Sadhugold Teases New Music With Spook and Rapping Himself

WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #21

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Yo, it’s the Pope, 1000WORD$.

Introducing Sadhugold, a multi-talented visionary who's making waves in the world of hip-hop and beyond. With a unique production style that sounds like a treasure chest of gold hidden in the shadows, he's a beat-making alchemist in search of musical immortality.

Based out of Philadelphia, he’s a producer, animator, an action figure sculptor, an antique collector, and a Pokemon card connoisseur. His collaborators include artists such as Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Westside Gunn, Your Old Droog, Tha God Fahim, Mach Hommy, Estee Nack, and many more. Sadhugold also plans to begin rapping himself under the alias Golden Joe.

This is an exclusive conversation between myself and Sadhugold. We discuss his creative influences, his favorite wrestler, the best spots to eat in Philly, beginning to rap himself and his upcoming cowboy themed album with Philly rapper Spook.

THIS IS WORD$ WITH WORDS.

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$$$. THE AUDIO TO THIS INTERVIEW

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1000WORD$: Yo, this is 1000WORD$, this is WORDS WITH WORD$ and I'm here with my man Sadhugold. What Sadhugold been up to these days?

Sadhugold: I don't even know, bro. I smoke block work.

1000WORD$: Me too.

Sadhugold: As long as it's stinky and it's sticky we good to go.

1000WORD$: Yo bro, I was trying to tell somebody that I'm trying to come out with my own signature line of blockwork for the conventional nine-to-fiver, you know that can't that can't really spend $80 on an eigth.

Sadhugold: That's a super smart idea.

1000WORD$: I've been thinking about calling shit like Blocky Balboa.

Sadhugold: That's a good gig. Tap me in for the puns, bro.

1000WORD$: Blockbuster. Block Lesnar.

Sadhugold: Doc Block.

1000WORD$: I love $30 eighths, $25 is even better give me three of those shits.

Sadhugold: Real shit, as long as its stinky and sticky.

1000WORD$: We was at my man Tyron pop-up and we discovered that a store downtown was selling pot.

Sadhugold: Oh yeah. Bro, Philly need to catch up, bro, I need to be able to go down the street and go pick up a little eighth and then come back home. Make it easy for me.

1000WORD$: I usually try to make it to every event that I can, but one that I missed, but I'm glad that I got you hear... Now I get to hear your insight because I wasn't there because I haven't spoke to nobody about it. You guys did a beat battle, you and Nicholas Craven. How was that, bro?

Sadhugold: That was a monumental night for hip-hop, man. Big shout out to [Your Old Droog] for the idea, for organizing it that night because I had been wanting to do some type of battle shit for a minute. And a lot of people been wanting it. A lot of people wanted some battles to happen.

1000WORD$: What did you start off with? Like, was it something new or something you already had in the tuck?

Sadhugold: It was all pre-made shit. It was definitely some recent joints though.

1000WORD$: That was at Terminal 5, right, if I'm not mistaken?

Sadhugold: Was that the venue? I don't even remember what the venue was honestly.

1000WORD$: Yeah, I know that shit was downtown. When I linked up with you recently in Philly, I sat down with you and we spoke for a little bit and then we driving around to get something to eat and you played some Spook, right? And I was like, "Who the fuck is this?" You was telling me, "I'm gonna send you some shit." So fast forward, now that I know from Top Shelf that you you paint a lot of Spook's stuff, right? Where do you get inspiration for that?

Sadhugold: I get a lot of inspiration for that from the Fleischer cartoons, for real. Max Fleischer and shit, that 1930s Betty Boop era. A lot of people get it confused with Disney, but it's not what it is, man.

1000WORD$:How often do you go thrifting?

Sadhugold: Honestly, not that much anymore. Thrifting is dead.

1000WORD$: You think so?

Sadhugold: You would have to go to bumblefuck, somewhere crazy. 

1000WORD$: Indianapolis or Montana.

Sadhugold: Somewhere that hasn't been overrun by fucking millennials and Gen Zs or Gen X or whatever. Thrifting is to consignment what philosophy is to the self help genre of books. Consignment is basically the new thrifting.

1000WORD$: What's the best book that you found in the wild that you know is a gem?

Sadhugold: Oh yeah, bro, I found this one book while I was walking down the street and that shit was called, "Putting It All Together: World Conquest, Global Genocide, and African Liberation by Terence Jackson. Shit was on the ground. '94 too, so it's definitely from before a lot of bullshit, Hotep bullshit.

