Itz Prof

North Carolina's premier independent artist Itz Prof is a true original. A mixture of boldness and witty lyricism mark him as an artist who’s not afraid to be different. With his unconventional style of Hip-Hop and party-starting credentials, Itz Prof is on the road to being a household name. He has been featured on over 100 mixtapes. His sound combines a unique style with witty lyrics, and a true passion for Hip-Hop. Itz Prof intends to excel where some of his contemporaries have failed by supplying a steady dose of marketable Hip-Hop that appeals to a mass audience. His fortitude and imagination sets him apart from other aspiring artists. He possesses boundless energy and a relentless drive. His music is devoid of pretension, yet rich in insight, nostalgia, family, and loyalty. This rhyme master interjects his heart and soul into his music. Itz Prof treats every verse like a first impression. "My Fans respect the fact that I am raw and authentic" states the emcee. Equally important, he is the CEO and Owner of The Studio 336 LLC, North Carolina's premier professional recording studio. Additionally, he owns Dat Boi Clothing Line. Itz Prof has been profiled on such top tier music blogs as TheSource.com, AllHipHop.com, YouHeardThatNew.com, ThatsEnuff.com, HipHopSince1987.com, Examiner.com and more. Itz Prof has definitely come along way since his medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego, CA was forced to shut down by the federal government. While currently on felony probation, Itz Prof’s new video called "Strange Things" featuring Jennifer Lawrence has received world-wide acclaim from activist rights organizations and major festival's such as The UpRise festival (an anti-racism festival) in London, UK. Itz Prof has toured all over the country. And he was added to a leg of Nipsey Hussle's “The Crenshaw Tour” as an opening act. Itz Prof is gearing up to release his new mixtape entitled "The Treadmill," which will be released in June. The mixtape only has two features, one from "Street Execs" HD Boy Blahzae and the other from Railroads Down/Unfinished star Eric Biddines. Log on to www.ItzProf.com for more information. - XXL Magazine 2015 Summer Freshman Issue

Not that we’re saying outrapping Young Thug means you got bars by default…

Itz Prof drops another visual from his upcoming Gin X Chronic mixtape; this time a freestyle to Young Thug’s “Stoner.” Prof gives it all he’s got, going harder than Thugga Thugga himself during the freestyle. Not that this means he’s got bars by default, because it isn’t exactly difficult to sound better than Young Thug. But Itz Prof is it nice with it on this one; check it out for yourself and tell us what you think. - TheSource.com

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Home / Reviews / Album Review: Itz Prof – “Gin & Chronic: The Freestyle E.P.”
Album Review: Itz Prof – “Gin & Chronic: The Freestyle E.P.”
Posted by: Doomstwin in Reviews November 11, 2014 0


Itz Prof delivers a super hardcore Album titled “Gin & Chronic: The Freestyle E.P.”. His music was pretty surprising when we first heard it. He has the perfect energy and hunger which he incorporates in this solid EP & it’s exactly whats need in this aggressive Hip Hop game. From track to track anyone can respect his songs, being able to “Turn It Up” and have his music radio ready. He is not your usual Underground Hip Hop artist, Itz Prof is definitely aiming to the top and he’s not wasting any time. The production on this project is flawless to say the least, Being able to create straight up BANGERS mixing in his Raw lyrics into the quality beats. We also cant ignore his quality presentation on Flyers, Mixtape/Album covers ect. He knows what he’s doing.
The big surprise on this project is that he was able to record all 8 tracks on this EP in One Day. Much respect to Itz Prof for pursuing exactly what he was meant to do. CHECK OUT THIS YOUTUBE STREAM…….SUPPORT REAL HIP HOP…………….@UGHHBLOG - UGHH

Itz Prof transitions from a “weed rapper” to a productive member of the hip hop community with “Yawl Don’t Know.”

Itz Prof traded in his laid-back weed raps for more serious subject matter on “Yawl Don’t Know.” The video is his third video release of 2015, and “Yawl Don’t Know” is the intro track from his upcoming mixtape, The Treadmill, releasing this month. With only two features on the entire mixtape, one from HdBoy Blahzae, and the other from Eric Biddines, whose single “Railroads Down/Unfinished” skyrocketed to viral success after being added to regular rotation on MTV. ”The Treadmill” is Itz Prof’s transition from making music to smoke to, to music that motivates. - TheSource.com

