Long-time friends and collaborators Molecules and Showbiz connected last year for the impressive EP, A Bronx Tale. We recently spoke to Molecules about working with the D.I.T.C. legend, the role Dres played in his early career, and what’s next for The Legion. We are also proud to be premiering the latest video from A Bronx Tale, Good Life.
A Bronx Tale has been out for a minute. What has the reaction been like since it dropped last May?
The reaction to the release has been good. The fans and my friends, people that heard the project and seen the videos are saying, “Yo ‘Cules that joint is hot.” Everyone has been liking what we put out so far.
How does your relationship with Showbiz work? I know some of the beats on A Bronx Tale are taken from Show’s Rare Stacks mixes, but what about the new songs? Did he make them specifically for you, or provide a bunch to choose from?
Show and I got a great relationship. We’ve been friends even outside of the music. Our sons grew up together, that’s my dude. So when it came to working on music it was an easy mesh. The beats he did on Rare Stacks, some of them stood out to me to where I was like “yo I need to spit on these.” When we started working on our project he wanted to do all new beats, but some of those beats from Rare Stacks I had already had certain ideas in my head of how they could turn out. So I was like we have to use these. For the new tracks, I would come into the studio and he would play me beats. He played me crazy stuff like Methadone Rap. I was like yeah that’s nuts I gotta get on that. He’d just play beats and I’d be like I got an idea for that one.
You’ve been down with D.I.T.C. for a long time, but I’ve also heard you talk about how influential Dres from Black Sheep was in your early career. Can you give some background?
Dres is like my right-hand man. That’s a whole other interview as far as that question goes. Dres brought me into the game. He brought The Legion into the game. We were signed to Dres’ imprint One Love Records on Mercury/Polygram. He’s my dude to this day. We hang out, run around, work in the studio…if it wasn’t for Dres, there’d be no The Legion or Molecules. The rest is history.
Dres features on Hardcore. It’s essentially a song about commercial rappers making street-level Hip-Hop that doesn’t suit them. What’s your take on the never-ending debate around new rap versus old, and the generation gap?
On Hardcore, I’m saying stay in your lane. You have guys that want to go and make pop records which there’s nothing wrong with because we need that diversity. But then they try to cross back and make a street record and I’m like five minutes ago you wanted to make pop records. Stay in your lane. Stay over there. This Hip-Hop boom bap lane is my lane. This is where I like to be all day, every day.
As far as the other genres of rap that’s going on right now, I don’t knock it. I have kids that listen to all the new guys. I joke with them about the mumble rap cause I don’t know what they saying. But it’s their generation and their sound. It’s what they do. I respect it. Same way our parents probably didn’t get the whole idea of rap. My father’s era of music was jazz, disco, Marvin Gaye and Barry White. Our era was A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, and Jay-Z. And now this era has Migos and Kodak Black. Music has different layers and it changes. That’s what it is. I don’t have a problem with it. But when I’m in my car I’m listening to boom bap music. That’s it.
One of the standout cuts on A Bronx Tale is Heist. There’s some great storytelling on there, and it makes a nice follow up to Revenge from a few years back. Right at the end though you stop the story short and tell us the rest is coming on Part 2. Will we ever get to hear that?
Heist is my joint. There’s definitely going to be a part two. I’m going to put the pen to the paper on that. Actually, I want to shoot a video for that. You’ll probably be getting a video to Heist pretty soon, too.
What’s next for you? Any new music on the way from The Legion?
Next up is a Molecules & Showbiz full-length album. I’ve been dragging my feet on it doing other things, but Show’s been waiting on me to get it done. We just have to finish a few joints. The Legion’s got a new single, 1980 Something b/w Heard We Quit that’s about to drop. You can pre-order that at Fat Beats right now.
We also have two videos to follow-up the single so you’ll get the visuals as well. Then after that will be the release of Three The Bronx Way LP, which should drop late summer. And also Cee-Low from The Legion has a solo album on deck. This summer you’ll be hearing Molecules, Showbiz, The Legion and Cee-Low The Dice Man. Definitely music from my camp.
I also want to thank Grown Up Rap and all the supporters. Everyone that’s following, tuning in and listening. If it wasn’t for ya’ll there’d be no Molecules. I definitely appreciate the support. Good lookin. Stay tuned for more.
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A Bronx Tale is out now. Listen below, then go here to buy it. Interview by Grown Up Rap Editor Ben Pedroche.