I had the pleasure of having a chit chat with Brooklyn rapper Manolo Rose. You might be familiar with him from his hit "Run Ricky Run" or for being the man behind Troy Ave's "All About The Money". In the interview we talk about the state of Hip Hop, the "NEW New York", True Love & Upcoming projects.
LMCC- Who is Manolo Rose?
Manolo Rose- Manolo Rose is a kid from Brooklyn. Bedstuy to be exact. Somebody that loves to have fun. Somebody that loves doing exactly what he does. Which is like music, art in general. Things that make up me.. MANOLO ROSE!
LMCC-How did you come out with the song "Run Ricky Run"?
Manolo Rose- It was a song that I had in the making because before I had a song similar. Maybe like a year or year and a half ago. I had left the song alone but I still had the same concept that I wanted to get out. So we were in the studio making a beat and then it kinda just came and I went from there. There was this girl in the studio and she just loved it so we went with it.
LMCC-So is it true that your the man behind the "All About The Money" beat?
Manolo Rose- I'm not the man behind the beat but I'm definitely the man behind the words. I didn't do the beat. A friend of mine he did the beat. But yea I'm definitely the man behind all of the words on that record.
LMCC- If you could sign to any label what label would it be?
Manolo Rose- mean I don't know. I don't really want to say because I have a couple of deals on the table. But I can say whatever one makes sense. If it makes sense I'm all for it as long as it allows me to do what I want to do for the most part.
LMCC- I heard you design clothes, are you going to be dropping something soon?
Manolo Rose- Lol How did you hear about that? Yea umm I'm working on a full project that I'm gearing up for. I'm just in the process of getting everything together but I want to do is already there.
LMCC- Who are you favorite rappers of all time?
Manolo Rose- I would say AZ, Jayz , BIG, Dmx and Chuck Dee.
LMCC- What do you think about people who say Hip Hop is dead?
Manolo Rose - I think they're very stupid. I think you have to be very idiotic to make a statement like that. Most of the time when you hear people say stuff like that, it's people that want to get their stuff off the ground and it's not going anywhere or older people who were once hot but aren't hot anymore but they still trying to rap. But all in all what is hip hop? It's a art form. If someone says "Hip Hop is dead" I'm going to need them to explain what is hip hop? Can you really explain an art form? It's like saying we aren't MCing because you don't personally like the lyrics. Like who put you in charge of what this art form is suppose to be? Who has that authority in Hip Hop?
LMCC- What do you think of when you hear the term "NEW New York"?
Manolo Rose- I think of unity. I think of coming together. I think of a different mentality when I hear that. In New York we suffer from a lot of things.
LMCC - Yea, like Lack of support...
Manolo Rose- Lack of support yea but it's more than that. Everybody wants to be the man and in that process it causes you to not to support something. For instance if the city has spoken and has one artist that they're really messing with right now. One DJ will play it and another won't. Let me give you the perfect example. The city has two mainstream radio stations that are owned by the same person but their personalities and dj's are beefing. Then these are the people who say "What happened to New York rap?". They are the ones who ask that question it's like "YOU'RE HAPPENING TO NEW YORK RAP!!". It's like if they don't get a personal phone call or invitation they wont play it. And it's not just DJ's its everybody. It's like a person sees your blog coming up and instead of saying okay this is what the people are messing with let's get behind this one. Instead they're like nah lets mess with a different one and that's what they would do. It's only cause they want to be the man and they want to be in front. They're upset because someone is ahead of them and it causes them to support nothing.
LMCC- Do you think that's just a New York thing or a everywhere thing?
Manolo Rose- Definitely a New York thing. It's most definitely a New York thing. The reason I'm saying that is because when you go to other cities it's not like that. For instance.. me, I travel a lot. When I was in LA, it wasn't like that. I was just bouncing around and the top artists out there were doing songs with me. And when I went to Atlanta it was even better. It's so crazy because I would be in the studio with one producer and five other producers would be walking through. They're coming in the studio and actually listening to what you got. They would come in and maybe add something and that person would be okay with that. Just to make it work. So it is a New York thing. In New York you don't even see the top artist in the studio, they're not around you. For example in Atlanta I stumbled into the studio with JD and we had a conversation. I told him who I was and he was like yea I heard of you. We were just chopping it up. When I left I just thought to myself I could have never did that with Jay-z. I would never see Jay in the studio and be able to have a conversation with out security and everything else. That would never occur in New York but down there that's what's going on. Everybody is working together and coming together.
LMCC - Name some New York artists on an underground level that you can see yourself working with?
Manolo Rose- Well some that I have worked with are Dave East, Tray Pizzy and Kiyanne.
LMCC- If you had 24 hours to live, what would you do?
Manolo Rose- I would probably try to rob every federal bank there is and leave the money to my children and my family. I would probably go to Del Friscos and get a rib eye steak. Then probably kill a few people I wanted to kill just so I can see them off this earth before me. I would also probably have to sleep with one of the sexiest women that exist.
LMCC - Who would you say that is?
Manolo Rose- I can't say that right now because I don't have those 24 hours left.
LMCC- If you had to choose between true love and being exactly where you wanted to be in your career , what would you choose?
Manolo Rose- I would choose my career and the reason for that is because how long can your true love last if you have no real money? I know the idealistic thing is love over money but in reality 50% of marriages break apart because of financial situations. It's like you'll be in love for a little while until that money running low. Eventually it causes arguments and bickering between you and your true love partner.
LMCC- f you could have dinner with one person dead or alive who would it be and why?
Manolo Rose- Marcus Garvey just to pick his brain. I would love to sit there and pick his brain and figure out what was his end game.
LMCC- What can we expect for you up and coming?
Manolo Rose - We have a new project coming called "soul of a rose". We're also working on a clothing line. We're also working with a liquor brand. We have a few things in the works.