ARABLAK spills and admits he’s killed a few MC’s!

I sat with ARABLAK and got the low on BET ‘s top 10 list, collabs with Larry Cheeba and  killing a few fellow artits. WHOA! Once you go BLAK you never go BACK! Hit my BOX for more

What it is ARABLAK!? Talk to me.
Peace home girl. Everything is kosher over here. It’s taken a minute, but I appreciate finally get my hands into the cookiBOX and Forbez DVD.

No doubt! Thanks for taking the time. So how long have you been spitting flames of intellect?
I’ve been rhyming since about 91′-92′.  A couple of homies in my 8th grade computer class rapped, so we started a 3 man group called “Educated Steppaz”. Kinda corny in hindsight, but at the time, you couldn’t tell us we weren’t fresh! After years of rocking with local crews and putting out random cuts of my own, I moved to Atlanta in 2006 and started to really take music serious. I’m preparing my debut album now, but in the meantime, you can check the kid out at arablak and most music networking sites

All bullshit aside, you’re a dope emcee and most dope emcees are very intelligent. Tell me about your style of Hip-Hop.
I appreciate the love. It’s really the product being a teenager in the early 90′s. Listening to greats like KRS One, Redman, Pharoahe, GZA, Nas and Ras Kass was a HUGE influence on my writing style. I come from an era where it was all about making heads rewind the tape, or wild out during a rhyme cipher because of a rhyme you just said. My first instinct is to try and say ill shit, and sound ill as I say it. To me that’s the essence of being a dope emcee.

Digging “Give Thanks”, please talk a little about this track. What’s the concept behind it? And damn I wish it were longer!
Word, thanks. It’s actually a cut done a while back around Thanksgiving. I usually travel home (Massachusetts) around that time and do shows or record music while I’m up there.  The homies Solomon D’Augustine (FKA Steadfast) and Larry Cheeba really blessed it and helped make it as dope as it is… Shouts to DJ Manipulator for the dope beat.

Steadfast and Larry Cheeba are dope! I gotta do my homework. Salute on the collab, how did you all meet?
Solomon (Steadfast) is one of my best friends. We started working together on myspace while he was still in DC where he’s originally from, he’s a monster on the mic and a dope producer on top of that. He’s got a real raw, gritty sound that I’m a fan of, so we hit it off from the jump. Larry grew up in my hometown (Worcester, MA) and is one of the best and most successful emcees to emerge from the area. We’ve held a mutual respect for each other for mad years, so this was definitely a long overdue collaboration.

Ever kill anybody?
I’ve killed a few stages, mics and wack emcees, but was never the type of cat to use weapons, so no, I’ve never murdered anyone on the streets OR on a track.

Do you think Hip-Hop has simply “evolved” with the times, lost it’s funk somewhere in 1997 or is simply where it needs to be “underground”?
Hip-Hop music never lost a beat, it just lost it’s promotion. Underground Hip-Hop has always been in the mix, even though the radio and television stations stopped playing it. I can name you a few dope albums from every year between 97 and now. Even a few classics, people just stopped doing their own research for good music around the millennium so BET kinda became the face of Hip-Hop for the casual listeners. I listen to mp3′s and CD’s instead of the radio so hip-hop never died in my deck. The payola system just unfortunately purged it from the mainstream, so you’ll no longer see Pete Rock or Pharoahe Monch on BET.

FILL IN THE BLANKS: BET’s top 10 Hip-Hop artist of the 21st Century is a list I don’t care aboutbecause I feel that Clear Channel is NOT the authority on this art so I don’t watch BET and I probably can’t discuss music with you if you don’t feel the same way.

Fucking genius!! Lol! With an answer that great I wanna know, what are you looking for when you think about your spot in Hip-Hop culture?
I just want to have a good time, possibly influence other cats to explore being the best emcee they can be and possible make a little money while I’m doing it. When I have spare time I write lyrics and make beats because I love the music. I’m be happy knowing I’m pretty good at what I do, and I have had the opportunity to connect with a bunch of like minded, DOPE artists, and fans alike.

Nice answer, I dig what you’re doing and hope to hear more from you. We’re gonna get up again, real soon! But right now I gotta go. Give me your shout outs and final thoughts…
Definitely! Thanks again for the opportunity pinkCookiz and Forbez DVD! Huge shouts to my Social Light Sounds crew: Tone Capone, Solomon D’Augustine, Yohon D.I., Ghagged, Mr. Live. My ATL fam: Clan Destined, Illastrate, DJ Dug Boogie, Boog Brown, Amond Jackson, DJ Deliver, the whole FTP Movement (the list goes on)