WORDS WITH WORD$ AT HARVARD PT.1
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #24
Yo, this is WORD WITH WORD$.
Today we are bringing you an exclusive roundtable interview recorded at The Harvard Crimson on February 25th for Hip-Hop’s 50th birthday. This is part one of three.Â
Hip-Hop’s birthday is typically celebrated with festivals, shows, and pop-ups. We decided to take a different approach and bring artists from all walks of life to a building that has stood for well over 100 years. Harvard University needs no introduction. It is an institution intertwined with excellence and a destination for anyone pursuing their craft at the highest level.
If you read this page, you will recognize many of the names included. We were joined around the table by Rome Streetz, The Hidden Character, al.divino, Feed The Family, Chyna Streetz, Daniel Son, Starker, YL, Boris Bernard, and Sam Buck. This conversation is particularly meaningful to us because it features artists that we believe will be the next generation to push the culture forward.
This event was months, and even years in the making. What started off as a love of Hip-Hop and the music has evolved into something so much more. We believe in the power of art to change people’s lives and bring worlds together. The purpose of this page is to do just that and shed light on dope artists you might not have heard of yet.
Many of the artists we feature never thought that they would ever step foot in a place like Harvard, let alone a college campus. For these artists to be invited to Harvard on their own terms was incredibly powerful to witness. We hope you can learn something from the conversation you are about to read.
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$$$. THE AUDIO TO THIS ROUNDTABLE INTERVIEW
1000WORD$: Yo, what's going on man? This is 1000WORD$. I'm here with the new generation of fucking Hip-Hop, man. It's motherfucking Renaissance going on, man. All these individuals that are sitting here didn't come meet me at no office. They didn't come meet me at no media center. We all been at each other's shows. We all done broke bread. I done seen my mans pack vinyls, pack they merch up in the freezing cold. From 10 people to 100 people, from 100 people to 200, 300, you know what I mean? These people are worldwide. So starting with my man, Boris. Boris, how do you feel about being here [in the Harvard Crimson], man?
Boris Bernard: You know, some words are cliche, right? People talk about the natural progression. We’re in the 50th year of Hip-Hop right now. If you've been working on cars for 50 years, but you started from day one, 50 years later, what the car supposed to be like? This is supposed to be happening. We're fortunate to be participating in this version of it. But it's beautiful to see the natural progression. We were talking about this the other day. The waves of scenes I've been in, you know, I saw the whole ratchet thing being in LA, the Banksy thing with the street art, all that stuff. I literally worked at record stores in the 90s. I sold Black Star records. I sold Jay Z's first two albums. I sold vinyl, for real. And it's still going. It's still moving. And then, to sit in an institution... cause this is an institution regardless of what we want to say, we call it college, university. This is an institution, you know, it's an archive. And so this is what we talked about. In the beginning, nobody looked at it like an archive of what we're doing, the museum quality of the work that we're doing, a Renaissance. We're just creating. Well we've created enough where now it is something that needs to be in places like this.
1000WORD$: What about you, al.divino. How do you feel about being here at Harvard?
al.divino: Man, this shit a trip, especially from being out here. You kinda realize that you kinda desensitized to what Harvard is to the world cause this is just some shit around here. My past experiences with Harvard had nothing to do with any type of academics, man. That shit had to do with, you know, entrepreneurial things. So that shit extra special, man, extra special. It's like a real statement cause, you know, Ryan was telling me earlier, that newspaper survived two World Wars. That shit seen two World Wars, man. So that shit ain't going anywhere anytime soon, but who's to say if Hip-Hop ever gonna be documented again by this shit? So it's a blessing.
1000WORD$: Facts. Yo, The Hidden Character, how you feel about being here in Harvard, man?
The Hidden Character: I don't even know, bro. I feel like I'm in a masonic lodge right now, bro. I don't know, bro. I only heard about this shit in movies and fucking reading books and shit. I never thought I'd fucking step foot in an actual college building coming from the streets and shit.
1000WORD$: I hear that. What about you, Daniel Son? You coming all the way from Canada.
Daniel Son: Bro, the same. I'm just happy to be here, bro. Ain't no opportunities like that where I'm from so I'm just happy to be here, you know, surrounded by good people, man. I appreciate you having us here and everybody that's part of this shit, it's a beautiful thing, man. It's a good day today.
