TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Charles Hamilton
"Smoking Sessions With..." By TSSCrew on July 3, 2008 at 6:31 pmWords By David D.
Charles Hamilton is 20 years old but experienced and battle-tested beyond his years. He’s come from being homeless in the streets of Harlem to having his own deal with Interscope that includes him running his own record label. Though the MC had a considerable buzz with his two mixtapes, Crash Landed and Outside Looking, he really garnered the most attention when the home video surfaced of him, Kanye and Game in a cipher. The video led to a lot of people asking:
“Who’s that little guy?”
That question is about to be answered. Charles Hamilton is a lyrical tour de force that stuffs each bar with emotional honesty. He doesn’t limit his candor to wax either. His blog (Iamnotcharleshamilton.com) is infused with honest diary entries that do not pull any punches. Luckily for us, this he approaches his interview with The Smoking Section with the same sincerity. Charles Hamilton responds frankly to a bevy of topics including his thoughts on what the Nas album could have been, mixtape rappers, his girlfriend and what was really going on during that landmark freestyle.
Charles Hamilton: Hello?
TSS: Hey, what’s up man? How you doing?
Charles Hamilton: I’m alright, you?
TSS: I’m doing pretty good. Where are you right now?
Charles Hamilton: I’m down here on 35th [NYC]
TSS: What you got going on?
Charles Hamilton: Ahhh a lot. I’m working on these mixtapes. The thing with these mixtapes - I consider mixtapes as a way for a nigga to just spit on every beat. I don’t do mixtapes in that fashion. I look at them as actually albums, developing concepts from track one to track whatever. So it’s like a story being told. Something along the lines of The Love Below or The Cool. Just stories. And they all kind of lead up to the album. Just preparing me for what I do with albums.
TSS: So what exactly is the message you putting out with these mixtapes because you got like four mixtapes or something coming out, right?
Charles Hamilton: Yea, I think it’s five. I gotta check my blog. I think it’s five.
TSS: The one, Death Of The Mixtape Rapper, is really interesting to me.
Charles Hamilton: Yea, I might get in a little trouble for this mixtape too. Basically I feel like any rapper that is comfortable with being called a “mixtape rapper” should be dead ass just a mixtape rapper. Not like shot dead in cold blood, but dead in the metaphorical sense cuz that shouldn’t exist. I feel like if you categorize yourself as somebody who has no other choice but to put out half-structured songs on other people’s beats then you’re not stretching out your lyrical capabilities. Like 50, he’ll get on another rapper’s beats and do what he does. But the whole “Milli” thing - that’s why I sarcastically got on the “Milli” beat cuz everyone else was doing it. And I was really being sarcastic with it because everyone was going to show how nice they were and I just wanted to show everyone how, like, ridiculous it is for a musician- I don’t even consider myself a rapper I consider myself a musician because I actually play instruments like guitar, bass, drum, other stuff - so being on the “Milli” beat doesn’t test me musically.
Making a mixtape with other people’s beats doesn’t test me musically. It’s not really rapping to me. It’s blogging to me. Writing a 16 to a beat, I’m just writing a blog entry and saying it rhythmically. To be put into the mixtape category or the hipster category, which I hate the most. I’ll rap on the “Milli” beat or just do random shit and that’s all classified as “Death of the Mixtape Rapper” because after that mixtape I wanna see mixtape rappers like Papoose, Jada, and Cassidy come up with fully structured songs. Have your mixtape be on a level of an album so when it’s album time you have a set product.
TSS: Yea, for instance you do play the piano for a second on one of those tracks from Outside Looking In?
Charles Hamilton: Honestly I wanna see more musicians make mixtapes. I wanna see Wynton Marsalis do a mixtape over an Outkast beat. Just play the horns. Honestly I wanna let the world know that I’m a rapper first. You don’t wanna come out doing too many things because otherwise you come out looking like a weirdo. Like “who is this nigga think he can do everything?” So I try to let the world know I exist by doing that thing to let people know I’m a musician to the heart. I want to explore that creatively. I want to go out as far left as I can without losing people. Like when Common did Electric Circus, people didn’t know how to receive that album. That was his best musical album to date. I love Be but I think cats like Q-Tip, Common - even Nas when he brought out Olu Dara - are ill because they bring out musicianship in an art form where the lyrics are the instrument. Broaden your horizons try new things. Like Ne-Yo on the “Milli” beat was refreshing. You ain’t hear Jay-Z on the fucking “Go On Girl” beat, ya feel me? I wanna hear the craziest possible projects.
TSS: So that’s where you trying to go with the album? As far left as possible?
Charles Hamilton: The album is done. I don’t wanna talk too much about it, though. I’m really really excited about it, but when it’s album time, you’re gonna know because I can’t stop talking about it. There are a lot of technicalities so I don’t want to say it’s one thing and then have to pull back. I don’t wanna get people too hyped up about something I honestly think is groundbreaking. I don’t wanna sound cocky but I don’t want to taint it by talking about it too much.
