00:00
Intro
Off the Record is a show from 88.1 WKNC in which DJs talk with artists about everything from their music to upcoming tours to former bandmates birthdays. Make sure to follow WKNC on Soundcloud and Tumblr so you never miss a beat. Enjoy.
00:20
DJ Rhythm
WKNC 88.1, this is DJ Rhythm. You are tuned in and we are sitting here with G Yamazawa. How are you doing today, sir?
00:26
G Yamazawa
I'm great man.
00:27
DJ Rhythm
Awesome man. I'm great man. Good, good to link up man. I know you're rarely out on the east coast these days. Well, I won't say rarely, but you spend most of your time out west as it seems. But so yeah, so you're living out west now and what's it like I guess like carrying the, the Durham torch like out west. I mean what's it like carrying the North Carolina name, you know, so far away from home.
00:53
G Yamazawa
Well, so the whole last year has been like this big growth period where a lot of people are starting to you know, catch wind of what I'm doing. But I've been, you know, I Left North Carolina 5, six years ago, lived in D.C. for a while and I've been traveling full time for the last six, seven years. So I'm sort of used to. And still visiting home often. So I'm used to traveling out, you know, throwing the bull up wherever I go and still being able to come home and get love and you know, get a home cooked meal and still feel like I'm a part of this community in many ways.
01:26
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
01:27
G Yamazawa
So it's dope man. The dopest about living in on the west coast. Can I cuss.
01:31
DJ Rhythm
We'll edit it.
01:32
G Yamazawa
All right. The dumbest part about living there you go in LA is it's the Asian infrastructure, man. It's like, you know, there's really, it's very normalized to be Asian and to have a mohawk, you know.
01:44
DJ Rhythm
Right, yeah.
01:45
G Yamazawa
So that's been cool.
01:46
DJ Rhythm
That's what's up man. Yeah. So okay, so you said you've been like traveling full time with music for like seven years.
01:53
G Yamazawa
Poetry though.
01:54
DJ Rhythm
Oh, a lot of poetry. Okay, cool. Well I guess what's, what what's all that like? I mean a lot of people, we can call it tour life. A lot of, A lot of our listeners will probably never experience that but are very curious as to what like that's like for the artist like a day to day, like what's your day to day.
02:11
G Yamazawa
Like, I mean, do you.
02:12
DJ Rhythm
Do you eat? Do you sleep?
02:13
G Yamazawa
I mean, so the. The rap tour, really dope. And I'm really new to it as far as having a crew. This was my first run with the Yikes tour with Dumbfounded.
02:22
DJ Rhythm
Okay.
02:23
G Yamazawa
Actually, being with a crew night in, night out.
02:25
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
02:26
G Yamazawa
And that's been really fun. But for the most part, you know, I'm usually traveling by myself. It's like. It's living the dream, you know what I'm saying? In many. In. In many ways. And then it's also just super lonely, bro. Like, you really, you know, you get up and you don't have anybody to talk to. You're in a city you've never been or a small rural town that you've never been and may never go back to, and you don't have any real conversations with anybody until you get to the show. Right. But personally, I'm like a really to myself kind of person as well.
03:01
DJ Rhythm
And so you're an introvert.
03:02
G Yamazawa
You know, I'm like. I'm kind of both, though. Like, I'm on. I'm on.
03:05
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
03:06
G Yamazawa
And I'm good at being on when I'm supposed to be. Right. Right. But generally, man, I really love time by myself as well. I love. I love being in my own head and my own thoughts. Yeah. And so for me, it's been. It's been great.
03:16
DJ Rhythm
So what do you fill that time with? Do you read? Do you listen to music?
03:19
G Yamazawa
I try to write. You know, it's a lot of long drives, so I try to throw on beats and write and create stuff while I'm on the road. I. I read a little bit. Yeah. But I mostly break my HDMI cord and just hook up Netflix. I feel you.
03:34
DJ Rhythm
There you go.
03:35
G Yamazawa
There you go.
03:36
DJ Rhythm
There you go. Yeah. Okay. Word up.
03:38
G Yamazawa
Word up.
03:39
DJ Rhythm
So. So yeah, it's official as of, like, months and months ago, but with North CAC went pretty much viral. What. What was it like? I guess, you know, when that was happening? Is that. Was that a whirlwind? I mean, was. Was that, you know, was it craziness?
03:59
G Yamazawa
Definitely, man. I mean, it's. It was my first time where you check your phone and every 15 minutes there's 20,000 views that you just jump in, jumping and jumping, and your notification things is always at 99. And it's like rolling and rolling. So when it was happening that actual week, it was nutty, man. And it was. It was. You know, I was. I was glued to My phone. And it was like, what is this really happening?
