Che Grand is about to get busy – literally, figuratively, metaphorically and Can You Dig It-ally.After offering listeners an EP (“Official Bootleg Import”) and a free digital mixtape (“The Fixtape”) over the last two years, buzz is building. The New York-based MC, born Uche Anosike, is preparing for the release of his debut full-length album, “Everything’s Good Ugly,” on Loud Minority Records this spring (April 1st).
Two songs from the album already released via mp3 players across the internet, “Swing” and “Crash,” reveal an artist hitting his stride.
Bearing a big, sturdy voice and an ear for catchy hooks, Che Grand exhibits the superior creativity and lyrical ingenuity you want in your favorite rapper. He’s also a worldly, well-read MC with a wide range of musical interests and a sense of humor – traits you should want in your favorite rapper, or your best friend.
In “Swing,” which features a simple and funky handclap-driven track by frequent collaborator Brian Brizzo, Grand breaks out his simile skills (“Grand hold it down like a weak toilet flush”) and makes what would be a hit record in a utopian music world. In “Crash,” he talks tough to rivals over a hip horn sample and danceteria Von Pea beat, and backs it up with more witty wordplay (“More than one or two screws loose in my brain/looks like Home Depot got hit by a hurricane” and “your whole career die young like Frankie Lymon”).
Can You Dig It? is proud to have coaxed Che Grand to the blog for an interview.
Push (or "mash" as we say in the South) the
Can You Dig It?: Give me the book jacket author bio version of Che Grand’s life:
Che Grand: Ok here goes… Upon one or two reviews of Uche Anosike’s motif (better known as Che Grand in this setting), some may believe he’s discovered a way to positively twist schizophrenic patterns and put it on exhibition. Living the early part of his life similar to a hoi polloi army brat, Che only had one destination in mind the whole time: New York City. Fueled by the saying that persistently buzzed in his ear from English private school playgrounds and later to dingy after-hour nights clubs in the boondocks of Virginia, “If you could make it in NYC you could make it anywhere,” Che is determined to squeeze truth from the phrase by fusing the experiences of his travels with the ideal score of the day.
CYDI?: Any similarities between Che Grand and Che Guevara?
Che Grand: Nah, I don’t think there is any at all…
One thing about Guevara is that to some he’s known as a hero and to others he’s not. There are definitely a few more potential Grandkids I need convert out there. When it’s all said and done, I want my face on your T-shirt!
CYDI?: "Everything’s Good Ugly" is your debut full-length album, but we’ve already heard an EP and a digital mixtape from you. What can we expect to hear from you on the album – musically, lyrically, thematically – that we haven’t heard from you yet? What has Che Grand been holding back?
Che Grand: I’ve never really held anything back from my listeners. Anytime I decide to make music it’s usually based on what I’m feeling at that moment – various shit that I’m going through on a daily basis. The only difference between the EP (in addition to all the digi mixes) and my album is that with the debut you get to hear a collection of my thoughts for the past three to four years. This whole time I’ve been simply spoon feeding people info about me through my music. But with "Everything’s Good Ugly," you get to have a full-course meal, plus I feel I’m a better chef now, y’know? Progression is important to me so this is going to be very advanced in comparison to OBI and the Fixtape material. It’s like a baby finally leaving that mushy stuff and starting to eat solids.
CYDI?: There’s a good amount of buzz around “Swing” and “Crash” on the Internet and I think both are A-grade material. Will these songs be released as proper singles with videos and dancing girls and action figures?
Che Grand: Thanks! As of now “Swing” is the lead single from the album and I’m really thankful for the response on both song. I’ve been a bit of a hermit these past few months taking any chance I can to lock myself in my bedroom and write video treatments. I’m a very hands-on dude with my work (sometimes to a fault). A few great ideas but no directors locked down on “Swing” yet. “Crash” is kind of the “people’s choice” single. I wanted to just let it be an album cut but I put a snippet of it on my myspace page last fall and the reactions were bonkers! I have a little fun clip in the works for that one right now, should be out in the next couple of weeks.