TSS: Well people already hyping you up in the way you’re avoiding with the album. You feel any pressure from that?
Charles Hamilton: Naw, because see people didn’t necessarily think DMX was the best lyricist but you felt him. And doing these mixtapes, I’m showing you the creativity and everything. Like before I had the deal I had a bunch of songs, like the numbers were in the four digits, no bullshit. And since the deal, the number has skyrocketed cuz now I have unlimited studio time. I just pretty much told them when I got the deal: “I don’t give a fuck about nothing else. Just lock me in the studio with a bucket in the corner and a window to throw it out of.”
At the end of the day, when I tell people “I’m on album creativity mode,” I’m digging into myself and I’m making sure you’re feeling what I went through, what I see, what I don’t see, what I understand and what I don’t understand. With mixtapes, people think they know me from Crash Landing and Outside Looking In. Little do people know that none of that shit is new music. The 9th Wonder joint is the most new song. All of that shit is from 2006-2007. All the criticism I’ve been getting, I’ve already factored it in. Niggas is gonna say I sound like this on this song. People gonna flip out with the Lupe line. People gonna think I’m coming at him. They gonna think I’m trying to be Wayne. As soon as the song is being bounced on Pro Tools I already know what a person is gonna say.
Only thing I was upset about was that those two mixtapes didn’t tell a story. They were just two good mixtapes. So now with the projects I’m working on I wanna let people know that yes, I can structure shit. With my albums, cuz there are more than one albums done, you’re gonna understand me. It’s gonna be a point where even if you don’t like the music, there’s not one song you can listen to where you can’t say I understand where this nigga coming from.
TSS: I gotcha
Charles Hamilton: Because honestly I can’t say I don’t make commercial, pop records. I can, because that’s fun. There’s an art to making pop commercial records. Whereas some niggas are like “I hate commercial records.” No, you have to have talent to make records that can cross over. So if you don’t like when a nigga has talent you can kick rocks my nigga cuz I will gladly work with Benny Benassi from overseas. And I love Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and I wanted to work with Nicole Scherzinger. That’s not a problem. I can go from genre to genre because you have to be in tune with music to be able to do it. And if a nigga tells you to do it? Like that new Nas record with Keri Hilton ; I fucks with Nas. I’m a big Nas fan. It just didn’t feel like Nas wanted to do that record.
TSS: Yea, I definitely agree.
Charles Hamilton: And that’s not a Nas diss. Please put in that part where I say that’s not a Nas diss (laughs). I’m a huge Nas fan. You can feel Nas had a certain rage in him when he was recording Nigger. He was so proud of it, and now you hear “Hero” and it’s like you know what the album was when it was supposed to come out. I guess that’s why he did the Nigger mixtape. That sort of doused fire is not what I’m trying to hear.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it whether I get a million Grammy’s - which my goal in this industry is to get a Grammy. If they try to make me an artist or try to make me do music I don’t wanna do I will give everything back and I’m back to the street. If that means I lose my girlfriend cuz she doesn’t want a poor nigga. If it means that all these niggas around me don’t care. If it means that all the love I’m being shown is fake then fuck everybody. Cuz I’m doing what keeps me sane. And if people like it then God bless them. But I’m not compromising who I am because it took me way too long to figure out who I am. And I’m 20 years old and comfortable saying I am Charles Hamilton.
TSS: Is that why you stuck with the government to show that that’s who you are? Because I’ve been telling people about this Charles Hamilton dude and they ask me if you sing R&B.
Charles Hamilton: Naw, naw and no I’m not related to Anthony Hamilton (laughs). Only relations are MC Lyte and the boxer Michael Moore. Other than that, naw. The reason I chose my government name is that nobody has the name Charles Hamilton. Like niggas can say they the King of New York. Like right now, I’ll say the King of New York is…mmmmmm…well Jay-Z on some other shit but whoever the King of New York is right now, they’re not Charles Hamilton. And I’m from Harlem. End of story. And even if another nigga says “I’m the real Charles Hamilton,” you’re not Charles Hamilton because I’m Charles Hamilton. And you can’t tell me what I went through to stand on my two feet and say that I’m Charles Hamilton.
TSS: Right!
Charles Hamilton: So my name is a middle finger to everyone else’s name. Like “Yea, I’m Charles Hamilton. Na na na na naaaaa!!!”
TSS: (Laughs)
Charles Hamilton: That’s kind of like the concept between me and Cory Gunz song too. It’s like “Yea nigga I’m Peter Gunz’ son. Na na na na naaaaa! I’m Charles Hamilton. Na na na na naaaaaaa!” For a little bit of time I lived in the Bronx with my mom and Cory Gunz would go from high school to high school and we knew each other for a minute. He was battling niggas. By the time he got to the high school I was at, I had got kicked out of the high school. It was a lot of hype around that battle. It was about to go down. We met again in the studio with Green Lantern and just knocked that record out.
TSS: It’s taken Gunz a long time to get his album out. He’s been doing mixtape after mixtape. Has watching that put you on to the game a little bit?
