One On One with Charlie Hustle

Who is Charlie Hustle?

A question asked of this underground hip hop artist during a recent interview with SouthSide. You might know him as the other half to the supergroup duo known as Bread N Butta from their hit #1 single - Dolla Baby. However lately, he's genertating noise on his own by not imitating anyone famously mainstream or following what the rest are creating music wise, blogspot readers. What he's definitely doing is trying to rise above the rest and be the greatest by capping on the best of himself while motivitating and inspiring others to do the same through his songs. And we've barely uncovered the surface of who and what this artist is all about as he reveals a little more of himself and his creative process to SouthSide within this interview as well as why "The Greatest" is his favorite song and more.

Charlie Hustle has the best of all worlds, blogspot readers. He can be a hardcore hip hop artist and then on the flipside he can be that motivator. Hear how he describes himself, "...[I'm] fresh innovative determined leader and go-getter..." And why is he these things, you might ask yourself. The artist went into further detail of each word used to described who Charlie Hustle is. He's fresh "...like new air..."; he's innovative because "..[my] beats don't sound the same..."; he's determined to stand apart from the rest; he's a leader  because "...my crew expect me to lead them and do things..." and last but certainly not least, he's a go-getter ...a hustler with dream. "...everyone has a dream..." states Charlie, "...that's what inspires everybody..." In wrting his songs, like "The Greatest" or "I'm Kool", this artist draws his inspriation from his own personal experiences and situations "...[from] the things I've been through..." Yet, there's flipside to that statement, blogspot readers. Charlie also references things "...that people don't want to say or feel..." A spokesperson, you could say, to uplift and motivate those who are too shy or timid to speak for themselves.

Musically, this artist has a unique approach for his beats to which he's not using the overused James Brown's Payback or other popular hit songs for his beats. Instead, he samples rare or even hard to find artists as well as B-sides from old 70s soul music. He likes using artists who weren't as popular like James Brown or The Temptations however will use a rarely heard B-side that wasn't popluar by the same artists. Then, too, if it's something like Adele, Charlie will try to use a song that no one else has used before. Prime example - listen to the music backing his lyrics for the song "The Greatest". Even though not remembering the artist's name and song title, he disclosed to SouthSide that upon hearing this obscure song he found the music to be powerful and inspirational. After getting the inspiration, blogspot readers, it's time to begin the multi-tasking process of creating his unique sound and beats via the use of Fruity Loops.

And this isn't going to be an easy process to complete in a day. "...when I hear a beat in my head, I [will] test all instruments..." until getting the right rhythm wanted for a particular beat besides sampling music. This process might also include a little adding or substracting something to the beat like hooks or the percussion sound as Charlie tries to build a beat around the rhyme before adding the lyrics of the song last. As you can plainly see, Charlie Hustle is somewhat meticulous with his songwriting and music process for each song like his favorite, "The Greatest". "...The Greatest is special to me..." Charlie tells this reviewer. Besides feeling powerfully motivated by the music, he also told SouthSide that for this particular song he instantly got the hook '/...I'm the greatest...' "...[it's] one of those things that clicked..." he says before going on to say the song was specifically written for people who want to be inspired as well as for those not really into hip hop music. The main plus side to this song, blogspot readers, it shows others within the music industry how versatile and marketable "...in different areas..." this indie hip hop can be. That he can do it all.

This reviewer highly suggests checking out Charlie Hustle's two other songs "I'm Kool" - with its retro R&B/soul sound in which Charlie (behind nerdy looking specs) tells you he's not worried about what the haters (others) have to say about him and his music and "Get Ya Own" - Charlie's hardcore hip hop song showing you don't have to be a cliche artist to follow what others are doing, blogspot readers. Personally, he doesn't want imitators imitating him. It's nice yet he strongly advises "...just be yourself..." because "...you can't sound or be like me..." One thing to look closely while watching his videos, he uses real places around theSouthside area of Gresham/Auburn neighborhood to which he prefers than using a "costumed" studio (an empty building decorated for a video shoot). Also you might notice, he spends a lot of face time in the camera as he's personally "chatting" with you throughout the video, blogspot readers.

During the interview, SouthSide asked Charlie if there was a difference between hip hop and rap since sometimes in the mainstream of the music industry the two words have been interchangably used together. "...there's a difference..." he states, "...hip hop is more socially conscious ...it touches on things like politics..." while "...rap is straight to the point..." Charlie further stated that rap, in his opinion, should be called hip pop now because "...it's no longer a Black thing ...or not coming of the Bronx anymore ...it's mainstream and global..." With that being said, is there a distinct difference between Southside and Westside (of Chicago) rap or hip hop? Truth be told, blogspot readers. there is. Though both do talk about gangs and the lifestyle of living in both respect sides of the city, according to Charlie "...[it's] more lyrical on the Southside..." while  on the Westside "...it's more basic ...straight to the point..."

So what can you expect from Charlie Hustle in 2013? Well, blogspot readers, you'll see a lot of him. At the moment, he's in negotiation for something he's working on but it's tied up in music politics which he tries to stay away from. "...don't want to be held accountable for not bringing in the support or not selling enough tickets..." he states before adding, "...I will bring my support..." Also he's currently working on a website and new video that premiere towards the end of the month as well as having his mixtape, The Reset Button, 90% completed. And if that's not enough, besides being featured in this blog, you can read more about Charlie Hustle featured in Source magazine and Hip Hop weekly - both coming out soon. Visit his YouTube page and check out his official video for "The Greatest", blogspot readers, or follow him on Twitter@charliehustle20.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide