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  Marco Polo Interview
interview 0568 added 06.06.08 words:
Lady Jay UK
technical:
Spoon
Marco Polo ain’t waiting on a big record label to scoop and save his ass. He’s pretty much doin it all himself. Rapper, engineer and filmmaker, he talked to me about collaborating with Ice T and DMC and his take on using the word nigger and hard work. He talks a lot of sense, listen up
(B.T.W. I was half drunk half hungover during this interview, I think I did quite well to be so coherent!)
We’re outside ‘End Of The Weak’ where you’re performin’ later, how you doin?
I’m chillin’, how you doin Lady Jay
Tell me about End Of The Weak
It’s New York City’s longest runnin’ open mic, they’ve been doin’ it for 300 consecutive weeks. It’s a good place for people to come and master their craft, there’s a lot of business and industry people that you can come in and meet and just parlay with.
 Tell me about the Weapon Of Mass Distraction album that you’re working on.
It’s a word play on ‘weapons of mass destruction’, you know the Bush campaign tryna blow up the world, but basically I named it Weapons Of Mass Distraction, with all the things goin on in the world, my album can just distract people from all the messed up thing that’s goin on. It just has a good vibe, just enjoy good music and you know for a second or two just be distracted from what’s goin on in the world. As far as all the bad things that’s goin on, you know focus on positive energy, and make a good album.
Tell me about some of the tracks and the collabs you got on there…
I’m totally independent, I don’t have no deal or anything, my entertainment company’s called: ‘Hate Me Now’ entertainment. I got a lot of support from people in the game. I got DMC from RUN DMC on it, I have Ice T, Smoothe Da Hussla, Push Montana an up and coming artist. I have Meana B, Dead Prez, Stic Man from dead Prez. I have Canibuson it. So I have a couple established artists that donated a couple verses for the cause
So how did that come about?
Believe it or not a lot o Myspace grindin’, just bein’ on myspace and basically givin it a shot. I met DMC in front of End Of The Weak, and you know a lot of people they just sleep on it, they don’t even try to approach it and I just approached him and I got to interview him, after I got to interview him, he was down a song. So we went in the studio, we recorded a song and from there like everything got rolling, a lot of people have a deep respect for DMC as an artist as far as what he’s done for hip hop, and a lot of people have supported me on the project because of him.
We got the remix with Ice T, Smoothe The Hussla and it’s basically people lookin out in the name of hip hop. It’s like my project, it’s not really a compilation. Cos it’s my debut solo album, but it’s people that are in tune with what I’m tryna do. And that’s bring real hip hop back.
 What do you mean bring real hip hop back?
I think the reason I don’t have a deal right now is because I do real hip hop. NYC is a flooded market where, there’s just too many artists. Everybody raps and everywhere you turn they think they can rap but; there’s a lot of ignorance goin’ on , and a lot of people talkin’ just to talk. And I don’t think that’s real hip hop. I think real hip hop is not what you think you’re supposed to say, but what you wanna say, and what you wanna get across to the world. To me that’s real hip hop, so I’m bringin it back to saying what you supposed to say, not what you think you have to say to sell records
Tell me about the videos that you do.
I recently got into producing and directing videos I done something for Murder Mook, and Uncle Murder that’s on Rockefella right now, and I done something for DMC – the song me and DMC did. We’re actually tryin to work on a documentary about MC’in. Ice T and Smooth the Hussla’s on it, on the song and on the documentary. So we just gonna get a couple people’s reactions about the state of MC’in as it is now, and what it was originally meant for. We doin videos, anybody that wants to do videos I freelance videos, and I’m also about the work on this new Dead Prez video for the song that we doin.
Tell me a bit more about that then
Again, thank God for myspace. I spoke to Sticman and I got to pitch him a song. He was blown away by it, he agreed to collab on it, so we did the song now we just tryin to shoot a video for it. Hopefully sometime within the next two to three months. At the same time I’m still waitin to get another feature, cos basically tryin to make it like a new Fight The Power, Self Destruction record cos the name of our record is ‘Die Nigga Die’ which is a very explicit title , but we basically killin the stereotypes of what a nigger is. So we basically let it be known that, we more than just niggas, and it’s a word that we use… we try and flip it as a term of endearment but, when the people that gave us , used that word against us when they hear us use it, they looking at us like we low down dirty niggers, it ain’t nothin’ ever gonna be positive of that word.
So I’m just tryin to get together with people that share the same beliefs and , we shouldn’t call ourselves nigger and just see how they express it
What are your thoughts about using that word. I guess because, there’s a lot of people have that same perception, it’s used negatively and even if you use it in a positive sense it’s still a negative thing at the end of the day, and then they still use it, still say it. How do you think that will change?
 When you make the song, you gotta understand that it’s entertainment first and foremost, before people will listen to you to change the world, you feel me. People just wanna bob they head and just have a good time for the most part and they don’t even really care about, like from my experience is like; if you made too much sense people kinda tune you off. So we basically not tryin to make a too preachy song, about ‘don’t say the word nigger’, but we just pointin’ out the bad stereotypes of it, that, that’s what people really see when you say the word cos there’s never gonna be anything that’s positive. It’s a word that stems from deep racism and it’s like callin a Jew a Kyke or something. There’s never gonna be anything good, you don’t see Jewish people callin’ themselves Kykes so it’s like just kill the word all together but , since it’s so deeply ingrained in society, and our everyday life if we’re gonna use it we should have a better understanding of what it is that we depicting by using it.
But that’s the point of the song….
How did you get into making videos?
Everything I do stems from me not wanting to wait for people to do stuff for me. Waitin’ for these magical people to put you on a big record label conglomerate, people to do simple stuff like represent my lyrics visually. I already had a little love for film, when I was younger I used to act; that was my major in high school, and that’s what I really wanted to be first was an actor. I was able to make so many connects with people that it just seemed like an easier fit. Everybody needs videos, and too many people rap so, when you approach somebody with a demo they look at you like : ‘what are you doin, you just another rapper’, but when you comin with the video as well, it’s something that everybody needs. In essence it made everything easier, cos it made me get into circles that usually I wasn’t allowed in by being a rapper. I just took the video knowledge and expanded it to the point where these professional people I been listening to my whole life who had inspired me to make music, want me to shoot their videos now. I’m just tryin to take it from there.
Lastly, what’s comin’ up for you?
I’m tryin to be the king of the little people, the king of the underdogs. I’m not really too concerned with getting raped by a major label that’s not gonna give me the money that I deserve or that my talent should profit from. I’m just gonna put out my own stuff, finance my own music, go to professional studios, record the music , make it sound quality recordings and push it and promote it myself through the help of these famous people I know. They down to help so instead of just waiting for a major record company to see my talent, I’m gonna push my own talent to the world
 Cool. Any shout outs?
As far as the music being sold, it’s coming pretty soon, checkwww.myspace.com/marcopolo. Anyone that’s willing to network , artist development, if you need a video.. I record music too, I’m a music engineer. Do it all, I try not to wait for people to co sign you, make you a star, I’m tryin to be become my own star
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Lady Jay UK
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