Spotlight: Masspike Miles Exclusive Interview W/ CHAMPMAG.COM
Spotlight: Masspike Miles Exclusive Interview W/ CHAMPMAG.COM
CHAMP MAGAZINE
Hollywood
Hollywood: What’s going on homie?
Masspike Miles: Ain’t nothing big homie, just trying to maintain what it do?
Hollywood: Not much just another day in Toronto, Canada. Where in the world are you at right now?
Masspike Miles: I am in Boston Massachusetts just getting ready for a week of recording in St Martin.
Hollywood: Ok, ok, ok feel you on that. Now I definitely want to get the people in Canada aware of what you are doing because you are doing some monstrous moves right now, I also want to start off with the background of Masspike Miles. How long you have been making music for and what promoted you to start singing?
Masspike Miles: Well my dad is a jazz musician and plays multiple instruments: piano, sax, flute, different clarinets and all that so I was pretty much born into it. At 11 years old I got into it professionally when Maurice Starr discover me. Maurice Starr is responsible for New Kids on the Block, New Edition, so he snatched me up as a little youngster and put me in a group called “Perfect Gentlemen” under Warner Bro Records, so I actually been doing it for roughly 15 years solid.
Hollywood: No doubt. Now of course Maurice had done New Kids on the Block, New Edition, when you guys were not at that level of success that’s when things started to fizzle, but what was something that you learned when that was happening with you guys when you were young?
Masspike Miles: Well I have learned how to deal with certain emotions, I learned to deal with certain feelings, I have learned to deal with fake people, I have learned to deal with all types of these situations because the stuff I go through now I laugh at it because I went through it as a youngster and a lot of people don’t understand that. So what it did was like going to school, you go to kindergarten, you off to middle school, you off to high school, you off to college. So that’s how I basically look at it, there are certain things you have to learn and go through in order to get to a certain point, and I felt like everything I went through good or bad back then actually hit me to this particular point in my life.
Hollywood: Got you, got you, got you. Now I myself I definitely got introduced to you off the “Cigar Music” I am kind of upset I didn’t take you in before that, but that’s when I got introduced to you and I’m like this man is crazy with the harmonics and everything. How is it that you coming from Massachusetts, ended up hooking up with Rick Ross that’s from Miami, how did that happen?
Masspike Miles: He actually came here on a promo run to the radio station for the “Trilla” campaign just trying to get his “Trilla” album intact. So he has been doing his run and we connected when he came here. And when I got up with the homie I figured I need that feature, my money was right, my brown paper bag was intact, so I made sure he was good. We did a feature and when we were done homie said “let’s shoot a video.” I took it serious not knowing that’s industry talk, but I still made it happen because I am persistent. I shot a video homie seen the professionalism I got it placed on MTV Jams and MTV hits and different stations like that. He was like “dam homie is really on his game young dude take his career serious” so I felt it was only right. What I was trying to do was brand myself off of his brand so I was like its only right he has a movement going on. I’m a boss but sometimes you got to step down and make a movement happen, so that’s what I did I said homie is a real dude I’m going to make a movement with him.
Hollywood: Definitely, definitely, definitely. Now leading up to when you had joined Maybach Music, where you doing the producing thing as well or is that something you have recently been doing? How long have you been producing for?
Masspike Miles: I have been producing for just as long as I have been singing. I always had a MPC, I come from that school MPC’s, SP 1200’s them was my equipment, stride and motive. I been producing for years and years. Under Masspike Miles, I had singes out under Sony Records producing my homie Smoke Boulders from Boston which is my artist as well under Life 4 Life. Producing and writing has always been my forte, singing and being in the forefront, being on stage never really liked that type of attention, I just like being the little cool smooth nigga in the back making a movie and that’s it. I didn’t really want that limelight but sometimes you have to stand firm. Me being one of the heads of my teams, you have to lead my example so I just had to step to the fore front due to the fact that I can sing and do stuff that people in my crew couldn’t do.
