Chaundon

There are Rappers and then there are Lyricists. Chaundon has definitely staked his claim on the island of lyrical superiority and it is destined to be a great nation, indeed. From humble beginnings, his skills were cultivated in the fields of youth, lugged across the burning sands of commitment and has blossomed into a magnificent career.

Hailing from the Bronx, NY he has fought the urge to “cross over” just to get his name juggled around in the mouths of mainstream moderators. It has been a long, hard struggle but his hard work if finally paying off. He is definitely on the list of up and coming and his skill has his feet set in the blocks, awaiting the starter pistol. His affiliation with the Justus League will only prove to be another leg up on the competition. He has a fan base that continues to grow and will undoubtedly follow this Hip Hop messiah to the ends of the earth.

But he’s not all Hip Hop all the time. He’s not Wu-Tang for Breakfast, Biggie for Lunch and Nas for Dinner… If you hijacked his MP3 player right now, you would definitely hear the likes of Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz, and Big Pooh… maybe a little Black Thought. But the self-proclaimed “nicest” is more well rounded than to assume that’s all he allows into his ear canal.

If Hip Hop was an actual person and sitting right in front of him, Chaundon would definitely have a few questions for her…

“Why are you such a whore? Why do you follow what other people do?
Do you know who you are anymore?
Back then you used to have an identity. Right now you’re lost.
You need to rediscover who you are and realize you are more than a car hoppin’,
clueless whore who hangs out at the club every night.
I’m so ashamed to say I know you.”

He’s just saying what you’re already thinking. Is it harsh? Yeah, pretty much… Is it true? Yeah, pretty much. The masses continue to regurgitate the same phrase. Basically, that Hip Hop is in need of a complete overhaul. It needs to file for social bankruptcy, close down for a few weeks, reorganize and come back stronger… Although Obama has acknowledged he feels Hip Hop, there was no money in the stimulus package allocated for Hip Hop. There will not be any fund raisers for the reconstruction of Hip Hop. There will not be another collection plate passed around your church for restructuring purposes. Everybody wants the same thing but then it’s like the same people that say Hip Hop needs reconstructive surgery go right out and jump on the flavor of the day bandwagon.

“The game needs more balance right now. There are too many artists who dress alike,
rap alike, use the same features, and rap over the same sound of music.
What happened to originality and individuality?
The game needs less copycats, co-signers aka bandwagon hoppers;
better known as dick riders, who do things based off of what’s currently hot.”

That was the main theme behind one of his songs, “NYID”. A call out for all rappers to stop with this cookie cutter style of Hip Hop and just do what you know is really you…

“It’s all gimmicks. These artists keep following the trend instead of creating a trend.
When I wrote NYID, the intention of that song was to wake artists up,
especially in NYC.
The South has been getting’ busy for a while now. My thing was,
let them shine with their sound, and don’t be a biter just to sell a record.
Put out some better shit and create another lane.
My overall message is to know who you are and not be afraid to be yourself.
I want people to see that it is cool to be different.
Today everybody wants to be like everyone else, but those people don’t even
know who they are because they define themselves
by the views of some so called taste maker.”

And that goes so much deeper than Hip Hop. That is a message that “our” kids need to hear. In a time where our communities are under fire from so many different angles… a time when money is getting shorter while prices are going higher… a time when it would be so much easier just to follow the flock… duck and cover… just try to blend in… we need originality and someone to inspire us. Is Chaundon that person? Who knows… Could be… But it’s good to know that there is someone out there that actually believes in keeping things true to themselves and not changing who they are to become popular. With his level of talent and skill, he could easily jump on a “snap” track and make a hit… Stay at number 1, 2 and 3 on 106 & Park for 3 months and make a whole lot of money. But that would go against what he believes and that shows a level of maturity and integrity that most people don’t achieve in their lifetime.

Chaundon has no intention of spreading his wings into certain areas of Hip Hop, namely producing.

“I will never produce. I’ll leave that up to the professionals”
But he is interested in stepping into the A&R arena.
“I have a knack of picking dope beats and putting the right artists together to make a dope record. Plus, being a writer, I can assist in taking the songs to the next level.”

And while he has never had anyone ghost write lyrics for him, he has written for a few up and coming artists (who shall remain nameless), and is always looking for more artists to write for. He says he writes more than Tupac in his prime and if that is the case, we are sure to have many more bangers from him in the near future.

So… you know all this about Chaundon. You’ve visited the sites, heard the music, got your Justus League decoder ring in the mail, downloaded “The Greatest Warrior” as your ring tone, got a satellite picture of his neighborhood from Google Earth and you still want to know more about him. Well, a little known fact about Chaundon is that he is the self-proclaimed GREATEST chef in Hip Hop, PERIOD!!!
No… I’m not gonna say it again, you heard me!
Now, who else can say that? He even hinted at the possibility of a cooking show in his future… We’ll have to wait on that. But keep your ears (of corn) open… you never know.

And during the interview we talked about the color line of Hip Hop being pushed back and also our non-melanin enhanced brother from another mother, Asher Roth, and his comments as of late.

“I don’t care what races jump into the rap game. They just better be dope.
If not… they are wasting their time, the fans’ time and most of all my time and you
don’t want to waste my time. That will just piss me off
and have me go at your neck. I HATE WACK RAPPERS!!
First of all, his comment “chillin with nappy headed hoes” was in poor taste, and
I am surprised at his black co-signers for not checking him on that.
I’m not saying he deserves to get an ass whoopin’ or to be boycotted but,
Somebody should have made a public statement in his presence
just so tasteless comments like this won’t be repeated in our culture.
We have enough ignorance being celebrated already that
needs to be contained and ousted. People are entitled to speak their minds but
use some sort of tact before you just shoot off at the mouth.

Chaundon’s message is clear. And, hopefully, when the ghost of Hip Hop Future picks which emcees he will visit, he will float through this dude’s window. But that’s more so on us, the fans. If you want it, you have to ask for it. A store will not put a product on the shelf that they cannot sell. Same holds true for our music. These guys are nothing more than a product to these labels and if we don’t ask for it, we won’t get it… The Justus League has given me hope for a great Hip Hop future and Chaundon has definitely helped me do a 180 and start my journey back to The Land Of Hip Hop… At the end of the interview, Chaundon had this to say…

“I want the people to stop bootlegging and go buy the records of the artists they so called support!
I want people to stop complaining about the game. If you want to see some dope emcees
on MTV or BET then buy their albums, go to their shows and SUPPORT!!!
It’s not a secret any more, people know how this machine
works now. You can bring Hip Hop to a higher
level!! BUY THE GOTTDAM RECORDS!! Starting with mine (laugh)
‘CARNAGE’ In stores now, available on www.amazon.com, hell you can cop
It from me directly at www.myspace.com/chaundon and when
‘NO EXCUSES’ drops later this summer go buy it and
don’t give your friends a dub, tell their cheap asses to buy their own (laugh).
Follow me on twitter! www.twitter.com/chaundon.”