Blackchild (now spelled as one word) was an instrumental artist in helping Murder Inc develop a brand at the top of the decade. The Hollis, Queens emcee waited patiently while crew-mates like Ja Rule, Ashanti, Lloyd and Vita tried to solidify careers. A life-long friend of Irv Gotti [click to read], and a veteran rapper, Blackchild told HipHopDX on Friday, that it’s finally his time to present himself fully as an artist.
“I’m takin’ it in the same direction as always, man,” Black told DX. “Street knowledge, that ghetto-gospel, Hip Hop music. It gonna be all the way street, all the way ghetto-gangsta [though], ’cause there ain’t too much food for thought in a lot of what’s out now. I’m definitely gonna keep the jewels, the food for thought in there to work [listeners’] minds. I’m taking it to another creative level, as far as concepts and things like that.”
With a career primarily based on Murder Inc compilations and remixes and feature roles with Diddy, Ja Rule and Sticky Fingaz [click to read], Blackchild says he’s evolving with the times. “I’ve got some digital motion goin’ on. Downloads. You can download [my latest song] ‘Black Power’ right online. I’m making sure I stay relevant with mixtapes and things, as far as the Internet. I’ve been out of the loop for a while. I’ve just been chillin’. I lost a lot of interest in music, and just fell back into other things.”
The rapper says he spent time focusing on family. He explained his disinterest with Rap. “Just the way the game was goin’, I seen it headed to WWF before it even got there. [Laughs] Once it got there with all the publicity stunts and [bad] music, it went to a direction where it was almost comical.” The emcee says that as a result, being a Rap artist was no longer even a respectable career.
Although many associate Black for his years with The Inc, the rapper’s career began under the sacred Hip Hop tutelage of Run-DMC‘s Jam Master Jay. Recalling that era, Black said, “Rest in peace to Jam Master Jay, the big dog. He basically took me under his wing and showed me the ropes, ’cause we’re from the same neighborhood.” The onetime JMJ Records artist says Jay taught him about cadence and song-making, “He invited me to the studio. He gave me my first taste of the industry. But unfortunately, I had gotten incarcerated. This was in ’95. I got arrested [with] a case open from ’94, ’93. In ’95, when I got arrested is actually when he signed 50 Cent [click to read].” In the years since, Black became an adversary to his onetime label-mate, through Murder Inc and G-Unit‘s feud at the top of the decade.
Per his years of waiting, Blackchild admits, “It was loyalty. Me, Irv and Ja, we have a relationship outside of music. I grew up in the same neighborhood as Ja and Irv; it wasn’t just a professional realtionship.” He compared his situation to most, “I see a lot of artists get albums real quick, and a lot of artists jump ship real quick. I didn’t want to be one of those artists. I wanted to be an artist that reflected my morals and my values, and loyalty is definitely high on my priority list as a person, and as my character.”
Of the long-awaited debut, Black quickly says, “I know my album is gonna be a classic.” The release, said to be coming from Murder Inc/MMG Entertainment, is planned for the first quarter of 2010. He also says he intends a stream of summer mixtapes to build anticipation for the release. Citing Memphis Bleek‘s and Onyx‘s steady leaks of audio, as well as Jadakiss‘ recent chart-success, Black confidently points out, “A lot of artists that was comin’ out when I started is still comin’ out right now.”
Although Blackchild was vague about The Inc‘s recent distribution shopping and if he’ll be appearing on Vh1‘s Gotti’s Way 2 series, Black did promise an extensive amount of Irv Gotti production on his album. The artist said he will soon reveal a title and more information on the project.
Blackchild music will be available on iTunes later this month.