Before the term Horrorcore, Psychopathic Records, Flatlinerz, and even Esham, Insane Poetry existed. He has been around for over 25 years. The first Insane Poetry single “Twelve Strokes Till Midnight”, dropped in 1988! His first group, His majiesty, formed in 1987. Don’t miss Insane Poetry at this years Gathering Of The Juggalos! Real OG! This interview was conducted at 1.35 a scoop, in Denver! Thank you for inviting me to your place, Insane Poetry!
Insane Poetry & CTC; photo courtesy of We Are Rebellion
Chad Thomas Carsten: I first want to say, it’s super dope that Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko watched your set at The Gathering Of The Juggalos. How did that come about?
Insane Poetry: That’s all thanks to my boy Liquid Assassin. He noticed Krizz Kaliko pulled up in a cart, bobbing his head big time. I then see Krizz in the corner of my eye, while I’m in full beast mode going all out on stage, tying up ladies to chairs, but I remained focused and kept the energy level going. Tech starts approaching and finally we talk. First things Krizz says, “I love my woman being tied up!”.
Later on down the road, I’m doing a show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had no idea that Tech and company would be at the bar next to the venue, where I was performing. A fan noticed Tech and handed him the flyer of the show and upon them seeing Insane Poetry on the flyer, they headed inside right away. Tech pulled out his phone and asked for my number. I couldn’t believe it, but I was honored! What I like about Tech, is for him to be able to evolve and stay relevant.
CTC: Hell yea to that! What would you say is your greatest accomplishment?
IP: I would say longevity. Being able to last this length of time. Basically you’re looking at over 25 years at being able to do it. As fickle as the rap game has turned into, to be able to have fans at this particular stage has been awesome. Being signed to Lyrikal Snuff Productions helped resuscitate my career.
CTC: That’s pretty cool though! Your style is getting kids into the old school sounds. They might decide to trace back the roots of the horror within Hip-Hop and dig deep into the classics of Gravediggaz or Gangsta Nip.
IP: Right. Right. Shout out to the Gravediggaz! I just recently pulled out the 6 Feet Deep album. Whew, great album! They were on point with their lyricism.
Insane Poetry; photo courtesy of We Are Rebellion
CTC: Oh yes! Too Poetic and Shabazz are my personal favorite on that record! So now that we’re on the subject of old school, I have to know the history behind you and Vanilla Ice! How did you two cross paths?
IP: It’s kinda like this. I used to write and reside with Rodney O and Joe Cooley. Ya know, “Everlasting Bass” (Released in 1987). That’s where I got my first stage presence. They were huge in the West Coast and South, even up North. Hearing Lil Wayne free style over the instrumental of Everlasting Bass really tripped me out, cause ya know, I used to live with them. One day Rodney and I went to a 7 Eleven and we go pick up a Teen Beat magazine *laughs*, because it was popular at the time and it was an easy way to see who were the hot artists. So we’re flipping through the magazine and there’s this article on Vanilla Ice. And in the article it stated his favorite rapper was Rodney O. While we’re in the middle of reading this, we’re both like, “Oh shit, that’s dope!” So, Rodney automatically gets his manager to call Vanilla Ice’s manager. Rodney ends up linking up and Vanilla says, “I’d love for you to help out with the next record.”
Insane Poetry appeared in Rodney O and Joe Cooley’s 1991 Single and Video Get Ready To Roll
[youtube]https://youtu.be/FWgFbkrG-O8[/youtube]
We flew out there, all three of us. The record turned out to be 1994’s Mind Blowin (the follow up to Ice’s debut, “To The Extreme”). Real shit, I wrote 10 songs on that shit! This was at a really weird time for Ice. His album sales were dropping and 3rd Bass were straight up dissing him hard! And so what I did was say “Hey, I’m going to write you some shit so you could defend yourself”. Ice wasn’t that type of artist, but he wanted to really express that. We spent a week in Miami, got to go to Vanilla’s house, Rodney and Joe Cooley even did a video out there. So we get back to California and for some odd reason, Vanilla Ice thought it would be cool to stay in contact with me. I ended up having a 10 year career with Ice. My influence has been with the guy for quite a while. A lot of people would like to see us perform O.K.S. at The Gathering. I think it’d be dope! I actually first met ICP through Vanilla Ice. Hopefully soon, we get to catch each-other at the right time and do it!
