Flawless never said that he was out to “save Hip-Hop.” But every time he makes a new fan, that’s the first thing they say he’s doing with his music.
You’ve probably haven’t heard of Flawless yet, but odds are your favorite rapper has already.
Born Alberto Martinez and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, Flawless never let being from America’s smallest state keep him from adopting a global mindstate. The seed was planted early as he was exposed to music and travel at a young age by his step-father who worked with a tour bus company that transported rappers like Nelly at the height of his stardom. Seeing what it was like to be a working musician going from city-to-city inspired Flawless to take his passion for making music and turn it into a reality of his own.
Who: Flawless
Credentials: Has gone on nationwide tours with Tech N9ne and Wu-Tang Clan
Fun Fact: Joe Budden’s debut album inspired Flawless to start a rap career.
HipHopWired:Coming out of Providence, RI, we’re sure you have the whole “smallest state in the country” chip on your shoulder. How did you even get into music?
Flawless: I had a step-father who drove tour buses for major Hip-Hop artists. He would take me out with him over the summer when I was 12-13 years old. I got taste of the lifestyle and saw how the industry worked. I was around the music so much that I started making my own music when I turned 16. I ended up on my own when I was 17 and started using music as a crutch or outlet to get my feelings off, instead of getting in trouble. I did music in my city, but we don’t have a lot of exposure and opportunities, so I packed up and went to Atlanta.
HHW: Before we get to you moving to Atlanta, tell us what intrigued you about the “lifestyle” of Hip-Hop music?
Flawless: Honestly, it wasn’t about the music, it was the love and the traveling, waking up in new new city everyday. I always knew where I lived was the smallest state in the county, the beat it into your head in school. So I wanted to know what the rest of the county looked like. It wasn’t about their lifestyle, it was about how normal and genuine people were. Destiny’s Child was opening for Nelly back then, at the peak of his career. And Cash money was opening for Destiny’s Child. They were so normal, paying ball and hanging out. I realized these are regular people and that I can do this too. It seemed more like a reality when I saw it with my own eyes.
HHW: There was a time when you were homeless as a teenager, what role did Hip-Hop play in your life at the time?
Flawless: It helped keep my mind focused on getting back on my feet. A lot of music helped me get through being homeless. I was listening to Joe Budden’s first album a lot at the time and from that I was able to learn how to channel emotions through music. I had all the time in the world because I was struggling. But instead of stealing and robbing I was trying to get myself to feel better.
HHW: You had an opportunity to go on tour with Tech N9ne, tell us about that.
Flawless: When I came to Atlanta in 2010, I started doing open mics, jumping at every opportunity, didn’t care if it was real or not. I started standing out and winning. I won a competition with Hot 107.9 where I got to open for Birthday Bash in front of 20,000 people. I opened for Rick Ross and Ludacris. After that I started getting openings for other artists like Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane, everybody in the Atlanta area. Tech N9ne came to town and we got to open for him through a mutual friend. At one point of the show he had to go to the bathroom, so he had to go through the crowd and he happened to see us rocking the show. After a couple months went by he reached out to get us on the tour and we did a 50-city tour. That’s when I realized I was chasing the wrong thing. I was out here trying to get a record deal when I really should’ve been trying to build my own brand as an artist. I started focusing on building my own empire. It was groundbreaking to see that.
HHW: When did Hip-Hop become a full-time thing for you?
Flawless: It never became full-time until recently, it was about how I was going to continue to grind. One grind was helping the other. I was working jobs for income, I always knew the jobs were temporary, I knew i had to invest in myself, so I had to work. I worked overnight jobs, 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. and stay up the whole day and hustle through the day, go to sleep from midnight to 3 a.m. and do it all over again. It became a routine for me. Most people who work 9-to-5’s get home and be too tired to work on their dreams, so I was cutting out the sleep and grinding during the day. People swore I didn’t have a job, but while they were sleeping I was real job working. That was my formula. I was unloading produce trucks. I worked and saved money to build my own set-up and teach myself how to record, engineer and mix my own music so I wouldn’t have to spend so much on making music.
HHW: Tell us about your “Doctor” video. Some percieve it as you trying to “save Hip-Hop.” Do you think something is wrong with it?
Flawless: The way I came up with that is, people that were commenting on my music were saying “you’re gonna bring it back” and “save hip hop.” So with “Doctor” I thought about the diversity of Hip-Hop and how it has changed. If you notice, the patient on the table is White, the father is Black and the doctor is Hispanic. There’s three ethnicities to show how far Hip-Hop has come. You have the NYC type rapper as the father, and he’s complaining about the state of Hip-Hop and how it’s become so different, so he’s like you got to “fix” him, something is wrong. So I’m doing operations and things like that. The video is showing how Hip-Hop is so diverse now. Is there something really wrong with him? Or is the dad saying something is wrong with him because it’s not what he thinks its supposed to be?
