Oneonone

Alex Dionisio

I see, so let me ask you, how did you get into hip-hop?

My love for hip-hop really started in high school. I listened to guys like Nas and Eminem, Jay-Z, Xzibit and even 2pac and BIG and then when I went to college it was Kanye, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Outkast, Black Star, and others and that’s when I started practicing my freestyling a lot. I had written rhymes back in high school, but it wasn’t until the end of college that I started to record myself. The Alex Tape was largely off the top of my head freestyles

So it was a progression

Yeah because later on after college, everything I recorded before my hiatus was commiftedly written down on paper prior to recording so I had better song structure, more creative inventive rhymes and more focused topics, and that’s all on Klash and Satanically Minded

You mentioned your hiatus. How did that come about?

A couple reasons. I was getting deep into the working life and I was living with my parents and living like an ordinary American and I had lost touch with my creative inspiration. I was also focused mainly on writing critical reviews of the mainstream rap albums of that time. So that period served its purpose, but I’m much better off now than I was then

Do you still write critiques?

No

Would you ever go back to it?

Probably not. Maybe if I wasn’t working a job and had a lot more time on my hands. But being a critic takes a toll on you. First you’re disproportionately focused on others I feel, and second you’re putting them and their creative works down unnecessarily or inappropriately a lot of the time. No one likes negativity

Do you think some of your lyrics are negative?

Maybe the lyrics I wrote when I was a young kid, but it’s still good art. You just have to laugh with it. But a lot of it is just a reflection of what I see in the real world, so are the lyrics negative or is the source of inspiration negative? Plus a lot of my work, especially these days, is in fact positive

Some of your lyrics discuss women and homosexuals in a controversial manner. Do you think that’s fair to say?

I think women have an unfair advantage in some areas of life just like men perhaps have or once had, and the same goes for the queer community. Is it nature or nurture? I think it’s almost entirely nurture. We live in a devastatingly unnatural world right now. Is it meant to be or for a greater purpose? Yes, I think this mess is all so humans can learn from their mistakes later on down the line

I imagine you feel the same with regards to food and diet and how people eat, right?

Definitely. I think people are gonna— I don’t think people are gonna eat like they do now forever because it’s an abomination

You’re a vegan, right?

Yeah but I’m also the kind of vegan who eats only whole foods, meaning minimally processed or entirely unprocessed from their natural state in the plant kingdom, so for example I don’t eat like Impossible burgers or Beyond Meat burgers anymore, no offense to them. They’re great for beginners or extreme athletes perhaps or for once in a while maybe but not for me

Going back to the music, your hip-hop has such an underground indie essence to it, very much like the mainstream acts— or I’m sorry very much unlike the mainstream acts. Do you think one is better than the other?

Mainstream or underground?

Yeah

Underground is better, not to diss the mainstream, but it’s all about the reason for why you do it, the systems at play and the rules you follow. In the mainstream you’re making your art for someone else, whereas in the underground you’re making it for you so it comes out better, more unique. But in a perfect world, all this underground business goes out the window because in that world I’d be just as big as the hottest guys on the scene today so you can’t go by what’s popular if you want the goods

How do you look at sampling and the like?

It’s fair game, unless of course you’re making a ton of money from it because then you should worry about them knocking on your door, but I see sampling and that sort of stuff as a show of respect and admiration as opposed to stealing

Last but not least, what advice would you give to other artists?

Be original, be different, come from the heart and follow your own rules. Forget about what other people may or may not think. Try different things, push yourself out of your comfort zone. And work hard, stay organized and keep learning and have a good time doing it. And set aside time for non-art stuff to live your life. That’s where you get a lot of the inspiration. And then you’ll be just fine

Thank you, sir

Thank you