Mini-interwiew with the great K-Rino

1.    First of all, what’s up, how you’re doing?  
I'm fine my friend, thanks alot.

2.    Was it hard for you to keep your head down for all these years?
You never even tried to do a more radio friendly song, ask an rnb star to do your hook, Timbaland to lace you with a hot beat? Or was it always like You portrayed it on ‘Soul Merchants’- going mainstream is for the weak and dumb?
Well...I've never looked at it like i should try to make so called radio songs. I dont have a problem with "radio play", I just have a problem with the politics of radio itself. I have many songs that I believe would've have been well recieved by the radio listening public, but the inability to infiltrate those channels and the political nature of radio is what has kept me off the air.
It wasn't an intentional thing on my part, because I believe that if an artist is making music that will be mentally and spiritaully beneficial to the masses, then why wouldn't he/she want it to be heard on a massive level, which radio can provide? And I don't know any major r n b singers or people i like Timbaland personally, and if I did I would only go to them if I saw a creative connection, that could be made to make a great song. I don't bandwagon popular artists just to try to "get in".
 3.    People love they way You craft your albums, mixing impressive battle songs with those that offer something deeper, conscious, sometimes even mystical. Was it difficult for You to write Your best punchlines, storytellings? It can’t be THAT easy to write down “Astronomical” or “Illusions” just like any other song. How long does it take for K-Rino to write the lyrics for a whole album?
At times you have to put alot of mental effort to come up with creative lines and songs, but other times it just pours out in abundance. It's like the songs writes itself sometimes. That's my favorite way to write, when it just brainstorms out so fast, that i can't even jot down the ideas fast enough, hehe. "Astronomical" and "illusions" were 2 different types of songs, so the process for each was different. "Illusions" was a story, so once I formulated the entire storyline, it made it easy to put together. "Astronomical" is lyrical so it was just a matter of putting the lines together. The time frame to complete songs varies depending on f I'm in a good zone, or not. May take 30-minutes to an hour or it may takes days...
4.    Excluding albums from Houston, what was Your favorite cd from 2009, and why?
I don't have one...honestly i don't listen to much rap these days, so i haven't been keeping up with what's been coming out.

5. Care to play a little game? I give you a name of the MC, and you give me your rating (0 to 5) based on their skills. You can ommit some of them if You like. Lil Wayne (yeah I had to), Bun B, Canibus, Scarface, Nas, 2Pac, Big L, Vinnie Paz, Drake, Ganksta NIP, Kool G Rap, Eminem, K-Rino (!).

Wayne gets a (3.5) he is very skilled...alot of people hate on wayne but his punchlines,style and delivery are very good.
Plus i give a rapper credit who doesn't sound like anybody else in the game And he has his own style.

Bun B (4.0) is very ecumenical, meaning he appeals to all walks of the game. He's a rapper's rapper.
And i have alot respect for what he's done for Texas, and the south in terms of helping to establish us worldwide, and giving us respectability, when people were saying the south had no lyricists.

Canibus (4.5) in my opinion is one of the top 3 lyricists of ALL TIME.
I dont know who the other 2 would be, or what order I would put them in, but I know he's definitely one of them.
People don't appreciated his value as an innovator of pure lyricism, but he's just that.

Scarface( 4.5) is the true pioneer of southern rap. He was the first guy that made all of us down here believe, that we could make it in the industry and be accepted. He's a great storyteller and one of the most underrated in history.

Nas gets a (4.0). He's one of the greats without question... Ether put him on another level. That was classic.


Tupac gets a 4.5 because of his impact and influence, and his ability to captivate

Big L is another underrated rapper, who should be studied and mentioned more. He's a guy who, I think, alot people patterned their styles after.His punchlines back in the late 90's were ahead of the game.he gets a (4.0).

Vinne Paz is just vicious, haha. He's an aggressive MC, who in my opinion can stand with anyone, but again he's one of the underrated greats...(4.0)

Drake is a young talented rapper, who has the complete package as it relates to the industry, but he also is very good pure artist and writer. I have alot of respect for him, plus he can tackle different topics.
He doesnt stay on the same redundant subject matter. (3.5) only because he's a young cat, once he puts in more time, he's up there with the best

Ganksta NIP,the originator of horrorcore... SPC o.g. the best to ever slice a throat, haha. I'm biased, but so what (5.0).

Kool G Rap...is one of the top 5 best mcs EVER,end of story,the lyrical gangsta...(5.0).

Eminem is also one of the greats of all time, he has great wordplay, subject matter and isn't afraid to make his own life an open book, which is really one of the main criterior to being great, because it allows the people to see your human side.(4.0)

And me I'd give myself a 1 haha.

6.   People held their breath to see the effects of You working with Scarface on his “Emeritus” album. Finally K-Rino gained some mainstream attention. Can we expect anything like this anytime soon?

 Probably not, but I can't say for sure. The Face collabo was something we had talked about for years 

It just lined up at that time. It was an honor to get the call.

7.    What are Your thoughts on hip hop being allegedly dead? People seem to blame your coast for it’s assassination…

The people who make that claim and blame the south are haters in my eyes, because if U really feel like the south killed hip hop, then why don't u take it up with the labels, who sign the artists who are "killing" it, instead of whining because U aint sellin no records.Noone says anything about them.

If You're gonna be mad at a guy for riding the bus you should have something to say to the bus driver as well. Hip Hop is diverse supposedly, so my thing is quit hatin' and soak up some game.

8.    How did you end up doing a song with a rapper from my country, Tomb? Have you heard anything else about Poland? I know you have somefriends in Germany, ever been to Poland? 

Well he hit me up online and we connected like that.

That's how most of my collaborations take place. I've never been to Poland, but I'd love to come do a show someday.

9.    Any plans of doing an european tour?

Not at the moment.

10. Which K-Rino album sold the most?

My first cd- "Stories from the black book"...

11.    And which K-Rino’s album is the best, according to K-Rino?

Ii can't say which is the best, haha. That's like choosing which one of Your children U love the most. I have several favorites, so it's very hard. Ii like to let the fans debate that one.

12.    Is it hard to remember Your lyrics, ever had any problems with certain lines flowing out of Your head during a concert?

Yeah because I got so many songs...haha.

I forget the words all the time. I just laugh it off and freestyle when it happens. Ii think I have written over a thousand songs, so it's tough to remember them at times.

13.    When can we expect another Rino album? Any spoilers? Guests, producers etc.?

I'm in the early stages of a new cd right now...I don't have a title yet, but I will soon. I can say it's gonna be a raw one though.

14.    Are You content with all that Barack Obama has done for the american community so far?

Well he's pretty much in a situation that he cannot fix. 

America is doomed to fall.economically, socially, spiritually, morally, politically, It's all messed up, and GOD is angry with the way America has conducted herself throughout the world, and it's treatment of black people, and other countries across the planet.

Barack didn't create the problems that exist, but he has unfortunately inherited them. As Minister Farrakhan said, his heart is in the right place, but his position as president still doesn't give him power to deal with the TRUE wicked powers, that govern this country, so he's fighting a losing battle unfortunately.

15.    What are Your favorite non-rap musicians?

That's easy...Prince, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Rudy Ray Moore aka Dolemite.

16.    Thanks for the interview, keep up the good work, good luck.  

Thanks for having me and peace. myspace.com/spckrino www.southparkcoalition.webs.com