Nino Bless has made a name for himself quickly. However, for those inferring that this Brooklyn native popped up quickly, may have it a bit confused. As a quiet industry hustler, Nino spent the top of the decade doing mixtape distribution and marketing for artists like Chamillionaire, Immortal Technique and Grafh.

Amidst this steady work with a steady income, it was the legendary Kool G Rap that encouraged the longtime "rapper on the side" to go full throttle with his passion. In the several years since, Nino Bless has done just that. Whether rapping, blogging [click to read], or compiling acclaimed mixtapes [click to listen], the emcee "blessed" by G Rap says he refuses to let his godfather down.

HipHopDX: You’ve been in the industry for quite some time, how have you evolved from behind the scenes to the point you’re at today?
Nino Bless: As far as Hip Hop, I was rhyming in the late ‘90s and whatnot. I didn’t have no resources; I didn’t have nobody who could introduce me to Russell Simmons or Puffy or those people. I knew I wanted to be involved in this industry, so I knew I had to create outlets for myself. Basically, I started a street team and I started mixtape distribution. Through that, I met a lot of deejays, a lot of clients and whatnot. Through that, I ended up starting a marketing company called Milestone Media. Once I started doing that, I started building resources and connections. I wasn’t making no money off of rapping; there was no outlet for me to have a career as a rapper, so I just stood in the industry, and I was making money. I was satisfied doing what I was doing, and I was good at it, but eventually, certain things came about.

Me and Kool G Rap [click to read][became close]. He was like, “Look, you need to start focusing on this rap thing.” That eventually led me to pursuing this rap thing full-time. It was kind of hard because I had to balance what I wanted to do music-wise, and pretty much paying my bills through my company. It’s not a rarity; Chamillionaire [click to read] did it. Me and Chamillionaire chopped it up for a few hours one time, and he was telling me that him and Paul Wall used to hang up flyers in Texas, doing a lot of street team stuff, and that’s how he met a lot of different rappers, deejays and people. A lot of artists start off in the industry through other realms.

DX: Was it hard for you to go from paying dues in one arena to starting over in another?
NB: Yeah, definitely. Not every emcee who I had a relationship with took what I was trying to do with open arms. There’s a rapper on every corner. A lot of people who do DVDs or distribution or even show promoters or even Hip Hop writers, they all want to be rappers. [Laughs] A lot of these dudes want to rap in the first place, but they couldn’t do it, whether they didn’t have the flow or the voice or whatever. Once I started stepping it up with my music and taking it more serious, dudes was like, “Oh shit, you really trying to take it there.” A lot of the artists that I was close with, they seen that – especially Kool G Rap. He was the first one to really be like, “Wow. In the beginning, you were a baby with this, now, you’re not only walking, but you’re about to be graduating the first level of class. You’re doing it!” That helped me build that confidence.

DX: On the tape, you say “I’m America’s nightmare, a young ‘spic that just don’t give a shit.” Expound on that a bit…
NB: It’s basically taken from Fredro Starr of Onyx on “Last Dayz.” It’s a real famous quote, “I’m America’s nightmare, young black, and just don’t give a fuck / I just want to get high and live it up.” I basically took that. I guess, in a sense, he was just saying that America’s scared of this. At the end of the day, kids from the ghetto with a voice speak about things that people don’t cover. We’re a voice to something that mass media doesn’t cover. We have different laws here. That wasn’t exposed to people in Wichita and Iowa, but Hip Hop did that. When Fredro Starr said that, he was covering the black side. I’m covering it from another side: the young ‘spic perspective. I’m a minority, and we get treated different too. Throughout my music, I cover things that a lot of other rappers don’t cover.

DX: You’re one of the few New York newer emcees that isn’t harping on being from New York. Do you feel part of the new class of New York, or do you just feel like an artist who happens to be from New York?
NB: [Sighs] For the new class, period, I feel like we’re breaking a stigma in a sense. Joell Ortiz’s The Brick [click to read] was the only thing I’ve heard recently that gave me the feeling I got to get into this shit in the ‘90s. I’m not really limited to a New York thing, ‘cause there’s a lot of emcees comin’ up, like Lupe Fiasco [click to read], even though he’s been out for a bit, he’s relatively new. You’ve got Crooked I [click to view] from the west coast, who’s doing a project with me, Saigon, me, Joell Ortiz [click to read] and Joe Budden [click to read]. We represent the new class. Right now, mainstream, the odds are stacked against us; they’re not trying to support lyricists. So we have our outlets and resources, like HipHopDX, and mixtape deejays, underground crowds.

There’s a stigma that if it ain’t about the paper, rappers don’t do shit. Every rapper on [Untold Scriptures] [click to read] did it out of love, out of respect. We all ride together. I can call Joe Budden and just poly with him, the same thing with Crooked I, Grafh. We all know the odds are stacked against us. I think I represent the new class in general.

