TRUE: What were the events and thoughts that made you want to start rapping?
SB: Long story shor,t I joined the baseball team so I could stay after school and mess with the ladies. Basically, I played the whole season and didn’t get a trophy, so I started rapping about the coach and all the players. Other people started laughing and they were like “you should really try and be a rapper” and that’s the day I started.
TRUE: What do you think about your style makes you more marketable than most artists?
SB: Well, my style is like Uncle Luke mixed with Bobby Brown, Plies and Kid & Play just too name a few. I know it’s a wierd combination, (laughs) but those artists were like the guys that I watched perform. It helped me to become a great artist, and that’s how I learned that it’s more than just music. You have to have an image to match your music, so I think that I am very marketable.
TRUE: You started off in the promotions department for Money By Da Pound label, how did you finally get them to switch you over to the artist side?
SB: I was a promoter since the age of 15 right around the same time that I started rapping and the ceo of Money By Da Pound always seen me out promoting and grinding hard for other artists. Once I approached him and he heard my music and was like “we need you to be an artist” From then, we turnt up all the way, but I love & respect the promoting side of the business because it taught me a lot.
TRUE: What about promotions do you think was the most important thing that you learned that you use in handling your career now?
SB: Promoting is the key for success in the music business. I learned so much from the promotion side of the business. It taught me how to be an artist and how to attack radio interviews, shows, and things like that. I tell people all the time that the internet is cool, but street promoting is where it’s at, no lie.
TRUE: You have enough music stored right now to create 3 albums, what do you think is the key to releasing that music so that it’s the most effective?
SB: True story. I have a lot of music, but it’s all about timing and how you release it. Right now I’m trying to create a monster buzz, so when I do release new material it will get crazy hits and talked about. This business is like “show & tell” you have to show the people some major stuff and thats what gets them talking. It’s about quality, not how many songs you can put out or how many mixtapes you can drop in a month. You can create great records and put together a great image that would help your release so to me it’s all about timing and how you do it.
TRUE: What do you enjoy the most, creating the music in the studio or performing for fans on stage? and why?
SB: I love both, but if I had to pick, it would be performing. I love hitting that stage and turning up. I just love to see the reaction from my lady fans and fans period. In the studio it’s you and your fam, and thats cool, but hitting that stage is magical to me. It’s like all my problems go away and it’s just me on that stage having the time of my life. I remember my 1st show when I had the talent show going crazy and thats when I knew the music business was for me.
TRUE: How important do you think it is to an artists career that they balance the art of lyricism with being able to ride the beat well? How do you balance the two when you are in the booth?
SB: It’s like this, all artists are different. We all have our own way of doing things and I don’t stress my self out about being a lyrical rapper. I just want to be a great artist, and I think that comes with staying consistent and letting your flow and word play progress. I make party, radio, and club music so most people really only listen to my hooks and the verses grow on them. I don’t think they want me trying to put words together like Jay-Z (laughs)
TRUE: What do you think is the most important lesson that you ave learned in your career that you had wished you knew when you first started?
SB: Never try and worry about everyone else. I always tried to help my career and other artists career, but they didn’t have the same grind or hustle like I did. That really put a hold on my career, until I understood that I have to get through the door 1st before I can jump start someone elses career.
TRUE: Tell TRUE magazine fans something about Skool Boy that you have never told anyone.
SB: (Laughs) I’m thinking about what the people should know (laughs) I guess it’s a few things. I dont smoke or drink, I love dark skin women with big butts, I really really love strippers, I love kissing, and long story short I’m a freaky m*therfucker (laughs)
TRUE: What do you think is more important to an artist staying successful, being able to adapt to the times or being able to make fans enjoy your style as you are? and why?
SB: That’s kind of a hard question, but the 1st thing is staying successful so you can have fans and it’s very important to feed your fans and stay humble. Show them love like they show you. The fans are the reason the music business is alive. Without fans, what do we have a business full of? egos and no money (laughs)
TRUE: What artists are you listening to right now? What were your favorite projects from 2012?
SB: Right now I’m kind of missing out because I’m in the studio working on new music, but I have caught a few of Future’s new songs that are dope. The hometown homie Yo Gotti, Juelz Santana, and my new album “Dorm Room Sexxin” is out right now, go download it on Datpiff.com. I had 2 go ahead and promote that (laughs)
TRUE: What projects do you have coming up for 2013?
SB: I just dropped “Dorm Room Sexxin” Its an album for the ladies and I have a lot more videos coming. They will be on Worldstar Hip Hop and also one of my new videos will be on MTV Jams soon. I have my own tour that’s up and running called “The Twerkout Tour” we are hitting all the colleges. So that’s what I have going on right now
Check out Skool Boy
Twitter: @Skool_boooy
Instagram: Skoolboysurfsup
