TRUE: How did you come up with the name Young Flizo?
Well, I actually went by “Young Flow” at one point, but then I did my research just to find out there was other artist who had the same exact name. So I actually came up with it, and some people actually called me that. I thought it was so unique and different that I ran with it .
TRUE: How did you get into hip hop as an artist? Who were your biggest influences? Who was behind your career from day 1?
YF: Music was something that I always loved growing up. From playing the piano, to writing lyrics then constructing them, to beats, to me it was such a form of art and the hip hop culture at the time that was reaching its peak in the golden era still. It was so dope at the time. I was one of those kids who sat indian style in front of the tv watchin BET and MTV all day, studying my peers and trying to picture me in their shoes. That’s when the hunger started because I had to get there but I know it wasnt going to be an easy task. I grew up inspired and looking up to Nas. The first rap song I’ve ever heard was “NY State of Mind” and it blew my mind how he puts so many words in one bar and still maintain his wordplay. Without sounding like he is over flowing into the next bar, if that makes sense. That’s when I fell in love with hip hop, the art. I knew this is what I wanted to do. Another inspiration is Styles P since those good old LOX Money, Power, Respect days in the mid/late 90s. The wittiness that he brought, and Styles is just raw hip hop. He never changed his image or changed his music for anybody, and he is clearly one of the best under rated mc’s of all time. You heard it from me. So shoutout to both Esco and SP
TRUE: You made an appearance on “Batcave Radio” in Philly a while ago, how do you think that it helped launch your career? What did you learn from that experience?
YF: Well I was 18 at the time, younger, and that was also my very first radio appearence based on myself, so that was big. I walked in and sat down and politiced with DJ Difference. Back then he was Meek Mill’s DJ at the time. Meek has been through there numerous times and tore it down, so I was just excited about being in a space where alot of dope Philly artists came through and got busy. I knew I had to come through and hold it down for Jersey. Me and my brothers got lost, the trains stopped, we couldn’t get back home, slept in the Philly train station on the lobby floor until the morning. I basically learned from that situation that having hunger is real.
TRUE: You’ve opened up for Fabolous on his Soul Tape tour stop in Atlantic City NJ, which was sold out with over 1300 people. Was that the biggest crowd that you performed in front of? Was it a different experience than performing in front of a smaller crowd? How so?
YF: That was actually the biggest crowd that I ever performed in front of . Before then, I performed at the Ritz Theatre in Jacksonville, FL in front of over 300 people. Then when I opened up on Big Sean’s “Detroit” mixtape tour when he came to the House of Blues. That was even more exciting because I think I had better stage presence and song selection, so I was proud of that. It’s different performing in front of a smaller crowd just because of that burst of energy that is just unexplainable when you are performing amongst thousands of people. For the most part, if you move the crowd and feed them, they feed you back. So it relies on you to bring your A-game to all performances. It was a crazy expierience man.
TRUE: Your song “Nothing” has been played on radio stations Power 99 and 100.3 the Beat in Philly, tell me where you were when you first heard yourself on the radio and did that change your career in any way?
YF: First and for most, shoutout to Cy Fyre, he produced the track. Everybody might know him from the Wale, Wiz Khalifa,and Trae the Truth record “I’m on”. He produced the track, I actually don’t know how the record got to Power 99, but I wasn’t around when it got spinned. I was at the chinese spot eating. I got a phone call while it was ending from a friend of mine who lives in Philly and I was listening to it go off through the phone. DJ Doc B spinned it on his portion of Power 99. When it was played on 100.3 the Beat, Batcave is the reason. Shoutout to P-Funk, Purple Queen, J.L. P-Funk had his slot and he was spinning the record actually. I was by the pc. It was a good feeling.
TRUE: You received a cosign from producer Easy Mo Bee, who was the producer of most of the Notorious BIG’s album “Ready to Die” what did he say about you and how did he get a chance to check you out?
YF: Man, that was an honor. I was stunned when I heard how amazed he was to hear how I flipped the Ready to Die beat. I was waiting for him to say more on air because he wasn’t saying much. But he did call, and he did tell me that I’m going all the way, keep grinding. Shoutout to Chris Morale, he is one of the reasons Easy Mo got a chance to listen to the freestyle.
