Who is Marco Polo?

A Hip Hop head who chain smokes and makes beats all day long, then forgets to eat, then orders the “hungry man” breakfast special from the local diner then crashes.

Where are you from?

Toronto, Canada.

“I will not leave my house without…”

- Newports (come on!)

- cell phone (I’m useless without my phone)

- keys (no brainer)

- money (sometimes I don’t have any)

- a lighter (I hate matches)

Think back to when you were 15-16, what album could you not be found
w/o? Who’s posters did you have on your wall?

Gravediggaz “6 Feet Deep”. Possibly the best Hip hop horror core album ever. I use to listen to “1-800-suicide” and smoke mad weed. That was a long ass time ago. LOL.

KRS, Rakim or Big Daddy Kane. Which one and why?

Shit… All of them got to me. Seeing I am a beat man though I’ll go with Krs One’s chemistry with DJ Premier in the 90′s. That’s something that stood out to me. On “Return Of The Boom Bap” and his self-titled album after that Premo was giving him some very serious beats and KRS made all of them shits classics. “Rappers R N Danja”, “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know”, “Outta Here”… Talk about boom bap man. They wrote the book on it. I wish KRS and Preme would do some new shit. But really Kane, Rakim and KRS all haunt me with there greatness to this day. Actually one of those dudes are writing to my beats right now but I can’t say who until it goes down…

Rock does covers & so do r+b artists. If you could pick 1-3 songs to cover, whether you do it good or bad (so that means you can sing) which would you choose & why?

- Patrice Rushen “You Remind Me”. Possibly my favorite song of all time,
would love to get the masters to that session and flip it.

- Marvin Gaye “Got to give it up”. The best party song ever! the drums
and bass in this song are in there own universe, incredible.

- The Beatles – “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”. GANGSTA shit!

- ESG “Moody” – The drummer from ESG was so off time that it was amazing.
I think I might be able to play the drums to a remake of that.

The last album other than your own that moved/motivated you?

The U.N. – “UN or U out”

What artist have you worked with that you almost had a “pinch me” feeling about when it went down?

Large Professor. I learned so much from him, just watching and listening to his music over the years. Legend!

Which artist to you have the best chemistry with @ this point?

Jo Jo Pellegrino and I always make ridiculous shit. Torae and I been working on some hot shit too.

“If I could do a Best Of Both Worlds album, I’d work with ______”. Who & why?

I would work with Amerie. I’ve had the chance to engineer for her right before her first album dropped,

she was mad cool. I love how she rocks over Rich Harrison break-beat type joints and kills it. Plus she’s sexy as hell and slept on.

Okay, drab beat block. how do you get out of a rut? Where do you gain inspiration from?

Man that happens to me all the time. I usually step away from the studio for a day or 2 and go out and be social .then usually I get this itch or hear something that sends me back to the MPC all amped up. Sometimes I just need to go live life for a week or so, refresh my brain. That always does the trick.

What made you decide to go to Rawkus and how strongly do you feel they can get your product out to the masses. I mean you don’t see the “Nostalgia” video as much as say a “Pop, Lock, It Drop It” ya know.

I’m technically signed to Soulspazm Records who has a joint venture with Rawkus for my album. I chose Soulspazm/Rawkus because of my loyalty to Soulspazm and also the fact that Rawkus still holds weight as a brand name that could get my name out there a little more then your typical indie label. I feel like the “Nostalgia” video is doing what its suppose to do. I never expected Rawkus to get it on BET. BET won’t play real shit anyways so fuck em. I’ve had digital music channels hit me up about the video so I know people know about it and want to play it.

What role, if any, does the Internet play in how you market & promote your album, mixtape, videos etc.?

The Internet is more important then ever these days. If your digital game isn’t on point it could mean you losing money as an artist. Cd’s are almost dead. It sucks but that’s the way its going. I’m still angry that vinyl is getting phased out! Online marketing and promo is key. However, I do feel like its some websites are bullshit because they push artists or label’s that are paying there bills so the credibility isn’t there like it use to be. Certain sites used to have a solid group of artists they repped that made sense as a movement but now you can buy a slot up on that bitch, shit like that I don’t fuck with. I wouldn’t pay to be down with no hipster rap shit. But , I do feel advertising on bigger websites is necessary and important because people don’t read as much anymore, more people are online.

When people hear my album, they will….

See how I’m capable of messing with you’re favorite rappers and making them sound the best they can.

From the guests that appear on your album, its no secret you’re partial to the more lyrically inclined MC (or MC period). Do you feel more responsible to give the people some substance than some trendy rap?

I don’t feel responsible for anything. I just make the music I would like to hear and that could be Large Pro killing it on the mic or G Rap telling an ill story or Roc Marciano rapping about Long Island. That’s the shit I want to hear.

Do you see yourself appearing on anybody’s album’s in the future? Since the industry’s been in a recession period, it seems like collaborations aren’t happening as much.

The indie Hip Hop scene has already BEEN in a recession for a long ass time hahaha. But, I do have production on upcoming projects like Large Pro, BCC, Heltah Skeltah, EMC (Masta Ace’s new group) but there’s more cats I would like to work with.

“You’ll know I’ve made it when….”

My damn student loan is paid off.

What was the last book you picked up?

Ego Trips Book Of Rap Lists.

Create your own epitaph. What will your tombstone read?

“R.I.P. The most stubborn son of a bitch ever.”

Haha…And what artist can attest to this fact?

Pumpkinhead, hands down.

The first girl who broke up w/you is reading this. What do you want to say to her?

You fucked up and now you’re probably fat so don’t call me.

Marco’s new album, Port Authority, released this past Tuesday. The album features collaborations with legendary names such as Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Buckshot, Large Professor, Sadat X, O.C., AG, Ju Ju (Beatnuts) Ed O.G. and Kardinal Offishall, with the top up-and-coming lyricists of today including Copywrite, Kenn Starr, Jo Jo Pellegrino, Supastition, Roc Marciano (The U.N.) and J Davey.

Gocopthat.

Download “War” Marco Polo featuring Kardinal Offishal and “Hood Tales” Marco Polo featuring Kool G Rap and DV Alias Khryst.

Marco Polo & Masta Ace – “Nostalgia” Video