By DJ YRS Jerzy
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
This year, there have been a lot of people who have shocked the game with their music releases. Among the people who caught attention this year was MDotForMayor, who dropped his Models Suck project (stylized #ModelsSuck). It was a bit of a surprising title, but MDot is a surprising artist.
Bringing a new sound to the game, MDotForMayor included features from fellow up-and-comers from Los Angeles, Pac Div and Thurz. The album came at the right time and it was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. If not anything else, the album helped introduce a bigger audience to MDotForMayor.
It was a long time coming, but scheduling finally prevailed and it allowed MDotForMayor to finally talk to Hip Hop Vibe. Well worth the wait, as MDot explained the concept behind his album and why Models Suck was the title. Being from Los Angeles at a time when the city is making its way back to the forefront of the game, MDot also discussed this.
Read the entire interview below:
As an LA artist, you live in the home of the models, why did you choose to name your new album Models Suck? Well, it’s not about actual models, it’s about the role models. That’s the state I’m in right now, people always tell you to be a doctor, or whatever, but I’m saying just be yourself, be your own role model. But, it’s not fully about models, but I do see a lot of people being inspired by models now, but I love models, don’t get me wrong.
You have tons of support from the internet with this album, are you surprised with the level of support you’ve had? Yeah (laughs). Exactly. I’m super overwhelmed that everyone is down and wants to be a part of what I want to do, because there was a time when no one wanted to be a part of what I was doing. It’s humbling to see people listening and paying attention and I want to keep it going.
Outsiders refer to this movement as the “New West” and you kept it very “New West” with features from Pac Div, what’s your relationship like with those guys? Oh, like a lot of those guys, we came up together. I came up with Pac Div, Thurz, and Yonas Michaels since high school. We all came up together, started going at it around the same time, I have a great relationship with those guys, we all started together.
In general, how do you feel about the current state of LA hip hop and how do you feel Models Suck has changed things up? First of all, LA hip hop is super dope right now and it’s good to see us getting shine right now. We’ve always been trying to carve out our own niche and it’s great to see people embracing it. This is perfect for my hometown because we once were the leading coast and now we’re both back and winning, so that’s amazing. I feel Models Suck made a difference because there’s a lot of ratchet and hardcore music, so I did my best to bring back older music themes with songwriting, live music, this is my album that took me over a year to complete this project. Even with the album art, I took my time to make sure everything was right. I wanted to stick out, because a lot of us LA artists are doing things that can be viewed as repetitive. But, I decided to bring the West Coast favorites into my album to show them my world, that was the energy I wanted to create.
You featured Thurz on the album, we also had the chance to interview him, what’s it like getting in the studio with him? Oh man! Thurz is cool! We worked together a few times and he told me about the new sound he was going for and things worked out for us to record. Me and him and been talking since the U-N-I says, so it was great to come together and it was a smooth process for us all.
Some other West Coast heavy hitters have also dropped like Skeme, Dom Kennedy, Young Sam, Reem Riches, and Nipsey Hussle, do you have any affiliations with those guys? Uh yeah. I’m cool with Dom and Skeme, I know them and being from here, you somewhat know everyone. I respect those dudes 100% because they have opened the door for what guys like me and others are doing. They are helping keep the city afloat and I am glad they are doing this for West Coast music in general.
Where can we find you on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Everything is @MDotForMayor. Website is Modelssuckproject.com.
Follow DJ YRS Jerzy on Twitter @IAMDJYRSJERZY.
