Ransom Rellic: Turn Off The Lights
Location: Washington D.C.
Artist Website: myspace.com/ransomrellic
How did you get started with your music?
I started out battling in high school. Each grade formed a click and the grades would battle each other. I made a name for myself when I decided that I wasn’t going to click up with anybody. I battled the entire school by myself and held the crown. They used to ask me all the time, “So you don’t need anybody huh? Are you really that cocky?” I would laugh and say, “If you rapped like me you would be cocky too.”

What are you currently working on?
My mixtape “Lights, Camera, Ransom!” hosted by Dub Floyd (Team Afficial D.J.) just dropped in January, and in keeping with the T.V. theme I’m doing another mixtape called “Everybody Loves Ransom” which will be dropping soon. I have a joint mixtape that I’m doing with a rapper by the name of 10Shott from the U.K. I’m hosting a mixtape by D.J. 4Sho (Team Afficial D.J.). In the fall of this year I have a mixtape coming out called “Its Only Funny Til Somebody Gets Hurt, Then Its Hilarious,” and early 2008 I’m dropping a joint mixtape with Symantyx (Team Afficial artist) called “America, This Is Your Future.”

What kind of music do you listen to and how does it influence your music?
I listen to the oldies, r&b, and classic rap albums for the most part. There isn’t a lot of rap that is inspiring me right now. My heart has always been with the oldies and r&b though. I’ve always felt it more than rap.

What’s your opinion on mainstream music today? What do you like or not like?
I feel like hip hop has cancer. You have artist such as myself who are the chemo and are keeping it alive but the majority or the hip hop body has cancer. And please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not taking shots at anyone. But the foundation that hip hop was built upon is gone. Even down to the album sales. Hip hop used to be about lyricism, empowerment, telling a story, venting….the mainstream rappers used to have a passion about their music. Seldomly do you see that passionate lyricist these days. Its a bad time for a lyricist such as myself to come into the rap game. We are overqualified which baffles me. How are you overqualified for entertainment??? So to answer your question, I’m not a huge fan of the actual music, but I do respect the people that do it. Their trying to make money and I have no choice but to applaud that.

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