Saturday, July 14, 2012

Artist Interview with Shid Latta

Hello, everyone. 
MissTaintedLove here, bringing you another artist interview. 

This time, I'll be interviewing Baltimore hip-hop artist Shid Latta. 
Hope you enjoy the interview, and you can check out Shid Latta here, and more links will be placed under the interview. Thanks!

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MTL: The name Shid Latta - how did that come about?
Shid: It's my real name. All my music is true and about my life so I feel it's the only name suitable.


MTL: How were you first introduced to music in your life?
Shid: It's more like I was immersed and not introduced. I have been around music since birth. My family is full of singers and musicians. Growing up I was introduced to every possible type of music and was aloud to make my own choices on what I wanted to hear. I love to learn and explore, so I would hear a new type of music and want to soak up as much of it and know as much info about it as possible. So I may wake up to someone playing Queen, ride to school listening to Frankie Beverly and Maze, have a convo about Green Day at recess, argue about Nirvana or Metallica while listening to Wu-tang with my cousin after school, and go to sleep with some random song by Biggie or Nas song stuck in my head.


MTL: At what point in your life was the defining moment that made you realize what you wanted to do, as a musician?
Shid: The rap music around 2010-2011 just sounded so similar to me that I had to make my own. I felt like people weren't doin what was true to them, that they made music that was already being played or what they thought people wanted from them. So under the influence of everything I could consume including music from all genres I set out on a mission to make what I felt was true music. 


MTL: How long have you been making music now? When did you begin rapping?
Shid: Basically forever. I've been making music on and off since I was like 6 but not seriously. I wrote my first rap when I was 6 but never tried to make a career of it. That's why I feel I'm lyrical and if you truly listen to my music - I'm actually saying some shit.


MTL: What do you feel is the best piece of music you've created?
Shid: Damn! That is truly a hard question to answer...all my music is special to me because it's my life! But if I think really hard and pretend a gun was to my head and had to pick one song that stands out, I'd say my song 'Crayola' from my cd, 'Heath Ledger Chronicles: Vol. 2 Toxicology Report.'
I love that fuckin song! It's my life broken down into colors. So many artist have made songs about colors and I always wanted to but it felt like copying. Until the week I made the beat. I was at work on my break and it just spoke to me. So that night I was chilling with a bitch I met the night before and she was so light she almost looked white and had red hair and green eyes. We were smokin a blunt of Blue Dream and Green Crack, drinking some brown Hennesey out a bottle with a gold and black label. And when I would raise my hand to inhale the blunt with my right hand I would zone out on my purple diamond bracelet on my wrist. So after we had our fun I was fucked up just watchin her get dressed, her face was red, her hair was red, so her green eyes stood out. So when I dropped her off all that shit was spinning through my mind and mingling with the pills, alcohol, and weed. I put the beat on and all the colors of my life turned into lyrics on my ride home. So every color and scene I rap about is actually from my life, just put to music.  




MTL: What was your first project? How have you grown since then?
Shid: 'Heath Ledger Chronicles: Vol.1 Why So Serious'.
I've grown and learned so much as an artist, from production, to delivery, to marketing, and so much more and I feel I actually grow as a person by learning and experiencing so much.


MTL: How do you describe the style/genre of your own music?
Shid: Lyrical, hard hitting, unorthodox, non fiction. Or:
Shid Shit, Gonzo, Actual Factual! I feel the term Gonzo, as Hunter S Thompson uses it, describes my music best
gonzo [ˈgɒnzəʊ] adj Slang
1. wild or crazy
2. (Communication Arts / Journalism & Publishing) (of journalism) explicitly including the writer's feelings at the time of witnessing the events or undergoing the experiences written about
3. conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual


MTL: What type of music/artists have influenced you and your music?
Shid: It is so many I don't know how to start...so off the top of my head I'll give 4 from 4 genres that have helped influence me.

