Interview : Nino

New York, I've never been but I've been told that it's the most amazing city in the U.S. and that their pizza is the best. Being from the suburbs of Chicago there is a strong urge to argue strongly against both of those statements merely out of pride for the City I've known and loved ever since I was baby. At the end of the day though I consider myself reasonable and can't fully stand behind my own beliefs until I truly have experienced New York. Even though I think there is no way their food could stand up to ours, New York has done wonders for the genre of Hip-Hop. A countless number of legends have come out of the big apple. You got Jay-Z, 50 cent, Nas, Wu-Tang, Biggie, Tekashi69, the list is endless. (ok the last one was a joke). Even in the most recent years we've seen artists explode out of NY including, Collectives like Pro Era, and groups like Flatbush Zombies. NY is a hotbed for creatives, and this week we sat down with Nino, a rapper from the State of NY.

INTERVIEW

Q. How old are you, where did you grow up, and where do you stay now?

A. "I’m 20 i was born in akron ohio moved to new york in like early middle school and i’ve been there ever since."

Q. What was it like growing up in Akron compared to New York?

A. "Akron was always cool cause that’s where my family is so i was always at home. in new york it was different being around whole bunch of locals that really didn’t fuck with you so i stayed to myself a lot but i met all my homies i roll with now in new york found my passion foreal so i appreciate growing up in NY I guess."

Q. So could you describe what the creative scene is like, I’m assuming it's pretty good?

A. "Where i’m at in NY it’s a wasteland fr trash i’m in the stick with all the farmers but we created our own scene though there’s a few rappers that i’ve connected with around the area. I guess I get my creativity from wanting to get outta this place and better for my team. There is all the drama and extra stuff that come with life though and there’s a lot of that around here so I observe and/or go through it probably where most my creativity comes from. Definitely can hear it in my music."

Q. So what made you get into music and what inspired you to start creating?

A. "Growing up my mom listening to nas jay z and lil wayne definitely sparked my interest in music I also love jazz and come from a music background family. i’d be rapping in the kitchen and shit when I was young making corny raps with my bro jamel. in middle school and then going into high school growing up in NY that scene was taking shit by storm. w pro era asap mob odd future flatbush zombies and all them starting to catch a buzz. it was crazy watching them blow up from nothing. me and the homies would just be free styling over beats and we was like we are actually decent if they can do it let’s take this to the next level and that’s how it all came about.

Q. Do y’all have a collective?

A. "No collective for all of us yet but me and my homie got something in the works we do collab with the homie often who has a dope collective they go by Camp Records."

Q. So what are some of your goals for your career big and small?

A. "Some goals uhh let’s see some small goals would be start doing shows and videos getting my image out there in the near future. big goals I wanna one be able to live solely off of music related things trying to headline my own show and go on at least one world tour. of course square my moms away but that’s mandatoryIi make it lol.

oh i wanna start my own label give the youth a shot and a base to start out w so they not tryna piece it together as they go like I was."

Q. What would you say is the hardest thing you come across when creating?

A. "Probably the most challenging thing for me when it comes to the whole creative process would be mixing and making sure i sound good. i usually mix everything myself and i’m no 40 so my engineering skills aren’t top tier but i’ve managed and it’s good practice."

Q. Who are some people that you would like to work with in the future and who have been your favorite people to work with in the past?

A. "I’m down to work with anyone if we can make a dope track foreal especially any upcoming artist. i would definitely like to work w lucki he is one of my favorite artist as well as levi carter. my favorite people that i’ve worked w as of right now would have to be Terrell Nego Cjb and my homie Johnny shock."

Q. So you said you wanna get out of NY, where do you want to move to?

A. "I’m tryna go to a more music influenced area wouldn’t mind somewhere in texas also looking into atlanta as well got some friends and good connections down there to help out so the transition won’t be to bad."

Q. If you could describe your music to someone who has never heard it before what would you say?

A. "I would tell em my music definitely has a smoke and more chill vibe to it definitely not no club bangers or mosh pit type stuff but it’s not all dark has some bounce to it. if i had to pick a genre i’d throw it in a genre one of my favorite artist made big called alternative trap. also definitely has a lot of feeling and emotion in it. i really talk about things not just flexing."

Q. What do you think is your best song you’ve ever released and why?

A. "ooo this a hard question lol as for a crowd favorite i think my song lately takes it. fastest song to reach 1k plays and i get a lot of good feed back for that track. my best track to me has to be distant that track embodies everything i’m about the vibe what i’m talking about in that track. it’s really me in a track foreal ."

Final

Nino's music is unique in many ways, and I love that you can still hear the NY sound subtly in his music. His music is more focused on meaning and lyrics than it is on melody. You get more of a back to basics sound, not in a bad way, but in a way of old school rap more focused on bars, something that I miss alot now in mainstream music. He just released his new tape N.U.M.B (Now Unavailable My Bad) so if your unfamiliar with Nino's music, right now is a great chance to go take a listen to his versatile style. Nino has supported Burbs for a relatively long minute compared to when we launched, he's appeared on Burbs Radio a couple times and with the release of his new tape we felt it was a great time to do an interview. Nino is already very skilled and still has a lot of potential that will be uncovered as time goes on.

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