|
 He's
the man Ludacris, P. Diddy, Timbaland, and Three 6 Mafia call when they
need someone to take their records over the top. He's the MC whose style
has been imitated by scores of rappers. He's the underground legend
ready to return to the game he helped revolutionize. That's right,
Twista is back, and after years of making hits for other artists, the
Chicago pioneer is about to release his most important album--the highly
anticipated Kamikaze.
With 1997's Adrenaline Rush Twista showed how the rapid-fire flow was
supposed to go. Now, with Kamikaze, he shows what it is like when he
elevates his own style.
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Kamikaze represents two things," Twista explains. "On a surface level, I
was like, 'What could I come with after Adrenaline Rush? What's the
ultimate adrenaline rush? It's going kamikaze. On another level, I feel
like I'm going into the game kamikaze. We know its f--ked up, but we've
got to get a certain goal and we're trying to achieve it."
Longtime Twista fans, who have been following the motormouth MC since he
was named the world's fastest rapper by the Guinness Book Of World
Records more than a decade ago, will be thrilled that several Kamikaze
cuts build directly off his classic material.
"Kill Us All," for example, is a sequel of sorts to the classic album's
title track. "I was trying to do that like Adrenaline Rush," Twista
says. "I know I'm going to do 'Overdose' part two and I'm going to pick
that up right where I left off, with the same little lyrics where I got
cut off at. I'm going to pick that up where I left off because it had
that beat and that vibe and I just started zoning to it one day while I
was sitting in the studio. I started pacing the hall and started
thinking of some deep, crazy sh-t."
Twista also re-ups on the new version of "Feel So Good." The new
version, which was produced by long-time collaborator Toxic and which
features Jazze Pha on the chorus, features Twista rapping smoother,
slower and working the ladies.
In another twist, Twista gives women the personality of drinks on the
aptly titled "Drinks." Over a funky, Toxic-produced beat, Twista mixes
and matches the personalities of `Crown Royal`, `Alize`, and others into
a compelling lyrical exercise.
"I wanted to do something different," Twista explains. "I like the
ladies and the beat felt like that West Coast club sh-t. I started
thinking about the club and the chicks. Toxic was sitting around like,
'What's your favorite drink?' We got the hook together and then on top
of the beat I started rapping to it."
Although he's known for his machine-gun raps, Twista uses Kamikaze to
display his full rapping range. Over a gangstered-out track from Kanye
West (Jay-Z, Scarface, and others), Twista slows down his delivery
pattern and displays how effective he can be with any style on "One Last
Time." "I want people to hear that I can bring it any type of way that I
want to bring it," he explains. "I don't really have to pop it fast, but
I know that that's what people want to hear. But at the same time, I
want to make tracks where people can like my other stuff. It's about my
creativity."
Much of Twista's creativity comes from the West Side Chicago streets on
which he was raised. Home to pimps, players, macks, prostitutes, and
other underworld figures, this section of Chicago has served as the
backdrop for many of Twista's rhymes. On "Pimp On," Twista teams with
8Ball and Too $hort, as well as famous Chicago pimp the Arch Bishop Don
Magic Juan, for a breakdown of the way of his native streets, and a nod
to the song that first brought him to prominence.
"It represents what I started from," Twista says of "Pimp On." "The
first thing that really put me out there, that people really heard me
on, was the Do Or Die song 'Po Pimp.' It's not as much about sticking to
the whole thing of pimping, it's just the vibe where we're from in the
city. I wanted to carry on that vibe and represent where I'm from. And
then, I wanted to put down some true players."
One of the most influential and mimicked players in the game, Twista
feels that he doesn't always get the respect he deserves from other
artists in the game. On the dramatic "Show's Over" (which also features
Freeway and Legit Ballin' member Beanie Franks) as well as the venomous
"I Got This," Twista lets loose on his detractors. On the latter, he
gives an abbreviated rundown of his illustrious career and addresses
many of the rumors that have surrounded him since he released Adrenaline
Rush.
"I was kicking it around with the rumors," he says. "I was letting
people know that I'm back and I've got a style that people bite a lot.
All ya'll got your rumors, so let me tell you the real."
On the real, Twista is one of the most important figures in rap history.
Before others rode rapid-fire rhyming to the top of the charts, Twista
employed the style on his overlooked debut album, 1991's Runnin' Off At
Da Mouth (released as Tung Twista).
After a few years on the DL, Twista reemerged with Do Or Die on the
classic "Po Pimp," setting the stage for his triumphant return. The
result was the classic Adrenaline Rush album, a collection that
regularly appears on Billboard's rap catalog album chart today.
In 1998, he released Mobstablility with the Speedknot Mobstaz before
launching his Legit Ballin' imprint, which has released three critically
acclaimed and ghetto gold compilations.
All the while, Twista has been honing his craft and looking for the
right time to return. "I represent for the MCs that have skills, not
just make music for the hell of it," he says. "I take the time to
concentrate. Otherwise, I could have 10 albums out there, easy. I could
sit down all day and write something. But I write when I get in a zone
more than writing because I've got to do this. I represent the artists
that keep it true to what really is, to be able to make rappers want to
write."
Twista accomplishes his goal on Kamikaze, an album that solidifies his
place as one of the premier rappers ever to clutch a microphone and
marks his return to the top of the game.
"I want to show the streets that I'm back and that I'm true to the
game," Twista proclaims. Musically, I want to show that I'm still out
here doing my thing. After all the people that were out when I was out
years ago fell off, I'm still out here competing with the shorties. I
also want to gain platinum success. It's something that I haven't done." |