Itz Prof is BACK again w/ his 3rd official video release of 2015 “Yawl Don’t Know” directed by @TheHDBoys. This time around the rapper delivers the intro track to his upcoming mixtape “The Treadmill” releasing later this month. With only two features on the entire mixtape, one from “Street Execs” own HdBoy Blahzae “Why Is U Hatin”; and the other from Eric Biddines “Backroads” whose single “Railroads Down/Unfinished” skyrocketed to viral success after being added to regular rotation on MTV. “The Treadmill” is Itz Prof transition from a “weed rapper” to an all-around problem for the hiphop community. Welcome to the Treadmill. - AllHipHop.com

Itz Prof delivers yet another visual off his mixtape presented by 904 Star Productions titled, “Gin X Chronic”. In straight campaign mode, expect more from Itz Prof in the near future. After already dropping off the audio the young up and coming artist delivers an official video for Young Thugs impressive hit record, “Stoner”. Video produced by The HD BOYZ. - AllHipHop.com

Tell us about where you are from and how you got to this position today.
I was born and raised in small southern city in Virginia called Galax. This place is famous for the biggest fiddlers convention in the world. It’s a trip out here. It’s a city mixed with country, so it’s kinda like a hood drama mixed with the show Dallas (lol), you wouldn’t get it.

Anyway I moved to Cincinnati, OH to purse a college degree when my “pursuit of quick money” overrode the thought of a future that I possibly didn’t even want (which has continuously happened my entire life). I’d been in and out of trouble my whole life; nothing really serious, mostly possessions or minor distribution chargers. It was a steady hustle. When I arrived in Cincinnati I put a “network” together that was generating a substantial amount of money. Our group, we weren’t a gang, we were a network of like minded individuals. I’m talking street cats mixed with the college kids, and man all the girls. It was genius and more important it worked.

I lived in this warehouse/apartment at the time and every night we had these parties with 2-300 people. As parties go, rap battles would start and this turned into a major draw with a lot of people every night. It became the reason people were coming, at least another reason. Anyway that’s how I exploded on the scene in Cincinnati. Cats started bringing in the best they could find and I was shredding them. At that time one of my associates, let’s call him Benz, hit me up and was said, “I’ve got some connections in this shit.”

After that it was all work. 3 months later Benz is arrested and sent in. As the police closed in on my network I decided to get a change of scenery and headed to Jacksonville, FL where my sister and her boyfriend were living at the time. I go down there with some money and no plan. I don’t know nobody except them and they don’t know nobody. I link up this job at Regceny Mall on Arlington at the D.E.M.O. Half the cats there thought I was outta place as fuck. My Boss C.C. was the realest actual boss I ever had. She was scared to let me to talk to the customers (ha ha). She kept thinking I was going to scare them away, so they kept me mostly in the back.

I started my hustle game on the side but was living pretty close to broke while I’m recording my first mixtape In The Duval. The day I finished recording it I headed to work just to see a paper article posted on the gate, “D.E.M.O. closes down nationally.” No 2 weeks. No check. No nothing. So after that I was steady in the streets passing out my mixtape to anyone that would buy it. I didn’t even have a price on it. I’d take a dollar, a cigarette, whatever but you had to give me something. I ended up linking up with 904 Star Productions and after that it started to look up.

We were doing shows here and there, and I was doing shows all over the south when label mate N.B. was arrested and sent to prison. After that I linked up with DJ Khaled and label mate QB Smoove to put out 904 Star Productions & DJ Khaled Presents: Like A Star (Free NB) which went for over 100,000 downloads and 904 Star Productions Presents: Star Status. After I felt the music scene drying out, I decided to try my hand in business and moved out to San Diego, California and opened up and medical marijuana collective called the Uncollectively Collecetive. I ran the collective with 2 others, ZziR and RockE, until we were eventually shutdown due to multiple factors including the federal government.

After returning to the VA/NC area I opened a recording studio called The Studio 336, LLC. I started a HD Video Productions company called Itz Prof Productions and I recently put out my solo mixtape 904 Star Productions & Itz Prof Productions Presents: Twist Up; available on iTunes and ItzProf.com. I’m currently touring and will be opening up for Nipsey Hussle Jan 30 in Jacksonville, FL. If you’re in the D come out to support and see the show.

My new mini-Mixtape coming next month Itz Prof & Breezy Hendrix: Like A Movie has got a couple new tracks. Straight club bangers to tie everybody over until my next official release, Itz Prof & 904 Star Productions Presents Stand Up Guy:The Rise & Fall of a College Kid Running a Drug Empire Coming 4/20/2014$!$!$!$!$!$!

Tell us more about the current song you are promoting to everyone.
Beep Beep featuring BossTalk has been the current single. It hit #1 on the INDIE charts and has been played in clubs around the world including Hong Kong. I’m enjoying a lot of the success. It’s funny now because at that the time the song was joke. I was saying how the only songs that make it are these WakaFlaka and 2Chainz garbage ass repetitive hooks and good beats. That’s all you need. Now cats think this is my best song. Thanks Flaka and 2Chainz, that shit really works.

