetime to achieve. Starting by building a small catalog of songs all produced by DJ Premier, getting some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop to assist him on his debut album Politics As Usual, and securing a home for his own imprint St. Records.

The half-white half-Puerto Rican lyricist comes together as one whole when his craft is involved, by going against the grain and releasing the brand of Hip-Hop that makes today’s A&R’s cringe. Luckily for him, the Brooklyn-based independent record label Nature Sounds lured the newcomer into their stable, and A&R’s such as the ones aforementioned aren’t employed there. And with the likes of Hi-Tek, Large Professor, Easy Mo Bee, and plenty of other seasoned head-nodders making sure his transition is a smooth one, it won’t be long before he has people speaking his language.

SixShot.com: When did you first get into Hip-Hop?

Termanology: I started off when I was young, listening to groups like Cypress Hill. I always loved it, and as I got older people used to rap on my block. It would be the older cats, like the hustlers who would be rapping and freestyling, and they would encourage me to rap. From there I started freestyling, and I’ve been rhyming since the age of nine.

SixShot.com: Talk about your project Politics As Usual a little bit. How was it like working with Pete Rock, Havoc, Nottz, Buckwild, and The Alchemist?

Termanology: It was great, and that’s what I wanted to do from the beginning. I wanted to take all of those producers and put them on a record. Some of them just came out of nowhere, they just popped up and I was lucky to get them. But I always had that idea of taking the realest producers, and putting them all on one album; so it’s crazy how I made it happen.

SixShot.com: You’ve been gaining a head of steam as of late, so why go with an indie label like Nature Sounds as opposed to going with a major?

Termanology: Well I had a few offers, and I could’ve went to a few places but I actually think Nature Sounds was the best place for me because they see my vision and they were with it. So they decided to help “the kid” out, and I’m doing it my own way and now I have St. Records, which is my own label, and it’s great man.

SixShot.com: What are your thoughts when it comes to Boston Hip-Hop? Do you have any idea why a lot more artists from region haven’t shared the same amount of success?

Termanology: It’s because a lot of people don’t know what they need to do, including some of my own people. It’s just hard for people to get up and get out of the city, but the more you do that, you’ll be okay. There are a lot of cats who got it cracking from the Bean, from Lawrence, and from Haverhill MA—and even Brockton has a scene. Massachusetts has a nice scene; it just needs to be brought to the rest of the world.

SixShot.com: Over the years, Hip-Hop has made a change from complex lyricism to more simple subject matter. With you being lyrical, do you ever think your content might go over some people’s heads?

Termanology: I think it’s going to go over a lot of people’s heads, but those aren’t the people that [we] make it for; you know what I’m saying? I’m following the seed of legendary Hip-Hop. I’m following the seed of Mobb Deep, and Gangstarr; you know what I’m saying? These are the people that produced my records, and that’s really where my head is at. If you ain’t on the same wavelength as me, then you can go listen to some whack radio sh*t. [Laughs]

SixShot.com: [Laughs] Was there ever a time where the music wasn’t working out, and you thought about changing careers?

Termanology: Not really man, I always knew that was going to be a rapper. I’ve been rapping forever, and when I was around 14 or 15-years-old I had like 400 songs written already. I used to record them in my man’s basement, and that was the ‘hood sh*t. We had a crew and it was around ten of us who would go around battling and destroying people. We just never stopped rapping, we’ve been doing it since we were little kids, and it’s something that’s in our veins man. I can never quit this sh*t. There will probably be a day where I fall back, and I won’t write as many rhymes, due to taking care of other business and family, but overall I love rap man.

SixShot.com: So you started off as a battle rapper?

Termanology: Yeah, battling was the thing. We used to go and battle all types of other crews. We’d meet up at somebody’s crib, and it would be 30 of them against 30 of us, then we’d just battle. Sometimes it was for money and sometimes it was for free, we’d just go around and rock cats. But as we got older we decided that we wanted to make records. Battling was cool, but making records is where it’s at.

SixShot.com: Was it a difficult switching from battle raps, to material with actual song structure?

Termanology: Not anymore because it’s been so long that I’ve actually been recording records and doing hooks. I write R&B sh*t and I ghostwrite; I do a lot of crazy stuff. I write a lot, I’m always writing so it really wasn’t that hard to tell you the truth. At times people had to give me advice here and there, like the people within my own crew. They’d tell me, “Maybe you should do this, or maybe you should do that.” We all influence each other.

SixShot.com: Will it annoy you if people write you off as just another “underground MC”?

Termanology: Yeah, I think a lot of people will, and I think a lot of people already have. They can say that about me, but when my album comes out I would’ve done it bigger than them—ever and they’re probably more major than I am. That’s how I look at these whack rappers with their whack producers on their album. I’m coming with platinum-plus cats out the gate on some ‘hood sh*t and on some love sh*t. It’s all love baby, I feel like a million bucks right now.

SixShot.com: Talk about your relationship with DJ Premier. How did you guys first meet?

Termanology: I met [DJ] Premier back in 2003, through my man Krumbsnatcha; I was in his crew. He brought me to a video shoot out in the BX, and I spit some rhymes for Guru. After that, I didn’t see him again for a few years, but I ended up linking up with him through Statik Selektah cause they’re really good friends. So eventually [DJ] Premier called me and played the ‘Watch How It Go Down’ beat for me over the phone, and after that I kept rocking with Preemo. Right now I officially have seven tracks with [DJ] Premier, you know what I’m saying?

SixShot.com: Has he ever critiqued you, or does he let you do your thing?

Termanology: He’s the best; you know what I mean? He hears sh*t that you would never hear, so you have to sit back and respect him for just being a super OG. If I do something, sometimes he’ll be like, “Nah, say it like this” and he’s probably the only person I’d listen to. I usually just do my sh*t myself; my engineer just engineers the track, he doesn’t really produce it. But Preemo makes you do it a certain way, and that’s why everybody wants to work with him.

SixShot.com: Do you think it will tough to standout with so many new artists looking to make a name for themselves as well?

Termanology: Nah I don’t think so because I’m a smart person, and I’m smart enough to know the business side of things. So once you know that side, then you’ll be doing okay. It’s not about you thinking you’re going to be the biggest rapper and that you’re automatically going to blow up.

SixShot.com: What expectations do you have for yourself; as you get ready to fully introduce yourself to a wider audience?

Termanology: I don’t know about changing the game—but you can say that I’m changing the game because I just put out a single with [DJ] Premier while everybody else it “T-Pain’ing it”; you know what I’m saying? That’s cool too, but my sh*t is going to sound crazy! People are going to be like, “Who puts out singles like this anymore?!” And that’s how I standout right there.

SixShot.com: Don’t you think that’s going to hinder you a little by releasing singles that aren’t the norm these days?

Termanology: It hurts you in the aspect that it’s politics as usual [Laughs] and you might be advised not to put out a record like that for a single. But it’s helps me because its for all the people who care about Hip-Hop and that are looking for some real sh*t. Those people are going to be like, “Okay, this is some real sh*t for us,” and that’s how you get those people in.

SixShot.com: Even though you’ve been solidified by some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop, at times do you still think need to prove yourself?

Termanology: Yeah of course man, ain’t no stopping. I trying to make 10,000 albums, I’m trying to do the Pac thing so lets go—I’m ready to rock. I got a lot of sh*t to prove…

Return Of The Mac

props.. can't wait for his album..

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Evidence - The Layover EP - November 25

Da Real Deal says:
shady2 Obama is president, ain't such thing as racism now