Eto Speaks on Rochester Roots and Next Project "Kings Highway"
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #18
Yo, it’s the Pope, 1000WORD$.
Today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rochester's own Eto, a lyrical heavyweight who has been making waves in the underground scene for years. Known for his unique voice, vivid storytelling, and gritty rhymes, Eto has become a legend in his hometown and beyond. With collaborations with some of the industry's most respected producers and rappers, including DJ Muggs, Alchemist, and V Don, Eto has cemented his place as one of the most talented and respected emcees in the game.
Eto is celebrated in his hometown with a legendary mural on Durnan and North Street that nobody tampers with. There was a time when I drove around documenting the streets of Rochester and I took a picture of his mural. That picture ended up getting me published in “Polaroid Now: The History and Future of Polaroid Photography.”
In this interview, we dive into Eto's journey, his creative process, and his upcoming projects. We discuss his collaborations with DJ Muggs and V Don, and how his sound and artistry has elevated throughout his career in this rap game. With more projects in the tuck, including his highly anticipated “Kings Highway,” Eto gives us a glimpse into his creative process and what fans can expect from him in the future.
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1000WORD$: Yo what's going on, man? It's your boy, 1000WORD$. I'm here with a motherfucking legendary individual, man. A fucking legend in this motherfucking game, man. My motherfucking brother Eto motherfucking Brigante. I'm sorry for saying all that.
Eto: Damn, we Puerto Rican.
1000WORD$: Haha, you know the vibes. Yo, let the people that are going to read this where you from, my bro.
Eto: Rochester, New York. Hell’s Roof, you heard? It's cold over there.
1000WORD$: Super cold.
Eto: Very cold. I'm from Rochester, New York, born and raised.
1000WORD$: So what's a typical summertime in Rochester, New York, for people that have never been out there?
Eto: I love it. It's tough, you know what I mean? It's war out there so, you know, I stay inside. I'm not outside. I'm at work, my kids, you know? I tend to that so I can't really tell you.
1000WORD$: I'm talking about growing up. Like see in New York, we would go to the fire hydrants, we'd throw water balloons.
Eto: We did that but they always put the locks on us, shut us down.
1000WORD$: How was a cultural Rochester. What was your family listening to in the household?
Eto: Oh, man. My mom went all around. We did the Casey Kasem's Top 40. Then we got the salseros, house music, Tasmanian fucking metropolitan freestyle, Stevie B. We was on all that shit.
1000WORD$: So how did you get exposed to Hip-Hop music?
Eto: My uncle. My uncle Oscar. I'm 39 now. Say when I was eight, he was heavy into DJing, beat boards. He had a sheepskin I couldn't pick up it was so heavy. But he had to crate of records and only one caught my eye. I told you this remember, that motherfucking "Walking With a Panther." I don't know if it was the rope, or the motherfucking L.L. pose n***a, or the damn track suit. It was something. That's what I knew.
1000WORD$: So what was the first song that he played that you was like "Oh shit," if you remember? What was the first shit you spun that caught your attention?
Eto: I don't know, all of it. Run-D.M.C "Run's House," BDP "My Philosophy." I was very big on the records, just something about that, like the cuts. Black Sheep "You can get with this, or you can get with that." I was big on that turntable. I always wanted to do that.
1000WORD$: When you was able to form your own playlists for yourself, what could you find in your CD deck? Like what was you listening to when you was able to pick what you wanted to listen to?
Eto: Nothing from the now. You're gonna get everything from '93 and up. Probably like '02 it ended for us, you know what I mean?
1000WORD$: Why you think it ended for us?
Eto: Well, I'm talking to a sense what my ear was drawn to. This dark Queen's stringy piano... it was over before that but we kept it alive, especially me.
1000WORD$: At what age you discover you could put words together?
Eto: Probably the first time I yelled back at my momma. She almost killed me.
1000WORD$: Hahaha.
Eto: Nah, I knew off top because I grew up... my uncles run a band orchestra back home. Salseros, you know, timbales, congas, bongos. I just knew. It's genetics. It's in the blood.
1000WORD$: So how come you didn't make salsa music?
Eto: I am!
1000WORD$: Hahaha.
Eto: Nah, but you know what? If I could speak Spanish... see I came up around the [Chris Moyles Show] and shit. My mother only spoke Spanish to me when she got upset. She'd call me by my whole name. My mother listened to like soft rock, she ain't really do salsa. She big on everything, RnB. But if I spoke Spanish I'd be... trust me.
1000WORD$: What was the first project that you started working on?
Eto: Back home?
1000WORD$: Yeah, as Eto.
Eto: My god. My first CD came out in 2000
1000WORD$: And what was the name of it?
Eto: "Get Your Armor Ready." You heard? Bulletproof.
1000WORD$: That shit sound insane.
Eto: This my brother, Oowop. We governing land. That's the king back home, you heard? Shout it out baby. But [38 Spesh] came through, '03-'04, dropped "Crack Music." We was selling 1000 CDs right on our street. N****s come to us about that work and n****s with big money would drop 50 clips on a burnt CD with a marker title written on that motherfucker. A lot of support and love back home.