1000WORD$: Being over in Canada, you ever hear about Harvard and shit like that?
Daniel Son: Hell yeah, but in the movies, like my man was saying. So actually being here, rocking with some motherfucking crewnecks and shit. Shit fly as fuck.
1000WORD$: You know what I'm saying? We got our Harvard hoodies on.
Daniel Son: Man, I brought the bush to Harvard. Northside shit, baby. Yeah, it's beautiful, man. Thank you.
1000WORD$: You already know. Hanif what up, man?
Shayk Hanif: Peace, bro.
1000WORD$: Man, it's your first time here?
Shayk Hanif: Yeah.
1000WORD$: How you feel, knowing where you from? You from out here, right?
Shayk Hanif: Yeah, so being from Boston, this is dope. All the times we done drove by it and seen it, you know, but actually being on campus in Harvard, it's dope. What the outside world knows about Boston, they know about Harvard or something like that. So to be where we from, from the bottom, to actually be in this place is dope.
1000WORD$: What about you BoriRock?
BoriRock: It's wavy, man. I feel like I'm in school or something right now, with all the cool kids and shit.
1000WORD$: Nah, this shit like detention, man. We got all the bad kids in this motherfucker. What about you, Dunny?
Dun Dealy: Shit, this shit ill, bro. Cause, to bounce off what Vino said, n***a done ran all through here, you know what I'm saying? We been through this motherfucker, you know? So to be back around here, you know, to be inside here is crazy. Not only that like...
BoriRock: We all have been here.
Dun Dealy: Literally. All these restaurants we done ate at, and we've drove through here 100 times, you know what I'm saying? But I've never stepped foot in here ever. So this shit different, bro, for real.Â
BoriRock: On dogs.
1000WORD$: Chyna, wassup? How you feel about being out here in Harvard?
Chyna Streetz: Honestly, I feel amazing. I was telling you earlier, I was supposed to go to one of the top colleges. I was supposed to go to Spelman, but in my senior year I ain't go to Spelman. I went to Albion, so to see myself in a place that I always saw myself, and then being here for something that I love, and not just going cause my parents wanted me to be something, like I'm here for what I want to be, you know? For me to actually be here and be like "Wow. Yo, people are celebrating me and my music?" And then I'm seeing the vibes is for real you know? You really sit back and be like "Damn, son. You always are where you supposed to be."
1000WORD$: What about you, YL? How do you feel about being out here in Harvard?
YL: It's like what Chyna said. It's very surreal, you know what I'm saying? It's one of those things that I never put as a bucket list goal. It was just pleasant surprise, you know what I'm saying? Just to do it off the art, and being surrounded by all these artists. You know, I feel like there's a lot of respect in the room and it's ill to see the direction that music is going.
1000WORD$: Facts. What about you, Vegas, my brother? How do you feel about being here?
New Vegas Films: Just grateful, bro. Thank you for bringing me, bringingn everybody here. This shit is for the culture, man. History. That's all I gotta say.
1000WORD$: My man, Starks. Always living type dangerous. Let the people know how you feel about being here at Harvard?
Starker: I gotta stop myself from crying, man. I'm a real sensitive cat, but I know I'm a smart dude, and I really didn't really have an opportunity to apply myself, education wise, cause I don't really come from money like that, you know what I'm saying? But, like Chyna said, to be here on your own terms, that shit make me proud. I'm very happy to be here. Thank you.
1000WORD$: Rome streetz, how you feel about being here, man?
