Interview with True 2 Life Music

Hey all my HGB readers! I had the pleasure of interviewing three VERY TALENTED rappers who go by the name of True 2 Life Music. They gave me the scoop on their music, their style, and of course women. So take look at what Concise, K. Words and Slangston Hughes have to say…here is True 2 Life Music

HGB: Who is True 2 Life Music?
Concise: True 2 Life Music is rap trio composed of concise (myself), k.words, slangston hughes. We also produce and write records for other artists, so we’re also producer/songwriters as well as artists.
Slangston Hughes: True 2 Life Music is an entity, a crew, a family of creative and driven artists and businessmen.  We are an organization on a mission to be heard.

 HGB: How did you guys meet and form the group?

Concise:  We all met in college. The group was formed in college. We met at different times. I met Slangston Hughes at track practice, because we both happened to run track. We clicked up quick and by that time i had already met k.words and some of our other friends involved in our movement. Myself, k.words and the other guys met a a pre-freshman year summer program we all happened to be in.

K. Words:  Soon after, we started to put on events and release music to the world.  What was once a collective of several emcees under our production soon became the three of us rockin’ on today.
 
Slangston Hughes:  As we developed a strong friendship and bond we grew together organically as artists seeing that we all shared a passion for creating music. From there we had fun, made music and rocked shows, persevered through adversity, earned respect and built a following.  Whereas others have strayed, we’ve stayed down for each other since the very beginning.

HGB: What are three words that describe your music?

Concise: Powerful, thoughtful, inspiring

K.Words: cosign

HGB: What inspires you guys to write/create songs like “Good Times,” “Breakdown” and “who the f*&$k is this?” which have all unique sounds?

Concise:  Its the nature of ourselves, our personalities, our backgrounds, our stories. We are all 3 individual unique people yet we make cohesive and dope music, and also have dope performance chemistry. So we speak on various aspects of our lives, and remain ourselves. Because we choose not to box ourselves into one particular sound or style. So “breakdown” can be identified as a record for people going through a break up, how it might make you feel angry and songs like “good times” which has an indie rock feel is about our desire and affinity toward having a good time every chance we get.

K. Words:  word life, our songs are forays into our world.. our minds.  “Who the F**k is This?!” is a song from our “Larger Than Life” project, which is our homage to Biggie.  We took his famous words from “Warning” and decided to make a song talking bout different characters we see.

Slangston Hughes:  We don’t second guess inspiration, we actualize it and make it tangible and real.  Our talent and self reliance enable us to pretty much do whatever we feel, with no limits except one’s imagination.  So whenever we are inspired to create, since we control all processes of our music making (writing, recording, producing, rapping, singing, playing instruments, engineering) we have the freedom and ability to make whats in our heads come to life.  We don’t believe in any barriers when making our music, therefore we have no fear in making music with different feels, emotion, and musical direction.

HGB:  Who have you been influenced by musically?

Concise:  Notorious Big, Marvin Gaye, Common, Sade, Lupe Fiasco, Eminem, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Kanye West…greats. great artists I listened to growing up. and producers as well like Dr. Dre, DJ Hi-Tek, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Neptunes, etc…

K.Words:  also, much respect to the great movements like Wu, Native Tongues, Death Row, Cash Money, BadBoy, etc…

Slangston Hughes:  My first production influences were guys like Dr. Dre , Quincy Jones, Puffy and The Hitmen, Easy Mo Bee, Daz, Devante Swing,Teddy Riley, Johnny J., and on an artist end acts such as Tupac, Biggie, Guns N’ Roses, Public Enemy, Sam Cooke, Nirvana, Eminem, Green Day and many others were influential. Definitely many genres including Afrobeat, World Music, Rock N’ Roll, Caribbean Music and R&B are big influences.  Also the great crew movements of the 90′s were also an influence (Bad Boy, Deathrow, Wu-Tang, Rocafella, Ruff Ryders, Cash Money, No Limit, etc) they showed strength in numbers and showed what could happen when talented and driven people come together and make classic music coupled with great business moves.
 

