Our Guerilla Interview with EL-P

In May, I went to a free Run the Jewels show. "Free" meaning free show, free food and free beer courtesy of FADER. I went to have a good time and get nice and drunk. I ran into Rhymefest earlier in the night (Chicago legend, also notably a collaborator with Kanye and even lesser known as an MC who kind of destroyed Eminem at Scribble Jam in the late 90's before he even released the Slim Shady EP) who IMMEDIATELY saw me and thought I was EL-P.

Then it just got weirder from there....

After the show I was hanging around talking with friends I hadn't seen in too long when I spotted EL walking by. I quickly said "thanks for the free show!" and EL responded with pointing at me and saying "I KNOW YOU!".

We'd met in passing a couple times over the years, but never 'knew' each other despite myself being on a friendly, first name basis with a few Def Jux alums that will remain nameless. I responded with "can I get a quick interview for SYFFAL?" and he said yes. I followed him backstage after he told security to ease up over me going back there and then I found myself completely drunk, unprepared and hoping to Jobu that the voice recorder on my iPhone would actually pick this up. It did... and this is what happened. Sorry for the guerilla tactics, EL (not really).

SYFFAL: You've mentioned your disgust for nostalgia before, and over the last decade or so I've constantly thought about that with every album release. Does that have anything to do with your progression as an artist? Are they one in the same?

EL-P: Give me an example of why you have this perception that I have a disgust for nostalgia.

SYFFAL: I've heard you say it in interviews.

EL-P: Oh... I just think there's a time and a place for it, you know? In my mind, if you're thinking about what you've already done too much, you're kind of wasting time and quite honestly, you should be thinking about what you're going to be doing (in the future) and I think people can get trapped in their own perception of themselves, what they've done and what they're about. I think that's why a lot of people hit a brick wall sometimes, you know? Especially in our genre. So I don't so much have a disgust for nostalgia, but I think you shouldn't be searching to find something that's already happened. I think that in your own mind, your own head, that when you're creating that you should always being ignoring everything else that's already happened.

SYFFAL: So forget everything you already know?

EL-P: Forget everything you've done before, yeah, exactly.

SYFFAL: That has to be incredibly difficult after you've already been a successful artist for damn near two decades.

EL-P: I think that if you're too satisfied with what you've already done and are sitting around sort of examining cool moments that happened kind of naturally in your career that you're going to Fuck yourself. You're doing nothing but wasting time. You're supposed to be using that thought on what the next thing is supposed to be, and I think that to some degree that's maybe what has kept me sharp.

SYFFAL: Yeah, your production and rhyming have gotten progressively better over the years. In terms of your work with Mike, how you do you see that playing out in the future? This is kind of an open ended question. But there's RTJ 1, RTJ 2 (soon)... RTJ 10? Like.. you're in your mid 40's, I still want to see you making albums and rapping with Killer Mike.

EL-P: (super serious) What makes you think I'm 40? I'm absolutely NOT 40 yet.

SYFFAL: (Laughs) No no no.. I mean hypothetically...

EL-P: HAHAH! DON'T PUT THAT EVIL ON ME RICKY BOBBY! But seriously, I reserve the right to not answer that question because I have no fucking idea. What I can tell you is that we're having a hell of a lot of fun working with each other and in our minds, Run the Jewels is something that we could potentially do forever. We're still going to have our solo careers and we're going to pay a lot of attention to that, but this (RTJ) is still new to us.

SYFFAL: till? Even after all the touring, interviews, and work that followed RTJ1 and your last two solo releases that basically came out at the same time?

EL-P: Absolutely, in terms of the scope of our careers. We haven't even released a second record yet. You know?

SYFFAL: Does that have to do with the weight lifted off your shoulders from only being concerned with being an artist and not having to deal with all the other bullshit?

EL-P: Absolutely. My life is simplified a lot and I made the choice to focus on what I was really about the whole time and I've seen dividends, you know.. SPIRITUAL dividends from that. So I think that's there all there is, and again, it ties into not looking back too much. I think it took a while for me to figure out I wanted to be in a different place and really only focus on music. Now that I have been, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. It's been very rewarding. It's like.... dudes like me in our careers man, we aren't shooting for 10 million bucks. We're shooting for making a good living, making the good music WE want to make and having fun doing what we're doing.

SYFFAL: It's pretty amazing that you've been able to do this stuff that you actually give a Fuck about that's still somehow better than the last thing you did. You never see that in hip hop. Obviously there's some kind of secret sauce, you know... deep in your cold, dark heart (laughs from EL "my dark, broken heart, yes!") but whatever the Fuck it is it works. How do you explain that?

EL-P: Thank you! All I know is that every once in a while I have a moment where I realize I'm so thankful to still be doing what I'm doing and that people are still listening. At the end of the day, that's something that I don't know where I'd be in terms of my life or my head if I was in a position that the thing if the thing that I loved or did all my life was... no longer relevant. I don't know where I'd be. I haven't hit that place yet, THANK GOD! Mostly I'm just really thankful.

SYFFAL: This may be an odd question, but are you conscious of your own relevance? Is it something you assume or have knowledge of, or is it something you just don't give a Fuck about?

EL-P: Man.. honestly, it only matters to me when we show up to a show and people are there and that's when I see it.

SYFFAL: Sweating their asses off, live as Fuck...

EL-P: You know what I mean? My relevance to THOSE people is the thing, at this point in my life, that really matters to me. I always try to keep a healthy distance from being aware of anything else. I don't think it's my place. I just keep my head down and try to make something I think is great. You show up at a show and that's when you feel it. That's when you know you're relevant.

SYFFAL: I don't want to take up any more of your time but thanks man, I admittedly still have Funcrusher Plus on tape. It's been a honor. Thank you.

EL-P: I DON'T EVEN HAVE THAT ON TAPE!

SYFFAL: You know what's funny is that I used to get mistaken for you all the time. I'd be with (insert rapper(s) name here) hanging out in the early-mid 2000's and people would come up like "OH shit, CAN WE GET A PICTURE?" and I'd laugh and say "no, no, I'm really not him" and they wouldn't believe me! I've fielded mad compliments for you though and have always been gracious. Even free beers, but we don't look alike, at all!

EL-P: (laughs) No, no we don't. That's just a symptom of me not being that famous. It's this cool, vague kind of fame where my fans really don't quite know what I look like (laughs)... but it's all good.