Rome Streetz: Shit, it's crazy because Harvard is like, the pinnacle of education, academics and shit. And that's where, you know, in high school, I was a fuckup. I was always in detention. I was smart as hell, I just never applied myself. I would just cut school. I was always getting in trouble. My mom fucking sent me to another fucking country because I was fucking up in high school, you understand what I'm saying? So I would have never thought I'd be in Harvard based on how I was maneuvering in high school. Like, yeah, I went to college, but I didn't finish it cause I went to jail. I got kicked out because I had to go to court. When I was younger, if I went to Harvard, I had to get straight A's. I would barely get by. If I get a 65, I'm good. I was one of those 65 n****s where it's like, yeah, could get an A but after school, I'm not going home to do homework. I didn't really have nobody to reinforce that. My mom that fucking work, so I'm doing whatever I wanted to do. I could have probably been smart enough to go to Harvard, but you know how that shit go. Yeah, so to be here based on rap, it's amazing.Â
1000WORD$: Ryan. Man, how do you feel, being the one that's opened the door for us? Like, you go to school here. We just drive past this shit. I thought this shit was like a fortress, you know what I'm saying? I'm like "Damn, motherfuckers prolly get shot going in there." Come to find out you can just walk up in this shit. So, how do you feel playing that role?
Ryan Kim: Well, I'm really thankful for everyone in this room for being here cause like, I'm really just a fan of the music. That's how I came to know all of you guys, you know? And so, I just felt like, when I realized that I knew I could bring you guys into this type of building, into the paper, we can do the interview in the Crimson building, I wanted to do that immediately. Cause I know the feeling of, you know, people don't fuck with you for whatever reason, or they don't want to support you, I feel like I can be that guy. So I'm gonna try to do it however I can. But it's really you too, bro. It was us meeting and realizing that we could connect the two things that we got going on. That's why we're here today, is because of you too.
1000WORD$: I hear you. What separates me from a lot of people, right, I'm an actual fan of all of y'all. I got an actual relationship with some of y'all. We've been in a lot of places together, you know what I'm saying? I don't look at things as like, I want to keep it to myself. I want to share it because we don't got nobody to help us out. Sometimes we got questions and we don't got no answers. But you know, we here though. Sam Buck, how do you feel about being here in Harvard?
Sam Buck: I wanna shout you out and I wanna shout Ryan out, cause like, I don't make music. I fucking talk to rappers about hallucinogens, and you found out about me. But you actually saw me for what this shit actually was, and I really appreciated this cause I could have never gone to this school. I worked in this school for one summer because an ex-girlfriend's dad got me the job. And then I just smelled like weed and they were like, "Yeah, you can't come back." But I care about this shit. I care about bringing different worlds together, because it's important. And this is a dope experience. So thank you.
1000WORD$: Yo, how I feel about being here in motherfucking Harvard? I dropped out of college, man. I don't even know how I went to college because I cheated my whole way through high school. I went with no bookbag. I used to pull up class, like "Yo, let me get some paper and a pen?" Then I'd fold that shit, slide that shit in my locker. Last day, open that shit up and dump all that shit out. I didn't learn shit to be honest. So to be in here... Man, I just wish my daughter could be here. I wish my mother could be here. I just wish that things will be different, but I'm here with the people I care about, you know what I'm saying? So, we're gonna go round one more time just to celebrate Hip-Hop. What has Hip-Hop done for you, Boris?
Boris Bernard: Hip-Hop saved me, bro. I was wild. Yo, working at the record store, but even better, I'm narcoleptic, you feel me? I got neurological shit, so I can't really work no regular job. They call them sleep attacks. When I fall asleep, I get crazy visions so when I wake up I start creating. So for there to be a culture that's like, "Give it to us," you know? It gave me my outlet. It gave me a safe outlet.
1000WORD$: What about you, Divino? It's Hip-Hop's birthday. What's Hip-Hop done for you?
al.divino: Shit, a lot, man. That shit really allowed me to be able to have the power to change the circumstances in my life, and my loved ones, and all that shit. It gave me an opportunity to carve my name out in history, you feel me? It gave me a life after my physical life, I would imagine.
1000WORD$: Damn, that's fire. What about you, Hidden Character, my man. It's Hip-Hop's birthday. What has Hip-Hop done for you, bro?
The Hidden Character: It did everything for me, you feel me? It made me change the traction of my life. Up until I was like 27, bro, I was still out in the streets fucking doing all types of shit I shouldn't have been doing. After getting into music and shit, it slowed me down, man, for real. It got me straight, my family, you feel me?
1000WORD$: Shout out to you. Daniel son, my bro. Happy birthday to Hip-Hop. What's Hip-Hop done for you, man?