1000WORD$: What are some of the first places that you performed out there in Rochester? What were the names of the venues?
Eto: Damn, Imma tell you something. At the Blue Cross Arena, my first biggest gig, my bro, I choked. 10,000 people. I had to talk it out I'm like, "Yo, yo, yo, what's up!" That was my first big gig, you heard? Ayo, everybody in here, y'all know that butterfly feeling before you get on that stage is real. Trust it though. Once your 20 seconds go by, good money. But I wasn't prepared. I ain't seen how big the crowd was and I wasn't ready. I was thinking about the next bar making sure I don't fuck it up and that's why I fucked it up, cause I was thinking about the next bar not wanting to fuck it up. But my first gig ever I would like to say was probably at the fucking... we did a talent show at the school. Like my first time in front of an audience, you know what I mean?
1000WORD$: Where would you go out in Rochester to get mixtapes, and DVDs, and CDs, and shit like that?
Eto: Exotic Roots baby. Aw shit.
1000WORD$: From back in the days too?
Eto: Oh back in the day? Nah, we had a few spots. We had Hip-Hop World, The Spot. We actually had a few spots that was like our heart of music cause you can only go there to get these DVDs, the locals, these CDs. You couldn't go there to buy nothing else, unless it was T-shirt or some shit.
1000WORD$: Tell me more about Exotic Roots. What is Exotic Roots?
Eto: Exotic Roots is something me and my brother, right there, plotted on in my momma's basement, and now it's distinct. It's not only a hydroponic supply, it's art. It's a district for everybody. We got people who could come to us and leave a dozen shirts with us and we don't want no money off it. That's what is.
1000WORD$: It's more for the community.
Eto: It's arts, and music, and culture, and some good reefer too, you heard?
1000WORD$: Yo, so being from Rochester, before I even got to meet you, everybody knows you everywhere, bro. Everybody knows you.
Eto: I gotta get outside more.
1000WORD$: It's like you've been outside.
Eto: I learned that the moment I started traveling.
1000WORD$: No but I'm saying like people know you. Like I go to LA, people ask about you. I'll go to DC, people asked about you. I go everywhere like, "Yo, that man Eto is a legend man."
Eto: So how do you feel knowing that Rochester is a hard place to reach and people revere you like that?
1000WORD$: Fire.
Eto: It's a beautiful thing. I got a mural nobody tampers with. Nobody ever touch my shit.
1000WORD$: In your city and you alive, bro.
Eto: Durnan and North Street. You gotta be a warrior to stand on that corner, you heard? I earned that. We govern that land over there. See that little fucker right there?He turned me into a menace. We had to come up tough because we the little guys, man and we took some nice ass whoopings. I earned my black eyes, you heard? In a nutshell.
1000WORD$: I've seen videos of freestyling with Spesh back in like 2002, right?
Eto: Oh my god. Yeah, Benny was in it too. Rick Hyde was in the back looking like a damn baby. We were young. I was probably about 17-18.
1000WORD$: What keeps you inspired?
Eto: Y'all. You.
1000WORD$: My man, real shit.
Eto: You came to mommy basement with the damn tape recorder.
1000WORD$: The pandemic, remember?
Eto: I don't want to be the rapper, bro. I'm this person... I tend to a lot of people. People count on me. So that's why I'm not in a rush or looking for anything other than what I love to do. I get it done and the money's extra cheese on top. Bonus.
1000WORD$: Yo, how do you feel walking around Cambridge, Massachusetts around this Harvard campus?
Eto: I was here with [Estee Nack]. He's a wild boy. Lemme tell you something. Michelangelo, we just wrapped up the joint. Shout out to the guys. But I was telling my bro, I said "Bro, I ate a ravioli the size of a hot pocket out this motherfucker." We went to the South End or some shit, bunch of Italians, you know what I mean? The way this shit is structured like it's crazy. You only see it in movies like... I can't explain it but the structure, the way this town and city is built is like really Stoic looking. And Estee, that son of a bitch came four in the morning, livewire, and dropped me off about eight in the morninng. Get ready to play if you fucking with Nack. Shout out to Nack, you heard?
1000WORD$: How did you link up with V Don to create "Omerta?"
Eto: I've been fucking with Don since '07, pop. seven "Omerta" came a dime later. Myspace. Met Don through Myspace. That's what "New Crack Era" came from. The first song we ever recorded was titled "New Crack Era," '07-'08. And that's when we got with Beat Butcha. They won't tell you that, you heard? Let's get to the bottom of it. Ask me anything.
1000WORD$: How important is it to rep where you from? Cause I've been to Rochester a few times throughout the years and now I see it like blossoming because you guys are really out there putting in the work, you know what I mean? Like I went to downtown Rochester I'm like, "This shit look like fucking Wall Street real quick."
Eto: It's cleaning up. I just told my bro, I said "Damn, I gotta come outside more." Because it's blossoming in my city that I'm not even familiar with. Kodak, Xerox, you know, it's historical. They just closed down Nick Tahoe's, bro. Like that shit is a big deal, the Garbage Plate, the Motherland. We don't got a pro team but we got the Red Wings baby.