1000WORD$: Now for Jah-Monte's album that you did with him, you also created the album cover for that, right? Those are some amazing figures that you used in the cover, where did you acquire those?

Sadhugold: Some of my collections, my antique collections. I got this little antique shop in Philly I be going to, I be coming up on some pretty crazy shit.

1000WORD$: For a person that's reading this, where would you recommend to get something to eat, from your side of town, that's like a staple of Philly.

Sadhugold: I would tell somebody to go to Max's. That's a burnt area, but you gone have to go to the trenches for that, you definitely should have a car on go. Don't take an Uber to Max's, like that's... I mean you can do that, but like, take a Uber back. But yeah, Max's. If you downtown, go to Mac Mart. They got all... it's just all mac and cheese everything, all different types of mac and cheese, you've never seen. Federal Doughnuts. We got good chicken sandwiches.

1000WORD$: You put me on to that. That chicken sandwich was amazing and they Lemonade was hitting too

Sadhugold: They got doughnuts that n****s never even heard of.

1000WORD$: Have you been at any comic cons? 

Sadhugold: Yeah, man. I try to hit one every year.

1000WORD$: Ah, yo, we got to do to San Francisco. I've never done that one.

Sadhugold: I'm with that shit, bro.

1000WORD$: I gotta find a way.

Sadhugold: Bro even New York Comic Con is crazy.

1000WORD$: Oh, for sure. I've done New York Comic Con, like six times, but people always say the San Francisco one, bro.  I'm ready to slide, just let me know. I was able to get a picture of the Green Ranger in there, Jason David Frank. 

Sadhugold: You know when they dropped the Power Rangers movie like probably five years ago, they came out with the Power Rangers movie reboot. Shit was hard. They kicked main man out the theater when he started recording his cameo at the premiere. He was like, "I'm the Green Ranger." They was like "Bro, we don't care. We don't watch Power Rangers, no recording in the theater."

1000WORD$: You know there's some Power Ranger alternate universe where the Green Ranger and the White Ranger, even though it's the same character, both of those ranges combine and it becomes some other character, I forgot his name.  That's your favorite Power Ranger, the Green Ranger? Sadhu with the Gold Ranger Dragon Sword, bro.

Sadhugold: Yeah, Green Ranger, that's my nigga. Him and the White Ranger, obviously.

1000WORD$: You gotta watch this movie that he dropped that's like 30 minutes on YouTube, where it's the Green Ranger and the White Ranger combine and it's called Lord... something. And it's bout to destroy the world type shit. 

Sadhugold: I gotta watch that shit. 

1000WORD$: Yo, crazy. Rest in peace, Jason David Frank. When I took a picture of him, I took two of them and I let him sign in a gold marker and a green marker. What project you got coming out with Spook next?

Sadhugold: We working on a Cowboy album, bro.

1000WORD$: A cowboy album, like a country music album?

Sadhugold: Nah, like a country... like a western movie, like a spaghetti western. It's kinda hard. It's like a Black spaghetti western.

1000WORD$: And you said you also recording an album for yourself?

Sadhugold: Yeah, I got two albums. Well... three... four.

1000WORD$: Are you going by Sadhugold when you're rapping?

Sadhugold: Golden Joe. It all comes full circle.

1000WORD$: Now, is there any chance that we could get any Golden Joe performances? 

Sadhugold: At some point. Actually, I probably do that before I even drop the music. That's probably what I do, go around and do a little campaign. People will be like, "Damn, well where the hell do I find that shit?" In fact, I just did a show where I rapped and it was a secret show and nobody know about it. And I might post a video.

1000WORD$: I saw you post about it real quick. You said, "This is like the only time you'll ever catch me rapping. So here you go." I think you said something along those lines.

Sadhugold: Yeah, I had to, I had to post it.

1000WORD$: What's the rarest Pokemon card you've caught in the wild?

Sadhugold: I bought a trainer box for like 50 bucks. It was my first time buying Pokemon cards in years, like literal years. And this the first shit I pulled, $300 Dark Charizard, shiny.

1000WORD$: And did you watch wrestling growing up? 

Sadhugold: Yeah I did.

1000WORD$: What wrestler would you be if you could pick?

Sadhugold: Kane.

1000WORD$: Why you pick Kane?

