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Artist of the Month: Twista
Unless you've been living under a rock or boycotting MTV, chances are you've heard Twista's hilarious single "Slow Jamz" with fellow rapper Kanye West and comedian Jamie Foxx. The Chicago-native holds the world record for being the fastest rapper. Fortunately for us, he talked much slower during this phone interview. Listen to Twista's new singles Overnight Celebrity and Slow Jamz.
You have a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest rapper, when did you realize you could spit rhymes so fast?
I got into hip-hop really early on, when I first started watching old hip-hop movies, like Beat Street and Krush Groove. So I started beat boxing and rapping on the corner with my buddies. We'd have rap battles in the schoolyard and do a whole lot of talent shows. That was the thing to do. So as I started rhyming more, I just tried rapping faster and faster each time. Once I wrote a whole song like that and saw how fluid I could still kick it. That's what made me realize that I had a pretty good speech thing going on.
If you were a superhero, what would your superpowers be?
I would have to be someone really fast, like Flash. I used to like Flash and Iceman.
You've obviously been in the business for a long time before becoming famous. How did you eventually get a record deal?
I did a lot of independent stuff and signed a few deals that eventually fell through until the right one came along with Atlantic and...uh...
What's wrong?
I'm sorry I'm at the gas station and this guy is standing in my face doing all these crazy things trying to get my attention.
That's hilarious. I guess that's the type of thing you have to get used to now.
Yeah, the one thing I love is seeing all different kinds of people respond to my music. I was in a restaurant recently when an older Chinese man said "Yo, Twista can I get your autograph?" and then another time a guy from Germany started singing "Slow Jamz" lyrics to me. That stuff really trips me out.
The cool thing about your song is that it references really old-school teen idols like New Edition and Ready for the World. Do you have any personal favorites that you listened to when you were a teenager?
All of those that you just mentioned. The fun part about all of the names I used in the record is that I'm turning people on to a fun era in music. A lot of the MTV generation don't know who these groups are. I'm all about getting back to the vibe, when artists just wanted to make a tight hip-hop jam and get the party kicking.
Listen to Twista's new singles Overnight Celebrity and Slow Jamz. Overnight Celebrity Real One | Windows Media Player
