We were recently granted the chance of interviewing 2 guys ive been following for a few years now thanks to my younger brother. They gave us some interesting reactions to some of the questions posed. So Have a read, and Enjoy
TERM K:
Can you give as a little introduction to you as an Artist?
well, i grew up in a musical family, with roots in punk and metal and playing instruments with my dad and brothers. So my approach to what we do now is primarily as a songwriter than an autobiographer or however most rappers are seen traditionally. But yea, I've always seen writing as not only a way to exercise my creativity but also to share my feelings or philosophies or what have you, and maybe even bring insight to others interested in said feelings or philosophies or whatever.
How long have you been making music?
well I've been making music as long as i can remember, but none of it was really any good. but together, hip hop, probably about 8 years now. as sad as that is to say. but the first few years it was sort of a hobby that we practically kept to ourselves, until the whole youtube outlet came to light and we started getting positive feedback. so we've been taking ourselves almost seriously for like 5 or 6 years.
How many songs /albums have you released to date?
songs? i have no idea hahaah
we recorded two mixtapes at home, then two EPs (Spooky Language and Square Tactics) which were our introductions to working in recording studios, and then our latest project, Finna, which we consider our first full length album, was our project almost entirely recorded in house at the Stank Face studio with our full time engineer Drew tracking, mixing, and mastering it all.
Can you tell us about your new project and the background and inspirations behind it?
We don't exactly have a locked concept or title yet but we do have several new tracks, a number of which will definitely end up on it, so not sure what I can say. I guess I can say the same sort of shit I say for every upcoming project we've had, which is that we feel it has a different sound than the last one, which we feel is progressive not regressive. A few more contemporary sounding tracks influenced by a number of things but all of which are current and relevant i guess.
How have you ended up in the music industry?
Well we're not anywhere near as prevalent in the music industry as we plan and hope to be, but its a number of things. I guess the first being the support of everyone who's been on board since we started, because without that no one could really consider us 'in' the music industry. But also just the times and the transformation of it all, the recent dominance of independent artistry has a lot to do with it, but also I think its just in my blood.
What do you think of the music industry at the moment?
I really hardly know to be honest. I mean its nice that major labels aren't as dominant as they used to be but that doesn't eliminate factors like commercialization or the ability for generic garbage to dominate markets. But there's no denying the fact that people like us really only have the chance we have thanks to the internet and the ability for instant connectivity to the rest of the music making and listening world.
Who inspires you when you make your music?
I try to look less towards other artists these days, just as a sort of precautionary measure to avoid biting styles or rhymes schemes and all that. Since back in the day though we'd always go to like MTV jams and watch a lot of shit we don't like, just to know why we don't like it, what makes it appealing and popular, what we can learn from it and maybe filter out the whack shit. Knowing that something i think sucks is getting way more play than what Im making has always kind of been my biggest inspiration. And almost just alike is knowing something I think is really dope is getting more play than what Im making, which inspires me to try and write something equally as dope.
Can you recite a few bars that inspired you to start writing?
"got more soul than a sock with a hole." -MF Doom
listening to madvillainy on mushrooms when I was like 17, this particular line got to me for some reason, and I wanted to try it.
Who have you collaborated with so far in your Career?
Theory Divine, Haley Reinhart, ProbCause, Umphrey's Mcgee, Street Light, Felly, Saba, Hongry Bogart, Kembe X, Psalm One, Loud Mouth, Wes Restless, City, Nonsense, Shamar Telly, Flashman Wade, Shlick Smit & Benny Els, Grant Flows, Jay Bends, and I'm sure there's many more.
What book are you reading at the moment?
Dean & Me; a love story.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Kweli, Qwel, The OMY's, Phonte, and Chance.
What was the first album u bought?
Coal Chamber, self titled. hahahhaha.
What was the first thing you downloaded illegally?
Kyle's Mom Is A Bitch by Eric Cartman, downloaded on Napster.
Whats your favorite song at the moment?
Onsaya Joy - Richard "Groove" Holmes
If you had to sell your music collection tomorrow, what album would you leave in your drawer?