Tell us about one of the hardest challenges you had to face in the industry?
Being taken serious. This goes from the streets and continued to the industry. I was that kid that was always trying to be street when I wasn’t, and then when I was I wasn’t trying to be it. I’ve been through every situation and taking the bad with the good. It some how seems to even itself out in the end. If I didn’t have such respect in the streets I would never have gotten it in the industry. Every white kid coming up in this game is compared to Eminem, who I’m not the biggest fan of but lyrically one of the greatest of all time.

It’s hard to be compared to that. Do they compare Wiz Khalifa to Em? No. Why? Because it doesn’t make any sense, they are completely different. And so is Mac Miller & Macklemore’s gay ass, but the comparison in the industry is just ridiculous. It’s almost like no one’s paying attention to the music anymore. It’s all reality shows and fake drive by’s. This never would have happened if Pac was alive.

What was one of the biggest set backs in your career and how did you bounce back?
My biggest mistake was taking so long to take my career seriously. It wasn’t until working with DJ Khaled that I actually started to treat hip-hop like a career. My second biggest mistake was that after I realized that, and that mixtape didn’t explode us into super stardom (which we all thought it would at the time), was taking the time off from my music which ended with me all the way across the country with federal agents pointing guns in my face.

It’s work it really is. Years of work, years of being under appreciated, seeing all the mixtapes I just passed out on the floor of the clubs getting swept into the trash. I’ve worked with the biggest names in the industry (DJ Khaled, Nate Dogg, Tre Songz, Gutta Gutta, Mims, and countless others). I’ve had the major label meetings, I’ve heard the promises, and I used to be consumed by the life. The thought of millions of dollars, every girl you could ever want, basically the MTV video version of real life. It consumed me being a kid hustling in the streets everyday.

Now being where I am, seen the things I’ve seen, and been through the things I’ve been through I’m done with the labels. I’m done with the over publicized hip-hop media where artists are buying their image. That’s why we at the #TwistUp Movement have fully backed Nipsey Hussle in the #FuckTheMiddleMan movement in educating artists around the globe that this is our music. With the new innovation and media marketing available on the internet it’s now made record labels irrelevant. We no longer need to give away our ownership rights to get our music in front of the people. It’s no longer the time to impress the labels, now it’s the time to focus on the fans. To all my fans out there and around the world, I love you guys. Real shit. Getcha’ P’z Up, TwistUp, Itz Prof Ya Heard$!$!$!$!$!$

What are some things artists need to be careful of?
Being taken advantage of. It’s easy for a start up artist to be caught up and exploited by A&Rs, promoters, and industry professionals. Everybody and their mama wants to be a rapper nowadays, you have a lot of people out there exploiting that. You’ve got people promising radio play, magazine articles, label deals, even companies as big as Coast 2 Coast mixtapes are offering ripoff deals of 10 minutes on stage for $1,500.

You have to be weary of your budget, this is the most important step for every independent artist. Your budget starting off needs to be primarily spent on promotion. You only want to spend your budget on opportunities that are going to pay back in return. You’ve gotta be smart with your money if you don’t have a management group because when it’s gone, it’s gone. And at the end of the day if you’re not making money, it’s a hobby not a profession.

What suggestions do you have for other artists like yourself?
Keep pushing. You’ll only go as far as you push yourself. And while your sleeping, some kid is in the lab right now working, making a hotter track. There’s a lot of ups and down on this road. Unless you’re Twista it doesn’t happen over night. Most likely it’s going to get worst before it gets better. But you get what you put into this world. Nothing is free. If you work your ass off, have the talent, and just a little bit of luck you can do it.

What is one of your favorite ways to promote yourself and your music?
Touring is the best way to promote yourself. I’ve grown up on the road. I’ve been doing this for years and there’s no better way to expand your brand than touring. It allows you the ability to get your name across states and the country in a matter of days instead of hoping people are going to take your shameless Facebook and Twitter promotion seriously. And there’s nothing better than just riding with your family from city to city in a shitty ass SUV with no room just smoking, drinking, and partying until the next party.

