PA: Hi Prizm. Tell us a little bit about yourself ?
Prizm: Hey PA.com, I just turned 20 years old and I
currently reside in Toronto though I grew up in Vancouver.
PA: What does Prizm mean?
Prizm: One of the meanings of the word is "a medium that
changes perspectives" - so when I found that out, I thought
it represented my artistry well and the name just stuck.
PA: How did you come up with that name?
Prizm: There was a poster on the wall with the word "prism"
during one of my
earliest recording sessions, and I kinda arbitrarily noticed
it haha..
PA: When did you start in the music business?
Prizm: I got involved with music as well as the business
side of things at a pretty young age I think, so I've
actually been in this industry for a while now. Shortly
after I turned 16, I started performing around Vancouver at
open mics and poetry readings, before releasing my debut
album at the end of that year...
PA: What artists influenced you and your music?
Prizm: All sorts of artists, really.. but if I had to narrow
it down to only a few sources, inspiration came primarily
from Black Thought (of the Roots) and Nas as the two rappers
I admired the most when I was younger... Nowadays I draw
from a lot wider a range of musicians as well as writers/rappers, and I'd say there are artists in
almost all genres of music who inspire me...
PA: How far do you want to get in the Hip Hop industry?
Prizm: As far as I'm able to take it.. I've always had the
same approach- I'll keep making music as long as there are
enough people out there who support and enjoy what I do.
Hopefully things will continue to move in a positive
direction, and my record sales will continue to increase
exponentially with each release I put out... Ideally, I'd
want my music to make a noticeable impact in the world
around us.
PA: How far do you think you are
now?
Prizm: Hmm, I'd say I'm happy with where I am.. but being
who I am, I'm also never really satisfied. People chalk up
my sales records as being impressive for being young and
100% independant in a small & over-saturated market like
Canada, but then again indie artists in the US regularly move 50-100 thousands records doing the same
thing with the same methods + more promotional power, so I
don't think I'm as far as I'd like to be.
PA:Are there any collaborations in the works that we should
be looking out for?
Prizm: My next album should have a couple of collaborations
with some fairly talented local artists, and features
production from some of the best producers in Canada.. I'm
not going to namedrop prematurely, but I'll just say to look
out for my next album.
PA: What is your latest track/album that you've recorded?
Prizm:Latest track I've done is a promo dubplate over the
Damian Marley ft Nas joint, "Road to Zion," which appears on
a couple of mixtapes.. and my latest full-length is the
"Soliloquy" LP from almost exactly a year ago. I've just
begun work on my next compilation, as well as my next full-length album...
PA: I
was introduced to your music when I listened to "Soliloquy" which I download off the net and
I loved it. Can you tell me more about the meaning about the
song and if it was inspired from a real life experience?
Prizm: The song came as a sort of experiment I decided to
have in the studio one night; the beat was produced by
myself for an R&B singer originally, but when his "label"
couldn't get the proper funds together I decided to write to
it instead. Everyone always asks, but the lyrics are
actually fictional, though its written from the heart and
isn't far off from how I would react if I were involved in a
relationship of that nature..
PA: How many tracks have you recorded so far?
Prizm: I don't really keep track, but probably in the range
of 150 to 200? I'm working on my 4th full-length album right
now, to be released this fall, and I've appeared on a couple
dozen mixtapes by various artists..
PA: What kind of equipments do you
use on your recording if any?
Prizm: I've been fortunate to have been given the chance to
work in various studios when I was in Vancouver, so now I
run my own studio and record/engineer all of my own work
myself. I use a AT3035 mic on a Presonus PreAmp to record
into Cubase.
PA: What was your first time performing on stage?
Prizm:The first time I performed on stage was at a school
music night - I was dared to rap some of my poetry over
beats.. so I made some easy money haha.
PA: Do you think fame will change
who you are?
Prizm: Not really. I don't think I'll ever really get used
to the attention, though I've gotten better at accepting the
responsibilities as well as the privileges of being someone
others recognize...
PA: So whats ur feeling towards
Asian music industry and their role in spreading the Asian
music community?
Prizm: I'm always supportive of individuals who are
passionate about what they do, and who are actively involved
with promoting a purpose they believe in. I don't really buy
into categorizing the industry or the music as being
"Asian," or any other racial denomination, however.. If an
artist is out there making good music and representing
his/her culture/background through their movements, I'm all
for it. Same goes for the people behind the scenes who push
on all the other levels; hiphop is definitely about the
movement, and there is always room for all sorts of individuals to get involved in the cause.
PA: Do you listen to other Asian
Artists?
Prizm:Yea, for sure, there've been a handful of
Asian-American artists who either reached out to me or who
I've reached out to in the past and who I have a great deal
of respect for..
PA: What's your feeling toward the
future of Asians in the mainstream market?
Prizm: Its always tricky to talk about the mainstream
market for any artist in any genre, much less an artist from
a specific background.. But, for any Asian artist to
establish success and longetivity in the commercial
industry, I think he or she would have to truly excel in the entire genre, and not just in the realm of being the
"best Asian rapper/singer" or what not. Those kind of
comments always float around in discussions of this nature,
and I've never really bought into any of it..
PA: How is the Canadian Hip Hop
Scene in general? What about the Asian Hip Hop Scene?
Prizm: Despite being just north of the US, the Canadian
scene is still developing, and doesn't really compare with
either the Japanese, Korean or European scenes.. Local
support is fairly hard to come by simply from the lack of an
urban market in these parts, but its definitely picking up.
Same thing applies though - I'm not really a fan of dividing
the music industry into specifically Canadian or Asian...
PA: Do you possibly have any music
videos in the works? There has been a wave of asian rappers
coming out with videos lately? It be cool to see you rapping
and shaking it on the small screen.
Prizm: A couple of professional videos were in the works
this spring, but were ultimately put off due to scheduling
constraints on my part.. Instead, this summer I will be
working on my first music video that should be released with
the lead single from my next album, the "Soul of a Hustler" LP..
PA: What's your type of girl if you
don't mind us asking?
Prizm: I'm told I have insanely high standards, so I'm going
to refrain from going into it too much, (haha)She has to
be intelligent, passionate, loyal, confident, sweet and
patient. And she has to be pretty, and interesting.. haha.
Seems like a lot to ask for, but I've been pretty fortunate
relationship-wise thus far in my life I think..
PA: Did you know that France is
considered having the second largest hip hop industry in the
world?
Prizm:Sorta.. I didn't know about the exact numbers, but I
knew it was up there for sure.. Nobody would guess, but I'm
actually a big fan of several French hiphop acts and
producers.. Shurik'n has been one of my favourite non-North
American producers for a while now, and I own albums by I
AM, NTM, and Akhenaton... the only other non-North American
hiphop artist I can think of now that I'm more a fan of is
Looptroop (specifically Promoe) from Sweden..
PA: Any message you would like to
say to our French listeners?
Prizm: It'll be the same message I have to all hiphop
listeners I guess - keep supporting good music, and much
respect to all the music-lovers all over the world. Peace.
