Photo: Picoshaw
Emilio Rojas is one of various artists who understands the vital role Latin MC's have played in Hip-Hop. As a student of the game since 2004, Rojas has always been inspired by the biggest names in the game especially those he could relate to on a cultural level like Big Pun and Fat Joe.
Rojas, a seasoned rapper of Venezuelan descent, recently channeled Pun when he recorded his new single "Creep Wit Me." The song is inspired by memorable bars from the Puerto Rican rapper's smash hit "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)." Rojas aims to honor Pun's legacy with his version of the classic track.
"Me and my boy, DJ Hoppa, we updated the production from the original “Twinz” record and tweaked it a little bit," Rojas explained. "Just we wanted to pay homage to the classic, but also make it our own."
The original "Twinz" record helped jettison Pun into superstardom but it also shed more light on Latinos in Hip-Hop during the late '90s. Although Hispanic artists like Cypress Hill, The Beatnuts and others had already made waves in the genre, Pun's song with Fat Joe continued to pave the way for other rappers of Latin descent like Rojas to make more of an impact on the culture. Rojas said that he wanted to include Joe in his new record, but couldn't get ahold of him in time.
"I was trying to get ahold of Joe to get his sample cleared, but I only knew how to reach out via DM," Rojas explained. "I didn't have a number for him and I don't even think he ever saw the DM. Unfortunately I ended up just rerecording his vocal sample and used my own voice. I don't wanna disrespect the legend. I would've loved for him to be a part of it. I have so much respect for Joe and like what he's done for Hip-Hop that I didn't want to use his voice without his blessing or without getting it cleared through the proper channels. So we rerecorded it and I hope that he realizes what we were trying to do because I love 'Twinz' so much. I love what him and Pun did for the culture."
During our chat with Emilio Rojas, we dive deep into the making of his new single and his plans for the future. In the spirit of Hispanic Heritage Month, we also discuss his thoughts on Latino's role in the creation of Hip-Hop, his Mount Rushmore of Latin rappers and more.
iHR: Let’s get right into you've got the new record you just dropped. This your first solo single in a year, right?
ER: Yeah, in a year. I was like putting together a situation. So now that situation's situated. We're doing a little different because I was in the label system for a little minute and I felt like it was really dysfunctional like the whole way the recruitment is structured. It's really just like a predatory loan business where they don't prioritize anybody but the top-tier artists and the rest of us are just there for them to sweep up pennies and keep the lights on and keep their employees paid so they can keep promoting A-list artists, and they keep us in debt. So I was like let me structure something a little differently. Normal businesses don't run like this. So I was trying to structure that and I finally got what I feel like is a really good situation. It's interesting and good when it's successful (not if it's successful, when it's successful). I think a lot of people will be shifting to the model.
Who are working with for your new situation? How does your new model work?
It's a company called A.P. Keaton. We bring the distribution and the assets and, you know, our music industry side and they bring their marketing side and we form like Voltron. A lot of artists go Indy through the distribution platforms like DistroKid, which is what I did. I love DistroKid, but we're working with a brand house. So like a house of brands, like a marketing company. So instead of working with a label as the bank, hoping you get marketing, we just went right to a marketing company. These people understand Hip-Hop. They understand how to push like brands. So I'm really curious. This is our first record out and they have a different approach. I'm actually really f**king excited. Like really excited.
That's dope, man! So how did you come up with the idea for the record? You said it was inspired by Big Pun and Fat Joe’s “Twinz (Deep Cover ‘98).”
So “Creep Wit Me”...Fat Joe had this line, which was a reference to another line from Snoop Dogg. He says, “Creep with me as I cruise in my Bimmer/All my other kids in the ghetto call me Don Cartagena.” and I like BMWs. I drive a BMW not on some flex s**t. I just like the car. I appreciate the car. I was like, ‘Yo, that'd be f**king fire to sample that like on some like 50 Cent “I Get Money” type s**t. Then we flipped it.
There's a moment where like in the original record Pun is like “Dead in the middle of Little Italy/Little did we know that we riddled two middlemen who didn't do diddly.” I took that moment and I put my own flip on it where I do a lot of the triple time flows and a lot of my fans love the really fast s**t. So I took the Pun s**t, the “dead in the middle of Little Italy” and I really wanted to pay respect to it, but put my own twist on it because it was such an impactful moment for me. So I did like “dead in the middle of Little Italy/All of the homies are runnin’ around..” and I double what he did, double time. Hopefully people understand where I'm coming from. I'm not like by any means trying to one up Big Pun. I'm trying to f**king pay respect to a legend who I have nothing but love and reverence for.
You just dropped the video for “Creep Wit Me.” We can see you riding in the Beamer. Talk about the making of the video.
