215HIPHOP.COM ~ Philly Hip Hop

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Interview w/ Reef The Lost Cauze
By: Justin Rizzio

If you live in Philly, and listen to hip hop, most likely you’ve heard of Reef the Lost Cauze. If you don’t live in Philly, and listen to hip hop, and never heard of him…well, you’re not doing your job as a hip hop fan then. Reef is an mc that should not need an introduction. But, unfortunately for some people, he might. For those unfamiliar, here’s just a sample of the resume. In 2004, Reef was the EOW Challenge Champion at the Rock Steady Crew 27th anniversary. In 2005, he went on to become the EOW Grand Champion as well. This, on top of an impressive early catalog, led him to become a member of the highly acclaimed Army of the Pharaohs collective. He has worked with artists such as Sean Price, Skyzoo, Terminology, and Planet Asia, among many others. Should I continue? I think you get the point. So read this interview and then do yourself a favor and pick up Reef’s latest offering, A Vicious Cycle (if you didn’t download it already, you cheap bastard.)
To purchase new album Click HERE
215hiphop: So, where are you right now, and how is the tour going?

Reef The Lost Cauze: We are in Santa Cruz, California. So far, the tour’s been going really good. Everybody’s getting along. We’re making money and rocking crowds. We just spent 3 nights in Vegas, which I believe is hell on earth. It’s fun the first few hours, then it’s like “oh my god I need to get outta here.” It’s been good though. I’m just happy to be on the road and putting the music out there. That’s what it’s all about man.

215:The election was last night. How many times do you think John McCain secretly used the “N” word?

Reef: (laughing) Umm…he probably used it a few times. I think a lot of people across the country secretly under their breath used that word. There are people out there that didn’t even want to give the man a chance simply because of his race. In the end, the best man for the job won. I honestly feel that if McCain had some of the same qualities and the same charisma, it would have been a much tighter race. I’m from the school of anybody who’s old and white has probably said the “N” word mad times. I know Palin says that shit. I’m still in shock man. I just pray for that brother, and I hope his security’s tight, ’cause they comin for him.

215: Do you really believe people will try to kill him?

Reef: If you notice in history, look at three men that were most about change. Take Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. These men that wanted to put change in the world, and wanted to make differences, they were assassinated. I pray that that doesn’t happen. You already had that guy arrested before he even won. There are people and militia groups that are planning to kill this man. Absolutely. I think we would be foolish to think his life isn’t in danger. If someone is willing to put their life on the line like that, you have to believe they are the truth. I don’t have the balls to do that. It’s just inspiring man. It’s so inspiring. I’m still in shock. That’s the whole thing about touring. I missed the Phillies winning, the election. Touring is like it’s own little world. Even though we saw what happened, it’s different than if we were home and around our people. So it’s still a little surreal. Crypt the Warchild (Outerspace) just gave me the finger. I’m waving at him now.

215: What if you saw me out one night and heard me using the “N” word?

Reef: Well, that’s the whole thing about it man. It really depends on the context. You, yourself, you have more knowledge about hip hop than me. You know your shit and you’re part of a culture where that word is thrown around a lot. You can’t blame anybody but hip hop culture and movies and things like that. Kids of all races, not just white, but Latin & Asian too. They use that “N” word because black culture and the black man is the most imitated on this earth. So of course you’re gonna have people use the slang.

I don’t have a problem as long as it’s coming from love, and you know when it’s coming from love and you know when it’s coming from hate. It’s just a word. The more power you give to a word, the more of an asshole you look like. I have white friends that use it and I don’t get offended by it, but I know some people that do. If you say it out of love like that’s my nigga, that’s one thing. If you say I fuckin’ hates niggers, it’s a real tricky line.

It’s just a word, and I understand why people use it. It’s so ingrained in our vocabulary.The same with spic, chink, honky. These are just words. One of my favorite entertainers is Howard Stern. He basically uses these words to entertain people and offend people. I’m all about people being offended, so I don’t have any problem with it. I’m wise enough to know when someone’s using those words to provoke hate. But I know when it’s out of love, so I can’t get mad at that. If you used it, I wouldn’t be offended.

215: The new album is A Vicious Cycle. Tell us about it.

Reef: That shit sucks.

No, I’m joking. I spent three years putting out mixtapes and doing collabs with people. It took me forever because I just didn’t have much to talk about. I didn’t want to just throw anything out there. Anyone who follows my career, knows it takes me two to three years (between albums). I think it’s worth the wait. I’m just from that school where you take your time and you just know when it’s done. It got to a point where I had about forty to fifty songs done and I just picked my favorite eighteen tracks. The rest we’ll just put in the vault or on mixtapes or whatever.