Daniel Son: Shit, it be doing shit like this, you know? For me, it's like about the people that I get to meet, you know, cause especially in this rap shit, you meet a lot of weird motherfuckers. So when you get to meet some solid cats that's cool as fuck. We just kick it. More times when we kicking it, we ain't even on no rap shit, you know? We're just kicking it like the homies and shit. You get to meet cool people and go places you ain't never been before. So I'm just happy to be here doing my thing, man.
1000WORD$: What about you, Hanif? What's Hip-Hop done for you?
Shayk Hanif: Hip-Hop saved me, bro. Aside from selling drugs, Hip-Hop was the only thing I was good at. So I was selling drugs and then I ended up rapping, and that was the one thing that I was good at. I wasn't no ball playing ass n***a, none of that shit, so this was the shit that was like "Okay, this is my calling." So it was a lifesaver, bro. Just to be able to do this is a blessing.
1000WORD$: BoriRock, what about you, man?
BoriRock: Yeah, I love this shit. Shit gave me swag and all that, you know, an outlet to express myself, therapeutic, like all that. And it changed my life too, man. I look at this shit like my life. This not a hobby or a job. It's either this or I'm nobody, and I was always bound to be somebody, you know what I'm saying? I used the sell drugs. I don't do that no more, can't do a job. This shit gave me an outlet. Like "Word, I can eat now off doing something I love, type shit." I love this shit.
1000WORD$: What about you, Dunny? What's Hip-Hop done for you?
Dun Dealy: A lot, bro. I done met some dope ass people through this music shit, some really important people, solid cats. I done built some ill relationships on the strength of music, bro. This music shit is always gonna be here, man. I'm gonna be out of here one day, bro, but that music gonna still stay. So that's real important to me, facts.
BoriRock: On dogs.
1000WORD$: What about you, Chyna? What's Hip-Hop done for you?
Chyna Streetz: Hip-Hop has become my redemption. I'm a woman so I had to change a lot of narratives. A lot of times being a woman, and being a woman in close proximity to somebody that a lot of people look up to, they automatically question like, am I as good as I say I am? And I show up, I change the narrative. So at the end of the day, Hip-Hop gave me a chance to do that and provide a lane for other women that's under me to come in and actually be like, "Yo, I can do this on my own. I don't need the ghostwriter. I don't need to shake my ass. I don't need to do any of these things that people tell me I have to do to get to this level." Like, be yourself. I'm creating a legacy that's unmatched.
1000WORD$: What about you, YL?
YL: Hip-Hop is like a therapy. It's given me the opportunity to travel to parts of the world I've never seen before, that I never had real plans of going to. I feel like it's one of those things that started off as a hobby, but it really kinda helped me transition, you know, in becoming a man too. Like, learning through this shit.
1000WORD$: Word. What about you, Vegas?
New Vegas Films: Shit changed my life, bro. You know, obviously, me and you, traveling the world. Shit took us everywhere, bro. It's been amazing, bro. I'm just grateful, once again.
1000WORD$: What about you, Starker?
Starker: Hip-Hop raised me, basically. I come from crazy circumstances, so like, I try to make myself available for other things, some things for the betterment of my life, sometimes for the worse. But one thing that never left me was Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop was there for me more than anybody, or anything that I could ever try to put myself there for. This shit affected my life more than anything, or anybody ever could, for the better too. I have a kid, and your kid is only going to be a kid for so long. And as soon as I dedicated myself to Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop gave me the opportunity to have time to be there for my kid. I couldn't have did that any other way. I couldn't have did that holding a 9 to 5 and things like that. Cause those people that give you that paycheck, they don't care about your kid at home. But Hip-Hop gave me the opportunity to be the father that I want to be for my son.
Daniel Son: Respect for that shit, man.
1000WORD$: I respect that, man, for real. Aight, what about you, Rome?
Rome Streetz: It's pretty much the same shit everybody said, bro. Hip-Hop, I was raised on this shit, man. I was raised in front the fucking TV, the radio, all that shit.
1000WORD$: Outside.
