Just like anybody else in high school in 2001-2002, I was just a huge Rocafella fan. You know what I’m saying, back when I was in high school and I just always loved everything they did in the game. To get to chop it up with Chris and Neef, The Young Gunz and all of that. And get to tell them “Yo, I been f**ing with y’all. I been, you know what I’m saying, been appreciating what y’all been putting down.” But not only to do that, but to have Chris and Neef say back to me, “Yo I heard ya joints, I appreciate what you doing. You know we f**k with you.” It was like a dope experience. - Jon Connor

A couple of days ago, Hithiphop.com got the chance to chop it up with emerging hip hop artist Jon Connor. With the release of numerous freestyles and his Vinny Chase (Season 1) mixtape, the Flint, Michigan emcee has garnered quite some attention over the past year, on the blogs and in the streets. We discussed his upcoming projects, his father being a former musician turned minister, co-signs from his hip hop peers, producing & more in this in-depth interview that you won’t want to miss.. Check it out after the jump!

Tweet

HHH: Your music has been receiving a lot of coverage from well known bloggers like Karen Civil, Elliott Wilson and etc. You’ve also gotten co-signs from rappers like Busta Rhymes, Nas, Big Sean, Obie Trice & more. As a relatively new artist, how does it feel to know that you have all that support behind you already?

Jon Connor: You know it feels wonderful, it feels great. You know what I’m saying, it’s a beautiful thing because it’s coming from people, you know that I respect. You know that I have a lot of respect and admiration for. When I was trying to get in the game and learn the ropes and all that. Like Busta Rhymes and like Nas, you know those is cats that I looked up to. Even Scarface, you know what I’m saying, I had conversations with him. And it’s just at times the inner fan in you be like “Wow this is crazy!” This is happening these people that you got so much love for is co-signing for you. And it’s just a wonderful feeling, I’m glad that I’m being received fairly well. It’s just a wonderful feeling.

Your new American Psycho freestyle kind of reminded me of how Jay-Z flowed in his early days. How would you describe your flow?

You know what my style in general is like whatever the beat demands of me. When I go into a joint with the philosophy, “Your first mind, is always your right mind.” So it’s like whatever the first thoughts I think of as soon as I hear the beat, that’s what I write down that’s what I say. You know because it’s just period. Like go with your gut instinct, you know I use that in life. I use that in music too. It’s like whatever the first thing that comes to my mind is, that’s what I’m gonna say. So it’s hard to really, you know what I’m saying, my style changes from joint to joint. It’s whatever, I don’t know, the beat gives me the words. It just be a like a feeling or something.

So in other words the beat gives you life?

It’s just, I don’t know, it’s like it’s constantly evolving is what I should say. It could be something totally different next week, it’s just constant evolution.

Now Saigon & Consequence were recently featured on the remix to your track The Message. How did that collab come about?

You know what, ah man it was a beautiful thing. Shoutout to my man Sav! You know what I’m saying. I believe they was at Shade 45 and they got to hear the original version of “The Message.” And you know everybody I guess kind of vibed to it and was feeling the joint. You know we all kind of reached back and forth to each other. They felt the joint and wanted to jump on it. It was a honor to have them cats on it, ‘cause like I say they been putting in work and I got nothing but respect for both of them. So it was one of them things where the stars and the moons all lined up together and just everything happened the way it was suppose to happen. Much love to Cons and Sai, ‘cause both of them cats killed it. It was ridiculous.

That joint was hot, real Hip Hop. Lyrical punchlines and all the above.

Fo sho man, that’s what it’s about, that’s what it’s about. Just I don’t know taking pride in the art. You know what I’m saying. Just upping it to the next level and I love collaborating with people who have that same philosophy. Let’s play with these words, let’s see what we can do. Let’s give them something to talk about, you know.

You recently performed at SOB’s with some of Hip Hop’s new lyrical elite. What was that experience like?

(Laughs) It was cool, it was real cool man. SOB’s you know everybody know the history of that spot. A lot of big artist got they first breaks there. It was crazy, first of all that experience of being in New York City and you know what I’m saying and the history of that spot. First of all that was crazy in itself. But like I say just being around your peers and seeing what everybody doing right now. Cats like Yelawolf, you know what I’m saying. Seeing what he’s doing in the game. Being on that same stage with them guys is cool. It’s a good experience so you can tell ‘em “Aye, I see you. I like what you doing.” And they say the same thing back, it’s always good to get that co-sign from your peers as well. And a crazy part about it you know was, back in the day, I was just man just like anybody else in high school in 2001-2002, I was just a huge Rocafella fan. You know what I’m saying, back when I was in high school and I just always loved everything they did in the game. To get to chop it up with Chris and Neef, The Young Gunz and all of that. And get to tell them “Yo, I been f**ing with y’all. I been, you know what I’m saying, been appreciating what y’all been putting down.” But not only to do that, but to have Chris and Neef say back to me, Yo I heard ya joints, I appreciate what you doing. You know we f**k with you. It was like a dope experience. Just all around it was a dope experience man. NYC is like my home away from home now.

What can a Flint, Michigan artist like yourself bring to Hip Hop?