Concise of True 2 Life Music 

HGB: What is the most difficult thing about being in the music industry? What makes it worth while to stay in the industry?

Concise: difficult thing is dealing with the all the little things, both tangible and intangible that you can’t control while on your mission. you have to understand those things but maintain your vision and drive toward your goal. there are alot of distraction and detractors. your music having an impact on people worldwide is what makes it worth it.

K.Words: yeah, this industry is far from a job in Corporate America.  In our grind, having that mindset will make you crazy.  I must admit sometimes it creeps into my psyche, but I have to be strong enough to focus on our mission and always be ready to shake off the hate and the doubt.

Slangston Hughes:  In general, there’s a certain amount of uncertainty in the music business, meaning if you look at many investments and efforts there is no guaranteed ROI (Return on Investment) meaning monetarily, otherwise or even that if there is a pay off, that it will be at all timely.  If you don’t work smartly you can put a lot of unnecessary time, effort, money, and energy into something and get minimal to no returns back.  However, we thrive off of that type of environment, where we are accountable for our own success and can utilize our skill sets and business minds to further our company, brand and music.   So on the other end, it emboldens us to be confident, bold and strategic with our moves.  The climate of the industry keeps you focused and determined and in tune with your internal compass, knowing that what you are doing is paying off and is leading to greater things.  As tough as it is, when there is chaos there is opportunity, and we are opportunists, so with all the changes and uncertainty in the industry, we relish the freedom to see an opening, mobilize and execute a plan and go for it.  This is a job and like all other jobs comes stress, we have all sacrificed greatly to further our agenda but thankfully we’re constantly setting and meeting goals, both short term and long term thanks to hard work, our support system and a solid team.  In addition, the love and positive feedback that we get from fans and supporters worldwide is always greatly inspiring and motivational.

K. Words of True 2 Life Music
 

HGB: As Hip-Hop artists, how do you feel Hip-Hop influences fashion?

Concise: I think it goes both way. Hip Hop influences fashion and fashion influences hip hop. hip hop has always had that braggadicio to it, rapping about your style and freshest gear you have on, but also, fashion has integrated its way into a lane and style for artists to be based on. rappers being known and increasing their profile for their fashion sense or trends, etc…

K.Words:  artists may set trends, but it’s probably more so because of their visibility rather than their creativity.  It’s a constant circle though…
 
Slangston Hughes:  Hip Hop definitely influences fashion.  The energy and attitude represented in hip hop has consistently been tapped into by countless designers and brands.  Whenever the aesthetics of hip hop have come together to form a style or look it has always been duplicated, manufactured and exploited by fashion.  Once people found a way to monetize this need for “hip hop” or “urban” apparel it was off to the races and guys like Karl Kani laid a blueprint for others to follow and build upon.  Now there are million dollar companies and thousands of families being fed off of Hip Hop’s influence in fashion alone.  This culture of Hip Hop that some highly creative yet financially lacking kids created within the streets of NYC has gone on to not only influence global fashion but also contribute to billions in revenue for the brands that decided to cater to that demographic.  Hip Hop and fashion definitely have a symbiotic relationship where it is mutually beneficial to both industries.

HGB: Who are some of your Hip-Hop style icons? what do you like about their style?

Concise:  I don’t really look to anyone in hip hop for fashion styles. We have an individual sense of style of ourselves. Maybe people will look to us for style ques.

K.Words:  yeah, I try to do me, although I always did respect how Heavy D, Biggie, and now Rick Ross are doin’ it for the 3XL and Up dudes.

