Recently I was able to contact Brandon 'Aliaz' Smith to get to know more about his music and background. You can contact Aliaz on twitter @hollywoodaliaz, or right on here if you have any follow up questions or would like to comment on anything. Please give us some feedback.. Thanks for reading
What's your inspiration?
*I would have to say I'm just inspired by life.**I write all of*my songs about what I'm going through, so however I feel at the time is always what ends up on the track.* I'm also inspired by music, every time I hear something I think is really dope, it motivates me to get in the studio and try to take it to the next level.* Being broke is also a very big inspiration, I have two kids to support, and music is what I do!
What are your short and long term goals, in music and in life?
*My short and long term goals are*pretty much*the same, I guess you could say I dont have much patience.* I just want to live off of music and take care of my children.* I don't need an Escalade or a chain, that's just not me, and money could never change who I am.* I just want to wake up every morning and make music to support my family, that's my dream.* I just want to share my passion for music with as many people possible.
Background info:**age, where you have lived, how long you've been doing music, how you got involved in music, do you make beats..?
*I'm 23 years old, I grew up in St. Joseph Missouri, about 45 minutes away from KC.* I've also lived in Mesa AZ and KC, but I grew up and spent most of my time in St. Joseph.* I recorded my first song at 9, but I was working on music every day and it was my main drive by the time I was 14.* That's when I got really serious, like this is what I want to do.* I've always been involved in music, I'm a fan before anything.* I never knew my birth father, but the man I've called my Dad my entire life is black, so my house was full of hip hop my whole life.* When I found my Dad's stash of cassette tapes, it was on from there!* The first song I heard that completely blew me away and made me want to do music was Problems by Rappin-4-Tay.* I loved that track when I was 9!* I was also really into Death Row and Warren G.* I make beats also, I've produced a lot of shit for myself and Geezel from my group.* I been working with some artists too that I've known for a minute, but my beats just now are getting around, I kept them on the low til I felt I was ready.
How often do you get a chance to perform live?
*I been blessed with a lot of opportunities to perform live.* I'm usually*the opener, but I've done shows with Sean P (Youngbloodz), La Chat, The Jacka, The 2 Live Crew, and a lot of local rappers from KC.* I got a lot of homies that do music and love to perform, so a lot of the time we trade shows, and always try to help each other out when we get a chance.* I*was on tour for a long time*with a*local rock band that I did a song with called Broken Avenue,*and I love performing at rock shows.* The energy is*crazy!* I'm really cool so I try to help out every one that helps me to show my appreciation.* August 15th I'm doing a show here with Ron Ron, Black Walt, and some others.
What the night life like in your town?
*Man, its pretty much dead here.* I can't even lie.* There's been some mainstream artists come out here, and you'd be surprised how much shit doesn't get any support here.* The college out here brought Rick Ross and Yung Joc to perform right when Trilla came out, so you thought it would be packed in there.* I was disappointed by the turn-out cause I wanted to get a lot more stuff like that going on here.* It's been getting better lately, but we still have a long way to go.
Who have you worked with, who would you like to work with?
*I'm in a group called the Joe Mizzery, so I'm always working with them and my 2 main producers Ivan Martinez and Rob 05.* I've worked with Krizz Kaliko, Smigg Dirtee, Abaleanie, 3rd Degree, and a lot more local artists.* I've worked with producers like Seven, Sean T, Rob Rebeck, D. Milz,*Matt Freix, D. Baker*and many others.* There's so many people I'd like to work with locally, I'd really like to work with Ron Ron, and Boy Big, along with many different producers like Lil R, Elmo, Ozone, etc.* I'm sure there's more then a handful of dope artists locally I haven't heard yet, I look forward to finding new shit.* On a mainstream level I'd*like to work with Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, Wale, B.O.B., Mickey Factz, and the Cool Kids.**If I had money or financial backing I'd be working with a lot more artists.* Right now most of the stuff I been doin, I been out on my own.
Top 5 rappers from the midwest? Top 5 in the mainstream?
*I can't really technically say who's the "Top 5" but my favorite 5 in the midwest are Kanye, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Eminem (Independent favorites are Geezel (Joe Mizzery),*The Cool Kids, P.O.S., Krizz Kaliko, and Ron Ron)*My favorite 5 in the mainstream would be Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, B.O.B., and Wale
Best thing that's ever happend to you?
*The best thing that's ever happened to me was the births of my children, but musically the best thing that's happened to me was being featured on djbooth.net after trying and trying to get on it.* They finally selected a song, and people was going on there all day for me showing love, and they pumped my song all the way to the number 10 spot on the Independent Charts.* That was real big for me.* I worked really hard to get it, so it felt that much better when I did.
*Where do you record ?
*I record wherever I get the chance, but I do all of my studio albums at Chapman Recording in KC with Rob Rebeck.* My street albums and mixtapes*are usually recorded between my home studio in my basement and Overlooked Ent studios ran by my producer Ivan Martinez.* But I'll record anywhere and I'm always down to collab, so hit me up at [email protected] and I got you.* Thanks bro for the interview, I really appreciate it!