Ramsey Lewis - Them Changes
Your dream collaboration track for a future album - Producer & Feature artists (Dead Or Alive).
either featuring and produced by MF Doom
or featuring Joni Mitchell produced by J Dilla
What do you do when your not making music?
Jerk Off. Watch TV. Eat. Shit. Nap.
How do you feel about Underground Hip Hop at the moment, do things need to change?
I think things HAVE changed and for the better. thought I understand aspects of it, I overall hold a pretty strong disliking for the whole 'drill' scene and culture, but nevertheless I love the attention Chicago is getting at the moment and while they may not be in the spotlight there is a seemingly endless supply of dope spitters on the come up.
At All That Dope Shit we like to feature as much underappreciated artists as we can. Can you name a few guys from your local area we should check out?
Obviously the entire Stank Face crew, we're hella psyched on the team we currently have put together. But all around if I had to name one cat in particular who I not only admire and listen to but also consider under-appreciated considering his talent, I'd say Saba. scope his new tape when it drops!
What are your thoughts on the All That Dope Shit Blog?
Its tight, I like the content, lots of shit I either haven't heard of but enjoy or thought I was the only one who heard of it type shit. But I gotta be honest, for the most part I don't read stuff hahaha. I don't even read books. that book answer back there, I bought thsat book four years ago, got half way through it, and since then Ac's read the whole thing and probably 10 others. my B.
Anything else you would like to add?
listen to Black Phillip.
ACUMENTAL:
Can you give as a little introduction to you as an Artist?
The Palmer Squares consist of Term K and myself…Term has been one of my closest friends since elementary school and we started writing raps as a goof in high school. After high school we just stayed persistent with the rhyme writing and slowly but surely, we started to develop a fanbase. We've already made it way farther with this shit than either of us anticipated, but it's only the beginning…
How long have you been making music?
We've been rapping for about 8 years, but have only been "seriously" releasing music as The Palmer Squares for the last 5 years or so.
How many songs /albums have you released to date?
We had a couple of no-budget mixtapes back in the day that we recorded in our apartment, but we now have 3 official releases (2 EP's and 1 full length album):
Spooky Language EP (Spring 2012) -
https://thepalmersquares.bandcamp.com/album/spooky-language-ep
Square Tactics EP (Winter 2012) -
https://thepalmersquares.bandcamp.com/album/square-tactics-ep
FINNA (Fall 2013) -
https://thepalmersquares.bandcamp.com/album/finna
Can you tell us about your new project and the background and inspirations behind it?
Our newest project was FINNA which we released back in October. We gained most of our popularity from our YouTube video uploads of us rapping live to the camera, so I think our main goal for FINNA was to create hip-hop music, as opposed to just raps over beats. We wanted to challenge ourselves a little more to structure cohesive songs rather than just punchline raps and stuff. We didn't have a theme for the album or a title while we were working on it though, we just kept recording a series of songs and then narrowed the list down to the best-of's that we thought were album worthy as they came together. We've also started working on our next project recently and we're approaching it pretty much the same way, but with new ideas in mind.
How have you ended up in the music industry?
Haha it's funny to think that we're in the "music industry" because we never give ourselves as much credit as others tend to and maybe it just doesn't feel like we're professional musicians…because we're not. I'm broke as fuck and still have to ask my mom to loan me money for bills and shit occasionally so yea, I feel like somebody who's actually in the music industry should be a little more stable and established, but we're working on it. All I know is we wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for the creation of YouTube.com. YouTube was our ONLY outlet for a long time before we had connections or studio resources, so the fact that people were able to find us on their own before we ever released an official project was a huge head-start for us, and with the help of our manager and other loyal followers we've been able to make a lot of useful connections and capitalize on some great opportunities.
What do you think of the music industry at the moment?
This term "music industry" keeps throwing me off because I feel like I know nothing about it or what it actually entails…all I really know is the Chicago music scene, which is incredible. The music industry is good, I guess. I just write raps.
Who inspires you when you make your music?
