Drunknlazy

Drunknlazy, born Clarence Gulley June 13th 1982, is poised as one of the hottest emcees emerging out of the west coast. Fueled by a desire to achieve nothing less than greatness, with a style he has defined as “AA” or “Alcohol & Adrenaline”. Drunknlazy spends a lot of time in the studio perfecting and honing his craft. With lyrics filled with wit and charisma, he hopes to rise out of the west coast as an entirely new type of emcee.

When asked about the status of Hip-Hop today vs. 10 years ago Drunknlazy had this to say. “2007 vs. 1997 are 2 completely different eras in Hip-Hop. I’d like to take it back even farther back and say 1987. When Hip-Hop was still pure, emcees didn’t rely on catchy hooks and $75,000 beats. Back then you took what you had and made yourself a name around the block. KRS-One, Doug E. Fresh, Kool G. Rap, and others didn’t need huge budgets to make the classics that still inspire emcees today. I feel 1997 was really the beginning of when Hip-Hop began to decline into this state of simplicity it’s currently in. The individuality is gone now; a lot of rappers now use the same formula for success. Too often do I find myself feeling like I’ve heard the songs that are called “new” somewhere else. Oh yea, they last “new” song sounded just like this one, ya know? It seems like emcees are more worried about quantity than quality.

Drunknlazy’s beginning sounds like so many others. Things reminiscent of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues”. Yet rather than let his upbringing dictate who he’d become as a person, he took it and channeled it out artistically for the world to see. “Home is where I developed my soul.” Said Drunknlazy. “My mom used to clean up Saturday mornings either listening to her radio or watching Soul Train.” Influences like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations. “My uncles listened to a lot more Blues. I got exposed to a lot more southern music from them. Also having a lot of cousins around my age refined my Hip-Hop tastes. A lot of my musical influences I developed on my own. Artists like Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, even Tom Waits.”

The next question to Drunknlazy, is Hip-Hop really dead? “To a certain extent yes it is. No one really sets themselves apart anymore. Lyrics and personas are too much the same, sure I rap about similar topics as other rappers, but it’s all in presentation and how you relay those messages to the listeners. Certain rappers have the same circle of people who do all their composing for them, nothing new. I work with everyone and anyone who has a good vibe about them. First, it keeps me exposed to new ideas and sounds and also gives me the chance to do something that may lead me to new fans. Hip-Hop and music in general is all about growth”

I then asked him to expand more on his idols and influences. He named such artist as; Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, DJ Quik, Raphael Saadiq, De La Soul, and even “The Fresh Prince” himself Will Smith.

Finally, if you could compare yourself to any others emcees who would it be? “Man, that’s a tough one”. Drunknlazy sits and thinks about it for a minute. “If you could take the charm of Will Smith, the swagger of Jay-Z, and the prowess of 50 Cent you would have something close to me, still have to throw some west coast into the mix.”