Charles Hamilton: No, but him and Green Lantern said some shit to me. Honestly the last four days is when I realized how much of a buzz I have. Dead-ass. They put me on the game. They said that now that you’re in the game, you’re opinion now becomes public record. So right now if I said - let me pick a random rapper. If I said “Plies can eat a dick” and you publish that, it’s over. Niggas gonna think I got beef with Plies. The way Ice-T said Soulja Boy could eat a dick, he had an intelligent rationale but Soulja Boy was also given a forum to OD on a nigga. Right? But if I say the worst rapper alive is Shawty Lo and I dead ass give you about 8 or 9 reasons why, it’d be true shit but now he’s tight because I just called him out because I just gave him a resurrection to his career.
Honestly, I’m not a Shawty Lo fan at all. No matter how I feel about him, that’s my opinion and a nigga can get tight with me for my opinion and now I got beef with a nigga from Atlanta who might tell niggas from Atlanta not to fuck with me. Now I got a whole region of niggas not buying my record. At the same time I don’t fuck with nobody cuz none of these niggas was my friend before and none of these niggas are my friend now. I have a very small circle. So honestly I don’t give a fuck how he feel about my opinion. I just gotta be smart about it.
TSS: I see that same attitude on your blog because you’re very honest and open in a way that artists don’t usually expose themselves to. You talk about your girl, court dates and all that. You think you can keep that up as your success escalates?
Charles Hamilton: Hell yea, because the more success I get the more shit I get to write about. Like today I can’t wait to write about me and my girl’s argument. I’m not blasting my girl. Me and my girl gonna be together for a minute. But I’m tight because there’s a strain on my time right now. The strain on my time causes me to get little mind slips. Sometimes I get too tired to call her. But she dead-ass - and I’m not saying this to Black- but she dead-ass doesn’t have much of a life. She graduated college in the summertime and she doesn’t know what to do next. It’s hard to maintain a relationship when you’re out and about and your girl is dead-ass at home but not at your house. We’re gonna move in together but it’s dead-ass difficult. Whereas I’m just now getting used to living on my own and not being homeless, she’s dead tired of living comfortably at a house. The moral of the story is that there has to be an emotional common ground. All she wants to do is spend time with me. All I wanna do is spend time with her. But I’m Charles Hamilton. I can’t do that. And it hurts. That dead-ass does hurt. Finding true love is more important than being financially stable. But imagine trying to find financial stability while being in true love.
TSS: I can imagine. That sounds real tough.
Charles Hamilton: It’s crazy
TSS: Do you see her pretty often or are you traveling too much for that?
Charles Hamilton: I’m trying. We’re trying to see each other as much as we can. Like when I’m in the studio, she feels like she’s in the way. I’m like “babe, you’re not in the way. Trust me.” She caters to me so much that she’s kind of like the girl in Coming To America, like “I do whatever you liiiiike” chick. But it’s not on some superficial shit. We both earned our stripes with each other. Because after my previous relationship I had to learn how to trust again. And I trust her. I wasn’t going to date her at first. We were gonna be just friends with benefits. But she convinced me how good love is. I had given up on the shit, like “fuck it. When I get in the industry, I’m gonna fuck my industry bitches and call it a night. I don’t wanna talk to none of ya’ll. Fuck ya’ll.” But I opened my heart again and I’m glad I did. But it’s frustrating that now I did, I gotta deal with so much politics that can keep me away from her.
TSS: Definitely good luck with that, because it’s tough to keep em’.
Charles Hamilton: Yea, I’m getting used to it.
TSS: You kind of popped on the scene with the freestyle with The Game and Kanye. Where did that come from?
Charles Hamilton: Here’s what happened: Me and Kanye were in the studio in L.A. We were talking, you know, shooting the breeze. Game comes out of nowhere. I’m not really a Game fan. He’s cool. I’m more of a G-Unit fan. He comes out of nowhere and him and Kanye are talking about some cipher they had outside of Niketown. And I was like “what’s good with a cipher right now, nigga?!” So then we started spittin’. It was going on for, I swear to God, an hour before the camera even came in. So by the time ya’ll niggas saw me rappin, at this point I had gotten all the “ooo’s” and “ahh’s” and Kanye had said some iller shit before that. And Game said some…Game shit before that.
So when she came with the camera I was like “fuck it” I already proved my point to the niggas in here so I’m just gonna start throwing words around. I was just having fun. It was a blast to kick it with them niggas. They helped me get my buzz up. Me and Kanye had a joke like “Album of the year next year, you’re gonna have some comp nigga.” He laughed like “Good, I’m glad there’s somebody as passionate as me.” Kanye heard some of the album.
TSS: What he say about it?
Charles Hamilton: To tell the truth, Kanye and I are cool and at the same time we are also now competition. I know he won’t say it was the craziest shit on earth but I know he’ll give me my props.
TSS: So what was the hottest line in the cipher?
