24hourhiphop.com sits down with recording artist Itz Prof as he tells us about his upcoming works, new mixtapes, videos and much more. Get an insight into Prof’s life and his thoughts on hip hop!. Check out what Prof had to say below!

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

Prof: First off, I wanna thank 24HourHipHop for the opportunity to sit down and talk about my new release 904 Star & Itz Prof Productions Presents:”Twist Up”. It’s been along time, years in the making, and finally it’s here Twist Up. For all those that have been living under a rock for the past 3 years and don’t know me….pay attention, I’m HERE NOW!!! And your only going to hear more about me from here on out.

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

Prof: Growing up, I was the biggest 2pac fan on the planet, still am to this day R.I.P GOAT. But I mean I was that white kid 12 years old, with the bandana tied in the front like Pac. I’d be at the mall thinking I was the baddest mutha f**** in there, (hahaha) if Pac would’ve seen me back then he probably would’ve came right out and smacked me in the mouth.

24HHH: What was the hip hop scene like for you growing up where your from:

Prof: There was NO hiphop scene when I grew up in Virginia. A small country town on top of a mountain called Galax. It’s famous for a having the biggest fiddlers convention in the world. So hip hop??? (hahaha), Nah they don’t do that here. I grew up in a small city (Population 8,000 est.), that was surrounded by two counties of mostly farm land. Closest thing I can describe that a lot of people have actually seen is that “BuckWild” show on MTV (hahaha). But that’s the counties, in the city…It’s a little different here. It’s like every other major city except it’s packed into an 8 mile square radius, I mean really it’s like the Grand Canyon or going to Vegas, you just don’t get it until your there. There’s not a lot of money in the area but each individual carries a crazy strong sense of pride. Even though we beef, have misunderstandings, and every so often an unsolved murder, we have a vast understanding of each other that people not from here could never get. I started rapping in the 6th grade. I can specifically remember the exact day. It was back when The Source was blowing up over The Unsigned Hype. I go to school, READY (hahaha) grab my dude Mali and Bradley, and I’m like “Yo we gonna be rappers” (hahaha). At the time, like I said before, I’m the white kid in the Pac bandana, rocking some big ass fake diamond chain weed leaf to middle school. (hahahaha) Looking back, I can’t believe the teachers and shit aint take it. Long story short it ended up only being me to become the rapper. My junior year of high school I was kicked out after getting busted in a surprise drug search. After that I started to lose focus and getting in a lot of trouble. Eventually, I did come back to high school though and graduate, so to any of y’all out there that’s going through similar situations, don’t let it get you down. Keep your head up and your mind on a positive goal and you can do it. Eventually I made my way to Cincinnati, Ohio which coincidentally is where I got the name Prof and started making a real name for myself battle rapping. Really, I hadn’t realized I was going to rap as a profession until then (hahaha). It all started with these massive parties we use to throw, and I’m talking Animal House didn’t have shit on us. We lived in this weird, little warehouse building right off the campus of UC (Unversity of Cincinnati) and we would have 2-300 people a night. I mean we’re talking the amount of booze, money, and broken dreams (hahaha) that came through this place. It’s amazing that I made it out. We had the all the goons mixed with all the college kids and we made it work. It was wild. The freestyle battles would start and I never lost. Eventually that propelled me to get backers to front money for studio time. I never lost any battle until my eventual meeting with Cleveland rapper MGK at a small recording studio. Back then I think the kid was probably like 18 and he probably wouldn’t even remember this but he came in with his lil Shaker Heights crew. We was all goin in and he just went it like crazy. (hahaha) Good times. After everything crumbled in Cincinnati, and due to more and more police pressure I moved to Jacksonville, Fla. I moved down there with my sister and her boyfriend at the time with no plans. Like I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any connections, I had a little bit of money but that was it. Steady and focused on moving forward with my music, I spent the next 2 months recording my debut mixtape “In The Duval”. And man an to anyone that still has one of those I’ll buy it back right now. (hahaha) None of it was posted online so those songs are gone now and let me tell you, CLASSIC (hahaha) nah, I don’t know but I do know I put my blood, sweat, and tears, into that hot ass closet, and then again on them hot ass streets handing out copies of the tape for whatever people would give me. I’d take 1$ I’d take 10$ but you had to give me something. Eventually, one fell into the hands of QB Smoove & 904 Star Productions. They got hold of me, told me they liked what I was doing and wanted to link up and we’ve been doing the thing ever since. We were moving forward in the club scenes doing shows, Smoove was doing alotta shows, NB was doing alotta shows, I was running around everywhere state to state, doing alotta shows, and it was really good times. Not to long after that, everything took a turn for the worse, and NB got locked up. Slowly things started to dry out until I reached out to DJ Khaled and he heard about everything that was going on. I won’t forget it, me and my peoples are watching dude on the BET awards and then an hour later he’s hitting me on the phone (hahaha) we was trippin, it was wild. We came together to make our most successful mixtape 904 Star Productions Presents: Like A Star (Free NB). It came out like BAM!! 100,000 downloads, everybody know who we was. My home town city in Galax, I came back everybody tryna get me to put em on. And I wasn’t even on, I’m still not on man, not even close (hahaha). But when I am best believe I got y’all. Anyway, I kept on doing alotta shows and had some other big features with Mims, Trey Songz, Gutta Gutta, & a lot more than never even came out, but nothing ever blew up like I thought it would. So I finally I said f*** it and moved out to California to get in on the medical marijuana industry. I moved out with Rizz and Erock; and I won’t elaborate on who that is either just because I don’t want to invade their privacy. Nonetheless, we moved out there and opened a %100 legal Medical Marijauana Collective called The UnCollectivelyCollective. After six months of operation, we were forced to close by the Federal government. After the shutdown I moved back to the east coast, to the Virginia, North Carolina area and opened up a new recording studio The Studio 336, LLC in Winston Salem, NC. After opening the studio, I went back to work on my new release “Twist Up” which had been halfway finished project and then put on hold for over a year due to my hiatus in California.

