24: Introduce yourself to everyone that doesn’t already know who you are.

Otis Roycroft: My name is Otis Roycroft, I am a lyricist, poet, storyteller, dragon slayer, and Laker fan. I’d say I’m a little out there I guess. I love writing rhymes, smoking the best weed California has to offer, and stirring up shit with all my friends. We tend to bring too many people with us everywhere we go.

24: Before we get into your music, can you describe your history about how you got into and what inspired you?

Otis Roycroft: I think the first person that truly inspired me to want to start writing and shit was definitely Snoop. I was born in Long Beach, so that just hits so close to home and I remember when I was really young, all I would hear out of my dads cd player was ‘Doggystyle’ and the Tupac ‘Greatest Hits’ album. Then probably something by Sublime when he needed a change of pace. Once I got into high school I listened to a lot of DOOM and Andre Nickatina, and I have always been on a healthy diet of Marshall Mathers. I had always been into writing, but by that I mean essays, stories, poetry, etc. I was in the advanced english classes before my grades fell off. I never had a way to record my shit or get the nice sound quality though, until about a year out of high school when I met a kid that would turn out to be my main producer and a big homie, Daisy Cutta. In the past 3-4 years we’ve transformed the office in his house into a studio and been going at it ever since.

24: What was the Hip-Hop scene like for you growing up where you’re from?

Otis Roycroft: Well you gotta keep in mind I live in Orange County, so the current music scene is dominated by electronic. A lot of kids around here go to the big raves… I go to the small Hip-Hop shows. You’ll see a lot of kids in the reggae or ska too, and I guess we have punks. But there are a lot of kids around here who do know their stuff though, you just have to know where to find them.

24: What makes you Unique as a artist and different from other rappers out now?

Otis Roycroft: First of all, I’m not a gimmick. There are so many people in the game right now that are making their name and their image off of being a completely different person when the cameras and the mics are on. I am what I am. I write all of my own rhymes and say the shit I want to say, I get on the beats that I like, I feel comfortable in my own skin. I think my sound is still somewhat on the old school side, it’s definitely not something that pops up on the radio very often. Most importantly, I’m really trying to create a great live show experience every time I perform. For big artists you know, they can go out on stage and get love from the crowd strictly off of the strength of their name… but as a new and fairly unknown artist, it feels good to hit the stage with a lot of energy and a taste of something new and totally different the fans don’t expect.

24: Tell us about what you are working on.

Otis Roycroft: I put out a 13 track LP entitled ‘COSMIC!’ on 04/20 which I was working on for close to a year, and I also just released a 5 track EP entitled ‘The Gameshow’ with the homie Headband out of Sacramento. I’m really trying to promote every new release as much as I can because I think it can do really well if it falls into the ears of the right listeners and the hands of the right people. I just landed a little clothing sponsorship with these kids coming out of Laguna. The brand is called RYE. They’re doing a lot of positive stuff for me and themselves right now. I just kind of want to freelance and collaborate for a little bit and have fun before I put my head back down and start working towards whatever the next big project is.

24: What producers have you worked with and who would you like to work with in the future?

Otis Roycroft: My last LP and everything I had done up to that point was produced by Daisy Cutta, I have my new EP and more projects in the works with Headband, I’ve been working with a producer out of France named Dirty Def, DJ Delight from Dallas, Mistatwist and Rhythum out of Canada, and of course my local heads Theon Thrift, novelty90, Nappy Chan, and my roommate New Crude, we just setup the studio in our new apartment. As far as the future I have high hopes to work with a few heads from Astral Basement, which is a production collective that Daisy Cutta just signed onto.

24: Are you happy with the feedback you have been getting from people on material you have released?

Otis Roycroft: Definitely, COSMIC! has been majorly successful and it has made it’s mark with a lot of people, and I’m hoping this new EP is just another step in that direction, I love my local following so much and the shows I do for all the people in my city are insane, we get to forming the seance in the crowd, jumping around and diving on the floor. I’m ready for the music and the attitude of everything to make it’s way to a larger audience, I think everybody needs to meet Otis.

