I F*cking Love PackFM
aboveGround Magazine: Your album is composed more of a story, why did you decide to format it like that?
PackFM: I formatted it the way I did because I felt like people shouldn’t just be listening to songs with a record like this, I felt like it should be an overall experience. So while I was writing songs I was thinking of the scenarios that inspired the words and I just laid it all out. In the end it makes for a more interractive listening than just the best 15 songs I could do.
AGM: What are you trying to change within the rap game? I ask this because you say in I F*cking Hate Rappers “The first step to changing things is getting people angry”.
PFM: The standard of music needs to be the priority. If people were more concerned with how good an artist’s music was, rather than who they got beef with or what groupies they’re fucking, we wouldn’t have the issues we have now. And, a lot of people are becoming quite complacent with things and just accepting this steady decline. So someone needs to draw attention to this and let them know, if you don’t act now its only going to get worse. So you gotta get them pissed off so that they want to take a closer look and actually do something about it.
“If hip hop were a woman, she’d have one loose pussy”
AGM: A lot of people like where hip-hop is going though, so I’m guessing you don’t like how hip-hop is right now?
PFM: I think there is definitely more good hip-hop in 2010 than let’s say 2007. But the standard of music is still pretty low. There’s nothing that encourages people to push the envelope a little and be a great artist. The art of making an album is dead and being replaced with monthly mixtapes. Songs aren’t made to be digested; they’re made to fill blog content for the day. So, yes, there is some great hip-hop here and there, but the overall picture is pretty sad. It’s going to take more than one good Jay Electronica MP3 to convince me that things are alright.
AGM: Damn. Thats so true. People always go for the mixtapes. But when the album dropped did you have any fear with the reception of the album? I ask because people might not see the artistic freedom in the music and just see it as dissing.
PFM: If I had any fear of how the record would be received I wouldn’t have been able to say most of what I said. I just spoke my mind front to back, I don’t care what anybody thinks about how I feel, you either agree or you don’t. I’m down to have a discussion with anybody any day. The only thing I care about is that it sounds good musically and is enjoyable to listen to. As for dissing, I didn’t diss anybody on the record. Not once. Nothing I said was disrespectful, just references that highlight what I’m thinking. People just look for a reason to sensationalize things. But there’s no dissing anywhere on this record.
AGM: Why do you think people look for a reason to try and sensationalize things?
PFM: Because, who wants to deal with the truth? Let’s say someone looks at what I said about Dilla Changed Your T Shirt. They’re going to say “Pack dissed Dilla” rather than take a step back and realize that I’m not dissing Dilla at all, but I’m actually talking about them, people who hopped on the Dilla bandwagon after he died and wore the t-shirt just to seem down. So its way easier to just be like, “Pack dissed Dilla and is hating,” than to admit that they probably never heard a Slum Village record in their life.
AGM: True, True, and that’s a shame within itself. It also seems that anyone with a computer mic wants to be a rapper. And not even a good one. Why do you think everyone and their mother is trying to rap? You touch on that a few times throughout the album
PFM: People rap because they want to be rich and famous and they can’t sing, act, play an instrument or suck at sports. So what’s left? Rapping. They figure anybody can make words rhyme and talk over a beat. Essentially they have no respect for the art and skill that goes into creating great rap music. Ask most of these rappers if they were offered all the fame and a lot of money and the only condition would be to never rhyme again ever, they’d do it in a heartbeat. A lot of people rap because they love the music and the culture, but just because you love to eat food doesn’t mean you’re a chef, so just because you love hip hop doesn’t make you a rapper.
AGM: Do you ever regret getting into hip-hop? In the album you have a line like, “I used to love her till i found out this hottie was a whore.” Do you think people would put you in that box of “I just rap for the money and fame”?
PFM: I’m not rich, and I’m not famous, so I don’t see how I could fit in that box at all. I don’t regret any involvement in hip hop. I love this culture with a passion, lets never get that twisted. But when it gets to the point that everybody on earth is fucking with it just because, rather than having a real passion for it, it takes away from you enjoying it yourself. So the following line is “I can’t wait til she ain’t fuckin’ anybody anymore”. If hip hop were a woman, she’d have one loose pussy.
AGM: {Laughs} word. Have you noticed any criticism/anger from rappers coming your way for doing what you did on the album?
PFM: Rappers seem to like the concept the most, oddly enough. It’s like that Chris Rock skit where the chick is dancing to the most degrading song to women “He aint talkin ’bout me though!” The most criticism I’ve seen is from people who just don’t get it. I blame that on rappers though. Because so many rappers have tried to tackle similar subject matter, but they all say the same shit and after a while fans start to write off anything remotely close to it. But, I think anyone who actually takes an hour out of their day to simply listen to the words and the music will find it kind of refreshing.
AGM: No doubt, it really was. You saw our rating for the album. Last question for the interview — Where was the autotune on the album? You know you could of made it pop with that on it. {Laughs}
PFM: Ha! I think its hilarious that after Jay-Z said no more autotune, like 90% of the rappers stopped doing that shit.
AGM: {Laughs} No doubt. Na, but for real though, any last words or shout-outs before we wrap up the interview?
PFM: Yea last words as always – buy my shit. I really mean it though, if you want to see good music make it to the top, there’s only one way, and that’s through your pockets. The industry has proven that people are more than happy to buy garbage, now its time for people with taste in music to be accounted for.
PackFM’s I F*cking Hate Rappers is available now. Click to order from the QN5 website, or from iTunes.
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