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What’s going wrong with the industry/ too many dead people/ understanding the difference/ its like crowning a king/ in a crowd full of idiots/ silence of clones/ violence in these drones/ I rose one day/ through all of the chaos/ and wondered did hip-hop seem take a day off/ Honestly between on the Rawkus/ A man said get in/ I lead you to the future of Hip-Hop/ I ran into 6th Sense…….What’s your 6th Sense…illroots.com found Hip-Hop’s …illroots.com: First off I have to say thank you for time out of your day my good friend.
6th: Your Welcome and Thank You.
illroots.com: [Laughs] So, How did you get the name 6th Sense?
6th: I mean I came up with the name when I was like 15 and its just like music is my sixth sense. You know I guess as time has gone on I’ve grown into the name more and more.
illroots.com: Musically, your biggest influences?
6th: Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis & John Coltrane, and REO Speedwagon.
illroots.com: Wow, that’s an eclectic mix.
6th: Naw I’m kidding [Laughs]
illroots.com: [Laughs]
6th: and J Dilla too and Kanye West.
illroots.com: One song that would summarize your entire life?
6th: One song to describe my entire life?, um……..damn
illroots.com: I play for keeps..
6th: One song for my entire life?......hmmmm. I don’t know that’s a tough one.
illroots.com: Un Song, A..Song
6th: I don’t know man that’s a tough one. I’m have to get back to you on that one.
[Just for Everybody to know he texted me later with “That’s What Friends Are For” and for those that don’t remember this song I took the time out of my illustrious schedule to find the video..Shout out to Dionne Warwick…lol]
illroots.com: I stumped him…Yes…
6th: Yea right off the back.
illroots.com: Um…well that’s a great interview[laughs]
6th: yea well thanks for the interview that was good, now onto the lightning round.
illroots.com: [laughs] Yea right now we’re going to double Jeopardy. Okay from your first
album till now, how do you feel you grew artistically?
6th: I actually did an album when I was 16 or 17, it was called Stew Music and then I did an album with a group called The Understudies and that never came out, the label folded before it got to see the light of day. Then I recorded Highing Fly and then the new one is called Its Coming Soon and I just say lyrically the newer stuff now, I guess I’m using lesser words to create a deeper meaning. As well I guess I’m very song oriented especially if I’m producing something that I’m recording too. Overall it just feels more comfortable in your own presentation so to speak, your not trying, you try less and less. It’s just more pure.
illroots.com: Okay well, I saw that the majority of your album is produced by you and Frequency, how did y’all meet up?
6th: I met Freq maybe 6 years ago almost 7 years ago and we’ve just grown through the music. You know developing our sound and just making it better and better.
illroots.com: Okay before meeting him you were?
6th: I guess I was going to high school and I was wood shedding lyrically. I was around a bunch of older dudes , I was young and they put me through a lyrical boot camp so to speak. It was really about the craft and learning how to expand your shit. You got to pay dues and show to prove, so I was really just getting my feet wet before all that.
illroots.com: I noticed you’re a producer as well as writer, You know there’s very few who have used that combination and had a lot of success on a major level. There’s more people popping up now like your Kanye West’s and so forth. Where do you see yourself stepping into that mold? More of a producer? Or a Writer?
6th: I’m not sure you know. That’s really going to be wherever God takes me really. You know I have to honestly say that I’ll never stop doing one or the other because truthfully one hand definitely feeds the other when it comes to that and I think other people respect the production because I can rhyme. As well, I know what the fuck I’m talking about. Even today you look [at] a lot of these producers and their doing the chorus’ and shit so I do that from time to time and I certainly enjoy it.
illroots.com: Most Underrated Emcee Ever?
6th: Ever, that would have to be Black Thought.
illroots.com: GOD BLESS YOU….
6th: I’ve said that a number of times, it’s just simple, like simple as that. My man Carlos once told me “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him mess up”. You know like technically or whatever you know he never had a line that was like “You I don’t know about that line” or “it really didn’t rhyme” or something like that. It’s just the fact that my man does over 200 songs a year and body’s every emcee in the game, he’ll come through with the band and crush you.
illroots.com: That’s so true….Thank you for stating that.
6th: Your Welcome and Thank You Black Thought.
illroots.com: Aight so the new album Its Coming Soon, I’ve heard, its definitely a step above other albums that I’ve heard I’ve listen to over the last few weeks.
6th: Thank You.
illroots.com: What’s your process as far as song making?
6th: With this album I have to be honest it was just to get it finished in time, so that they say “You have your whole life to do your first album” and you know this one definitely had a deadline for it. I said let me make the best album to capture this timeframe. I wouldn’t say disappointed but all the beats for this album are done and you can tell like Kanye keeps all the beats for himself and I might have done the same thing. In the same token I enjoy making beats on the spot creating a song right then and there, I didn’t do that for this album the beats were already done. Frequency had brought some tracks by me and I know “Run It By Me” we did that night. You know the thing about Biggie is that he would never rhyme the same way, it was always about the song, that’s why Biggie is the shit and why he’s better than just about any other rapper that has come from New York. I was just looking to have fun basically, you know the tone of the entire album is this idea that we’re on the brink of something here. A lot of the songs basically have this feel like we’re about to have something happen. Each song is basically the embodiment of a sound or an idea that is going to be expanded upon in the future.
illroots.com: So you’re looking to make a trendsetting album or per se a landmark album.
