Supastition is one of the most talented artists working in hip-hop today, with an extensive run of albums released over the last two decades. In this new interview we discuss his most recent work, including Every Last Word and the Speaker Bullies album, new music coming soon, and the importance of being open about struggles with mental health.
You’ve had a busy year so far, with Every Last Word dropping in March, and the Speaker Bullies album in July. How do you feel these recent projects have been received so far?
It’s been a hectic year, for sure. The feedback has been amazing for both of those projects. I’m honestly humbled by the support. The plan was to release the two-part series with Every Last Word and All That Was Left Unsaid together since the Speaker Bullies album was taking forever to finish. Soulspazm hit me a few days after Every Last Word dropped and wanted to release the Speaker Bullies album immediately. I had to call an audible and change the plans a little.
Every Last Word dealt with issues like health, and loss of family. You have the companion project, All That Was Left Unsaid, coming soon. Is that a continuation of the same themes and tone?
Both projects are related to each other but have a different mood to each one. The album covers (by Philly artist Pecue) will look very similar. Every Last Word was me dealing with the grief of losing my close friend and biological father as well as recovering from a terrible case of Covid that damaged my lungs and caused heart issues. The feeling was hopeless and borderline depressing because that’s what I was going through. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to rap again. On All That Was Left Unsaid, it’s a more optimistic look at life and more so about celebrating the wins and the good times. I wanted one project to show the downsides, but I wanted the second to sound more thankful for those life lessons. It’s about balance for me.
You’re very honest and open about subjects like mental health, which is so refreshing to see in a genre of music often closed to these problems. Do you find it hard to open up?
It’s not difficult for me to talk about it in my music because I’m comfortable sharing my struggles in real life. Men aren’t taught to show certain emotions because it makes them look weak. The myth is that rappers always gotta look tough and invincible. I don’t subscribe to that anymore. As a survivor of suicide and depression, I am a mental health advocate and I want to do my part to help people going through it. I’m human… I wake up every day and go to work just like most of my supporters. We have the same problems and that can be stress, anxiety, depression, or insecurity. Right now, somebody is reading this, and they are going through hell. Hearing someone else talk about it could save somebody’s life.
We first came aware of your music in 2015 with Gold Standard. How would you say you’ve evolved or grown as an artist since then? One particular way of note is that you now self-produce most albums.
Wow, that’s dope to hear! Gold Standard was like a factory reset for me. I went on the biggest tour of my career and came home to realize that touring wasn’t the life for me anymore. I had to make some changes. I’ve evolved in the sense that I only care to do things that I truly love. I used to force myself to do things that I hated because I was taught that it’s what you have to do to become successful in music. I didn’t enjoy touring for months because I was missing out on family stuff, affecting my kids and marriage. I love to listen to, write, produce, and record music and that’s where my love for music starts and ends. Everything else in this industry isn’t important to me.
As far as the self-produced projects, I started producing my albums when I realized that I wasn’t putting out much music because I was waiting on other people. It had always been an issue finding consistent production and dealing with different producer’s personalities. Musicians can be weird sometimes and egos are everywhere. It slows down everything sometimes. It would take me over a year to find production and get the producer to track out the stems. I could write, record, and produce two albums on my own by the time it takes me to get half of an album done with outside producers. For years, people were only listening to me because I worked with certain producers. When those producers moved on, they stopped listening. Those weren’t my supporters, in my opinion. I needed to build my own (fan)base of listeners who truly rock with me.
You’ve always been close Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh, and you recently went to the Little Brother Welcome To Durham Block Party event. What was that like?
I’ve known those brothers for over 20 years and we’re still cool to this day. Before they dropped The Listening, they opened for me at my 7 Years of Bad Luck album release party back in 2002. I paid them out of my pocket to perform because I believed in them that much. We have been friends ever since.
The ’Made In Durham’ block party was an amazing experience. Watching them go from performing in front of small venues to a block full of people from all over the US shows how things came full circle for them. They weren’t looked at as “hometown heroes” in the beginning, but their legacy and body of work are undeniable now. Many of us got to see the talent and hustle before the rest of the world saw it. Salute to my brothers Pooh and Phonte.
Do you have a confirmed release date for All That Was Left Unsaid, and what can we expect from you after that?
It was scheduled for an October release, but it has been tough to promote the Speaker Bullies album and put together these two upcoming vinyl releases on my own. You can expect to see it released sometime in November though. There won’t be a big rollout for it this time. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll drop it.
I can’t speak on the other upcoming projects right now, but I have two or three different EPs coming with some bigger-named producers. I hate announcing them prematurely because sometimes things don’t work out and people get annoyed. I think people will be excited when they are finally announced though. I don’t know how much time I have left to record and release music so I’m releasing everything I can over the next year or so.
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Stream Supastition’s music on Spotify, and purchase it from Bandcamp. Follow him on X and Instagram.