For an emcee who has a single that features him nudging labels for not giving him a chance, Termanology is awfully spoiled. The young, Puerto Rican emcee’s upcoming debut album, Politics As Usual, seems like anything but its namesake with its line-up of legendary producers and guest emcees: DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek and other heavyweights all contribute some of their best beats, while the likes of Prodigy and Freeway tack on cameo verses.
Yet if anyone deserves the love, it’s Term: the Lawrence, Massachusetts-bred emcee has the relentless flow, multi-syllabic rhyme schemes and lyrical tenacity that harkens back to the era of rap that he based his album around, and he’s humble enough to know his role. In an interview with HipHopDX, Termanology talks about the process behind crafting a back-to-the-basics classic.
HipHopDX: Take me back to what you were thinking when you first heard the beat to “Watch How It Go Down.”
Termanology: I was just so happy, because my whole life, I’ve always wanted a [DJ] Premier beat. So to get one like that, that was so dark and grimy and shit, I was like, “Oh man, this is right up my alley.” So when I heard it, it took like a month before I actually wrote the song; I just marinated on the beat. I just knew I had to kill it, so I took my time with it. But that shit was the best feeling ever. … It was crazy, because it’s like 80 bars straight. There’s no hook, it’s just 80 bars of madness…I’ve never counted it, but I know it’s something like that. So I know he was like, “Whoa.”
He liked my shit before that, he played some songs I had did on the radio and whatnot. But I don’t think anyone knew I could really spit like that, so it made me sound real crazy. When it was done, he was like, “Yeah man, sounds dope.” I could tell he liked it. We ended up doing the remix, and he liked that a lot too. So for him to do the remix, I know he was really pleased with it.
DX: The first line of that song is, “I see myself as the holy resurrection of Pun.” And that’s one of the first songs where I’ve actually heard something like that at the beginning of the song, and I wasn’t pissed at the rapper for saying it. What made you decide to put it on the line like that offtop? Do you still feel that way?
Termanology: [Laughs] I just felt like, at the time, that I was the most lyrical cat doing it. Not only that, but the most lyrical Puerto Rican cat. I figured that that was a good way to attack it. I’m like, “All right, this is my first real single, and it’s my Premier shit, and this might be the last song I ever do, so I might as well get it off my chest the way I feel.” So I was like, “I see myself as the holy resurrection of Pun/if I ain’t that, then you name one/rapper that’s lyrical slash Latin, political past rappin’/with visuals past Malcolm, and finna’ go past platinum.” Because I feel like there’s a lot of other cats that’s nice too that are Spanish, but I didn’t feel like they all had what I had. I’m really confident in myself, and I believe in my sound, and I believe in my vision. I just kind of looked like it was, to me, similar to what Pun was doing. I’m not trying to say that I’m as good as Pun or better, or any crazy shit like that, but that’s how I felt at the moment. I really look up to him. Him and [Fat] Joe [click to read] were pretty much all we had as kids growing up. Those were the Puerto Rican dudes, they spoke for us: our grandfathers, and our uncles, our ancestors, and people from the islands, and shit that was going on from the ghetto Puerto Rican mind. So it’s ill for me to be the new dude coming out, and a lot of dudes respect me. It feels great.
DX: On another song, “So Amazing” [click to view] you gave a rundown of different labels and why you should work with them. How many of those places hit you back?
Termanology: That was sort of just a fun song. I was just trying to be an asshole, be real exaggerated, on some Eminem shit. “I’ll write the whole Detox in one week.” Know what I mean? Fuck it, I’ll say it; see what happens. Obviously, Dr. Dre didn’t call me to write the Detox.
I’ve met with a lot of labels, dog. I’ve met with every label almost, and everybody pretty much had the same thing to say. “Oh, we like you, you’re dope, but we’re not doing that shit over here. We can’t sign you because if you’re talking about killing cops and rapping over Premier beats, and we want you to make a corny jingle and work with whoever’s the producer of the week.” Plus, I think they didn’t know what to do with me. Like, “What is this guy? Is he white, or Puerto Rican? What the fuck?” Nobody looks like me, and nobody raps like me in 2008, so it’s like, “You want to be this fast, lyrical underground rapper looking like that? That’s not going to work buddy.” So I started my own label, and Nature Sounds is behind me; they decided to put up their bread, and get shit crackin’. So it’s all good. At the end of the day, it worked out; I’m my own boss now.