Where can people visit you?
People can check me out at:
Official Page: www.ItzProf.com
Official MTV: www.MTV.com/artists/Prof
Official YouTube: www.YouTube.com/Prof904
Official Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ItzProf
Official Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Prof904 - WWS Magazine

I’m always iffy about artist using commercial beats for there music. Reason being; it defeats the purpose of creativity and sometimes it’s a lazy tactic… HOWEVER, as I always preach your lyrics make the song no matter what beat you got going. Itz Prof shows a perfect example how to use commercial beats while mixing his influence in the song and completly turning into something else on the single Please Don’t Kill My High (Take notes rookies). Of all the songs I’m really digging Guns & Roses, It’s catchy and had me singing along after the 3rd overview of it.
Its unfortunate the mixtape is short, only 4 tracks along with a bonus track. I can’t really say much more being there is a lack of songs in it, but from what I heard its legit and dope.
I can see Itz Prof has the right menality and focus with the way he sings. I would definitely wanna see him collab with some other indie artist, I can feel the energy he is putting into his music and it would go well with a lot of different styles. I do recommend tuning into his music. - IndieRapBlog

See Link for Interview. - Coast2Coast Magazine

24hourhiphop.com sits down with recording artist Itz Prof as he tells us about his upcoming works, new mixtapes, videos and much more. Get an insight into Prof’s life and his thoughts on hip hop!. Check out what Prof had to say below!

24HHH: Introduce yourself to everyone that doesn’t already know who you are:

Prof: First off, I wanna thank 24HourHipHop for the opportunity to sit down and talk about my new release 904 Star & Itz Prof Productions Presents:”Twist Up”. It’s been along time, years in the making, and finally it’s here Twist Up. For all those that have been living under a rock for the past 3 years and don’t know me….pay attention, I’m HERE NOW!!! And your only going to hear more about me from here on out.

24HHH: Before we get into your music, can you describe your history about how you got into and what inspired you:

Prof: Growing up, I was the biggest 2pac fan on the planet, still am to this day R.I.P GOAT. But I mean I was that white kid 12 years old, with the bandana tied in the front like Pac. I’d be at the mall thinking I was the baddest mutha f**** in there, (hahaha) if Pac would’ve seen me back then he probably would’ve came right out and smacked me in the mouth.

24HHH: What was the hip hop scene like for you growing up where your from:

Prof: There was NO hiphop scene when I grew up in Virginia. A small country town on top of a mountain called Galax. It’s famous for a having the biggest fiddlers convention in the world. So hip hop??? (hahaha), Nah they don’t do that here. I grew up in a small city (Population 8,000 est.), that was surrounded by two counties of mostly farm land. Closest thing I can describe that a lot of people have actually seen is that “BuckWild” show on MTV (hahaha). But that’s the counties, in the city…It’s a little different here. It’s like every other major city except it’s packed into an 8 mile square radius, I mean really it’s like the Grand Canyon or going to Vegas, you just don’t get it until your there. There’s not a lot of money in the area but each individual carries a crazy strong sense of pride. Even though we beef, have misunderstandings, and every so often an unsolved murder, we have a vast understanding of each other that people not from here could never get. I started rapping in the 6th grade. I can specifically remember the exact day. It was back when The Source was blowing up over The Unsigned Hype. I go to school, READY (hahaha) grab my dude Mali and Bradley, and I’m like “Yo we gonna be rappers” (hahaha). At the time, like I said before, I’m the white kid in the Pac bandana, rocking some big ass fake diamond chain weed leaf to middle school. (hahahaha) Looking back, I can’t believe the teachers and shit aint take it. Long story short it ended up only being me to become the rapper. My junior year of high school I was kicked out after getting busted in a surprise drug search. After that I started to lose focus and getting in a lot of trouble. Eventually, I did come back to high school though and graduate, so to any of y’all out there that’s going through similar situations, don’t let it get you down. Keep your head up and your mind on a positive goal and you can do it. Eventually I made my way to Cincinnati, Ohio which coincidentally is where I got the name Prof and started making a real name for myself battle rapping. Really, I hadn’t realized I was going to rap as a profession until then (hahaha). It all started with these massive parties we use to throw, and I’m talking Animal House didn’t have shit on us. We lived in this weird, little warehouse building right off the campus of UC (Unversity of Cincinnati) and we would have 2-300 people a night. I mean we’re talking the amount of booze, money, and broken dreams (hahaha) that came through this place. It’s amazing that I made it out. We had the all the goons mixed with all the college kids and we made it work. It was wild. The freestyle battles would start and I never lost. Eventually that propelled me to get backers to front money for studio time. I never lost any battle until my eventual meeting with Cleveland rapper MGK at a small recording studio. Back then I think the kid was probably like 18 and he probably wouldn’t even remember this but he came in with his lil Shaker Heights crew. We was all goin in and he just went it like crazy. (hahaha) Good times. After everything crumbled in Cincinnati, and due to more and more police pressure I moved to Jacksonville, Fla. I moved down there with my sister and her boyfriend at the time with no plans. Like I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any connections, I had a little bit of money but that was it. Steady and focused on moving forward with my music, I spent the next 2 months recording my debut mixtape “In The Duval”. And man an to anyone that still has one of those I’ll buy it back right now. (hahaha) None of it was posted online so those songs are gone now and let me tell you, CLASSIC (hahaha) nah, I don’t know but I do know I put my blood, sweat, and tears, into that hot ass closet, and then again on them hot ass streets handing out copies of the tape for whatever people would give me. I’d take 1$ I’d take 10$ but you had to give me something. Eventually, one fell into the hands of QB Smoove & 904 Star Productions. They got hold of me, told me they liked what I was doing and wanted to link up and we’ve been doing the thing ever since. We were moving forward in the club scenes doing shows, Smoove was doing alotta shows, NB was doing alotta shows, I was running around everywhere state to state, doing alotta shows, and it was really good times. Not to long after that, everything took a turn for the worse, and NB got locked up. Slowly things started to dry out until I reached out to DJ Khaled and he heard about everything that was going on. I won’t forget it, me and my peoples are watching dude on the BET awards and then an hour later he’s hitting me on the phone (hahaha) we was trippin, it was wild. We came together to make our most successful mixtape 904 Star Productions Presents: Like A Star (Free NB). It came out like BAM!! 100,000 downloads, everybody know who we was. My home town city in Galax, I came back everybody tryna get me to put em on. And I wasn’t even on, I’m still not on man, not even close (hahaha). But when I am best believe I got y’all. Anyway, I kept on doing alotta shows and had some other big features with Mims, Trey Songz, Gutta Gutta, & a lot more than never even came out, but nothing ever blew up like I thought it would. So I finally I said f*** it and moved out to California to get in on the medical marijuana industry. I moved out with Rizz and Erock; and I won’t elaborate on who that is either just because I don’t want to invade their privacy. Nonetheless, we moved out there and opened a %100 legal Medical Marijauana Collective called The UnCollectivelyCollective. After six months of operation, we were forced to close by the Federal government. After the shutdown I moved back to the east coast, to the Virginia, North Carolina area and opened up a new recording studio The Studio 336, LLC in Winston Salem, NC. After opening the studio, I went back to work on my new release “Twist Up” which had been halfway finished project and then put on hold for over a year due to my hiatus in California.

