Niam: Brooklyn B*tch!

Introducing an artist by the name of Niam, who hails from the Bronx, New York. I received his song last night, and wasn’t sure what to do with it. The song was hot, the course was catchy, and wasn’t into the idea of a New Yorker, on a Cleveland based website. So, I was talking to Jus Mic’s manager Karl, and I threw it at him; in a subliminal manner! I didn’t know how I felt about putting artist’s, from other area’s on the site. He made a suggestion, and I ran with it. Thank you Karl, for the inspiration. Now, on to the interview; let’s get to know the man behind, “Brooklyn Bi*ch”.

216TheTakeOver.com: Hey, whats up this is 216thetakeover.com

Niam: Hey man, what’s goin on?

216TheTakeOver.com: Not much you?

Niam: Word. I’m Chillin. Just trying to follow up with the song lol, I’m trying to really get it out there.

216TheTakeOver.com: Nice, what inspired the song?
Niam: Honestly, I had an encounter with a girl a couple of months ago, and prior to meeting her, I never really been to Brooklyn. So it was just her style, being a Brooklyn chick.
216TheTakeOver.com: Interesting, so does she know this song is inspired by her “Brooklyn” style?
Niam: The funny thing about that is, I never told her I rap. I doubt she even knows the song is out there. so if she happens to hear it, it would probably be a bit of a surprise for her.
216TheTakeOver.com: Ha, nice. How would you compare the music scene atmosphere in the Bronx, to anywhere else?
Niam: Well, every borough has a different style when it comes to hip hop and with the Bronx, i think coming from rappers like Big Pun, Fat Joe, or Slick Rick, there’s more of a slick style of rapping. To me personally, I think we are more of the rappers that are on the corners and in front of the bodegas when it comes to that style of hip hop. Everything from ciphers, to just being real slick with our metaphors and rhyming. We’re the block party rappers to say, lol.
216TheTakeOver.com: I agree, I’ve heard a lot of exclusive freestyle battles from all over New York, New Jersey, and so on. Any way, are you familiar with any Ohio, hip-hop?
Niam: I’m not actually. Maybe I would recognize a couple of names if you through it out there but, the only rappers I recognize from Ohio was Bone Thugs. I’m not up on anything out of that state that’s recent though.
216TheTakeOver.com: Jus Mic, Throw Back, Twizted Mind’s, Mr. 44, Copywrite, Phonix Jones, E.S.O., Hi-Tek,
just to name a few off the top of my head.
Niam: I recognize Hi-Tek, and Twizted Mind’s out of all the names the most.

216TheTakeOver.com: How would you compare their style being from Ohio, to your’s being from New York?
Niam: Thats a good one. In General from their style coming out of the Midwest to my style coming from new york, I think you can compare the songs more than anything else. I’m a story teller, and I hear it in Midwest music coming from Hi-Tek, Bone Thugs, etc. Even with the recent rappers, when I hear a lot of stuff out of Ohio, the similarity is with songs and the love for storytelling.
216TheTakeOver.com: Great answer. You classify yourself, as a hip-hop artist. How do you feel about todays state of music, not on piracy, but the “snap & roll” phenomenon?
Niam: Thank you. I think its great honestly. A lot of people are uptight about new music, and they forget about having fun a lot of the time. I make music on both the lyrical and production side, so I get bored real fast when I’m hearing the same thing over and over again. I honestly feel like music is always going to make a transition into something different, and it only opens up doors for everyone else who are not able to create hip hop music a certain way. It creates diversity and that’s what I’m big on. I love everything about the snap and roll phenomenon and anything else that is new to the hip hop scene. Its a challenge for me to be different and create different music and thats why I love it.
216TheTakeOver.com: I wish more people would see everything in color, shades of grey are old. While on that subject, what CD’s are you currently listening to?
Niam: Michael Jackson’s 25th Thriller anniversary album lol. On the hip hop/R&B side of things, The Clipse, Estelle, Jazmine Sullivan, Keri Hilson, I’m actually listening to more R&B than hip hop these days. Jay and Kanye, and Jeezy of course but not that much rap.

