Rhyme vet Seed drops his new album with producer Nottz, No Way In Hell, tomorrow, but you can listen to an exclusive early stream below. Keep scrolling after that for an interview with Seed himself, where we talk about working with the seasoned beatmaker, politics in music, and the late, great Pumpkinhead.
Seed Interview
No Way In Hell is your first full-length project with Nottz, but your relationship goes back a long, long way. Tell us more about your history together?
Ant Marshall and Danny Castro from Lyricist Lounge introduced me to Nottz. He was the most incredible producer I heard at the time. When it became time for me to work on my single, I went back to him and we did For The Kids. The rest is history.
How do you guys like to work; in person in the studio, or separate with a selection of beats he provides?
Back in the day, I used to record in his studio. This album, we pretty much did it via the internet.
If you had to describe No Way In Hell in five words, what would they be?
Hmmm…five words? Dope. Creative. Hip-Hop. Timeless…and FIRE. Definitely FIRE!!!
I don’t want to dwell too much on the subject matter of The Devil’s In The White House, or even mention that asshole’s name, but I wanted to give you major props for saying what everyone else should be. There’s definitely a lack of artists willing to stand up and comment on this crazy situation, right?
Trump is definitely sending Secret Service to people’s cribs if the song or statement is big enough. Snoop Dogg and YG both made records with visuals denouncing Trump and were approached. Kathy Griffin was blackballed and approached for a picture holding up Trump’s head with ketchup on the face. I think a lot of people are scared. Me? I’m not gonna say I’m scared or not scared…but I am gonna say that I’m the type of cat to speak on things that I think about in my music. And that goes for anybody.
Hip-Hop has always been political of course, but less so in these times of short attention spans and so much new music. How do you strike a balance between saying what you want to say, versus what people want to hear?
I don’t have too many political records. Every now and again I’ll say something. But for the most part, I’m more vocal in person about political issues and such.
I’ve heard you describe When All Else Fail as your favorite track on the album. Tell us why?
It’s just different. It has a feel to it that I haven’t heard before. I like what I was saying in the second verse a lot too.
It’s interesting to see that Yellow Lights features Sauce Money, a name we don’t hear enough of these days. How did that collaboration come about?
Working with Sauce was on my bucket list. Sauce was and is one of the best to ever do it. Period.
Rock also features on the album, on a remix to an older joint, Belt Off. Where you close to Sean Price at all?
Sean P and I weren’t close like that. We knew each other and were cool, but we didn’t know each other like that. Him and my partner PH (RIP) knew each other well.
Which actually brings me to my next question: You also worked a bit with another BK icon we lost too soon, Pumpkinhead. How do you feel about his legacy?
I feel like hip-hop lost someone VERY special. Someone who would help ANYBODY if he could. He inspired me to be that way, as well as many others. I’d say that’s a hell of a legacy…and I’m proud of that.
What’s coming up next after No Way In Hell?
Got a couple features lined up. Some stuff with The Snowgoons, Mikey D and Hellz Yea! Plus I wanna get started on another one with Nottz real soon.
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No Way In Hell is out tomorrow (September 28). Go get it here. Follow Seed (Twitter, Instagram) and Nottz (Twitter, Instagram). Interview by Grown Up Rap Editor Ben Pedroche.