Slangston Hughes:  I’ve always really had a individualized and internal approach to clothing, and mixing and matching different pieces.  As I matured and came into my own I used my clothes to express my individual sense of style at a very young age.  I’ve always been known since I was a little kid to dress different and be on my own wavelength.  Therefore rather than any definitive style icons, besides myself I look to periods of time and defining moments in history as style cues in addition to certain family members. Shouts to mid 90′s Diddy, Biggie, and Pac though, they kept it fresh, mixing some high fashion with fly street, dressing it up and dressing it down. Tupac rocking silk Versace shirts and slacks and leather vests in ’95 is no different than Kanye doing his one-two rocking Louis Vuitton, Commes Des Garcons, Maison Martin Margiela or whatever people give him flack for nowadays.  These are not “hip hop” brands.  The beauty in Hip Hop is that musically we can borrow and take and incorporate pieces from any musical genre and I have no problem combining and incorporating fashion pieces and brands from all parts of the fashion spectrum which is the beauty of being a free-thinking artist.

 HGB: How is True 2 Life Music’s style and music different from other groups?

Concise:  We’re just always fresh. whenever you see us, we stand out, and earn attention. We rock street wear, but put our own spin on it. Its not typical or trendy.

K.Words:  And we all have different types of style which evolve and change at different points.  It’s hard to call… sometimes KG will wear a fitted sweater, Slang is wearing a shirt and tie, and I wanna wear a hoody and a fitted hat.  Them being more dressy might cause me to throw on a velvet blazer or something, but you can see in pictures we all may have signature styles or a personal twist whenever we roll.

Slangston Hughes:  Musically, our story sets us apart because we’re presenting you our lives as we have lived them, in addition to our perspectives, our struggles and take on the world as we see it.  In terms of both style and music, we’re not chasing a trend or whats cool now, we’re about human emotion and genuine experiences and both of those things are timeless.  People can certainly relate to what we’re saying and what we represent because we refuse to be put in a box and deny the multifaceted nature of our lives.  To feel and be a certain way on Monday and then have a 180 degree turn on Tuesday morning is just how people are wired, and we reflect that both in our sense of style and when making music.  We’re not perfect but we’re also not here to just continue the status quo, and be ignorant for the sake of a dollar.   We’re here to show that young black males are much more than this narrow caricature which has been and continues to be cultivated and fed to the world.  We also take our live show seriously and make them explosive and engaging with or without our live backing band, and definitely set out to entertain live which seems to be a lost art nowadays.
 
HGB: What influences your style?

Concise:  My personality influences my style. Its an extension of my personality.

K.Words:  I would say weather influences my style.. wintertime I love rocking gloves or wool scarfs.  Cashmere too.  Other than that, I guess it’s just whatever I want to wear at the time.

Slangston Hughes:  How I’m feeling any particular day is what most influences my style.  In terms of use of colors and fits, it usually reflects my mood or just a general feeling that I am inclined to express through my wardrobe.  In a greater scheme of things, I would say my oldest brother influenced my style at a young age, because he was a b-boy, street oriented and just straight hip hop and a sneaker head.  I would wear his 3 finger ring to school with my catholic school uniform in 2nd grade just to stunt, I’d try to raise my hand to answer as many questions as possible so people could see it.  I’d “borrow” his Jesus Piece Chains and go places where I definitely should not have been.  He was just extra cool to me in that defining late 80′s early 90′s era.  On the other end my father is a man who has never wore jeans, and he’s very formal and suited but still very stylish and as I matured I started to see the freshness in those clean lines, fitted clothes, and mixing in formal wear into my everyday attire.

Slangston Hughes of True 2 Life Music

HGB: What are some of your favorite brands?

Concise:  Polo, Levi’s, Villain’s Lair, Mishka, Hundreds, Nike, Supra, Rocksmith, whoever makes dope v-necks, etc…

K.Words: cosign… add Champion and New era.  There are a few other brands I can’t let off cause I’m starting to see more and more people bite my steez…
 
Slangston Hughes: Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, Levi’s, Tom Ford are four pillars so to speak. However I’m not beholden to any particular label, if I see something that I think looks great and catches my eye, you’ll probably see me incorporate it in my wardrobe, whether its a t-shirt, a sport coat, a bracelet, or some boat shoes.  I look at it like music production, you don’t have to be a big name producer to come up with some heat, and once I hear a hot beat, I know its a hot beat , regardless of who made it.  I take that thought process into clothing and brands also. I still believe the clothes don’t make the man, but rather the man makes the clothes. And a big ditto and 100% cosign to everything Concise mentioned cause you’ll usually catch us in those among others, and also ditto to Words, because there’s alotta people biting steeze so some things shall remain untold.  We pretty much like a lot of the same brands. 

