New York, NY - On March 6th, 2007 rapper Consequence dropped his debut album Don’t Quit Your Day Job under G.O.O.D Music/Sony Urban/Red Distribution. Some of you may know him as the new guy signed to Kanye’s label, and some of you may know him as the not so new guy from back in the Tribe Called Quest days.  

Prior to doing this interview with Consequence, I had met him once before at the Brooklyn Festival in 2006 when I went through with Grafh, a good friend of mine from Queens. At the time I didn’t exactly know everything about the Cons. I knew he was working with Kanye and that he was mad talented, but hadn’t really listened to any of his stuff. Seeing him rock that crowd made me a believer.

Now, in 2008, Consequence had just released Don’t Quit Your Day Job and seeing his first video for “Feel This Way” with John Legend made me a fan. I listened to most of the album and I thought he was great. I could see a slight Kanye resemblance in the delivery, but after listening to the record a few times, it wasn’t hard to distinguish Cons individuality on the songs. “I was an artist before Kanye,” he says about his uncanny resemblance to Yeezy’s flow. “At the end of the day I don’t think either one of us is set out to – I mean I can only speak for myself, but I don’t set out to sound like him because it wouldn’t make sense.”

Consequence started rapping when he was still in high school and his cousin Q-Tip was part of the legendary group, A Tribe Called Quest. He got his first shot with "The Chase, Part II," the B-side of Tribe's popular "Award Tour" single from their Midnight Marauders album. Once he was done high school and decided to pursue his passion for music, Consequence got signed to Q-Tip’s Museum Music through Eastwest/Elektra. He appeared on the group’s 1996 album Beats, Rhymes and Life, on which he wrote 6 records and appeared on the single “Stressed Out” featuring Faith Evans. After A Tribe Called Quest started going through some group discrepancies, he decided to step back and focus on his solo career.

He met Kanye in early 2002 through a mutual friend, and the two have been working on music since. He appeared on Kanye’s College Dropout and Late Registration albums and in 2005 inked a deal with Kanye’s G.O.O.D Music label.

With Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Consequence makes a bold statement about his position in the game. “I will be at the top of the heat this year because nobody has been working as hard as I have been. I’m not here to fight the competition, but I’m just here to do what I do and it’s not about competing with anybody, but rather to see out my vision.”

HipHopCanada: Let’s start off with the album. How many tracks did you record at first initially, and why did you pick the one that you did for the album?

Consequence: Well in the process of making Don’t Quit Your Day Job I had actually recorded Volume 3 and 4 of my mixtape series. I probably ran through about at least 50 or 60 tracks.

HipHopCanada: Did you have collaborations with artists or was it just…

Consequence: Yeah, I had done a record with Mike Jones, of course John Legend, Kanye and I actually did a record with Q-Tip.

HipHopCanada: How was that, working with Q-Tip?

Consequence: I mean, it’s you know…

HipHopCanada: Did it bring back memories?

Consequence: Well we talked though, so it wasn’t weird or anything. We recorded over at Bar Power Studios where we mixed all the Tribe records…

HipHopCanada: Oh okay, so it was like…

Consequence: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and him talked so once we got around to Bar [Power Studios], the second I recorded my verse it brought things back to Beats, Rhyme and Life.

HipHopCanada: He’s not featured on the album though?

Consequence: Nah, that was for his record.

HipHopCanada: Do you plan to release the excess of the songs that you haven’t put on the album to a mixtape? Maybe something extra or exclusive?

Consequence: The next thing I’m doing is The Cons Volume 6: The King of Queens and I’m probably going to write a tribute to “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” that will be on there. It will be on my blog too.

HipHopCanada: That’s cool. Was there ever a message you were trying to get across with the album?

Consequence: Don’t quit your day job [Laughing]. Just literally like that. It’s so crazy how metaphorical the title of the album is. The album came out the gate with a slow start and everyone was saying it was going to be it. Now we’ve got 5 videos off of a debut album and individually they are all dope and they have their own fans. Whether it’s “Uncle Raheem,” “To Feel This way,” “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,” and we’re shooting a video for “Disperse” in April.

HipHopCanada: You’re getting that work in…

Consequence: Well yeah. When I put out the next album, You Win Some You Lose Some, I’m also putting out a DVD version of Don’t Quit Your Day Job.

HipHopCanada: Hold on, so you’re already working on another album?

Consequence: Yeah, You Win Some, You Lose Some. It will hopefully be out around August.

HipHopCanada: Holy shit. That’s right around the corner. How many tracks?

Consequence: Like 15…

HipHopCanada: Damn, any features or just you?

Consequence: I’m working on them now. Definitely Talib Kweli. I got about 3 records I recorded with John Legend, but I don’t know which one yet.

HipHopCanada: You guys have good chemistry together…

Consequence: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were like roommates on the road and that was back in the day when Kanye had the College Dropout album out.

