Whats happenin Soul? Give yourself a quick intro for the readers. I'm Soul Khan, a rapper, a battle rapper, a sometimes singer, and a man who constantly labors at his craft in hopes of entertaining others. I'm from Woodland Hills, California but I live in Brooklyn, New York and I busy myself with music, video games, and events of social and cultural interest. I can also drink an unlimited amount of whiskey when angry.
How long have you been rapping for and when did you get into battling?
I have been rapping in one form or another for thirteen years roughly, though I've only just started taking it seriously as a career aspiration since I moved to New York in '07. I used to only battle in freestyle ciphers and a very small number of on-stage on-beat tournaments, but entered the field seriously through Grindtime in late '08 against Yellow Rat Bassterd (yes, that is how he spelled his name). I'm critical of myself for my late entrance into battling on a national scale, but there really weren't too many outlets for me as I was really on the periphery of the LA hip hop scene growing up and then later stuck in total obscurity when I went to college in upstate New York.
You have battled in Grindtime and Smack, any other leagues?
I have also battled in King of the Dot, a dope Canadian league that originated in Toronto but now spans several provinces. I will also be doing a one-time battle for the Grindtime New Jersey off-shoot, When Animalz Attack against Leathle, the head of the organization. In the future I'd like to travel to Australia to participate in a Got Beef event, as well as to England to take part in one of Eurgh's Don't Flop battles. Hell, I'd even love to just judge some other country's event if I happen to be in the region at the time.
Where has your favourite place to battle been?
As far as the intensity and sheer depth of talent at an event, I'd have to say that battling in Oakland against Dirtbag Dan and then later against QP was a favorite. Overall, Toronto provided me with the warmest reception each time I've been there, first against Aspire and then more recently against Porich. I highly recommend that anyone who is a serious battler or even just a battle viewer go to a King of the Dot event. They're run with the highest degree of professionalism and bring a crowd that is smart, alert, and up on their references.
Stylistically you are different from a majority of the eastcoast battlers, do you find that gives you an advantage?
It used to distinguish me, but now that I've been part of it this long, it's no longer got the "wow" factor it might have once had to regular battle viewers and other battlers even. The fact that I'm dealing with a different crowd than a lot of my fellow California natives has required me to adapt a lot of my stylistic approaches and even the lines I use because different folks are responsive to different content. If you ever wonder why a crowd reacts to me when you're not doing so while watching a battle on Youtube it may be because I gear every line to that particular live audience, especially in a judged battle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails, and sometimes I wear a fake beard.
You and Dirtbag Dan had a good match against Quest McCody and Marvwon, what’s next in the 2 vs 2 format for you?
My next 2 on 2 will feature me and Kap Kallous against Tricky P and Charron at the August 6th and 7th King of the Dot 2-year anniversary in Toronto. I wish Tricky and Charron the best of luck because I'm the least of their problems. Kap is the meanest man in the world.
What have you been working on music wise? Do you have a mixtape or album in the works?
I've been working on an album on and off since I first got to New York City. It's seen a lot of obstacles and diversions, namely the growing success of my group, the Brown Bag AllStars and having to prepare for battles (I could obviously have worse problems). A repackaged, fully remixed double CD called Brown Bag Season Volume 1 will drop later this year from my crew with a lot of recently released joints and several new exclusive tracks.
My solo record is called Soul Like Khan and it spans four main themes that are important to me and maybe somewhat important to other people. I don't know if it will appeal to some of my battle fans since we may have diverging musical influences. I'm more of a Native Tongues type of dude. I tend to concern myself more with the emotion, tone, and proportion of the words than the intricacy of rhyme structure and just frivolously showing off my wordplay abilities, which has become unfortunately too much of a trend in underground hip hop. And the beats will knock like a motherfucker. Then, the Brown Bag official album will drop in 2011 and no lie, it's going to sound classic.
I hear you are in a group called Brown Bag Allstars, who else is in the crew and how did this come about?