DX: Who’s the first A&R that you want to just stunt on?
Termanology: Well it’s a lot of ‘em. I don’t really want to say their names, ‘cause it’s not really their fault that they can’t sign me. Some of them, it is their fault, ‘cause they’re fuckin’ gay, but a lot of them, there’s nothing they can do about it.
I’ll tell you who the cool cats were. I met with Sean C at Universal, he was mad cool. I was like, “Yo, what’d you think of my demo?” He said, “That ain’t no demo. That’s some good fucking music. Those are some really good tracks right there. Keep doing your thing, you’re going to get signed.” I’m like, “All right, cool. Thanks, man.” Some people were really cool like that. But other people were not so cool, and trying to persuade me to do wack shit. Trying to tell [Termanology's manager] Dan Green, “Tell him to do this, and do that.” I’m like, “C’mon my nigga, what happened to me just being me?”
DX: Back to Primo for a second. You’ve got three songs with him now—
Termanology:—Seven. [Laughs] Just figured I’d throw it out there. But there’s three on my album, yeah.
DX: When does it get past being amazed at who he is, and turn into real chemistry with him?
Termanology: I think I’ll never get past it, because he means so much to me as an artist. The beats he’s made have been the soundtrack to my life for the past fuckin’ 10 years. Nothing could ever take that away; even if I moved in with him and he was my roommate, I’d still feel like that. I’m…not the same as when I met him in 2003, I was starstruck. Now he’s more like my brother.
DX: Working in the HeadCourterz Studios, do you feel like that couch and those stairways have a magic to them?
Termanology: HeadCourterz is definitely a magic place. When you fuckin’ walk in there, you feel it. Like, “Oh, this is it.” I’m not really with that fancy studio shit. That shit is cool, but…I like HeadCourterz, man. That shit is grimy, but it’s like classy grimy. The booth is the same old booth: the same booth Biggie recorded fuckin’ Ready To Die, same booth Nas recorded his first album, and Jay-Z [click to read] and shit. It’s so much crazy vibe being in that booth, you just feel so ill. Like, “I love this booth. I never want to record anywhere else.” But that’s not possible, ‘cause Premier’s a busy dude. So when you’re out there, you have to take advantage and that and fuckin’ smash that track.
DX: It was dope to know that Bun B came in for the video for the single "How We Rock" [click to view] Did you work with a lot of these producers and artists in the studio, or was it e-mail-based?
Termanology: That particular song, me and Primo hooked it up in HeadCourterz, sent Bun [click to read] the beat, and he knocked it out. It’s funny, because the day the day that Primo made the beat was the day that Bun’s album came out. So I didn’t even want to call him that day, because I’m like, “This guy is going to be so busy. It’s the day his album comes out!” You’ve got to be on MTV or whatever. So I was like, “Man.” Primo’s like, “Fuck it, let’s call him.” So we called him, and we’re like, “We’ve got this track we’re working on.” Bun was like, “Call it ‘How We Rock,’ it can be about how we get down, on some skill shit.” Primo’s like, “Cool.” I didn’t really have to do much. Even though he wasn’t actually in the booth right then and there with us, he was still in the driver’s seat.
Primo made the beat on the spot, I watched him make it. All I had to do was write a 16 and an eight [-bar verse], and play my part. It’s a good look though that Bun came out and did the video. He’s such a cool dude, he’s the realest dude ever. I went and chilled with him in Houston for his birthday party, he invited me out. Me and Statik Selektah [click to read] went out there and kicked it with ‘em, and right then I realized it was for real. A lot of people will be like, “Yeah I’ll work with you, son,” and you can’t find ‘em. But Bun was like, “Yeah, let’s do this.” Anytime I called him, he always picked up. He’s just the realest dude in the world, man. It’s fun to work with legends like that.
