I spit gems through the mouth of gods – I’m so real…
—Blank Face
I consider myself to be tastemaker of sorts, and often find myself sifting through endless seas of “next-up” rappers looking for unique voices we can champion here at AAHIPHOP. The other day, while creeping accounts [we all do it] that liked one of my recent photos on Instagram, I came across a super dope illustration of the rap’s elite with their heads on stakes… I clicked through and discovered a young Brooklyn cat by the name of Blank Face.
The artwork in question was the cover for a track called Jungle, a 7 minute assault on the the upper echalon of “power rappers” who currently run the North American scene. Now, this concept is fully unique, but his bars and voice were. I began diggin through his Soundcloud to see if the joint was a fluke – but it wasn’t! He has this grimey New York vibe that I grew up idolizing, with an obvious hunger thatbyiu only get with younger cats. He has serious skills, and I wanted to introduce him to all of you! Peep the Q&A below.
How did you get into hip-hop?
The first song I ever heard was Tupac’s How Do You Want It. After I heard that song, I was hooked. I started to rewrite his lyrics on old school notebooks. Soon, I started to replace words with my own… And next thing you know, I had sheets and sheets of rhymes and ideas. I started digging into the crates to learn the origins, and become a great listener of everything that had to do with Hip-Hop.
Who are some of your influences?
Some major influences of mine are Tupac, Biggie, Pusha T, Eminem, J.Cole, Kendrick, Wu-Tang – and can’t forget 50 Cent! He’s One of my favourites.
Tell me about Jungle.
Jungle was originally suppose to be a 3 minute song. I wrote it frustrated at the current state of hip hop. I hate that it’s not about lyrics anymore – it’s about a hot beat and hook… There isn’t any substance. I was basically letting all my favourite rappers know that I respect them enough to compete against them in any form, to prove I’m a worthy opponent [sic]. The hook was supposed to be me piecing together a bunch of interviews from all the rappers I mentioned throughout the song, but it was still missing something and it sounded to forced and clustered. My Producer, manager and I sat on the record for about a week and a half – and then they came over to my crib to see what we could brainstorm. A third verse became the option but not just any verse… It had to be powerful, and we didn’t wanna just extend the beat. We were playing some instrumentals and then it just happened. Mobb Deep’s Shook One’s came on, and we began to chop it up. I wrote way more then I was suppose to, so we extended the beat twice – and I still had too many bars! We went to the studio a few days later, recorded it, and it came out crazy. We had that song for maybe 4 months and then we finally decided to drop it. 7 minutes of Damage.
Who did that crazy cover?
I do all my own artwork. I have a Degree in Graphic Design – and I’m a Fine Artist as well (with pencil and paper).
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on a project called H3ZUS LINX. It’s basically me using a Jesus chain as a metaphor for being detached from God… It should be a really dope project, not sure on how many tracks but it’s def on the way. I should be dropping the first track in about a week or two, once I finish the artwork for it. I’m also working on a 90s RNB Project using samples of old RNB songs that were poppin in the 90s.
Do you perform live?
Yeah, I perform live at open mic’s. I usually post it on Instagram prior to the performance of where people can go to see me.
Where can people find you?
You can find me on Instagram @IAmBlankFace and you can check me out On SoundCloud – BlankFaceNYC.
