Tanya M. Fowlow: So who is Topic…I mean aside from the music. Turn the beats off, take away the crowds, turn on the lights and who are you?

Topic: It’s crazy that you say to turn everything off because I like to believe that I am who you hear in the music. A lot of times you hear certain artists and they have gimmicks or certain things that they bring to the table and then when you turn on the lights they’re a whole different person. I don’t know if it’s a bad or a good thing but I’m pretty much who you hear in my music. I feel that I’m true; I’m a humble dude but at the same time I’m confident. My life basically reflects my hustle ‘cause music is my life. It’s kinda hard for me to differentiate between the two as far as turnin’ it on and turnin’ it off. What I usually try to do is make sure I’m givin’ you the best balance of who I am as a person through my music.

TMF: Ok, nice answer! When I was researching I found out that back in 8th grade you wrote your first rhyme; is that right?

T: Yeah, yeah! Like the summer of 8th grade I wrote my first rhyme. It was more of a hobby at the time but I kinda realized that I excelled a little quicker than everybody so I started takin’ it serious. I was fortunate enough like back in ‘93 to have my first studio experience where I figured out how to format and write an actual record and a song; I realized it was a little different than just rhyming. When I first started I was just kinda’ rhymin’ like a backpack rapper per say. [Laughing]

TMF: [Laughing] Do you remember that rhyme still?

T: Umm nah but I do remember the first rhyme I wrote…it was like, “Hippity, hippity hop, rickety rickety rock, a dickety dickety jam around the crickety crickety crock,” …something like that. I don’t remember anything else but that was like the first rhyme I ever wrote. [Laughing]

TMF: [Laughing] Ok, ok, ok! Tell me a bit about what clicked inside of you that said “let’s do hip-hop?” I mean what made you want to write and rhyme at that age?

T: Well it’s like you know, sometimes they say “love at first sight.” Actually when I say hip-hop was a hobby that’s how it started. With anything you do if you’re consistent it should evolve and if it doesn’t there’s probably something wrong or you’re doing the wrong thing. For me it started off as just fun and as a hobby; it was always fun like when I’d rhyme and have cyphers and stuff like that but then when I realized I wanted to make it more than a hobby it was kinda like a love experience for me. You know how sometimes you just feel like everything is right? Like they say the stars are lined up?....that’s how I felt the first time I actually went into the studio. You know like “punch” or “double this” cause I didn’t know nothin’ about stuff like that. I wasn’t experienced in what it was to punch or do any of that stuff. It was like if you can’t say it the way you say it right now and the way that you write it then it doesn’t get done. So when I figured out how to do that and when I figured out what the difference between a bridge and hook was and different things like that, then it was kinda like this is what I wanna do and this is what I want as a career and for a lifetime.

TMF: So take the readers on bit of a tour. Let’s start back in 8th grade and end up at today. What transpired that has you well on the path of making hip-hop your actual career? I guess I’m looking for major events, set-backs, personal things,…anything that you feel may have been related to your journey so far.

T: I grew up with Darius McCracy who played Eddie on Family Matters and he had his own personal studio so it was fortunate for us at an early age ‘cause he was on a national sitcom so he had money. So we started makin’ records and I started out in a group besides just rappin’ at school. It went from there and over the course of over 4-5 years we received a call from DefJam and we had a deal on the table but the business side of things,…ahh I was young and it just wasn’t right so I didn’t sign. From there we broke apart and I fell back from music for a little while because I was in a certain mode with the people around me and it was like I was used to somethin’ and for that to come to an end I had to readjust. So, I readjusted and I started back workin’ with my brother-in-law who was just like puttin’ money behind me. It just wasn’t as comfortable ‘cause I was use to having like a family environment around me musically. At this point I was by myself so I had to start meetin’ people and I had to start hustlin’ again; and in my personal life I was always like in the streets so I would like take any money or anything I had and put behind my music. I ran into a couple of people and then I started doin’ a couple of other projects but I mainly just kept it independent. I was like fundin’ everything myself then. I signed a deal with Dub C at Westside Connection at the point of them having a second Westside Connection record. That didn’t really work out and that was for a short stint of time. After that, ahhh I got the situation that I’m in now with Steve Rifkind and SRC through my guy Big Chuck who was formerly of Aftermath…umm I skipped over that because at one time around like 2000 I use to write for Shontelle who was formerly of Aftermath and I use to write with Knocturnal and he was workin’ directly with Aftermath at the time….but I got in trouble so I got locked up for a year and when I came back I started runnin’ back into Big Chuck a couple of times. Then I got to the point where I put together an independent project and I was just shoppin’ it and me and Chuck linked back up after the Dub C stuff and the rest is history…now I’m signed to Drama Family SRC Universal.