DX: What about other songs? Like ones with Prodigy, Alchemist, Nottz. Did you work with them in the studio?
Termanology: Me and Pete Rock [click to read] did our shit in the booth. We went to Baseline Studios with Young Guru, and Pete Rock did the hook right there live on the spot. We kicked it and mixed the record together. Lil Fame, that’s like my brother. He came over to Dan Green’s studio and whatnot, kicked it with me and wrote the verse on the spot. Some of the stuff is on e-mail and some of it is in the lab, but to tell you the truth, I never really felt like I need anybody to be anywhere with me. As long as you kill it, and you play your part and you do the right thing, then it’s all good, man.
DX: Reks’ Grey Hairs had a similar line-up, as far as producers and guest shots. Why do you think Massachusetts artists have gravitated toward the '90s sound so much?
Termanology: Probably because we’re so close to New York, so our sound’s really similar to New York. We’re really only four hours away, three hours if you speed. It’s that east coast sound, man. People forget Guru [click to read] and Big Shug are from Boston, and they’re Gang Starr. So the Gang Starr sound is a big part of the Boston sound. I think that shit will never go away. Even though the new school dudes coming up change with the times, you have shit like that that’s going to stick with the script and stick with the Primo style shit.
DX: Being that this record is themed after so many classics, were you adapting to the times by bringing in so many features? If you look at albums like Ready To Die, Illmatic, or the Gang Starr joints, they don’t have as many guests as you had.
Termanology: I think with the guest thing, it really wasn’t a thing I needed. If you listen to “Watch How It Go Down” and “So Amazing,” the first two singles I had out there, I was all by myself and just smashing the shit. But it was moreso for the excitement. Like, “Alright, cool. I can do a song with Bun B? Or I could not.” So I’m like, “Dog, I’ma do that fucking song with Bun B.” [Laughs] The Alchemist [click to read] joint was two verses I had that were 12s, so they were short. So Dan Green is like, “We could get Prodigy [click to read] on it, so it would be some official Mobb Deep shit.” I’m like, “Aw man, that’s the best idea I ever heard. If you can pull that off, it would be great.” So that was that. And then the “Drugs, Crime and Gorillaz” joint, I just hit one verse on it and I knew I wanted two other people on it that were beasts. So I got Freeway [click to read] on Sheek [Louch] [click to read] on that. But out the 13 tracks, it’s only four with features. The other seven are me by myself, so the bulk is still dolo.
DX: You’re recording this album, and you’ve got beats from Easy Mo Bee, Buckwild, Alchemist…everybody who’s worth getting a beat from, you made it happen. So as you’re knocking these songs out, and as these legends start stacking up, what’s going through your head?
Termanology: It just made me feel like you could do anything you want if you put your mind to it. The idea was all mine from the beginning. I always thought that would be an amazing idea for somebody to make a whole album with just the best producer, so why doesn’t anybody do it? Why doesn’t Nas do it? As a Hip Hop fan, as a little kid, dating back as a little kid to like ’95, ’96. I was like, “Somebody should do an album with Havoc, and Primo, and Pete Rock, and only them.” I always thought about that. What’s wrong with these stupid A&Rs, and label niggas? What the fuck? What’s the big deal? Just grab the tracks and put it together. So I’m like, “You know what? I’ma do that shit!” And everybody’s like, “Yeah right.” Some people would try to talk me out of it. “Don’t do that, because they’re going to put you in a box. They’re going to only look at you as underground.” I’m like, “Underground? Every producer I got is platinum-plus. … So what’s underground about that? And even then, what’s wrong with being underground, if underground is dope?”
As I went through…the first song I did for the whole album was “Baby Please Don’t Go,” so we already had Nottz. The second song was “Watch How It Go Down,” so then we had Premier. I bumped into Pete Rock, and he recognized me from the Premier song, so I got him. Then I got Buckwild. Little by little, once I had them, I’d bring them up to the next cat. Like, “I already got this dude.” They’re like, “Word? Then I’ll definitely be a part of that.” All the way up to the last beat I got on the album, which was the Havoc beat, because he was already signed to Nature Sounds. I’m like, “Word. I accomplished what I’m trying to do.”