It’s basically the same format. It’s me at 26, about to be 27. It’s the things I’ve experienced and things that I thought would be a good idea to rap about. The production is pretty much still homebase. I’m still not in that world of needing to buy a Just Blaze beat to sell records. I think Eyego Direct could fuck with Just Blaze or any of these other dudes. I stick with Eyego, Stress, and the home team.

I’m happy with it. I’m proud of it. I don’t wanna ever say this is my best album because I still have a lot more left to give. I would hate to take all the time that I took and drop some wack shit. I think all the time helped me put together a really good album. I hope people think the same thing. It’s out now on iTunes, in stores November 18th. I get my first physical copy in a few days and I’m excited about that. iTunes is one thing, but to be able to sit and read the liner notes, that’s what I’m all about. I can’t wait to do that.

215: I don’t buy anything online, only physical copies.

Reef: Yeah, I had to realize how big the digital thing was because my business partner was really adamant about digital sales. I was like who gives a fuck? Then he broke the numbers down to me. Me and you, we’re from a different era. These kids don’t know about buying a physical copy and liner notes. There’s just something about going to a store and that feeling. Like when Wu came out in ‘97, me and my cousin went and copped the tape and just rolled around in his car smoking weed. It was a great feeling, you know what I mean? It erases that interaction with people.

They have it now with message boards, but I just miss the days of people talking about stuff. My only beef with the internet is that it erases the idea of public communication. Actual face to face talking. It doesn’t happen that much anymore. Technology erases human contact. But, you can get it on iTunes and that shit already leaked so you can get it somewhere for free. I don’t give a fuck. There’s no way you can stop that shit.

215: I got to hear the album a few weeks ago. In your opinion, do you think I liked it?

Reef: You know, I really couldn’t tell cause we were all…man, I was bent. That was right after the release party, I was wrecked. But you, out of everyone else, seemed to be the only one that was quiet. So I think that’s a good thing when someone’s quiet in room with people being loud cause that means you were trying to listen. I think you did. Did you? You can be honest with me.

215: Umm…I did.

Reef: (laughing) Word, that’s what’s up.

6. A lot of people in Philly will list you as one of the city’s best MCs. Why the fuck haven’t you blown up yet?

Reef: I don’t know man. That’s a question that I ask myself everyday. It’s one of those things where people say I should leave Philly. I do leave Philly. I travel all over. I just feel like I’m running a business, and one of the main reasons I haven’t blown up is my stubbornness. The fact that I’m such a control freak, I haven’t allowed my team to build. Right now I’m focusing on that. You’re only as good as the machine behind you. A lot of the people you see blow up, they had the ill tour manager, the ill booking agent, the ill manager, or whatever. You need a team in this industry and I’ve been so anti-industry. I’ve been selling bootlegs of Feast or Famine for the past few years because I refused to play the game. I think that I focused so much on being independent, that it has hurt me in the long run.

I think that’s why I’m still in the position that I’m in. I haven’t allowed other people to help me. I will never allow the industry to run me, but if I want to be as big as I think it could be, I have to build my team up. I don’t wanna be stuck in Philly forever. It’s scary to think that it could happen. I’m on the road. A lot of these kids never heard me before, but they leave as fans. That’s the best thing about it. I need a team of people to really get me out to the masses. Right now, I got my man Lou, my team at Well Done, my Fuck You Pay Me imprint, I got my cousin Teef helping me. It’s about the movement and the team behind you. Right now, that’s where I’m at. I’ll do the raps, get on stage and tear it down. You make sure when I get to a city, press is there to interview me, or if an opportunity comes up for a tour, get me on that shit. Slowly but surely. I think that’s the main reason. I don’t wanna say it’s because of talent or anything like that. I sometimes question that too. Am I just not that good? I guess we’ll find out.

215: Now, I see you out all the time. Do you think if you did leave Philly, you would adapt and still go out in New York or L.A., or would it be difficult for you?

Reef: I think it would be difficult for me man. This is my home. I don’t understand why Philly is the one place they say you need to move. You don’t hear people from Chicago saying you need to move to make it in music. You don’t hear people from New York or L.A. saying that. Why can’t I make it here? Why can’t I be from Philly and live here? That bothers me. Why can’t I stay here? This is where my mom is at. Why do I have to move away and give up everything I love? It’s hard enough being away from my loved ones for months at a time on the road. Now you’re gonna tell me I gotta come home to a place that’s unfamiliar to me too?

I hate New York. I love it as far as going up there to rock shows and for shopping, but live there? I would never live in that place. Every time I’m there I have a panic attack. It’s like 3,000 people on one train. In Philly, they don’t get on a train if it’s too packed. In New York, they will smother you on a train. It just bothers me that people think you can’t be from Philly and stay here.

