CurT@!n$ – 23 (EP) & Interview

Just as expected, CurT@!n$ returns with his latest project, 23. The free EP notes six tracks from the Internet-favorite with the lone feature coming from California’s ScHoolboy Q. Let’s just hope that after this compilation, CurT@!n$ doesn’t disappear again. But nonetheless, follow the link here to download 23 and also make sure to read our conversation with Dope Boy C below.

Congratz on your new project 23. What inspired it and how did you conceptualize it?
Thank you. I didn’t come up with the idea at all, it was presented to me. I’m sure the inspiration came from my obsession with the whole Jordan culture. Once I heard the idea, I was sold and I just started searching for a sound to represent that energy.

The artwork portrays Kim Jong-il, the late supreme leader of North Korea, dressed in Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls gear. How did you come up with that?
I came upon that cover by accident. It was already an art piece. The guys at Urban Medium were doing a series of prints based around Kim Jong-il. I saw that piece with the Bulls jersey and 23 headband and it just made sense to use that image for this project. Kim Jong-il was such an interesting character and him portrayed in that headband was priceless – it had to be the cover.

Where did you record and what was the process like?
The recording process came in four phases. I searched for the musical body first. After I found a cohesive sound, I initiated the second phase which was writing. Writing comes sporadic for me, I could be anywhere and come up with words, melodies, concepts etc. “23” for instance, I wrote that sitting at a table during a meeting. The first line came to me and I tuned the entire meeting out and starting writing that song in my head. The third phase is recording. The whole project was recorded at The Compound. I like to record a lot at once. I can do in excess of seven songs a session time permitting. It’s just easier for me to keep the same energy level in my music. The fourth and final phase is the post production. I sit with the music for days and listen to it over and over again and find tidbits to improve it. On “Str8 Up Menace,” if you listen closely to the hook, when I spell “R-e-U-p-G-a-n-g” there’s scratches of rappers saying those individual letters. So you hear the Soulja Boy “yoooooouuu” for the “U”, the Rakim “R” for the “R”. Little gems like that come during the post production phase.

Any future projects on the horizon?
I have my new album Dior & Jordans and so much in between coming up. I really don’t want to spoil.