Rome Streetz: Yeah, outside. N***a, like I said, I ain't finish college. I went for half a year then I went a jail, catching cases, selling drugs, doing shit that you can't make a life out of, you understand what I'm saying? Once I started really being lit with the rap shit like "Yo, I can get money from this? What?" That shit changed my whole life, for real. Like they said, it took me places I thought I would never go. It gave me a purpose. It let me know that I mattered to people that I can't even see. Sometimes you only think you matter to whoever is right there, whether it be your parents, sometimes you don't even feel like you matter to your parents sometimes, your kid, your significant other or whatever. Like I get messages from people like "Yo, your shit changed my life. I have to listen to your shit every day just to get through." It's like, wow. It lets me know people need my voice. It lets me know people need my thoughts, not just some shit that I'm selling to you. Cause when you just a n***a who sells drugs, most of the time your phone only ring for people who want to buy drugs. And once you don't have none, don't nobody call you for shit. It's like "Damn, I'm still a fucking person." So with this rap shit, it let me feel like I matter to more people. I'm more than just a fucking hand giving you some shit. It let me just see the world different. It changed my perspective on everything really. Like, I need Hip-Hop. If I wasn't doing rap, I don't know what the fuck I would be doing, to be honest. Like, I'm saying I know what I'd be doing, I'd probably be selling drugs. But when you really do that shit, that's not something that you want to do forever. You always trying to find a way out, and sometimes some motherfuckers don't have no way out. I know motherfuckers that don't have no way out. They're not gonna get no job. They don't have no talent. All they do is street shit, and eventually that shit comes to an end. You're either gonna die, you're gonna go to jail, or you're going to be a fucking bum. Some motherfuckers get rich but not everybody. And the richer you get, the quicker you're gonna go to jail for that shit. So really, Hip-Hop created an outlet for me, for my friends that really want to be a part of it, for people I don't know. Shit, motherfuckers listen to my music and somehow they figure out how to make money. They'll start drawing me and somebody might buy that shit.
al.divino: Facts. That really happens. Got people doing covers and shit.
Rome Streetz: Yeah, just the fact that my raps existing kinda created a lane for somebody else to exist in this shit. And you don't even realize it until you meet the motherfucker, like "Yo, I was doing this and this and that. And I heard your shit and then I started doing this." Like damn, I need a percentage. You know what I'm saying, it just allowed everything to be amazing. I love Hip-Hop.
1000WORD$: What about you, Ryan?
Ryan Kim: I think to me, it's a way of looking at the world. Hip-Hop, it's like, always fighting for the underdog, I feel like. But I'm 22, bro, so I don't really know. I'm still trying to process everything that's happening to me, but I'm trying to just keep going forward, you know? I don't really know.
1000WORD$: What about you, Sam Buck?
Sam Buck: Shit. I grew up like a lonely kid, sad kid, just not good circumstances kinda. So the only good memories I have were like my dad playing me "Touch the Sky," driving, or like when my dad took me to see Wu Tang Clan when I was 12 years old, or shit, like my mom playing me Lil Wayne. Those were like the only really good memories, and trust me no one wants to hear me rap. That's not who I am. I tell jokes, thats it. But when you only connect to something because that's how you see the world, that's what my conversations are, and that's what I want it to be. And I think there are a lot of other people like me out there that I hope I can inspire to just see that everyone is the fucking same no matter what. If you're a good person and you know how to work hard, that's all that matters. Annd that's kind of what fucking Hip-Hop is, you know?
1000WORD$: Hip-Hop saved my life, man. I want to thank my mother. I never met my pops. Me and my mom slept on the floor for like 11 years of my life, and we ain't have no light for like two years. And I remember her buying me Mase "Harlem World," on CD. I would play it the boombox and that was the first time she heard me say "Fuck." She was like "Mira!" And she started whipping my ass. Then my second introduction to Hip-Hop, I was at a house party and when he started getting crazy, like my uncles got drunk and they were doing they thing, they'll be like, "Yo, stay in this room." And my cousin was like, "Yo, got this 'Confessions of Fire' tape. So I want you to stay in this room and listen to this tape and when it's done, call me so I can flip the tape for you." So I'm in his room with all these coats from all my family members, and I'm just listening like this, listening to [Cam'ron] in the beginning like metaphorically saying, "I gotta get over the hill." And he's scared the climb, but when he climbed it he's like, "Yo, there mad money up here! There's mad shit going on!" So Hip-Hop for me, man, I never had to study it. I was born in it. I never had nobody that had to had to tell me "Yo, this is Hip-Hop." Motherfucker I come out my house. I'm from the Bronx, motherfuckers is busting licks in front of my door, crackheads sleeping on my steps. So when I listen to Hip-Hop and I saw the drug dealers, I really understood what it was about. I ain't had to commit the crimes, I could just enjoy the crime and use it. But I did commit, you know what I'm saying? Just saying I love Hip-Hop, man, and I want to thank my mother, my daughter, man, and I want to thank all of you guys here. For real, cause I wouldn't want to be here sitting by myself, man. All of y'all motherfuckers, man, universal motherfuckers. We forever type of people. Hip-Hop, we love you. Hip-Hop, thank you. Hip-Hop, we'll be gone but you'll still be here. Make sure they come through and read about us.
