Wise Intelligent

I think that there are still some people that have never heard of you, so could you just introduce yourself to the younger ones?

I’m Wise Intelligent, lead emcee of the Poor Righteous Teachers. We started our thing in 1989, the first album dropped in 1990, “Holy Intellect” was the name of that record. It kinda blew and gave us some international success. We offered alot of rhyme flows, alot of sample techniques. We were the originators of alot of the creative rhyme flow in HipHop. The second album was “Pure Poverty” which was a little more reggae concentrated. After that we put out “Black Business” and “The New World Order” in 1996 was the last record that we released.

You completely disappeared since 2001, what have you been doing during all these years?

Just kickin’ back, tryin’ to get a couple of programs lodged. I’ve been analyzing the hiphop game from a fan’s perspective as opposed to be caught up in it. Tryin’ to get a greater craft on HipHop, the industry, the politics, the culture. And I also tried to work out some of the things that’s taking place in my community, trying to get a handle of the things that’s going on over here. Youth violence is escalating right now so we’re trying to losdge a bunch of programs to embank the youth violence that’s taking place in the community in New Jersey.

The Poor Righteous Teachers recorded an album called “Declaration Of Independence” in 2001 which unfortunately never came out. What happened to this album?

I have the album, I’ve been sitting on it since 2001. I’m gonna release it through Intelligent Muzik, it will purchasable at our website www.intelligentmuzik.com and I wanna put it out in a limited amount. So get them while they’re hot – this should be out by september.

Are the Poor Righteous Teachers still in effect?

Yes, we gonna get together to finish a new record at the end of this year and this should be out the first quarter of 2006.

In the meantime, you’ve been in the studio. You’re brand new album “The Talented Timothy Taylor” will hit the streets this summer – have you ever thought that you would make a comeback?

I didn’t think about it but certain things demanded that I come back and put a record out. My whole thing is just to chill, and travel around the world with about 12 youths from the inner cities, from the ghettos in America. Just expanding consciousness, just learn and study and take ‘em to other countries and let them see some things that they don’t normally see, livin’ in a inner city in America where homicide rates increase like … wow, it’s just horrible over here! Homicide increased 164% since 2000! The youth, they don’t have alot of help to direct their energy, so I thought I was gonna just sit back and take the youth to learn. But I need to be with the facility of such programs monetarily, so it’s kind of necessary that I put out records.

What about this “Timothy Taylor” reference?

I just wanted to go back to my youth and bring to the Poor Righteous Teachers fans, the Wise Intelligent fans that part of me that I didn’t show them through Poor Righteous Teachers. I never played personal songs, I never gave the audience a chance to get into my personal life, I kinda kept that to myself. And with “The Talented Timothy Taylor” I’m going back. I used the name Timothy because that’s how my mother named me, so I wanted to go back to that era when heads knew me as Timothy and put out records that relate to that era and my childhood, growing up and, you know, what life was like and what made me become Wise Intelligent as part of Poor Righteous Teachers.

Let’s talk about this album: who made the beats, do you have any guests on there…?

The beats are made by a crew called the Haveknotz, they did some nice tracks, they’re out of Trenton, New Jersey. Then Oh No ‘The Disrupt’, Madlib’s brother, he did a couple of tracks on there, like three or four. Not to forget Tony D who also worked on Poor Righteous Teachers first and second record. And as far as guest appearances on the emcee side, I didn’t do any guest appearances on this particular record because, like I said, it’s a personal record and I wanted to take HipHop back to that era when we wasn’t putting out compilation records in disguise as albums *laughs*, back to that era when you wanted to get into the life of a particular artists and get to know him, and that’s what this is about. I want to give people a chance to understand me and where I’m coming from and who I am. I don’t need a bunch of other guys to kinda water down what I’m tryin’ to get across at this plate. Maybe on the next CD out there’ll be some guest appearances but not on this one…

So you’re already planing your next album?

Yes I am – it will be called “Wise Intelligent is Jesus Jones”. Back to school, second period.

Will there also be a video single to the ‘Timothy Taylor’ album?

Yes, we’re tryin’ to decide which single right now. It’s more than likely gonna be a song called “Genocide”, with “Go With Me” on the flipside. “Genocide” is basically a song that tracks the distribution of drugs into inner-cities and how ghetto youth get access to such drugs and fire arms.