DX: You mentioned Joell. This month we have it confirmed that America’s ready for a black president. Do you think Hip Hop is ready for a Latin superstar. Certainly, we’ve seen that with Cypress Hill, Big Pun and Fat Joe, but they’ve never been credited as thee best.
NB: I think Hip Hop’s ready for it. I think a lot of Hip Hop doesn’t look at Joell as a Latin emcee. Even though he was signed with Aftermath, he didn’t get an Aftermath push. We don’t know if they’re ready right now. Joell Ortiz has been widely accepted through the realm that he’s been exposed to. He hasn’t been exposed to the major MTV crowd and whatnot, but for what he’s done, dropping under Koch and appearing on a lot of underground shit, people have accepted him. Yeah, you’ll hear the Latin stuff – the Pun comparisons on records like “Brooklyn Bullshit.” People were ready for Eminem, I don’t know how they’re not gonna be ready for a Latin emcee. I don’t look at Nas a “black rapper.” If somebody told me Jay-Z [click to read] was half-white, I wouldn’t be like, “Aw man.” It is what it is. I don’t look at race. We didn’t get our chance yet.

DX: You’ve positioned yourself between underground and mainstream. I can see you going to a major, or perhaps doing something similar to what Termanology or Joe Budden do. How careful have you been in your career to ride that middle?
NB: I don’t knows if I’ve been careful. The main thing with me is I’m really just trying to be true to myself, keep doing the music I’m doing, and I really just want creative control. I don’t care what the label is. As long as they believe in my vision, and give me creative control, I’m willing to work with them. If not, I’m happy to stay where I’m at right now. I feel like I’m marketable and can be accepted in the mainstream, yeah, but that’s not up to me. I don’t have one million dollars. I don’t have the resources to get on MTV, BET and these major radio stations. I just be myself. When I did Untold Scriptures, for instance, I didn’t glorify selling drugs on “Means of Survival.” I’m saying, “get the fuck out the hood.” I’m saying things that a lot of dudes ain’t sayin’. I’m not telling people to sell drugs to be rims, jewelry and whatnot. I’m being true to myself, and trying to be lyrical.

DX: Being of that late ‘90s class, what does storytelling mean to you and your work?
NB: You can drop jewels all day, in a number of different rhymes. But when you tell a story, you’re painting a picture for them. It’s more descriptive and elaborate for the listener. People understand what you do a lot more ‘cause there’s no disguise. “Cause of Influence,” [click to listen] it did exactly what it was supposed to do. It’s about a kid from the ‘burbs getting influenced by a Hip Hop record, and ended up taking it too far, and an innocent female ended up getting shot and passed away due to this dude’s ignorance. You can debate it from whatever angle you want to debate it from, but I guess when I tell a story, I guess it gets the message across so much clearer.

DX: How much went into “Third Degree”[click to listen]?
NB: A lot. To be honest with you, back in the days, the art of the feature was a little more sacred. When you heard Mobb Deep collaborating with Nas [on “Eye For An Eye”], these records were put together with a purpose. They weren’t just, “Yo, can you hop on this record ‘cause I need your name to appeal to your fan-base?” “Third Degree” did take effort, ‘cause we wanted to make sure that the order was right. We wanted to make sure that everybody came off and did their thing. Everybody who rapped on that record heard what the person did prior to them, so we wanted to make sure that the record had some continuity. That’s important, ‘cause if you’re gonna put a record out with [Saigon, Crooked I, Scram Jones] on it, make it worthwhile, make it last, make a statement with it. It’s hard, ‘cause a lot of people’s schedules are a little different, but it’s a testament to a dude like Saigon, because he didn’t have to do that record. He just did a record ["C’mon Baby remix"[click to listen]] with Jay-Z half a year ago; he didn’t have to do a song with Nino Bless. But he said, “Fuck that, I want to be a part of a record with real lyricists on it.” Crooked as well.

DX: What’s next for you?
NB: Crooked I and I are doing a project tentatively titled New Breed. We’ve been talking about it for a month and a half. I’m also gonna do Untold Scriptures Volume 2, the follow-up. It’s been received so well, people love it, so I figured let me stay with the name. I people to see progression. A lot of labels are hollering too, and I don’t know what’s gonna come of that. I’m gonna be in people’s faces. I’m not gonna be one of those artists that you hear about, drops a project, and ends up on the milk carton in XXL. [Laughs]

DX: G Rap protégés became Nas, MF Grimm, Papoose, do you put yourself as the next protégé that’s going to do big things?
NB: Only time will tell. [Laughs] I can’t call it. G personally feels I have as much ability as anybody he’s ever worked with. He cosigns me heavy. He passed jewels that were imperative to me, especially in my progression. Only time will tell, but I know one thing – I’m not gonna let him down.