When: Friday, Oct. 25
Where: The Blue Note
Cost: $15
Hailing from the underground of the West Coast rap scene, Wax made a name for himself by making YouTube videos when the site first began. What resulted from those videos includes collaborations with other YouTube rappers and a subsequent record deal with Def Jam before leaving the label. MOVE interviewed Wax and asked about his beginnings, musical style and his current tour with Watsky:
**[MOVE]:** You were in a band before you became a rapper. How did you transition into a new genre?
**[Wax]:** It wasn’t really foraying into a new genre. Most of the vocals were rapping even at that time. It was kind of like a hip-hop band. The band had to break up because everyone in the band was too successful outside. (They) got real jobs and got wives.
**[M]:** How did you get your start on YouTube?
**[W]:** When YouTube started, me and my twin brother (Herbal T) started making videos for fun. We weren’t a part of any scene when we first started. It kind of evolved into working with (Dumbfoundead), Tim DeLaGhetto and stuff like that. It was all kind of an accident.
**[M]:** Who are the biggest influences to your musical style?
**[W]:** There have definitely been a lot of influences on me. Wu-Tang Clan, a lot of the early rappers like Too Short and N.W.A. I was real into. I was a fan of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Marley, etc. I listened to a lot of different types of music.
**[M]:** How is your current tour with Watsky?
**[W]:** It’s going great. At this point, we’ve only done three shows and every show has been incredible. Every show has had a good lineup, starting off with my boy EOM DJing, and then I do an hour and Watsky does an hour. I recommend to everyone to come see it. If you don’t like it, I’ll buy you a beer.
**[M]:** What are your future plans?
**[W]:** Once I finish this tour, I instantly jump into another tour. Dumbfoundead and I are going on tour together. We’re going to big cities such as New York, Chicago, L.A., Houston, etc. We’ve got 15 shows on schedule.