I am so prophetic in how I answer questions (shout out to my homie, Hard White, ask your girl). Brown Bag started with five rappers, two of whom produce, including myself, Cold Codeine (later kicked out for being a loser), Koncept, J57 (one of the producers), Audible Doctor (also a producer), and three dj's, E Holla, Element, and Goo (who moved to Arizona). We formed a group as a result of our collective friendship that arose from working at or hanging out at Fat Beats in Manhattan.
You’ve been in a bit of controversy with the SONS since MOB. What happened after your battle with QP? (would you like to speak on the whole video that was put out by fox? It was kinda hard to hear what was being talked about)
After my battle with QP, Fox approached me and J57 as I was leaving the main battle area, and basically said that I had "fucked up" because we had an agreement not to speak about each other negatively in any setting after we spoke to each other in New York at a URL event, where, after impliclity threatening me online, he was much more peaceable in his approach. I had, mistakenly apparently, concluded from our first encounter that a battle was still not off-limits for bars directed at him, especially since I was battling one of his crew members. Fox thought otherwise.
He had several clear opportunities to try whatever he wanted until people intervened, and he did nothing. Anyone who tries to suggest that I got "punked" or "checked" is delusional. I refused to indulge him in a fight because first, it's ridiculous to scrap over that kind of shit, and two, because we were at a battle event where a lot of money, time and effort had gone into making something big happen for a lot of people and a brawl would definitely derail that. It would not be even remotely worthwhile for me to fuck up my relationship with Grindtime and Lush, which has given me a great deal, just to settle some overhyped misunderstanding. And in any case, we all know who ruined the event and how later, so I guess my good intentions didn't even matter.
And your next battle is against Fox, right?
It was going to be. I had confirmed my flight information in the middle of June and was waiting on Fox to confirm that he was ready to go, too, but Melody of Grindtime Florida informed me that after she was basically ignored by Fox several times, Fox texted her stating that he and I would do our battle at URL instead. I immediately spoke to Norbes at URL who stated that this was never discussed with him or anyone else in the organization. Additionally, I agreed to a Grindtime battle with Fox, nothing else. Therefore it appears that we are not battling any time in the near future. It's whatever to me, though. It was originally a part of just agitating Conceited, but I don't care anymore since his novelty will wear off sooner than later. I do wish Fox, Heart, and QP the best, though.
You called out Dumbfoundead and Conceited in a youtube video , have you heard a response from either of these two?
Dumb and I spoke about it a while ago and he said he was taking a hiatus, which I respected. I wanted to battle him just because I wanted to prove that I could go the distance. Conceited, on the other hand, was just a challenge based on the fact that he was so insistent that he is the best, which to anyone of taste, is a ludicrous suggestion. He said he only wants battles with people who can get him more views than he does, but as he is the most accessible (read: shitty in a way that makes stupid people feel like they're smart) battler with a big name, nobody gets more views than he does. Theoretically no battle will benefit him. Then again, he doesn't really make music and he has to be suspended above his toilet seat to pee so the greater joke is on him.
Back to music, who are some of your favourite artists?
Big Daddy Kane, Slum Village, Pharoahe, De La Soul, Wu-Tang in its various forms, Paul Robeson, Bjork, Erykah Badu, Daru and AB, Stevie Wonder, Lee Morgan and...this list will get ludicrously long.
What was the best cd of 2009 in your opinion?
Daru and AB's A Work in Progress
What can we expect from Soul Khan before 2011?
Some battles, a lot more music, and a few surprises.
Take some time to plug your info so mofos can find you and show some love:
http://www.soulkhan.com
http://www.twitter.com/_soulkhan
http://www.myspace.com/soulkhan
Facebook: Soul Khan
You got some final words for the people reading this?
I am not cocky, I am driven, 
and if I falter, it is not due to a lack of capacity but a failure of discipline. I'm always working to make what I do, whether it's music, battles, or myself better for the sake of fans, listeners, and viewers. Also, while I owe damn near everything to the people who watch and check out my performances, I hope that this new era of internet interactivity hasn't for a second deluded any of them into thinking that they have the slightest notion of my character or the reasons I do what I do and how I do it in the battling and music world. Everything is more complicated than you think. And that's my word. Peace.
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