LOOKING AT THE WORLD FROM THE OUTSIDE IN

Lilz: Tell em who you are & where your from?

Bishop The Greek: I go by the name of Bishop The Greek or the self proclaimed “a.k.a.” The Black James Cagney but the people close to me call me “Bishop” or “Bish”. For the 22 years I’ve been on this earth I’ve rested my head in Brooklyn – home of greats like Biggie, Jigga, Big Daddy Kane etc.

Lilz: how old were you when you started rapping?

Bishop The Greek: I was about 16 or 17 years old when I started rhyming. I always wrote short stories and poems as a child. I was into creative writing basically but once I got to high school, you know other extracurricular things come into play and you take your mind off things you’ve done as a child. One of my classmates was rapping and saw some of my past work with writing and urged me to start rapping. I started doing it as hobby but saw that I was rapidly increasing in skill so I just started pursuing this new found talent. I mean my classmate helped me form bars, verses, hooks and songs. After awhile, it was like I took the training wheels off the bike and started riding on my own.

Lilz: Who have you worked with & who do you wanna work with?

Bishop The Greek: Artist wise – I’ve only really worked with Bynoe of Tha Riot Squad. I mean that’s my nigga for real. He’s locked up right now so we haven’t done anything nor is there anything in the stash with us but Free Bynoe! He’ll be home soon. I’ve worked with Chinx Drugz. I respect his grind. He’s hot right now fuckin with them Coke Boys and reppin the Riot. I’ve done a record with M. Reck of Gutta Muzic/ForbezDVD. He’s a mogul in the making. We shot the video to that record and it should be out soon. I’ve got the niggas around the way that I do records with and all. Try to give everyone some shine. The only thing I don’t like about working with others is waiting for their part of the record because most of the time we won’t be in the studio working together. I want it done quick because my work ethic is crazy. I’ve got a bunch of records in my stash – complete and incomplete. I also did a record with Mami Uno, this R&B singer from Toronto on my last joint. It’s real sexy. As far as artists I wish to work with in the future – not so many rappers but soulful voices for hooks like Chrisette Michele, Jazmin Sullivan, Jaheim, Keyshia Cole, even Chris Brown. But rappers, I’d say Papoose, Lil Cease, Fred Da Godson, Troy Ave, Lloyd Banks, Joe Budden. They’d have to be someone where I can relate to their music. Whether it’s real shit or gangsta shit. I’m not just throwing any nigga on the track. There’s got to be chemistry.

Lilz: How do you feel about the music out today?

Bishop The Greek: There’s no way to feel about music today. Everyone says to adjust to the change to survive but I’m not one to follow the crowd and emulate what everyone else is doing. Today’s listeners are young and were born in the early to mid 90s. This will be the music they will deem as classic a decade from now. The bullshit that the corporate heads at the label shove in your ears to desensitize the youth. It seems as the years progress, the more horrible the music is getting. You got guys on the radio rapping real incoherent and start caking off bullshit topics they rhyming about. You’ve even got artists from the north putting on fake southern accents to accommodate the fans like that’s the only region that’s giving it up right now. Music has always been about what comes from your heart and soul as well as being a representation of how you feel and what you stand for. If that’s still the case today, then we as a people look real ignorant in doing so and I can’t feel bad for the ignorant ones who get fucked by the labels in the end. I can’t say this is what every artist is doing but it’s a good majority. And for the handful of artists that have stayed true throughout the years – keep on. I’m here to leave a mark on the game and solidify a spot. I want the listener to relate to me. When they hear my music, I want them to react in a way where they’ll feel a little better knowing they’re not alone. I wish to educate the listeners as well with things that they won’t learn in school these days or even on the street at times. Reading is a lost pastime nowadays so I want people to gain knowledge. I don’t listen to the radio much. They not going to brainwash me and have me buy into the bullshit.

Lilz: How did you get your rap name?