Charles Hamilton: Niggas ain’t catch how I blacked on Game. I said “15 minutes of fame/nigga ya hour’s up” because he did that 300 bar freestyle. And Kanye said “this nigga talk about cars but he got the same one/me?/I got the movie shit, Batman, James Bond.” Then The Game was talking about “something, something, something share my drama/Kanye…something-something, so we can share my mamma.” I don’t know. Actually I wasn’t paying much attention to Game.
TSS: You just ain’t feeling him? I know that’s not what Interscope tells you to say.
Charles Hamilton: Ok, I mean, for Interscope’s sake: “yea that Aston Martin poppin it’s own collar line was kinda hot.” I don’t care if fucking…who do I absolutely not like as a rapper? If there’s a rapper I just don’t like I won’t big him up just because he’s on my label. I’m on Interscope. I’m not Interscope’s mascot. I’m not gonna shit on him. We’re not gonna have inter-label beef. At the same time, do your thing, man. There are just some things I don’t like about a lot of artists and I will verbalize that much to the dismay of the administration. I’m learning how to not say too much but make sure my point is clear. I just wasn’t paying too much attention. I will say this though: at the end of the cipher we all gave each other pounds and it was all love. I think that was a key moment in Hip-Hop. There was kind of some tension there. You could say we were taking jabs at each other. That’s a fair assessment.
TSS: Well it seemed to be all in fun which is good. And good to see freestyling which you really do. I’ve seen you do a couple freestyles on the radio. Usually when people do freestyles on the radio, they do 16s from their albums but you do freestyles right off the top for 6-7 minutes. Why do you take that approach?
Charles Hamilton: First of all, I don’t think it’s fair to spit a written. Second, I love freestyling because I love hearing on the blogs that I suck freestyling and that people can freestyle better than me. Little do people know, I go light on radio stuff. I dead-ass have fun. That’s laughter. I’m joking. It’s part of the interview. I’m just chatting with people. It’s like “Brooklyn Girls,” a song that everyone says it hot, it was a freestyle off the top of the head. The entire song. I get a kick out of criticism. At the same time I get tight. When I get tight, I write. And when I write people are like, “he’s alright. I like this kid.” I told DJ Skee this when I was in L.A.: No one is going to understand what I’m saying. The reason why this mixtape is called Crash Landing is because I crash landed and I skee’d my way through the industry. People think I’m saying “skeeting.” Noooo. S-k-e-e-d. People are always like “why he always talking about skeeting?” Stupid. Because DJ Skee is my official DJ. Whenever you hear me talking about “Skeeing” that’s what I’m talking about. Unless I’m actually talking about skeeting on a chick and you’ll know the difference.
TSS: Yea, like the line about spraying it like graffiti in a chick face…
Charles Hamilton: I mean, I know what I’m saying so it’s not like I’m dumbing out when I’m freestyling because I’m trying make it like people feel like I’m talking to them. There’s multiple meanings so that’s why I have to take little breaks. That’s why I laugh. When I laugh I’m like ” I wonder if people know what I’m going to say next.”
TSS: So before I let you go, I gotta know -Pink Polos and Sonic the Hedgehog. What’s up?
Charles Hamilton: I’m glad you asked me this because niggas on they blog shit talking wild wreckless. Alright. The color pink is the color of life because Pink is the inside of a mother’s womb and God is a woman. And it takes a man to enter a woman in order to create life. Therefore life goes into a circle like a Sonic the Hedgehog. And Sonic the Hedgehog is basically the way I look at life. Because Hedgehogs burry themselves in the ground. Sonic means sound. So I bury myself in the music. I don’t do much but music. People laugh and think that’s a gimmick. That’s mad personal for me. That’s not a joke. It’s my way into sanity. I compare it to Linus and his blanket. As far as my pink Polo, I was on the streets of New York. On the 3 train. Homeless. Nowhere to go in a big ass grey Old Navy coat and a Pink Polo under it. And that was my wonderful pink Polo because when I would go to labels and have meetings with them, I would have a Polo on and look presentable even though I didn’t have no deodorant and didn’t shower for a few days or few weeks. My lawyer was wild dressed up and they looking at me like “He’s humble. He’s a great guy” but I know they’re like “who’s this dirty nigga you brought to our office? He got good music but he’s dirty!”
That was my shirt and tie when I would go to these meetings instead of these niggas with chains and shit. I had a pink Polo. People are like “you think you Cam?” No! I just saw Jim Jones and he was like “You still in your pink shit my nigga?” I was like yea you already know. He gave me a pound like “I respect that.” Niggas know I been on my pink shit for a while. I’m not gonna say Cam got the pink shit from me but I will say I was in my freshman year in Rice wearing a pink dress shirt and Rice is on 124th in Harlem and I’m from Harlem. I was born in Cleveland but I’ve spend most of my life in Harlem. Niggas know Charles Hamilton is pink. Ain’t nothing more than that being a real philosophical color with a lot of personal meaning to it and I wish a nigga would say something about it because I’ll probably pipe his girl.
TSS: I gotcha man. Anything else you wanna say before you head out?
Charles Hamilton: Dreams do come true and keep your hate to yourself because I don’t hate.