George Carlin, Patrice O'Neal & other various comedians - their concepts and ideas are similar to the ones that we try to emulate when working on our lyrics. Term and I inspire each other as well, I think we keep each other on our toes.
Can you recite a few bars that inspired you to start writing?
"I'll beat you half to death twice, then smack you back to life" - Qwel
"You couldn't beat me to death if I let you jump first." - also Qwel…I took a lot of inspiration from cats that could take a simple turn of phrase like that and approach from a dual-angle with a rap. I gravitated to obscure references, metaphors, double-entendre, shit like that. Basically anything that isn't surface level…lines that make you stop and think for a second in order to fully comprehend the meaning or inspiration behind it.
Who have you collaborated with so far in your Career?
Wax is one artist in particular that it was cool as fuck to collab with. Wax was one of our big lyrical inspirations, he was also one of the first people that proved to us that we didn't need swag or a budget or a deal to gain a respectable following. He was a DIY guy and our initial goal when we started rapping was literally to just collaborate with Wax, which we achieved Summer 2012. We've also been privileged to work with artists like Umphrey's McGee, Kembe X, Street Light, ProbCause, Psalm One, Saba and several others…we've become personal homies with some of our favorite musicians and that's dope.
What book are you reading at the moment?
I'm actually in need of a good book to start reading…the only 2 books I read this year were Mike Tyson's Undisputed Truth (which was phenomenal) and Happy Endings by Jim Norton because I think he's hilarious. I don't read many books but I usually only like interesting biographies and books from comedians.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Juicy J & RiFF RAFF. Same song…2 features…4 bracelets.
What was the first album u bought?
I'm having a hard time remembering the first CD I ever purchased…but I definitely had Totally Krossed Out by Kriss Kross & C'Mon 'N Ride It by the Quad City DJ's on cassette tape way before that. I was like 8 years old…I never left home without those tapes.
What was the first thing you downloaded illegally?
Not sure, probably porn.
Whats your favorite song at the moment?
So many contenders, but I can't get enough of "Vinyls" by Pro Era. I fuxwit Pro Era.
If you had to sell your music collection tomorrow, what album would you leave in your drawer?
I'd probably leave the first album that we ever recorded on Garageband circa 2006 in there, mostly because I don't ever want anyone to hear that. Ever.
Your dream collaboration track for a future album - Producer & Feature artists (Dead Or Alive).
Realistically: Qwel & Maker. Dream Collab: Jaylib & Doom
What do you do when your not making music?
I work a full-time job at a Chicago-based university during the week so I'm always trying to write raps and edit our videos when I'm not at work. Other than that, I just like going out drinking with the homies, catching rap shows in Chicago & chatting with our fans online. Blowjobs are dope too…love a good blowjob.
How do you feel about Underground Hip Hop at the moment, do things need to change?
I think underground hip-hop is alive and well and full of talent, but certain things definitely need to change. I can't stand that rappers walk on stage and demand that the crowd "turn up" before they even play their first song. I can't stand that the dope local acts get NO LOVE from the crowd, but as soon as the DJ starts playing Migos between sets the crowd starts jumping. I can't stand that rappers don't trust themselves enough to cut their verse vocals during a live show and choose to just rap over an album cut. I can't stand that some rappers focus more on their outfit than the quality of their music…lookin like a GQ spread on stage, soundin like pile of dogshit. Turn up.
At All That Dope Shit we like to feature as much underappreciated artists as we can. Can you name a few guys from your local area we should check out?
Yes, I recommend: Saba, Pivot Gang, Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, The Whoevers, Rich Jones, Martin $ky and (even though he's been around for a while), Qwel. I think Qwel should be a household name.
What are your thoughts on the All That Dope Shit Blog?
I spent some time browsing the blog this afternoon and it's definitely the type of platform we need more of. It's not always easy for up and comers to get their name out and gain support in the genre so I support what you guys are doing. I feel like a lot of blogs & promoters are afraid to take risks sometimes and put an unknown on, but the music speaks for itself in most cases.
Anything else you would like to add?
We are The Palmer Squares. We are from Chicago and you should get to know us.
