We has the good chance to speak to MC Nocando, a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is the 2007 Scribble Jam champion, host of Low End Theory and founder of Hellfyre Club. He is currently signed to Alpha Pup Records.
Where did you grow up? I'm from south central LA. 57th and Western to be exact. I used to hang out in Leimert Park in my late teens and honed my craft. I started rapping in Fairfield after my Pops died.
At what point did you decide to pursue hip hop as a career? I never really knew. Rapping was the first thing that I ever really excelled at. I was never good anything so I kept doing it because it made me feel good about myself really. I was a geek and an underachiever in school. I always had a way with words from reading comics and watching foreign movies with lots of subtitles. Most days I go back and forth from wanting to be a rapper and just work a 9-5 to normalize my family situation.
You tour a lot with Low End Theory and now with Hellfyre Club - where do you look forward to playing? I love Atlanta, DC, New Orleans and Los Angeles (of course) in the US. I had a great time in Paris, but I need to do London right though. Osaka, Japan, is a great place to play music as well because people there really love Rap.
What is it like to be part of the beat scene in 2013, compared to a few years ago? Now it feels like I'm surfing a wave right at the curl. It used to feel like a chaotic and random.
How does the beat scene compare to the more traditional hip hop scene? I'm in both scenes and to be honest there is more experimenting, collaborating and altogether less ego in the rap/hip hop scene at the moment. The beat scene is made of guys that work alone and it was almost created as an egotistical reaction to having played background in the rap scene for so long. Perception is one thing but reality is another. There are no big tours with hella beat scene dudes together, no cohesive label comps or anything like that. Low End Theory, and formerly Sketchbook, is what brought these soloists together most in the past.
Where do you record? Daddy Kev and I opened a studio this year called the Cosmic Zoo. That is the place I'm in 5 nights a week and it's my favorite because its mine. I take my shoes and shirt off and engineer my own sessions and howl at the moon in that bitch.
What does the atmosphere have to be like in order for you to be most productive? I can be productive in almost any atmosphere since I come from the chaotic Project Blowed cypher culture. As long as there are ideas we are working. Even when we are bullshitting I'm still doing recon and capturing cool little things from out of convos and shit.
You released your debut album Jimmy The Lock in 2010 - what was the overall experience like recording JTL? It kind of sucked. I was so busy working 40 hours a week and recording at night in Kevs's old studio, which is currently the Anticon office. I was still trying win battles. It hadn't hit me that I was a rapper with an indie record deal because I was so focused on just keeping the lights on. The songs were usually made in a rush, so one thing I learned from that record was how to pace myself.
Were there worries that it would only really get attention from battle fans and wouldn't penetrate the larger market? No I didn't think about things like that. All listeners are appreciated. I love the battle fans. Battle money has paid my rent and put diapers on my daughters.
How has the experience of making JTL affected how you are approaching your next project Jimmy The Burnout? I didn't really have a romantic relationship with JTL - it was quick late sessions "booty calls" if you will, that's why it's so fun. Jimmy The Burnout is a deep relationship that has fun & pain and brutal honesty & lies all in one.
DJ Nobody featured on Jimmy The Lock - what's he like to work with? He is the man who made me a musician and not just a battle rapper. I owe him sooo much. I've influenced him in less positive ways.