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CONTEJOUS INTERVIEW
Conducted by Advo
Contejous we hear you are making some noise in the Nationwide for you
emotional/catchy production, as well as the trademark grittyness. You were
brought to our attention by Tha Advocate!! So lets get this cracking
homie!!
RapCapital.com: Where you reppin?
Contejous: Toronto, Canada.
Sauga City (Mississauga) To Be Exact, Gotta Represent. But Really I Been
Everywhere Man. Lived In London, England For A Minute, Called Chicago,
Illinois My Home For 7 Years, So Im
Really From A lot of Places. Can't Ever Forget Where Your From.
RapCapital.com: Do you think being your out of the states it makes it harder to network and
dive into the Hip Hop scene?
Contejous: To make that step into the scene it is a lot harder for a Canadian artist
to do so. Artists and labels in the U.S. don't look to Canada first when
scouting new talent, they'll look down their own backyards for that. The
Canadian scene is definitely growing though. With the support of other
artists and labels, there are a handful of Canadian artists that could do
big things south of the border as well. Production-wise, that has already
happen, teams like Soundsmith (Fabolous, Young Jeezy, Blue Davinci, Lloyd
Banks) are doing big things and my homie Boi-1da (Nickelus F, Drake,
Cassidy, The Clipse, Jim Jones, Saukrates) has had success in the U.S. so
its not impossible, you just need to work hard at.
In terms of networking I think we're at a slight disadvantage, but not one
big enough for it to be impossible. Music is an international thing, so as
a producer you just let your music speak for itself, and opportunity to
shine will come.
RapCapital.com: What is the difference with hip hop in Canada and U.S.?
Contejous: Hip Hop in Canada is underrated in my opinion. We got some REAL talent up
here, especially the producers. It may be cold up here.. but we got heat on
the beats!
The biggest difference between the two is really the support. In Canada,
Toronto specifically, there is a lot of hate. Toronto is known as the
Screwface Capital, and it really is.
Nobody is supporting anyone else except themselves, while in the US there
is a lot of unity and support from other artists. I learned that as soon as
I met St. Laz. We (Blocktrade Productions) did a couple tracks with Laz and
all of a sudden he's telling everybody he knows about us, shouting us out
in interviews and we had 100's of artists asking for beats just because he
put in a good word and wanted to see us be successful as well. Back in
Canada you don't get that kind of support all of the time and people are
always hating especially when they see someone else getting some shine.
RapCapital.com: How did you get your name Contejous??
Contejous: HAHA. I Gon Have To Expose This Ish! My Real Name is "Tej'. Not pronounced
like Luda's character name in 'Fast & Furious' but pronounced to rhyme
within 'contagious'. So i'm CONTEJOUS.
RapCapital.com: When did you first become introduced to hip-hop?
Contejous: Well music has been around my family for a long time. I started playing the
piano at an early age, played a couple other instruments here and there,
but really my love for music came from my Dad. He was a DJ in college and
he used to play that old soul and funk music when I was growing up. I get a
lot of my samples from the music I heard when I was kid and a lot of my
inspiration comes from that era. Hip Hop was just a natural progression
from that music I heard as a kid.
RapCapital.com: How did you start producing?
Contejous: I've only been producing for about 2 years now and I started producing as a
class project in high school actually. I made some beats in class, started
making heat at home, and got good at it. I met up with Neo Tempus, another
up and coming producer and we formed ILLCity Productions. We worked on a
lot together and put out a mixtape to make some noise. Local artists
started recognizing the talent so we did a bunch of tracks for various
mixtapes around the city. From there we just kept networking, started
getting with bigger artists from the city and eventually into the U.S.
market. Now I got two teams I work with; first is ILLCity Productions and
that's Neo Tempus, True Soul, and myself, and also Blocktrade Productions
which is Diaz, S.West, Neo Tempus, and myself. Both teams are getting
recognition in Canada and some love in the U.S. too. Blocktrade (formerly
SWIS Productions) actually produced St. Laz's smash "Starve The Ghetto" on
his Sweet Dreams mixtape, so that was good exposure for us, but for now we
have some big projects coming including some work on Advocates next mixtape
and album, St. Laz's newest release, and some big projects in Canada as
well. LOOK OUT FOR US.
