In an industry where jewelry, cars, video vixens and money seem to rule, many rappers have forgotten what true Hip-Hop was created for. It’s MCs like Kam Moye that continue to carry the torch of real Hip-Hop and do something that many rappers have forgotten how to do, “speak the truth!”
Although his name may be a new one to your ears, Kam Moye has actually been in the game for 10 hard years, gaining the respect and working with Hip-Hop Veterans including KRS-One, Rhymefest and Royce Da 5’9. With his charismatic and down to earth lyrics, Moye seems to be one of the last of a dying breed in real Hip-Hop.
Hip-Hop Wired: For those who don’t know, give the people some back ground on where you came from and when you finally got that first break?
Kam: OK. I guess my first big break would be the OkayPlayer album, that was the album that ?uest Love and Okayplayer records had released back in 2004. The collaboration with Nicolay From the Netherlands, he’s down with Foreign Exchange. We had a song called “The Williams” and they chose that song out of I think maybe 5,000 entries to be the one song that gets placed on the album beside like Jean Grae, Little Brother, and different people like that.
Other than that I think the albums I released as far as on Spasm and Rawkus, I did the album “Chain Letters,” “The Dreadline” and all of that. So it’s been a few things here and there plus a lot of my collaborations with people like KRS-One, Little Brother, and Rhymefest… different people like that.
Hip-Hop Wired: You worked with a lot of big names, how has it been working with true artists who do it for the love and not the check?
Kam: It’s an honor to work with a lot of them because a lot of these guys are artists that I listened to or grew up listening to. So in my early years of my career, a lot of times all I dreamed about was being on a song with KRS-One or being able to collaborate with these different people. It keeps me on my toes and kind of lets me know how far I came in this game.
Hip-Hop Wired: You released a free EP called “Self Centered,” in 2008. Why don’t you tell us a little information about that and where can we find it and what made you want to give it away?
Kam: “Self Centered” is available on my web site, Supastition.com and also on Rappersiknow.com. They helped me host the EP, the main thing for the EP was I was trying to birth the new name or the new direction. So the best thing for me to do was to release it on my birthday, so it would just be like a rebirth on my actual birthday. I just wanted to give people a different side of my music, something that was a little bit more self-reflective and something a little more conceptual. Compared to a lot of the Hip-Hop songs I used to make that were more like battle verses and battle raps. I just wanted to show people a different side, a more soulful side, so the “Self Centered” EP was the transition between the Supastition and the Kam Moye music that I’m putting out now.
Hip-Hop Wired: Supastition was your rap name wasn’t it, why did you go change it back to your regular name now?
Kam: Mainly it was my life perspective, it changed a lot so I felt naturally the music had to change. I was speaking on life issues like suicide, depression, marriage. Different things like that and I felt like the only way for me to give people 100% of who I am would be to use my real name. It’s like why would I use a name like Supastition if I’m making music about life, it’s like a conscious rapper named Young Gun. So I was just more interested in being myself and not trying to live up to a rap persona, it just came to a point where I was just more comfortable in my own skin.
When you create an alias and rap names, a lot of times it’s like you want to create an entity outside of yourself that you find more interesting, but as you get older you just realize that you start accepting yourself. It’s like a sad day in Hip-Hop when people would rather see you as someone else than who you really are.
Hip-Hop Wired: What’s your take on that about those people who do come out in Hip-Hop and pretty much have a fake name and just a whole different persona? They start glorifying the streets when they haven’t even came from them.
Kam: It’s entertainment man, the music that I make I would say reflects a little more reality than fantasy. I know a lot of college educated brothers who have good jobs and everything but all they listen to is a Rick Ross or a T.I. or somebody that’s more street oriented because it’s almost like their fantasy. It’s kind of like they live through those artists and some people, that’s how some people listen to music. On the other hand you got people and I would say more of the traditional Hip-Hopp heads, who listen to music because they want something that they can relate to. They like to hear about people talking about things they go through every day, whether it’s hating your job or paying your rent, different people attach to music just for different reasons.
A lot of these dudes are just doing it for entertainment, like me, I don’t really knock it, it’s just personally not what I would do. I can’t see myself pretending to be more street than I am. For one because I got children and I got family and got younger people in my family that look up to me. So it’s like how can I raise my daughter the proper way when I’m making songs about smacking chicks on the A$$ or like what I did to a girl last night.
Hip-Hop Wired: Tell us about splitting image.
Kam: Splitting image, the whole concept of that was just a play on words from that actual term spitting image. It’s more of separating myself from who I used to be musically, personally and emotionally, even though I still look the same on the outside. It’s like I’m the spitting image of who I used to be when you look at me, but on the inside a lot of things have changed and I just wanted to do an album that really told my life story. From situations with my wife, my ups and downs, from being laid off at a job, or that struggle to try and decide whether you want to do music full time. I just wanted to speak on some real personal things and I felt like a lot of people would be interested in the story that I had to bring.
Hip-Hop Wired: Tell us about your label, MYX Music Label.
Kam: MYX music is a newer label that started a couple years ago, they’re based off of a Filipino based television network called MYX TV and they’re all pretty much owned by the same company. MYX is just an extension of that company and they wanted to make independent Hip-Hop but they wanted to use more of a multimedia side instead of just releasing albums. We have access to use their TV networks and their resources and things to do videos and any type of promo and there taking a good approach right now. They just signed Buff One and Rapmatic, they got a lot of other artists that are trying to bring something to the table, so they actually trying to start a quality movement and I can respect that. The label manager of the label is Kareem from Boom Bat Project, they were all like Rhyme Sayers for years so he’s an artist and he really understands the ins and outs of it.
HHW: What kind of upcoming projects you got coming out?
Kam: Actually, other than just pushing the “Splitting Image” album, I got a project with a producer named DR, he’s out of Charlotte. He did the “Three Ladies” joint for me, he did “Nobody’s Fool” and a lot of stuff on the “Self Centered” and the Splitting Image album. We’re doing a project called Electric Avenue, which is going to be a different direction, sort of like electro boom bap.
It’s not going to be techno by any means, but it’s going to be hard hitting drums over some electronic crazy spacy type of samples and stuff. It’s more of sample synthesizers that sound like it’s played because me, I’m just not a fan of super keyboard beats or whatever unless somebody can actually play. Like you can’t give me a beast made on a keyboard but you can only play the keyboard with like two fingers.
HHW: Where can we get information on that, your current record and everything?
Everything is on the Supastition.com, there’s also a Facebook page, basically go to Facebook.com and search Kammoye, Supastition and it should come up. I usually keep that pretty updated so that’s where you can find all the information, so I got plenty of projects that I’m working on and more music than ever coming out.
HHW: Last question, what do you feel that you personally bring to the game that’s not already here. How do you think you’re going to impact the Hip-Hop game?
Kam: The main thing that I’m bringing to the table is just honesty and sincerity… that’s the only thing that’s lacking in music. Everybody is so bent on being a tough guy, nobody wants to smile. To me I’m just an honest down to earth person and I think a lot of people would consider it an everyman mentality. Hip-Hop has turned into the WWF now almost, or the WWE, so it’s like just being a human being and just being a regular person now is nonexistent.
So, the main thing I’m bringing is the honesty and the sincerity to the game and I think a lot of people can appreciate that. Everybody don’t want to listen to Hip-Hop and feel like they’re in a circus or a mixed martial arts match. Two guys just beefing over nonsense when they can just sit down in a room and talk it out. I’m trying to bring a sense of responsibility and maturity to the music.
