Which rappers were you listening to when you started rapping and how do you think they affected you?
There are so many things that influenced Jimmy Valentime. For me it’s never stopped, you have to keep learning and keep improving. I have rapped for 19 years and I’ve adapted my style over time, learning things, and always working to make it better. My first album Life In Amazin Times was influenced by Common sense, Nas, Pusha T, Rick Ross and the production of J Dilla. My new album is called Better Luck Tomorrow, because it’s about always trying again. It’s influenced by Drake, Freddie Gibbs, Schoolboy Q, YC the Cynic, and Childish Gambino. Overall lyrically it’s Nas and Common, music wise in terms of hooks and song structure. I was influence by Drake and Ja Rule. The way I structure my bars comes from Pusha T. Aesthetic-wise in how I present myself, I got a lot of things from Scarface. I also was influenced by things that are not about rap such as Michael Stipe from REM, the band Nirvana, the writing of Junot Diaz and Joss Whedon. The first two albums that really captured my imagination and that I listen to all the way through were De La Soul’s Stakes Is High and Camp Lo’s Uptown Saturday Night. If I think about it, it captures the middle ground I have walked my entire time as a rapper. I like to make music that comments on the things that I think are going wrong in society and also stuff that’s about the vibe and more relaxed.
You seem to have an affinity to The Joker. Why?
I always had a wry sense of humor and a lot of times growing up I was the class clown. So The Joker was the first comic character I felt an affinity for. I like truth tellers and to me The Joker represents that. The music industry’s very artificial, a lot of smokes and mirrors. I think theatricality’s great, but it’s got speak to a larger truth. I like The Joker because when he’s written well, it is a guy arguing a point of view. He’s trying to prove a point to Batman and to the society at large and I am trying to do that with my music. That’s what you see in The Dark Knight and The Killing Joke. Mark Hamill is my favorite Joker. He had a dope girlfriend, clean suit, turned Robin against Batman, and came back to life on his Makaveli shit… The GOAT. One of the easiest ways to describe my rapping style to people is to say it as if Common Sense was raised by The Joker. I rap about social issues and important stuff, but I know that people listen to music to escape and to feel better, So on some level you have to entertain them or they will tune you out. I work hard to make sure people are engaged on my albums and live shows. I don’t wear make up like a juggalo or elaborate costumes. It’s not like The Last Emperor’s “Secret Wars” or Nerdcore, it’s supposed to be subtle. Also check out https://instagram.com/smilexdylan. That guy is a human cartoon, he is on some next level shit.
What’s your favorite line you’ve ever written and why?
It’s the first four bars to “Take It In Blood”, my tribute to Nas. It’s the last song on my album Better Luck Tomorrow. “I wanted to be a Latin king – but had roman features / forgotten by social workers who failed to reach us / little animals — we wanted to fuck our teachers / my uncles in the kitchen –were cooking up ether”. It’s very autobiographical, I am Dominican mixed with Spaniard. I remember someone telling me once that I looked like a roman soldier. I was a problem kid and had a social worker in school and I saw her as an adult and she didn’t recognize me. I was probably just another case to her. That kind of savagery my friends were engaged in during high school.
Shoutouts?
Shouts to all the producer for my album – Newo Tha Kid, Willie Green, Kelly Portis, Mike Murderer and Urban Miracle. Also to my group The Lost Angels Lyrical Blades, Urban Miracle, and Carlos Ferragamo.
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