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

Prof: I have my own story. I have my own lane. I’m not trying to be in nobody else’s lane. I’m not trying to be like Weezy, Tip, Jeezy, Drake, Em, none of them cats. Everybody today’s trying to get in the game by emulating another cats style, what another man worked for, I mean you’ve got Drake & Big Sean, Future & Rich Homie Quan, Caskey & Logic, 2Chainz & Waka, and the list goes on. The industry is getting watered-down by the same songs over and over and over again. That’s why the general consensus is that hip hop’s dead or on its way out, which to me is outrageous. You’ve got J Cole, who in my opinion is at the top of the game right now, you got Neighborhood Nip, Itz Dubb, I mean there’s a lot of great music out there, you just ain’t gonna find it on the radio.

Check out the official video for Itz Prof – Everybody’s A Critic

24HHH: Tell us more about what you are working on?

Prof: Come on man, y’all know what I’m working on. Two words…Twist Up. My new mixtape, long awaited mixtape (haha) I mean it was f***ed up I made the fans wait so long for the tape. I wouldn’t say I was done, but my head was just in a different place, and honestly if it weren’t for how everything worked out in California it might have never happened. 904 Star & Itz Prof Productions Presents: Twist Up was just released October 26, 2013. It’s available on iTunes and on our website ItzProf.com. There are package deals available also including some of the freshest gear about to hit the streets. The Twist Up Tour is in the works, two new videos are going to be released off the mixtape infact, I’m going to be releasing a new video through 24HourHipHop, our new freestyle anthem The Carolina’s ft. Breezy Hendrix from BossTalk Ent. Like I said if you want to purchase the new mixtape in a package deal, get t-shirts, snapbacks, backpacks, anything check out ItzProf.com. Now that Twist Up’s out, I’m back in the studio working on my new tape Itz Prof & 904 Star Productions Presents: Stand Up Guys “The Rise & Fall of a College Kid Running a Drug Empire” with no release date set as of yet. You can hear some of the tracks off the new tape which have been released on ItzProf.com. If your in the Winston Salem area come thru to the The Studio 336, and we’ll get you to where you need to be. The Studio 336 is a professional recording studio right in the heart of Winston Salem, NC. We’re the best at at what we do, y’all come out 25$ a hr starting price.

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

Prof: I’ve mostly worked with in-house producers and label made beats. I worked with Vybe Beatz a lot, he’s crazy good at what he does. I don’t have like a list of producers of who or where or what. I’ll go in on a 3$ beat I bought off some cat outside the Kroger at a cd stand if it’s hot. I don’t do the name game, paying crazy big money just for a name. End of the day the fans don’t care if you on a Timbaland beat or you got it off youtube. They just want to connect to something. I feel like I give them that, and thats why the ride with me. That’s why I’m getting love from all over the world, it’s not just about the city no more. Earlier today I sold 30 Twist Up Koozies in Japan. That’s crazy, I never thought no Japan mutha f***** would know who I was, let alone buy my music. So that goes out to all indie producers, y’all wanna a beat you think is hot send it my way, yall put my contact information at the end of this interview so they can reach out.

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

Prof: I love the feedback I get because I’ma niche artist. I remember one time I sat down with a major label and that’s what they kept saying “you’re a niche artist” and at the time I was like “what the f*** is that” (hahaha) come to find out a “niche artist” means when someone hears your song the listener either A. LOVES IT or B. HATES IT. There’s no in-between, and you’ll find more hate it than love it. But the ones that love it, love it so much they buy in all the way. They love it with they whole heart. And that’s why I love my fans, they support me to the max no matter what, bad or good, through every situation.