RapCapital.com: Who’s a better producer dr. dre or dj premier?? Had to throw in something
different lol
Contejous: Haha, well they both have really different sounds so that one's hard. I'd
have to go with Premier though, Premier's range is just so big and his
music is a real inspiration of mine as a producer. Even though Dre has
produced A LOT of hits, and continues too, I think Premier's music is
timeless. I can listen to a joint that Premier produced in the early 90's
for Gangstarr and it'll still be fresh. So Premier on that one for sure.
RapCapital.com: What are your weapons of choice when producing a song?
Contejous: FL Studio 6 (I See You 9th Wonder!), Adobe Audition, an M-Audio Axiom 25
midi controller, and any samples I can get my hands on.
RapCapital.com: What artists are you currently working with?
Contejous: Canada: Jonny Roxx, Rich Kidd, Logik, Mezziah, Khancept, Stack Dough,
Promise.
US: St. Laz, Advocate, and Kooll (ATL)
RapCapital.com: Who would you enjoy to work with?
Contejous: Talib Kweli, first and foremost, he's one of the best lyricists hip hop has
ever had, he's always real in his music, and he has had some crazy
production, so to be added to that list would be nice.
Other than him I’d have to say: Tom Gist, Snyp Life, Montega, Geolani, JD
Era, and Drake to name a few. Really I'm down to work with anyone who's
real with what they say and works hard with their talent.
RapCapital.com: Who are your favourite producers of all time?
Contejous: Just Blaze, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, DJ Premier, RZA, Alchemist, J.Dilla,
and Hi-Tek.
RapCapital.com: What would you say makes you different from the average producer?
Contejous: I don't just make beats, I make music. I try to incorporate REAL music in
my tracks, instead of just chopping some ish up and puttin it together. I'm
a real perfectionist and won't call a beat finished until it is exactly how
I want it. A lot of producers are satisfied with half assed beats, but I
try to put everything I can into a beat.
RapCapital.com: What emcees do you currently listen to?
Contejous: If i'm just chilling, taking a ride in the whip I usually pop in some Talib
Kweli, Mos Def, Little Brother, Common, some older Rocafella stuff, you
know stuff that you can just ride too.
But if i'm out at a club or something I want to hear some T.I., Rick Ross,
Jay Z, Memphis Bleak, Juelz Santana...that stuff that gets you MOVING you
know.
RapCapital.com: what 5 cd's are playing in ya whip right now?
Contejous: Talib Kweli - Beautiful Struggle
Jay Z - The Dynasty Roc La Familia
St. Laz - Sweet Dreams mixtape
JD Era - Blackmarket Vol 2. The Re-Up
Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
RapCapital.com: Whats your ultimate goal in hip hop?
Contejous: To continue to make good music. Success, money, fame, and all that good
stuff will come if I just keep working hard at making real good music.
RapCapital.com: Please plug your sites and what ever you feel in necessary?
Contejous: www.CONTEJOUS.com
That’s my official site. You can also check me on myspace at
www.myspace.com/contejous. Also peep my teams myspace at
www.myspace.com/blocktrade and www.myspace.com/illcityproduction.
contejous@hotmail.com < For Artists Inquiring About Production.
Big ups to: my city (SAUGA CITY STAND UP), ILLCity, Blocktrade Productions,
Blackmarket Gang, H-Cap, Hustle & Flip, 40 Bussa's, Mac-Fam,
www.rapcapital.com, www.hiphopcanada.com, Davenport, T-West, Khancept,
Promise, Kooll, Advocate, St. Laz, Neo Tempus, JY Young, PC, Dream, Scott
Miller, Boi-1da, Steve King, Urquhart, Gops, my girl Sarah, and anybody out
there hustling and doing their thing in this music business.
Peace, Its Contejous, Remember The Name
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