24HHH: What makes you Unique as a artist and different from other rappers out now?

Prof: I have my own story. I have my own lane. I’m not trying to be in nobody else’s lane. I’m not trying to be like Weezy, Tip, Jeezy, Drake, Em, none of them cats. Everybody today’s trying to get in the game by emulating another cats style, what another man worked for, I mean you’ve got Drake & Big Sean, Future & Rich Homie Quan, Caskey & Logic, 2Chainz & Waka, and the list goes on. The industry is getting watered-down by the same songs over and over and over again. That’s why the general consensus is that hip hop’s dead or on its way out, which to me is outrageous. You’ve got J Cole, who in my opinion is at the top of the game right now, you got Neighborhood Nip, Itz Dubb, I mean there’s a lot of great music out there, you just ain’t gonna find it on the radio.

Check out the official video for Itz Prof – Everybody’s A Critic


24HHH: Tell us more about what you are working on?

Prof: Come on man, y’all know what I’m working on. Two words…Twist Up. My new mixtape, long awaited mixtape (haha) I mean it was f***ed up I made the fans wait so long for the tape. I wouldn’t say I was done, but my head was just in a different place, and honestly if it weren’t for how everything worked out in California it might have never happened. 904 Star & Itz Prof Productions Presents: Twist Up was just released October 26, 2013. It’s available on iTunes and on our website ItzProf.com. There are package deals available also including some of the freshest gear about to hit the streets. The Twist Up Tour is in the works, two new videos are going to be released off the mixtape infact, I’m going to be releasing a new video through 24HourHipHop, our new freestyle anthem The Carolina’s ft. Breezy Hendrix from BossTalk Ent. Like I said if you want to purchase the new mixtape in a package deal, get t-shirts, snapbacks, backpacks, anything check out ItzProf.com. Now that Twist Up’s out, I’m back in the studio working on my new tape Itz Prof & 904 Star Productions Presents: Stand Up Guys “The Rise & Fall of a College Kid Running a Drug Empire” with no release date set as of yet. You can hear some of the tracks off the new tape which have been released on ItzProf.com. If your in the Winston Salem area come thru to the The Studio 336, and we’ll get you to where you need to be. The Studio 336 is a professional recording studio right in the heart of Winston Salem, NC. We’re the best at at what we do, y’all come out 25$ a hr starting price.

