Proto (notjustOk Hype)

notjustOk hype will feature (or may be not) the future heavy hitters
in naija music. Any material featured in this category will be from
unsigned or up & coming Nigerian/African, artists/rappers/producer/record label that
contain nothing but promising content. There will only be a post a
month in this category.

If you have or know of anyone’s music that you feel is a hit or any good, please send an email to the official notjustOk email with a link to their page or where I can download the song.

So what attracted you to rap and how long have you been rapping?
Well rap was always what I knew I was gonna do. Growing up in the states it was always the sport of choice, I have just been fortunate to be able to participate. I’ve been doing it for like 9 years now..

Thats wassup. Just out of curiousty how did your parents, being Nigierian, react to it initially?
Initially there was a little opposition to be honest, but I think what did it for me was the fact that I showed and proved. Rather than convincing them that this was what I wanted to be my career of choice, I made it my career of choice… So they witnessed the response to the music and saw what I was doing and have since been fully supportive of the movement.

The first time I heard you was on eLDee‘s Big Boy remix. How did you guys hookup?
The don has been rockin with me for a minute now. Couple years back we linked up through a mutual friend and I realized his contribution to the scene in Naija and wanted to gain his respect as a Nigerian. I sent him some joints and it’s been Rose bottles ever since.

LOL!!!
Real tizzalk Lol

Exclusive – Don’t Want To Be Lonely

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So then you jumped on the remix…
Yezzir

You were in Nigeria over the Xmas, how was the experience?

It was the shit! I definitely was impressed with the level people were doing it at in Nigeria. It was a real experience for me. I went from chillin in the village with my cousins, to poppin bottles in the club with eLDee. I definitely had a dynamic and memorable experience

Towards the end of 2009, I heard the mixtape with ChiddyBang which was a pleasant surprise. Tell me about Chiddy Bang
Chiddy Bang is a group that I started with my boy Noah. Some may know him as Xaphoon Jones; We met in the states at the university and just linked up to make good music. Now we’re poised to do some exciting things this year.

Wow, so Chiddy Bang is a 2 man group; for some reason I thought you guys were 5 deep
Yeah its crazy we started off that way, but that was more so for the live aspect. Creatively we were always a duo working off each other in the studio. With the release of this new tape we sort of solidified ourselves as a duo. The press always posts us as a 5 piece because they aren’t current.

O ok. Is there an album in the works on the ChiddyBang side of things?
Most def. when the time is right. We actually have a 3 song Ep coming out in the UK on Feb. 22nd. We’ll follow that up with another mixtape and then start working on an album.

My Guys Dem

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Live! So can you speak Igbo and Naija slangs; some folks were doubting your pidgin and Igbo skills when they heard ‘Shayo De Go’ and ‘My Guys Dem’?
Lol I be naija boy o, check the passport. I speak a good bit of Igbo in general because thats the language of choice in my household.

Shayo De Go

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Really? The only Igbo I can say is ‘Ogini‘… Speaking of those two new bangers… When is a solo Proto album coming and will it be under Trybe records? Are you going to go solo here in the states as well? I think you can hold both markets well.
All I can say is stay tuned and don’t change that channell! Prime Time. You can expect something to drop under Trybe Records for Naija very soon. I won’t dull the people. As far as everything else it’s all strategy. We will be the movement to move with this year.

Wise man; speak less and do more.
Thats how we were brought up

Exclusive – Over You Produced by KiD KonnecT

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So who were some of your influences coming up and how did you get Black Thought on that track?
Well my influences were really all the rappers that came out in the game and were able to do well commercially but still have that level of respect. Black Thought is the homie, I met him outside of 30th street station in Philly and told him about the Chiddy Bang movement. Once he heard the songs he was down and has since been a great mentor to me. It was natural to work with him on a track; expect more stuff soon

ChiddyBang ft eLDee and Black Thought

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Would you like to add any thing else that I may have missed? Anything you want to tell the people
I wanna tell the people that everything you hear is for good reason. eLDee is the big homie and we are gonna continue to feed yall with dope music and most importantly, I am Nigerian. I love my country, and I’ma make my people proud. Chea!!!

Related posts:

• Knighthouse (notjustok Hype)
• Proto ft Eldee – One in a million
• Proto ft eLDee – Shayo De Go + My Guys Dem
• Proto ft Black Thought & eLDee – Slow Down + Kids
• SLK (notjustOk Hype)