[youtube]https://youtu.be/sAF3UJRctmQ[/youtube]
CTC: That would be beyond dope! So, you recently released a video with Scum, for the single “Pigs”. Any current police brutality situations that influenced the making of the song?
IP: Things that are going on in our own environment with law enforcement obviously inspired that, but for us, this is the way we feel all the time. Because we’re like the sore thumbs to the law. The style of rap we do, is an easy target for us. To be honest with you, my personal view is there are law enforcement out there that are doing what they’re actually supposed to do. But there is a problem with the system obviously, with all the unlawful shootings. The video is about the law who abuse their authority, not the police who actually protect.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/mPcmxb4TDpY[/youtube]
CTC: I feel you on that. Let’s discuss your upcoming album “Edgar Allan Holiman”. How influential is Edgar Allan Poe for the record? Details behind the concept
IP: Edgar Allan Poe is a major influence on that. What a mad insanity genius he was! Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been introduced to his work. I’m a poet and I feel like I write in that kind of vein. So I looked at like, I wanted to make another album, but wanted it in the style of Poe. My own version of it, in audio form. I’m excited about the Edgar Allan Holiman project because the songs I wrote for it, is real dark cerebral shit. Fucked up tales, very fucked up! The story as a whole, it’s from the mind of somebody that’s not right. He’s got this distorted reality in his mind because he’s stuck in his house all day. It’s this artist that’s on a label and he’s getting a ton of pressure from these different energies to put a certain album out. I morphed my own idea out the character Sutter Cane, from The Mouth Of Madness. Ya know, the writer stuck in a crazy ass time warp, writing this crazy shit, driving people mad. It’s going to be a different type of record for me.
CTC: I can’t wait! Sounds fucking epic! What other projects are you working on?! I know you’re always staying busy.
Twiztid & Insane Poetry
IP: I just finished touring with Cryptic Wisdom. I have two different type of mixtapes I’m working on. The first one is called “Shadow Of The Night Blade: Butcher Knife Music”. That will be the violent one. “The Andrew Holiman Memoirs”, that mixtape will be all about the real life shit. The good, the bad and the ugly. I kept the two mixtapes separate because if I’m focused on a certain energy, that energy will go to that type of mixtape. I don’t want them mixed up. I’ll also be working on the new MMMFD record. We don’t have a name for it yet, but Scum and I just recorded a song for it called, “Body In The Trunk”.
CTC: I’m sure the fans will be anxious to hear those! What advice can you give to new artists just starting out?
IP: You have to be open to constructive criticism. The problem is, youngster these days take that as haterism. Not everybody’s a hater. If somebody comes up and says you suck and they didn’t give your music a chance, that’s being a hater. If someone says your delivery is not completely on and they actually tried your music, that’s being constructive. Get into the game and see how it works, see if you like it. It’s super ugly in this game, it’s not all lavish. Also, be true to yourself, it will eventually help out in the end. I’m not famous, I make music to make motherfuckers want to do shit. I slid out the Fallopian tubes with that! My mom created a monster.
CTC: Any Final words?
IP: Shout out to you, Chad. Thanks for coming all the way out here. Horrorcore Magazine, Scottie D, that dude puts in a lot of work, and the entire Lyrikal Snuff Productions crew and fans. Especially Scum, Liquid Assassin and Smallz One. They’re about to go out on the Snuff HD Tour, don’t miss it!
[youtube]https://youtu.be/-VBieazmh-U[/youtube]
Contact [email protected] for collabs!
Interviewer: Chad Thomas Carsten
Interview Date:05/28/15
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