HipHopCanada: Okay, so going back to Don’t Quit Your Day Job for a minute. When I first heard the title I was a little confused. If you do rap and still have your 9-5, that’s your day job and the rapping is for fun and you do it because you love it. But that 9-5 gets that regular pay in…

Consequence: But the content is working reversely…

HipHopCanada: That’s what I’m saying. The way you were explaining it in other interviews, was a little in reverse to what I thought about in the beginning.

Consequence: Thing was that due to certain circumstances I had to go and get a job at a point in time. It was so therapeutically for me because it really put me in the right frame of mind as far as approaching music. It was either you do what you do or you get a job. Shit happens and that’s part of life. But going to work put me back in the right frame of mind. I realized that this is what I wanted to do so I had to treat it like a job.

HipHopCanada: That’s awesome. What was the most difficult thing about the project when putting it together, getting it off its feet or whatever?

Consequence: With being in a good music deal with Sony, that was probably the most difficult thing because the way that they deal with structure – we weren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

HipHopCanada: With the concept, the songs, the features, with what?

Consequence: No, with the business. I can rap. I can make records with my eyes closed so that’s never really an issue. But with putting the record out there were some difficulties. A lot of new artists don’t really understand what it really takes to put a record out and get it into retail. Out of the whole year you may see 12 to 20 new artists [and that’s being generous] throughout all five of the majors to release albums. And that’s just to get on the schedule.

HipHopCanada: How does the scheduling work?

Consequence: There are records being released every quarter. There are 4 quarters in a year and usually a lot of the new artists come out between the first two quarters.

HipHopCanada: So it was about you scheduling your album when you wanted and them not being able to?

Consequence: Well it was just about me getting on the schedule period.

HipHopCanada: Oh, wow.

Consequence: Well the time frame we live in with where the music is at, it’s a ringtone era. If you don’t have a joint that’s shooting out on iTunes like boom...

HipHopCanada: They’re not going to put your stuff out…

Consequence: Yeah, because they’re looking to just get the bread back. They’re looking to make money, not to just make the money back. So with the whole ringtone era, you have to come to the table with something prepared… it’s a popularity contest.

HipHopCanada: So if you already have the fan base and the buzz…

Consequence: Exactly, exactly. And even if you have that, they’re not really trying to develop that; they’re just trying to cash out.

HipHopCanada: With all the other artists that are in the game right now, where do you place yourself, whether it’s with the music you make or what you have to offer?

Consequence: I’m the King of Queens [Laughing]. I’ll probably end up – through hard work – hopefully the number one conceptual rapper in 2008.

HipHopCanada: So you’re a conceptual rapper, but is it just conceptual?

Consequence: No, I mean as a hip-hop artist that’s where I fall. I will be at the top of the heat this year because nobody has been working as hard as I have been. I’m not here to fight the competition, but I’m just here to do what I do and it’s not about competing with anybody, but rather to see out my vision. When I make a record I have something in my mind, and that’s why I said conceptually wise I’m at the top of the heat. With the records I make, the reason I set out to make so many videos is because when you are a conceptual rapper I can’t just play a record for somebody and think they’re going to have a full appreciation just from that. When you hear the “Uncle Raheem” record it’s dope; the beat is crazy and the hook is crazy. But when you see it and hear it you can utilize all 5 senses.

HipHopCanada: You get an idea of what it’s all about.

Consequence: Yeah, you understand exactly where I’m coming from.

HipHopCanada: I noticed that all the songs in the album follow a storyline.

Consequence: One thing I learned from Tribe is how to sequence an album. Don’t Quit Your Day Job is probably one of the best sequenced albums to hit the marketplace in a long time… if not ever. That’s just because sonically everything falls into place.

HipHopCanada: What’s the best advantage of working with Kanye?

[I notice Consequence slightly looking at my notes and I put my hands over the pad…]

Consequence: Oh you don’t want me looking at the paper? [Laughing]

HipHopCanada: [Laughing] No it doesn’t matter…

Consequence: I guess just… we worked together for a long period of time and… [Thinking]

HipHopCanada: Sorry to interrupt you, but when did you guys meet?

Consequence: We met at the beginning of 2002, early February I think it was. We had met through a friend of ours named 88 Keys who was also a producer. We met and as far as rap we were just in similar places and both had something to prove. He was in a good position as far as being the in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella; him and Just Blaze. He invited me to come kick it with him. He wanted to get better as a rapper. I was already Consequence…

HipHopCanada: You had already built a…

Consequence: I was NICE if nothing else.

[Both Laughing]

Consequence: Coming from doing Beats, Rhymes and Life, that’s where he knew my work from.
I mean it’s mutual. We share a lot of the same ideas. A lot of people say they can’t tell which is which when they hear the both of us on a record.

HipHopCanada: I had that same impression when I heard “Feel this Way” with John Legend.

Consequence: You can easily say on “Flashing Lights” he sounds like Consequence.

HipHopCanada: It was just the personality that comes across with the record also that makes you feel like it could be either one of you. But I guess the more you listen to the album and to your material you can definitely tell the two of you apart and your own separate styles.

Consequence: I mean this shit to the point where people hear us and they say we look alike too. We don’t looking nothing alike.

