Rap Chronicle Revisited: An Interview with Cyhi The Prynce

It has now been a full three years since I talked to rapper Cyhi the Prynce, the first in what turned out to be a slew of in-depth interviews for my digital magazine Rap Chronicle. Cyhi the Prynce has been putting out quality music for the better part of a decade. He’s maintained an understated tendency to steal the spotlight with his feature verses: Cyhi first caught the attention of G.O.O.D. Music with his energetic contribution to YelaWolf’s “I Wish”, and on Kanye’s “So Appalled” he rapped quotable after quotable with a cool ease that belied the reality that he was on the same track alongside veteran spitters like Jay-Z, Pusha T, and RZA.

Cyhi initially delivered on the promise of those fiery appearances with an inspiring Royal Flush mixtape series, and followed them up with a couple Ivy League installments that showed love to his Southern roots. His project for 2014, The Black Hystori Project, was essentially a free album, and the quality of its music earned it a spot deservingly at the top of that year’s releases. The only real blemish on his résumé is his lack of a debut album, but at long last, No Dope On Sundays is slated for release on November 17, 2017.

Formerly titled Hardway Musical, the forthcoming debut record is currently supported by two singles, “Movin’ Around” featuring ScHoolboy Q and “Dat Side” featuring Kanye West. Cyhi’s coupling of earnest humility and honest passion separates him from many of his peers in his industry, and for that reason I feel compelled to revisit my three-years-old interview with him. During our half-hour-long conversation in 2014, we discussed his thoughts on what would turn out to be Black Hystori Project 2; the chances of a follow-up to the Cruel Summer compilation album; his camaraderie with Big Sean and Pusha T; his involvement on Yeezus; and developments on his own long-awaited debut album.

He’s been called “Kanye’s secret weapon” as far back as 2010, and four years later Cyhi the Prynce remains one of the more unsung heroes of the G.O.O.D. Music roster. Born Cydel Young in Georgia during autumn of 1984, Cyhi the Prynce was raised in a Baptist household where hip-hop was prohibited listening. Despite this, by his twenties Cyhi had crafted a razor-sharp skill in battle rap, with punchline-driven barbs and a rapier wit that established him as a top-notch lyricist in the ATL arena. This enabled him to gain the interest of Akon’s Konvict Muzik label, and proved most helpful when a show-stealing guest verse on Kanye’s 2010 opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy so much impressed Beyonce that Cyhi found himself signed to the G.O.O.D. Music label within the same year. Since then, Cyhi has delivered several conceptually-driven mixtapes, including an Ivy League series and his signature Royal Flush trilogy, with his the latest installment as recent as a month ago. His free Black Hystori Project, executive-produced by Kanye, earned him much praise from critics and fans alike, and Cyhi is now readying his debut album Hardway Musical for a 2015 release.

Cyhi’s camp was kind enough to schedule time between him and I at very short notice; I conducted a telephone interview with him on the afternoon of August 7, 2014. I found Cyhi to be an immensely engaging and energetic interview subject, and what was originally allowed to only be a ten-minute Q&A ended up turning into a half-hour long session. Around the time of the interview, Cyhi had just returned from Mexico after working with his fellow labelmates on Kanye’s upcoming album, but my beginning questions instead addressed his recent tour in support of Black Hystori Project.

SMITH: Looking back at Hystori, how do you think it stacks up against your previous projects?

CYHI: Oh, man, you know what? I feel technically that it’s right up there with them, but even better. I think that with my previous projects, they were really things that I was just treating as mixtapes. Like… “OK, I got beats from all of these different people, I can rap over this, I can come up with something nice over this,” so I just approached them as those types of usual records, and they were what they were. But with this Black Hystori Project, I sat under ‘Ye for a year and just really studied how he makes his music. Because beforehand, I wasn’t really a producer, I just felt I was somebody that could rap, and rap well. But I couldn’t tell anybody what it was exactly that I wanted to make sound-wise or what I wanted to rap on. So with Hystori, this was really my first time doing something from scratch and saying, “OK, this is something that I’d like to rap on, this is the concept, and this is what I want it to sound like,” you know? So I think in that regard, it really was a big success. I think it went very well.

SMITH: You had that “House of Cards” trilogy with Royal Flush 1, 2, and Jack of All Trades, as well as that Ivy League series. Do you have any plans to turn Black Hystori into its own little series, after all this success?

CYHI: You know what’s crazy? We’ll have to see the next time February comes back around!

SMITH: Oh! So you’re saying you’re wanting to make a sequel to Hystori this upcoming February [2015]?

CYHI: Yeah, it could be possible. But really, it was something that I really just wanted to do at that time, for that time. I really wasn’t expecting the turnout to be this tremendous, you know? Now that I know what I’m doing, I can be a little bit more methodical and approach it with, “OK, let’s try and map that out this next go ‘round…”

SMITH: I see that you’ve been releasing a lot of remixes of the singles off of it lately, like the “Huey” remix with Slaughterhouse [members Royce da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz]. Were those intended for just standalone use, to give it more attention, or…?