Niam:I sort of live in the past with hip hop if you know what I mean
216TheTakeOver.com: Do you have the new Jeezy album yet? His style has changed, still enjoy the music though.
216TheTakeOver.com: Yes I agree strongly, not much “pure” hip-hop know a-days, if I dare to say.
Niam: I’m actually waiting for my copy right now lol. “Put on” blew me away when I heard it, and his style has really changed. He’s evolving from being a rapper to a real main stream artist
Niam: You’re right, although I love a lot of new music, the one thing that lacks in today’s world of hip hop is substance
216TheTakeOver.com: I found the further underground you go for hip-hop, the more you’ll enjoy the music, can you agree on that?
Niam: definitely. I agree 100%. When there’s no business or politics involved, the only thing left is the love, and that’s what hip hop was built off of.
D ment3d (3:06:13 PM): Exactly, touchy question! Is hip-hop a culture; a way of life, or is hip-hop simply music, in your opinion?
Niam: lol. Obviously you know I’m going to say a culture. Everything a lot of people do revolves around hip hop whether they realize it or not. Hip Hop has provided a lot of jobs for people who would be out of work if it wasn’t for the business. And coming from the musical standpoint, going back all the way to 1978 and earlier, when you break down hip hop, from the dj, to the emcee, to the style, the fashion, grafitti, the politics, and everything that comes along with it, you’re looking at a very powerful culture. Hip Hop has influenced the world, and if that is not a way of life, I don’t know what it is, lol.
216TheTakeOver.com: Just the answer I wanted, because I feel the same way. I wasn’t raised around hip-hop. I found it on my own, around 9. What’s your earliest memory of hip-hop?

Niam

Niam: Wow. When I first went to public school, the fourth grade. Um, I got into rapping because I use to love to write poetry, but my friends were all rappers so I just ended up doing it, and I was NICE! lol. But the biggest memory I have is everything you do when you discover something like that for the first time. Me and my friends had lunchroom battles, I was always in the projects at my friends house recording songs for the hell of it out of cheap ass equipment and when I got frustrated with the corny beats we were stealing, I just started making beats for us and we started recording at my house, thats my earliest best memory of hip hop.
216TheTakeOver.com: Good memeroies to have. You said, you started from poetry, are you native to your root, still?
Niam: Well, I think yes because I have a lot of written material that I’ve never recorded which is poetically influenced. The way I write when it comes to certain songs, you can almost hear the poetry behind it. But until I record them, I can’t really go into it, its something you would have to hear rather than have me explain. But I am big on poetry so my writing style reflects it for the most part
216TheTakeOver.com: That’s great, and I can also relate as I have writing talent myself. Poetry as is music, are wonderful ways to free yourself. Who influnced your passion for poetry, and writting?
Niam: Aside from school and my english teachers, I would have to say Def Poetry Jam. I grew up on that show. No one in particular, just the way that show was organized and arranged, it gave me a light on what Poetry really was and how many broken down styles there was to poetry.
216TheTakeOver.com: I love Def Poetry Jam, have a few seasons of those on DVD. So Niam, any project’s for us to look out for?
Niam: Yes man. I’m working on my mixtape right now. The Black & White Mixtape. The reason why I’m calling it that is because a lot of the songs I written for it was at a time when I was colorblind to a lot of stuff that was going on in my life. I was seeing everything on a gray scale, but not in the way you might think. Its going to be like an EP for me, so I can just break down all my music and how I see things.
216TheTakeOver.com: Look forward to hearing more from you. Thank you for taking time out to personally speak with me!
Niam: Yes man, ANYTIME!
Niam: Just let me know.
216TheTakeOver.com: Thanks, if the site can help in any way, feel free to contact me.
Niam:: Of course, I definitely will man. Thanks for reaching out and giving the feedback, I appreciate it more than anything else.
216TheTakeOver.com: Any time! So, to everyone reading this check out Niam on Myspace.