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Whats good ? Tell me about Royal Clutch. How did you guys come together?
Reese: What's popping! Good looks on the interview, it's much appreciated. Well, Jase and I are blood brothers and we all went to high school together. At the time, I was already into writing music. I would record solo tracks in my basement. After a while, my brother and his friends came through and we all got involved. It was 6 of us at the time; we would just chill and record tracks for fun. Eventually, we started taking things seriously. Couple years and 3 members later, here we are.
At what age did music first become of interest to you? Whose music did you grow up listening to?
Reese: I came up on rap from a young age. My older cousins would always play a lot of Biggie, the Lox and Wu Tang around me. The more I heard, the more I wanted to try for myself. I actually wrote my first rap at age 7.
Kos D: I grew up listening to a lot of different shit. My Dad would play a lot of Haitian music, 80's records, Hip Hop and my mother would be playing old Italian joints and 60's rock like Janis Joplin, Hendrix and all them. And then for me it was the same as Reese, the more i heard the more i knew i wanted to get involved some how.
Jase: Word, Reese hit the nail for real. Our older sister and cousins would also play a lot of 90's R&B like mary j. blige and swv, you know shit like that. So that heavily influenced me too as well as Dr. Dre and Snoop. They made me feel a certain way so i wanted to make people feel the same you know.
When it comes to your lyrics, what motivates/inspires you?
Kos D: I get my inspiration from everyday when i write. Things that happens to me or one of my homies, i put it together and just weave it in. A lot of time i be on the train and just going around the street with no headphones, first it was cause i didn't have a pair that worked, and then out of that i just started enjoying it taking in all the sounds, shit is tight. And of course i want to drop some shit that niggaz can feel, a lot of niggaz be dropping wack shit.
Reese: For me, I'd say the competitive nature drives me. I always wanna have the hottest lines and the craziest wordplay. Keeping that in mind before I start to pen any verse always makes the process much easier. Trying to bite rappers' heads off out here.
Jase: just being alive and doing shit inspires me to write. If i see something, hear something, think something, or even feel something, it makes me wanna write. Dealing with niggaz on the day to day makes me wanna write.
What are your plans for longevity in this business of music? What is your ideal musical future?
Reese: As long as we stay true to ourselves as artists, I don't think there's anything stopping us from being successful long-term.Hard work and having people around us to be honest will make that a reality. Ideally, we trying to be in a spot where a Clutch album is in demand like water on a summer day in the city.
Kos D: Yeah word, we're just on the grind putting shows together, moving the whole unit smoothly. Ideally we're trying to set up a full blown school tour so that we're showing niggaz what we're about, and giving people something to fuck with.
Jase: Word, we all on the same page. We just wanna be where we're affecting the people and helping them throughout their day and their lives. Also, I wanna be helping out a lot of up and coming artists, give them a platform to do their thing.
Whats the best piece of advice that has been ever given to you?
Reese: Hard work beats talent if talent fails to work hard. With faith, hard work and support, we can achieve anything. I believe that.
Kos D: When i worked as a host a couple years back this dude Daryll who was my maitre' d and also an actor told me told that when it comes to doing this shit or anything creative, don't afraid to say what you do to anybody. Own that shit, its a part of becoming and doing what you're supposed to do, people are going to try to take away from you anyway, don't do it to yourself.
Besides music what other hobbies do you have?
Reese: I try to do it all bruh. I play ball, cut hair, am a businessman, trying to get back into producing, a lot of things man. I want to know everything and be the best at it.
Kos D: We be doing a lot of music and shit. But when we not in the studio i like to play ball, get my exercise on, fuck on a little something, read and smoke some weed. And I like to draw
Jase: I got a lot of things popping off. Me and Kos writing movies, the three of us play ball, eating good food and really just chilling, man. Not ever stressing
What’s the most frustrating thing about Hip Hop today?
Reese: Getting out into the world. The most frustrating thing is getting people to hear the music. We have all the confidence in the world in relation to our music but if it doesn't get out to the people or the people don't hear it, it doesn't mean a thing.
Kos D: Word and they got a lot of shit that comes out that all sounds the same. Their used to be a time when you heard shit on the radio or whenever and off the beat alone you could tell who that shit was. Nowadays you listen to shit and not everybody, but for the most part you got dudes that be jacking other niggaz crazy, stealing flows, same cadences, same beats. To quote my man Jimmy "you don't know who's who, what's what."
Jase: It's not too engaging. Nothing catches like that. Everyone's about the quick dollar. We're not in an age of longevitiy.
How does it feel when you perform live? Describe your live performance
Reese: Performing live is everything; I prefer it to anything else. Sharing that experience with people who feel the music is like no other. We are full of crazy energy, heart and finesse. Nothing more, nothing less!
Kos D: I love it, cause you get to break your shit down for the audience and share the connections that yall made off the music. It's some fly shit
Jase: Word it is. Its awesome how you as an artist get to feel the song live and see how it makes people feel when they see you living it out in real time.
What are you currently working on at the moment and when can we expect it to be released?
Reese: We just put out our EP "DWNTWN niGGaz", which is available for streaming. And we're starting to get in to the recording process again, laying tracks here and there. Keep your eyes peeled and stay on top of everything Royal Clutch on facebook: @Royal Clutch, instagram: @RoyalClutchBK and twitter: @RoyalClutchBK.
