Scheme

Scheme von Molemen Inc. über seine gerade erschienene “The Manifesto” EP, den Videodreh in Mexiko und sein alltägliches Leben in der ‘Windy City’, Chicago. Wer die neuen Tracks noch nicht gehört hat, kann das jetzt nachholen: den Link zum kostenlosen Download findet ihr weiter unter im Text.

[hr]

First of all: how did you get in touch with the Molemen?

I actually was performing at some show some years ago and met my homie Visual, who is Panik’s brother. At the time I wasn’t aware that they were brothers. Visual actually told Panik about me and I met up with him after that. We talked and I knocked out some songs over his beats and the relationship just built from there. He asked if I was interested in being down with the Molemen, and of course I said yes.

Have you been living in Chicago all your life?

Yeah I was born and raised all my life in the city of Chicago. Wouldn’t change it for the world.

You recently released the “Manifesto EP”. What do you offer on this one?

“The Manifesto” EP is a solid release from beginning to end. The Sound Merchants and I really worked on making a dope project and created some good music I think. We made sure every song had its place and focused on creating a cohesive piece of work homie. I am really proud of how it came out. I have Jean Grae on there. I have the homies, Astonish, Tone Pro, and Wes Restless on there as well. The homie Alo added scratches to some of the joints and the Sound Merchants handled all prodution. Everything just fit together perfectly on this project for us.

How did the song with Jean Grae come together?

21 Grams from the Sound Merchants actually handled that. I guess Jean had put something out there saying she was doing verses for collabs during the time we started working on the EP. We were trying to figure out who we should get as a feature on the album, so when this opportunity came along we went for it. 21 Grams knocked out the beat and sent it over to Jean. She hit us up with the verse the next day. Then I went ahead and laid my verses to it that same night. We had the ideas for the scractches already, and Alo killed it. He really did his thing on there. That brought the song together for me.

You also shot of video of the single “Chicano”. How was shooting down there in Mexico?

It was great man. I would have never thought that I would have had the opportunity to do it like we did. Everything for this project has been a natural process and I think that really helped out the making of the music and the video. My cousin Jeffrey Castillo and his friend Abel Alvarado for Cine De Laredo shot the video for me. The experience was great from beginning to end. We had a fun time shooting and it felt great to have my grandma in the video and some of my other family as well. Just being able to bring both of my worlds together, Hip Hop and my ethnicity, made it real dope. The weather was nice and I was surrounded by family. Not much else you can ask for, homie.

What did your grandma say about being put in a rap video?

To be honest, she didn’t really understand what we were recording her for *laughs* She knew it had to do with my music, and she gladly did it for me. My grandma is as far from rap music as anyone could be, so explaining to her what I do is a bit difficult. The generation and cultural differences are far too great for either of us to understand that aspect of my life, but she’s real proud of me. She was happy to see the final video and I am really grateful to have had her be a part of it.

To me, this song is the highlight of the EP, you just come with the realness on this one. Lyrically you talk about being torn between american and mexican culture. Which one do you prefer? For which reasons?

Thanks homie, I’m really glad you like that joint. Honestly man, it’s a tough question. That’s why it’s an on going battle. There are different aspects from both cultures that I appreciate and enjoy. I been born and raised in America, so obviously I am grateful for the lifestyle and certain opportunities I’ve been able to have because of being born in the US. Yet at the same time, both of my parents and my 3 sisters were born in Mexico. Our history is there. The connection I have with that part of me is always going to be there. It’s who identify myself with and where my family came from. I enjoy the humility and the simple life people lead. I enjoy the connection I feel with where I came from.

It is also a song about everyday discrimination in the US – could you give an example?

The discrimination and racism in America is definitely an issue. You always get the funny looks, or the whispering behing your back from people who feel insecure or in danger because of how you look. Getting pulled over by the cops because of the color of your skin, or because you fit the “profile” of a gang member. I remember once I was chillin’ with the homie Astonish right outside his crib just listening to some music and the cops pulled up alongside of us. They started questioning us and what not. The lady cop asked me what gang I was in, I said none. She was like “Yeah right?” I told her I wasn’t and that I was actually in college and she laughed and said “Yeah your probably just gonna take your general classes and that’s it” I was fuckin pissed. I told her that I was actually about to graduate. They talk down to you as if you can’t defend yourself, or as if you weren’t intelligent enough to hold your ground. I’ve always held pride in being able to defend myself no matter the situation. But it’s whatever, I don’t live with that chip on my shoulder. I live my life and treat everyone I come across as good as I feel they deserve, I don’t let the ignorance get to me like that.

Sometimes I feel like the classical boom-bap is outdated. Nevertheless you stick to the good old sound – why didn’t you try some new beats?

With this project we wanted to stick to a sound, we had a vision for this project and we stuck to it. I’m comfortable rapping over any kind of beat, it just depends on the direction of the project.

When can we expect a full length album from Scheme?

Soon homie. I’m working on a couple other things right now. But the full length is definitely coming soon.

Where can listeners from Germany buy your music?

You can get it on molemen.com, ughh.com, Itunes, Amazon.com or you can
visit my blog at schememusic.blogspot.com and buy it there. To those who haven’t listened to The Manifesto EP yet you can download it here http://www.zshare.net/download/61432751ca540728/ … and if you like it make sure you let your people know about it and show your support by buying it from one of the places I mentioned. Thanks a lot.

Scheme @ myspace http://www.myspace.com/rhymeschememolemeninc

Photos by Jeff Castillo & Sonia (of Molemen Inc.)