HipHopRemix sits down with S1 and Myth from Strange Fruit Project to talk about their music, their live show, what music means to them, and who gets all the ladies.
{mosimage}With S1 on the boards, Myone and Myth (and S1) on the mic, the Strange Fruit Project bring ‘that feeling’ back to the soul of the hip hop industry. With an array of soulful and jazz laced tunes this trio from the small town of Waco, Texas has made their mark in the minds and hearts of TRUE hip hop heads around the globe.
URB Magazine put them on their top ‘100’ list but the group has far exceeded everyone’s expectations with the release of their last album “The Healing.” HipHopRemix sits down with S1 and Myth from Strange Fruit Project to talk about their music, their live show, what music means to them, and who gets all the ladies–
Wreck HHR: For those that don’t and should know—can you tell everyone who Strange Fruit Project is and what you are all about?
S1: Strange Fruit Project is a group that consists of two emcees and myself, S1, who produces for the group as well as MCs. As a group we are trying to bring balance to the industry. As far as our sound we have a wide range of music that can’t be put into a specific category. Our message that we are trying to bring always has substance and we try to inspire people and motivate them to overcome whatever obstacles they are going through in their life.
Wreck HHR: Where did the name Strange Fruit Project originate from?
Myth: The name came from the Billie Holiday song from back in the day called “Strange Fruit,” which was from the late 1930’s or something around there. The song was about the lynching in the south and the racial tensions that were going on in that area. That name is just such a powerful name and it represented what we were about—uplifting our people and inspiring people through all the negative tensions going on through our daily lives, and how music is such a powerful tool to use for those exact reasons.
It also comes from us being from the south and us being kind of strange…
Wreck HHR: Coming out of Texas do people automatically think you guys are going to talk about candy paint and grills? Has anyone put you into that category before they have listened to your music?
S1: Not really…I think even just the name alone puts a different tag on the group. We really never get pigeonholed as far as people thinking we are that type of group. When they hear us and dig deeper into the name then they know that we are definitely about something different.
Wreck HHR: In the (good) Texas hip hop scene you got Bavu Blakes, Strange Fruit Project, Mojoe, etc—tell us about the Texas hip hop scene and what are people overlooking?
Myth: That’s a problem we are always facing, man. Trying to get to the fans that there is more to Texas than what is being shown and heard. You got cats like Bavu, K-Otix, us, and a bunch of other cats holding it down but it’s still an un-tapped market. Hopefully, very soon things will blossom for everybody and real Texas hip hop!
Wreck HHR: From the un-signed hype section in The Source with Symbolic Elementz (S1 and Myth) to Strange Fruit Project—how did you guys hook up with Myone and what was your goal as a group?
S1: Me and Myth are cousins so that’s how we formed Symbolic Elementz back in the day. As far as Myone—we actually met at a job that we were both working at and we noticed we had the same similarities and likenesses as far as music. So, I invited him to one of our sessions one day and after that session he would always just want to be at our sessions because he was so enthused and loving what we were doing. So, there came a point where we had an extra space on a song so we were like, “hey, you got something for it?” And he came through with a rhyme and ever since he’s rhymed with us.
As far as the Strange Fruit Project goes—as time went by we recorded more and more material together and we decided to put together an EP. The EP actually turned into an album called “From Devine” and we put it out ourselves. The response was so great we just decided to stick with the group and that’s what brings us here today.
Wreck HHR: Your last release “The Healing” was your most celebrated album to date. What set it apart from “Soul Travellin” and “From Divine?” And why was “The Healing” good for hip hop?
S1: I would say “The Healing” set itself apart because sonically it appealed to more people. It wasn’t just an underground album—the spectrum that it covered was so much broader than “Soul Travellin” and “From Divine.” Also the people that we associated with on the album branched us out to a wider audience from the songs with: Erykah Badu, 9th Wonder, Little Brother, Vitamin D, and Jake One. Working with them not only touched our fans but fans of their work also checked us out.
Myth: Sonically, it was real different because on the first two albums S1 was doing the majority of the production. On “The Healing” S1 did a bulk of it but we also had other producers.
