By Shamora Evans
S.T.I.L.L.: You’ve attained a level of success that many rappers/hip hop artists in Delaware have yet to achieve by becoming the only nationally-recognized rapper hailing from “The First State”. How has your appearance in VIBE Magazine helped you to further establish yourself as an artist?
KNUXX: I mean, basically, it helped in many ways like meeting new producers and artists worldwide, just wanting to know me and wanting to collab. After the VIBE magazine feature, I got more interviews, and I did another nationally-known magazine, too. So, basically, it’s getting me out there, like all over, from that VIBE magazine feature.
S.T.I.L.L.: That’s what’s good, good deal. So, let’s chat a bit about what you’re doing with your music right now, like the song on “Delafornia”, “Freedom Part 2”; what was the inspiration for that track?
KNUXX: “Freedom Part 1” was done like a year ago, it was four verses, and at the time, I got one of my producers from Germany, “Xplosive”, I got him to remix it. Then, me and my manager, “Jazzy D” reached out to “Crooked I”, which is probably one of the hottest West Coast rappers out right now. He just came through and hit me a verse back, in like a day or two, so the inspiration from that song was…Originally, it was for Black History month because a lot of artists shy away from the history stuff because they want to do the “bling” and the “ching” stuff. So, I decided one day, ‘You know what? Let me just write something about history.’
S.T.I.L.L.: Now, my favorite song is “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us” on the new album “Delafornia”, but what are your favorite tracks from the new album?
KNUXX: Ah, man. (Laughs) I got a song called “So Hilarious” with an artist named “Problem” from Compton and, he actually just got signed to Universal Republic, and an artist named “K-Active”. And another song I got is called “Spit Somethin’” with an artist out in California named “Mykestro”. Basically, all the songs that are really super-lyrical are the ones I really feel from the new album, so if I had to pick two songs, it would be those two songs, and maybe “Freedom”.
S.T.I.L.L.: You have a lot of guest appearances and collabos on the new album, one of those artists being “Spider Loc” from G-Unit. How did you come into contact with him for the project?
KNUXX: A lot of the features were through my manager, like “Jazzy D” is from the West Coast, and he had sent me a West Coast mixtape with artists on there. And he said, “Look, I can get such and such, and I can get “Spider-Loc”, and I told him I wanted to work with him. So, at first, he [Spider-Loc] wanted to hear how I sounded and, when he heard me, he was like, “Yeah, I can work with him.” So, he sent me his verse back for the song, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us”, and Xplosive did the track for that song, too. And I came up with the idea of the album title to be “Delafornia” because the album features artists from coast to coast, from Delaware to California.
S.T.I.L.L.: Will there be a video for the first single from “Delafornia”, and which song from the album is the first single?
KNUXX: I mean, we shot a video for a song I did called “Get Lost”. I would like to do a video with “G. Malone”, and he just recently signed a deal with Cash Money, and we did a song together called “Get Down”.
S.T.I.L.L.: Alright, so we know you do live performances and rock the crowd on a regular basis. When and where are your upcoming shows, so your fans can rock wit’ you?
KNUXX: Right now, we’ve been busy as far as the promotion for the new album, and I’m working on three different projects right now. Right now, we’re shopping a few labels with my project “The Big Deal”, and “The King of Grind” mixtape was released December '08, and of course “Delafornia” came out January, so…But, I’m definitely gonna get back to the shows once the album gets out there; it’s just that I’m working on a lot right now.
S.T.I.L.L.: Now, let’s rewind a little bit. We know that you attribute your success to your 2005 win in DJ Kurupt’s “Streetz Iz Talkin’ Unsigned Hype Mixtape” contest, but how did your song “Kickstand” end up reaching his ears for that to even happen?
KNUXX: It’s kinda crazy. (Laughs) Like, I don’t know the dude’s real name, but I used to be cool with this young dude named “Hockey Dude”, and he hit me up on AIM and was like “Yo, DJ Kurupt’s having a mixtape contest; I think you should get in it”, and he gave me the information. So, I hit up his [DJ Kurupt’s] management, and they hit me back like three days later, and they were like “Yo, we like this song ‘Kickstand’”, and that was it.
S.T.I.L.L.: Do you have any tracks you’re working on that you can hear an industry artist rhyming, or singing, on that you think would make the track even hotter? Like, is there anyone you’d like to collab with in the industry on your future tracks?
KNUXX: Yeah, for my album! (Laughs) I think ‘outside the box’, and I would wanna work with an artist like Andre 3000, or like me and Young Jeezy. Those are the types of artists I would want to work with, and I know nobody would think that I would wanna work with ‘out the box’ artists. I mean, I pretty much exhausted the collabs on my “Delafornia” album, so when I get to my solo album, I want to keep my solo album pretty much ‘solo’. (Laughs)
S.T.I.L.L.: You have a song called “Let Me In Now” that you refer to on your MySpace page as a “new movement single” and a message to the major record labels. If you could choose, what would be the “Top 3” record labels you’d give serious consideration to signing with?
KNUXX: Right now, I’d say Atlantic, Columbia, and Universal.
S.T.I.L.L.: Delaware has a lot of hungry, talented artists, both in hip hop and R&B, that haven’t been heard yet. What’s your advice to those artists that are still trying to get enough “buzz” for their music to reach the hands and ears of the entertainment industry?
KNUXX: Grind…24/7, 365! Always stay 10 steps ahead of the competition, like if you do open mics, set goals for yourself; set a goal for six months or something when you do open mic venues. And now the industry is getting big on the ringtones and stuff, and one of the ways that I got in the VIBE magazine and Hip Hop weekly was because I got on an Internet grind to reach new audiences and different outlets. I went and got equipment and set up my own studio as an investment in myself. Invest in YOURSELF!