What's your inspiration?
*I would have to say I'm just inspired by life.**I write all of*my songs about what I'm going through, so however I feel at the time is always what ends up on the track.* I'm also inspired by music, every time I hear something I think is really dope, it motivates me to get in the studio and try to take it to the next level.* Being broke is also a very big inspiration, I have two kids to support, and music is what I do!
What are your short and long term goals, in music and in life?
*My short and long term goals are*pretty much*the same, I guess you could say I dont have much patience.* I just want to live off of music and take care of my children.* I don't need an Escalade or a chain, that's just not me, and money could never change who I am.* I just want to wake up every morning and make music to support my family, that's my dream.* I just want to share my passion for music with as many people possible.
Background info:**age, where you have lived, how long you've been doing music, how you got involved in music, do you make beats..?
*I'm 23 years old, I grew up in St. Joseph Missouri, about 45 minutes away from KC.* I've also lived in Mesa AZ and KC, but I grew up and spent most of my time in St. Joseph.* I recorded my first song at 9, but I was working on music every day and it was my main drive by the time I was 14.* That's when I got really serious, like this is what I want to do.* I've always been involved in music, I'm a fan before anything.* I never knew my birth father, but the man I've called my Dad my entire life is black, so my house was full of hip hop my whole life.* When I found my Dad's stash of cassette tapes, it was on from there!* The first song I heard that completely blew me away and made me want to do music was Problems by Rappin-4-Tay.* I loved that track when I was 9!* I was also really into Death Row and Warren G.* I make beats also, I've produced a lot of shit for myself and Geezel from my group.* I been working with some artists too that I've known for a minute, but my beats just now are getting around, I kept them on the low til I felt I was ready.
How often do you get a chance to perform live?
*I been blessed with a lot of opportunities to perform live.* I'm usually*the opener, but I've done shows with Sean P (Youngbloodz), La Chat, The Jacka, The 2 Live Crew, and a lot of local rappers from KC.* I got a lot of homies that do music and love to perform, so a lot of the time we trade shows, and always try to help each other out when we get a chance.* I*was on tour for a long time*with a*local rock band that I did a song with called Broken Avenue,*and I love performing at rock shows.* The energy is*crazy!* I'm really cool so I try to help out every one that helps me to show my appreciation.* August 15th I'm doing a show here with Ron Ron, Black Walt, and some others.
What the night life like in your town?
*Man, its pretty much dead here.* I can't even lie.* There's been some mainstream artists come out here, and you'd be surprised how much shit doesn't get any support here.* The college out here brought Rick Ross and Yung Joc to perform right when Trilla came out, so you thought it would be packed in there.* I was disappointed by the turn-out cause I wanted to get a lot more stuff like that going on here.* It's been getting better lately, but we still have a long way to go.
Who have you worked with, who would you like to work with?
*I'm in a group called the Joe Mizzery, so I'm always working with them and my 2 main producers Ivan Martinez and Rob 05.* I've worked with Krizz Kaliko, Smigg Dirtee, Abaleanie, 3rd Degree, and a lot more local artists.* I've worked with producers like Seven, Sean T, Rob Rebeck, D. Milz,*Matt Freix, D. Baker*and many others.* There's so many people I'd like to work with locally, I'd really like to work with Ron Ron, and Boy Big, along with many different producers like Lil R, Elmo, Ozone, etc.* I'm sure there's more then a handful of dope artists locally I haven't heard yet, I look forward to finding new shit.* On a mainstream level I'd*like to work with Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, Wale, B.O.B., Mickey Factz, and the Cool Kids.**If I had money or financial backing I'd be working with a lot more artists.* Right now most of the stuff I been doin, I been out on my own.
Top 5 rappers from the midwest? Top 5 in the mainstream?
*I can't really technically say who's the "Top 5" but my favorite 5 in the midwest are Kanye, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Eminem (Independent favorites are Geezel (Joe Mizzery),*The Cool Kids, P.O.S., Krizz Kaliko, and Ron Ron)*My favorite 5 in the mainstream would be Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, B.O.B., and Wale
Best thing that's ever happend to you?
*The best thing that's ever happened to me was the births of my children, but musically the best thing that's happened to me was being featured on djbooth.net after trying and trying to get on it.* They finally selected a song, and people was going on there all day for me showing love, and they pumped my song all the way to the number 10 spot on the Independent Charts.* That was real big for me.* I worked really hard to get it, so it felt that much better when I did.
*Where do you record ?
*I record wherever I get the chance, but I do all of my studio albums at Chapman Recording in KC with Rob Rebeck.* My street albums and mixtapes*are usually recorded between my home studio in my basement and Overlooked Ent studios ran by my producer Ivan Martinez.* But I'll record anywhere and I'm always down to collab, so hit me up at [email protected] and I got you.* Thanks bro for the interview, I really appreciate it!
