Rashid Hadee Interview

With all the Rashid Hadee material I've already thrown up, it should only be fitting that an interview with the man himself should grace the pages of IllCuts. So below is an interview that I did with dude a while back.

When you came up with the title for the Change Gon Come mixtape, was that supposed to be a reference to Barack Obama, or was that a coincidence?

No, it turned out to be a coincidence. That old Sam Cooke song is what inspired the title of the mixtape. Me, Gabriel and Cosm Rocks of The Hip Hop Project were having a meeting and the song "A Change Is Gonna Come" popped up in our conversation. We chose to run with the title cause I related to it. I just felt like I was ready for a change to come in my life. So change became the whole theme of the mixtape. It turned out that a lot of songs that where meant for the mixtape wasn't put on there and lot of old tracks were put on there instead which kinda defeated the purpose. But it still turned out dope. Big ups to The Hip Hop Project.

As a Chicago producer, who would you consider more influential: No I.D. or Kanye West? Why?

Actually both of them. I'd say No I.D. was a big influence for me when I was younger, and Kanye West is a big influence for me now. I can see the main reason is because they both are from Chicago so they are that much closer to my spirit. They both are just extra dope to me in their own way and when I hear their music it makes me wanna make more music.

What does it mean to you to get love from very well-respected artists like Pete Rock and Big Pooh among others?

It's cool, but I appreciate love from anyone no matter what their name is. It means a lot to me to get love from other people because a lot of the time, I'm unsure if people gonna feel what I'm putting out there. What means the most to me, is when the average hip hop fan let's me know that they love my music because that's who I do it for. As far as love from well-respected artists or artists that feel they are well-respected....I'm not sure if they buy my music. Let's say, out of 10,000 other artists, they can count for 10,000 or more sales I didn't get.

What are your thoughts on the rap game today?

The rap game is good right now, and I believe it's a better chance for artists like me to get their music out there. We don't have to go through never gettin responded back by magazines or having record companies throw our demo tapes in the trash anymore. We can go out there and get it ourselves and make all of our money. Just like an artist such as Charles Hamilton for example. His music isn't that good but he has people to support what he's putting out there and that's what counts. I might not be able to adjust my ears to his music, but I definitely hear his name a lot

.

What new material have you been working on lately?

I'm working on a mixtape right now, and i'm just gonna put it out there for free. Can't get into the details for it because it's a unique idea. Also, I'm back with another EP titled The Cost Of Living that I plan on putting out this May with Neblina Records. I've also completed a record with Pugs Atomz titled Stormy coming real soon. Also, I've completed a record with Thaione Davis that's titled Still Hear which also is coming real soon. Melatone of Chapter 13 is putting out the Making History 12" which is produced my me real soon. He's also gonna put out an EP this year too. Right now as we speak, I'm with Olskool Ice Gre recording Agent Orange's mixtape and I'm doing all the beats for it, so be looking for that real soon too.

I gotta ask: the Sox or the Cubs?

Cubs all day fam!

I know that Chapter 13 gets mad love in the Chi, so what's been up with all those dudes? Are you planning to make another album together?

Yeah, me and Melatone completed the vocals for the Chapter 13 album already. I still have some tweaking to do to it and it wont be 100% until around summertime. The album is titled The Final Comedown.

The first time I heard you was on the production for Dreams off GetBack. How did you hook up with Little Brother?

I met Phonte, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder back in like 2003 or 2004 after one of their shows. My cousin passed them a CD of the original version of Dedication. The next day, 9th Wonder gave me a call to let me know it was dope and I been cool with them cats since.

If you had to describe your sound in one word, how would you describe it?

Hip-Hop. I feel like I got the essence of hip hop pretty much covered in my all of my music. I've noticed when I let people check out music the main thing everyone says is, "This is so hip hop". So that's what it is.

Who are some Chi-town artists you would like to work with?

I've worked with a good majority of Chicago artists already, but to name a few that I haven't: Kanye West, Mikkey Halsted, Crucial Conflict, The Cool Kids, Lupe Fiasco, and Twista too. I heard a song my Phil G and Really Doe today that was sick, I'd like to work with them too.

You can only choose one. Illmatic, Ready To Die, or Midnight Maruaders. What makes that one the best?

Damn, tough question. Three of my all time favorites. I didn't wanna pick Illmatic cause everybody picks Illmatic but....Illmatic. Only because of The World Is Yours...that song is truly my shit! And also Represent, Life's A Bitch, NY State of Mind, etc.