The fellas over at
I Heard Dat caught up with
Criss Lyric recently. Check it out:
What got you into hiphop?
I can't really say what got me into hip hop you know? I always wrote stories and came up w/ little verses here and there, but I never had a hip hop upbringing like a lot of other artists. Once I left Queens for CT in elementary, I met my dude Truth, who later came up w/ the idea of forming a rap group in the 5th grade;thats when I officially started rapping. Once I linked up w/ X (Aviles) in high school he put me on to a lot of classic albums I missed out on before. So i started rapping in grade school but I didn't really get into hip hop until high school.
Other CT artists you would like to collab with?I'm willing to collab w/ any one as long as they're on their shit and the connection is right. Once you build relationships w/ other artists the music sounds more natural to the listeners, and many times, artists don't realize how much work goes into doing music aside from the actual music - quality, promo, marketing, merch, etc. so if you're not fully in, I wouldn't even bother because I'd be hurting myself more than I'd be helping. But whether its a CT artist or an Alaskan artist, as long as they're grindin and the vibe is right then we could make something happen.
Influences in the rap game now?
Artists that influenced me would be DMX (I wanted to be a rapper because of him), Jay- Z, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, and Andre 3000. I've been fallin back from listening to rap lately though. Right now I'm inspired by The Beatles, Esthero, Little Dragon , Sizzla, Gnarls Barkley, but I still play a little Dom Kennedy or Curren$y in between all that.
What's in store for 2011 Criss?
2011 is looking like a good year so far, I'm dropping my second project "Sumnar" in March. I'm feeling good about the music we have on there. If you liked "The Frame" then you'll love "Sumnar". I'm taking a trip out to Austin for SXSW this year with the rest of the All Mighty crew, as well as other places. Honestly, my plans for 2011 is to just stay as busy as possible. Go hard or nothing at all.
Favorite Herb?
It's gotta be Purp. I fuck w/ the high you get from purp, I don't discriminate though, any vegetable is good in my books. Just don't offer me dirt or dust.
Your favorite type of song to smoke to?Ehh, it all depends on what mood I'm in and what I feel like listening to at the moment. I may be in an N.E.R.D. mood w/ one spliff. When I roll a next one, I could be listening to Bonobo. So it all depends on what I want to hear.
Where are you taking your sound?
I'm tryna take my sound all over. I feel like the music I'm making now is different from what a lot of people are hearing. Thats why I honestly feel like I could take the music anywhere. Even if you don't like it you won't be able to knock it because anything dope can never be denied. I'm not expecting everybody to love the music but I know it's gonna be a point in time where everybody will be screaming "All Hail All Mighty" !~
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