HGB: I have a section on the blog called “Sweet Tooth” and I talk about the things that I must have at the moment, whether it is a certain style of shoe, a sweater, unique accessories or something exclusive. What are some things that you guys must have in your wardrobe at the moment?

Concise:  sneakers, need sneakers that could go with multiple styles and colors.

K.Words:  I’ve been known as a fitted hat guy for some years.. so aside from sneakers I’d say a fresh fitted.
 
Slangston Hughes: My wardrobe mainstay would be my Levi’s.  Classic and timeless and just my favorite jeans.  I’m big on denim and through all the trendy, and “it” of the moment brands and styles, Levi’s has always held it down and I like the way they look, feel, and last .  I know what specific fit, leg, and wash that are my staples and I revolve around that.  Also dope fitted’s and kicks are a must.  I also have to keep some some dress shoes on me.

 HGB: When it comes to ladies and fashion, what type of girl do you gravitate towards, style wise? why? (high-end 5th ave chicks, preppy, urban etc)

Concise:  I like high-end fashion, but not too high-end crazy. Your everyday sophisticated, I’m going to take time and do myself up type style. But I could definitely do with out the stuck up attitude that may be associated with it. But for girls, I appreciate a girl that goes in and dresses up. that mixed with some urban.

K.Words:  Ehh, I dunno.  Maybe it’s a little of both for me.. I find myself drawn to girls who used to be tomboys but discovered their sexy maybe in their late teen years.  It depends on the situation.. I don’t necessarily like when women feel the NEED to wear heels and dresses.

Slangston Hughes: My guys just pretty much summed up my sentiments exactly.  I respect a lady with a developed fashion sense whether it be couture or preppy, or ‘around the way girl’ as long as it looks good on her and feels authentic.  Clothes come and go and styles change, so its more about how you rock whatever it is you chose to put on and accentuate your best attributes.  If she’s wearing it right, you get a thumbs up.  I think its more important that she look good minus the clothes completely. 
 

HGB: What do you think is the biggest fashion mistake a woman can make?

Concise:  Neglecting the shoe game. It’s important.

K.Words:  Trying to look like an R&B singer on a daily basis.  That and being too revealing.. subtle is sexy, life ain’t a strip club..

Slangston Hughes:  I’m not a fan of women who overly match, such as bright yellow hoop earrings with a bright yellow belt with bright yellow sneakers, with bright yellow jeans, bright yellow hairband, bright yellow bracelets, and a white shirt….with bright yellow dots all over it, etc…it gets to be too much and tends to come off that the person is really young, like r. kelly young.  Also name belts with things such as “sexy bitch” are quite a misstep in my opinion.  Dirty white uptowns, which now appear brown, as part of your “going out” attire are also a deal breaker.
 
HGB: What’s next for True 2 Life Music?

Concise:  We’re working on our next project, is an EP(album) set to be released first quarter of 2010. stay up on our blog and twitter for updates and releases! www.twitter.com/true2lifemusic www.true2lifemusic.net

K.Words:  More music, more videos, more shows, and more of my great smile.

Slangston Hughes: working harder, staying humble, building the fan base, new projects and breaking more hearts nationwide…

HGB: Where can the HGB readers go for more info on you guys?

 Concise: I jumped the gun. we’re on facebook, our own blog, myspace, youtube, twitter, etc…everything can be found here tho: www.true2lifemusic.net

Slangston Hughes:  stay tuned to our website and follow us on twitter, and if you really want real time updates and to interact with us daily and chat,etc., join our facebook fan page by clicking:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/True-2-Life-Music/7668579756