Artist Of The Week – Creature

Hailing from Corona Crown City Queens, Creature has become well known as one of New York City’s fiercest MC’s. Though he was signed to a major label, Island Records, a decade ago as a part of the group Triflicts, Creature has gone the independent route since the group parted ways. He’s worked with an incredible arrahttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5645949&postID=114769736286424442y of artists including The Beatnuts, The X-Ecutioners, MF Doom and Atmosphere. He currently has his Never Say Die album available for sale and will be releasing a number of projects in the fall including another solo effort, Hustle To Be Free, and a collaboration with Preacherman called Creature N Preacher C.P.T. After seeing Creature perform at the most recent Style Factory show it was clear that even if the calendar didn’t read October it was most definitely time for a Creature Feature, which is why he’s this week’s Artist Of The Week.

Adam Bernard: A lot of artists have interesting names, but Creature strikes me as especially different. What is the origin of your name?
Creature: The name Creature comes from playing Football and my sister teasing me and calling me a creature because of how I acted on the field. Plus a creature is a living being and I’m living through my music… and it is the hardest name ever! Ha ha!

Adam Bernard: You've been a member of NYC's Hip-Hop scene for over a decade. What kind of changes, both positive and negative, have you seen it go through?
Creature: First is the lack of blacks and Latinos at the shows, meaning indy Hip-Hop, i.e. underground shows. There are not as many friendly ciphers now, either. Before you could walk in the village almost anywhere and catch an ill cipher. There’s also a lack of originality and creativity. I think some of today’s artist are smarter but somewhere along the road the soul has been lost. That’s some of the negative, but the positive is a lot more artists are taking their careers in their own hands, pressing and selling their own CDs. I think as a whole people realize you can still be different and be heard if you put in work.

Adam Bernard: You were signed to a major, Island Records, at one point. What do you feel you gained from that experience?
Creature: One of the things I gained from being signed to a major at a young age is I’m not impressed with a record contract. A lot of things go into being successful in this industry and it’s not just talent, it’s things like big budgets, who you know, and these days it’s sounding like an already successful artist. But the most important thing I learned was you get what you put into it, so work hard, network and learn as much as you can about the business or you’re in for a long painful road. Oh yeah, and always try to have fun.

Adam Bernard: The list of artists you've worked with is extremely impressive as it includes names such as MF Doom, Slug from Atmosphere, and the X-Ecutioners. Was any one studio session particularly memorable?
Creature: My favorite was with my boy Rob Sonic. He’s a real close friend of mine and we just got in the studio and did what we do. The atmosphere was just like hanging out with your buddy talking shit, drinking and carrying on.

Adam Bernard: Finally, what part of your hustle would you like to see other artists adopt?
Creature: I'd love to see artists becoming distributors, real estate brokers, all around hustlers. I want artists to stop being artists and become artist-preneurs if they don’t already sell your CD, produce your CD, distribute it. And read more. Stop complaining about what someone hasn’t done for you and get off your ass in do it for yourself. Remember no one owes you anything but yourself. Humble yourself but stay hungry.

Official Website: www.creaturenomics.com

MySpace Page: www.myspace.com/creature1