Starker: Take care of my son, you heard?
1000WORD$: Take care of my dogs too, man. I just want to say thank you, man.
BoriRock: On dogs.
Boris Bernard: Hold on one sec. Hold on. Everybody in here know AA Rashid.
1000WORD$: Yessir.
al.divino: Absolutely.
Sam Buck: Legend.
Boris Bernard: And salute to him. Everybody I met in an art gallery [knows AA].Â
1000WORD$: Yeah.
Boris Bernard: So I met in AA in LA. This is 2016, maybe longer than that. On New Year's Eve, I listened to the "FLYGOD" album. He had been telling me, he was like, "Yo, Boris, you are a part of this thing that's about to happen." I swear to God this shit happened. He said, "When you go back east, your gonna meet these people. You are a part of this." And you know, he would talk real abstract. I didn't get it. And when I'm sitting here right now, I'm thinking about this shit like, Rome is on Griselda, you know what I mean? I'm sitting right next to [al.divino], you know what I'm saying? He told me that all of you existed in fucking 2016.
1000WORD$: How I met you, man?
Boris Bernard: And you was there! Like, everybody here got a weird interaction with AA Rashid. You feel me?
Rome Streetz: I remember one time I saw AA Rashid, I think I sold him some DMT. I think I gave that motherfucker some acid or some shit.
1000WORD$: Hahaha.
Boris Bernard: You feel me? Cause we here at Harvard. We at Harvard and we not gonna talk about AA Rashid, the scholar?
1000WORD$: This is off the Richter, but I was baptized Catholic, raised Pentecostal. I left that shit and I've just been in the street, you know what I'm saying? Hip-Hop's been my religion. But I want to say this. I want to salute AA Rashid, and I want to salute people like Boris, and I want to salute the Muslim brothers that I've met throughout this journey, and the 5 percenter brothers that I met throughout this journey. I'm not in any religion or anything like that, but those guys, those human beings, have showed me a lot of love and information that would have never been passed down by anybody that's asking me to give a offering to the church, or pull up to this or that.
al.divino: Right, all you gotta do is pay attention.
1000WORD$: I'm grateful for those gems that have been passed down to me for free. And all you guys, I just want to say thank you for Hip-Hop in general.
Daniel Son: Yo, to add on to that, I got to meet him through being on tour with Rome. A couple people from the tour would go check him, they came back with books. He gifted them books. I'm like, damn bro, nobody ever gave me a book in my life, you know? So he really be passing down the knowledge like that, you know, giving people books as gifts.
1000WORD$: Last thing, AA Rashid, man. This is personal for me, man. I was depressed for like 2-3 years cause my moms got dementia and my moms kicking me out to crib and calling me all types of weird shit that she would never call me. And I was on the phone with AA Rashid and I was crying, and he told me, "You know why you confused?" He said, "Cause your mommy raised you, and clothed you, and birthed you, right? She loves you and now you confused why she treating you like that. You just got to grow up, bro, and realize that she's fighting a bigger battle than you. She knows who you are inside her heart but she's fighting something bigger, and you just gotta mourn her from a distance and realize that you got shit you gotta accomplish, man, cause her fight is already going on. You the last one." Cause I got no brothers and sisters. So I do all this shit alone, with my bro. So Hip-Hop really saved my life.
Daniel Son: That's love, man. Yo we your brothers now.