Sadhugold: Yo... what do you mean?

1000WORD$: Yo, I get it. Kane was scary, right?

Sadhugold: They tried to take son's mask off and he had another mask under it.

1000WORD$: He had that shit too, I remember the...

Sadhugold: It's like the mold for South Park and shit.

1000WORD$: South Park is legendary, man.

Sadhugold: South Park is so legendary, bro, these n****s cashed out like two billion dollars from Paramount. That's crazy.

1000WORD$: I remember that was the show to watch to talk about the next day at school.

Sadhugold: Them n****s bought the restaurant Casa Bonita, now they own it. So I'm tryna go to Casa Bonita bro, that's legendary.

1000WORD$: You also make your cartoons, right?

Sadhugold: I do. I do have a couple of certificates in animation, but I've been... animation is kind of tedious. I've been waiting to get my shit together, but I'm kind of rusty.

1000WORD$: You also make your own figures, too. How do you make your own figures, what's the process for that?

Sadhugold: I'll either sculpt them or like you know, do the action figure body shit.

1000WORD$: I saw you did your Golden Joe Character, you did a Divino one, and also a Vinyl Villain one?

Sadhugold: Yeah, those were some of the earlier ones too.

1000WORD$: What are the things you need in order to tap into that artistic zone?  What do you need to get in that zone?

Sadhugold: And also weed. Shit man, to get in the zone. Women.

1000WORD$: Facts.

Sadhugold: Women are fire.

1000WORD$: Are you planning on going overseas this year?

Sadhugold: God willing. Inshallah.

1000WORD$: What are some places you trying to hit?

Sadhugold: Denmark, for sure. 

1000WORD$: I know people waiting for you out there.

Sadhugold: I'm trying to go to the motherfucking Tivoli Gardens.

1000WORD$: What's waiting for you over there?

Sadhugold: That's the oldest theme park in the world. Go look up a picture of that shit right now, bro. They got Metroid Prime out, remastered.

1000WORD$: Yeah.

Sadhugold: Bro, shit blew my switch up.

1000WORD$: What you playing on the switch right now>

Sadhugold: Tetris and Sunset Riders.

1000WORD$: Yo, but it says temporarily closed.

Sadhugold: What the fucking Tivoli Gardens?

1000WORD$: Yeah, I just Googled it. 

Sadhugold: Hopefully it'll be open by the time I go to Denmark.

1000WORD$: It looks beautiful, like some Alice in Wonderland, shit right. Oh no, this is crazy. They got a little Tokyo looking joint too.

Sadhugold: You heard about Eric Andre birthday party.

1000WORD$: Never heard.

Sadhugold: Well, you know, you know Eric Andre?

1000WORD$: Yeah, yeah, facts.

Sadhugold: This n***a is throwing like a big giant birthday party in New York in April or some shit, like he's selling tickets and everything it's called Eric Andre's 40th birthday party. Shit look crazy, bro. I'm sliding, you should probably look into it.

1000WORD$: Definitely. That sound crazy.

Sadhugold: That shit gonna be crazy.

1000WORD$: Have you been to any of those... Picasso galleries that they got, like those moving galleries?

Sadhugold: Nah, I've been wanting to go to one of them joints, but I ain't got a chance to.

1000WORD$: For everyone reading this, what can they expect from you?

Sadhugold: Some rapping.

1000WORD$: You're gonna pursue that heavy, now? You're gonna show your... I think you've been giving people your bars, though. Here and there. I think you've been out there, man.

Sadhugold: I can rap better than everybody.

1000WORD$: I know you don't need no special guests, but anybody that you want to work with because I know you make a lot of albums and you produce a lot of songs. Who do you hear yourself rapping with? Or if you don't hear yourself rapping with people?

Sadhugold: Shit, Quelle. Cavalier. Droog, Mach, just the homies. Evidence. Preservation, Futurewave, Camo. 

1000WORD$: That's an extraordinary league of gentlemen right there.

Sadhugold: Bro, I actually linked Spook with Preservation. And I linked Spook with Quelle too, so that's about to be on the cowboy album. It's gonna be... half the shit is produced by me and there's gonna be other shit where there's other n****s on it too. It's gonna be some shit on there.

1000WORD$: Thank you for this conversation. I appreciate you my bro.

Sadhugold: Absolutely, I appreciate it.

1000WORD$: Thank you.