Yet if anyone deserves the love, it’s Term: the Lawrence, Massachusetts-bred emcee has the relentless flow, multi-syllabic rhyme schemes and lyrical tenacity that harkens back to the era of rap that he based his album around, and he’s humble enough to know his role. In an interview with HipHopDX, Termanology talks about the process behind crafting a back-to-the-basics classic.
HipHopDX: Take me back to what you were thinking when you first heard the beat to “Watch How It Go Down.”
Termanology: I was just so happy, because my whole life, I’ve always wanted a [DJ] Premier beat. So to get one like that, that was so dark and grimy and shit, I was like, “Oh man, this is right up my alley.” So when I heard it, it took like a month before I actually wrote the song; I just marinated on the beat. I just knew I had to kill it, so I took my time with it. But that shit was the best feeling ever. … It was crazy, because it’s like 80 bars straight. There’s no hook, it’s just 80 bars of madness…I’ve never counted it, but I know it’s something like that. So I know he was like, “Whoa.”
He liked my shit before that, he played some songs I had did on the radio and whatnot. But I don’t think anyone knew I could really spit like that, so it made me sound real crazy. When it was done, he was like, “Yeah man, sounds dope.” I could tell he liked it. We ended up doing the remix, and he liked that a lot too. So for him to do the remix, I know he was really pleased with it.
DX: The first line of that song is, “I see myself as the holy resurrection of Pun.” And that’s one of the first songs where I’ve actually heard something like that at the beginning of the song, and I wasn’t pissed at the rapper for saying it. What made you decide to put it on the line like that offtop? Do you still feel that way?
Termanology: [Laughs] I just felt like, at the time, that I was the most lyrical cat doing it. Not only that, but the most lyrical Puerto Rican cat. I figured that that was a good way to attack it. I’m like, “All right, this is my first real single, and it’s my Premier shit, and this might be the last song I ever do, so I might as well get it off my chest the way I feel.” So I was like, “I see myself as the holy resurrection of Pun/if I ain’t that, then you name one/rapper that’s lyrical slash Latin, political past rappin’/with visuals past Malcolm, and finna’ go past platinum.” Because I feel like there’s a lot of other cats that’s nice too that are Spanish, but I didn’t feel like they all had what I had. I’m really confident in myself, and I believe in my sound, and I believe in my vision. I just kind of looked like it was, to me, similar to what Pun was doing. I’m not trying to say that I’m as good as Pun or better, or any crazy shit like that, but that’s how I felt at the moment. I really look up to him. Him and [Fat] Joe [click to read] were pretty much all we had as kids growing up. Those were the Puerto Rican dudes, they spoke for us: our grandfathers, and our uncles, our ancestors, and people from the islands, and shit that was going on from the ghetto Puerto Rican mind. So it’s ill for me to be the new dude coming out, and a lot of dudes respect me. It feels great.
DX: On another song, “So Amazing” [click to view] you gave a rundown of different labels and why you should work with them. How many of those places hit you back?
Termanology: That was sort of just a fun song. I was just trying to be an asshole, be real exaggerated, on some Eminem shit. “I’ll write the whole Detox in one week.” Know what I mean? Fuck it, I’ll say it; see what happens. Obviously, Dr. Dre didn’t call me to write the Detox.
I’ve met with a lot of labels, dog. I’ve met with every label almost, and everybody pretty much had the same thing to say. “Oh, we like you, you’re dope, but we’re not doing that shit over here. We can’t sign you because if you’re talking about killing cops and rapping over Premier beats, and we want you to make a corny jingle and work with whoever’s the producer of the week.” Plus, I think they didn’t know what to do with me. Like, “What is this guy? Is he white, or Puerto Rican? What the fuck?” Nobody looks like me, and nobody raps like me in 2008, so it’s like, “You want to be this fast, lyrical underground rapper looking like that? That’s not going to work buddy.” So I started my own label, and Nature Sounds is behind me; they decided to put up their bread, and get shit crackin’. So it’s all good. At the end of the day, it worked out; I’m my own boss now.