24HHH: What producers have you worked with and who would you like to work with in the future?

Prof: I’ve mostly worked with in-house producers and label made beats. I worked with Vybe Beatz a lot, he’s crazy good at what he does. I don’t have like a list of producers of who or where or what. I’ll go in on a 3$ beat I bought off some cat outside the Kroger at a cd stand if it’s hot. I don’t do the name game, paying crazy big money just for a name. End of the day the fans don’t care if you on a Timbaland beat or you got it off youtube. They just want to connect to something. I feel like I give them that, and thats why the ride with me. That’s why I’m getting love from all over the world, it’s not just about the city no more. Earlier today I sold 30 Twist Up Koozies in Japan. That’s crazy, I never thought no Japan mutha f***** would know who I was, let alone buy my music. So that goes out to all indie producers, y’all wanna a beat you think is hot send it my way, yall put my contact information at the end of this interview so they can reach out.

24HHH: Are you happy with the feedback you have been getting from people on material you have released?

Prof: I love the feedback I get because I’ma niche artist. I remember one time I sat down with a major label and that’s what they kept saying “you’re a niche artist” and at the time I was like “what the f*** is that” (hahaha) come to find out a “niche artist” means when someone hears your song the listener either A. LOVES IT or B. HATES IT. There’s no in-between, and you’ll find more hate it than love it. But the ones that love it, love it so much they buy in all the way. They love it with they whole heart. And that’s why I love my fans, they support me to the max no matter what, bad or good, through every situation.

24HHH: In todays free download age, what do you need to do to make your self a household name:

Prof: The download age. (hahaha) I guess that’s a good way to say it. Look I love free downloads, don’t tell on me. (hahaha) I can’t remember the last album I bought in a store and I don’t think I ever bought one offline. I don’t feel like the the industry has changed I feel like the definition of a fan has changed. Ya know when I was growing up, if you were a fan, you bought there album in the store, you watched MTV just for they video, and you bought tickets and went to shows. Now if your a fan you burn your favorite artists cd and bump them in ya ride & maybe go to the concert or watch the concert off YouTube. (hahaha) To me it’s all good if you bumping me with ya friends, in ya parties, your furthering my brand and maybe the music will reach a paying customer. (hahaha) I’m fully dedicated to the F*** The MiddleMan distribution scheme. I would rather let my music be downloaded and remain my music then it be sold to the masses and belong to someone else. My distribution scheme, I release a 4-6 track E.P. for free on mixtape websites like DatPiff and LiveMixtapes, and then the full digital copy is available off iTunes and the full physical copies with package deals are available at my website ItzProf.com My jump off point for people actually getting to know me hit it’s all time high after the Like A Star release with DJ Khaled. That one went for over 100,000 downloads and got my name solidified in the underground hip hop community. Then out of left field this other cat in Minnesota starts using the same name, (same spelling with a different pronunciation (P-raf) and started mass confusion throughout the industry. To me it really aint no thing, he don’t wanna stop using it, I’m not going to stop using it, so it is what it is. I guess they’re is a place for everybody in today’s genre of entertainment called hiphop but I don’t get these funny dudes. I don’t get the Macklemores I don’t get the Minnesota dude. It’s like what’s the point?? You wanna be a comedian go be a comedian. You want to be artist make it mean something. I don’t know, to each is own I guess. I’m five releases in this game and I’m not going to change now. I’ll go out like Dan Snyder and the Redskins. (hahaha) I aint going to change shit.

Check out the official video for Itz Prof – Lean & Cola :


24HHH: How do you feel about the current state of the hiphop scene?

Prof: Hiphop is in a real sad place right now. Real shit, it really is. You’ve got Kayne calling himself Yeezus bringing out a fake Jesus on stage. Weezy’s stepping on the flag. You’ve Drake and Chris Brown throwing temper tantrums and getting innocent bystanders cut up. I mean LA Corleone, a young Chicago rapper was 17 and get’s gunned down last week. We as rappers, and a voice to the streets, should be pushing an agenda to try to forward these kids lives instead of encouraging them to do the opposite. The games f***ed up man, the games f***ed up.

24HHH: Outside of the music what else are you currently working on?

Prof: I’m the owner and CEO of The Studio 336, LLC and Itz Prof Productions, LLC. The Studio 336 is a professional recording studio, we record everything from gangsta to gospel. You can bring ya goons or ya Grandma we take everybody. (hahaha) Itz Prof Productions is a video production company, we specialize in HD Music Videos and have feature films in the works. I’ve written 4 feature scripts and the films are currently in the planning stages.