1000WORD$: What was your experience first time coming to New York City?
Eto: Oh man, like a kid. Like Macaulay Culkin Home Alone. It was amazing, all the lights and shit. Oh my Lord, I didn't want to leave. But I just know I couldn't do it [there] because traffic. You gotta know how to drive, you fuck around and get killed on the road. New York is very busy. But I fell in love with the lights. Time Square, you know what I mean? Mid-Teens, Taj Mahal [AKA Grea8gawd], first ones to bring me to New York City. Took me to T Neck Jersey [Juelz Santana’s] studio. Shout out to Grea8gawd, man, the Gawd.
1000WORD$: What you got coming up next?
Eto: Oh man, "Kings Highway" baby. It's on the way, just, not in a rush. Make sure this shit count though, you know? A lot of trial and errors, wear and tears. It's coming though.
1000WORD$: I see you recently did a song with Raekwon and you did a song with Tony Yayo. How does it feel?
Eto: Yeah. Shout out the village. Rim pulled up. N****s showed out for me, man. Thank y'all, y'all n****s pulled up. Wasn't expecting those results. We seen Royal Flush, like "Okay!" Thank you. It was a fantastic night. [DJ Doo Wop] Live 95, I'm listening to Doo Wop and here I am. Not we're doing this shit.
1000WORD$: Doing something, word. How that feel, man?
Eto: Awesome. Yo, I hated the "Jump Around" song till they fed me the shit. "Jump Around," it was always weird. But then I learned that's the goal. That's what was in front of the TV like this, you know what I'm saying? Rap City, BET.
1000WORD$: And that "Jump Around," [DJ Muggs] produced that, right? And you worked with Muggs.
Eto: That's why I brought that up because I always knew somehow someway I was gonna get to these guys. When I heard that "How I Could Just Kill a Man" in the movie "Juice," that's what made me start to look. Who are these guys? We got this guy with the fro and shit. You don't know if he Puerto Rican, white. I grew up on that shit n***a. You had to be tough.
1000WORD$: Have you performed overseas?
Eto: I just got off child support.
1000WORD$: Hahaha.
Eto: I’m ready to go baby! Gimme the passport! Let's get the passport! It's time!
1000WORD$: Shout your babies out, man.
Eto: I love you. Lemme tell you something. I'm talking some shit now cause I've been on child support for some time and I'm still dragging my feet, but it's coming.
1000WORD$: What's the first thing you want to do with your babies? When you get off child support and you get your passport, where you taking them?
Eto: I don't know, Disneyland. You know why? Because that's what I always wanted to do god dammit, shit. I want to meet their proposals. I want to respect and, you know, attend to whatever they want to do. That's what I want to do. Whatever they want to do, I'm glad to say I could meet their proposals. Used to see a commercial, "Mommy I want,"... turn you into a madman. So now I could do these things and I want to do whatever they want to do.
1000WORD$: Nice. You watch wrestling growing up?
Eto: Hell nah, man. But I did. I did. Nah, I don't watch wrestling
1000WORD$: I was gonna ask you, what wrestler would you be? [Who] was your favorite wrestler?
Eto: It would have to be The Hulk. But I'll say The Ultimate Warrior could bust a n***a.
1000WORD$: He said he'd be The Ultimate Warrior.
Eto: Yeah. But I was big on The Hulk cause it's protocol. You are trained to love who they feed you, so Hulk Hogan was the one. But Ultimate Warrior, you wasn't gonna play with that boy.
1000WORD$: My son hit that line, he was out.
Eto: Save me a bump n***a. Nah, I'm just bullshitting. But truth is this, the wrestling shit... I seen you was on that shit a long long time.
1000WORD$: Facts. I jumped Jon Moxley and Jericho.
Eto: That's crazy. Oh nah, remember the n****s you had with the...
1000WORD$: Oh yeah, Santana and Ortiz. We was at Impact.
Eto: Yeah, Impact. That's fucking dope man. That's dope.
1000WORD$: How was it going to California working with Muggs? Knowing that Jump Around was one of the songs he made?
Eto: It's a whole new world. That n***a mind was opening a gate. He opened the gate. When I went out there, I had no idea the support, how heavy it was.
1000WORD$: People love you, man.
Eto: It was crazy. And then they rapping... that's what I always wanted. I didn't want to perform because the interaction was light. I always wanted them to know my shit, rapping. I got that out west, times 10.
1000WORD$: I seen you perform with a live band, man. That's fucking impressive.
Eto: Yeah, that was my first time. I'm stressing it to the guys, I don't want to perform unless. But I want to do some more live shit, a lot more live shit, producing live shit, owning this shit.
1000WORD$: Facts. E, man, I appreciate this man. Thank you so much.
Eto: I love you, man. This bulletproof, you family.
1000WORD$: Thank you.
Eto: Mommy fed you rice.
1000WORD$: Hahaha. I took a picture in the kitchen, man.
Eto: Yo, I love y'all. Peace.