ZXQaos: So before we get started, is there anything in general that you would like to tell us about yourself, maybe something you haven't put on the Get Involved album?
swinelord: Thanks for interviewing me! I pretty much lay it all on the line when it comes to the Get Involved pages, but recently I did buy 4 chickens with my girlfriend. I used to raise chickens with my parents, and I figured it would be fun to start up again!
Here's a cute pic: ZXQaos: Where in the world are you contributing to us from?
swinelord: I'm from America: Ma**achusetts, born and raised, where we are getting record cold temperatures today (I think -30 Fahrenheit). I was actually really surprised how widespread love of American rap is, without Genius I would've never known that people from Australia and Norway (to name a few) would enjoy the same rap I do.
ZXQaos: What's/Who's your favourite Genius meme?
swinelord: Although Barrk is a very tempting answer, I've found that this meme pretty accurately describes me most of the time:
I make this face for a good 90% of my day, I'm just glad it's finally come in picture form.
ZXQaos: So you've been on the site for a fair while now, and perhaps you've said it elsewhere before, but could you tell us how you started on Genius?
swinelord: Back in 2010 or so, I had a pretty bad taste in music. I heard “Not Afraid” on the radio, and I was completely stumped by the “exercise these demons” line (among other lines), so I looked up the lyrics online. Genius.com was the first result, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this site actually explained the lyrics. I made a random account shortly after to upvote and stuff, I don't think I even added a picture for years. Around late 2014ish is when I finally started contributing to the forums, and shortly after I began my reviews and making annotations. I kind of want to give back, since Genius helped me understand so many songs that it's only fair that I explain lines to other people with my newfound knowledge of rap.
ZXQaos: Are you currently pursuing any means of editorship? There had been talk before that Angela was coaching you, is that still the case for such a prominent white hat?
swinelord: Yes, I'm still working on editor, I'm mostly just polishing up my formatting and hopefully my name will be that cool yellow soon!
ZXQaos: You quite blatantly have an affinity for Lupe Fiasco in terms of music, not to underwhelm your diversity in taste, but how did you come across Lupe? What specifically about his persona do you thrive off of alongside his intricate lyricism?
swinelord: To tell the truth, before I listened to Tetsuo & Youth, I didn't really give Lupe much thought. I had heard his albums and such, but I never really appreciated them or saw the deeper meaning. But the one thing that I love most about rap is lyricism. Any song with dense wordplay, intricate metaphors make me drool. So naturally, Tetsuo & Youth is everything I dream of.
Also, unlike most rappers I listen to, Lupe doesn't really seem to be braindead. Vince Staples also, they have a sort of down to earth persona that I can relate to. Although trap is fun to listen to, at the end of the day I still don't sell Molly or drop LSD. But I do have friends in prison, I do know addicts, and I do kind of know the mental struggle in my own sort of way. I can just relate to Lupe and Vince. In interviews it just really comes across how much we are alike, and perhaps that is why I like them so much. Homie where ya clout at? You ain't ever push nobody's scalp back ZXQaos: Needless to say though, Lupe and Future are quite contrasting interests… perhaps you could explain this similar extent of obsession?
swinelord: When I first gave Future a listen, I absolutely hated it. I couldn't understand him, his lyricism made me want to cry, and the beats weren't really all that interesting to me. Since then, Fewtch has grown on me exponentially. I find myself dancing to his bangers, and I'm constantly bumping stuff like “Codeine Crazy” and “March Madness.”
That being said, when I heard “No Problems,” I was expecting a dumbed down, radio single type song, maybe bringing Lupe back to his Food & Liquor II and Lasers days. Instead, I got something extremely close to “Señorita” by Vince, fast paced, catchy and hard as hell. Lupe raps faster than his usual pace, and the wordplay and metaphors are dense. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League brings a pretty bada** beat, and Future hits us up with one of the most energizing hook's of all time. Together, it's my duo from heaven.
Anyone who says Lupe can't make a banger is trippin'.
ZXQaos: In the past couple of months, Genius has had a lot of changes made to it, mostly in relation to the move from Mecha over to Bagon. A lot of people feel strongly about how the site owners aren't considering the opinions of the community in making this transition. Where do you stand on that front?
swinelord:
I actually like the new format, it certainly looks more professional and less like a sketchy child p**n and drug dealing deep-web page. That being said, I get ocular migraines fairly easily, and quite often I will be making a tate or checking lyrics and the peripherals of my sight will get blurry. Then the headache comes. Although other sites have similar color schemes, something about the grey and yellow on white just ruins the experience. That being said, I don't think black is the way to go either. I am adjusting to it, so hopefully soon everything will be sorted out.
