Chicago, Illinois, native Joey Purp stopped by Beats 1 to chat with host Ebro Darden about his debut LP, QUARTERTHING. Across the 13-minute interview, the 25-year-old explained the significance of having both RZA and GZA on the album, working with Chance The Rapper, and Chicago’s sentiment towards hometown hero Kanye West.
“That’s where rap started for me,” he says of QUARTERTHING’sWu-Tang Clan features. “That’s the style of rap that is the beginning and ending of rap for me.” As he explains, this was why he placed the “Godbody Pt. 2” with RZA as the second song and the self-produced “In the Morning” with GZA at the ending. “I wanted it to be the alpha and omega.”
Purp also revealed that he has unreleased music with Chance The Rapper — with whom he’s collaborated in the past — that didn’t make the cut for this album.
“That’s my mans, we see each other way more than we go to the studio,” he says, describing their close relationship outside of music. “We got a couple unfinished joints from the QUARTERTHING sessions.”
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Closer to the tail-end of the conversation, the narrative shifted toward the current climate in the city of Chicago, and the return of ‘Ye.
“[The city of Chicago] is concerned … everybody is aware now,” he explains as Ebro described the blend of positive and disturbingly negative notoriety that the city has earned throughout the past few years.
“When Keef first came out and everyone was sensationalizing the violence, everyone was halfway into it, but halfway like ‘that’s a real shame.'”
With that initial surge appearing to die down, he says the city has a new energy. “With everyone in the city taking their own initiative to make a difference, it feels like everyone knows that it’s all of our turn.
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“The reviews are mixed,” he says of the city’s feeling about their biggest musical export, Kanye West. “Some people are happy to see our dog back … others are just fed up with the whole Trump thing. Understandably so, but you can’t be mad at someone for their personal opinions.”
“People are actually pressed like they know this man. Y’all don’t actually know this man, and you be all in your feeling about it.”
Check out the full interview, below.
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