CYHI: Oh yeah, those are just something I wanted to do to expand on those previous concepts. Maybe give them something else to make them last a little bit longer in the public’s mind. Like I said, I really wasn’t expecting this great a response to Hystori so I was thinking, “Yeah, why not keep it in everybody’s mind even longer?” So a few guys reached out and we just did the remixes in an organic manner.

SMITH: And they’re all very good records, indeed. But I remember reading something on Instagram or Twitter — and you know how reliable those can be — about hard copies being sold for the Black Hystori Project? What’s the status on the hard copies?

CYHI: Yeah, we had a few. But unfortunately, we ran into some technical mastering difficulties so we had to revise what we were doing with that. But we do have a few, still, that we’re sending out exclusively to some loyal and lucky fans.

SMITH: Interesting. Well, as far as Hystori in general as a concept, it’s obvious that it’s steeped in memories of the past — not only for Black people as a whole but for you yourself as an artist. With all of that in mind, who did you grow up listening to? I mean, who do you consider to be your artistic influences?

CYHI: Well actually, Black Hystori and its influences weren’t just musicians. I grew up in a very Christian-oriented household where my mom and dad always stressed leadership. So they’d have me watching Muhammad Ali documentaries, reading about Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. And those were all things that I wanted to kind of touch on. Because I’d always wondered, “What would Martin Luther King sound like if he could’ve rapped?” or “If Mandela was to rap, what would Mandela say? How would he sound?” So I just drew from all of that and really put it all together as one.

SMITH: That’s a brilliant concept, actually. Well done. Now, to transition to the crew aspect, who in GOOD Music, outside of Kanye, is your favorite artist to record with?

CYHI: Let me see… Oh wow, I don’t really know. I like all of us. You know, Pusha T, Big Sean, and me are really like brothers. I guess there’s a different way I approach them, though, as artists. I’m still very much a fan of Pusha T, while me and Big Sean are one and the same — on the same level, you know? I didn’t exactly grow up listening to Sean, right?

SMITH: Right. But Pusha T has all of the Clipse history behind him. That’s when you remember you’re rapping with a veteran.

CYHI: Yeah, I was a big Clipse fan when I got into hip-hop. On “Cydel Young” [off the mixtape], I say, “Selling fruit while I’m bumpin’ number 2, Lord Willin’.” I feel a lot of people don’t know I was making a reference to the second song on the Clipse album Lord Willin. So I guess that reverence is how I would consider Pusha T. But I do feel closer to Big Sean, though, at this point in both of our careers.

SMITH: Good point. I’ll actually swing back around to Sean later. If you will, let’s reminisce for a bit on the Good Friday giveaways back in 2010. A lot of us out here absolutely loved that series and how legendary it all felt leading up to that era of GOOD Music. I’m sure to many these songs were something of an introduction to you and your lyrical craft. What was your own personal favorite verse of that entire series? Of you, or it could be of someone else?

CYHI: Man, that’s crazy: I was just playing some of the songs earlier today! I really like “Looking for Trouble”.

SMITH: Oh yeah, with you, Pusha, Sean, ‘Ye, and J. Cole at the end?

CYHI: Right! I’d say that was my favorite record out of all of them because it felt like all of our favorite rappers — old veterans and new legends — all on that one song. I always felt that was really cool.

SMITH: Earlier this year when talking to MTV during the initial promotion for Hystori, you said you were going to make sure Good Fridays were coming back. Is there any word you could give us on that?

CYHI: Well, we’re working on some things right now. As far as the new records, I don’t know if ‘Ye wants to hold them for an album or let ’em go. But I have been encouraging him to let ’em go. I’m going to be seeing him again real soon so, as far as bringing Good Fridays back, I’mma stay on him about it. I really think we need to do this. But we are working on a lot of things right now, so you’ll be hearing a lot from of us — not just individually, but as a whole: as a GOOD Music clique.

SMITH: Speaking of “Clique,” we got the chance to hear two stand-out verses from you on the Cruel Summer album a couple years ago. We’d love to hear more of all that you recorded for that compilation, since I know you guys are all in the studio frequently. Any word you could give us on the status of another GOOD Music compilation, or does that just feed into what you were talking about just a second ago?

CYHI: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is! I really am encouraging it, but… there are some business people on this side [of the phone] in the room with me here right now, so I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to give away about all of it.

SMITH: Oh! [Laughs] I understand.

CYHI: Really, it’s just trying to decide between “do we wanna make it an album, or do we want to just give it away to the fans?” The music is not really the hold-up; the hold-up is really the outlet. In this case, it’s “do we want to make it all an album for sale, or can we just give all of these amazing songs away for free as a thanks to the fans?”

SMITH: You’ve also been quoted as saying that you wanted to release your debut album [then-called Hardway Musical] this year? Is that still the plan too?