TSS: Thanks a lot man. Good talking to ya.
Charles Hamilton: O.K. Be Cool.
Check for more from Charles Hamilton at www.iamnotcharleshamilton.com and you can get a taste of the mixtape Outside Looking at www.myspace.com/hamiltonsmusic.
Previously Posted — Charles Hamilton - OnDaSpot Freestyle Parts 1 & 2 | DJ Green Lantern Presents Charles Hamilton: Outside Looking
Posted in "Smoking Sessions With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL — Tags: Cam'ron, Charles Hamilton, DJ Green Latern, Kanye West, Mixtape, Outside Looking, The Game
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figured this was comin with the amount of shine this cats been receiving on here….
D12 & Royce Da 5′9″
Reunion Concert
DON’T MISS IT!
Sat, Jul 12th @ 9:00 PM
Saint Andrews Hall
Detroit, MI
Get Tickets At Any Ticketmaster Location, Online (click here) or call 866-448-7849
Capitalize On The Show!
Get Bizarre of D12 On Your Song!
Bizzy Is Available For Guest Spots
Call “Omari” @ 313-525-7078
Styles P. - Ghost feat. Pharrell (05′) http://tinyurl.com/4ovngx
not a big styles p fan but this song is decent.
Nice…
Harlem stand up!!
Charles Hamilton is part of the new breed of MC’s that are creating their own lane, as opposed to just following the blueprint. The fact that He’s nice is almost an afterthought. Bout to read the interview, but I just had to throw that out there. I’m co-signin’ buddy. Wale & Hamilton? Interscope must be seeing where this is heading…
Nerd Hop > Swag Rap
And oh yeah…TSS IS Major! On the frontlines of freshness!
http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKE-SB-DUNK-JORDAN-AIR-FORCE-1-AF1-250-PAIR-COLLECTION_W0QQitemZ170234015378QQihZ007QQcategoryZ63850QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247
yall seen the new wall-E movie? its aight, but the Wit-E version is much betta.
http://i25.tinypic.com/r94emb.jpg
Big Ups to Charles Hamilton
U-N-I “Soul Hop” Video coming soon
The new G-Unit’s Terminate on Sight (their first since Beg for Mercy) is expected to finish around 110k in the first week.
maybe its just me…
but is anyone else FED UP with the overdose of SWAG RAP from EVERYONE lately…
i understand its been a mainstay of hop-hop for a while, but i can only take it in small doses. and it seems like some of the greats (i.e. redman) just did it a whole lot better. Even swag rap has been dumbed down.
its seems like alot of these new cats are talented as far as wordplay goes, but only if its boasting
id like to see the lyrical skills of alot of these cats over some actual concept matter (experiences, beliefs, etc.)
ALSO, JUST BECAUSE YOU RHYME BRAGGADOCIOUS OR DRUG RELATED STATEMENTS DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN ‘EMCEE’
how did KRS-One say it??
‘rappers spit lines that are mostly illegal,
emcees spit lines that uplift theie ppl’ (c) Classic
AT LEAST SELL SOME FUCKIN RECORDS BEFORE YOU BRAG! its one thing for Jay-Z to boast. Its a different ballgame for Cory Gunz.
*steps down*
*inserts headphones*
*music/artists/joebudden/moodmuzik3/longwaytogo.mp3
*goes along for the ride*
I’m feelin dude, still gotta listen to more of his work but…
“I wanna see mixtape rappers like Papoose, Jada, and Cassidy come up with fully structured songs. Have your mixtape be on a level of an album so when it’s album time you have a set product.”
…the fuck? take jada off that list right now. i’d take “champ is here” over a lot of other peoples albums…and half those tracks were recycled beats…
Swag rap is right.
I ain’t seen an ego on a youngin’ like this since Ye dropped Thru The Wire.
He makes good points. The notion of Wynton doing a mixtape is kinda funny, but interesting. Then again who bought Marsalis’ Music Evolution–a highly slept-on release where he was mixing jazz with beats and rhymes? nobody.
still…
“But I’m not compromising who I am because it took me way too long to figure out who I am. And I’m 20 years old and comfortable saying I am Charles Hamilton.”
Kid call me when you’re 45 and tell me it took you too long to figure out who you are.
Youth ain’t wasted on the young, but perspective and humility is.
I wish him well. Hope the album lives up to his any everyone else’s expectations.
overconfidence is an easy way to set urself up for failure
That would be a banging mixtape cover E. Haha. Do a Hancock one.
This dude talk a lot man. Geez.
@ Black Canseco
I was just about to say the same thing!
Don’t let this kid blow up. His ego combined with His honesty…We may have another Kanye on our hands.
I love the unspoken jabs at Game, even though I like Dude. The balls of this kid to think He can imply that He’s not feeling an established artist that’s sold millions of units…who does this kid think He is?
Charles Hamilton is gettin love on the internet but lots of cats are gettin internet love, doesnt mean its going to translate to much more than that.
