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ThaFormula.com - First off let's start off with why Raptivism was started and what does it represent?

Vincent Merry - Rishi and I started the company as a vehicle to release No more prisons.  As childhood friends we had always talked about our mutual desire to see hip hop artists we admired tackling poignant social issues that significantly impacted the communities that fostered the development of hip hop music and culture. We decided that we wanted to make it happen.  We have worked with artists that believed in us and wanted to work with a label not only dedicated to putting out hot music but music that speaks of the human condition.  Raptivism is evolving and hopefully the company will become a platform for future releases in the unique, edgy, informative tradition of NMP.  Solo artists' projects as well as projects from groups, with the same determination to stretch the artistic bounds of the genre, will strengthen the label and make the social and political projects that we do truly viable.  Hopefully raptivism will become a leading label in the industry which will allow us to bring these projects to the attention of the entire hip hop listenership.  Our major constraint is what faces most early stage independent labels, money.  We are a closely held corporation that operates without the assistance of significant outside financing.  As a result we are not able to be as aggressive as we would like but hopefully our financial position will continue to improve and the projects that we put out will get the shine they deserve."  

Rishi Nath - "We support artists who push hip hop forward. Raptivism is loyal to themes, such as justice and resistance against oppression, not to specific regions or styles. Both Shabaam and Tahir demonstrate a mastery of rap style and a willingness to cut into provocative subject matter. Their independent spirit and firmness of mind makes them artists ideally suited for Raptivism. Our compilations will continue to include both Raptivism artists and others who are willing to contribute music that challenges the norm."

ThaFormula.com - So what made you go with Shabaam and Tahir as far as signing them goes?

Ashok Kamal - Well those were two brothers that we worked with in doing the No More Prisons series.  Tahir has been part of that project since pretty much the beginning when he produced two tracks with dead prez on the original No More Prisons compilation and we just kind of fostered a relationship with him from that project and it developed into his own solo project and as far as Shabaam on a similar case we worked with him on the No More Prisons 2 compilation, which is coming out next year on Raptivism and throught that working relationship that we developed with him on that project again sort of spiraled into a separate project of his own.  At the time he was in the process of leaving Rawkus and we kind of just fit right in time wise with being able to provide him with a new platform so he could develop and release his debut album both in a time effective as well as in a quality manner.   

ThaFormula.com - So what's the word on the new Shabaam album.  How has it done so far?

Ashok Kamal - Were looking pretty good right now.  Were getting alot of positive press on both projects. Their is alot of buzz right now and were certainly optimistic about the prospect of it over the next few months.  The thing is right now the way the economy has been over the last several months, alot of the major retailers in particular are ordering very cautiously as far as the units that they bring into the store.  So in other words, if your not a major label project such as something like a Jay - Z or even on a smaller scale like The liks or major label projects that have videos and heavy rotation behind them and also alot of commercial radio airplay you will have a hard time.  Those are the kind of things that alot of these retailers wanna see to decide what projects should be brought into there store.  So having said that, with the economy being so slow these days and consumer confidence being low, alot of these major retail stores are being hesitant about ordering independent underground hip hop that doesn't have multi million dollar budgets behind it.  Because of that we have to face the same problem that every other indy label in our category is dealin with right now, which means not necessarily the same kind of pre orders and orders from the stores we might have received 6 months ago, but that's something that you can work with and try to overcome in a variety of different ways but given the current environment things have definitely been pretty good.

ThaFormula.com - This seems to be a serious problem alot of indie labels are facing at this time.

Ashok Kamal - It is a problem that alot of people are facing these days and again, like I said we are somewhat powerless without millions of dollars behind us.  Their is really only so much you can do, but their are ways to get around, such as trying to foster a relationship with the key people that make those kinds of decisions about bringing units to the stores as well as just trying to create as much as a grassroots buzz as possible for your projects so that you can literally have consumers going into the stores requesting the product and if that happens on a significant scale then it's gonna influence them much more so to purchase the project.   Also, doing press packages of different and positive press you been getting from bigger magazines like The Source, Tha Formula or different radio figures you can provide.  Those kind of things can help but doesn't guarantee the spots.  If you can do that for yourself then you will have a better shot at getting your stuff at big stores and with good placement. 

ThaFormula.com - So now that the Tahir and Shabaam albums have dropped, what are you guys lookin for now? Are you lookin to sign more people?

Ashok Kamal - Right now, besides the two projects that we just dropped we have comin out within the next 6 months is a cat from Boston named L Da Head Toucha.  we have his album done and that's gonna be comin out next year.  It's called the long awaited and as I mentioned we got the No More Prisons 2 coming out next year.  So we have a few other projects that are already pretty much finished for next years release.  

ThaFormula.com - How is the No More Prisons 2 compilation looking?

Ashok Kamal - It's looking good.  We have a variety of artists on there.  it's about half remix tracks from the first album and about 8 new songs from people from across the globe.  We got a cat from Sweden, Zion I from the bay area, Spontaneous, Big Dro, and Mystic from L.A.  Tahir and Shabaam Sahdeeq did a song for it.  Crooked Letters from Down South did a song for it.  So we kind of hit all the different regions for the new songs on that as well as some exclusive remixes will also be available and it's gonna be a continuous mix by DJ 3rd Rail from Chicago.  So we got all those projects lined up already and were currently in the process of workin on Shabaam Sahdeeq's second album, which should be coming out at the end of the year or so and certainly some new things will come up that we will be announcing to the public in due time, but you can definitely expect a few big projects from Raptivism besides the ones that I mentioned. For more info on Raptivism Records, check out www.raptivism.com for the latest on the label, Shabaam, Tahir, and future projects.

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