Gabbles Foreword
Before starting this interview I'd like to highlight how this interview came into being. A couple of months ago I've stumbled upon the Angelated x ALLCAPSification interview (S/O blushing DOOM) and felt like I had to be a part of this; but as a relatively new user of the community I wasn't that up-to-date about all the people on here. After scrolling through the list, Metaphors profile stood out to me. He looked like a really cool person to interview, therefore send him a PM immediately afterwards asking him if I could do so which resulted in a great exchange of PM's covering a lot of different subjects over the last couple of months, which I really appreciate and wherefore I'd like to thank him. :)
I hope I can transfer that same vibe and feeling into this interview, since we got a lot to cover! Gabbles: Metaphors! - Good that we could finally get this interview started, but before getting to the questions that matter, how are you feeling?
Metaphors: I'm alright, finally have a car again, just tryin to have high hopes for more good things to come in the near future.
Gabbles: Ah, good to hear about the car! I'll come back to that later; First I want the people to get to know you better. You're roots, for instance. You're from the Bronx in New York correct? How old were you when you left, and where do you live now?
Metaphors: When I left the Bronx I was 4 years old. Since then I've been living in New Jersey. As you can imagine I don't really have any memories of living in NY, maybe one or two but that's really it. I know more of New York based on hearing stories from my family and from visiting it the times I have. I don't go there regularly or anything, I'm not very fond of it. Only time I go there is to visit family or to see my friend, which I don't do either of anymore. 5,969.90 kilometers / 3,709.52 miles between us (Metaphors in New Jersey, Gabbles in Utrecht) when this interview took place; as you can imagine it wasn't possible to meet in person
Gabbles: Why aren't you fond of New York anymore?
Metaphors: I'm not fond of it because of the atmosphere I guess. I don't like how dirty it is, literally. I'm a real neat person, I like things clean, neat, organized, tidy etc. etc. I also don't like big crowds or anything like that.
Gabbles: I guess New Jersey, from what I know (which is mainly seeing Ted Mosby hate on it in ‘How I Met Your Mother', lol), is a place that suits you better from that point of view? Or do you have something better in mind?
Metaphors: Yea in comparison I guess New Jersey does fit me better, however I would indeed have better places to move to I feel. It's a bit complicated though, due to the highly diverse nature, as well as the highly prejudice nature of this country, I feel like I'd be unsafe/unwelcome in certain areas. So I put a lot of time thinking about where it would be a decent place for me to really move to when the time comes to it. I have a place or two in mind now though but financially not possible to do so yet so it's just ideas.
Gabbles: Moving is definitely a big step, especially when the whole financial part of it is hampering it all. Hopefully it will work out in the future. About the past tho' - When did you first join Genius?
Metaphors: I first joined Genius back when it was still Rapgenius. I first started using the site, just for song lyrics and what not in 2010 or so. It was a lot different back then, can't even remember how it looked anymore though. I started checking out the forums around October 2013 or so and that's when I made my account. I've been pretty active since then, on and off but mostly on. Lol.
Gabbles: So you've been around pretty long already. When did you became a Mediator? And how did that go? - Curious since I'm relatively new in magenta.
Metaphors: I became a mediator in July 2015 I believe. About half a year after the role was first implemented. Becoming a mediator wasn't really something I had in mind, but when I was sent a message about becoming either an editor/mediator, I chose mediator of course because I have been an active forum user here for over a year at that point and I had been using various internet forums for half my life at least so it just seemed a natural choice. I was not really a fan of annotating as much as forum moderating because I liked interacting with people more really, besides of course all the trolls and what not. Lol
Gabbles: Maybe this is an advanced troll confusion tactic I didn't know of, but you're handle (@Metaphors) is different than your username, which is Enigmatic Entertainment. Can you explain ‘em?
Metaphors: Metaphors is my 2nd name (It was Metafours first until I changed it I believe shortly afterwards) Enigmatic Entertainment is my YouTube channel and Enigmatic is just a name I really like. It comes from enigma, which means mysterious. Metaphors is just the plural of metaphor, which is something used quite often in literature, especially hip hop.