TMF: So you got up on SRC. Share what happened between the time you first contacted them and when you actually inked the deal.

T: That’s kinda like that part that some people find hard to believe. See I’ve signed since 2005 but I had some personal issues that I needed to iron out so I wasn’t able to work. From the time I got my deal I just wasn’t able to work at all and I didn’t really start workin’ for a year and a half. When I did start workin’ I released a street album called Coastguard. The way it happened for me was I did one record and I was one of the last people to get signed as far a like a demo deal. Right before the 360 deals came into play and all that I got signed off of one record and Big Chuck took the record to Steve Rifkind. Steve Rifkind really liked the record but he wasn’t just gunna sign an artist based off their record. Based on our conversation, he doesn’t just sign artists because of their music or because they have a hit. He likes to usually see the artist so he can see what their vision is and so he can just enhance that. He set-up a meetin’ with me and he was like “I wanna see the person and meet the person who made this record.” So, he did that and he signed me on the spot. It was kinda crazy!

TMF: Wow! So what was going on in your head when he said “Let’s ink the deal,” … what were your emotions?

T: Well when he first said “Let’s ink the deal” my emotions were kinda hard to explain. There’s been plenty of times or opportunities to pursue a record deal or things of that nature but I never wanted to do it until the time was right. If you can imagine 13 years of being on one mission where you’re tryin’ to get a record deal, it made me feel like it was worth it and like all my work wasn’t in vain and everything I worked for was startin’ to pay off. Also, I think the emotion that was the strongest for me at the time was like now that I do have this secured I don’t have to think about anything else ‘cause this is my job. I understood from day 1 that the journey’s just begun but a lot of people are artists, a lot of people rap, a lot of people are independent; but it’s not really their job and they don’t even have a company behind them. So, once I figured that out I was just like “mannnnn” and it was a good feelin’!


TMF: You’re from the West and right now it seems like a few artists are surfacing over there. Let’s pretend that I ran the world of hip-hop; and I told you that you couldn’t be a solo artist anymore but you could be one artist in a group of rappers who are from the West. Who would you select to be in your group? No less than 3, no more than 5.

T: [Laughing] Does it have to be new emcees?

TMF: Any emcees you want. They can be dead or alive, new or old.

T: Dead or alive? That’s easy then! So from the West Coast it would be me, Ice Cube, Tupac, Dr. Dre.

TMF: Nice. Why would you pick those guys?

T: To me I think Ice Cube’s the best that ever did anything on the West Coast – he’s the best to me. I think Snoop is the King of the West Coast and I think Dre is the greatest, but those dudes I would just like to be surrounded with that. Tupac I would put him in the group because that’s where I learned a lot from. Like Tupac and Scarface those are my favorite rappers….Scarface is my favorite rapper but it’s like Scarface and Tupac is like neck and neck so. Ahh, I really learned a lot from them and I think Pac brang something to the game that I’m tryin’ to do even now as far as bein’ honest – like bein honest on record. I think that you have to be contradicting sometimes in order to be honest because anytime a person puts their soul into their music it’s gunna be different ‘cause everyday you wake up you don’t stay the same. Let’s say I had an altercation one night and I wrote about it the next day my record will probably sound a little angry. Take me, the same person on another day like a Friday and I just got a bonus check that I didn’t know was comin’ and then I had to go to the studio and work – you’re probably gunna hear the emotions of me getting’ that check, you might hear a party record. The fickle mind of the people expect me to be one way all the time and I think that’s what the problem is with the music industry period… especially as far as hip-hop is concerned.

