Interview: Elliott Wilson

Don’t really know why Q-Tip was the first rapper I decided to chop it up with for my new venture. It just clicked in my mind one day to do it and I hit him on Twitter and voila. I enjoyed his last album like most critics and I started to notice that no one had really ever interviewed him about the music in great detail. Here’s a guy who took damn near a decade to release his second solo album and I think this body of work deserves re-examination. So after a Martha Stewart appearance where his dog Monk pissed on the studio floor, The Abstract ambled over to the RR Mansion. Here’s Part 1 of all you ever need to know about The Renaissance. Cop the album cause he dropped it.

Are you satisfied with the response to The Renaissance?

Yeah, I

The Abstract better step up his ad-libs! But here’s the segue: I wouldn’t trade you. “Won’t Trade”!
Ah ight I like that segue! I like that!

I mean obviously there’s a sports analogy here. What made you come up with that? I mean it’s sort of speaks to like your standing in the game.
Yeah, I’m a big sports fan. That’s one of the things a lot people don’t realize about me. Like I probably know a lot of…

Trivia? Your baseball card collection was serious.
Yeah, how’d you know?

I dunno, I’m just guessing.
Yeah I know a lot about sports. Like baseball, basketball, football. I was always like an athletic dude. I played ball growing up in the hood. We always used to slap box and shit like that. Watch sports! I’m just a sports fanatic. I know people think Phife is, but that’s why me and Phife was always so cool ‘cause we shared that and we could always just go off on sports. And I always used to listen to that record. So I just thought that would be interesting that I got that sample and do a play on words. Like “Johnny Is Dead” talks about the idea about where I’m at, but I won’t trade. Not this profession. I wouldn’t trade what I’m doing. It has plenty of meanings. And then of course from just an MC perspective you have that bragadocious type of thing.

Don’t sleep on me type thing, the bars is still up?
I still got it, you know I’m sayin’! I still got the bars, man! Don’t sleep! I’m hungry too. Yo, I feel like MCing-wise I’m very hungry these days.

Next up, “Gettin’ Up.” What made you decide from the always fun conversations with the label that that’s the first single?
It just felt good. Cool concept. It just felt like a good spring/summery record, which is when it came out. I just love that sample, and the feeling of the drum smacking and the bass. We just went ahead and did it, shot the video, came out cool.

That was obviously a joint for the ladies. You got a lil playboy rep. You’re still single right? Never been married? None of that good stuff.
Nah, I wanna get married. I was close. I was close. She wasn’t in the game, she was regular. Definitely wanna get married and have a family. I gotta get the right one, that’s what it is. I think the right one is the one you can respect. I mean love is cool but respect is key.