04:27
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
04:27
G Yamazawa
Thing. And then, you know, it's an interesting thing because your life feels like it's moving so fast but also so slow at the same time, you know, like, absolutely. A lot of growth is happening. A lot of people are becoming aware, but, you know, I'm still just sitting there eating lunch and, you know, I'm still kind of in my same shoes and. But what's been cool is that seeing how it's developed in different ways over the last year and over time and wondering how it will, you know, what will this song mean to me and to other people in 10 years and 20 years? And will it. Will it stand that kind of test time? So it's been amazing.
05:01
DJ Rhythm
Yeah, that's cool, man. And honestly, yo, I was like, you know, when I saw it, I was like, golly, that is so amazing. Like, what. What could possibly follow? And then you dropped like the what's Good video and I was like, Jesus. Like, this could have been the first single too. Like, it's just really good. It's a really good album, man. Like all the way through.
05:18
G Yamazawa
Thank you, man.
05:19
DJ Rhythm
I mean, do they, do people have an appreciation for the whole piece of. Of art? Like, you know, everywhere you go you talk to people. Do they, do they know like a lot of the B sides and stuff like that? I mean, or do you learn them on that type?
05:31
G Yamazawa
Well, you know, like in this day and age, it's. It's very single based and it's playlist based. So I'd say like 75 to 80% of people just know NORCAC. And for a lot of people, that's a strong enough centerpiece to know me by and that. That'll do it for you.
05:49
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
05:50
G Yamazawa
But there is a good, strong like 15 to 20% people who listen to the album straight. And the thing is, if most people get to the album, they listen to the whole thing. Right. That's what's been really. This has been a blessing for me. And it's. It to me it's like so many people are like, you know, do songs, playlists and I mean, do singles and all of that.
06:09
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
06:10
G Yamazawa
The reception I've gotten from the album just kind of reminded me of like the value of like a record.
06:17
DJ Rhythm
Absolutely.
06:17
G Yamazawa
Project and it. And it representing a time in my life and this being like saying, hey, this album represents me and my debut project at this time when I was this age.
06:26
DJ Rhythm
Yeah.
06:27
G Yamazawa
So it's been great.
06:28
DJ Rhythm
Absolutely. Man, that's awesome to hear. So. So you've mentioned poetry earlier, and I definitely had a couple questions lined up about that. Correct me if I'm wrong. You recently did something at Midwestern State University, right? Yeah. Okay. Because a friend of mine was. Sent me an article, and it just had some interesting stuff about that. You. You apparently did. Had like, a very big performance, and it was like a teaching moment. Right. Or something like that.
06:51
G Yamazawa
Somewhat. So, like, most the ways I get to a college is either through the campus activity board, who has a budget, and, you know, they bring in entertainment, whether it's comedians or poets or musicians or whatever. Right, right. And then another way also is usually through, like, a. Like a specific organization, such as the Asian American Student Organization, multicultural programming, and things like that. So whenever I go, there's usually kind of a diversity programming aspect around it, but it's just. It's just me spitting poems and telling stories for an hour. And I'm not sure if I would consider it a teaching thing.
07:27
DJ Rhythm
Right, right.
07:27
G Yamazawa
But, you know, it's. It's definitely borders the line between entertainment and, I guess, experience learning. Yeah. Like, I forget. I don't know how to exactly put it, but I feel you programming, Right. It's like, just entertainment, but it's also. I'm speaking on certain issues that may affect certain demographics. Students. Yeah, absolutely.
07:50
DJ Rhythm
Yeah. So basically, how does your. How does your writing process differ between your music and your poetry? I mean, is it this. Is it like, you're saying the subject matter where you can use poetry to. To make a big statement? But I feel like you do that as well with music. So where is the line? Like, is there a line between it creatively? Yes.
08:09
G Yamazawa
Yeah, yeah. Like, so I started out MCN when I was a kid writing rhymes like most of us do, making music and tapes. And then when I got into high school, I fell into the world of poetry. And where the difference was for me at that time and in the state of, like, immaturity that I was in at the time was that I really felt like I could really be myself. There was no sense of me feeling pressured to have to be somebody I wasn't. And it's not a commercialized community. Absolutely in that sense. So in many ways, I had the freedom to be able to just tell whatever stories I wanted to, and there was a community that would accept me for that. And because there's slams, there's. There's competition, so. Right. Like, I can still want to be a beast.