DX: Who’s the first A&R that you want to just stunt on?
Termanology: Well it’s a lot of ‘em. I don’t really want to say their names, ‘cause it’s not really their fault that they can’t sign me. Some of them, it is their fault, ‘cause they’re fuckin’ gay, but a lot of them, there’s nothing they can do about it.
I’ll tell you who the cool cats were. I met with Sean C at Universal, he was mad cool. I was like, “Yo, what’d you think of my demo?” He said, “That ain’t no demo. That’s some good fucking music. Those are some really good tracks right there. Keep doing your thing, you’re going to get signed.” I’m like, “All right, cool. Thanks, man.” Some people were really cool like that. But other people were not so cool, and trying to persuade me to do wack shit. Trying to tell [Termanology's manager] Dan Green, “Tell him to do this, and do that.” I’m like, “C’mon my nigga, what happened to me just being me?”
DX: Back to Primo for a second. You’ve got three songs with him now—
Termanology:—Seven. [Laughs] Just figured I’d throw it out there. But there’s three on my album, yeah.
DX: When does it get past being amazed at who he is, and turn into real chemistry with him?
Termanology: I think I’ll never get past it, because he means so much to me as an artist. The beats he’s made have been the soundtrack to my life for the past fuckin’ 10 years. Nothing could ever take that away; even if I moved in with him and he was my roommate, I’d still feel like that. I’m…not the same as when I met him in 2003, I was starstruck. Now he’s more like my brother.
DX: Working in the HeadCourterz Studios, do you feel like that couch and those stairways have a magic to them?
Termanology: HeadCourterz is definitely a magic place. When you fuckin’ walk in there, you feel it. Like, “Oh, this is it.” I’m not really with that fancy studio shit. That shit is cool, but…I like HeadCourterz, man. That shit is grimy, but it’s like classy grimy. The booth is the same old booth: the same booth Biggie recorded fuckin’ Ready To Die, same booth Nas recorded his first album, and Jay-Z [click to read] and shit. It’s so much crazy vibe being in that booth, you just feel so ill. Like, “I love this booth. I never want to record anywhere else.” But that’s not possible, ‘cause Premier’s a busy dude. So when you’re out there, you have to take advantage and that and fuckin’ smash that track.
DX: It was dope to know that Bun B came in for the video for the single "How We Rock" [click to view] Did you work with a lot of these producers and artists in the studio, or was it e-mail-based?
Termanology: That particular song, me and Primo hooked it up in HeadCourterz, sent Bun [click to read] the beat, and he knocked it out. It’s funny, because the day the day that Primo made the beat was the day that Bun’s album came out. So I didn’t even want to call him that day, because I’m like, “This guy is going to be so busy. It’s the day his album comes out!” You’ve got to be on MTV or whatever. So I was like, “Man.” Primo’s like, “Fuck it, let’s call him.” So we called him, and we’re like, “We’ve got this track we’re working on.” Bun was like, “Call it ‘How We Rock,’ it can be about how we get down, on some skill shit.” Primo’s like, “Cool.” I didn’t really have to do much. Even though he wasn’t actually in the booth right then and there with us, he was still in the driver’s seat.
Primo made the beat on the spot, I watched him make it. All I had to do was write a 16 and an eight [-bar verse], and play my part. It’s a good look though that Bun came out and did the video. He’s such a cool dude, he’s the realest dude ever. I went and chilled with him in Houston for his birthday party, he invited me out. Me and Statik Selektah [click to read] went out there and kicked it with ‘em, and right then I realized it was for real. A lot of people will be like, “Yeah I’ll work with you, son,” and you can’t find ‘em. But Bun was like, “Yeah, let’s do this.” Anytime I called him, he always picked up. He’s just the realest dude in the world, man. It’s fun to work with legends like that.
DX: What about other songs? Like ones with Prodigy, Alchemist, Nottz. Did you work with them in the studio?