CYDI?: I’m pretty sure I heard Von Pea/The Beatmaker’s signature bat crack sound effect on “Crash,” but who else did you work with on the album?
Che Grand: Yeah my dude Von “bat crack” Pea produced “Crash.” Oh and by the way, he told me to tell everyone it’s just Von Pea now – “The Beatmaker” tag is outta there! I guess some people still don’t get it and really believe they are two different people after all these years. Um, who else did I work with? Production-wise it’s the usual cast – my brother Big Neeze, Suburb, Brian Brizzo, Aeon and Von… got a few features on it too, my homegirl Nicky from the group Heavy, Kami Jones, Tanya Morgan and Benny Sings – just people I personally enjoy and felt good working with. I know I’m missing a few folk, damn! Everyone on the album I thank you so much!
CYDI?: The album title and the cover art image are really interesting. What’s the inspiration for both?
Che Grand: Everything’s Good Ugly is generally feeling good about your situation no matter how ugly it can get. We all have our own personal struggles, but it takes a lot to face them head on and say “You know what? I won’t let this destroy me,” hence the water gun image. I tend to celebrate my bad days as much as my good ones. On the album I took a lot of tough situations I’ve had to deal with and made light of them hoping the listeners can feel encouraged to not be downtrodden and just keep it moving, too.
CYDI?: I think we have a shared affection for Penelope Cruz. Aren’t women with slightly odd noses sexy?
Che Grand: Yep. See that’s that “good ugly.” I can appreciate the perfect imperfections of a woman just as much as the other stuff we all admire.
CYDI?: Valentine’s Day is coming soon, so why can’t rappers be in love? It seems that only Common can pull off a good hip-hop love song.
Che Grand: I disagree. There are a few rappers that deal with that subject matter pretty well. The homeboy Com just gets that lite skinneded love, ladies think he got that glow!
I’ve been in love. I did a whole Valentine’s project about it, too; it’s out there on the innawebs somewhere. Honestly, love is one of my favorite subject matters to record about cause it can be flipped so many different ways. I’m not an emo rap guy though…Try not to get it twisted, I’m Airtight Grizzy, the anti-hero, never saved em! With that said, I’m single this V-Day, girls hit me on gmail. We’ll go get sushi and watch a romantic comedy like Rambo.
CYDI?: I saw on your blog that you’re a NetFlix subscriber. Why not Blockbuster Online? Didn’t you hear Alec Baldwin tell you that you can return your movies to the store?
Che Grand: Nah, I didn’t… I did hear him scream on his daughter for not picking up her cell phone though… that was Alec right?
CYDI?: What’s next in your queue?
Che Grand: I think next up is Death Race 2000 and Heavy Traffic.
CYDI?: I think the best MCs are the people who can showcase a wide range of knowledge and interests of things other than rap music and its typical themes – people who read books and shit. It’s easy to tell who those guys are. You’re one of those guys, aren’t you?
Che Grand: I’d like to consider myself one of those guys. I study music more than anything else though, and I mean almost every genre I can get into. Truthfully, whatever catches my eye or ear and can hold my ADD-affected brain’s interest for longer than 5 minutes will get some burn.
CYDI?: I’ve spent a little time on your blogs over the last few weeks and I’ve enjoyed them, especially the photos of television screens, more specifically, the photos of food on television commercials. Isn’t it strange how they make it splash, spill and tumble all over the place and that makes it look tasty?
Che Grand: Damn you went to the stew fuzz blog?! Yessir, Red Lobster commercials give me tiny orgasms.
CYDI?: What’s the last great record you got for free?
Che Grand: Hopefully Tanya Morgan’s new EP this weekend… Von what’s good with that Grizzy Special Edition CDR?
CYDI?: What’s the last great record you bought?