I remember seeing Cool C. I’m from West Philly. I’m from Hilltop. I remember seeing him riding around in Audi’s and Iroc’s. I remember seeing Karon from Tha Youngstas picking up his sister from school in his Benz. And then on the other side of town you got Diplo and those dudes. They blew up, so why do we have to leave? I don’t think it’s fair to say that the only way to make it in Philly is to leave. It’s discouraging and it’s such a typical Philly attitude.

Hopefully, with the Phillies winning the championship, the attitude starts to change a little bit. It really bothers me. You don’t hear that anywhere else. Maybe with my boys the Snowgoons over in Germany. They think about moving to America. Me moving 100 miles up 95? Or to Atlanta? When you move to another city, after a while, the mystique of you being from somewhere else wears off. You become a member of that city. If I moved to New York, after a year I’m a New Yorker. I’m not some kid from Philly anymore. I would rather be that dude that never left here and did my thing and said I’m from Philly and I didn’t leave to make it. Being out here on the road is inspiring because everyone I’m with is from Philly and we got fans and people in all different parts of the country spending money every night and wildin out to our songs. You can’t tell me you gotta leave Philly to make it. I’ll never leave.

215: Do you think it makes it even harder with so many people now trying to be involved in hip hop?

Reef: No. I think cream rises to the top. If you think about it, how many people make it to the NBA and how many people play basketball? It’s the same with music. The ones that are dope will see their shine. If they don’t, it will have nothing to do with there being so many MCs. I’ve done a lot of shows, I’ve seen a lot of performances. I’m really hype to see like Ethel Cee or Charlie K. These are people coming up after me and they deserve the shot. Burke deserves a shot. I deserved a shot and I got it.

Kamachi, Vinnie Paz, Last Emperor, Bahamadia…these people, Philly legends, heard me and was like yo, this kid is next. Dave Ghetto. These are people that I heard of for years. Outerspace, Army of the Pharoahs crew. Everyone out there that showed me love, there was a reason for it. I put in work. My man Jake Lefco, he desrves a shot and he’ll get it. You get you your shot if you put in work. If you deserve it, you’ll get it. It just depends on what you do with it. I’m telling you right now, that whole “so many MCs or producers so it’s hard to make it” shit is a cop out. There are people out there every year who go out and try for things.

There are no jobs in this country right now but I guarantee if you’re the better man for the job, you will get it. It won’t matter if a million other people applied for the job, if you’re the best man for it, you’ll get it. I hear people saying it’s so hard because everyone raps now. So the fuck what! Are you better than them? Alright then. Go out there and shut them up. Take their shine, take their fame. Get your shit off. I feel like that’s a cop out.

At this point, in my career, anything suggesting you can’t make it is just a cop out. You have to fully believe every day that you’re gonna make it. You set your goals and go for it and don’t let nothin stop you. I don’t care if there’s a million MCs in the house. When I get on stage, I’ll make sure you remember who the fuck I am. I’m gonna make you a fan that night. It doesn’t matter to me how many people are doing this music shit. The cream always rises to the top.Straight up.

215: And that was words of inspiration brought to you by Reef the Lost Cauze…

Reef: (laughing) Shut up man.

215: Do you ever get the feeling artists come at you for collaborations just to help their own careers?

Reef: Yes, absolutely. I think that it’s an honor, it’s flattering. There are people I feel don’t genuinely know me as a person or would want to know me as a person but because of the music, they wanna do work. Me, personally, I’ve never been that type of person that would wanna do a collab just to help my career out. I wanna do collabs with people I genuinely respect.  Some people are my peers, and some people just want me on a track because they think it’ll help. If I’m in the position I’m in, me doing a song ain’t gonna do much for you. It might get you a little shine, but I never looked at myself as someone that’s that big. i never tried to act like that and I never tried to think that.

If it’s a genuine thing, let’s do it. If its someone I never heard of hitting me up on MySpace, we’ll talk cash. You know what i’m sayin? This is my livelyhood. I’m at Haj’s studio at least once every other week recording some terrible verse. i know he’s reading this laughing, but it’s true. I’m always over there recording some terrible verse for some MySpace kid. I need the money man. Art and commerce meet and the’re battling right now.You know, I think the day people don’t want me to do collabs, is the day I should start worrying. I think me working with Ethel Cee will help me in the long run. Working with Writtenhouse and Charlie K. Me working with them benifits me just as much because we make good music together.

215: If you could pick one rapper, local or mainstream, to punch in the face, who would it be?

