#nizm

[samosdayoldteeth]

Bang it

[brothersperspectivemag]

Interview : Nizm from chicagohiphophistory.com Man what’s going on Nizm? Much respect for adding your interview to Chicagohiphophistory.com Greetings…I am well. .just working on my companies and getting back to into long term planning for what I want to do with my music the next 5 years. 1. Talk about “Evolution & Ascension”, “ReDFined Xpression”, “Me / This Is”? In order of release, “Me This Is” “Evolution & Ascension” & “ReDFined Xpression” “Me This Is” was my most emotional project. It took 5yrs to complete. From the beginning of the project when it was named “Free Indeed” to its completion, I had lost my mother, grandmother, fiancé, and had moved out the country and came back so a lot of that project chronicles a boy going to man via music. Emotion poured into that project even looking back now amazes me as it was just honest and raw. “Evolution & Ascension” was a mixtape that kinda was a quick documentation of my evolution as an MC and as an artist. I started as a Battle MC and had to learn the art of song writing and that project captures that over a time period ranging from 1999-2009. “ReDfined Xpression” was the arrival if you will of the grown NIZM with an evolved view of hip-hop. A different sound came from that project which is kind of where I am at now. 2. What was it like coming up in the Chicago Underground Hip Hop scene? Coming up in the scene at the end of the “Golden Era” was unique in that Chicago at the time was pre-internet so you had to be out and grinding. One wasn’t about making CDs but getting their stripes out in cyphers. In fact you had to be solid just to be hold your own. That era has produced sharp artists such as Pugs Atomz, Prime, Visual and many others. That time frame was more about artistry before commodity of the music in my opinion. 3. What made you name yourself Nizm? Does this name carry any special meaning? NIZM came about after my senior year of High School. I was at a point where I realized Graffiti wasn’t my calling lol..and I wanted something different. I was playing a game of Scrabble and getting destroyed so I was toying with letters and it just “happened” lol. Years later I found out it mean Discipline in Urdu and New in Japanese (least that’s what I was told lol) 4. Name 5 Hip Hop albums by Chicago artist that you can say you loved? Common- Resurrection Twista – Adrenaline Rush Thaione Davis – Still Here Common – One Day It’LL All Make Sense Kanye West – The College Dropout 5. Architecture? I am a designer by trade, did my undergrad actually at UIC. (2003) Buildings always fascinated me and I liked trying to figure out how they come together and how they work. Buildings are very similar to humans in their intricacies. 6. Columbia College? Why? I actually never attended Columbia. A lot of folks thought I went there because I was there so much. I went there actually to get my homework done and to vibe with the MC’s there because back then Columbia had a rich culture of MC’s and cyphers were always going on and it was the place where many of our generation went to sharpen themselves. Plus a lot of my peoples went there too. 7. Toronto Canada? At the time, I wanted to go somewhere different where I didn’t know no one. I liked Toronto because of the diversity. As well when I got there I got to see how intense the hip-hop scene is up there. I owe a lot of my evolution to the Toronto hip-hop scene. 8. Sacrifice? Sacrifice is something I am well acquainted with. Music suffered because of school. School suffered because of music. Music itself is a about sacrifice. Its one thing to do it for a hobby, it is another thing to invest. To invest involves sacrifice and I have done much for that to evolve a career but it has in essence made me better as a man and as an artist. 9. If you could give any advice to future generations of Chicago Hip Hop artist what would that be and why? Why should they listen to you? I would say plot your course learn the business and be patient and have a backup. Why should someone listen to me? Good question. Don’t go with your gut…but if someone has no back up option, my words will have a little more merit, but who am I? 10. Is there any up and coming artist that whose music you enjoy? Right now Kendrick Lamar is what I have been listening too and Danny Brown. 11. Rahm Emanuel? Great Administrator, horrible Mayor. 12. Gentrification? Great in theory, horrible in execution. 13. What is one of your favorite experiences being apart of the Hip Hop culture in the city? Cyphers at the Taste of Chicago back in the day. It was when the best of the best came out and you had to be sharp. Met good friends and great MCs between 1998-2003. 14. South Side or North Side why? South-side.. Raised out there, White Sox, and more soul. 15. This is Nizm’s time to say anything you want to share with the readers. Vent, Explain or whatever you feel! Nothing much, enjoy life and do what you love 16. Shout outs etc .. Links upcoming projects … If you want to hear more of NIZM go to www.refgenmusic.com or http://nizm.bandcamp.com follow @NizmLaverite on Twitter and IG