Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Where did you guys meet and when did you decide to
form a hip-hop collective?
KashJordan: I started Weirdo in 2013. I met with Wasif and Davey through Twitter and we made a
couple songs together. We shot the video for Red, and I was like let's call each other Weirdo. At first I
hated Wasif and I thought he couldn't rap. Then he rapped his verse on Red and I was like shit, this is
guy is great. I was rapping alone before Weirdo too, but nothing was ever working out like weirdo did/
EN: For you guys as a group who would you say are your biggest influences musically?
KashJordan: Hmm. I'd say guys like Kanye, Death Grips, Young Thug, Future, and Lil B.
EN: I noticed on your SoundCloud the group is described as experimental. How important do
you think experimentation is to hip-hop as a genre?
KashJordan: Oh god, very important. I feel like I'm not going to invent a new sound right now, but I do
want to experiment with different sounds, flows, and sub-genres of rap [to] make something cool and
new, but also familiar.
EN: Who do you think is the most innovative in hip-hop in the context of pushing the boundaries
and creating their own sound?
KashJordan: Hmm. Right now I feel everyone's sound is collective. Everyone's sound is borrowed from
different things to create their [style]. I haven't heard anyone lately that's truly original and brand new...
Except Lil B, maybe [laughs].
EN: That being the case, what do you think of the state of hip-hop currently? I spoke with a
former Sony A&R who believes artists aren't pushing boundaries enough, do you agree with
that?
KashJordan: I love the state of hip-hop. Everyone is so weird now. Before the hyper-masculinity
robbed niggas of expression. I feel like a lot of people are pushing boundaries, just no one is really
listening, or holding what they're doing to a higher standard.
Young Thug for example dresses how the fuck he wants, makes fucking cool-ass music, and has taken
flows to a whole new level. Rae Sremmurd doesn't even rhyme sometimes. Swae Lee's verse in We is
art, it didn't rhyme at all and still slapped.
EN: I'd like to expand on one of your points there, you think it was important for hip-hop artists
to lose the obsession with hyper-masculinity in order for the genre to progress the way it has?
KashJordan: Yes, I do. Rap is riddled with, like, hyper-masculinity, and misogyny. I even used to
contribute to that in my older shit. It stifles you. Everyone's the biggest macho-man they can be,
everyone loves women but also hates women, and don't really refer to them as people but kind of like
prized pets and shit. It's weird.
Niggas can't express them selves because they're so scared to break away from social norms of what
masculinity is. Hyper-masculinity robs men of being in touch with a lot of emotions, touch, colors,
clothes, and even some foods. Dudes won't eat [something] because its not "manly". I saw a dude call a