24HHH: Where do you see yourself going in 2014 and how do you plan to separate yourself from the other artist out today to get the recognition you feel you deserve

Prof: Well currently, I have some possible pending litigation that I can’t really speak on at this time. So I’ll have to see how that goes. I keep that in the back of my mind and continue to progress and move forward. My upcoming release Stand Up Guy is definitely, without a doubt, the hottest shit I’ve ever recorded. Every day I’m in the booth I get better and better and right now I’m to the point, I don’t think theres anyone out there that’s better than me. My new release “My Life” is getting alotta of love and hate for taking shots at the entire industry, but is really me just taking my frustration out after years of really going through the things I went through, and seeing these popcorn backpack ass rappers make a million dollars, it rubbed me the wrong way. It was like throwing salt in the wounds, this whole industry rubbed me the wrong way which is why I’ve backed Nipsey Hussle in the F*** The MiddleMan Movement. I don’t want a check if it’s going to cost me my brand. I’ve worked blood sweat and tears to get where I am and nobody helped me do that. You think I’m going to sign that away just to get on MTV y’all must have lost y’all *** **** minds. Go to ItzProf.com check out the store and support real independent music. Twist Up, F*** The MiddleMan.

24HHH: How can fans go about contacting you?

Prof: My fans can get me at my
Official Website ItzProf.com
Official MTV Page MTV.com/artists/Prof
Official Facebook Facebook.com/ItzProf
Official Twitter Twitter.com/Prof904
Official Youtube Youtube.com/Prof904

24HHH: Thank you for providing 24hourhiphop with this exclusive interview, do you have any lastwords for your present and future fans

Prof: Ay man, again thank you guys. Thanks for all the love for my new mixtape Itz Prof & 904 Star Productions Presents: Twist Up, available on iTunes & ItzProf.com, Twist Up E.P. on DatPiff, thanks for looking out, helping me get the word out and forwarding the Twist Up and F*** The MiddleMan Movement. I got mad love for 24HourHipHop and all the other media really supporting independent music and real hip hop. Thanks again and to everybody else keep your eyes open cuz I ain’t going nowhere. First and foremost, I wanna thank God and my family, for all the love and support it took to get me here. I know it hasn’t always been very easy, and I couldn’t do it without each and everyone of y’all. I wanna shout out QB Smoove, NB, 904 Star Productions, Mike Jones, Drizzy, Coomes, DJ Farmer, Chev, BossTalk, Killa Cam, Tyler Gangem Style, Killa Chriz, Corleone, all the haters and everybody else that’s helped to get me here. Getcha’ Ps Up, It’s Prof Ya Heard? - 24HourHipHop

