Phranchyze Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 6:30PM by Tessa Metayer
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Austin rapper Phranchzye is on a mission to put his town on the hip hop map. He's creating a grassroots movement to make that happen, and he's willing to sacrifice his singles pumping in heavy rotation in the clubs if it will put his town in the ranks of major cities for emerging artists. Spinner spoke with Phranchyze before his hometown SXSW appearance.

Describe your sound.

I don't want to get too grandiose about it, but I would say it's a microcosm of African-American males that grew up in the generation I did. It's contemporary black male rap, but for everyone.

How did you come up with your name?

I had a lot of names [in mind] that just didn't really stick. Then I decided on Franchise. In 2002 I changed the spelling because the Franchise Boyz already had the name, but I guess that helped me out.

How did you break into music?

Probably at the age of 16. They had these battles at this venue called Club Moon in the middle of nowhere, in Pflugerville [Texas]. I won seven battles in a row and they paid me. I thought, I could actually go somewhere with it, and here I am.

Describe a typical show in five words or less.

Really high energy, lots of sweat.

What are your musical influences?

If I look at all genres of music, I would say with hip hop, it would be OutKast, with blues it would be Stevie Ray Vaughan, with rock it would be Metallica, with hard rock it would be Guns N' Roses, with soul it would be Stevie Wonder and with reggae-dancehall it would be Barrington Levy.

What five songs are you listening to now?

'Texas Flood' by Stevie Ray Vaughn, 'Look Up in Da Stars" by Kid Cudi with Wale, 'Touchdown and Cause Hell' by Lil Boosie, 'Digital Swagger' by Zeale and 'Feeling Good' by Michael Buble.

What would you like people to understand about the Austin hip hop scene?

It's a viable scene. The problem we have here is that places like New York, Detroit, Miami, even Houston and Dallas, they are more open to putting out local artists. Here in Austin, there are some aspects of Houston and Dallas, but we're our own entity.

Where do you see Austin hip hop going?

I see it going far -- not only the city, but music here in general. I see it really making a statement in the next few years. A lot of stuff goes on here. Films are done here, and also the music scene. In the next two years, we're gonna take a step into the mainstream and take it to the next level.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Water, promo materials, cash, change of shoes and clothes and some of that "herbal tea."

Which performer would be your dream collaboration?

Pharrell [Williams of N.E.R.D.]. I've got a lot of respect got him as a producer. His beats are insane.

What is it about your music that you want people to leave with?

I want people to leave thinking "That guy really cares about what he's doing. He's out there giving 100 percent." I want people to see the talent and the effort I put in it.

Tessa Metayer is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.