Bishop The Greek: Well, I’m a big Tupac fan and was real fond of his performance of the character of Bishop he did in Juice. Once I got to high school, it was a nickname that stuck when I started rhyming since I had no idea for a name. My peers also knew how much I liked the movie so they just started calling me Bishop. I added “The Greek” part to it a little while after, finding out that there a bunch of artists with same name. “The Greek” comes from me being half Greek. My other half is African American. For those who don’t know – James Cagney was an Irish actor from the 30s and 40s who starred in gangster roles so I just adopted the name from him and branded myself the black version. I mean my niggas and I would do so much wild and dumb shit that the names were only right. Dumb young nigga shit.

Lilz: How would you describe your style & music?

Bishop The Greek: My style of music is complex. I like the soulful stuff and the hard hitting gangsta shit. It’s also timeless. I drop a lot jewels in my music for others to pick up. You have to listen. Being 22 years old and saying what I’m saying is going to come as a surprise. A person may need 35 to 40 years of life to be able to say what I’m saying. My voice alone is deep and distinct which makes me stand out from the rest. I’m all about being real and true to yourself. I just want the world to feel my passion and pain at the same time behind all my words. I want to expose the evil and corruption which the little person cannot see or is afraid to see. Everyone deserves to know the underlying truth in society as well. I plan to be a narrator of sorts. I want people to remember me in the years to come and have my music still be relevant where people can relate years from now. I don’t want it to sound dated. God forbid if something should ever happen to me – I want the world to have what I have to offer which is my thoughts and visions.

Lilz: What was some of the music you listened to growing up?

Bishop The Greek: My parents had me listening to a lot when I was growing up. Artists like Luther Vandross, Barry White, Marvin Gaye, Oleta Adams, The O’Jays, Aaron Neville, Stevie Wonder, Janet & Michael Jackson etc. A lot of old school artists so when I hear these new records today with a sample of something from the 70s or 80s – I usually know what song it’s sampled from. My parents even had a vinyl of a Bruce Willis song from the 80s. I’m like “this is the Die Hard nigga?”. Even that Eddie Murphy shit. My parents were wildin. After awhile, I got into hip hop around 95. That’s what I call my golden era. When the Wu was bumping, Biggie put the East Coast back on, Pac was banging and Cube was doing his thing. It was a bunch of artists that I listened to on the radio. I hardly had the albums because my parents didn’t want me to hear the curses but my mouth today? Crazy. They should have let me listen. It may have turned out different ha!

Lilz: Where do you see yourself in 10yrs?

Bishop The Greek: Damn, ten years from now? Hopefully still making music and rocking crowds crazy. I mean some niggas only last in this game for a couple years and put out a couple albums. To put out three successful albums is difficult enough. To have God bless me with a situation and put me on a certain platform, I will be wild grateful. Put out a few platinum records and just change the game is where I see myself. I hope all my flaws are corrected by then so I won’t get myself into anything I can’t handle not live to see my success. We all have flaws which hold us back from achieving complete success. A person may make it, but for how long will I have made? There’s no question. I will make it – but will it be to my liking and how long?

Lilz: Who do you think is the best artist out, other then yourself?

Bishop The Greek: I’d have to say M. Reck’s grind is crazy right now. He’s got a bunch of brands out there that handle different aspects of the game. He’s the co-owner of ForbezDVD.com, runs Gutta Muzic, Get Reck Apparel and directs music videos. On top of that, he’s also an artist. He’s been heard on Power 105, Hot 97 as well as Shade45 on Sirius satellite radio. He’s been doing this for years with no co-sign. If anyone deserves, he does. For the past two years, he’s been lending a hand with my work as a mentor if you will. He’s a good brutha.

Lilz: What do you feel is the best album ever?

Bishop The Greek: The best album ever in my opinion was 2Pac’s Me Against the World. That album will always and forever be a body of work I can never get tired of as well as look to for inspiration. From the topics of the records, to the beat selection, to the placement and order of records – the whole album meshed perfectly. That’s a true album where Pac exhibits his pain and paranoia within the dealings of the game. It’s like he was prophesizing or foreshadowing the events to come in the near future. It’s just a real deep album. To dig that deep in yourself and spew that out on records takes a lot in a person. Only the real can display that type of action.

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