Rap: Biggie, Pac, Ugk, Outkast
Rock/Metal: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nirvana,Green Day
Pop: Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha,Brittany Spears
Others: Skrillex, David Guetta, Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson


MTL: What is the inspiration for your music?
Shid: My life, the people in it, and the shit I do from day to day. I make musical journals not albums.


MTL: What do you feel sets you apart from the crowd?
Shid: The fact that I am my own person and I do and say what's true to my heart. I get inspiration from all over but I don't follow most trends or social norms. So what I put out is all me, it's an expression of what I think, feel, and do. It's not what I think people want to hear or purely my version of what someone else has done. I give you me and my life as I see it. And I don't give a fuck what people think!


MTL: If you could describe you and your music in five words, what would they be?
Shid: Unique, factual, intoxicating, gonzo, entertainment!







MTL: What other artists, musicians, and producers have you worked with?
Shid: Djk, Al Stead of the Pornstars and P.star productions, J Black, and Mdotcook. And I've been rapping over a few beats released for free online by Dj Burn One and Furthur.


MTL: What type of mindset do you get into before you enter the studio to record? Do you do anything special to prepare yourself?
Shid: I just go in ready to spit. I play the beat, smoke on something, sip on something, go over my shit a few times, and then get in and spit that Shit Shit til the Mic bleed!


MTL: What can you tell us about your current album? How does it differ from any of your previous projects?
Shid: In February 2011 I released my 2nd album, Heath Ledger Chronicles: Vol 2 Toxicology Report. It was all produced by me with the exception of 'SmokinXTrippin' which was produced by DjK. It had a party, drugs, and sex theme like most my music. It was experimental. So I played with different sounds and genres and the outcome was fuckin awesome!


MTL: What plans do you have in the near future for music release/recording?
Shid: I do so fuckin much and my mind is goin constantly and I have so many ideas, so I write all the damn time. I was working on a series of different smaller projects with different people and sounds and just tryin to expand artistically and was goin to make a few different albums. But based on the feedback and request I've been gettin I've been thinking about putting the best of it together as one album and calling it ,'Delusions of Grandeur or Grandeur of Divinity....D.O.G or G.O.D.' or just 'Delusions of Grandeur' but I love complex titles. So we will see. Also later on I want to rap over 10 of my favorite 'Top 40' songs and do a joint rapping over different rock songs.


MTL: What sets this upcoming project apart from your previous ones?
Shid: One is the production...on my other two cd's I put out I made all the beats and was just gettin started and had no idea how to mix and shit like that and it fuckin shows lol This time around I didn't make any beats and instead of focusing on individual parts I put more time and effort into the overall final product. Also I feel I'm still the same person from the last albums but I've grown a little more and the more I grow as a person the more I grow as an artist and vice versa and its reflected in the music. Plus I'm goin with a less experimental sound and aiming more toward the mainstream.



MTL: What are your thoughts of the current state of the music industry? How do you feel you fit into it?
Shid: I fuck with it heavy. It's so many new artists out, with different sounds, trying different things and that's how I feel artistry should be. I love all genres of music so between the 'Top 100' to new shit online from indie artist, I'm very happy with it.
I feel if I was marketed to the masses they would love me because I bring a whole new out look music and I have a completely different style, delivery, and overall vibe. That's exactly what I feel true music fans want and the mindless consumers will follow suit.


MTL: Where do you see yourself as an artist five years from now?
Shid: Enjoying my journey to the top and continuing to make the music I love and interacting with my fans.


MTL: Any upcoming tour plans?
Shid: I'm lookin into some shows now but no official word yet.

MTL: Any words for young/inspiring musicians/artists? 
Shid: Make sure you have a budget and do what's in your heart.


MTL: Anything else?
Shid: Sure! I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity and give a shout out to all my supporters and my family!

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Again everyone, that was Shid Latta. You can check out more about him and more of his music from the links below. 


Official Site
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
ReverbNation







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