We shot it in L.A. and I told the director I didn't want it to look like L.A. and then he took me to the most iconic L.A. location on the f**king planet, Lower Grant, but it turned out fire. The “Creep Wit Me” record is just a hard record so it's a fun record to drive to. Right. So we got some old classic BMWs, some E 30's. I got the new truck. We pulled up and shot some performance scenes. I wanted to pay homage to Pun so we referenced that scene where they do the close up to on Pun’s lips in the “Twinz” video. I really like the video. It turned out sick. Even though nobody cares about videos anymore, everybody just wants to go to TikTok.
If you got the opportunity to talk to Fat Joe, what would you say to him about the record to really convince him that this is the one?
I would just tell him what I just told you. I love what he's done for Hip-Hop culture. I don't think he's recognized enough for the role that he's played, not only as an artist, but as an A&R. He's brought us some of the most undeniable records. He'll bring us an undeniable record like once every five years. Who else really has a track record like that? Since the ‘90s he was part of legendary groups like D.I.T.C. He gave us Pun and Terror Squad. Joe's a legend and I feel like there are a couple of Hip-Hop legends that are not really given the credit they deserve. Not to say that people don't respect them, but I feel like they should be, if you were gonna put build a Hip-Hop Mount Rushmore I would argue that people would have a tendency to overlook somebody like a Fat Joe or like a Busta Rhymes, for example. But those artists are people who deserve that recognition. They're legends and they made undeniable bodies of work for decades. They introduced us to so much.
What’s next after “Creep Wit Me”? Is it just single or part of a project that's gonna come out?
We're dropping a record to follow called “Green Cards,” which is not what it sounds like. It's not political. It's just the hook is “We turn green cards into black cards.” It's hard, bro. This s**t is stupid hard. We got that s**t dropping. I got a mixtape that I'm doing with the Coyotes from out here and also this kid Doman from Houston. It's all gonna lead up to a follow up to a mixtape I did a couple years ago with Billionaire Boys Club called Breaking Point. All these records are gonna lead up to that.
Now you’ve been out in L.A. for a minute, but you're originally from New York. You've always managed to remain surrounded by a Latin population in some way. How has your Latin roots influenced your career?
People look at me and I think they might be confused sometimes depending on like what type of Latino you're used to seeing. But when you see my name, there's really no room for you to think anything else. I remember there were moments for years where certain DJs like wouldn't play my records on big radio stations because they felt like they were introducing a salsero, which is funny, but it's also kind of f**ked up. My music has always been about authenticity and like being honest, you know? So I always wanted to use my real name. When I was like in high school, I had like a rap name, but when I started to pursue things seriously, I felt like to stay true to like what it was that I represented. I had to be myself. I think as far as like the Latin influence in my music it's just totally inevitable just because of my name.
One thing I've noticed recently, like as Latin music has blown up, like with Reggaeton and Latin trap is people love Spanish music but they don't like American-born Spanish music. We’re a huge demographic. The people that listen to Bad Bunny, they listen to Drake, but there's not the same representation in the Hip-Hop space. I think I represent something in the music space that is still new. I think we're still trying to figure out on my end what the best way to present that to larger audiences as I grow.
You’ve catered to English-speaking Hip-Hop heads for the most part, but you've also cut some Spanish records in your time too. You dropped “Vamanos” in 2017 and you also had “No Me Quieres” last year. What inspired you to cut those records?
I've always done records in Spanglish. One of my favorite things that JAY-Z did was "Hola Hovito." That f**king record's hard. Latinos are a big part of Hip-Hop culture and we've kind of been excluded from the narrative in many ways. Hip-Hop started in the Bronx and its very Black but it was also a very Spanish community. I'm not trying to co-op Black culture or take any of the creation away from Black people at all, but we were also there in the beginning since day one. Eventually, I think history's gonna look favorably upon artists like me, Joell Ortiz, Bodega Bamz, Big Pun and Fat Joe for being as vocal as we were, and a lot of them are more vocal than I am, but for being as vocal as we were about making sure that we represented for our communities.
I feel you on that. You guys represent a niche in Hip-Hop that’s great in its own way, but definitely slept on. Recently there's been an ongoing debate about Latinos role in the creation of Hip-Hop, especially after Fat Joe’s argument went viral. What do you think about it?
Well, I mean, I think it's a very nuanced argument because a lot of Latin culture is Afro Latin, right? So you have like Puerto Rican culture, Dominican culture… they're diaspora people so they have African blood. I think when you talk about like the racial origins of music that comes from a cultural melting pot where people already have ambiguous racial identities, it's not the easiest to navigate that conversation. I think there's definitely credence to what Fat Joe said for sure. You know, I think Latinos were there, whether or not they were diaspora or not, that's another conversation.
What would you say would be your Mount Rushmore of Latinos in Hip-Hop?
Joe, Pun obviously. Cuban Link. I would also throw in a Joel Ortiz. If you say Joell, then you gotta say The Beatnuts. You gotta say Bamz, you gotta say people like some of the cats Texas that are killing it, that are Mexican. There's cats out here on the west coast too. B-Real for sure too.