Midufinga Interviews: Chilla Jones
Let's Begin.....
M: Who is Chilla Jones?
CJ: Chilla Jones is the master of wordplay and entendres! One of battle rap's greatest writers of all time. Songwriter. Lyricist. Father. Son. X-box Gamer. I am many things.
M: What battle made you want to get into battle rap? How did you get into battle rap?
CJ: The battle that made me want to get into battle rap was Murda Mook vs Loaded Lux, the first one. Never before had I seen words manipulated so beautifully. It literally changed the way I viewed rap as a whole, and I instantly became enthralled with putting my mind to the test, teaching myself the power of wordplay and entendres.
M: Which opponent was the hardest to write for?
CJ: The hardest opponent to write for I've ever had was Real Deal and Pass. Real Deal because, he's an open book. He has no shame in telling you about himself, his job, his son, his likes and dislikes, etc. And people have attacked it so much that to harp on any of it for too long just seems boring and repetitive. Outside of some creative name flips and plays on the words "Real" and "Deal", he was VERY difficult to write for. Pass was difficult for me to write for for a similar reason, that people have constantly played on the word "Pass" to attack him that it was tough to use that against him without feeling like I was being predictable. I pride myself, usually, on taking new, innovative approaches to opponents, and if I don't, I put new, innovatives spins on common angles and attacks.
M: Whats your favorite battle that your in? and that your not?
CJ: My favorite battle that I'm in has to be me versus JC. Me versus Daylyt and Me versus Magic are 2nd and 3rd, respectively. My favorite battle that I'm not in is probably Big T vs Tsu Surf, Murda Mook vs Loaded Lux (Pt. 1), or Loaded Lux vs Hollow Da Don.
M: How much love do you get from Boston being the most successful battle rapper to come out of the city? Any hate?
M: What advice would you give these new fans who are getting into battle rap?
CJ: Don't let popular opinion influence you. There are a lot of "cool things to say" to sound hip or like you're in the know, but a lot of those things are untrue, or totally opinionated. New fans tend to get swept into these waves by dealing with other fans and forget to actually form their own opinions and outlooks on things. Develop your own tastes for who is dope, and what's important to you in a battler. Over time, as you become more involved in the culture your opinion will always change or shift and certain battlers will grow on you, or certain battlers may eventually fall out of favor with you.
M: What would be your dream match?
CJ: I'm not sure if you mean for myself, or my dream match to see as a spectator so i'll answer it in both respects. My dream match is Loaded Lux. Battle between the 2 best pens in battle rap history. We're both intelligent, clever, witty and strategic in our approaches so I think it would be the ultimate war of the minds. My dream match to spectate would probably be Hollow Da Don vs Murda Mook. Assuming both emcees are on their A game and have ample preparation time. If and when that matchup ever happens, I have to be front and center for that.
M: What are some pros and cons of battle rap?
CJ: I could answer this questions a lot of different ways but to sum it up the best, the pros are that it's a less cluttered lane than music and if you're good at it, it's easier to build a brand and make a name for yourself. It's a platform that can take you to TV, Movies, Songwriting and to even higher plateaus in music. The cons are, that every performance is almost make or break. We don't get do overs or second tries in a battle. You forget your rounds that night, and that's it. Those rounds you wrote usually can't be used for anyone else. That's it. There's so much pressure involved and everything lives on YouTube forever, your best AND worst moments. So, there's that.
M: Do you feel its better to have more time or less time for an opponent?
CJ: It's hard to say. I've put on some of my best showings with a month prep time or less. And I've had some of my worst showings with 3 months or more prep time. As a person I'm very cerebral so I tend to overanalyze, overthink and overstrategize if given too much time. I feel like my performance is better with less prep time but my content is better with more prep time. If that makes sense. And I think 2 months is the ideal amount of prep time for me to get the best out of me.
M: Where do you see yourself in 5 years in battle rap? Music?
CJ: In 5 years I imagine I will have outgrown battle rap for the most part, but I hope battle rap is still continuing to grow and flourish, and I hope to be involved in other ways besides actually battling. Maybe owning or running a league, or a radio show or blog series discussing and promoting it. I love the culture I really do. Musically, its been a long time since I've had aspirations of becoming a huge rap music megastar. Really I've always just wanted to concentrate on the behind the scenes. Songwriting mostly. Maybe even learning audio engineering in a couple years and opening a studio. That would be my ideal business if I were to open one up or invest in something.
Thanks so much for your time. You can follow me on twitter @chillajones, instagram: chillajones, and on facebook.com/chillajonesofficial. BOSSTOWN!