You keep it political?

Oh, without a doubt! That’s really my life coming up. Most of the kids that I grew up with and their children are now in the inner-city sellin’ drugs, they are incarcerated at high rates, makin’ up 44% of america’s prison population – but we’re less than 12% of the total population. So I have to show the youth the trap! I have to break down this whole scenario to them, I have to show them that the same individuals that allow the drugs to come into the country are responsible for building the prisons. I’m just breaking down some information on the phony war on drugs and the prison industrial complex.

Could you sum up the message of your music in one sentence?

Intelligence. Or Intelligent Muzik.

You also have two references to the word ‘intelligence’ in your artist name. What does intelligence mean to you?

It means that the goals develope your inner consciousness. Wise Intelligent is not a egotistical name, title or atribute -Wise Intelligent is actually sayin’ that in order to develope and expand your consciousness the individual must first put himself to death. He must murder his ego, his ego must commit suicide. Wise Intelligent is actually Timothy Taylor – born again.

So what has changed musically and personally since your solo debut “Killin U’ … For Fun” which came out in 1996?

Alot changed as far as my writing skill is always blowing because I feel like HipHop is an art, you must always elevate the artform, bring something new to the culture. And that’s what I do when I put out records. So I’ve elevated so far, I’ve kinda passed “Killin U’ … For Fun” that’s it’s irritating to me to listen to the record now. I don’t have any of my own music. I don’t keep cd’s, I don’t keep posters, pictures or anything to remind me of past records. Alot of people find that hard to believe, but I don’t own a “Holy Intellect” CD, I don’t own “Pure Poverty”, “Black Business”, “The New World Order” or “Killing U’ … For Fun”, I don’t own no CD’s!

Now that’s really hard to believe!

Right, I don’t own any of them! Alot of people ask me for out-of-print CD’s of Poor Righteous teachers – I don’t have any! If I had them I would give ‘em to you! But I don’t have a poster, a promotional picture, I dont’t have anything. I like to make the music for the time and leave it there and move to the next thing, make something for the next time. And that’s what I’m doing right now. So I can definately feel my music from back then if I hear it because I believe that’s not me that’s actually responsible for the writing of the lyrics. It’s actually coming through me, I’m more like a vessel that’s being used to articulate a certain message, to convey a certain message or idea to a particular demographic. And that’s the way I take it.

So it’s all about constant elevation when you try to keep the music up to date…

Right, I like to make it so that if you go back and hear that record you say ‘Wow, it’s still relevant today!’. You know, I like to make records that are outside of time and space…

Which one of your song do you consider as the best one you ever wrote?

I don’t even have a favourite song, possibly “Passing The Time” which will be on this new CD. That’s a song I wrote about in reference to my mother that passed away recently. It’s a very personal song. It’s not just the typical mother/son-relationship kind of song, it’s not the boring kind of funeral song, it’s a ill HipHop idea that’s dedicated to my mother.

Speaking of favourite songs: a song which really impressed me was “Shitty Inna City” from your solo LP. You already told me that the inner city is still shitty – does anything has turned to the better?

Yeah, what’s better know is: people from the community like myself, people that grew up in the community without the chance to explore and see other things in the world realized alot that the violence that is taking place in the community is based on a lack of knowledge and the death of your consciousness by your ego. Now we’re coming back! Individuals like Poor Righteous Teachers are coming back to the community setting up programs that the youth can relate to. And it’s easy, because they understand that we understand them. So we’re creating programs based on the eradication of poverty and ignorance that’s keeping them in the position they’re in. The youth can relate to that, that’s the good thing that’s happening now in the community. The fact that you have individuals who have knowledge of ghetto life as well as a broader understanding of the international community, individuals who can come back to the youth and build them up properly.

What has to be done in the future to improve the situation in the hood, how do the concrete steps have to look like?

Well, what has to happen is that there has to be a total state of cooperative economics. The community I live in is 7.7 square miles with 85.00 people of which 52% are african-american. The african-american receives less than 1% of the business proceeds in the town! That’s horrible!

Is there a need of black owned companies?

