Photos & Interview: D. Francis Consistency is key and when it comes to this hard to categorize artist, label owner and business savvy artist, consistency is something that has NEVER escaped the clutches of this lyricist! Absoloot has been in the scenes and has also been behind the scenes making great music for a few years now. With a strong international presence, Absoloot is now shifting gears and is headed to a street near you! From "Hard as Hell" to "My way", Absoloot has had his fair share of ups and ups gaining the respect of an entire industry in his freshman album working with great minds and individuals to build a foundation that some well known artists lack! Nine5Four had an opportunity to sit down with the multi-talented mogul in the making.

For those who don't know you, let the readers know who you are Mr. Absoloot? I'm an independent artist with 2 amazing albums under my belt and many more to come (laughs). I'm also president of SOC Records.

Ok. How did you get involved in music to begin with? Well I started writing and freestyling over jazz music. Kerron (my brother) actually heard me and convinced me to persue it further. I eventually ended up recording a couple of songs with some friends from school with. I brought some of music that I recorded home to let my parents hear. They liked it so much they made some phone calls and figured it would be best to start our own record label. Till today my parents are still involved and they've been a huge help. It's important to have people you can trust and who better than my parents. At times it's still ackward talking to my parents about rap (laughs).

What separates Absoloot from the other individuals in the game? The fact that I don't sound like anyone in the game. on being original. I also experiment a lot when working on a track.

What are some of the things that you are doing that you feel has an impact on changing the way the music industry perceives music? Mainly my strides as an independent artist. I feel I've accomplished a lot to be an independent artist. I feel another thing that will eventually have some effect on the industry is the quality of music. I put a lot into my music and I know people are begining to tell the difference between the music I've released and what's out now.

You are definitely talented and its real hard to lump you into a category or genre. If you had to say, what would you consider yourself in terms of your role in the industry? And what genre would you consider your music? Thanks I'm definitely hip-hop but I can see why it would be hard to classify my music.

You have been consistently performing well in the US and Abroad. What do you feel has contributed to the success you are currently enjoying? I honestly feel a lot of my success comes from me being different. I feel my listeners respect me because I don't feel the need to dumb down my music for them. I make music for everyone and that's helped me throughout the years.

What is the next step for you and your team as far as you and your music is concerned? Well the label was fortunate enough to sign Emaculant this year, so we'll be working on getting his album done. We'll be shooting videos for "American Soldier" and "Follow Me". So I'm definitely looking forward to that. We've also partnered with some cool companies so that's something to look forward to in the future.

What advice would you give to an up and coming artist, hungry, trying to eat in this game? irst and for most I would tell them to be original. You don't stand out if your doing the same thing as everyone else. In this business it's also very important to be patient. A lot of artist don't understand when your branding yourself it takes time, you don't want to rush into things. At the end of the day your the only one responsible for your image and that's not something you should be willing to tarnish, because it will come back to bite you.

Who are some of the industry people you look up to or looked up to in the industry? Quincy Jones is someone I've always admired and I would love the oppurtunity to work with him. There's a lot of people I admire but he's the only one that I can think of on the spot.

Do you have any projects that you are working on that you'd like to share? Yes I recently released a single called "Follow Me" which is really starting to pick up some momentum. I'm shooting videos for some of the songs off the "My Way" album. I'll also be releasing a few more singles before I begin wrapping up my 3rd album.

What is SOC and how does someone become involved in what you are doin if they are interested? SOC is a family owned independent record label that was created to give artist a fair cut. The best way to get involved would be to contact me through one of the many social networks or you can also go to soc-records.com.

What are some of the obstacles you feel every artist will encounter in their career and how did you overcome them? Well there are a ton of obstacles out there. I'm not sure if we all have the same obstacles though. I always tell artist to do their homework. For instance if someone approaches you promising you the world you definitely want to find out who they are and what they've done. Not by asking them but by looking them up. You can find almost anything online now a days. There are a lot of people preying on artist to rip off so you have to know who your involved with.

How can the readers, artists, producers etc. get at you if they are interested in collaborating or if they want to keep up with you or buy your music? My music is for sale on Itunes, amazon.com, cdbaby.com, last.fm, reverbnation.com. Just to name a few. I'm always up to work with other artist and producers especially. It's pretty easy to cantact me. You can hit me up on facebook.com/absolootmusic just leave me a comment. I'm also on twitter.com/absoloot anyone can just send me a message or email me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Any final words, shout outs, etc.? (smiles) let me try and not make this to long. I have to give a shout out to My wife Jackie, My Dad, Mom, My amazing grand mother Ruby, Sister Cynthia, Brothers Carl and Kerron, Cousins Lee and Ruby Williams, My neices and Nephews to many to name (laughs), Brother in law Dwayne Jones, Uncle Duke, Mother in law Mary, Ian "Emaculant" Carr, Chris and Julie Brackenbury, Chef Anthony, My brother from another mother Robert Blakely and his wonderful wife Robin, Lady D, Santino, Ruben, Evelyn, Romeo, Robert, Tasha, Fabian, and all my sponsors thanks a million.

Absoloot, it has definitely been a pleasure sitting down with you again. You never cease to amaze me and I am thrilled to have you in Nine5Four Magazine again. Thanks for the support but more importantly, thanks for continuing to provide a weakened entertainment industry with real music. These days, we need all the good music we can get. Keep the hits coming and I am sure we will cross paths with you again in the near future.