Ron Ron

As a supplement to this week's music feature on east-KC-bred rapper Ron Ron (which you should probably read first for context), we bring you some outtakes from writer Kyle Koch's interview with Ron, in which he shares his thoughts on his influences, the future of hip-hop, Stik Figa and going to college.

To hear Ron Ron, beat a path to Datpiff.com and listen to and/or download his latest mixtape, Mr. No It All. (Listen for free; download for a fee.)

The Pitch: So how'd you get into hip-hop?

Ron Ron: At the time, I was like every other kind of kid who grew up in the ghetto. You kind of relate to what you see on TV. I thought it [rap music] was the hippest shit at the time

Who was your favorite artist coming up?

Man, I loved Outkast. Andre3000. I thought he just had the whole artist and entertainer thing down.

So how did you feel after receiving the non-guilty verdict?

I put my faith in people. People let me down. Put my trust in something that wasn't getting me up out of this shit. It was getting me in this shit, but wasn't getting me out. God gives you the vision to see, you gotta have the spirit in you to see who to fuck with, who not fuck with. It's just about God providing you with a vision, with the spirit to understand what's going on. There was a lot of shit going on. But at the end of the day, I'm smooth.

So now you're more conscious in the lyrics in your raps?

Really, to be honest, I don't promote nothing that I wouldn't promote to my younger brother. When I was younger, my mom didn't let my little brother listen to my shit. I don't even cuss no more in my music.

How would you describe your music?

I try to make music, I try to tell a story. I want to make "intelligent" seem cool.

Who do you consider to be some of your biggest influences?

Man, my influences are people that aren't even famous. My biggest influences are my father-in-law, Ronald Richardson, my children, my wife, my brother-in-law, big brother, The Mac, little brother, Rick Raw, Young Deevy ...

What are you listening to right now?

Stik Figa, Cool Kids, the old Chronic album--that's what's in my rotation right now, that's what I'm riding to.

What do you think the hip-hop scene in the city? How would you grade it out?

I'll give you a two little sentence evaluation. I'll give it a "C". It [the scene] won't kill you, but it won't let you thrive. I'm lucky. But some people aren't as lucky as me ... Everybody does not have a track record based on drugs or gangs to build a career off of. You got people that are just genuine entertainers that won't get that stage ... and some gangsters that won't get that stage because they'll never be rappers.

Is hip-hop dead?

Pop music is bigger than hip-hop and it sounds like hip-hop. But that's not hip-hop. People must have an attachment to the "hip-hop is dead" statement. Is what it's always been, business is just different. Since hip-hop came along, every motherfucker has an urge to be around, be with the movement. Hip-hop affects how you tie your shoes up. Hip-hop effects what you do, how you say it. That can never be dead.

Has hip-hop become too commercial?

If they pattern that [rap music], they can capitalize that. We can't stop this billionaire from making shoes you like, from playing the song you like a million times a day. Hip-hop is never dead, hip-hop will never die. Hip-hop may not be fiscally beneficial, but it won't die ... We outlived disco, so we officially the shit right now.

You're in college right now?

I go to school because I enjoy learning. In school, they push books in my face -- topics in my face -- that I know nothing about. I want to be a motherfucker that can start a non-profit and know what I'm talking about. I'm a firm believer in knowledge is power. Information can be twisted; knowledge is what you take information and turn it into.

http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/05/qa_ron_ron.php - The Pitch (www.thepitch.com)

Wake up, KC!

No more sleeping on Ron Ron. In this stylized, one-two punch of a video, the local MC turns from party boy to gangsta, starting off with the slow, funky club melter "Hey, Honey," complete with spliced-in ho's and Ron in Ladies' Man attire. Then he flips to his side G at about the 2:20 mark, upon the request of a "friend" who wants to hear from the Ron Ron he remembers: "standin' on the block, three in the morning off a dip with a chopstick, rappin' something he wrote while he was in jail."

Ron Ron abides and begins spitting ornate cold-cockin' poetry about his street upbringing over a sparse, mechanical beat made of static blasts and turntable scratches.

So basically, all we want to know is: WHO IS THIS GUY!!!?

http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/04/must-see_video_ron_ron_hey_hon.php - The Pitch (www.thepitch.com)

As you may know, we did a cover story on Ron Ron and Stik Figa for the latest issue of Demencha, which came out about a week ago. I was trolling on siccness.net and saw that Ron Ron had made a post a few hours ago announcing his new mixtape Skitzo-Frenic, with a hopeful release date for September 11th.

The video above, features Stik accepting his Pitch Music Award, with Ron Ron encouraging him to the point where Stik almost falls over, while Stik and his cohorts stood at the podium.

But back to the matter of Ron Ron’s new mixtape…Here’s some excerpts from the interview I did with him a few weeks ago for the magazine. In these excerpts, he talks about why all his album/mixtape titles have to center around the brain and intelligence, and talks about the aforementioned Skitzo-Frenic mixtape!!!! ENJOY!!!

“Music? It’s not easy to me like that. It’s like the Playoffs. I look at it like an event. It’s not something to just drag out. If it was an album, you wouldn’t want to rush it because for one you’ve got to buy all the beats, shit like that. You know, I do a lot of shit at home. A lot of the mixing, so there’s no reason why I have to take a prolonged period of time to do any project. I just choose to because sometimes you just got to let shit simmer in the streets. And two, you want to make quality shit. Just because the person likes hearing your voice doesn’t mean you should keep talking. Fuck around and say something stupid or burn yourself out. And I got this new shit coming - Skitzo-Frenic, that’s gonna be well worth the wait. People will see though. It’s probably my last mixtape…well, actually I got this one and another one. I think I’m gonna call it Street School. It’s gonna be more of a compilation thing I’m gonna put a lot of features on it. But it’s gonna be my last solo mixtape because I’ve got the 50’s compilation I’m gonna work on and we’re about to make another mixtape with Landmark (KC Landmarks). The Landmark thing is not gonna be just totally me, it’s gonna be my contribution to it and it’s gonna take some time because I’m gonna be working in my studio and we’re gonna be just coaching each other along. But the 50’s compilation is probably gonna take a while. It’s probably gonna take a lot of energy. And then the Street School, it’s probably gonna take a lot of energy because it’s not just me. If it was just me, I wouldn’t even be talking about it. I’d just be doing it. But you gotta get your schedule worked out with 15-30 people or something, you gotta give that time. You may have someone come in and do something or you might write for two hours and not accomplish shit or they come in and have to redo it. But I think I’m probably gonna give that project to Black Walt because I owe him a CD. We had an arrangement. And I’ll still try to contribute to it as much as I can so that it feels like a Ron Ron project, so it still feels like a 50’s project.”

Ron Ron went on to say, “That’s why I try to keep a word associated with “brain,” in all the projects like Mr. No It All, Frankeinstein and the Wiz Kids and with the Skitzo-Frenic mixtape. To be honest, some of the most brilliant people probably got some kind of clinical brain malfunction. I want being smart to be cool. Whatever that knowledge is that you’re carrying on and you’re passing on to another person…if it’s got some substance that’s really what I’m trying to put forward to contributing to it. Getting people to understand shit about this world. It’s easier to fight with your hands up and your guard up. It’s easier to throw a double-play if you know the rules of baseball. You need to know what you’re up against, otherwise you don’t have a fighting chance in hell.”

http://demencha.com/?p=223 - http://demencha.com