Artist Interview: CASTLE

Last week, Greensboro, NC producer and rapper CASTLE and his new EP Tasting was featured on Oh.Globe. You can check out the article here. I had a chance to get to know the artist a little better, seeing how he is collaborating with some pretty big names. We talked his up bringing, his future collaborations, and even his thoughts of quitting. Check it out.


Me: You listed a bunch of East Coast artists as influences to your music. Being from NC, have any Southern artists influenced you?

CASTLE: No Limit and Outkast were big influences on me when I was a kid. Outkast satisfied my need for complexity, and No Limit was just live.

Me: What was your favorite No Limit release?

CASTLE: As far as albums? Good Girl Gone Bad by Mia X. she was hands down the best MC in that crew to me.

Me: What was it like to grow up in a household full of musicians?

CASTLE: Loud. Haha. Music was played constantly in my house, from blues to rap to hard rock.

Me: Did that wide range of genres played influence your sample choices for your beats in the future?

CASTLE: Definitely. There's a good number of beat makers that stick to soul records, which is cool...but there's so many different sounds you can play with in genres like blues or psych rock. I say about 80% of records I sample are from foreign musicians.

Me: When you told me about yourself for the Artist Spotlight, you mentioned that your dad put you on a track when you were a kid. What happened to that track?

CASTLE: In cassette tape heaven more than likely. Haha. If i could find it again, I would release it in a second. It'd be a good laugh.

Me: What did you do?

CASTLE: To the tape?

Me: On the song.

CASTLE: Ah, yes. I blessed the track with one bar. It was a song about how bratty me and my sister was.

Me: I first heard about you through a wall post from producer Small Professor's Facebook. Apparently you two are working together. How did you meet him?

CASTLE: Okayplayer.com, but we actually didn't start talking until I got the balls to create a Twitter account. I reached out to him, told him I was a big fan of the music he shared on the boards, and we've been linked up ever since. Smalls is a cool ass dude.

Me: What kinda stuff do you guys have planned?

CASTLE: We've toyed with this idea called N*ggas with Physics Books or N.W.P.B., since me and smalls are science geeks. If all goes according to plan, we'll have an album's worth of material before the year ends. All we really have to do is decide how it's ultimately going to sound.

Me: That would be really sick. Would you rap over his beats or would you add production too?

CASTLE: A mixture of both, which was his idea. I actually had no intention of rapping on it at first. I'm excited to get to work though.

Me: Besides Small Pro, who else are you in the lab with?

CASTLE: Right now I'm working with the members of a crew that Smalls is a part of: The Wrecking Crew. Has-Lo, Zilla Rocca, and Curly Castro. Crazy MC's. I'm also working with a producer named Why?Arcka. That guy is incredible on the beats. Then there's a group called Loud Gang that I've been producing for. They have some stuff coming pretty soon. There's more, but the list is too long. Collaborating is my mission this year.

Me: You also mentioned thoughts about quitting. Why is that?

CASTLE: Talking out of my ass for the most part. Every time I tell myself that music isn't worth it and "quit", I end up coming right back. Unfortunately they don't have clinics for recovering hip hop junkies. I did have to take a short hiatus though. Needed to find my bearings; start resting more, eating healthier, et cetera.

Me: If someone was to ask you "Who the hell is CASTLE and why should I listen to him?", what would you respond with?

CASTLE: I'd tell them "because CASTLE 'creates art so that life elevates.' you want those groceries in plastic or paper bags?"

Me: Haha, well your music backs up the talk. Good luck to everything you do with your music man and just know that Oh.Globe has your back with any of your future releases and collabs.

CASTLE: Word 'em up. I 'preciate you taking time out to listen and getting to know me.

Me: Fasho, the world needs a sneek peak at CASTLE before he blows up.

CASTLE: Haha, good shit!

You can download CASTLE's new free EP off his Bandcamp here or stream it here:

CASTLE's Bandcamp: http://castle.bandcamp.com/

CASTLE's Twitter: @cstlnova

Posted in: 2012,artist interview,Bandcamp,castle,greensboro,hip-hop,interview,north carolina,producer