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?
Hey. Whats good bro? Thanks for the sit down. I’m originally from a small town called Galax, Virginia. It’s a small city located in a country suburb, about 5 miles outside of North Carolina.
I moved around a lot, literally chasing money. Chasing ideals that I thought were important at the time. Come to find out years later, after all my…”adventures” all that would come is some great stories, and an extensive criminal record.
Hiphop bro. Seems like forever (laughing). I mean I guess you could “Officially” could put it at the “Like A Star” release w/ DJ Khaled in 2010. That really put us on, in the streets in Florida. It wasn’t commercially successful because there was no budget behind it. But it played in all the clubs and a song or two hit radio. Since then it’s been an interesting road. A lot of ups and downs, and just in the last year I’ve really been back at it 100%. And I wanna say thanks for all the love UndergroundHipHopBLOG.com has been showing me for my new single “Gas” in the last few days.
What influences you in making Hip Hop?
….exhales smoke…(laughing) What do you think fam??? Everything we see in life, influences us all. No matter what you do whether you’re in hiphop or not. I’ve never understood why rappers in general, try to come up w/ all these crazy stories that they just heard from other rappers that made it up. Life is a beautiful thing man. And it can be over in a second, in a flash, you here, and then you’re not. So my music is influenced by MY life, the things I’ve done, the things I do. So it might not be for “everybody” but at the same time it’s for EVERYBODY. There’s no shade. There’s no-show. It just is what it is. My truth 100% uncensored. And at the end of the day I think the people really relate to that. Whether they’ve been through what I’ve been through. Or they just feel, how I feel. I think everybody wants somebody up there, telling it like it REALLY IS.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
Ya know it’s always hard to answer that question. Because you guys always say “Describe Your Music” like you want me to put it in a box. You want me to label it and compare it to something more commonly heard and I can’t really do that.
The only way I know how to describe my music is 100% Independent. I’m the artist, I’m the engineer, I’m the designer, I’m the Promoter, I’m the manager, I’m the driver, I’m the duplicator, I’m the publicists. I’m my biggest fan (laughing). And you gotta be in this business. Because no one will go harder for you, then you. And these labels won’t show up until they see major dollars that they can take from you.
It’s just like coming up in the street. There was always somebody out there that would throw you the front, but when you go home at night you only made 15%. The majors are the same way. They throw you that front, so they can take all your money. But your famous, so who cares right??? WRONG!!!
And understanding that, I think is one of the main things that separates me from other MCs. I’ve lived, breathed, ate, and bled hip hop my whole life. And it’s funny now that I’ve finally realized I don’t need them, they’re all starting to call. (Laughing) Life’s ironies I guess.
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
My biggest single garnering the most pre release buzz right now is off the mixtape “The Treadmill” which was surprisingly announced last week (due to the delay of “Stand Up Guy: The Rise & Fall of a College Kid Running a Drug Empire”) the track is called “Backroads” and is featuring Palm Beach County’s MTV sensation Eric Biddines. The track is centered around those Florida dirt roads, in the backwoods; and how they can become the path of your life. It’s an interesting mix of character on the track w/ me & Eric and to date It’s my favorite feature I’ve done so far. I don’t have an exact date set for release but it should be within the next few weeks, assuming everything works out.
Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
My definition of underground hiphop is hip hop with out a budget. Because this game is not some impossible feat. It’s funny how this industry tries to show itself off like their the NBA. Or they’re some elite group that only the greatest of the great can make it to. When in fact, it’s just a business. Just like any other business, except it’s an expensive buy in. What keeps cats like us “UnderGround” is that we don’t have $40,000 to go push on our single. Because, If I did you can best believe; “Itz Prof” would be a household name. And so would anyone one else (that had it). It’s all about repetition and consistency, and once you can achieve that on a National level. Your on. Until you fall off.
Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?
I don’t get caught up in the producer name game. I’ve got mad love for all producers that have helped me grow my career and hopefully I helped them achieve the same. I feel like I’ve met cats out here, and been given free beats that were right on par w/ the top producers in the game. Any producers looking to work send beats to TheStudio336@gmail.com.
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
Yea, we just dropped Gin & Chronic which I’m really syked about. Two songs off the 8 track E.P. (“Who Dat” ft. JayO & “Gas”) have over 2,000 spins on FM in 8 different markets since the release. The great thing about this tape is technically its called “Gin & Chronic: The Freestyle E.P. We made this entire tape in one night. I mean, we were up till 6 o clock in the morning, people are passed out all over the place, liquor bottles, smoke every where. It was quite a scene. And at the time we just thought we were fucking around making some cool music; but never intended to actually market this as a release. And already it’s been my most successful tape (radio play wise).
We just announced a few days ago the upcoming release of “The TreadMill”; this mixtape was not a planned release for 2014, but since the the major release of “SUG” (Stand Up Guy) was pushed back, I felt like I needed to do something for all the fans that have been waiting on the drop. It’s going to have the MAJOR feature with Eric Biddines, and it also features HD Blahzae from HD Beatz. Other than that it’s going to be a deeper, darker look at alotta the stuff I’ve been going through the last few months. It’s deffintely a more in-depth look at me as an artist instead of just a party. I’m deffintely excited about it.
Please give us your TOP 5 MC’s & TOP 5 Producers of All Time.
I don’t get into to the whole ALL TIME lists of things. Everybody deserves some mention from someone they’ve effected.
Where can we find your music and info?
You can find my music LIVE 11/7 Raleigh, NC come out and PARTY WITH US we’re going LIVE w/ Def Jam Records, Kasino Roulette (Grustle Gang), & Black Out Entertainment.
The official page is
www.ItzProf.com
www.YouTube.com/Prof904
www.Facebook.com/ItzProf
www.Twitter.com/Prof904
Any shout outs?
Yea I wanna shout out everybody that’s been supporting me, even with everything I been going through lately, my family, my fans, my friends, I wanna SHOUT FREE THE HOMIE JERM$!$!$!$ S/O DJ Cittyyyy for mad engineer work and input for Gin & Chronic. S/O Dirrzy Dre, AC3, Breezy Hendrix, Bamboo Da Ace, Eric Biddines, Snake, The HD Boys, Mike Jones, CarolinaOnTheRise, Shalanda Williams, JAYO, Marcus, I can’t name everybody I’ll be out here al day. Everybody on the team and thats supporting the team. Ride with me, Roll with me, TwistUPNATION$!$!$!$ Salute.
John Vaughan, CEO
The Studio 336, LLC
Itz Prof Productions
904 Star Productions
www.ItzProf.com - UndergroundHipHopBlog.com