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| The beginning of good things to come |
Recently the internet has raised eyebrows and appreciating the quirkiness of Milo's solo debut Mixtape : I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here. After letting the project settle and drive many other bloggers crazy, Milo gave me benefit of hearing his thoughts behind this project.
TheWolvesDen : Your project has been released for a few months, what are your thoughts, in hindsight?
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| The man himself |
Milo: In hindsight, I'm very lucky anyone liked it at all. I recorded the tape in my bedroom with some gear I got over summer and had no idea how to use. The quality is rubbish, but so many sites and folks supported it and took it serious regardless of that fact. I'm eternally indebted to those folks who looked passed that aspect of the aesthetic, and saw the little nuggets of weirdness passing as lyricism and latched onto those instead. I'm working on a new project, "Milo takes Baths." This one I've been putting infinitely more care and time into to create a more cohesive, structured, quality piece.
TWD: The title is clearly from Del Funk the Homosapien, could you talk about that album as it relates to yours?
Milo: Del the Funkee Homosapien has a massive influence on my development as a human being. When I was in 8th grade I wrote him a letter to the address on the back of the "Both Sides of the Brain" CD. He never responded, but yeah, I owe a lot of my unabashedness to Del. He was writing songs about guys who smell bad, and friends who won't ever get off your couch-- all of that had a serious impact on me. His album title is talking about George Clinton, mine is talking about my dear friend Rob Espinosa. When Rob drowned, I wrote a piece about how much he meant to me and named it that... then I began working on the tape and it seemed natural to also co-op the name for that, too. It was my way of paying homage to both dudes and their influence on me as a human being primarily, and secondarily as a rap-guy or whatever we're called.
TWD: Listening to your mixtape, I thought you were a much more milder Das Racist, what do you think of that type of comparison?
Milo: I love Das Racist. My first mixtape ever I emailed to Himanshu Suri, and much like Del he never wrote back. I emailed them this one, too. Heh. I wouldn't say we rhyme in a similar vein though. Those cats have an agenda, it seems, and while it is thoroughly guised-- it's there. I admire them for that, and I think what they are doing is relevant. What I am doing is less so. I'm struggling to find Good, and Truth and whatnot through boom baps because I'm a lonely brown weirdo. There's a quality of pseudo-philosophy to my jams, or maybe not pseudo-philosophy but music with a philosophical tint. That's why I made the song DAVID FOSTER WALLACE. He was a philosopher who wrote books. Gene Roddenberry is a philosopher who makes TV shows. I want to be a philosopher who writes songs.
TWD: On Super Happy Sunshine Fun Club ft. Safari Al, you talk parody the hip-hop duos and highlight the homo-erotic undertones of these types of relationships in hip-hop, could you talk little about the concept of the song?
Milo: It hurts my feelings that hip hop is a genre so oriented to hurting other people's feelings. So I asked my very close friend, Alexander (Safari Al) to help me on a song where we basically make fun of that whole thing. Making fun of those make funners. Oh boy. By the way, Safari Al is dropping a tape around Christmas time called 'Hermitage Academy.' It's going to be tremendous and if you don't download it then I know you're the type of person who would snitch Frodo out at the Prancing Pony. You may stalk him here: https://www.facebook.com/
TWD: Would you agree with a statement that you have a humble braddocio, on one side of the album we hear vulnerability " I'm trying hard not to add to your suffering" and then we get a boast like “ that’s why these other rappers can’t fuck with me”?. How do you balance between the two on wax?
Milo: I'm not so sure it's a braggadocio. I am trying to be honest. With that comes a lot of self-scrutiny and analyzing but because of it I know myself a little bit better than most 19 year olds, my faults as well as triumphs. That materializes in songs a bit, especially when I'm a bit more moody and I see that some young man is touring living the dream and I'm condemned to a night of Cicero translations. You know?
TWD: With lines like “I dropped out to be a Kid Cudi imposter” you point out the peoples idolization of rappers, you are the awkward hero on your tape, would you like to elaborate on this view?
Milo: Why do we make heroes out of people who clearly have no right being our heroes? Not to say musicians or athletes are not good people, but it bums me out that the mail-person who brings you Christmas packages and Amazon orders never gets a high-5, or that the bus driver who has to be terrified of a group of adolescents who storm her bus is never applauded in public. There are really glorious, amazing people all around us and we take the easy route out when we give away our hopes and dreams to people who don't *really* care about us. I'm not so much the awkward hero as I am a dude who is sad that my baby sister idolizes Hannah Montana and not the waitress who brought us our delicious pancakes. Some of that is natural though. I don't know. I'm an asshole when it comes to thinking about things that probably don't matter.
TWD: I really want to give you accolades for the perfect description of forum life, could you talk a bit on how that affected your music? And which forums you still view?
Milo: Yes! I grew up an only child until I was 13 or 14. I lived with only my Pop and he worked a lot, so I had to sort of create friends. In the 1980s I certainly would have become a deranged axe murderer, but with the advent of the internet I became heavy on a litany of forums. That culture is one I miss so much today. Meeting other weirdos, uploading your room / outfit or whatever, flirting with all 5 of the cutie girls who are on the forum, planning meet-ups that never actually happen... all of that made loneliness seem more human and natural. It gave me a place to fit in, even when I had no place to fit in. So Nicholas J, my good pal who fills out the triumvirate of Wisconsin rap people that is Safari Al, Nicholas J and I, is also heavy on a few forums. I wrote the first 2 verses, showed him and he cooked up his absolutely mind-bogglingly perfect verse AND the chorus. He, too, has a tape coming out around Christmas time that is probably going to be the best release of 2011. Hover around his space online at: https://www.facebook.com/
TWD: How do you feel to have accolades by reviewers like Anthony Fantano?
Milo: Anthony Fantano is Radagast the Brown to me. Especially because I've been a fan of his for a very long time. To have a video review by the man, and an amazingly great one at that, is an honor. To get write ups on Forbes and interview requests is just bizarre. I'm basically unknown at my college campus, and I go to my classes and I talk to no one and I come back to my house with my roommates and every day a new, glorious blog has a nice thing to say about my mixtape and it feels surreal. It's humbling and terrifying at the same time. I feel obligated to try to make sure people recognize the role nerdier folks play in hip hop, and when I get message from cats all over the world telling me the role "I wish my brother Rob was here." plays for them in their day-to-day life I literally just cry. Like a big vagina, I sit at my desk and cry and think of what a blessing this is. Hopefully I don't ruin it.
TWD: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
Thanks a bunch Marcus! You're the bestets.
Follow him here:
www.miloraps.com
www.facebook.com/modestmilo
www.twitter.com/yomilo
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Shout outs: Milo & Friends
Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe
