Photo: Todd Westphal
Cage
By Bryan Miller
What happens when living every indie rappers dream becomes a nightmare? Apparently if you are Chris Palko, aka rapper Cage, you release an album entitled Depart From Me ─a middle finger aimed squarely at success and clean living. The new album is a reminder that sometimes when you finally peak, the easiest thing to do is to spiral down. Cage explains first hand why after seven years in the music industry, his view from the top has become his view from the bottom.
StopBeingFamous: There is a YouTube video with you talking about how you used to get “edge ups”, a hair cut usually associated with African Americans, comparing this to a form of subtle black face. Can you explain what you mean by this? Specifically, what do you feel is your role as a white rapper? As a white artist making music that was created and pioneered by African Americans, where do you draw the line between aping a culture as opposed to venerating it?
Cage: Okay. Um [takes deep breath] as a child, I grew up in a predominantly poor area. All of my friends were black, so, that's where I got all of my influences. We listened to the same music, same interests, same likes and dislikes. I was pulled in both directions. My family didn't really understand what I was doing and they were constantly mocking me. From the other end, I had black friends that accepted me because they were my friends. There were also black people that were offended by me. When I was younger, I thought it was appropriate to use the "N" word. I thought since all of my friends use the "N" word in an endearing way and they say it to me, I had no problem saying it. At the time, there were tons of kids going through that same thing. It's a hard thing to explain to certain circles if they don't come from that.
SBF: Where would you say you are in terms of “race” and identity now?
Cage: I would say that I'm an adult. As you get older, you change. I'll never forget where I came from. I came from nothing and grew up broke. As far as what I meant by the hair cut, I think it got misconstrued depending on who wants to decipher it. My daughter is black. I've been raising a young black girl for over a decade. It's difficult trying to explain everything to her; I don't have all the answers. Sometimes, I have to look to her mother to explain certain things to her. I can't articulate what I want to say in a way that she'll be able to absorb. All I have is, you know, shit that I heard from movies about her being light skinned, or why her black friends tell her she's not black.
SBF: How old is your daughter?
Cage: She's 13 now.
SBF: Okay.
Cage: Not everyone that portrays the quote, unquote, black experience came from it. I wasn't a kid who sat in front of my television and saw a couple of rap videos that I liked, or went to the mall and bought a pair of tailor fit baggy jeans. I was a product of my environment, as everyone else is. As I got older, my interest changed. I started lifting weights and I got healthy. I started educating myself to different things. I began to realize that I didn’t want to look like everyone else. Every white rapper, for the most part, looks like a stereotype. Nothing against them, but I feel like that's forced upon them. White people in Hip-Hop are like Muslim women who need to cover their hair. It becomes this very self-conscious thing and it made me feel very uncomfortable. I don't think that it's racist, but it's racially conscious. It's strange and weird. It wasn't like I woke up one day and said I was offending black people and that I should stop dressing like this. I got fucking tired of looking the same for decades. I kind of felt like this isn't me. I've been wearing these huge fucking pants for a decade. I became aware of style.
SBF: Do you notice increased attention from the female fans now?
Cage: [Laughing] Yeah, of course. It's a lot better.
SBF: Shia Labeouf [the star of the movie Transformers] directed and did a cameo in your latest video for “I Never Knew You”. How did that collaboration come about?
Cage: He contacted me via email and said he had been a fan for years. He said that he wanted to make a movie about me and I thought he was crazy, but I said okay. He followed me on tour with a video camera and made a documentary about me. He interviewed friends, family, and all that shit. He pitched it to his agency and they loved it. Through the process, he and I became even closer friends because we're both crazy and we both have a lot of fake people around us. We're currently looking for a writer. That was the whole point of him doing the video, to raise my profile.
SBF: Your new album was leaked on the internet recently. As an artist pouring so much time into creating a piece of work, how do you deal with this kind of thing? In this era of internet piracy, do you think there is any way to avoid these leaks or is it just a part of making music now?
Cage: If I were Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails and making millions of dollars touring, I wouldn't give a flying fuck, but considering the fact that I do have to do some numbers and move some copies so I can get people to come to shows, I'm affected by it. That's why I gave a free EP away. My record was leaked a month before it came out, which I was surprised about. I thought it would have been leaked a lot sooner. The copy that was out was jacked up. The press copy we sent out was a lower bit rate and it had water marks in the beginnings and ends of the songs, which was a stupid idea. It skips in the beginning, middle and end of each song. Whoever ripped the copy, just threw it on Garage Band, not even Protools. You can't control it, people are going to do it, and I do it too. You can piss and moan about it, but you got to accept that there are just a percentage of people who will not buy your music. On another level, I don't care because when I'm online and people are criticizing, it's like unless you bought my album and you really hated it, then I can understand. But if you're just some asshole who downloaded a couple songs and you have this opinion of me or Hip-Hop, you stole my product, blow me.
SBF: You’ve always been very public with your own personal struggles. The new album is maybe more personal than anything you have ever released. What were you hoping your fans took away from your new album entitled Depart from Me?
Cage: To be honest, I just didn't care anymore. I didn't care about music, or about anything. The one thing that Depart from Me has in common with Movies for the Blind (2002 album) is that I did not give a flying fuck about what anyone thought. Hell's Winter (2005 album) I really cared a lot. I wanted to make this record and change myself, and I was saying all of these things in hopes that I would believe them. I was on this kick─ I can be better, just stick with it, take a risk, and I believed all of this stuff. With this record, I hit what alcoholics refer to as “the bottom”. I was at the bottom and was drowning in dire straits. I had just watched my best friend die of cancer, who was also my closest musical collaborator. My girlfriend walked out on me, and we had a place together for four years. I knew I was supposed to be making some progressive record, but I was so angry. I wanted my songs to be fucking pissed off or just fucking drugged out. It was like an escape for me. It seems like every time I shed a layer of skin, someone has a problem with it, but I'm not in this business to make friends with people. I'm in this business to take your money and entertain you.
SBF: Do you feel you need to be unhappy to make good music?
Cage: Whether or not I make good music is subjective to whoever is listening to it. I don't know if my music is good or if it sucks. Sonically and technically, it's correct. A bunch of people seem to dig it, which keeps me continuing to make it. Depart from Me is about what I was going though at the time. It was me trying to make correlations between what happened to me as a youth and shit that I had never worked out in my head, or I was still struggling with as an adult. That became my focus. Some people would say go ahead and complain, be the victim. The record is not “poor me”, it a very self-destructive, self-loathing record. No one can hate me more than I hate myself, ever.
SBF: Is there anything that you still enjoy about what you do?
Cage: I'm on tour now, and I'm having fun. I think right now, I've just lost passion about making music. I live a very surreal life. Some days are amazing and some days are complete shit. I'm not excited by anything anymore. Everyone's all up in arms about me being number two on iTunes, and I'm like, it’s cool─ they assume I’m not excited. I am, but think I've already seen the other side. All of my biggest fears and nightmares about the entertainment industry came true when I stuck my head over on the other side. I always wondered what it was like. I had my face up against the glass for so long, just drooling, and I finally got to stick my face through to the other side, and I've seen it.
SBF: What is it like?
Cage: There's nothing to be excited about. It's the same, just a lot more superficial. I guess it's just superficial actually. It's just about money and a lot people pulling strings. There's a lot of people getting over on people. There's a lot people hurting and disrespecting people. It's a very interesting business. I'm dancing with the devil right now.
SBF: How long do we have with you? Have you thought about ducking out?
Cage: Yeah, definitely. I'm going to go out, get as big as I possibly can, and not come back. Just be done with it. I can and I will. I'll be happy about it. End of Interview
|
Shia Lebeouf and Cage on set of I Never Knew You Photo: Todd Westphal
Photo: Todd Westphal
|
