Fearless is the word I am choosing to describe the Washington based rapper called Toxic. Unapologetically original. Get ready to hear something that might raise your standard of what you expect when you listen to rap and hip-hop music.
Some rappers just rap about things-Toxic seems to live and breathe the music he writes. With well over four albums in four years of recording and heaps of single releases, Toxic puts the pro in prolific. If someone who wasn't familiar with Toxic's music asked me to play something for them, I'd tell them to brace themselves and probably make sure they were sitting down when they heard it.
Raw, yet charred. Fast overtones with bass-heavy, booming slow undercurrent. His voice is smoky and harsh but not abrasive or dissonant. Eerie dark and well-mastered, distorted production choices carrying the listener the whole way, it bangs.
Ego? Not really, but confident? Absolutely. He's good at rapping and he knows it, lapping competitors with relentless uploads and expertly mastered songs. Thick vocal layering and top notch features like Lord Saiyan, Mavo, JPEGMAFIA, Sam Ryan, Prince Hyph, BIGBABYGUCCI, Tytuus, and more. Of course there's some epic producer credits to namedrop here as well: Cansino, King Yosef, STILL, Kellbender, Maxx Bett, Prxz, and many more.
Catchy, yet new hooks woven into each line. Not to mention he's a member of DHD (Devil Horns Down) and collaborates with loads of well established underground rappers and professionals. With his entire discography on Soundcloud and with no music videos, he remains fairly mysterious, but in the music scene in the Northwest, he's well known for his performances and death defying delivery of hit and after hit...don't you know this is Toxic?
Where are you from? Where are you now?
I’m not really from anywhere. I was born like 20 minutes outside Portland and kinda just bounced around the PNW my whole life but I live in Tacoma at the moment.
How long have you been publishing your music?
Since like 2014 I think. I’m not sure the years kinda all just blend together at this point.
Which artists have people compared you to? How does it make you feel when people compare you to other artists?
I used to get compared to Da$h and RetcH a lot, not so much anymore. No, I’m not a fan of the feeling it gives me to be compared to another artist, but in the end it just pushes me to be more like myself.
When do you decide a song is finished?
I don’t. I’m usually mixing a song right up until the very last second. If i say a song is dropping at 6PM... It’ll prolly be 6:30.
What was high school like for you?
I dropped out halfway through 10th grade. Sold drugs, got in fights. Regular shit.
How do you connect with your name as Toxic? Is it a play on words (Talk Sick)? a reference to relationships, or drugs even? Care to explain the title?
HAHAHA! No it’s not a play on words, it came from the Brittany Spears song. But as time went on it became a safe space for me to be aggressive and channel some of my more debilitating traits that were probably going to put me in prison if I didn’t find a way to deal with them. So it started as a joke, and kind of grew into my own individual form of therapy I guess.
Almost all of your releases have been through Soundcloud and Youtube. Do you consider yourself a "Soundcloud rapper"? How do you feel about Top 200 artists in Hip-Hop right now?
Crazy you ever even saw anything I’ve put on YouTube, most of it was only available as an accident, it’s all private now. But I just consider myself a guy who makes music. I think it’s not my place to define what type of rapper I am. That’s why i put music out, to see what people think of it...and me sort of. And as far as top 200 music: I don’t really listen to anything that’s not Future, if I’m being honest.
Ever had any crazy fan encounters/stories?
Nah, just other dudes acting super sus to me because of people I’m friends with.
What is the significance of the Didikai fest? How did booking that gig come about?
Didikai has supported me and Tytuus and really all of DHD for the last 2-3 years straight. Naturally, we became close with the brand and Sienna, and now it kind of just feels like a family that is responsible for some of the best memories of my life. Probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Didikai.
You have a huge portfolio of music recordings, how often are you writing and recording?
Literally everyday. I wrote one with (King) Yosef right before this interview.
Do you write your lyrics when you're not listening to beats or recording? Do you even write them down at all?
I try not to write, or to at least be as lucid as possible when I’m making something. I haven’t written a hook down all of 2018
How do you feel about ghostwriters?
I think they’re great. Everything is about context, and if you make the choice to lean heavily on that style of entertainment, I think it becomes inappropriate to make certain claims about yourself, you know? Can’t be the best rapper alive if you’re not even the one writing your best records. Still though, a good song is a good song.
What makes certain producers and rappers easier to work with than others?
2% of rappers are easy to work with... and as far as producers? The answer to that is to pay them.
Are you ever worried about being type cast as negative by anyone?
You have album/mixtape titles like "I Hate Everything," "Chapter black," "Kill me," and most recently "Sorry Mom,"...Can you speak on the inspiration for these projects?
Not at all. People can receive my music however they please, I’m not too worried about anyone’s opinion other than the people I work with.
As far as the inspiration for those projects? I’d rather not speak on it. Like I said people can think what they want. It’s out there if they care that much.
When did DHD first form? Who are the its founding members? What role do you play in the collective?
DHD formed about 2 years ago I wanna say? I’m not necessarily a founding member, I’m pretty sure that title belongs to CATXSCAN and GAUZE. I found everyone through (King) Yosef’s YouTube page back when I was looking for type beats in 2015 and for some reason they decided I wasn’t a weirdo and liked my music as well so I paid for a train ticket for Tytuus to come record with me for a weekend, we made a bunch of songs and he happened to have a show with basically everyone in the Portland scene opening for Chris Travis the following weekend so I said I’d come, he asked if I’d do a song with him, and I unplugged my mic in front a sold out crowd hahahahaha but no one cared cause I was smoking weed with Chris Travis all night so I think they assumed I was his friend, and like 2 days later, I heard they were making a collective and I got asked to be DHD.
How do you feel about police?
Fuck 12.
What’s up with your diet? How does food play a role in your music making process?
I’m a fairly unstable human being and my diet probably has a lot to do with that. I either sit home, eat ding dongs and spicy noodles or I’m over paying for something I’m pretending is healthy. No in between.
What can fans expect from Toxic in the near future?
For things to get better.
For more Toxic content:
Twitter - @MrWeedro
Insta - @mightbetoxic
No comments:
Post a Comment