Check out Fred Knuxx on MySpace @ http://www.myspace.com/fredknuxx
KNUXX: I mean, basically, it helped in many ways like meeting new producers and artists worldwide, just wanting to know me and wanting to collab. After the VIBE magazine feature, I got more interviews, and I did another nationally-known magazine, too. So, basically, it’s getting me out there, like all over, from that VIBE magazine feature.
S.T.I.L.L.: That’s what’s good, good deal. So, let’s chat a bit about what you’re doing with your music right now, like the song on “Delafornia”, “Freedom Part 2”; what was the inspiration for that track?
KNUXX: “Freedom Part 1” was done like a year ago, it was four verses, and at the time, I got one of my producers from Germany, “Xplosive”, I got him to remix it. Then, me and my manager, “Jazzy D” reached out to “Crooked I”, which is probably one of the hottest West Coast rappers out right now. He just came through and hit me a verse back, in like a day or two, so the inspiration from that song was…Originally, it was for Black History month because a lot of artists shy away from the history stuff because they want to do the “bling” and the “ching” stuff. So, I decided one day, ‘You know what? Let me just write something about history.’
S.T.I.L.L.: Now, my favorite song is “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us” on the new album “Delafornia”, but what are your favorite tracks from the new album?
KNUXX: Ah, man. (Laughs) I got a song called “So Hilarious” with an artist named “Problem” from Compton and, he actually just got signed to Universal Republic, and an artist named “K-Active”. And another song I got is called “Spit Somethin’” with an artist out in California named “Mykestro”. Basically, all the songs that are really super-lyrical are the ones I really feel from the new album, so if I had to pick two songs, it would be those two songs, and maybe “Freedom”.
S.T.I.L.L.: You have a lot of guest appearances and collabos on the new album, one of those artists being “Spider Loc” from G-Unit. How did you come into contact with him for the project?
KNUXX: A lot of the features were through my manager, like “Jazzy D” is from the West Coast, and he had sent me a West Coast mixtape with artists on there. And he said, “Look, I can get such and such, and I can get “Spider-Loc”, and I told him I wanted to work with him. So, at first, he [Spider-Loc] wanted to hear how I sounded and, when he heard me, he was like, “Yeah, I can work with him.” So, he sent me his verse back for the song, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us”, and Xplosive did the track for that song, too. And I came up with the idea of the album title to be “Delafornia” because the album features artists from coast to coast, from Delaware to California.
S.T.I.L.L.: Will there be a video for the first single from “Delafornia”, and which song from the album is the first single?
KNUXX: I mean, we shot a video for a song I did called “Get Lost”. I would like to do a video with “G. Malone”, and he just recently signed a deal with Cash Money, and we did a song together called “Get Down”.
S.T.I.L.L.: Alright, so we know you do live performances and rock the crowd on a regular basis. When and where are your upcoming shows, so your fans can rock wit’ you?
KNUXX: Right now, we’ve been busy as far as the promotion for the new album, and I’m working on three different projects right now. Right now, we’re shopping a few labels with my project “The Big Deal”, and “The King of Grind” mixtape was released December '08, and of course “Delafornia” came out January, so…But, I’m definitely gonna get back to the shows once the album gets out there; it’s just that I’m working on a lot right now.
S.T.I.L.L.: Now, let’s rewind a little bit. We know that you attribute your success to your 2005 win in DJ Kurupt’s “Streetz Iz Talkin’ Unsigned Hype Mixtape” contest, but how did your song “Kickstand” end up reaching his ears for that to even happen?
KNUXX: It’s kinda crazy. (Laughs) Like, I don’t know the dude’s real name, but I used to be cool with this young dude named “Hockey Dude”, and he hit me up on AIM and was like “Yo, DJ Kurupt’s having a mixtape contest; I think you should get in it”, and he gave me the information. So, I hit up his [DJ Kurupt’s] management, and they hit me back like three days later, and they were like “Yo, we like this song ‘Kickstand’”, and that was it.
S.T.I.L.L.: Do you have any tracks you’re working on that you can hear an industry artist rhyming, or singing, on that you think would make the track even hotter? Like, is there anyone you’d like to collab with in the industry on your future tracks?
KNUXX: Yeah, for my album! (Laughs) I think ‘outside the box’, and I would wanna work with an artist like Andre 3000, or like me and Young Jeezy. Those are the types of artists I would want to work with, and I know nobody would think that I would wanna work with ‘out the box’ artists. I mean, I pretty much exhausted the collabs on my “Delafornia” album, so when I get to my solo album, I want to keep my solo album pretty much ‘solo’. (Laughs)
S.T.I.L.L.: You have a song called “Let Me In Now” that you refer to on your MySpace page as a “new movement single” and a message to the major record labels. If you could choose, what would be the “Top 3” record labels you’d give serious consideration to signing with?
KNUXX: Right now, I’d say Atlantic, Columbia, and Universal.
S.T.I.L.L.: Delaware has a lot of hungry, talented artists, both in hip hop and R&B, that haven’t been heard yet. What’s your advice to those artists that are still trying to get enough “buzz” for their music to reach the hands and ears of the entertainment industry?
KNUXX: Grind…24/7, 365! Always stay 10 steps ahead of the competition, like if you do open mics, set goals for yourself; set a goal for six months or something when you do open mic venues. And now the industry is getting big on the ringtones and stuff, and one of the ways that I got in the VIBE magazine and Hip Hop weekly was because I got on an Internet grind to reach new audiences and different outlets. I went and got equipment and set up my own studio as an investment in myself. Invest in YOURSELF!
Check out Fred Knuxx on MySpace @ http://www.myspace.com/fredknuxx