Seems he thinks hes makin way more noise than he really is. Brooklyn Girl is a really nice track but didn’t hear one car around Ny bumpin that track or any other track by him, no bootleggers sellin his mixtapes, no mention or presence of him anywhere really but on the internet.
When he started sounding like his opinion on this or that would matter much, he kinda lost me. I think he could straight up say Shawty Lo sucks and no one would care much, not even Shawty Lo. I feel he could say anyone he wants sucks and it wouldn’t be talked about anywhere but on the same internet sites who pay attention to him now.
wtf is up with him sayin “dead-ass” so much
I take it this interview hasn’t endeared young Charles to the innernuts lol…oh well, at least His music is dope.
Nina ain’t lyin either…
the kid is waaaaaaaaaay too long winded. i couldnt read the entire interview.
A by-product of wack emcees: Words like “dead-ass” as adjective, adverb, pro-noun…
AMPGEEZ–i hear you bruh. kid might end up like Corey Gunz–never blowing up beyond the internet. Which isn’t a good or bad thing depending on your goals.
I just wish cats would learn the craft before they start chasing shine.
It’s like if i drop a joint on YouTube on Saturday and it’s me on a cam-phone screaming lines from my notebook, Sunday I can wake up and say I’m in the game, too.
The process is just shot.
Anybody else notice Dre recycled the same drums from “30 Something” on that new Bishop Lamont joint?
what’s good with some links to the mixtapes? i mean i know we don’t usually leak people’s shit on their smoke sessions post but they’re mixtapes, not albums…i ain’t up on dude yet, somebody drop me some links like bob evans
*vomit*
LL had an ego this big when he dropped, but L’s shit was MUCH(!!!) fresher.
My lord! SOMEBODY get this lil’ dude a speed bump.
Potential = a fancy french word meaning AIN’T DONE SHIT YET
Dead-ass
Killer Mike - Ghetto Extraordinary (2008):
http://rapidshare.com/files/81261889/Killer_Mike_-_Ghetto_Extraordinary.rar
The process is just shot.
************************
Canseco, you ain’t NEVER lied…
Damn, this is when a little ability, technology, and an overabundance of mixtapes collide.
I mean, damn… and all that name dropping ain’t the business either. He picking beefs like Fiddy w/o the collateral.
Blank checks.
anybody seen this?
http://www.okienoodling.com/film/
i get stuck watchin it everytime its on pbs.
This nigga ain’t bringing nothing new into the game…Jus a nother nigga who can rap…so what…I want some new shit…”swag” rap is played…dead-ass
http://www.celebflix.com/freeview/mp01.htm
disregard that ^^
this is the right link:
http://video.megarotic.com/v/LORIIQF4a92d08601d581de6717946b04c78f5e8
“Wit-E- Says:
overconfidence is an easy way to set urself up for failure”
Exactly what I was thinkin while readin this… I like dude, but you ain’t nice yet guy. I like some of your stuff, but all this swagger rap was done by Kanye 7 years ago. I am checkin for Charles Hamilton though, don’t get it twisted, just tone it down tho lil doot…
Yo this kid is a straight up clown. He’s fairly UNKNOWN, spits in a cipher with fagye and game, they give each other pounds and in his words “it was key moment in hip hop”? Nigga you’re just now getting in the game shut your little pie hole up and GET IN for real first.
Just because you’re on the label doesn’t mean you’re gonna come out - your ass can get dropped like a hoes draws. what a clown. Calling Jadakiss a mixtape rapper this guy is a joke -
Jada is a respected MC in the game and this guy is taking shots at him. can he go bar for bar with kiss?
OMG somebody tell this dude…
HE IS NOT KANYE’S COMPETITION!!!
dude JUST got his first taste of shine like last week
he has NO ALBUM…
and the subliminal shot at Game???
dead ass outta line…
great interview, david d.!
anybody holdin and/or got a workin link to that Invincible - Shapeshifters joint…much appreciation in advance
I’m just getting familiar with dude. He’s cool, in terms of songs, but say what some will about Game, he (Game) has accomplished some things without the latest ringtone trickery, autotune (so far), etc. Hamilton could learn some things from dude.
Mark my words, this is only the beginning for Charles. Will he be on MTV? Perhaps once they find out, but that aint guaranteed. Will he make substantial music w/a fine mix of substance & flair?
Yep.
As for mixtapes, click the link @ the bottom of the post.
“HE IS NOT KANYE’S COMPETITION!!!”
^When he said Kanye wouldn’t say his shit was “the craziest shit on earth” because their competition now that was the funniest shit ever! If his shit was the craziest shit on earth Kanye would be one of the first to tell him.
can anybody explain wtf “swag rap” is? And what will it take to remove it from our lexicon?
LMFAO @ Ninas avatar.
