SHIZZY SIXX
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 1:58AM 
SHIZZY SIXX
INTERVIEW BY ROB NAYLOR
YouTube has become a pivotal platform for artists who want to gain exposure, and Shizzy Sixx has taken that approach. Not only does he have a channel on the popular internet site displaying his lyrical skills, but he has also developed a way to market himself and his music by posting his comedic yet serious opinions ranging from topics such as relationships to whatever is going on in the world today. One thing to keep in mind is that Shizzy Sixx is one of the dopest young emcees you probably haven’t heard of….YET!
Thanks for stopping through to chop it up with Empire Radio Magazine. We keep our ear to the street and when we find new talent, we like to get them the exposure they deserve. Please let the people know who you are and where you’re from.
"What that do everybody? Name’s Shizzy Sixx, I'm a 20 year old MC hailing straight from the streets of Brooklyn, New York. Consider me a rebel to society and a riot in your ears."
Brooklyn is known for breeding lyrical emcees. How did you get started rapping and when did you realize that you had the ability to do so at a high level?
"Well honestly, I've always been a writer. I personally would rather create my own stories than read those of another author, ya know? Hiphop for me started off as a play thing. Back during my high school days, I'd spit a stupid freestyle about the teachers or one of the students I didn’t like (while they were there, of course) while a friend of mine would bang on the lunchroom table. I started actually going for this hiphop thing about a year and a half ago. I tried writing my first verse and it came out pretty good, so I kept at it and overtime it evolved from a play thing to my soul and reason for being."
You have a pretty unique name…how did you come up with the name Shizzy Sixx and what’s the meaning behind it?
"Well uh, Shizzy comes directly from how my personality used to be, strangely enough. It’s derived from the word ‘shy’. I played around with the word a bit, threw the ‘izz’ in there, and well POW! Shizzy came to be. Sixx, well… I kinda sorta... well... forgot how that got there... haha."
You have a huge following on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Can you talk a little bit about your fan base and who you do this music for.
"Sure. Well, I have a movement called Rebel Squad, Riot Gang and well, it’s pretty much for those who aren't tools to society, ya know? The movement is pretty much something you can rep if you stay true to who YOU are as a person and remain as such. I make this music for those people. Those who stay true to themselves rather than conform to society’s standards, ya know? I've never been just another face in the crowd and neither should they. Life without originality is grey and robotic and that’s not a lifestyle I wish to take part in. REBEL SQUAD, RIOT GANG, BANG BANG!!!!"
In your YouTube videos I noticed you have some stuffed animals in the background of just about every video. I can’t help but think there’s some meaning to them. What’s up with the stuffed animals, Sixx (laughs)?
"Haha, I'm a bit of a softy. When I'm not sinking my fangs into a beat in my headphones I'm pretty much the sweetest fella on this planet. True story. Those stuffed animals were all gotten through some wacky, off the wall adventure with friends, so they kinda bring character to my room. *shrug*"
The music industry, as well as society, is infatuated with image and sometimes people develop preconceived notions about people, especially about artists based on their looks. Honestly, I’ve never seen a hiphop artist with your look, which I feel is a good thing. Can you talk a little bit about your style/swag and how it all came about?
"Truth be told, I'm a rock boy. I live a rocker lifestyle with a hiphop soul. You can search through my iPod and find that 92% of it consists of heavy guitars and people screaming at the top of their lungs. When it comes down to it, I stay true to my rock lifestyle with my image but don’t let the piercings, long hair and metal music fool you! I can do SERIOUS damage, given a mic and a beat."
Who are some artists you looked up to growing up and who do you look up to today?
"My influences in music are (in this exact order) Los, Royce Da 5'9, Crooked I, Joe Budden, Eminem, Joell Ortiz, Cory Gunz, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks and Mickey Factz"
What Independent artist would you like to work with? What Mainstream artist would you like to work with?
"Indie, I'd say the homie Hopsin (shoutout to him), and mainstream I'd have to say Los, Royce, or Fab."
In your Christmas video, I noticed you said that one of your demands for Santa was to see Young Money out of business (laughs), and you want to be signed by Good Music. For hiphop heads such as myself, I can determine from that the type of artist you aspire to be, but just to clarify, what were your thoughts behind that?
"Want me to be honest? Young Money (aside from Cory Gunz) makes me CRINGE! Wayne is just so... I don’t know if unappealing is the right word, but that's the word I'll use. Nicki makes me want to hide under my bed because she does this whole ‘I'm gonna rap like a bunch of different personalities’ thing and it bugs me out, and DRAKE... OH... MY... AUDREY... man, I don’t know what to say about this man... I used to be a fan back when he was ACTUALLY impressive as a rapper (*cough… Comeback Season… cough*). I don’t wanna get into that too much. I can go ON AND ON about that group. That collective is pretty much blegh to me. Cory is raw but isn't getting the shine he deserves, Drake needs to stop trying to rescue strippers and crying over females, blah blah, Lil Twist needs to hit puberty, Lil Chuckee... *sigh* Gudda Gudda... Do I really have to continue?... haha."
With that said, how do you feel about the music industry in its current state, and where do you see it in 10 years?
"Music is in a fine state. There are a bunch of subgenres floating around that makes everything so diverse and new that you'll never know WHAT you'll get into, ya know? I think everything’s fine EXCEPT for the fact that hiphop hasn’t really been about skill with the pen lately, but hey, who am I to complain ya know? I'll kick the doors down eventually."
I see you enter a lot of competitions/contests. What has your experience been like so far in rap competitions/contests?
"Pretty cool, actually. I've built quite a bit of my fan base off of competitions. I always enter with a go hard or go home attitude so when it comes down to it, if I'm about against your favorite rapper, best BELIEVE I'm aiming to make him/her look foolish and win you over. I'm always out for blood when its competition time. I've always been that way."
Okay, now I know you’ll probably laugh as hard as I did when I heard this, but some guy named Icedwatawheatley had a “diss” song coming at you. Did you ever respond to that? If you didn’t, I don’t think anyone would blame you. (Laughs). How many rap battles have you been in? Have any ever been really competitive?
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BAHAHAHAHAHA ICEWATA AHAHAHAHAHA. Oh… my.... GOD!!! That guy is pure comedy and he REALLY thinks he's ethering me with those poor excuses for diss tracks, but hey, I do like to watch them. They're freakin’ HILARIOUS!!! As for rap battles it’s not really my scene, ya know? I've dropped a diss response or two but left it at that. I'd much rather make music for your iPod and system rather than battle. *shrug* Much respect to battlers and what they do, though I love watching Smack, Grindtime and KOTD"
What projects can we go get that we’ve missed out on already and what do you have coming up in the future?
"My mixtape Act Sixx was released on my birthday December 11th. You can go get that at Datpiff and as for upcoming projects you'll just have to kick back and watch the mayhem unfold."
How can everyone get in touch with you online and where can we download that Good music?
Thanks for the interview, it’s been real. Time to turn things up!!!”
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