24: In today’s free download age, what do you need to do to make yourself a household name?

Otis Roycroft: Network like crazy, and that’s still something that I’m getting used to. It gets crazy when you do all of your own advertising and promotion yourself. And you wanna be on Twitter, Soundcloud, Facebook, Bandcamp, Tumblr, Instagram, Spotify, Reverb Nation, Datpiff, Vimeo, etc. All at the same time. Especially when I got the blunt burning and my attention span is not nearly where it should be. But you have to find a way. The thing I’ve learned and I attribute it largely to Daisy Cutta is; the more you put yourself out there to people, the more you will get in return. You have to give in order to receive. Crazy concept, I know. So I just try and get out there and talk to other people who are doing the same thing and are interested in hearing something new. Music videos, new tracks, new projects, you always want to be prepared with plenty of material before you just go out there and think you deserve to be heard.

24: How do you feel about the current state of the Hip-Hop scene?

Otis Roycroft: I have a love/hate relationship with the current ways of the game. I do enjoy some of the new acts that come out… but I also think a lot of great artists are being severely overlooked. It’s crazy because I think that for a second there, a lot of people were worried that we were gonna lose hip hop in its purest form entirely, but now we have some new artists that are definitely coming back with the style and substance that made the music so great in it’s golden years. But at the end of the day, the radio stations and clubs have swayed the opinions of the listeners to believe that what they have in the top 40 is the best, by force feeding the fans the same shit over and over again.

24: Outside of the music, what else are you currently working on?

Otis Roycroft: Honestly, right now besides music I’m just working on staying fed, staying high, and keeping a roof over my head. I live an extremely normal life, I have a job as a waiter at a restaurant, I think school is an enormous waste of time, I drink and do hooligan shit with my friends, I still take out the trash and do the dishes and shit. I’m trying to figure out what the fuck I’m gonna do to stay afloat for the rest of my life… and I’m really hoping my music can be the answer. I don’t want to have to spend the rest of my life asking people how they would like they’re steak cooked, it’s not as thrilling as you would think.

24: Where do you see yourself going in 2012 and how do you plan to separate yourself from the other artists out today to get the recognition you feel you deserve?

Otis Roycroft: I really am just trying to go balls out in 2012 and put the whole team I’m with on the map. So anything that happens to put us in that direction will be a huge positive. I’m over here trying to think of the biggest rhymes and the dirtiest jokes I possibly can so that when people see or hear us they think, “Wow, these dudes do this shit naturally, it’s just on another planet…”. I’m largely inspired by the deepest regions of outer space… and I feel that if the rap game were comparable to space, we haven’t even scratched the surface as a whole. I’m trying to find that unknown area and take you there.

24: How can fans go about contacting you?

Otis Roycroft: Website: www.otisroycroft.com | YouTube: www.youtube.com/otisroycroft | Twitter: @OtisRoycroft | Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/otisroycroft | Bandcamp: www.otisroycroft.bandcamp.com | Tumblr: www.otisraps.tumblr.com

24: Thank you for providing 24HourHipHop.com with this exclusive interview, do you have any last words for your present and future fans?

Otis Roycroft: Thank you guys, all i can really say is… Don’t sleep on Otis Roycroft, and definitely don’t sleep on my team. We got so much new shit coming out this year, we’re about to plug your ear holes up with a lot of dope stuff. Daisy Cutta has several beat tapes in the works right now, you can definitely expect plenty of new Otis coming out this year. We got new shit coming from everybody’s favorite arabian emcee, RAB, that soulful singing homie that we all love Bryson Thrift. And if you cross your fingers hard enough, you might even get an LP from Baccwards Macc this year! 2012 is gonna be a big one, make sure to go download ‘COSMIC!’ and ‘The Gameshow EP’ if you haven’t already. Thanks for everything! -Otis

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