TMF: Break down the West Coast hip-hop scene for me a little bit. In your opinion what’s really goin’ on over there? What do you think about it?

T: On the West Coast I think…well I kinda have mixed emotions. I’m so in touch with the music that it kinda bothers me a lot, like the things that I see. I’m happy overall that certain people from the West Coast are starting to get shine. It’s kinda hard sometimes when you’re an artist in the same field to give your honest opinion because if your honest opinion happens to be negative then people they like to call it hatin;’ but I’m not hatin’ on nobody and I wanna see everybody win. I just think that the people on the West Coast that are in a position, …. I can’t really say of power at this point but they have actions to gettin’ the power… I don’t think they’re doin’ the things necessary in order to get the West Coast back in the proper perspective because everybody’s concentrating on something different than the music and the music is the first thing. If you wanna rebuild something,…like let’s just say for example if they wanna rebuild the World Trade Centre they still have to take certain specs that they used the first time. Of course they’re gunna make it a little better but they’re still gunna use certain things because they want it to have that same foundation; so in order for the West Coast to be back to where it was – like everybody’s sayin’ “New West Coast, New West Coast,” and I say it myself but it’s like you still have to use certain things as far as the foundation is concerned. Our foundation is based upon the music – the clarity in the music. I mean the clarity of having the Dr. Dre Chronic in 1992: nobody heard ever hear in their lives a gangster rap record that clear and mixed that good or that well put together. But now the new artists form the West Coast they’re not takin’ that same amount of time and priority with the music. From what I see on the West Coast it’s more about what a person’s street credibility is in the West Coast that makes them like “I really am this” or “I really am that” but the music is garbage though.

TMF: Hmmm, ok, ok! Tell the readers about what you have our right now. I guess what’s the latest drop by you…I guess what’s the last thing you did?

T: What I got most currently right now is the pre-album and then what I mentioned earlier, The Coastguard which is the street album. I usually call what I do albums, ummm well a lot of people call it street albums now but I was kinda one of the first people to do that. The reason I classify it as that is because I package it like it’s a mixtape as far as using DJs to host it, I don’t go as colorful with my covers just ‘cause it’s just not me all that funny stuff on the cover but ummm; I put original material on there and I call it an album because I don’t just rhyme over other people’s beats. What I got right now is American Hustler which is the pre-album and it’s a basic illustration of my life which I feel I am the America Hustler. There’s a lot of different illustrations on there and it a real rollercoaster ride which, in my opinion, I think music is supposed to reflect. I think it’s supposed to take you on a journey, it’s like life and they say “life is not a destination but it’s a journey” so I feel that my music is supposed to be the same thing. Aside from that, I got the single with Trey Songz out right now that I’m just tryin to get the spins up: Topic featuring Trey Songz titled I Gotta Get it and comin’ off my debut album which is self-titled Topic – If Not Me Then Who?

TMF: So other then obviously Trey Songz, who’s going to be helping out and getting up on that album with you? Features, Producers, Writers?

T: The people that I work with …ummm…Cool and Dre, Jr. Roddam, I did the majority of my record with a gentleman by the name of Nephew. The majority of the features I have are mainly for hooks ‘cause I write a lot of hooks and I write a lot of melodies but obviously I don’t wanna sing em’ myself. So I got Jagged Edge on a record, I got Akon on a record, I’ve done records with David Banner; those are my lablemates but also actual friends of mine. I didn’t really wanna use a lot of people for the first album because I wanted to kinda set my own standard, and not only that but I wanted to give my audience and fans a chance to see me grow. It’s like you get some people’s album and it has like 18 features on the first album and you don’t have no room to grow and there’s nowhere to go at that point; I didn’t want to that. I think it would be more appreciated if I established myself as who I am and then next album people see like “he worked with this person or that person,” it’s kinda more exciting.

