Rapsody: A Hip-Hop Golden Child Coming For Her Crown

Rapsody, née Marlanna Evans, is a girl from around the way with a wicked knack for crushing words into carefully modulated bars of quick couplets that’ll have you thinking, “sh*t.” Her voice is old school cool and oozes poetics well beyond her years. But don’t get her tongue tactics twisted, Rapsody isn’t here to save Hip-Hop. “I ain’t the next Miss Hill/ I ain’t the next him or her/ I’m just the one you feel,” spits the North Carolina native, whose sole responsibility is to let her caged words take flight.

On wax, the 26-year-old is a brazen wordsmith with an in-your-face attitude and a cut-crystal twang. But on the other end of the line, Rapsody sounds dulcet and halfway shy, with nothing but honeysuckle syllables to offer in exchange. Something that only further bolsters her prowess on the mic, lending example to the old adage, “it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for.” This Jamla Records signee is a Hip-Hop golden child predestined for greatness and we, for one, are excited to witness her come for her crown.

Hip-Hop Wired: How does the steel sharpens steel mentality apply at Jamla Records?

Rapsody: 9th always said to me ‘You can’t be the hottest person or the most talented person in your crew, because then you are the ceiling. You don’t have anybody to compete with, to help you grow or to help you learn.’ Everybody at Jamla is equally talented, but we’re all growing and only getting better by feeding off of each other.

I put out She Got Game last year, that was the best project to come out of Jamla then. Rated Oakland is now the best project to come out of Jamla, and I’m sure 9th and everyone else feels the same way. When you’re surrounded by artists like that, artists who want to continue to grow and perfect their craft – it’s healthy competition. I learn from GQ, GQ learns from me, and so on. That’s how steel sharpens steel.

—
Photos: Sameer Abdel-Khalek

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Hip-Hop Wired: What’s your relationship like with 9th Wonder?

Rapsody: He’s one of my best friends. 9th and Jamla in general, really. We’re like family. I met him in the fall of 2005. He’s always been the same person – really humble, really laid back. He’s really passionate about the culture and passionate about teaching and helping people learn. I almost have to step back sometimes and be like, ‘Yo, this is 9th Wonder.’ But he’s always made me comfortable around him, from day one. Everybody knows everybody, we all know each other’s families. It’s a really open, fun environment.

As an artist, as far as business goes, he makes it really easy. There’s no coming down on you or being impatient with you because he understands it’s a learning process. On the music tip, the beauty is that he doesn’t box you in. He gives you that room to create and try anything. As long as we keep the communication open, ya know.

Hip-Hop Wired: What has been your biggest accomplishment since your Return of the B-Girl mixtape debut?

Rapsody: Wow, that’s a lot… three years ago! Three years ago, soon. The Time magazine was a dope look. We all know Time magazine is at the top.

Hip-Hop Wired: Has a rapper, or maybe someone you looked up to, ever said anything to you that made you think ‘Ok, I’m doing something right’?

Rapsody: I have to say Nas.

Hip-Hop Wired: O yea? That’s fly.

Rapsody: Nas is one of the greatest. Illmatic is one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time […] We were all at a festival in Minnesota one day – me, 9th, Ab-Soul, Alchemist. Nas had just gotten off stage, and we all headed to the trailer to chill. 9th went ahead and played him something of mine. It was just so unexpected, it caught me so off guard –– Nas came up to me later and asked if we were going to collaborate, if were we going to do something together. I said ‘mannn, anytime, anywhere!’

Hip-Hop Wired: That’s the ill co-sign.

Rapsody: The ill co-sign, just to have someone say that to me and to tell me that I’m something the game really needs. And from a legend. That was big for me.

Hip-Hop Wired: What collaboration has been most significant to you thus far?

Rapsody: The one that always sticks out to me is the one with Big Daddy Kane. That was my first one, my first big collaboration. When we got into the studio, he played something and wanted to know what I thought about it. I was like ‘You want to know what I think? You’re Big Daddy Kane!’ Later on, I rode with 9th when 9th took him back home. 9th got out the car, and me and Big Daddy Kane had a real one-on-one. He was like ‘I want you to know that you are special, that you have something, you have it. There is something really special about you and I don’t want you to forget that, I need you to recognize it, because you’ve got it.’ Yea, that one definitely meant the most, especially at that time in my career. Nobody like that, a legend, says that to you.

Hip-Hop Wired: What’s a dream project, who does it involve?

Rapsody: Jay Z, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. I think those three have the biggest influence on me. I’d add Mos Def in there too. They all have the most influence on the culture as a whole, without a doubt. So Jay Z, Lauryn, Erykah Badu, Mos Def and then 9th and the Soul Council handling the beat –– that would be my dream project.

Hip-Hop Wired: You said you believe in “culture over everything,” expound on that a little bit.

Rapsody: Culture over everything is more or less “for the people, by the people.” Culture is a way of life. It’s our history, it’s the way we talk, it’s the way we dress, it’s not just the music. This is how we see ourselves as a people. That’s why I always wanted to get into music, so I can inspire the people, especially little Black girls. I didn’t get into it to become famous or super rich. You know, I do want to live off of it, but the main goal is to tell these stories, inspire somebody to be great, to do something beyond their dreams. That’s what that means to me.

Hip-Hop Wired: How do you feel about female rappers today?

Rapsody: I think there’s a resurgence happening. But that’s music as a whole. There’s so much music coming from so many different people, from so many different areas, and that’s the beautiful thing about it. I think today everyone is so different. Big K.R.I.T., TDE, Joey Bada$$, Troy Ave, Action Bronson, Vic Mensa, Chance The Rapper. Music is in a great state, or going to be in a much greater state and I think female rappers are very much a part of that movement… myself, Nitty Scott, Ill Camille.

Hip-Hop Wired: How did you react when you found out you didn’t make XXL’s freshman cover?

Rapsody: I found out a month before they announced it. When I found out, I’m not going to lie, I felt some kind of way at first, because I felt like it was a huge snub. With the year that I had, how could I not? But I had to tell myself not to be emotional about it, because at the end of the day it’s still a music business and it’s going to be political. There will always be someone else who “made it” and it might not be because of the art or because of the work or how talented he or she is. That’s just what I had to tell myself. And I also had to remind myself that the goal when I first got into this, the ultimate goal was never to make a XXL cover. It’s to be one of the best artists at the end of the day, to be one of the best artists that ever did it, one of the best lyricists that ever touched the mic. The ultimate goal was always to make great music, put out classic albums and inspire people. So, f*ck it.

Hip-Hop Wired: What are you currently working on?

Rapsody: I’m working on an EP for the early fall, something to hold the fans over while I work on my sophomore album. It’ll be something like a 7-10 track project, something very special. Maybe one or two features, nothing loaded. Not like She Got Game. At the same time, I’ll be working on my second LP, which won’t be out ‘til next year.

Hip-Hop Wired: Any ideas on who you want to feature on the EP?

Rapsody: Yea, I got some ideas. But I can’t say anything yet [laughs].

Hip-Hop Wired: What’s on heavy rotation?

Rapsody: I’m listening to a lot of beats, mostly 9th, Soul Council, Alchemist, Terrace Martin. But I love Schoolboy Q’s “Hoover Street” and that “Studio” joint.

Hip-Hop Wired: Tell me something I don’t know…

Rapsody: I’m a picky ass eater. I don’t do any white sauces, I don’t like seafood, and I don’t eat fried chicken [laughs].