Che Grand: Downtown 81 Soundtrack and Kenna’s “Make Sure They See My Face”
CYDI?: How’d you get into Downtown 81?
Che Grand: I have to give a shout to my brother from another, Filthy. He put me on to the works of the late New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat a few years back and I’ve been admiring it ever since. I kept procrastinating on seeing the movie so when I finally joined ’flix it was one of the first movies in my queue. The music in the movie blew me away, I must’ve kept that shit for about two months! Shortly after I finally sent it back I got on a hunt to find the soundtrack and copped it from Ebay. I LOVE the music in that movie because it was so off kilter and innovative for that time period. Plus, it was just a melting pot of all these new post-punk sounds that were coming together in NYC around the time I was being born on another side of the map in London. Seeing that made me realize that my pops was on the same vibe and was kinda hip back then. A lot of the music in that movie is what I was coming up on as a kid, for instance I remember seeing Kid Creole and The Coconuts vinyl at the house. I mean you had hip hop, new wave, and punk folks all hanging out together in the same spots. It just seemed like a good time to be a creative mind.
CYDI?: Shouldn’t everyone be made to watch Space is the Place at least once in their life?
Che Grand: Ha! Sun Ra is great! I wouldn’t push that movie to everyone though… maybe some of his albums.
CYDI?: Did you know that Mariah Carey is also releasing her album on April 1st? How do you expect people to choose?
Che Grand: Well I saw Mariah on Cribs once, I’m not saying you shouldn’t give her your money but she had like 3 bathrooms… I have ½ of 1 and there’s no toilet paper in there right now…but it’s WORKING! 4/1/08 is tentative anyway. Mariah, get your money baby…
CYDI?: Do you ever go to i-Tunes or other retailers to read the customer reviews of your stuff? I would. Have you been tempted to leave an anonymous review commenting on your genius?
Che Grand: I don’t go that far… but I do google myself sometimes to see how the blogsters are treating me. I always appreciate the feedback.
CYDI?: When Von Pea was gracious enough to stop by Can You Dig It? he agreed to provide three good rhymes for Huckabee. You don’t get it so easy. You know how radio stations always play little promos where they record an artist saying, “Yo, whassup, this is Ralph Tresvant and you’re listening to Chattanooga ’s number one hit music station for today’s best R&B and symphonic metal joints, 107.7 Jizzams.” It would be really cool if you’d do one (written, but we’d take recorded) for Can You Dig It? (And it’s pronounced Van-DEE-Vor-DEE)
Che Grand: Haha, this assignment is actually easier than that rap stuff, fam! I got you, check your gmail in a few… Thanks for having me. Everything’s Good Ugly…
Che Grand: Ok here goes… Upon one or two reviews of Uche Anosike’s motif (better known as Che Grand in this setting), some may believe he’s discovered a way to positively twist schizophrenic patterns and put it on exhibition. Living the early part of his life similar to a hoi polloi army brat, Che only had one destination in mind the whole time: New York City. Fueled by the saying that persistently buzzed in his ear from English private school playgrounds and later to dingy after-hour nights clubs in the boondocks of Virginia, “If you could make it in NYC you could make it anywhere,” Che is determined to squeeze truth from the phrase by fusing the experiences of his travels with the ideal score of the day.
CYDI?: Any similarities between Che Grand and Che Guevara?
Che Grand: Nah, I don’t think there is any at all…
One thing about Guevara is that to some he’s known as a hero and to others he’s not. There are definitely a few more potential Grandkids I need convert out there. When it’s all said and done, I want my face on your T-shirt!
CYDI?: "Everything’s Good Ugly" is your debut full-length album, but we’ve already heard an EP and a digital mixtape from you. What can we expect to hear from you on the album – musically, lyrically, thematically – that we haven’t heard from you yet? What has Che Grand been holding back?