24HHH: In todays free download age, what do you need to do to make your self a household name:

Prof: The download age. (hahaha) I guess that’s a good way to say it. Look I love free downloads, don’t tell on me. (hahaha) I can’t remember the last album I bought in a store and I don’t think I ever bought one offline. I don’t feel like the the industry has changed I feel like the definition of a fan has changed. Ya know when I was growing up, if you were a fan, you bought there album in the store, you watched MTV just for they video, and you bought tickets and went to shows. Now if your a fan you burn your favorite artists cd and bump them in ya ride & maybe go to the concert or watch the concert off YouTube. (hahaha) To me it’s all good if you bumping me with ya friends, in ya parties, your furthering my brand and maybe the music will reach a paying customer. (hahaha) I’m fully dedicated to the F*** The MiddleMan distribution scheme. I would rather let my music be downloaded and remain my music then it be sold to the masses and belong to someone else. My distribution scheme, I release a 4-6 track E.P. for free on mixtape websites like DatPiff and LiveMixtapes, and then the full digital copy is available off iTunes and the full physical copies with package deals are available at my website ItzProf.com My jump off point for people actually getting to know me hit it’s all time high after the Like A Star release with DJ Khaled. That one went for over 100,000 downloads and got my name solidified in the underground hip hop community. Then out of left field this other cat in Minnesota starts using the same name, (same spelling with a different pronunciation (P-raf) and started mass confusion throughout the industry. To me it really aint no thing, he don’t wanna stop using it, I’m not going to stop using it, so it is what it is. I guess they’re is a place for everybody in today’s genre of entertainment called hiphop but I don’t get these funny dudes. I don’t get the Macklemores I don’t get the Minnesota dude. It’s like what’s the point?? You wanna be a comedian go be a comedian. You want to be artist make it mean something. I don’t know, to each is own I guess. I’m five releases in this game and I’m not going to change now. I’ll go out like Dan Snyder and the Redskins. (hahaha) I aint going to change shit.

Check out the official video for Itz Prof – Lean & Cola :

24HHH: How do you feel about the current state of the hiphop scene?

Prof: Hiphop is in a real sad place right now. Real shit, it really is. You’ve got Kayne calling himself Yeezus bringing out a fake Jesus on stage. Weezy’s stepping on the flag. You’ve Drake and Chris Brown throwing temper tantrums and getting innocent bystanders cut up. I mean LA Corleone, a young Chicago rapper was 17 and get’s gunned down last week. We as rappers, and a voice to the streets, should be pushing an agenda to try to forward these kids lives instead of encouraging them to do the opposite. The games f***ed up man, the games f***ed up.

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

Prof: I’m the owner and CEO of The Studio 336, LLC and Itz Prof Productions, LLC. The Studio 336 is a professional recording studio, we record everything from gangsta to gospel. You can bring ya goons or ya Grandma we take everybody. (hahaha) Itz Prof Productions is a video production company, we specialize in HD Music Videos and have feature films in the works. I’ve written 4 feature scripts and the films are currently in the planning stages.

24HHH: Where do you see yourself going in 2014 and how do you plan to separate yourself from the other artist out today to get the recognition you feel you deserve

Prof: Well currently, I have some possible pending litigation that I can’t really speak on at this time. So I’ll have to see how that goes. I keep that in the back of my mind and continue to progress and move forward. My upcoming release Stand Up Guy is definitely, without a doubt, the hottest shit I’ve ever recorded. Every day I’m in the booth I get better and better and right now I’m to the point, I don’t think theres anyone out there that’s better than me. My new release “My Life” is getting alotta of love and hate for taking shots at the entire industry, but is really me just taking my frustration out after years of really going through the things I went through, and seeing these popcorn backpack ass rappers make a million dollars, it rubbed me the wrong way. It was like throwing salt in the wounds, this whole industry rubbed me the wrong way which is why I’ve backed Nipsey Hussle in the F*** The MiddleMan Movement. I don’t want a check if it’s going to cost me my brand. I’ve worked blood sweat and tears to get where I am and nobody helped me do that. You think I’m going to sign that away just to get on MTV y’all must have lost y’all *** **** minds. Go to ItzProf.com check out the store and support real independent music. Twist Up, F*** The MiddleMan.

24HHH: How can fans go about contacting you?

Prof: My fans can get me at my
Official Website ItzProf.com
Official MTV Page MTV.com/artists/Prof
Official Facebook Facebook.com/ItzProf
Official Twitter Twitter.com/Prof904
Official Youtube Youtube.com/Prof904

24HHH: Thank you for providing 24hourhiphop with this exclusive interview, do you have any lastwords for your present and future fans

Prof: Ay man, again thank you guys. Thanks for all the love for my new mixtape Itz Prof & 904 Star Productions Presents: Twist Up, available on iTunes & ItzProf.com, Twist Up E.P. on DatPiff, thanks for looking out, helping me get the word out and forwarding the Twist Up and F*** The MiddleMan Movement. I got mad love for 24HourHipHop and all the other media really supporting independent music and real hip hop. Thanks again and to everybody else keep your eyes open cuz I ain’t going nowhere. First and foremost, I wanna thank God and my family, for all the love and support it took to get me here. I know it hasn’t always been very easy, and I couldn’t do it without each and everyone of y’all. I wanna shout out QB Smoove, NB, 904 Star Productions, Mike Jones, Drizzy, Coomes, DJ Farmer, Chev, BossTalk, Killa Cam, Tyler Gangem Style, Killa Chriz, Corleone, all the haters and everybody else that’s helped to get me here. Getcha’ Ps Up, It’s Prof Ya Heard?