HipHopCanada: You don’t look anything alike. People will take it as far as they want to take it.

Consequence: Exactly. At the end of the day, I don’t think either one of us is set out to – I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I don’t set out to sound like him because it wouldn’t make sense.

HipHopCanada: You’re trying to be your own artist and not be Kanye West.

Consequence: I’ve been my own artist before Kanye West.

HipHopCanada: In the first stages of your career you were with A Tribe Called Quest and now you’re signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label. Are your work ethics any different?

Consequence: Well right now I’m actually starting my own label called Band Camp records. It consists of DJ Statik Selektah, director Rik Cordero, me and Paula Campbell. I live this every day. The number one experience for me is having to go to work. Being back in the game and being in a better financial place, I don’t take it for granted. Throughout the completion of Don’t Quit Your Day Job I managed myself because I had a little discrepancy with some management. I didn’t feel like they had my best interest at heart. Being that I have been in this industry for so long and I have the resources that I do have, I figured I could do it myself. If I’m with a management company and they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing and I can make headway on my own with my own contacts, then I’m just going to do it.

HipHopCanada: The shitty thing about this industry is that everyone can be a part of it. People who are businessmen don’t necessarily have a business degree, or have any sort of schooling for what they want to do or are doing. So you have people who manage artists who have no clue about what they’re supposed to be doing, but they want to do it anyway because it may be convenient.

Consequence: Yeah. Even if you have formal training, nothing trains you for the actual factual. I personally encourage people to pursue higher education. You need to utilize your brain to the fullest. I know even after the record came out that I knew how to use my brain. For every person that uses their brain, there are 10 dummies.

HipHopCanada: Maybe 20…

Consequence: Maybe 20 like you said. If I can outsmart 20 motherfuckers, that means I’m ahead of them. If you really just get on it that number increases.

HipHopCanada: What about in terms of the way the industry is. How has the industry changed in terms of the way people interact with one another…?

Consequence: Well… it depends on who you are. I was a protégé in Tribe. Even with this G.O.O.D. Music situation. Once you put something out, there’s a different type of respect. And that of course depends on how far that takes you. Even when I was with Tribe I was blessed enough that they didn’t jerk me. I have been fortunate enough that even when I was making some paper I knew how to manage myself as an artist. You can hire an accountant all you want, but you also have to be smart about it. You have to understand that in order to make x amount in, you have to push x amount out. If Tommy spends 30 million on marketing and has a terrible season, you’re going to be in the red. It’s basic business sense.

HipHopCanada: So you think it’s important to have business skills as well as musical skills…

Consequence: It’s almost more important to focus on your business, because if you’re making money, that puts you in a space to be able to create. If you’re making money and you’re comfortable, your moves are more calculated. The whole thing is that you have to not be ashamed to ask questions. It’s alright not to know something. It’s age. With age comes maturity and with maturity you start to set pride aside and ask questions.

HipHopCanada: How long can you see yourself recording for?

Consequence: My thing is that I won’t record if I feel like I’m not doing it right. I’ll wait or come back to it. If I’m not feeling it, then I’m not going to push it.

HipHopCanada: When is the album complete in your opinion? When are you satisfied?

Consequence: That’s totally based on feeling.

HipHopCanada: What are you working on right now?

Consequence: The next thing to come out will be Volume 6: King of Queens, and then after that I’m putting out a CD called the Natives are Restless, which is me rhyming like all the native tongue classic records.

HipHopCanada: Where did you get the idea from?

Consequence: [Laughing] I think of a bunch of shit everyday. This was just one idea I had. Me and Whoo Kid are putting out a “Q.U.E another E.N.S.” video, in conjunction with the next mixtape. The original version came out in the volume 5 that I put out with Whoo Kid. Then You Win Some You Lose Some is coming out in August.

HipHopCanada: Did you get clearance for that already?

Consequence: I’m still working on it, but it’s tentatively for August. Then I’ve got the Band Camp album which is in the works. There will be more talk about that as the year progresses.

HipHopCanada: Last question: What kind of values do you think New York has instilled upon you, which you don’t think you would have gotten in other cities?

Consequence: To get up and go get some money. New York makes it easy for you to do that. I’ve lived in Atlanta and I’ve lived in San Diego and the pace is completely different. This isn’t the city where you sit in the crib for a week. You’re looking crazy and you’re feeling crazy.

Editor’s note: For more information on Consequence check out http://www.myspace.com/cons.

  

Lola Plaku http://www.myspace.com/lola00 http://www.iluvlola.net Lola Plaku is a senior writer/journalist for HipHopCanada.com. She has been writing for the company since early 2005. Lola also work does PR work for several clients, keeping a strong focus on their press material and presentation. In addition to writing for HipHopCanada.com, Lola also writes for Swagg News, and has her own column called Ask Lola, where people write her in for advice on different areas of life and the entertainment industry. Lola is the Toronto Representative for a DVD based out of NY by the name of Epydemik, where she provides content from the industry in Toronto.