Che Grand: I’ve never really held anything back from my listeners. Anytime I decide to make music it’s usually based on what I’m feeling at that moment – various shit that I’m going through on a daily basis. The only difference between the EP (in addition to all the digi mixes) and my album is that with the debut you get to hear a collection of my thoughts for the past three to four years. This whole time I’ve been simply spoon feeding people info about me through my music. But with "Everything’s Good Ugly," you get to have a full-course meal, plus I feel I’m a better chef now, y’know? Progression is important to me so this is going to be very advanced in comparison to OBI and the Fixtape material. It’s like a baby finally leaving that mushy stuff and starting to eat solids.
CYDI?: There’s a good amount of buzz around “Swing” and “Crash” on the Internet and I think both are A-grade material. Will these songs be released as proper singles with videos and dancing girls and action figures?
Che Grand: Thanks! As of now “Swing” is the lead single from the album and I’m really thankful for the response on both song. I’ve been a bit of a hermit these past few months taking any chance I can to lock myself in my bedroom and write video treatments. I’m a very hands-on dude with my work (sometimes to a fault). A few great ideas but no directors locked down on “Swing” yet. “Crash” is kind of the “people’s choice” single. I wanted to just let it be an album cut but I put a snippet of it on my myspace page last fall and the reactions were bonkers! I have a little fun clip in the works for that one right now, should be out in the next couple of weeks.
CYDI?: I’m pretty sure I heard Von Pea/The Beatmaker’s signature bat crack sound effect on “Crash,” but who else did you work with on the album?
Che Grand: Yeah my dude Von “bat crack” Pea produced “Crash.” Oh and by the way, he told me to tell everyone it’s just Von Pea now – “The Beatmaker” tag is outta there! I guess some people still don’t get it and really believe they are two different people after all these years. Um, who else did I work with? Production-wise it’s the usual cast – my brother Big Neeze, Suburb, Brian Brizzo, Aeon and Von… got a few features on it too, my homegirl Nicky from the group Heavy, Kami Jones, Tanya Morgan and Benny Sings – just people I personally enjoy and felt good working with. I know I’m missing a few folk, damn! Everyone on the album I thank you so much!
CYDI?: The album title and the cover art image are really interesting. What’s the inspiration for both?
Che Grand: Everything’s Good Ugly is generally feeling good about your situation no matter how ugly it can get. We all have our own personal struggles, but it takes a lot to face them head on and say “You know what? I won’t let this destroy me,” hence the water gun image. I tend to celebrate my bad days as much as my good ones. On the album I took a lot of tough situations I’ve had to deal with and made light of them hoping the listeners can feel encouraged to not be downtrodden and just keep it moving, too.
CYDI?: I think we have a shared affection for Penelope Cruz. Aren’t women with slightly odd noses sexy?
Che Grand: Yep. See that’s that “good ugly.” I can appreciate the perfect imperfections of a woman just as much as the other stuff we all admire.
CYDI?: Valentine’s Day is coming soon, so why can’t rappers be in love? It seems that only Common can pull off a good hip-hop love song.
Che Grand: I disagree. There are a few rappers that deal with that subject matter pretty well. The homeboy Com just gets that lite skinneded love, ladies think he got that glow!
I’ve been in love. I did a whole Valentine’s project about it, too; it’s out there on the innawebs somewhere. Honestly, love is one of my favorite subject matters to record about cause it can be flipped so many different ways. I’m not an emo rap guy though…Try not to get it twisted, I’m Airtight Grizzy, the anti-hero, never saved em! With that said, I’m single this V-Day, girls hit me on gmail. We’ll go get sushi and watch a romantic comedy like Rambo.
CYDI?: I saw on your blog that you’re a NetFlix subscriber. Why not Blockbuster Online? Didn’t you hear Alec Baldwin tell you that you can return your movies to the store?
Che Grand: Nah, I didn’t… I did hear him scream on his daughter for not picking up her cell phone though… that was Alec right?