6th: Oh yea definitely it will be something people will trace back too. I mean the most
important thing is that it’s me. It is me. My boy Joey told me, after seeing me rock, that it reinforced that “You are your songs”. There’s really nothing else to it.
illroots.com: As a producer what other artists have you produced for?
6th: I played keyboards on the Snoop Dogg album [The Blue Carpet Treatment]. I produced my man Wildabeast’s entire album, and he’s part of the Rawkus Certified 50 as well. I just finished producing my man Jelani’s new album called Wait You Can Rap and that should be coming out very soon. I’ve done a couple other tracks here and there. I’m going to be working with Nature on a bunch of songs and I’ve done some songs with Jay Hoffa, that’s Scram Jones artist on Beast Musik. Actually I’m going to have a couple new joints on the HOTTEST RAPPER OUT RIGHT NOW’s new mixtape, lets just leave it at that. I mean generally they always say the great producers they produced albums, that’s kind of like the shit I like to do with my peoples Wildabeast and Jelani as well as myself.
illroots.com: Hey well you know….So other than rap, what other ventures?
6th: Well I look toward the future to get with a large label to reinvent the way that they go about their music. You can kind of call it an Executive Producer type of role. I relate to artists because I can really relate. You know the best part of a producer is to catch the best of an artist, so rather I’m behind the boards or not I can put together a cohesive album of sorts or whatever it may be to capture the best of an artist. That’s where I would like to take myself as far as venturing further down the road. As far as anything else I don’t really know.
illroots.com: That’s two strikes, one more an I’m just gonna hang up[laughs]
6th: [laughs]
illroots.com: You know I’m that pitchers just trying to find that knuckleball that…Tim Wakefield that’ll strike you out. Um…
6th: Ask me who I’m jealous off or something.
illroots.com: [laughs] Um…
6th: Why Not.
illroots.com: Um so….okay who is the biggest driving force in hip hop?
6th: Kim Kardasian…[laughs] sike naw…I’m just joking.
illroots.com: Yea could drive and force me….
6th: I would say you got your man Jay-Z that is a master at hypnotizing the public.
illroots.com: Hypnotizing the public?
6th: You can take that as a negative or a positive and I would say God Bless Kanye West. I toast to Kanye West.
illroots.com: Okay.. What’s the release date on your album and where can we see more 6th Sense?
6th: They can get the album right now on anywhere digitally, itunes, rhapsody, the whole lot. You can pick it up from there as well as my man Wildabeast’s Album. You know if you want to check out more stuff with us you can check out the blog. It’s getting a lot updates everyday its www.notherground.blogspot.com .
illroots.com: Any labels ?
6th: Well the album is attached to the Rawkus 50 Movement right now and Notherground is the movement so to speak right now. The mixtape with Mick Boogie called Go For It you can get that on illroots.com and at the blog right now. Look for a new album coming soon I think the title is going to be Realizing What it Is.
illroots.com: Wow that’s great.
6th: So we have Its Coming Soon, Go For It, and Realizing What It Is. Eventually when the big label comes along and you know I wanted to call my album It but I felt like it wasn’t really the time just yet. So you can call It like my dream album and certainly the big labels listening out there I want to drop it so the people can cop it. So that’s basically about as much as I can get into I guess.
6th: Ask me who I’m Jealous of..come on …
illroots.com: [laughs] Okay..Who are you jealous of?
6th: Okay let me first say jealousy is a female emotion.
illroots.com: It is.
6th: But I would say my form of jealousy is more out of admiration and respect because that’s really where it stems from but I’m super jealous of Will Smith and Kanye West and I’m also jealous of professional athletes.
illroots.com: [laughs]
6th: Naw because in music there’s no real winner’s. You don’t win or lose a game. Its all taste and subjective.
illroots.com: There’s no Pro Bowl for MC’s
6th: I guess a Grammy Award is as close to a…but even that is some bullshit but I’m really jealous of professional athletes because people can sit around and talk about who the great athletes are because they win championships and the biggest part of it is they play team sports and it takes a team to win and not just one motherfucker.
illroots.com: Wow that was very introspective. Into the Mind of 6th Sense.
6th: That’s really how it happens.
illroots.com: That’s how it goes down. I can respect that though, you know, because they get to play and get paid.
6th: Oh yea there’s that element too. But like I said my jealousy really stems from admiration. Like damn only if there were wins, losses, playoffs, and real stats in music and hip-hop.
illroots.com: I think that would be kind of funny to watch though, like a Fiesta Bowl with Noreaga , that would just be hilarious to me.
6th: He would be the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl. Ya Smiggadeal me…
illroots.com: [laughs]El Pollo Loco, also yea Ghostface, I would pay to see Ghostface in some shit like that.
6th: Oooh. You would have to put Ghostface in the Sugar Bowl. Not cause he’s sweet though don’t get it twisted it’s just he’s got that flava you know what I mean.



illroots.com: [Stadium Voice] Starting at Fullback…Paisley Fontaine.
6th: [Laughs]
illroots.com: But thanks to 6th for the Convo and keep an eye open for this guy he’s the next wave of music. Check out www.notherground.blogspot.com and go to our Artist of the Month and Check him Out.