Immortal Technique - Real Talk
11.07.2005
In today??€�s society, it is the younger generations who have it in their power to try and make a change, look at the election of 2004; Hip-hop giants encouraging us to vote and do just that. Immortal Technique is an underground giant and in his own way he helps us to understand to just how those changes have to be made. Even though the Harlem residing, Peruvian born artist doesn??€�t consider himself political, he truly has his own interpretation of the reality of the government and its politics. This is apparent in his rhymes and if he chooses not to be known as political he can be easily labeled revolutionary. You won??€�t hear him disputing that fact.
Dealing with NYC based Viper records, a label known for being an ??€?outlet for socially relevant counter culture material??€�, Tech has been given a solid foundation to push his skills as a lyricist and as a carrier of messages to the streets.
He takes his mission very seriously It is all business with Immortal Technique. He considers putting on a show networking with the people who have yet to appreciate what he really is about. With his third album due out towards the end of the year ??€?The Middle Passage??€?, innumerous articles in all the major publications, Tech is getting his point across. He may not be what the label bosses expect from a rapper, as he is not an individual who will sell himself nor his fan base short to partake in redefining his identity to please the labels.
He would just rather do what comes naturally to him and continue on his journey in his way.
What's good Tech, how you been ?
Working. Just finishing up some touring and working.
Aight, for starters...you've definitely become more widely known as an artist in the last few years but exactly how long have you been an emcee, and what got you started ?
Just decided that I wanted to talk about something real, I started writing street battle raps when I was still a really little kid, but as I developed I began to write more Revolutionary rhymes. Really the things I wrote made me wanna change my life cuz I didn't wanna be hypocritical about what I was living, I had the mind state to change the position that I was in.
For the relatively short time you've been in the public consciousness as far as this rap shit goes, you've put out quite a bit of material...What inspires you to keep producing at the rate you have been ?
The state of the world fam. Things are not getting better.
No doubt...now, here's something I'm bettin' a lot of your fans out there are wondering or have thought about...Would you call yourself a political rapper ?
No, not at all. I don't think too many of them do either. I have fans that are politically inclined but that doesn't make me solely political. I'm sure 50 cent has mad little white fans from the suburbs, that doesn't make him a white boy from the suburbs. I've looked at my fans, they are real diverse but just cuz I got gang member fans don't make me a gangmember, or cuz I got some backpacker fans don't make me that either. I blend that hardcore street shit with the Revolutionary agenda. But for me I'm tryna take this beyond music because to me it was always meant to be much more than music.
Well, reason I asked....It's obvious you have a lot to say about the government, what many would call sheer speculation about the state of affairs in this country...what you got to say about that ?
If you disagree with something I had to say then I simply challenge you to prove it wrong, the shit that I write was meant to spark discussion and have niggaz politickin'. If you don't think that the US gave Sadaam weapons of Mass destruction and that we funded Al-Queada the information is out there, and not from some left wing newspaper but it's real fact. I don't make excuses for 9/11 how could anyone, the murder of thousands of people needs to be explained not covered up by the government, I just do my part to explain a deeper part of it all that gives a clearer picture of what our government sponsors for it's political agenda. I'm not going to hurl the word 'racist' at them...But they seem to intervene in Black and Latino countries as well as Asian/Arab countries too. When they deal with European nations they take a whole different approach, I don't have to say anything really history speaks for itself. But yeah I invite people to disagree with me so that we can have a discussion about everything in life.
Well, we definitely know how strongly you hold to your convictions...How long did it take you to develop your system of beliefs, and at what point in your life did you put it all together ?
I'm still developing things myself, I wouldn't say that it is even complete yet I'm in my mid twenties how could it be. I am not governed by religion or by the belief in one specific system, I look at them all and think of the positive and negative and for it's positive and for whom it's negative.
In one track off of Revolutionary Volume 2, 4th Branch...You make reference to the Federal Government wanting you dead...You want to speak on that a little ?
They are aware of me, but they are trying to sabotage me in little ways probably but I think after this next album they are not gonna have a chance but to either try and publicly disgrace me or have a nigga X'd the fuck out. I will never relent in my quest to expose the truth about how the system works, and who exactly bleeds it dry.
Fair enough...Let's get off all that deep shit for a moment though...what are your plans for the near future as far as what you're gonna be putting out there? Any mixtape appearances, collabs, or solo projects you have going on ?
I have a new album dropping through Viper Records/ BabyGrande it's called... "The Middle Passage", should be toward the end of the year, then a mixtape/DVD. Aside from this I'm executive producing Akir's new album "Legacy" and working with Diabolic on developing his project "A Liar & a Thief." As for collabs, I'll be on the new Public Enemy album and few albums and mixtapes.
Allright...now, as far as your place in the rap community; do you ever see yourself reaching a broader audience of listeners? You've been heralded and critically acclaimed by true hardcore hip hop fans; question is, is that as far as you're going to take it ?
I mean I have branches out to lots of genres of music, I have a huge diverse group of people. I mean I'm Latino so I have a large Latino fanbase but I have opened up for a whole lotta muthafukaz and that always brings new fans to the venue. I mean I have articles in lots of different publications, from The Source, XXL, Playboy, Elemental, foreign mags, DVD's and such but to be honest nothing does promo for you like doing a live show. If your shit is on point then people respect you and your name grows, I try to do as many live shows as possible. But for me this was always bigger than rap, rhyming about the street and ghetto politics was never my gimmick, I always had a Revolutionary agenda before I was ever rhyming. My heart is in Revolution, and that's where it'll stay. So even if I stopped rhyming tomorrow I would become involved in doing things to better my peoples movement, and not just in a generic term but really focused on economic development with small Latino/Black owned businesses.
Do you ever consider the scope of what you're doing based on how it's affecting the Latin community? Some would say you're continuing to open the same doors in hip hop that cats like Chino XL and Big Punisher did...
Those two dudes were pure lyricists and they progressed in their own way I hope that I can live up to anything that they have both accomplished in my own way. I have a very focused idea about what I'm tryna accomplish in terms of working with the Hip Hop Union (
http://www.kickgame.com/), and with the scholarship program I'm setting up. I also would like to continue to build lasting relationships between the individuals from other parts of the US and other countries that do the same shit that I do. I have a respect for ChinoXL & Punisher but I have to make my own legacy and solidify it in it's own right. How that will influence the Latino community I do not know, but I will say this that if I can spark the mind of the people who will get out there and change things then I will die happy. I don't really use that word often because I don't really feel that way often, I have been accused of taking myself to seriously sometimes, but it's not myself it's my work that I forsake other things for. I go on tour not to have fun but to conduct business and build a strong alliance with the peoples from different places that I see makin it happen, not just talkin about it. We need more of that in the Latino Community...for real.
Aight man, thanks for taking the time out to do this interview...Your fans are looking forward to more material from you; anything else you'd like to say, Tech ?
The Middle Passage coming soon... Harlem Muthafucka !