Gotty, as far as will he be on Mtv or not I dont think that even matters. Mtv doesn’t really mean anything anyway. Its about if he can continue to create a buzz louder than the internet, will he continue to release material ppl want to hear, is he someone that ppl will pay to see perform, will his record label actually release his album and if so will it live up to whatever buzz he created that got his album out. Hamilton has a long way to go. I know hes 20 and hes come a long way to get to where hes at now but I think hes oblivious to how much further he really has to go. Thats all. Not hatin on him. I look forward to hearing more from him. I think he definitely has potential but right now thats all he has.
swag rap = bragadocious flow
all rappers do it, some do it justifiably (sp?)
I just wish cats would learn the craft before they start chasing shine.
=======================================
Too late 106 and MTV have deaded that…..” I wanna be Mr. 106 like Bow Wow and retire my video” Then I’m major!!!
We the West!!!
Hootie & 211 - “Throw Ya Sets Up” - http://www.zshare.net/audio/1410531926800489/
wow. I cannot believe how much time has been dedicated to hating. those media execs did not lie when they said everything is digital now. everyone is sitting in front of a computer. doing nothing but hating. this is ridiculous, seriously. I guess people are upset that they’re almost 30 year old asses havent done too much in life. Instead of being so negative, go add something impressive to your resume. go do something productive. Charles Hamilton is amazing. & you probably know it. But haters never admit they were wrong. smh.
Gotty/All,
S.W.A.G. R.A.P.:
Styles Wandering Aimlessly Generates
Redundantly Aggrandizing Prose
Swag Rap is what happens when all pretense and passion for concepts gets kicked to the side and kids start stylin’ on each other for no good reason at all. They don’t even pretend to mask the disaffected ego-trippin’ with materialism, gunplay, and hood parables. The just come straight out with, “I’m doper than dope and here’s 100 bars just cuz i had ‘em layin’ around for dopeness’ sake and only a dope won’t appreciate.”
Charles is the child of Lil Wayne, nephew of Juelz, cousin of Corey Gunz, friend of Kool Kids… Take away the soul loops and kid could pass for Kanye’s play cousin.
Blame Jay for getting his swag ‘n’ dag back before anybody knew what to call it . Hovito might’ve invented SR back when he was bored. (Or maybe Kool Keith did–Lawd knows was/is as self-indulgent as any emcee in history.)
word at Gotty this swag rap shit has to stop
but as far as this dude I cant really fuck with him hes too wierd and condesending lyrically he is nothin special conceptually hes ok his flow and voice or just average he just makes some wierd ass music
at first I wanted to root for him but now I’m not so sure after reading this interview his stock plumited a lot in my book (but thats just my book)
If Wu-Tang had any level of irony and self-deprication in ‘em, they’d be Swag Rap pioneers.
Just listened to some Cool Kids all the way thru… It’s kinda hard to do if you’re over 25, i think.
Sounds like Dipset with an ‘87 fetish.
a wack nigga can only front for so long, soon the truth will come to the light charlie boy
Yea big ups to Hamilton…keep that shit up. Stay outside the box and keep the hating ass niggas talking. If you didn’t have talent they wouldn’t talk about you. “The Excellence” is probably the best mixtape I ever heard.
I liked that interview a lot. It’s crazy how quickly cats jump on an artist for saying shit and having opinions that we all have amongst friends and in forums like this. Half the people that read this site probably never wrote a rap in their life but deem themselves fit to comment on whether Jay-Z came weak lyrically on American Gangster or not. Yet you’ll get mad cause he’s a “new artist” saying he aint feelin Game and Jadakiss can’t write a structured song(which i think is on point). He’s just being honest. Respect to Charles for not coming thru with the usual “no opinion on anything” media trained bullshit.
@ mellowyellow
“I guess people are upset that they’re almost 30 year old asses havent done too much in life.”
Have not even read the interview yet and wow…
Just “wow” at this statement.
-
Nothing against you… and I do not know how old you may be…
But
There are PLENTY of well established folks who not only visit, but comment daily here at TSS (in every imaginable area of ‘work’) and quite a few are very successful.
-
Again, nothing against you but when you get “almost 30,” see how much you have accomplished… how much you still wish to accomplish…
And how much [at "almost 30"]…
You have TIME to accomplish it.
Because “almost 30″ is quite young my fellow visitor.
Word to the wise… ANYONE can succeed.
But I sure would NOT wish upon my worst enemy trying to do it in these times of $5/gallon gas and recession (possibly [be]coming depression).
So if you are not “almost 30.”
And if we do not elect the right leader…
Save what you wrote…
And come back to me when you are “almost 30.”
And tell me what you have accomplished.
And what [possibly] got in the way on your path.
(P.S. Commenting when you have nothing positive to say does not automatically equate to hating. Nor does it equate to being almost 30 and having not yet accomplished much of anything. It equates to having the maturity to not care what others might think, thinking individually, and having an opinion. I doubt the majority is wrong in their assessment here)
Okay…
After having read the interview…
I have nothing bad to say about the cat.
Just two things that stood out to me as no-nos:
1. “And since the deal, the number has skyrocketed cuz now I have unlimited studio time.”
Unlimited does not equal free.
He will learn.
