Interview with Bay Area Rapper Alpha Leo

What’s the biggest thing that happened to you that you did not expect when you ran for president?
Finding out about some of the hip-hop blogs covering my campaign was surreal. Some of these blogs I grew up admiring like The Source for instance. To see The Source or ThisIs50 cover you, or DJ Enuff tweet your campaign on Twitter is a good look. I just wished that they didn’t stop. They stopped cold turkey and it’s something I don’t understand because I really could’ve used more of the hip-hop media’s collaboration.

What’s your beat selection process? Do you have producers you prefer to work with?
I usually try to find beats that are soulful. I don’t care who makes the beat as long as the beats are on point. Right now it’s this producer who I stumbled upon named Jean-Pierre Mouzon, the son of the late jazz drummer Alphonse Mouzon. Found him via the Internet and used my whole David And Goliath Part 2: Paradigm Shift album to have his beats. His sound really reflects my artistic vision.

If there’s one famous beat this year you would have swiped from the artist who ended up putting it out, which one would it be and why?
I really haven’t heard anything this year that would make me churn on that level. The beats I hear these days sound too poppy and “catchy” for me.

How do you know when a song is ready?
I know a song is ready after recording it and listening to it a few times. The goal is to hope I feel the same emotion listening that I was feeling when I wrote it. If this doesn’t happen then that means that it wasn’t delivered the way I visioned. Transforming lyrics into audio is a different art. That’s why many writers can’t be rappers and many rappers can’t be writers. You can write the dopest shit in the world but make it sound like the wackest shit ever. So when I feel that same emotion I did while writing it. I know it’s ready.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *