he fertile soil of hip hop's under-
ground cultivates B-boys and B-
girls who blossom into some of the
most illustrious superstars in the entire
music industry. EC Illa has been steadily
spreading his roots since his first EP
back in 1992. EC's latest LP, Power
Moves, is poised to push him up into
the spotlight and weed out any doubt
you might have had about the
Midwest's clout.
What's your first
memory of hip hop?
I was sitting on my
back porch with a
few motherfuckers
from my neighborhood
this rap game, at this point, Chicago hasn't
gained the recognition of some of these
other cities, a lot of what we do influences
them nonetheless.
What's your favorite song on your
new album?
"The Game You Claim," I would say. It
sums up a lot of how I feel. Really the
album is a concept album, because each
song kind of flows into the next and has
to do with the song before it. No one
song is complete without the whole
album. That doesn't really happen a lot
EC OLCA
just bumpin' a tape of shit that they
had; the Roxanne records were just
blowin' up real big. Rap had been
poppin' up, and there were a few hits
here and there, but when I heard
everything put together on this one
tape...I finally caught the vibe. I real-
ized that was some shit that was
affecting me. I started trying to write
raps with a couple partners when I
was about 12 years old. When I was
around 16, I started having an abun-
dance of my own rhymes, and then I
started getting my own identity as an
MC. I went into the studio when I was
16. Been fuckin' puttin' it down ever
since then.
What do you think makes Chicago
MCs different from MCs in the East or
the West or the South or wherever
else? Do you think there's some sort
of characteristic of a Chicago MC?
Well, Chicago, being in the
Midwest and in the mix of it all, is
influenced by a lot of things. It's a
big factor in the way people operate
out
I here. Plus the gang element;
even people who wouldn't consider
themselves gangsta rappers still have
gangsta influence from living here.
I'm hip hop, but my shit is hardcore,
almost gangsta-influenced-not so
much in sound but just in hardness.
It's a real original flavor coming out
of Chicago that is untapped in a big
way. When you think about who gets atten-
tion from Chicago, be it Twista, or Common,
or me, that's three MCs with completely dif-
ferent styles coming from the same place.
The artists themselves tell the tale that it's a
multi-influential area. Chicago is definitely a
hard-ass place to get out of, and you have
to be able to come up altogether-lyrics
and beats. That shit has to be airtight or
motherfuckers ain't even tryin' to hear it.
But the influence that Chicago has can be
felt all over rap. What I always tell people is
the basis of a lot of what happens on the
West coast is gangsta-related, and gangban-
gin' is something that originated in
Chicago. And the East coast is currently up
on all this Mafia shit, this mobster shit
which is also something that comes from
Chicago. Our influence can be felt through-
out the world. So even though maybe in
94 THRASHER
STOP
LE NIA
nowadays. The old Public Enemy records
were kind of concept albums like that
where you remember the album as a
whole more so than the actual singles.
That's basically what we were tryin' to
bring back: a whole feeling, an aura on
an album. Instead of just 10-14 songs
back to back, it's 10-14 songs that fit
together like a puzzle.
Was there a main message that you were
trying to put across with this album?
Well, the title of the album is Power
Moves. Power moves are basically striving
for your goal or an attempt to get ahead.
Really, the concept can relate to anyone in
any field, be it a substitute teacher who
aspires to be a principal or an assistant
nurse who wants to be head doctor on the
floor someday. We're just doin' that in rap
terms. This is lettin' people know, "This is
what worked for me. This is what helped
me to achieve where I'm at right now." I'm
not even where I aspire to be; I'm always
trying to grow. So what I'm tryin' to do is
let these heads know how to make power
moves of their own. It's power moves for
Chicago, power moves for hip hop, power
moves for everything.
What's your favorite song ever? Hip hop, or
jazz, or classical...anything.
Maybe "Saturday Night" by Schoolly D;
that's a song that, today, 10 or 12 years
since the first time I heard it, it still hits.
me. A lot of old Philadelphia shit was
very influential to me. I grew up off
that shit. Even a lot of old Ice T:
"Doggin' the Wax" or "Most
Requested Record." Because
that was gangsta-influenced
hip hop as well. Schoolly D, Ice
T, Just Ice-those are the artists
that are really influential to
me, and you can tell by the fact
that it's the same type of shit
that I'm kickin'.
Did you ever have a bad experi-
ence with the majors, or has it
just been more of a choice to go
with an independent?
I never had a deal and got
dicked by someone. I've been in
litigation a number of times
tryin' to solidify some type of
agreement with a few labels, but
I was young when it was happen-
ing. When you're young, you lis-
ten to hip hop and you follow
that shit. And motherfuckers told
me that record labels are the
devil. I mean, I'll admit to not
being the easiest guy to arrange
some type of agreement with
back then, but it's all for the best.
It ended up educating me and
now I know how things operate.
You don't get salty lookin'
at somebody who blew up
pretty quick?
Nah, I got love for them.
They're just tryin' to hustle.
But you're never sitting at
home watching Rap City and
thinking, "damn, if I had just
gone with a major label I could've
had Hype Williams directing my shit
too...I could be large"?
Well, it's early in the game. I mean,
maybe if I were forty years old, and I was
sittin' in a one bedroom apartment
watching Rap City, I'd feel like I took the
wrong route. But it's about progression.
And everything, really, that I've done
thus far in my career has led to some-
thing that's above the thing before it. So
until I'm regressing, I can't, you know...
You can still make a power move.
Right. I gotta keep doin' that shit.
And I gotta believe that I'm doin' the
right thing 'cause every time it's on to
bigger and better things. So, I look at
Rap City and I'm like, "Those mother-
fuckers are hustlers just like me."
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