The reason the album was good for hip hop is because right now in the game the industry is flooded with a lot of garbage. This was one of those albums that had substance rather than straight garbage.
Wreck HHR: Myth, who is the dopest lyricist out of the trio and why?
Myth: (Laughing) We never got that question before! I would have to say Myone! He’s the hungry one. He is where me and S1 used to be.
Wreck HHR: S1, who is the biggest pain to work with up in the studio?
S1: I would have to say none of us to be honest. When we are in the studio the chemistry is always just so good. So, I would have to say “LOL” on that one (Laughing).
Wreck HHR: Who’s got the most game when it comes to the ladies?
S1: (Laughing)
Myth: Right now it has got to be Myone, because me and S1 are married so…
S1: Yea, we’re married so we got to pass that one onto him…
Wreck Loose: Ahhh, by default only huh?!
S1: (Laughing) Now, Back in the day! Back in the day…
Myth: (Laughing) Yeah, back in the day that’s different…
Wreck HHR: For all the producers that might be wondering—what equipment do you use, S1?
S1: Right now, I am using Reason. I also use Motif and Roland synth boards.
Wreck Loose: It’s safe to say that the majority of hip hop is stale and saturated, so, what is and what will Strange Fruit Project bring to hip hop fans and the industry?
Myth: We definitely bring consistency! We will never venture too far away from what we do and how we developed our current fan base. We just want to deliver good music! I mean, we may experiment a little bit here and there, but most importantly we want to stay consistent with what we do.
S1: Exactly. We are always going to supply our core fans with what they want to hear but at the same time we will always try to push the envelope to give them something new and fresh every time they listen as well. We want to find a balance between those two aspects and work from there.
Myth: And that’s a difficult balance, dude!
S1: Yea…it really is.
Wreck HHR: Do you feel that independent fans are ‘stuck up’ with their music and that’s why you don’t want to go out of the box so much? Do you ever catch that vibe from fans?
S1: I think it’s all pretty much love. I would definitely have to say the love from the fans overrules the stuck up fans. I mean, you get that vibe at some shows but the love that we get over powers that vibe.
Wreck HHR: What does music mean to you and what does hip hop mean to each of you?
S1: Music means a lot to me because without music just think about how dry the world would be. Everything is music, everything is sound, and it plays a big part of how we function every day. Music is a voice and it gives us that platform to express our voice. Now it can come from a negative and positive perspective—you have some major artists with 5 million people that wait to listen to what you have to say and you can build with that voice or you can destroy with that voice, so, it’s a very powerful thing.
Myth: Hip Hop is also powerful because its a voice from an urban culture perspective. Like S1 said, it is such a powerful platform to be on and us artists just have to use it the right way.
Wreck HHR: What is the best thing about being on stage performing and what is the best thing about a Strange Fruit LIVE show?
S1: The best thing about performing is actually connecting with your fans. To be able to experience the audience enjoying what you are doing, and you can see it on their faces, to see that they are really feeling and loving the music that you are presenting to them is just a beautiful thing. The best thing about a Strange Fruit LIVE performance is we don’t just rap songs in our shows there are always some extra tidbits that we add to our shows. We don’t just want the fans to stand there and listen, we want the fans to get really involved and feel like they are apart of the show as well. We are always bringing something extra to a show rather than just rapping to a beat.
Wreck HHR: What is next on the horizon for Strange Fruit Project—anything we can be on the look out for?
Myth: Actually, while on tour we have been exclusively selling the project we have called “The Lost Documents.” It consists of unreleased materials from our first three albums and some new material also. Then, we got a crew album we will be working on soon. Then of course our new album!
S1: We also just completed shooting our new video for our next single which is “Get Live” featuring Erykah Badu. So, be on the look out for that online on myspace and youtube!
Wreck HHR: Tell everyone why you NEVER mess with Texas!!
Myth: Because Texas does everything BIG!!!
You can check out Strange Fruit Project at the following places:
http://www.myspace.com/strangefruitproject
http://www.om-records.com/
and check out the lost documents record at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/strangefruit5