CYDI?: What’s next in your queue?
Che Grand: I think next up is Death Race 2000 and Heavy Traffic.
CYDI?: I think the best MCs are the people who can showcase a wide range of knowledge and interests of things other than rap music and its typical themes – people who read books and shit. It’s easy to tell who those guys are. You’re one of those guys, aren’t you?
Che Grand: I’d like to consider myself one of those guys. I study music more than anything else though, and I mean almost every genre I can get into. Truthfully, whatever catches my eye or ear and can hold my ADD-affected brain’s interest for longer than 5 minutes will get some burn.
CYDI?: I’ve spent a little time on your blogs over the last few weeks and I’ve enjoyed them, especially the photos of television screens, more specifically, the photos of food on television commercials. Isn’t it strange how they make it splash, spill and tumble all over the place and that makes it look tasty?
Che Grand: Damn you went to the stew fuzz blog?! Yessir, Red Lobster commercials give me tiny orgasms.
CYDI?: What’s the last great record you got for free?
Che Grand: Hopefully Tanya Morgan’s new EP this weekend… Von what’s good with that Grizzy Special Edition CDR?
CYDI?: What’s the last great record you bought?
Che Grand: Downtown 81 Soundtrack and Kenna’s “Make Sure They See My Face”
CYDI?: How’d you get into Downtown 81?
Che Grand: I have to give a shout to my brother from another, Filthy. He put me on to the works of the late New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat a few years back and I’ve been admiring it ever since. I kept procrastinating on seeing the movie so when I finally joined ’flix it was one of the first movies in my queue. The music in the movie blew me away, I must’ve kept that shit for about two months! Shortly after I finally sent it back I got on a hunt to find the soundtrack and copped it from Ebay. I LOVE the music in that movie because it was so off kilter and innovative for that time period. Plus, it was just a melting pot of all these new post-punk sounds that were coming together in NYC around the time I was being born on another side of the map in London. Seeing that made me realize that my pops was on the same vibe and was kinda hip back then. A lot of the music in that movie is what I was coming up on as a kid, for instance I remember seeing Kid Creole and The Coconuts vinyl at the house. I mean you had hip hop, new wave, and punk folks all hanging out together in the same spots. It just seemed like a good time to be a creative mind.
CYDI?: Shouldn’t everyone be made to watch Space is the Place at least once in their life?Che Grand: Ha! Sun Ra is great! I wouldn’t push that movie to everyone though… maybe some of his albums.
CYDI?: Did you know that Mariah Carey is also releasing her album on April 1st? How do you expect people to choose?
Che Grand: Well I saw Mariah on Cribs once, I’m not saying you shouldn’t give her your money but she had like 3 bathrooms… I have ½ of 1 and there’s no toilet paper in there right now…but it’s WORKING! 4/1/08 is tentative anyway. Mariah, get your money baby…
CYDI?: Do you ever go to i-Tunes or other retailers to read the customer reviews of your stuff? I would. Have you been tempted to leave an anonymous review commenting on your genius?
Che Grand: I don’t go that far… but I do google myself sometimes to see how the blogsters are treating me. I always appreciate the feedback.
CYDI?: When Von Pea was gracious enough to stop by Can You Dig It? he agreed to provide three good rhymes for Huckabee. You don’t get it so easy. You know how radio stations always play little promos where they record an artist saying, “Yo, whassup, this is Ralph Tresvant and you’re listening to Chattanooga ’s number one hit music station for today’s best R&B and symphonic metal joints, 107.7 Jizzams.” It would be really cool if you’d do one (written, but we’d take recorded) for Can You Dig It? (And it’s pronounced Van-DEE-Vor-DEE)
Che Grand: Haha, this assignment is actually easier than that rap stuff, fam! I got you, check your gmail in a few… Thanks for having me. Everything’s Good Ugly…
1 comment:
Che Grand is a MONSTER and people aren't even close to ready for EGU...
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