Termanology: Me and Pete Rock [click to read] did our shit in the booth. We went to Baseline Studios with Young Guru, and Pete Rock did the hook right there live on the spot. We kicked it and mixed the record together. Lil Fame, that’s like my brother. He came over to Dan Green’s studio and whatnot, kicked it with me and wrote the verse on the spot. Some of the stuff is on e-mail and some of it is in the lab, but to tell you the truth, I never really felt like I need anybody to be anywhere with me. As long as you kill it, and you play your part and you do the right thing, then it’s all good, man.
DX: Reks’ Grey Hairs had a similar line-up, as far as producers and guest shots. Why do you think Massachusetts artists have gravitated toward the '90s sound so much?
Termanology: Probably because we’re so close to New York, so our sound’s really similar to New York. We’re really only four hours away, three hours if you speed. It’s that east coast sound, man. People forget Guru [click to read] and Big Shug are from Boston, and they’re Gang Starr. So the Gang Starr sound is a big part of the Boston sound. I think that shit will never go away. Even though the new school dudes coming up change with the times, you have shit like that that’s going to stick with the script and stick with the Primo style shit.
DX: Being that this record is themed after so many classics, were you adapting to the times by bringing in so many features? If you look at albums like Ready To Die, Illmatic, or the Gang Starr joints, they don’t have as many guests as you had.
Termanology: I think with the guest thing, it really wasn’t a thing I needed. If you listen to “Watch How It Go Down” and “So Amazing,” the first two singles I had out there, I was all by myself and just smashing the shit. But it was moreso for the excitement. Like, “Alright, cool. I can do a song with Bun B? Or I could not.” So I’m like, “Dog, I’ma do that fucking song with Bun B.” [Laughs] The Alchemist [click to read] joint was two verses I had that were 12s, so they were short. So Dan Green is like, “We could get Prodigy [click to read] on it, so it would be some official Mobb Deep shit.” I’m like, “Aw man, that’s the best idea I ever heard. If you can pull that off, it would be great.” So that was that. And then the “Drugs, Crime and Gorillaz” joint, I just hit one verse on it and I knew I wanted two other people on it that were beasts. So I got Freeway [click to read] on Sheek [Louch] [click to read] on that. But out the 13 tracks, it’s only four with features. The other seven are me by myself, so the bulk is still dolo.
DX: You’re recording this album, and you’ve got beats from Easy Mo Bee, Buckwild, Alchemist…everybody who’s worth getting a beat from, you made it happen. So as you’re knocking these songs out, and as these legends start stacking up, what’s going through your head?
Termanology: It just made me feel like you could do anything you want if you put your mind to it. The idea was all mine from the beginning. I always thought that would be an amazing idea for somebody to make a whole album with just the best producer, so why doesn’t anybody do it? Why doesn’t Nas do it? As a Hip Hop fan, as a little kid, dating back as a little kid to like ’95, ’96. I was like, “Somebody should do an album with Havoc, and Primo, and Pete Rock, and only them.” I always thought about that. What’s wrong with these stupid A&Rs, and label niggas? What the fuck? What’s the big deal? Just grab the tracks and put it together. So I’m like, “You know what? I’ma do that shit!” And everybody’s like, “Yeah right.” Some people would try to talk me out of it. “Don’t do that, because they’re going to put you in a box. They’re going to only look at you as underground.” I’m like, “Underground? Every producer I got is platinum-plus. … So what’s underground about that? And even then, what’s wrong with being underground, if underground is dope?”
As I went through…the first song I did for the whole album was “Baby Please Don’t Go,” so we already had Nottz. The second song was “Watch How It Go Down,” so then we had Premier. I bumped into Pete Rock, and he recognized me from the Premier song, so I got him. Then I got Buckwild. Little by little, once I had them, I’d bring them up to the next cat. Like, “I already got this dude.” They’re like, “Word? Then I’ll definitely be a part of that.” All the way up to the last beat I got on the album, which was the Havoc beat, because he was already signed to Nature Sounds. I’m like, “Word. I accomplished what I’m trying to do.”