ZXQaos: You've got quite a history of very extensive rap album reviews (by the way, thanks for using my annotation on the Live and Let Die one :) ), one that you don't seem to have touched in a hot second :P Can we expect any more? Are there any projects out at the moment you really want to critique?
swinelord:
I'm just glad that those pages are getting attention, because that album is one of my favorite ever. And most people have never even heard of it. But I've noticed I don't have the effort or time to make long, in depth reviews (and I'm pretty sure that only about five people actually read the whole thing), so I've released my opinions on this page, where I just give quick opinions and a 5 star rating. But the new Kanye album seems like it's begging for a review, so I'll see.
I'm just interested in the direction Kanye is going to take his career, this album could either continue his streak of mediocrity or solidify his legacy. I'm not impressed with the artwork, title or singles so far, so who knows. I prefer “No More Cocaine Parties in L.A.” so far, but maybe he fixed up the original. Either way, I'll probably give it a good listen :)
ZXQaos: You were quite peeved about Kanye's new album title... what would you have called it if not restricted to the acronym?
swinelord: Lol, “To Lick (an) Overzealous Predator” is a better title to me at this point, but it doesn't matter as long as the album is good. But I do kind of like the sound of “True Love Over p**y” (something Kanye doesn't know much about), I just wish I came up with it.
ZXQaos: I see you've been doing a fair bit of work lately on News Genius with the Web Annotator. What aspect of that area of the site attracts you to it, be it discussing current events/interest in the tool's usage/etc?
swinelord:
I like to b**h about things. It's what I do. So instead of hara**ing my girlfriend or taking it out on my co workers, I can rage on about it from my bed with my laptop. Online websites don't really have a lot of ways to give feedback, and so the Web Annotator brings us closer to actually being able to connect and communicate with the authors. At first I didn't really think anyone cared, until this lady wrote an ill-informed article about us annotating Pitchfork reviews (actually, it was mostly BennySwoons calling them on their bullsh**), and that's when I realized that these websites might actually be seeing these. So maybe this is the future, and I'd like to say that I was there first :)
ZXQaos: How's the Lil Wayne mixtape grind going?
swinelord: Contrary to popular belief, Wayne is an amazing rapper. That being said, he released sooo much music that he ran out of subject matter by late 2009. So I figured I would try the impossible task of listening to every single mixtape he dropped, from his glory days to his not so glorious moments. I'm about halfway through with his discography, and I'm noticing some really interesting stuff.
His mixtapes go like this:
Da Drought 3 – truly remarkable, great mixtape.
Dedication 3 – terrible, makes me want to shove forks in my ears.
No Ceilings – truly remarkable, great mixtape.
Sorry 4 The Wait – terrible, makes me want to stick spoons in my ears.
And it just makes me wonder wtf is happening. What made Wayne's creativity wane like that? It's quite interesting.
ZXQaos: Where do you see yourself in ten years time from now?
swinelord: To be honest, I see myself exactly where I am, ten years older (maybe with editor). And I am completely fine with that. I've never really had big plans for my life, In fact, I am more comfortable with that than you might think. I would rather die with three dollars in the bank than be rich. I would rather work at the same dead end job than be working at a more successful job. I would much rather sit and talk with my friends about the things I can't afford than go speeding down the highway with a new Lamborghini. People say that being content is the key to happiness, I say that constantly wanting and never having is. I was always happier staring at my Christmas presents dreaming about what they were, and then felt discontent when I got them. I suppose you could say I'm content with being discontent. That was pretty preachy.
#Wisdom
ZXQaos: If there any any new users reading this, is there any advice you would give them?
swinelord: Well, I guess it would be to keep an open mind. I find myself enjoying rap a lot more now that I've stopped being a stuck up prick about certain rappers and styles, and I've found a lot of great new artists too. Every type of music has it's appeal, and if you open up your mind it's great. I'm still working on it, myself. f** being a hip hop purist ZXQaos: Well, thank you very much for speaking with us! Are there any closing remarks or shoutouts you'd like to leave us with?
swinelord: Shoutout to my momma for giving birth to me, and shoutout to LEMON for not understanding Cam'ron lyrics.
And finally, shoutout to my Gramma cause that's the only way she can hear