I think that a Flint, Michigan artist like myself, what I’m planning on bringing to Hip Hop because nobody really yet has put like that flag down for the new generation of artists from Flint, Michigan. I think we bring a sense of kind of like, what can we expect next? It’s a sense of, let me see, let me find the right word. (Laughs) ‘Cause s**t, we gonna find the right word. (Laughs) But it’s like a sense of, you don’t know what to expect. It’s something new, it’s something fresh. I don’t think anybody knows what to expect from a artist from Flint, Michigan. So, it’s like a brand new flavor, it’s a new take on Hip Hop. Because nobody knows has a clear identity of what Flint, Michigan music sounds like and I’m happy about that you know because I get to kind of invent a sound. I get to kind of champion a sound and that’s what I think I get to bring in the game. Just something new, something fresh, it’s Midwest, but it’s from a place, but not Chicago. It’s not St. Louis, you know what I’m saying. It’s Michigan, but it’s not Detroit. It’s you know it’s not the South, it’s not the East, I get to you know usher in a whole new sound. I get to put my spin or the Flint, Michigan spin on Hip Hop. So people can just expect this, the unexpected.

You got a lot of support as a kid but I found out that your father was a musician turned minister. Did he have much say on what your content should be about?

(Laughs) Ah my dad. What’s crazy is that you know what I’m saying, he moved away when I was like 12. So, it was crazy he was there for the first half of my life and then for when I really started getting super duper involved, like in music he was like away, he moved to Atlanta. So, it was kind of like, he didn’t have to hear some of the more vulgar stuff that I was doing. I would kind of hide that, tuck that away. So he would only hear what I would I’d let him hear, you know what I mean? But it was like he became a fan of my music, like as everything went on. I could share you know what I’m saying, as I matured, I could share like just everything with him. So it wasn’t so much that he had say in what I said, you what I’m saying. ‘Cause my mother always told me, “Say what you wanna say. Just don’t be cussing for no reason. Every time you say something make sure it means something, while you got people’s attention. Make sure you say something that has meaning and purpose. You know if you have a voice, if you one of those people that’s fortunate enough to have a voice then use it. Don’t waste people’s time, don’t waste they brain power and don’t waste yours. Make sure you say something that has a message or a meaning.” No pun intended but, yeah just make sure you always have a message. So the thing is with my dad is, he was happy that I was doing music period. And you know now he is one of my biggest fan. My parents are both my biggest fans. They pretty much just let me do me.

So you’re not only an artist, but you produce as well. Tell me a little about this “Flint Star” film, you apparently did some composition for that.

Oh yeah, yeah. Man, I was still in high school when I did that. A friend of mine his name was Marcus Davenport, cool cat. He kind of like put me on my way and gave me some direction. Gave me my first looks, you know what I’m saying, when it come to putting my music out there. He was working on a basketball documentary at the time and I knew him through my sister. And he heard my music and loved it. And was like “Yo, can you put something together? Can you score this joint?” Man even when I was like young I just always wanted to do like, even now I want to get into scoring movies. Doing soundtracks and all of that, so I just jumped at the opportunity, it was a beautiful thing. I like stuff like that, I like when music turns into like a science project. Like when I have to watch a scene and create music that goes with the emotion of the scene. Just things like that, I love that so it was just a beautiful thing even at 17 or however old I was. It was like I loved every second of it, having to go in and look at this scene and match the music up. All of that, I love it. So, it was just a beautiful thing. That was my homie and he looked out ‘cause he knew I loved doing that type of s**t. So, that’s how that came about.

Yeah, that reminds me of RZA working on Quentin Tarantino’s movies.

I wanna get my Danny Elfman on, that’s the cat, he do like all the Hollywood joints. I want to get to that point one day. Where you know what I’m saying, I can have just string compositions and like direct orchestras. Like that’s where my mind is at, that’s what I want to get into. That’s where my career is going to end up. Just doing things like that.

I’m sure many movie producers and directors would want to know that about you.

If any film directors is reading this or listening to this, It’s on! Holla at cha boy, it’ll go down. We’ll make it happen (Laughs)

We’ll be sure to pass on the message if we get any inquiries! Now what’s on Jon Connor’s playlist, what you got on rotation?

Lately I’ve been listening to “Thriller” on rotation. Michael Jackson, you can’t never go wrong with Mike. What other album did I have on? I had a couple joints for a minute, that I didn’t take out of my CD player, just because anything I do, like on a 24 hour schedule I’m always just taking stuff in and learning from people that I feel like are great. Like what made this CD great? Why do we all listen to it and hold it up on a pedestal? I dissect music at every corner that I can. So, I was off Thriller for a minute.

Classic. Now before we let you go, we’d like to thank you for chopping it up with us. And for the fans, when can they expect your new “Vinnie Chase: Season 2” mixtape?

“Vinnie Chase 2″ should be out because right now I’m working on, big shout out to my man Rob Tewlow, we uhm, my man Reef. We got a EP that’s probably gonna dropping in the beginning part of this year, so look for that February, March something like that. Just in the early half of this year. Vinnie Chase 2 will probably be out in closer to the end of Spring somewhere like that probably. Just telling people to stay on the lookout because I just want to keep dropping s**t. Just look out for more freestyles, look out for that EP with me and Reef. Vinnie Chase 2 should be out like I said end of Spring, end of Summer something like that.

Big ups to the homie Young Sav and as always, Shiyana Bellamy for conducting the interview.

Filed under: Interviews