He tells me there was no real pressure to release the album, which means he could relish the simpler aspects of recording music. “One thing about making music is it’s just good to put your thoughts on paper and going to the studio and hearing the final product man, and it when it moves people it’s real special.” This feeling carried on to the final product. “It’s just heartfelt music man, it’s stuff that I wanted to get off my chest when I wrote the album, so I hope people enjoy it.”
There’s more work to be done, and M.E.D. isn’t sitting back now that his LP has been released. Getting Classic heard is his top priority. “Right now I’m still focused on getting the album out to a lot of people. I think a lot of people actually missed the project…” he laments. “With the overload of music on the blogs and the radio not spreading good music, they just play what they get paid to play. I’m just still working this project right now, I mean, it’s the main thing. I want everybody to catch on, I don’t want anybody to miss this, I’m going to give it a real big push right now.”
Asking M.E.D. if he has lived in California his whole life brings out a genuine display of pride and enthusiasm. “Yeah I’m a Cali-baby,” he laughs. “I’m a universal artist though, I’m not strictly like a West Coast rapper, I mean I grew up on N.W.A. like everybody else out here.
“I used to listen to a lot of jazz when I was younger,” he continues, “so just because I grew up in Cali, didn’t close me in or anything but I definitely know that it was the biggest influence on myself because I’m a child of the Californian streets.”
M.E.D will join Fools Gold artist Danny Brown on their first Australian tour, playing select cities before hitting Vivid Live in Sydney. Brown isn’t one of M.E.D.’s usual homeboy’s though, as he openly explains: “I haven’t even had the chance to meet the cat yet. We are connected through a lot of homeboys in Detroit though and they all know each other.”
The thought of coming to Australia is a mixed one for M.E.D., primarily due to the fearsome reputation of our border security. He wryly admits, “I’m very, very excited about this. I mean, I heard it’s real strict, I don’t know how strict it is though, but I don’t mind getting through customs.”
BY CLAIRE ROSENBERG