We need black owned companies, yes! We need black owned businesses, we need black business owners and black entertainers who have been very successful to come and set up businesses in the community. We need a mobilization of black dollars and black spin and power. We need guards at the gate, anyone shouldn’t be allowed to come in the community and exploit the community. Right now, the owned corner stores are owned by coreans, pakistanis, you name it! Anyone except african-americans – it’s horrible! So what needs to happen is: the programs we’re starting off are basically economic programs that put the youth in the position of ownership in the community. That’s what’s necessary before anything can change: you have to have alot of african-american ownership of the community in which they live.

Are you optimistic that this will happen one day?

Yeah, I’m very optimistic! It happened before! It happened before when the politics were left in the hand of the people. It happened in Tulsa/Oklahoma in 1921. Black Wall Street: 36 square blocks of black businesses. Over 600 businesses only operated by african-americans. It happened before, and that’s what my idea for this city is, like a duplication or a replica of Black Wall Street Tulsa/Oklahoma.

Back to the music. Is HipHop still a reflection of the streets or has the hood become a reflection of rap-music stereotypes?

It’s a little of both. Definately the streets are now becoming a larger representation of heavily marketed rap-music. You have alot of impressionable youth. Teenagers are very impressionable. Major corporations know this and they exploit it. So the streets are definately now a representation of what’s going on in the music. That’s definately the case. But, you know, the rappers and the artists seem to always get the blame for the images that are being propagated. The average artist in HipHop is actually a poor kid who more than likely had no parents at home to guide him – like 50 Cent for instance. He tells you what his life was, and that’s a true story. He has been shot 9 times, he has been in a awful situation of poverty. And if you’ve been living in a state of poverty like that, if someone comes and offers you money to talk about that lifestyle – you gonna take it! And that’s what ghetto youth are doing when record companies and major corporations would be marketing politically and socially conscious music, ghetto youth would be writing conscious messages. That’s what they would write! But when major corporations shift to the gangster format, the ghetto youth shifts the gangster format, because they feel: ‘That’s what I have to do to sell a million records!’. So in the event that major corporations start to put more money behind politically conscious and socially orientated rappers, then you’ll see a shift back.

Do you think that there are any famous emcees today that can make this difference, that can make the shift back?

Yes, Wise Intelligent, the talented Timothy Taylor – that’s the plan *laughs*

This will be the case for sure! You’ve worked with alot of different emcees and producers – which one has has impressed you the most?

KRS-One! Because he’s not just a leader on records, he’s a leader off records! I believe he has the clearest perception of what HipHop is capable of.

What would that be?

Revolution, change. HipHop can change your perception, HipHop can change the perception of the world. HipHop is very powerful.

Do you KRS lost power since back in the days?

No, I think KRS has more power now. And the thing about the power that he has now is: it’s he has been mobilized in a more direct movement: he has the ‘Temple Of HipHop’, he has ‘HipHop Appreciation Week’ that he does – and it’s something that’s gonna stay around forever. He’s building a legacy right now.

Are you a member of the Temple of HipHop?

No, I’m not. But I’m informed about their work. I haven’t been working with them as far as their initiatives. But I work closely with some of the members, the people I work with are actually also involved in my project and my programs. I just don’t think that HipHop is that religious, that makes the difference between them and me.

You’ll be working on some literal work and internet ventures soon, what can we expect?

Actually the first release is a ghetto-political fiction, it’s called ‘Cream’. It’s about a youth from the inner city who finds a way to change the situation for his community. It’s a small town and the inner city youth kinda take it over real revolutionarily. They come together, black revolutionary type. What they do is: they mobilize gangbanger, they mobilize everyone in the community, all the youth in the community, bloods, crips, gods & earths, Nation of Islam youth, just a bunch of youth from the community. And they bring these youth together with a common denominator to eradicate the poverty and ignorance that exists in the community. And with that, they are able to mobilize alot of dollars, they take the drug money to the company that goes public. And they kind of help the youth out of selling drugs into legal business and before you know, the neighbourhood is a community of young black business man. All legal.

That’s the movement! We’re already at the end of this interview – do you have any shoutouts?

Yes, shoutout to you guys for having me. To all of the UK, to all of the EU – hold tight! Wise Intelligent is the talented Timothy Taylor comin’ to a store or website store near you. Make sure you cop that, it’s very essential to your HipHop collection. It’s another brick from the house that HipHop build. It will be out august 2005 – make sure that you cop that and log on to www.intelligentmuzik.com – and learn! Get knowledge. Get wisdom. Peace!