Virginia Beach has a new artist making noise named Profile, we had to chance to feature his latest mixtape “Cold Shoulder” and sit down with Profile for a 1 on 1 interview. If your not familiar with Profile yet, prepare to get to know the young rising artist as he has been taking over many websites with his new material lately. Check out the full interview below!
ViewHipHop: Who is PROFILE? where are you from? etc..
Profile: I’m a 26 year old creative rap artist from Virginia Beach. I’ve traveled around a bit but, I always come back Virginia is home base for me.
ViewHipHop: Being from Virginia Beach – how does the local sound effect your music style?
Profile: I get my ideas and my creative musical taste from the hall of famers from Virginia Beach like Timberland, Missy Elliot, and Pharrell Williams. The local sound that’s around here now is a mixture of everything; East Coast, West Coast, and Down South…so, it helps me create a very diverse and unique sound.
ViewHipHop: Years back NY had the sound, then the west coast made its impression, leading to the south and ATL / Miami sound taking over the scene. At the moment Chicago is making the most noise – how can you get Virginia as the next major area to get its sound heard?
Profile: Well it all has to do with the movement, my movement is strong and the more people that move with me the louder the VA sound will be. The one thing about the regions you mentioned is that when they start making noise it’s more than just one artist it’s 3 or 4. So, I’m just paving the way for my state to have more of a musical identity.
ViewHipHop: Your highly anticipated mixtape “Cold Shoulder” recently dropped, how has the reaction been to it so far the first week?
Profile: It’s been great! I have a real solid campaign, It’s all about progress, staying focused, and executing every point of the plan.
ViewHipHop: Alot of artists drop mixtapes and post them online and do nothing, your grind by far compared to others is insane, what drives you to work so hard on the promotion of your work after putting so much time and effort into the actual production of the entire project?
Profile: For one I refuse to just be a local rapper. Like you said there are a lot of people that make music but they don’t push it. This is my life and one of my dreams. So, for me it’s mandatory there isn’t a day that I wake up and don’t work on the music be it recording, writing, or promoting. Secondly, if I’m not out there pushing my music and trying to get it into the right hands, who is? We are each in charge of our destinies.
ViewHipHop: Alot of artists load there mixtapes with so many features of their local friends and rappers from their area, you just dropped a 19 track mixtape solely of you rapping the whole mixtape with no features. I believe a mixtape should be like this to show off your talent and not 15 other people, tell us more about how you came to the conclusion of dropping a pure solo mixtape…
Profile: Being so dedicated to my craft has made me a very solid artist. This is my first mixtape and my first impression to fans I didn’t want there to be any confusion on who they were listening to, what my sound is, and who I am as an artist.
ViewHipHop: Another great point about your mixtape “Cold Shoulder” is that you range and show your skills over many style beats from ballad style to electronic techno beats, many others normally have one flow, one style, and thats all there range – what inspired you to spread out your talents over so many different styles?
Profile: What inspired me is the basic art form of music. When you listen to music you don’t think of one style, one genre, one culture. When I listen to music I listen to a mixture of things depending on my mood; classical, rock, jazz, country, techno, r&b, acoustic, opera anything and everything.
ViewHipHop: After the “Cold Shoulder” mixtape release, what else is on the horizon for Profile?
Profile: June 3rd I’m dropping the I Know Pro “Freebase” video on Worldstarhiphop.com, I’m going to Hawaii to try and make some noise out there, I’m talking to Coast to Coast mixtapes right now about doing a 5 city tour with them. June 23rd I’m dropping the “LNO” video on Worldstarhiphop.com which is the single to the “Cold Shoulder” mixtape. I have a show at Spice Lounge in Waldorf, MD on June 28th. Most importantly I’m releasing the first single to my album the first week of August with the entire album dropping Mid-August.
ViewHipHop: Just a few days ago XXL released its 2014 freshman list, a question we like to ask many artists on the rise is – can you see yourself on a upcoming XXL freshman list?
Profile: Yes, I can see myself on the list. But, that has more to do with the fans and the people voting. I try not to worry too much about that. I just focus on making good music and pushing it with as much force as I can.
ViewHipHop: Where can people reach you for bookings?
Profile: They can drop me a line on my website www.iknowpro.com or email Iknowprofile@gmail.com
ViewHipHop: Where can the fans listen to your material? & when can we expect another album?
Profile: You can find my music at:
www.iknowpro.com
http://www.audiomack.com/artist/profile
http://www.datpiff.com/Profile-IKnowPro-Cold-Shoulder-mixtape.610257.html
https://www.facebook.com/iknowpro
https://twitter.com/iknowpro
http://www.iknowpro.com/
http://instagram.com/iknowpro
https://soundcloud.com/iknowpro
https://www.youtube.com/user/iknowpro
As far as another album I have my first one dropping in August and I’ve started my second mixtape which should be out at the beginning of next year. So, the second album should be out sometime next fall.