Act:Live presents Future Sound w/Reece Q

w/PyInfamous, Build and Destroy, Subsoil, Optix, D-Rock, Mr. Mumblz, Emoore, Rey Hook, DJ Tim Tones

Saturday November 15

Dub Land Underground, 315 Alexander St

10 p.m. | $5-$7 | 232-7550

He may be new to the scene, but not to the game. Rochester rapper Reece Q (Reece Baskin) has a languid, lyrical style rooted in words and their meanings, not just their rhythmic convenience. Language is his monkey bars. He raps rapid and slick though stories and diatribes while The Goonies Crew - Husky, DJ Nugz, and Woody - lays it down.

Amidst a wash of mainstream hip-hop with all its real and imagined pitfalls, artists like Reece Q keep it positive, honest, and real. It's tight, it's right. It's relevant hip-hop. And it feels good. City recently sat down with Reece for an interview; an edited transcript follows.

CITY: What lit your music fuse?

Reece Q: Both my parents were DJs. That's how they met. Fantasy Sounds was my Dad's company; that's what really got me into music. I used to help him load the van when I was about 5. He used to DJ at a strip club.

Did you get to go to those gigs?

No, I wish I did. I just liked being around the music. I could never let it go. I got my first hip-hop CD when I was 4 years old - De La Soul's "De La Soul Is Dead." And ever since then I was hooked.

So it was hip-hop instead of Barney the Dinosaur for you. Why?

I don't know. Something just grabbed me. It was fun. "Oodles of Os" was in that CD. And to this day it's my favorite song. Something just pulls you in. I would hit the repeat button my whole childhood.

At what point did you realize you wanted to do it yourself?

Third, fourth, fifth grade I would just write story after story after story. Most were class assignments, but I really got into it. I remember writing poems, monster stories, whatever. I just liked being creative with the page. Thirteen, 14 rolled around and I started writing raps, trying to get some verses down. Then I stopped writing for a long time.

And did what?

I just started freestyling, that's all I wanted to do, I didn't want to write verses.

That was better than writing it out?

If I was out at a party I could be the only one rappin.' And I'd be freestylin' and that was it.

But you still have core phrases or patterns you can rely on and revert to, right?

Every MC - I don't care who they are - has their arsenal of words they can go back to. Those are gonna always be there unless you're like Hassan Mackey or something. But I can go into a freestyle blind and be OK. It's just something you hone.

Why do you prefer freestyling?

You're free. You can say what you want on the spot

Has it ever backfired on you?

I remember 2005, MCC. They'd have these battles on Fridays. I'd been an MC for a while but really hadn't been in front of people.

What happened?

Nothing was good. The DJ was wack. I was not feelin' it. I was mad nervous. I got out two or three bars and totally blanked on the set. I just stood there looking like an idiot and then just walked off stage.

Everyone's had at least one worst show. You just got it out of the way.

Yeah, you gotta f**k up at one point. But I got over being nervous. I said ,"Screw it," you know? You gotta get back on the horse. Now I got no problem going on stage getting the mic and doing my thing.

What's the scene like here?

There's a bunch of crews, and as of late there's been a lot of back and forth sharing MCs between crews.

Because there aren't enough MCs?

No, there's tons of cats. It's because if you're trying to do something ,it's more recognizable as a movement than just a solo project. Power in numbers.

Your music seems more genuine and thought out. But a lot of the hip-hop people are exposed is superficial and negative.

Yeah, that's become the face of hip-hop, but there's a lot more than that behind it. I talk about this with my grandma every day. The hip-hop we're doing, it's organic. It's not being made to be sold. I mean, we're trying to sell it, but we're making it because we love what we're doing. I'm trying to explore myself through my music. It helps me. You put something down then you really hear it.

How do you make that relevant to a listener who isn't you?

I try to blur the line between me and the listener. I don't care who you are, where you come from, you've experienced the same things. Everybody's been dumped, a lot of people have struggled with drugs, this, that, and the other. I blur the line and let the listener know I've been there too. People aren't alone.