Interview: menacin johnson + d.o.f. + dunn deal promotions

Los Angeles emcee Menacin Johnson presents “What It Means”, the first single from _Stargate Aquarius_, his forthcoming collaboration album with L.A. producer Duke Westlake. The song also features singer Rain Bisou. Menacin’s most recent album Brand New Headsets 2 (Soundcloud) featured A-Plus of Souls Of Mischief as well as Menacin’s fellow Project Blowed representer Abstract Rude. Constantly touring, he has performed alongside Aceyalone of Freestyle Fellowship, Tre Hardson formerly of The Pharcyde, X-Clan and many more. Formerly known as Maestroe the Madmonk, Duke has several self-released projects available (Bandcamp), Mello Music Group released his 2013 album Re.Turn (listen), and he has produced for Rapper Big Pooh (“Juk” on Bandcamp) and Georgia Anne Muldrow (“Lost Children” on Bandcamp).
 

Where did you get your name?

 

Shortly after high school my then-rhyme partner Grand Scheme came up with the name Menacin because we were always getting into some shit in the streets whether it be battling in cyphers and fighting or stealing because we was poor as fuck. You know, shit you do when you’re younger living in the hood, and I was always the instigator. We would link up to record or be at a party somewhere and scheme would always yell out “johnson!” so I put those two together.

 

What made you decide to be a rapper?

Back when I was 14 in junior high my fam and I relocated to the Inland Empire and I made new friends who were skaters and hiphop heads. We would have skate sessions all the time. We would link up and all of us brought our favorite hiphop cassette tapes to session too. So I first started  discovering what hiphop was back then hanging out with those guys – shoutout to Jason & Rob. I would sneak into my older brother's room when he was at work and listen to all his hiphop CDs. He had all the dopest shit from Public Enemy to Tribe, Nas, Das EFX, the list goes on. Once I hit high school all the seniors who rhymed were like “dude, come bust in this cypher with us” so I was really getting into becoming a emcee. Then one day my older brother came up to me and played Bizarre Ride II Tha Pharcyde for me. I was like “this is dope!” Then he was like “yo, that’s Tre (SLIMKID3) our godbrother killing shit!” It blew my mind. I was like “Yo! I want to do this.” So I told all my skating buddies and they flipped out like “bro, do it!” So basically listening to that record and the encouragement from my friends made me decide to become a emcee.

What’s the first song of yours that you feel people should listen to and why?

Well that’s a tough question. At the moment I would say “What It Means”. It really embodies this spiritual transformation I’m going through right now. It has such a positive message about allowing yourself to be happy right where you are. It’s me getting back to my soulful roots and I feel it’s a great representation of the type of vibe I’m bringing.

How did “What It Means” come together?

I was sitting on the beat  that Duke Westlake sent me for a while when I met Rain Bisou one night at a show in Orange County hanging with my bros Allen Cookbook of LAS and Blu. She caught my attention when randomly jumping onstage and killing it on the vocals. Soon after that I linked up with Rain, we headed to the beach, chopped it up about life and hashed out topics, and she wrote her parts for the joint. A week later we zipped to the studio, set the vibe, brought the magic and gave birth to “What It Means”.

Tell us about your upcoming album.

Stargate Aquarius is a metaphor for me abandoning old ways that don't serve me and stepping through to the other side. I have been through some crazy shit these past few years and music has always been my therapy, so this new LP is gonna translate that through storytelling, fun times and concepts of love. This album will also bring back that nostalgic vibe of the golden era brought up to date for the now. Stay tuned in.