Reef: That’s a really good question man. Gimme a second with this one…umm…wow, that’s a really good question. I wanna answer this genuinlly. Umm…

215: Wanna come back to it?

Reef: Yeah, let’s come back to it.

215: What are some of the most interesting perks you’ve ever got from being a well known rapper?

Reef: Well, obviously, there’s female attention. I don’t think I’m an ugly looking dude, but, I feel like it doesn’t hurt to be known. That’s probably the number one. Before I did music, I never had so many girls that actually paid attention to me. That’s a little bugged out. I don’t know if that’s a perk or a curse, but it’s definitely nothing to sneeze at. When you’re in Europe somewhere, and kids are bringing you weed, and you’re in a 4 star hotel room just from your music?

I think a perk is just to be able to perform your shit anywhere. I think the most interesting perk of all is the fact that I can even do that. There are people that never will get the opportunities to see the places I’ve been. It’s one of those things you can’t take for granted because it could be gone in a day or two. But I think the number one perk would be the love from the ladies. But I’ve settled down now.

215: I know your girl, so we won’t get into details.

Reef: (laughung) She knows she got me. She knows where my heart’s at. It’s all love.

215: What do you say to a fan at your show that tells you they downloaded all your albums?

Reef: I say…that’s what’s up, thanks for coming to the show. Really man, in this day and age, there’s no way to stop the downloading. The fact is they came to the show and spent their money and hopefully they buy a shirt or something like that. That’s basically where the game’s at now. People make mad money touring off of downloads.

When you look at some faggots like the Cool Kidz…actually, that’s my punch in the face. The Cool Kidz. Anyone with Kidz in the name, all the faggot hipster rappers. I’m sorry man, that shit is god awful. It’s fucking terible.There are dudes out there that dress like hipsters that can still spit, like Mickey Factz. I judged him, then I heard his shit and he can spit. He’s dope. I listened to Cool Kidz and Kidz in the Hall and the’re fucking terrible. These kids are eating off of the fact that people are downloading, so they know who they are. When they come to town, they buy tickets to the show.

My manager Yan, I forget how he worded it but, he basically said you used to put out an album to tour and now you tour to put out an album. You have to now sell youself as a live act to make any money in this game. That happens every night out here. I got a MySpace message a few weeks ago from a kid telling me he loved my album. It’s not out yet! (laughing) He’s basically telling me he stole my shit. It’s adapt or die. You can’t stop the downloads. I got news the album leaked and once it’s out of your hands, it’s impossible to stop it.

You can be mad at these kids and be dicks to them or be like that’s what’s up, thanks for coming to the show. You gotta get your money back one way or the other. Maybe it’s not gonna be from album sales, but from them coming to a show and telling their friends and they come to a show and buy a shirt or whatever. There’s things you can’t download. I’m learning that from touring with Jedi Mind Tricks. They have everything from jackets to skateboards. That type of shit is the money maker. That’s the type of stuff I wanna get into as far as branding myself and putting my logo on things you can’t download off the internet. It’s about finding ways to make money outside of album sales. That’s the last place you’re gonna make money.

Honestly, you know the industry man. Really, the motherfuckers hurting more than anybody is the record labels. Artists always had to fight to get our royalty checks. Now you got these 360 deals where they’re trying to get a cut of the merch cause they’re not making money anymore.

It’s really interesting when someone comes up to you and says yeah, I downloaded all your shit. It can be frustrating. I know Crypt and Planet (Outerspace) hate that shit. I’m trying to learn to adapt. It is what it is. I read somewhere that if you sell 3,000 copies, really you might have sold 10,000. I know the last Necro album did about 8,000 in sales. He would have sold like 16,000 records if not for downloading. That’s a huge chunk.I’m not in the position now to really care. I’m looking at artists that are making moves by giving their music away.

I’m really happy cause Jus Allah is on the balcony with a blunt and we’re gonna get high.

215: Tell everyone why they should buy your new album.

Reef: I feel like I love y’all and I really try to represent for y’all everywhere I go. I am Philly and everyone that know me, knows that I’m not that dude walking around thinking I’m the shit. All I do is my music, and I try to make good music. Anyone who follows my career, or listened to my music before say they enjoy it. And I think you’ll enjoy this record as well. I just want you to know, wherever I’m at in the world, I’m really doing this for y’all. I’m doing this for my city. I believe we’re underrepresented in the rap game. I want y’all to support something that’s not unattainable. I’m in the same bars, the same clubs as y’all. I’m seeing it first hand and I want everyone else to experience that too. So, if you buy my album, just know I’ll spend the money on drugs.

215: Did you just say…

Reef: Yes. Yes I did.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.