Interview with Sonny Bamboo
Sitting across from me at the local burger joint was rapper Sonny Bamboo and his friend David, better known in the battle world as Drect. Both have immense experience in the world of battle rap, the former having been the president of Grind Time Now’s Midwest division and the latter having been the founder and a co-CEO of GTN. Further, Sonny is one of the major influences on my style of rap and one of my favorite artists. Needless to say, as I set up my laptop to record the interview, I felt both nervous and excited to have both of them in front of me for a discussion.
Before starting the interview, the three of us had a relaxed conversation about the world of battling. The weekend prior to our meeting, two major events were hosted by King of the Dot and UW Battle League: Blackout 4 and High Stakes, respectively. I took this opportunity to break the ice with Sonny, talking about who beat who and what the best bars of the weekend were. After discussing the battles and talking about ourselves some more, our conversation gradually transitioned into the topic of music. That’s when I asked him the first question.
Before starting the interview, the three of us had a relaxed conversation about the world of battling. The weekend prior to our meeting, two major events were hosted by King of the Dot and UW Battle League: Blackout 4 and High Stakes, respectively. I took this opportunity to break the ice with Sonny, talking about who beat who and what the best bars of the weekend were. After discussing the battles and talking about ourselves some more, our conversation gradually transitioned into the topic of music. That’s when I asked him the first question.
Andrew: “So, Sonny, what draws you to the culture of hip-hop and makes you identify with the art?”
Sonny Bamboo: “Yeah, what draws me to the culture… Well, I would say that a big part of it is growing up in Atlanta, because Atlanta is like the Mecca for rap culture right now, you know what I mean? It’s like New York in the 90’s. Ninety percent of things that are going on and soon to be coming out rap-wise are from Atlanta, so I think that’s one side of it.” A: “And what about identifying with it? What makes you as a person choose rap and hip-hop as a creative outlet?” SB: “Well, you know how everybody says that hip-hop is about the underdog barking loud?” A: “Like a counterculture thing?” SB: “Yeah, it’s a counterculture thing, and it’s a voice for the people who were previously unheard to be heard. You know me and my background with basketball and being too small for that and always feeling like I always have something to prove. But yeah, I feel like it’s a mixture of basketball and Atlanta.” A: “So you kinda told yourself, ‘you know what, even though I can’t play basketball, I’ll still crush cats as an emcee.’” SB: “Yeah, totally. And you know that basketball and rap culture go hand in hand, also, so since basketball was my first love, I feel like that easily blended into rap. Like whether you’re wowing crowds by crossing people over versus like wowing crowds battle rapping.” |
A: “Now can you tell me more about your style of writing, your style of delivery, and why you do it like that?”
SB: “Well, I would say that one thing that I’ve considered a strength of mine is kind of like presenting deep, hair-raising, emotional kind of real stuff. Like the ‘Nikes Laced Up’ joint is kinda on that note. There’s another song called ‘The Basement’ that’s kind of like, no hook and five minutes of just life story kind of stuff.” A: “Oh word, those are my jams. Actually, ‘Nikes Laced Up’ was the inspiration for a verse I wrote about dealing with being a pre-med kid because I know a lot of us are stressing out about how rigorous it is and whatnot.” |
A: “Alright, now for the last question. If a record company were to offer you a track to rap on for a good amount of money, but you thought it was wack, how would you react to that offer?”
SB: “To be honest with you, man, I’ve already been put in those kinds of positions. Not necessarily with record labels but with placements and stuff like that for promotions. Like, they’ll want a certain kind of song and send you beats that are corny and horrible. I used to be super backpacker and all like 'I would never sell out' and stuff, but what kind of changed my mind on that is that what I want more than anything is to just live off rap. You gotta do what you gotta do in some cases, and even if I might see something as kinda corny, I would rather be doing what I love than going and flipping burgers.” A: “Yeah I dig that.” SB: “But I do want to stress that there are certain lines that I wouldn’t cross, like there are some things that would be too far. But for the most part, I would rather be the dude who bites the bullet and takes jobs and opportunities or does placements that I don’t really feel are my style. I’d rather do that than be super undergroundy and while doing menial stuff.” |