Heretic

Artists who put forth the effort to essentially becoming the best in game always start from somewhere. Whether it be from scratch or from a break point, either way, they believe in their talent and trust that someday there sound will be heard. If they incorporate style and character intertwined with originality into their work, the results are inevitable.

One such artist puts forth maximum effort into his footwork and his music; he incorporates a character into his work and even has his own definition to his stage name. As a writer and an artist, he has proved that the ability to push forward in this game isn’t for everyone, only those who can believe in themselves and continue effortlessly in their grind for one purpose, success. His name is Heretic. This is an exclusive interview that you will only see here on 24hourhiphop.com. Let him introduce himself as he ‘campaigns for the throne.’ Make way for the entrance of Heretic.

24: Introduce yourself to those that aren’t familiar with you and your work.

Heretic: This is Heretic comin’ live from the 305, but always reppin’ that 904 as well.

24: Now Heretic, that’s kind of an odd name. How did you come up with it and what does it mean?

Heretic: Well honestly I don’t know where I came up with it or when I first thought of it but I do know ever since I was like 12 or 13 and first started rapping I knew that would be my name. I guess honestly God just gave it to me and put it in my mind. But what the word actually means, is somebody who thinks differently and is usually scorned or outcast because of that. There’s actually a lot of history behind the word, they used to call Christians heretics due to their beliefs. And in this rap shit I definitely think differently and present myself differently and I think sometime in the future I will be looked at sideways for that.

24: Like what do you mean by that?

Heretic: Well, first of all my music is different. I don’t rap about the average shit your southern rapper would. My style is different; I put more emphasis on lyrics and skill than most cats do coming from down here. Not to down them, because I love most of the shit coming from down here, but it just is what it is. I don’t think anyone is gonna be calling Lil Boosie one of the greats when it’s all said and done, feel me. I feel like maybe when I start saying some real shit, some shit that makes sense but might go against all this dumb shit that’s getting out today I think people won’t understand it at first. Also like my man Brisco told ya’ll “Bitch I’m Me” ya feel me? Like straight up, I don’t try to change or dress or conform or act differently for anybody. I’m not a hood nigga, I’m not a gangsta and I’m not a thug. But I’m around hood niggas and I was raised around that, but deep inside personally that’s not me. And you can tell that if you have even a 30 second conversation with me. But I mean I am in spots for this rap shit, and I’m the only Spanish cat in the building first off. I’m the only nigga rockin’ a polo lookin like I’m fresh out the office or country club or something ya feel me (laughs). But overtime people accept me because they realize I’m not gonna change or try to put a little more bass in my voice or nothing like that. I’m gonna do me.

24: Okay so you have a Hispanic background?

Heretic:  I’m half Dominican and half White. My moms was White, and my pops was Dominican. But I only do English rap.

24: Let’s get into your history; give us an idea of where music began for you.

Heretic: Well I’ve always been a huge music fan just coming up as a kid. I used to always just listen to music, all kinds of music, in my room for hours and I had all the posters and everything ya know. And of course it’s just a natural progression when you really, really love something you wanna try to do it too and so I began writing raps out. Not songs ya know but just verses, or a few slick lines here and there but I never really focused on it too much.

24: So how did you get into actual music making and finally putting it out there? I mean it all has to start from somewhere.   

Heretic: Well I moved to Miami from Jacksonville when I was around 18 and I met this girl here who wanted to rap, but didn’t know how to rap. But she was real fine though so I knew she was very marketable and we could make some money. So it was the idea originally that I would write her the songs, she would rap them, and then we would try to either just hand to hand sell the CD or get her a deal and we would just break bread on the money that was made. But the girl kept bullshitting on getting the songs recorded so I just said fuck it, I’m gonna do it. So one song turned into three and three turned into ten and soon we had twenty five tracks done. So I whittled those down to the best twenty three and I put out the mixtape, ‘Campaign for the Throne.’

24: Elaborate the meaning behind the name, ‘Campaign for the Throne?’

Heretic: Well basically it’s just a metaphor meaning I’m here to be that nigga ya feel me. I’m coming for the top and I’m not stopping till I get there. I want everybody to know that I am one of the best rappers of all time and I want to be rich as shit because of it. Basically, in a nutshell, sort of say, (laughs).

24: While growing up, which artist or artists gave you the most inspiration and that you still respect to this day?

Heretic: Oh man so many, so many. The usual suspects for sure ya know: Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, BIG, 2Pac, but there’s a lot of niggas I love, I just can’t think of them all off the top of my head. T.I., he made me respect the south as a kid and really opened my ear to what was going on down here. I also like a lot of old soul music, Al Green, Bobby Womack and all them niggas. My moms raised us on those so all that’s in my blood, too.

24: Now getting into your music, I’ve heard many artists tell me that when they sit down to start the process of writing a record, they listen to the beat and they say that the beat speaks to them and tells them what to write, does that same element go for you?

