Invincible dropped her debut album, Shapeshifters.
The Michigan Citizen interviewed her so check it out:
The Michigan Citizen (MC): How do you feel about Detroit hip hop right now?
Invincible: I think that we are in a place where there is tremendous talent, more brilliance and perspective. I think that the “crabs in a barrel” mentality is dying down a little bit. People are supporting a little more. I think people are attributing that to the deaths of J. Dilla, Proof and Blade Icewood. I realized, the “crabs in a barrel” mentality is just the result of lack of opportunity. It is also lessening because we are getting more opportunities. I was telling Guilty Simpson at his release party how proud I am of him and he was saying that his release is everybody’s success. That’s kind of how it is right now.
MC: Your label, Emergence, is based on cooperative economics. Tell me about it.
Invincible: Putting my album out on my own label, I have put myself through a self-imposed “How to be Independent” workshop. I have also been talking to a lot of artists who have been doing music for a long time, but hadn’t put an album out. It’s mainly because they don’t know how. So, I am able to talk to people about how to do it, now. In Detroit people are trying to create data entry jobs and casino jobs. But, we have the opportunity to create a whole new economy for the city with creative jobs. Not necessarily hip hop jobs, but jobs based on the way hip hop does things. Like, when you are a creative person, you don’t just have customers in Detroit, you may have a customer in Australia.
MC: Like the song on your album, “Locusts” featuring Finale?
Invincible: On “Locusts” we present a model for what a sustainable community and economy can be. Hopefully through hip hop we can explore some of those models.
MC: What has Detroit Summer been up to?
Invincible: The Live Arts Media Project featured young people interviewing other young people on the reasons that they dropped out of school. They edited the interviews and used the subject matter for an audio hip hop documentary. In addition, a curriculum was created and the project is being used by community groups around the country. Part two will be creating statistics to create a list of demands for Detroit Public Schools to address the drop out issue. For the past six months the kids have been creating that survey.
MC: On Shapeshifters you speak about a lot of political subjects. “People Not Places” was based on a conversation with your Israeli mother and how she misses the people and not the place where she was born. Why is it important for you to infuse your music with politics?
Invincible: I don’t write essay songs. My songs are like stories as songs. I really keep the musicality balanced with the content. Slip the medicine in. One of the first rappers I listened to growing up was Paris, who was very political. I also listened to Bo$$, MC Breed, and Big L, they weren’t so much political but rapped about the streets. To me, politics is not just talking about the President, but your everyday life. It’s about the larger societal issues that affect your life.
MC: You used to get a lot of comparisons to Eminem.
Invincible: (nodding) That came more from outside of Detroit. In the city, people were used to seeing me. They knew we had totally different content. Eminem and D12 were talking about D12 stuff and I was talking about something totally different. But, once I was in New York, people saw a white rapper from Detroit. He had just gotten signed then, which garnered me a lot of attention. Record labels were kicking themselves for not signing him and saw me as a good second option. But, I turned them all down. Then, XXL Magazine did that big spread and called me “an A&R’s worst nightmare,” which kind of earned me a bad reputation. But, I kept my integrity.
Shapeshifters is available in stores and online. The album features production by Lab Techs, Black Milk and more. For more information on Invincible visit her Web site, www.Emergencemusic.net.
Check out the full article here.
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