Hollywood: Definitely feel you on that. Now of course you been coming out with some videos here and there this year, some joints of your own showing that you can hold your own. What projects are you working on right now?
Masspike Miles: Right now I am just preparing for the future. I just dropped a brand new mixtape call “The Pursuit of Happiness 1.5 the Revision” which is actually a re-blast of the old mixtape “The Pursuit” with 7 or 8 new records. We got all features from different famous multi-selling platinum artist so I put that out. I’m pretty much going to chill for the year as far as mixtapes go. I’m going to really get into these videos. I got a new video dropping with Ross, a new video with Yo Gotti coming out, new video with Shawty Lo coming out, new video with Smoke Boulders coming out, I got like 6 or 7 videos that are just ready to blast off, some for viral, some for MTV.
Hollywood: As an artist what would you say is the imprint you are trying to leave in the game? When Masspike Miles is gone what do you want people to remember you as?
Masspike Miles: A person who loves music, a person who respected music, and still respects it and always will. Music is my life, I know nothing else. So I want them to respect me for my music and that fact that I am a true music lover. I was brought up on jazz music, my influences were instrumental music so my ears are totally different from let’s say somebody that was born today and listening to music for the next 20 years. Depending on their surroundings and situation my ear is probably a lot different because I was brought up in a different situation.
Hollywood: Definitely, definitely, definitely. Now of course hailing from Massachusetts we got the homeboy Termanology whose dropping his album, what is your relationship like with Term and the other artist from Boston
Masspike Miles: It’s all love we are unified in Massachusetts and Termanology is the homie defiantly holding Lawrence down, he’s from northern Massachusetts, I’m from southern Massachusetts which is Boston Roxbury. He has been holding down northern New England, New Hampshire for years. He is always holding it down, I got nothing but love for Term and everybody out in Lawrence and everybody apart of the ST. Click. As far as Boston goes we all unified, this is out city, weither it be Smoke Bulga, Rock Dukati, Rushya, Fast Life, Millyz that’s our circle we all run together. There isn’t really too much that can come through the city without us being informed on what’s going on so it’s pretty much unified.
Hollywood: Definitely, definitely, feel you on that. Now of course you fall in to the category of what would be considered “The Class of 09’ ”, of course XXL came out with their joint last year for “The Class of 08’ ” , if they were to select you who do you see joining you as well on the cover of that issue for “The Class of 09’ ”?
Masspike Miles: If they were I think that’s farfetched, but if they do that would be dope If they selected me I would be ecstatic. I’ve never won nothing, I might have won a case and it might have got dismissed I ain’t won it, so at the end of the day if they gave me something like that I can only thank God. I worked a long time to get to this point, see I have always learned not to expect things before they come, so at the end of the day when it comes to something like that, when it comes I will be excited, I’ll thank God, kiss the floor like finally somebody recognizes something that I am doing, I just can’t believe it because I been a fan of XXL for years. If they did something like that for me, cool. I think if I were to choose the cover right now I would choose: Drake, Wale, Kid Cudi, Lady Gaga, Nipsey Hussle without a question.
Hollywood: No doubt. So what else is Masspike Miles working on right now that the people can expect, and where can people follow up on anything that’s going on in the world of Masspike Miles?
Masspike Miles: My album is coming soon “The Struggle” be on the lookout for that probably late sometime next year. Make sure you hit me up on MySpace and Twitter everything is MasspikeMiles (http://www.twitter.com/masspikemiles / http://www.myspace.com/masspikemiles ) just be on the lookout for me I am more of a person whose shows I don’t really like to talk too much. I was raised by a O.G from Missouri, that’s the “Show Me” state so I can only show you I can tell you, that’s why I give you so many videos, that’s why I give you so much music because I am better off showing you then telling you. I’m not here to pitch you nothing, I just want you to respect my music. All I can say to the people is sit back, pay a little attention to me, play my joints sometimes, listen to the harmony sometimes, and hopefully you can grow attached to me until you can say “it’s time to put out that struggle, it’s time to put out your album miles” because it’s the people that’s going to let me know my album is ready to come out.