CYHI: Well, see, I’m actually working on it as we speak, so I’m not too sure of the specifics of an actual release date, but we’re definitely working on it this year. So if not the end of this year, it should be out by the middle of next year.

SMITH: How do you think Hardway Musical is shaping up conceptually and sonically in comparison to your previous body of work?

CYHI: Oh man — there is absolutely no comparison to the mixtapes. At all. What you hear on my mixtapes…they’re already very conceptual. So you can just imagine what this debut album is going to be like. You know how some of these rappers be sayin’, “Oh, it’s a movie!” No, your shit sounds likes a trailer. [Laughs] What I’m about to do is give you a motion picture — not necessarily for you to see, but for you to hear.

SMITH: Ah, so the scope is very theatrical, very cinematic?

CYHI: That would be an understatement, with these stories I’m about to tell. See, that’s why I’m frustrated with my label sometimes because I can’t give you my stories on my mixtapes. You know what I’m saying? On the mixtapes, I’m trying to impart to you my feelings. But for this album — with these stories, I feel like I’m best at putting all these events that I’ve went through in my life into song form. And once I can accomplish that, I think you’ll really understand what I’ve been trying to do for the past ten years of my career.

SMITH: We’re definitely looking forward to hearing all of them! On the subject of your career…you drew a comparison once, I wanna say, on the Breakfast Club two years ago between your career trajectory and Big Sean’s. It was on how Sean got signed to GOOD in ’07 and how it took over four years for him to get into that spotlight place that he needed to be in order to drop that debut album. Do you still think that parallel of artistic growth holds true even now?

CYHI: I think it does. We’re in that age now where, to me personally, I don’t want to take the easy route. It seems the easy route is you churn out a hit, you get on the radio — boom, boom — you blow up, you’re rich for maybe two or three years, and then no one remembers you. I don’t want to do it that way. I feel like Atlanta — with how many rappers come out of Atlanta — I don’t want to be that one-hit wonder or whatever. I want to be that Kendrick Lamar, that J. Cole. It took them five to six years to really get their feet planted because their movement was organic. They didn’t get their fans from the radio, they didn’t get their fans from videos; they got their fans hand-to-hand. They got their fans by going out there and performing, touching the people’s hearts with their performances. I want that. And that’s what I’m doing, setting that type of fan base up to where, if I’m seventy years old and I get this urge to go on tour, we can still go on tour and sell out these shows when I’m seventy years old. [Laughs.] I might not be able to move around as well as I used to now, but I can still sit on this stool and rap these raps, you know? That type of dedication, that’s what I want to do. I don’t want my fans to ever get discouraged — that we’re not where we’re supposed to be. I want to tell them, “Don’t ever think that.” Because at the same time, we have something here that’s being built up organically that’s opposite of that one-hit wonder that be on the radio but when they drop their album, they can’t even sell 30,000, you know what I mean? It really is all in how we look at success. But now that I’m working on my album, you guys will all see on what I’ve been curating all of this time. I feel the word-of-mouth is going to be crazy, and that the success will speak for itself. That’s what we’re working towards.

SMITH: And we know that GOOD Music had a crazy takeover last year with Yeezus, Love in the Future, Hall of Fame, My Name Is My Name… How do you feel now that you have Kanye exec-producing this Black Hystori Project and [presumably] Hardway Musical? Do you feel ‘Ye is at last pushing you up to the forefront with his stamp of approval on your music and this renewed focus?

CYHI: Absolutely. I’ll tell ya, I feel a lot of people don’t know that I’m one of Kanye’s favorite rappers.

SMITH: I’d believe that, seeing as how your name was all up in the writing credits for Yeezus…

CYHI: Exactly. And Kanye really wants my situation to be right before he just puts the ball in my court. With a lot of things I’ve been having to get done business-wise as far as my management, my team, getting everybody in position, the label on one accord… So, just to get all of those factors into place before you can really be a successful mainstay. Like I said, I’m not signed to just a mid-label or anything like that. It really is a heavy association. “Kanye West”… next up “CyHi The Prynce.” And because of that, we really want all of the ducks lined up in a row, so that when we drop the album, we know what it’s going to do. We know that it’s going to stick. We want the label to be on the same page as us. It’s moreso just having everybody on one accord, because we’re working on the music right now, and once we feel like we’re where we want to be with the music, we can take it to the label and say, “Hey, we’re ready. Push this work of art.” I obviously can’t give all of the information away, but we are definitely working. We’re always working. You guys are just walking into the middle of the conversation, you know what I mean?

SMITH: And I think I speak for everyone out here when I say we’re all very much looking forward to all of the music that you guys have been working on for so long and stored up so steadily — not only for yourself, but for the rest of the GOOD crew in general.

CYHI: I’ll tell ya what: You call me about four months from now, and I’ll give you more information. [Laughs]

[ © 2014 Jessie Smith ]