Gabbles: Your avatar seems to be taken from an anime, which one and why did you chose that specific one?
Metaphors: Yea my current one is taken from Hyperdimension Neptunia, it's a video game series that also has an anime adaptation. I like both of them. As far as why I picked that specific anime for my current pic, it's not any specific reason I suppose. I just really like the video game series and I also enjoyed the anime. Also she is pretty much the main character. (The two women in the picture are the same person, just different forms)
Gabbles: Not only from the likes of your avatar, but from talking to you in general, you seem to be really into anime; what do you find so appealing about it?
Metaphors: What I find appealing about anime? I don't know really, it just appeals to me. I first watched Dragon Ball Z as a kid, I remember my brothers watching one of the first DBZ movies back when it first came out or was still relatively new. I been into anime since then, more so as I became older though.
Gabbles: Ah Dragon Ball Z, one of my finest memories too. But you've seen a lot of animes since. If you have to choose one anime character, which one resembles your personality best, and why?
Metaphors: This is kinda a tough choice, I've seen quite a few series. One of my favorite characters though is Lelouche from Code Gea** and I'd like to be more like him out of characters I seen. His intelligence, quick thinking nature, his strategic and organizational sk**s are pretty top notch and are all where I'd like mine to be, just wishfully thinking. Gabbles: I know two other things you're pa**ionate about are gaming and music; I also remember that you mentioned playing a game called “Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed” - do games like this speak to you more because it involves anime like characters or was that just a one timer?
Metaphors: Well yea games like that are kinda more interesting to me I suppose. That just tends to be the case as of late. Back when I was younger I probably played more "western" games as opposed to "eastern" for those that don't know, western being games developed/themed around what is considered the west, North and South America, and Europe mainly. Eastern would be mainly Asia. So for an example a western game would be Ma** Effect, eastern would be Final Fantasy. Those are two of the more well known series I can name. Regardless though if a game interests me, then I'll play it regardless of country/developer or anything.
Gabbles: Which games do you play right now, and which consoles do you own?
Metaphors: Currently I'm playing 3 different games, one per console. On my PS4 I'm playing Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force. On the 3DS I just finished Azure Striker Gunvolt and now I'm going to move onto part 2 now. On the PS Vita I'm playing Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Those 3 consoles are ones that I own and still play, I also have an xbox 360 though as well as a PS3. I do not play them anymore though however, the 360 is packed away, I'd sell it if I could. I had a lot of good times playing it but that was years ago.
Gabbles: If you had the chance to play one of those games, or any other game at all with one of your favorite artists, which game would it be and who would you play with?
Metaphors: My favorite artist of all time is probably 2Pac but to be more realistic, I'll pick an artist who is still alive. It would probably be Charles Hamilton, he's my favorite rapper alive at the moment. I don't know what we'd' play though, probably some kind of Sonic the Hedgehog game, since that's one of his favorite characters as well as mine. I don't play games with people anymore really lately.
Gabbles: Sonic was dope man, shame it kind of fell off when we moved to the 3D era; although I still had a blast playing Sonic Adventure 2 on the GameCube. Do you have any Sonic game you'd like to play with Charles in particular?
Metaphors: Yea Sonic Adventure 2 was great, one of my favorite Sonic games, easily top five for me. Any 2 player sonic game though I'd play, it's just so nostalgic and him being one of my favorite rappers ever as well as being a big sonic fan it would just be cool. Gabbles: Besides Charles Hamilton, do you have any other artists you'd check up on regularly?
Metaphors: Yea I have a few other artists that I am on the lookout for new music from. Lupe Fiasco, I definitely look forward to his new album, as well as Ab-Soul. Then of course I check for new mixtapes every now and then from various artists and give them a listen if I hear about them or happen to see them. Recently been listening to more of Charles Hamilton's discography though, he has close to 200 mixtapes so it takes quite a while.
