Venus Dialogues | DRAGON

"Unearthed in Chicago. Raised in North Carolina. Schooled in Atlanta. Chiseled in New York. Polished in Los Angeles. Although he comes from humble roots, the raconteur known as Sum is no common hip-hop story." - Artist Biography

Absolute Venus: What is the album entitled?
Sum: The year 2012 was the year of the black water dragon in Chinese astrology, and I am a red fire dragon by that science. I called the project DRAGON as a way of embracing what it means to be a Dragon. It's a simple and powerful title, and I wanted simple and powerful to be the approach of the project. Spiritual, commanding, diverse, ferocious and compassionate are all things that describe the Dragon, and this project.

Absolute Venus: Is there an overall theme for Dragon Vol. 1?

Sum: I guess the theme was that I wanted people to understand that Dragon is not just the title of the album, but it's my lifestyle. I study nature and the cosmos, I'm in a constant state of physical training, I seek understanding... it's my own personal warrior lifestyle and I was trying to impart that on the book. Doing a book like this was uncharted territory for me, so I winged most of it and maybe the theme didn't come across cohesively. I wanted to give people a glimpse into how I'm living.

Absolute Venus: How is this project different ones that you have done in the past?

Sum: For one, this is my first solo album since The Lil Folk, which came out in 2006. Every other project I have worked on was a collaboration, and has it's own soul and sound. The Nobody Hole is a sci-fi opera collaboration with Badtouch. The Lone Wolf is a semi-autobiographical storytelling and confessionals collab with producer Belief. My band The Milky Wayis space-funk. Batmilk was a weird, short EP produced by QZR. They're all collaborative. In the years since I worked on those projects, I've become an entirely different person and a much better writer, and Dragon reflects this evolution. I'm not just a rapper now... I'm now a leader, a family man and somewhat of a creative business maverick. My roles are very defined. Dragon is also more straightforward in it's attitude than most of my previous projects. Most of my old stuff is at sumworld.bandcamp.com.

Absolute Venus: What specifically inspired you to do this album?

Sum: I needed to take some pressure off of my band, The Milky Way. I love them, but they can move maddeningly slow...it can drive me up a fucking wall. I'm definitely a workaholic when it comes to my music, but not everybody is like that, and I have to respect that. I was putting unnecessary expectations on my bandmates/friends, so I needed something of my own to work on to keep things cool. Also, The Milky Way is a group project and the songs should represent more of our band's overall mentality, and not just mine. So, I needed an outlet where I could write songs strictly for me. That's how Dragon started.

Absolute Venus: Are there any collabs (lyricists, producers, etc.) you would like to mention?

Sum: I want to shout my dude Badtouch, who A&R'd the whole project with me. He helped me conceptualize the project, pick the beats, find the right engineers and was the voice of reason all the way through. Without him, Dragon may have happened, but it wouldn't have been nearly as dope. He's been with me every step of the way since I started on my first album back in 2002.

Absolute Venus: What was it like to work with legendary producer Ski Beatz?

Sum: For me, one of the greatest things about working with Ski Beatz was watching how he handles his business. The moves he makes are so progressive, especially compared to a lot of cats at his level. He knows how to use social media to drum up business, and it's always professional. The partnerships he makes, the artists he collabs with and the way he brands himself are all brilliant. He's mastered the art of staying relevant. And then when he sent me that beat and I heard it for the first time, as an emcee who grew up listening to his music....nothing can really describe that feeling. I could feel my vibration turn up a few notches. He has high vibrations in his music and I didn't really notice until he sent me a naked beat that no one had ever heard before. That shit was surreal and instantly inspirational. Another great thing was, he didn't just toss me some throw away beat that he didn't give a shit about. I knew he worked on it and put his heart in it and was excited about it... he was like "yo, I fucking love that beat", and that was an honor.

Absolute Venus: What are your favorite record(s) on the album?

Sum: "Assholio", "Gun", "Sandman".... I wrote Dragon Vol. 1 and Dragon Vol. 2 at the same time, so I think about them as one long album. Most of my favorite songs are on Vol 2. I personally think it's the stronger project out of the two.

Absolute Venus: Where can hip hop heads buy the album? What formats (i.e. MP3, CD, vinyl)?
Sum: Dragon, Vol. 1 is a free mp3 download, you can get that at my website http://sumkilla.com.

Absolute Venus: Any upcoming concerts/performances? 

Sum: I'm working on booking shows that will be about Dragon & The Milky Way as one cohesive live show. We'll probably start on that in February/March in the year of the black water serpent, 2013.

Absolute Venus: Are there other projects that you are working on that you would like to mention?
Sum: Dragon, Vol. 2 might be out by Spring. The Milky Way is working on a new project too that will be more visual oriented. We're piecing together details now.

Check for more from Sum Killa at...
Official Site: http://sumkilla.com
The Milky Way site: http://themilky.com
Twitter: @sumkilla , @themilkywayans
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sum/215948985089801?ref=hl
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/sumkilla