Artist Of The Week – Copperpot

Chapter 7. Some people hear that and think of a bankruptcy filing, and while that may ring true in a sense for Copperpot, who ran up huge credit card bills in an effort to visit the different music scenes all over the world, Chapter 7 was also the title of his first album, which was released last year. The Illinois native, who grew up just north of Chicago and attended five different colleges before deciding that maybe that wasn’t the route for him, will be releasing his second full length album, a collaboration with rapper LongShot on April 25th. With his rep growing by the minute, look for collabs with KRS-ONE and Masta Ace in the fall, it’s time to get to know Copperpot.

Adam Bernard: You're readying the release of the Coppershot album, Issues. After all the collaborations you've done in your career why did you feel LongShot was the best person to create an entire album with?
Copperpot: LongShot and I work well together, partially because we are in the studio a lot together because we work out of the same studio. So we would just be around each other a lot. That made it easy, easy for me to get him beats, and easy to sit and talk about directions. We also share some issues so we felt we could make some art that was close to both of our centers

Adam Bernard: Your previous album, Chapter 7, had a different MC on every track. What are some of the other differences between that album and the current Coppershot project?
Copperpot: With Chapter 7 I tried to bring the album together with interludes that related to the title of the record. Most (or all) of the emcees were rapping about basically whatever they wanted to. I think in that sense it was almost a “compilation” album. I don’t like to think of it as a compilation because I did a great amount of work producing it, and making it a cohesive record but it is what it is I suppose. The CopperShot project is fluid as far as theme and content. There is a title, Issues, that directly correlates to each song on the record. There is one interlude that relates to the title and all the songs and almost serves as an intermission. The only two songs that don’t exactly fit under the issues themes are the two bonus tracks, and that is why they are hidden bonus tracks. We liked them a lot, and wanted them to be on the record, but not under the issues motif. I am very proud of the fluidity of the record.

Adam Bernard: What's your preferred method of producing a song? Do you like to have the artist in studio with you, or would you rather finish the beat then have the artist listen to it?
Copperpot: Making beats is very personal for me and quite laborious. I like to do it alone, in my house, with some reefer and beer.

Adam Bernard: The Chicago area has become a haven for producers with you, NO ID and Kanye West all hailing from the Windy City. Is there any sense of competition there?
Copperpot: You can’t honestly put me in the same category as those two. Kanye has taken over the world, I am still working on the 6700 block of N. Glenwood Ave. I would say me K-Kruz, Kenny Keys, Earmint, Overflo… we are all in the same canoe and I think we sense a little competition, but we are all friends so it is not really cutthroat, it’s more like we just check for each other, see where the sound is.

Adam Bernard: Finally, I know your life story involves running up some huge credit card bills so you could travel the world, how much closer will Issues have you to paying those bills off, or are you even trying to at this point?
Copperpot: People don’t buy music anymore. This industry is in a bad way. If people want musicians like myself to keep making music for them to steal, they better start buying some. Or else we will all be working at Subway making foot-long spicy Italians.

If you’d like to know more about Copperpot please visit his websites and MySpace pages.

Official Website: www.copperpot.cc

Label Websites: www.evrecords.net & www.lowliferecords.co.uk

MySpace Pages: www.myspace.com/jonnybarnacle & www.myspace.com/coppershot