Heretic: Usually, yeah, unless I already have an idea or story that I wanna get out then I try to find a beat to match that vibe. But yeah the beat usually directs the rapper where to go. Me personally, I just hear the beat, take a few puffs and get to it. I only write shit down if it’s gonna be awhile before I record, because then I might forget it, ya feel me. But besides that I just think of the verses and go in.

24: As a matter fact, what do you incorporate into your music, what thoughts arise when you’re actually creating the magic in the music?

Heretic: Well, really all kinds of shit man. I’ve lived a hell of a life, so that gives me a lot of fuel for my fire. People I know have lived a hell of a life so that gives me things to discuss. I think one great asset of mine is that I don’t limit myself and my music to only my personal experiences. Like a lot of rap niggas today are on some, ‘I can only spit what I’ve done and what I’ve gone through.’ But that’s just an excuse to be boring and uncreative to me. When 2Pac was singing “Hold Your Head Up,” he wasn’t singing about his experiences, ya feel me? He wasn’t a single mom ya know, (laughs)?  He was talking about what he sees going on around him in his world and he spoke on it. So the same goes with me really I just talk about what I feel and what I think about certain situations. And success comes to my mind when I’m making my music. And money! I’m always thinking about money.

24: There are a lot of mega producers in the game today, plenty of which we hear on a daily basis, what elemental production would say suits your style of lyrical delivery?

Heretic: I couldn’t really say honestly because I can rip any kind of beat. I can say me personally my favorite kind of beats are dark beats, ya know what I’m saying. Almost you could say depressing beats. Like The Alchemist or Havoc beats. But that’s not what most of my music sounds like because I know that’s not what everybody likes, but me, that’s my favorite kind of beats. But yeah I can do any kind of beat really.

24: With the way that the Hip-Hop industry is changing on a drastic level, what measures are you taking to cope with that transition?

Heretic: Honestly I’m still trying to catch up myself. I mean you gotta use the internet to get your shit out there, bottom line. The Myspace’s and the Youtube’s, you gotta be heavy on them. Also, me personally, I’m just grinding it out and staying in their face until they realize they gotta deal with me. If you wanna be an artist you have to realize that you serve the public. A lot of niggas wanna be stubborn and not try to work with the system and only want to make the music them and their friends would listen to but that’s not the business. If you wanna make music just for you, well then nigga rap to yourself. I’m not saying, don’t be you or try to be fake just to get over but at the same time you have to ask yourself, what are you here for? Are you here to get rich and feed the family? Or are you here just so a few niggas can say your nice and you got that “real” shit ya feel me? Because me, straight up, I’m here to get dollars.

24: Is this a mixtape or street album that you are pushing at the moment?

Heretic: Well technically it’s a mixtape, because I rock on other niggas beats, but the way it’s formatted, it could be an album. It has a central theme going throughout and that is that I’m here now and ya’ll gotta make a way, feel me? It lets the listener know exactly who I am and what I’m about from the intro to the outro. I’m extremely proud of the music on it and what we’ve been able to do with it. We’ve pushed 20,000 units so far in between Miami and Jacksonville. And when I say pushed I mean sold, not given away.

24: This question is going to be meant to put you on the spot, what would you say sets you aside from all the other artists trying to make it in the game?

Heretic: Well I’m glad you asked that honestly. First off, I show intelligence in my lyrics, which I think is something we all can agree is missing. I show responsibility in my lyrics. Ya know I’m not gonna talk about sellin coke to get rich and then not mention that prison sentence where your momma gotta drive 6 hours to come see your ass feel me. Because there are always 2 sides to a coin and I think most of these niggas out here just ignore that other half. Another thing with me is I try to show skill. I am a lyrical nigga feel me. I want you to say “Wow, he is really fuckin good,” when you hear my shit. I want to impress you. Also I have a good business sense. Like I said I’m not just out here running around free styling to anybody, just bullshitting. From day one I had a plan. I organized and executed that plan and devised a new one. And now we  workin on that one.

24: How would fans go about contacting you and hear some of your music?

Heretic: Well they can check out the myspace at Myspace.com / Tony305music. They can get the mixtape there and hit me up and let me know what they think about it.

24: Thank you for providing 24hourhiphop.com this exclusive, is there anything you’d like to share with your fans before we sign off?

Heretic: Yeah first off I’d like to thank 24hourhiphop for giving me this opportunity. I, of course, gotta thank anyone who’s ever bought one of my CDs, from the bottom of my heart you have truly changed my life. I wanna shout out anyone who’s ever given me any game and helped me to re-focus or see something in a different light. Shouts out to Big Chuck, who else, just everybody, my nigga TJ Chapman. All the DJ’s who gave me a few words, DJ EFX, DJ Ideal, DJ Deftone, EFN. My man Gorgeous Dru holdin’ it down in Duval for me. Jason and Derek hold your head, I’m out here workin hard for ya’ll. And like I said check out the myspace and cop the album. Also Campaign for the Throne Vol. 2 coming real soon.