2. “But I’m not compromising who I am because it took me way too long to figure out who I am. And I’m 20 years old and comfortable saying I am Charles Hamilton.”
A “long time to figure out…” who he is – at 20?
Well, to that I have just one reply.
He is 20.
He will learn.
Ahhh…
Dude talks bad about Game in the interview…
But is putting his fist up [to his mouth] during the freestyle like he is feeling all of what he [Game] is/was saying.
So what’s the REAL deal?
(Good thing I do not use my power to start beefs)
^ Aye, if that’s MA, email me lol.
I’m sorry but I’m fuckin w/Charles.
1. We complain about no talent having, “i supposedly sell dope and rap about it” artists. But when the alternative comes, people express “dislike” for that as well.
Charles can actually spit…but I’m guessin most read the interview & haven’t listened to his tape.
2. In order for NYC to come back into the forefront, rap needs artists & personalities like Charles. It needs Mickey Factz. Donny Goines. Sha Stim. APinks. etc. It needs some dudes w/talent, innovation & energy & these young dudes have it. Basically, what we’re witnessing right now is a small part of rap’s history in the making.
i’m cosigning CM as well. sup Gotty!
y’all peeps are funny for the def of SWAG Rap. Classic.
DJ Skee & Charles Hamilton - Crash Landed
Peace zillz.
i’m feelin’ charles hamilton.
not everyone can make tracks like outside, pure imagination, rockstar girls, let it go & november 10th with ridiculous samples (from charlie & the chocolate factory to sonic the hedgehog and a few rock joints) and mix them with hip-hop and actually spit nicely over them in my opinion.
i agree that everyone bitches about all the “money, clothes, hoes & i shot ya” raps but as soon as people drop “different” shit….they complain about that too. do yourself a favor & go out an make something better than both of the mentioned…..
CH is good, so what if he says he ain’t feeling game. Just cuz the nigga sold millions doesnt mean u are going to like his music…
He prolly doesnt like game for the same reason we get tired of so many mememto or imaginitive players…who spit about crime, gang banging etc and don’t do it.
I will admit CH has some fire and then he also has some duds but what artist has ever had grade-A material 100% of the time..none.
I would rather have CH doing numbers than some of the other cats who have NO talent at all and have no flow, range content etc.
Anotha Time,
You Know Who
Ummm, sounded like a cool interview but he lost me with the “pink is like the women’s womb? “Sonic burrys himself and the circle is about life?” Or more like he loves Kayne and since he is 20 yrs old he looks up the Sega Sonic old school generation?”
I rep this dude. He’s something different.
People are so afraid of change, you can measure the hate.
Outside of the box thinking, with opinionated, sometimes against the grain thoughts.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
If you base your opinion on solely this interview WITHOUT even at least skimming the mixtapes, you’re hustling backwards (c) Hov
I’m guessing by all the feelings caught from this interview that he’ll be just fine.
Some of ya’ll are really divisive for no apparent reason.
Concentrating a little too much in these comments.
Thank you Gotty for continuously giving shine.
Some people want gargantuan trees, yet refuse to water seeds.
Glad to see TSS cultivating and innovating.
Great read.
Hey thanks for the love/hate. I understand everyone’s view points, and respect them. One question, since I clearly don’t know how to do interviews. How can I have an opinion without starting beef? With that question in mind, read my blog. I wanna talk to you guys. Let me know how I can be the artist that doesn’t piss you off when you read an interview. Let me know. Click my name to get to my blog.
And by the way, you can find out who you are when you’re 7 years old. Depends on what you went through and how you go through it. Food for thought.
~~Charles Hamilton~~
***beep***
heard CH on shade45 on sirius radio, really honest, down to earth……good change of pace from the usual gangsta shit…..solid interview as usual TSS
As long as this guy continues to put out music worth listening to, I ain’t mad. Opinions are like assholes and it would seem this guy has more assholes than the average human.
I take this guy’s (and most rappers) opinions with a digital grain of salt. I don’t know CH and I have no reservations about his ability to put out quality. I am misunderstood as to why he felt this was the forum to show people how uninteresting he could be — I wasn’t intrigued by his long-windedness that included ramblings about his needy girlfriend. His distaste for Game. I have been amped up by his mixtapes and I was looking to hear more about what he can accomplish musically — once again, because I don’t know CH. He used a great website to say absolutely nothing about what will land him on MTV — his album. Must be one helluva buzz ya got goin’.
“And by the way, you can find out who you are when you’re 7 years old. Depends on what you went through and how you go through it. Food for thought.”
No disrespect but that complete BULLSHIT. If you believe this you obviously need to grow up a little more. Real Food for thought.
At the moment CH hasn’t been on my radar but i’ll try the mixtapes, cause i’m always looking for new (good) music. keep your head up young’un.
like Ice said- this kid can eat a d#*k-
look out for harlem we coming hard http://www.myspace.com/edaneybaby owwwwwwwwwww…
charles u better rep cleveland
Of course I rep Cleveland. I was born there. I’m just Harlem to the heart. That’s where I grew up… lol aight I’m gone…