Moe Green Interview: SXSW 2010

Not many people grow up in constant contact with their artistic hero, but Moe Green's childhood best friend was the son of E-40, the face of Bay Area rap in the early 1990s. Now, the 21-year-old rapper and cultural sponge from Vallejo, Calif., has shown on his mix tapes that his skills as a wordsmith match his lightning-quick and spot-on pop culture references. We talked to Green in the midst of his preparation for his first trip to SXSW and his first full-length release.

How often have you had to deal with 'Godfather' jokes?

I get those all the time. I had a show two weeks ago and I walked up to this guy, and my friend was like, "Hey, this is Moe Green," and he's, "Like 'The Godfather,' right? Ha-ha-ha." And I'm like, "Yeah, I guess." But, really, I got the name when I used to make beats. I was going through samples and this guy was like, "Moe Green, I was getting my bones when you guys were dating cheerleaders," and I was like, "There we go, that's my new rap name, Moe Green." This wasn't even because it was from 'The Godfather,' it was just a dope name on a sample. I had seen 'The Godfather," I just never pieced it together. So I get Moe Greene and 'Godfather' jokes all the time. Mostly from older people, though.

What's the hip-hop scene like out in the Bay Area?

It's kind of hard to describe it, 'cause it's so much of a mixture out here. You've got a lot of, you could say, gangsta rap. But then you've got a new crowd of people coming up on the old mob sound. A lot of cats out of here are making some real honest music. I mean, we got the hyphy movement back in '06. But right now we're going putting real time and effort into their music. There's a lot going on, but I see the people that are rising above everything else just making real honest music right now.

Where do you fit in? Can you describe your sound in your own words?

When I first started rapping, I was going with what other people like. In high school, I was like, "What's cool? What's going to make me more popular?" But over time, I came to the realization that I listen to everything. I love all kinds of music, so I might as well rap on whatever I think is dope. 'Cause I can't sing, I have to express myself by rap. My sound would entail somebody just trying to make the best music possible. So I guess it would just be honest music. I guess the thing is that I keep it too real on some of my songs. I just lay it all out. I don't believe in being like a Super Rapper; I just want to be somebody you can relate to.

Is there anyone or anything that people in your fan base would be surprised to find out you're a fan of?

You know how some people have guilty pleasures and things like that? Like, "I kinda like this, but I won't tell anybody?" Well, I'll tell everybody. People look at me, like, oh, you rap, but, say, 'NSync will come on and I'll start singing all the words to an 'NSync song. I can do, like, five 'NSync songs off the top of my head. No lie. So that might be the one, 'NSync, or ... Hootie and the Blowfish. My mom had the Hootie and the Blowfish tape, and she used to play it all day. Everything that was on 'TRL' back in the '90s, I was on it.

Is this going to be your first SXSW?

Yeah. Over the past two years, as far as my music goes, I wasn't exposed to the whole indie side of the world. But then, I was going to college and I was like, "Man, it's a whole new world of music out here that I didn't even know about." And then I thought about things like CMJ and SXSW and I was like, "I gotta get there!" So, I told myself, "Next year, I will be down there." Then, things just started falling into place where who I'm connected with and the label situation popped up recently and then, boom! I'm down at SXSW this year. Performing, at that. It's like 'Slumdog Millionaire'! They say it was written, so I guess it was supposed to happen like this.

I found out from your Twitter account that you don't listen to your own music.

Nah. I'm weird like that. My dad plays my music all the time. But I don't listen to my own music. I've always been like that. I don't know why. There will be songs that I record and I only listen to them that day that I record them. I've got songs on my album that I've probably listened to only three times, max. I don't know: Maybe I'm too critical of my own music. It just seems awkward to be in a room full of people and playing my stuff.

Who are your influences?

My favorite rapper of all time is E-40. I guess that's the first rapper I really started listening to. My dad plays a lot of jazz, a lot of old-school singers. He plays a lot of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, things like that. And my dad listens to a lot of political rap. He listens to a lot of Dead Prez or Brother Ali, a lot of George Clinton, P-Funk, So it kind of molded me into liking a whole lot of kinds of music. I've always been influenced by whatever my parents played, but as far as rap, it had to be E-40. And recently it had to be Kanye West -- anybody that you can tell put time into their music and didn't just try to do a song because they were there in the studio that day.


Valerie Paschall is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.