Gabbles: 200 mixtapes, wow, you'll be busy with that for some time I guess. I saw on your YouTube channel that you went to see Ab-Soul live. I really like to see artists perform, do you visit concerts more often or was this a one-timer?
Metaphors: I rarely go to concerts, I would like to go more often but there's just issues around that that really keep me from doing so. It wasn't a one time thing though, I've been to just a few.
Gabbles: Something that immediately came to my attention when I saw your profile was you you stating the following:
“I live a life with pretty heavy physical/emotional pain, I see things from a perspective of a minority in more ways than one.”
We discussed this over time so I'm already a bit up to date about this, which also has his ties with your previous answer, but is this something you'd like to talk about in this interview?
Metaphors: Good question, no one actually has asked about that before. By more than one way I meant to say because of having physical disability as well as dealing with mental health issues and being what is considered an African-American, I'm a minority in multiple demographics. That is also where the physical/emotional pain that I mentioned comes from. I've been dealing with feeling like an outsider for years. I feel like sometimes you have to truly go through things in order to understand it yourself. I didn't understand heart break until I got my heart broken myself for example. These things are learning processes. I didn't understand what it was like to have a physical disability, especially one that is visible until I had one myself. I feel that it gives me a different perspective on things that a lot of people just don't have. Our experiences mold us.
Gabbles: I understand that all of these could hamper things you'd like to do in life, what is the thing you think you miss out on most because of all this?
Metaphors: The thing I miss out the most on is pretty much physical activities I guess you can say. Going back to the concert thing, one of the reasons I don't go often is because it's a pretty painful process, I have a very difficult time standing up for long periods of times, that Ab-Soul concert was a standing show as you might be able to see from the videos. I was quite heavy pain and wound up having to sit part of the show out (I sat out on one of the opening performers so I'd be a little bit more ready to stand up again for Ab-Soul, the headliner) It's things like that that I miss out on the most. So I limit my physical activity and tend to do things that are more easier on the body. It's a sacrifice but it's necessary.
Gabbles: We started this interview off with asking how you feel, and you told me you got a car again. I already know why this is good news, since you can start your treatment because of this, can you tell us about that treatment and do you have faith that this will help you in any way?
Metaphors: Yea, that treatment in particular is one that I've done before years ago, but I'm hoping to have a lot more luck with it this time. I'm seeing a chiropractor that specializes in scoliosis (one of my conditions) and supposedly the pain can be reduced to a point where I'll be able to function better. That's the hopes for it pretty much. As always though there is no guarantee and I'm just trying to keep my head up.
Gabbles: That uncertainty would be one of the hardest things I guess; hopefully the treatment will work out for you man. It seems that anime, gaming and music fills in a lot of the space that creates tho' - But are there more things you are really into besides these three?
Metaphors: Yes, but not much really. I'm really also into talking to people, I like to have conversations, especially about those topics I suppose. Lol. I love women, not much luck in that department though. Also I'm really into watching videos on YouTube, I'm subscribed to a bunch of channels that I check daily. I like to listen to podcasts sometimes as well, and also I like to post on internet forums, mainly about my hobbies. This site for example. Haha.
Gabbles: Well it's good to hear that there is a lot that keeps you busy, even if you don't have luck in some departments, haha. I think we covered a lot during this interview and the people got a clear image of who you are and how you live your life. Do you got any other things we might have forgotten or you'd just like to share?
Metaphors: Nothing else to add really except for, check out my YouTube channel, follow my YouTube channel on Twitter and/or Google+. I have a video coming up that in particular might be interesting to the fellow members of the site. So be on the lookout for that. I also am considering getting into some writing again for people interested in reading things video game related.
Also, thanks for your questions, they were pretty interesting.
Gabbles: Always welcome, Thank you for your time! :) EXTRA: Metaphors Ask Me Anything! Around the same time of this interview, Metaphors hosted an AMA on the forums (see this topic); to learn even more about him, check out the video in the annotation!