TRUE: You are working on your next project “Club Motivation”, tell us the concept behind it and who you will be working with? Will you go into this project with the same mind state as your others?
YF: The concept behind the project is focusing on having 100 percent up tempo, club type records. I’ve been working hard and dropping mixtapes since I was 13. The only thing that I regret is rushing to put material out instead of releasing everthing in moderation. I hate sitting on material, so I just used to let everything go. This time around, I won’t be too eager. I’m learning to manage it and be more moderate and patient releasing music. Club motivation is my 10th mixtape and 7th solo tape. I wanted to give it a set subject, hit these clubs, venues, and really crank it up and milk these club markets with these records. It’s kind of like a project full of potential single type of radio records. I’m adding my twist as well, as I switch from different club cultures like a hyphy type of record, to a house music type record, to a Jersey club type of record, to an Atlanta type of record, to an east coast type of record and just try to expand my creatvity as time goes by.
TRUE: Who are the Grindboys made up of? How long have you been working together? Do you guys have a friendly competition when in the studio?
YF: The Grindboys are my brothers man for real. We all grew up together and are from the same city and same area. It’s a brotherhood basically. We are just a group of young dudes helping each other make it to the top. The only ones who do music are Grindboy Rube who is working on joints, Grindboy Moe who’s just getting started and already dropped his first tape, myself, and D.Riven who is working his project. The rest of the GB’s are management, cameramen, videographers. When we are in the studio there is competetion, but it’s never to the point where we can’t be real niggas and acknowledge each other on the positive and negative. So, we have a dope chemistry when we are making music together.
TRUE: What do you enjoy more, making tracks in the studio and using your creativity, or performing in front of fans on stage?
YF: I enjoy actually performing because once again there is no other feeling like being on stage performing in front of a crowd and putting on a show. Making tracks has its pros and its cons because your excited about producing the music, but I engineer my records as well, and sometime a record doesn’t always come out how I invisioned it, and it could get frustrating. It’s all good though, I try to execute regardless, whether it’s putting some words together on stage or the page.
TRUE: Coming out of Jersey is really tough because you always get overshadowed by New York, how do you think an artist can escape that pattern? What do you think separates NJ artists from NY artists?
YF: Ego’s and non-consistantcy plays a big part in Jersey’s downfall, signed and unsigned. I just think Jersey has to stop trying to degrade one another, and realize that people determine our future as artists. Work hard, and let the public hold the cards up to determine. 50 cent didn’t sell 12 million records because he said he was the dopest 12 million times. 12 million people went out and spent that bread and supported because they thought he was the dopest. The hottest artists from my city in my opinion are Albee Al. The streets have been spoken and made that official. He is incarcerated right now. I never met dude, never knew him, but he had the city going crazy just off of a freestyle. Then he started killing shit from there. He was a good look for the city at the time and made the future promising for Jersey City, and Jersey in general. He still has the crown to me. The entire city will probably agree. I could admit that because I’m speaking from a music fan perspective.
TRUE: You started off as a battle rapper, what do you think an artist has to change about themselves or their flow in order to become commercially successful?
YF: They have to know how to distinguish between the art of battling with words, and writing lyrics to music, especially the preparation part of it. It’s impossible to craft a song with the approach of a battle, those are 2 completely different mindstates within itself. When I was battling, I was still in a time where DJ Clue, DJ Envy tapes were being purchased from the table outside on the ave, 2 for $5 or some 2 for $10. Lyrics were more appreciated and being nice still was a must. I was moving from place to place between Atlanta, Florida, and Jersey growing up, so I basically battled everywhere I went, just because I enjoyed the culture of it.
TRUE: What projects do you have in the works for 2013?
YF: I’m working on this “Club Motivation” project, and also a “Club Motivation” tour before, during, and after the release of the project for the rest of the year if God’s willing. I plan to go from Jersey, NY, Philly, and Boston, then eventually venture off