TMF: Share a bit about some of the themes, some of the stories, some of the “topics” you rap about on the album. What’s really being said?

T: I would have to say of course, my life… when I wrote this album I wrote from a personal standpoint and a lot of my music at this point has just been from a personal standpoint because I’m not recognized enough the way that I plan to be at the end of the day. I have to give people my personal life at this point. What you’re gunna hear is a lot of personal issues, a lot of personal experiences that I’ve had and at the same time you’re gunna hear a lot of hard work ‘cause in music I’ve gotta make a statement also to let people know that I’m not playin’. Like, certain people you can’t warn them they won’t believe it until you just do it; so, there’s gunna be records that reflect that and records that are hard. So once again it’s gunna be a rollercoaster ride. It’s not gunna be like a Lil’ Jon album or nuttin’ that you buy and you know when you’re listenin’ to it that it’s gunna be for the club and to get crunk to – it’s gunna be actual music. It’s gunna get back to the art of a record when you use to buy it to have it in your car or have it at your house; something to really listen to – that food for thought!

TMF: Ok! So far, out of all the tracks that you’ve worked on for the album, what’s your personal favorite?

T: My personal favorite? Ahhh, I can’t really say …. I do own a record that I really like alot that comes to mind right now; it’s called “No Pressure” and it kinda illustrates my personality to a tee. I can’t really say it’s my favorite. To be honest with you I like the Dear Mamma’s and Brenda Got a Baby and that type of rhymin’ and I have records like that. I’m not really into the club stuff and all that, radio records and all the dances that come with the music and stuff – that’s not really my thing.

TMF: When life is over and you get to look back at what you did musically what do you want to have accomplished?

T: When it’s all said and done I just want to be recognized for my honesty through music. That’s it! Like some people say, “I’m a change the game” but I don’t think it’s about changin’ the game; it’s about keepin’ the game alive. At the end of the day it’s just the same way that I feel about the streets or anybody that I deal with personal level; I just want them to have a certain amount of respect for me that’s it. I don’t expect nobody to praise me or do none of that. I just want them to know every time I did it, I did it for real and it was honest and sincere.

TMF: Alright. Share a bit about what a routine day looks like for you.

T: A routine day like a work day as far as studio?

TMF: Yeah.

T: I get up in the mornin’ usually about 6:45 or 7:00 I go to the gym and run or whatever…hit a little bit of weights. I always book studio for 12 hours at a time and I never do anything less than that; so I’ll start at like 2 in the afternoon and that’ll end at 2 in the morning.’ So anything that I’m a do would have to be before then – I handle what I need to handle and I just blackout and go to the studio. Sometimes I’ll spend my morning writing before I get to the studio because I don’t like to waste a lot of my time and stuff like that writing in the studio; I like to use my time recordin,’ fixin’ records that I need to fix or whatever.

TMF: Do you have any practices or preferences that people might find unique or crazy when it comes to going in the studio? You know how some people do different things when their in the booth to get their creative juices flowing.

T: Nah I don’t ! I know some people put like candles in the studio or certain pictures and all of that but I don’t do none of that. I just go in and the beat does all of that for me. I don’t really have anything weird that I do. My inspiration usually comes form the music itself. I think music is supposed to be like a marriage between the artist and the music. So what I do is, I usually allow the music to inspire me. If I hear a beat that says something to me it’s like talkin’, I start replyin’: I do my half and it does it’s half, and boom, it’s like a marriage. That’s what I think separates a good rapper and a great songwriter.

TMF: Very interesting perspective. Just before we wrap this up let the fans know how they can get more of your stuff.

T: Check me out on MySpace which is www.myspace.com/topic626, or you can check out my actual website www.whatisthetopic.com but it’s under construction right now but that’s where you’ll be able to get all of the information or whatever’s goin’ on with me.

TMF: Any shout-outs?

T: West Covina, California. Ummm… Drama Family, SRC, Universal, Boss Life World Inc. and the West Coast! I always end everything with… “West Coast Till The World Blows Up!”