08:52
G Yamazawa
I can still want to chop and. But then get off stage and be part of a wholehearted community that respects me and whatever. Yeah. And then, but what I started realizing was actually as I started making a living doing poetry, going to universities and also traveling abroad, like, I realized that there's a language barrier and there's interesting. You know, as fulfilling and as intimate as poetry is, there are a lot of barriers. Education is one of those things. Right. Not a lot of people are. Have the resources to get into poetry or be exposed to certain kinds of poetry. And so. And then I also realized, like, you know, rap was always my, like, it was my for real dream.
09:32
G Yamazawa
You know, it was always my biggest dream was to be an emcee, to hold the mic in my hand and the rock alive audience. And so that's where I started wanting to talk less, if that makes sense, and allow the music to convey things for me emotionally as well. Yeah, and it's. And it's great because all of that time I spent in the poetry realm really helped shape the kind of content and the kind of sort of, you know, lyricism that I bring to the table now.
09:59
DJ Rhythm
That's awesome, man. Yeah, I was at a show, I think it was beats in bars last year.
10:05
G Yamazawa
Yeah. Oh, you were there?
10:05
DJ Rhythm
I was there. I was, yeah. Out there. Front row.
10:07
G Yamazawa
Had to be.
10:08
DJ Rhythm
It was very hot that day, but it was awesome. Yeah, yeah. You would spit like an acapella or something in between a couple lines. You definitely have like that showman type thing and you, you insert like the poetry elements into it, even with.
10:21
G Yamazawa
The hip hop thing.
10:21
DJ Rhythm
So I definitely respect that, man. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned that you were on the west coast leg of the tour. What was it like? I mean, that's your other home, essentially. Yeah. So I mean, what's the love like out there, man? What was it, what was, what were the shows like? Crowds.
10:39
G Yamazawa
It's dope because like I mentioned the Asian infrastructure. Like. Yeah, you know, the shows out There were probably 75 Asian, really, which is crazy interesting. And here even I feel like there's a record setting amount of Asian people, but it still is much more diverse. And for me it's just, I mean, it was beautiful. It was a lot of things because it was my first run, my first tour I got to see.
11:08
DJ Rhythm
Congrats.
11:09
G Yamazawa
And as a artist, I really thank you, man. Artists I really respect and admire and have been a fan of his work for a long time as well. So I got to see him rock out and do Songs that I love every single night. Yeah. And it just was a, it was a beautiful learning experience, man, for sure.
11:24
DJ Rhythm
That's awesome. This isn't an official statement. I'm not going to put this on record, but you know, you said you like the competitiveness of the poetry and I mean, is there a chance you would ever step in the battle rap ring? Is that funny?
11:37
G Yamazawa
Dumb was like, you could battle, yo. Like, you should, you could definitely. You should do that. And I, I was like, I don't know. He was like, no, you should do that. And so I, I was like, who do I battle? He was like, battle anybody. So, you know, maybe, man, maybe one day, like I would step into the ring, do a one rounder or something.
11:53
DJ Rhythm
You got the punchlines, man. You got the punchlines, man, too.
11:57
G Yamazawa
I'm like real compassionate, dude. You know, Like, I feel you. I feel myself saying something that mean about somebody. You know what I mean?
12:04
DJ Rhythm
Like, sometimes it's just being really witty. You don't always have to directly attack. Like there's people like daylight and stuff that almost never directly rap with the opponent. They just say really clever things like, you had one punch. Something about, understand all this traveling has made me know how to deal with my baggage. Like, things like that, you know what I'm saying? If you said that to, in like a battle rap, that's realm, like people would be like, you know what I'm saying?
12:25
G Yamazawa
Like, it gets, I'm also not afraid of silence. So, you know, as a poet, you know, you perform and right. There's a really, there's an intimate moment, you know, with the crowd. And so I actually really love that feeling. I'm wondering, like, I don't know if I could, you know, because there's also an art to being the one that's not spitting. And there's an art to like how defense, how you deflect or appreciate the line or how you stare them in the eyes when they all, you know, like, oh, yeah, also some that.
12:55
DJ Rhythm
I'd be like, oh, there's an art to it. Yeah, yeah, there's an art to it for sure.
12:59
G Yamazawa
Maybe I, you know, maybe something happened,
13:02
DJ Rhythm
Maybe something go down.
13:03
G Yamazawa
Maybe.
13:03
DJ Rhythm
We'll see. Yeah, but well, listen, man, I really appreciate you taking some time out, man. It's always a pleasure, man. Shout out from WKNC 88.1. We got mad love for you. Keep doing your thing, bro.
13:14
G Yamazawa
Yes, sir. So, all right, thank you.
13:15
DJ Rhythm
We out.