Words: De3p

“Authenticity” is the tape  by which D.M.V artist Phil Ade measures himself.

His music is the sonic cultural cross-pollination between Washington D.C,  known for its hyped Go-Go sets, and Baltimore, famous for its frenetic dance trends. Thus, when probed on what he thought D.C hip-hop had to offer, Phil Ade obviously had only two words: “live music.” With his latest full length offering under  368 Music Group titled “The Letterman” which drops today, Phil Ade thrusts in our faces his blazing potential to reignite a now smoldering and dilapidated industry, clogged with Auto-Tuned copy cats and fluffy radio hits. No hyperbole intended.

“The Letter” specifically is his flagship piece and video for the album, emblematic of his need to

reconcile the glamour of his name in lights with the reasons he got into rap in the first place. A nostalgic jam with its hook a melodic cacophony of scratches and cribbed vocal clips from legends Nas, AZ, Andre 3000 and Raekwon, its intended underlying message is clear: Phil Ade will claim his place in that legacy.  As the song unravels, he gives voice to his doubts and dilemmas, on one hand avoiding the temptation to become a “bling-n-bitches” rapper and on the other hand, making a name for himself no matter what happens. You won’t hear any references to Beamers, Benzes or Bentley’s on this album, just an unfettered unstoppable laser beam ambition to succeed. He’s ready to do and give whatever it takes; crashing and burning simply is not an option. “My biggest fear right now is ending up in a nine-to-five. As long as I’m doing this, I don’t mind the stress,” he says, echoing the anthem of any and every dream-laden underdog the world over.

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So how are you feeling about The Letterman? And tell me more about The Letter. What was that video and song all about?

Phil Ade: Yeah, I’m pretty excited about this one. It was just about a lot of things going on, and all about being on the road and stuff. First, it was about life on the road and how that changes things. The Letter referred to the friends and family I couldn’t talk to when I was on the road. They’d be like ‘Why you never call?’ and those were the friends I had before I started this. I’m mainly trying to capture how far I’ve gotten, the different things I’ve seen, the different things that have influenced me…

What are your plans for after this project? Did the stress and how overwhelming all of it was really get to you?

Phil Ade: I never really thought about where it was going; I’m just kind of taking it in as it goes. Things just moved way too fast and I didn’t expect them to move that fast, like when I was on MTV and stuff. At the end of the day, you’re just dealing with you and your stress. If you get to do something like this, you have more stress and you just deal with it. My biggest fear right now is ending up in a nine-to-five. As long as I’m doing this, I don’t mind the stress.

“The Letter” – Phil Ade

Were there any real stand-out songs for you on this mixtape?

Phil Ade: Honestly, each song on this is a favorite of mine. I mean, I did 20 to 25 initially and only 15 songs stood out from those for this. If I had to pick, though, I’d say the song ‘Borderline.’ That song’s just all about me living my dream, about doing what I wanna do, and about tomorrow is not promised. That was the one I did for the Sprite commercial.

I notice a lot of styles in your music. I hear a little Roots, a little Wale, a little jazz. What were your musical influences growing up and were you influenced by any non-hip-hop sources?

Phil Ade: Definitely, I listened to a lot of John Legend, Brian McKnight, I listen to Cold Play a lot. To me, there’s a lot of styles of music, but the base of my music is hip-hop though. Really, a lot of stuff from the early 90s, like Tribe Called Quest, I listened to Nas’ Illmatic a lot, Biggie, Pac, a lot of different people. More recently, I listen to Kanye and Lupe’s stuff. Michael Jackson, of course. I also listen to Ray Charles. There are a few people I listen to, but nothing really past the early 80s.

What about collaborations? If you could make one track with absolutely anyone you could think of, who would you want to make a track with?

Phil Ade: Ha! Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson, he’s just the greatest artist of all time in my book because his voice is just unique. His singing voice and the songs he’s done, and the thing he’s built. And Quincy Jones because he’s one of the greatest producers of all time. And if you want to bring it back to real hip-hop, the way he puts stuff together is just amazing.

“Borderline” – Phil Ade

What’s your process like when you come up with tracks and lyrics? Like a lot of artists today, you incorporate so many different influences like TV, cartoons, ads, whatever you see around you, it sounds like that.

Phil Ade: Yeah, with me it’s just we each have to do what we have to do. Just go out, man. You gotta do your thing, just go out and experience life. The more experience you have, the more you have to talk about, the more you can make music that people can relate to. As far as the process of making a song, I usually just let the beat dictate. Whatever emotion I feel with a beat, I try to write and keep my subject matter along those lines that fit in with that emotion.

Because I hear so many references from TV in your lyrics, and because you always talk about making it big and doing something amazing with your music, I want to ask you, if it wasn’t music, if you could have any super power in the world, what would you want?

Phil Ade: Wow… that’s hard to choose man. I think I’d actually want to go in peoples’ minds to see what they thinking. Yeah, reading people’s minds.

Aight, another random question: what if you could pick your last meal? What would you want to put together on a plate for your last meal ever?

Phil Ade: Oh man, um, wow. I’d have some macaroni, some egg and cheese croissants. It’d be all over the place. It’d be breakfast foods, lunch foods, dinner foods, but definitely egg and cheese croissants. I’d have some pizza…ah… my mom makes some bomb meatloaf. I’d have a slice of that. Probably a glass of orange soda. No vegetables, I know that. It’d be all junk food. Maybe some chicken wings or tenders. I can’t even say, man, it’d probably just be a whole lot of stuff.

This isn’t as crazy, but what are five TV shows or cartoons that either influenced you the most or you loved growing up?

Phil Ade: The old Looney Toons, Batman, the animated series on Fox, Dragon Ball Z, during middle school, this show Gundam Wing, and Family Guy, but I still watch that.

Ha! Right on. Finally, how would you sum up your overall goals and aspirations for your music?

Phil Ade: My whole goal with doing music is to just be able to do what I love and to live off of doing what I love. I don’t think I could ever do…I think I have ADHD, cause I can’t just hang in just one place for more than an hour without going crazy. My goal is just to be able to do what I love and live comfortably. I ain’t gotta be on TV or have 2 billion dollars. I just want to be able to pay my bills and live comfortably.