Akrobatik is a seasoned veteran. He’s seen it all as far as hip-hop goes. He’s worked with the best artists. He’s delivered classic material. And most of all he’s been consistent. Described by many as a legendary underground artist he is easily one of the most successful MC’s to come out of Boston.

In addition to the lyricism, the legendary status, and the success Akrobatik is also one of the few MC’s who can keep a track hot while still delivering a positive message. Sixshot.com sat down with A to the K to discuss the hip-hop scene in Boston, his latest projects, and why a good stage show is still a necessity.

Sixshot.com: First off, how you doin’ man?

Akrobatik: I’m good man, I’m road weary right now, I been runnin’ around for like a month and a half straight with no break so I’m a little tired but other than that my mind state is upbeat. I’m happy to have this album out. I’m definitely ready to keep grinding this out.

Sixshot.com: That’s what I wanted to talk about. The album is hot, what was it like getting it done?

Akrobatik: Thank you, man. I mean it was, it took a long time. It took longer than any other album I ever did. Part of that is because I got so many guest artists and so many producers so it was a lot or traveling and a lot of running around to studio sessions. There was a lot of waiting on files and p aperwork, you know, just everything that goes into making a project. While this is going to be seen as an indie project, I feel as if it was a major project because of what it took to put together and the caliber of people that I got to work with on the record.

Sixshot.com: I was gonna say, the features were hot, you even got Little Brother with 9th Wonder, how did you pull that off?

Akrobatik: Yup, yup. That was actually one of the first songs I did for the album and when I got the track from 9th I was like, “who else would I want on this track with me besides Pooh and Phonte”? When I called them up they were ready to do it. I don’t know what’s going on with 9th Wonder and Little Brother but I had a pretty easy time putting it all together. Everybody was really easy to work with and I didn’t really have any problems with anybody that I worked with on this album. It was really smooth in terms of that, in terms of making contributions and being willing to jam.

Sixshot.com: I feel like in your music you try to convey a message, is that important to you, to get that across in your music?

Akrobatik: Well, if you listen to Absolute Value and you get a message I think it might be more a general statement about me more so than my music. I mean I make music to make music and my goal with this album was to make it the best sounding hip-hop album that’s out. Regardless of what the subject matter was or the topic, I just wanted every song to be the best that it could be. I wanted the best beats and the best flows. As far as the message goes I think it was slight. I may say things that make sense but I think that’s just because that who I am. I’m definitely not out there trying to put a specific message with every son I write. I’m an MC and I just write whatever comes to mind when I hear a beat, I really don’t try to put a stamp on it. I don’t necessarily think every son has a deeper meaning to it other than check out this flow on a funky Dilla beat. (Laughs)

Sixshot.com: Speaking of Dilla I know you held him in high regards, how big of a loss was his death for hip-hop?

Akrobatik: I think it’s a huge loss; he was an innovator all throughout different stages of his career. I appreciate his music as an MC and not just as a producer so it’s a big loss. At the same time the man was sick and he was suffering and there’s a reason for that and I think it’s much more important than anything we could be getting from him. It was his time and it happened in a way that it had to happen. Yeah it’s unfortunate for hip-hop but it’s more unfortunate for his family. Hip-hop will be able to go on without Dilla and if you really wanna dig into his catalog, you could really have enough music to lat you twenty years and not get tired of it. That’s why I think it’s important as an artist to make as much quality music as you can, just in case something does happen to you, you have that legacy to leave behind.

Sixshot.com: You said your goal was to have the best sounding hip-hop album out. In your mind, did you achieve that?

Akrobatik: Well, I don’t know because I haven’t listened to everything. I think that what I’m trying to say is that I wanted it to be the best possible music that I could put out. I’m not trying to half step. I wanted it to be the best Akrobatik record it could be. The main objective isn’t for me to sit here and say that my record is better than some other record because as I sit here and look at the reviews to my album, they all vary. One review will say that Soul Glow was the best record on the album and then the next will say that they weren’t feeling Soul Glow. Music is objective so I can’t compare myself to other people. I know what I like and there are a lot of cats out there that are doing great things. I just wanna be mentioned with the cats that are at the top of the list.

Sixshot.com: Now, you’re a Boston native. Why do you think Boston has never had a major star in terms of hip-hop?

Akrobatik: I think it’s a real simple answer man. If you’re talking about a cat that had a huge breakout career in the mainstream they mostly come from cities where record labels have offices right there that can reach out to them and put them on. Boston doesn’t have an industry like that. What is the label in Boston that’s going to reach out and put a bunch of people on and put them on the level as the guys who are out there with the major budgets? We would have to go to New York to get those deals but the problem is that there are two million rappers in line ahead of us to get those deals. It’s a simple answer man, it’s resources. Everybody is trying to rap; everybody is trying to have a rap career.

If you’re the big wig Russell Simmons, you’re not going to go to Portland, Maine or Burlington, Vermont to find the next big thing when you have a million demos on your desk from just one borough in New York. It’s real cluttered man and people have that misconception that if you’re hot enough, you’re gonna get signed. I would say that’s dead wrong. You have to be hot, of course, but you have to have the ability to market yourself and network and meet people from all over the country and all over the world that can help you to make your career pop off. It’s not just gonna pop off because you’re nice. As far as being a major breakout star, I mean if I never achieve that, I’ll still be happy, there’s other ways to skin a cat. The tours, shows, and budgets will get bigger. It’s still growing and I don’t see why any of that would change. Until Capitol Records Boston opens up, I don’t think I’m going to be anyone’s flagship artist or anything like that.

Sixshot.com: So you’re cool being an independent artist and you enjoy it?

Akrobatik:Yeah man, I mean in this day and age, how many major label artists are sustaining careers even? We really live in different time and I think a lot of folks are still thinking it’s 1996 when Rawkus was out and there was all this hope that the independent scene was going to turn into a major thing. The industry is crumbling; major labels are crumbling, so the major label artists are in a terrible position. If they don’t blow up gigantic with hit records, they’re gonna get dropped and then what? If you don’t have a background of being independent and you come off a major, you’re gonna drown because you don’t know what to do for yourself.

A lot of the problem with these artists is that they don’t know how to do for themselves so when they disappoint that major label with lackluster sales, which is likely, because everybody is downloading everything, they’re gonna get cut. If you don’t know how to manage you’re advance money, and don’t know how to handle your business and be on time for things, all that good stuff that goes into being an artist then you got no chance.

Sixshot.com: Do you feel like maybe an artist should try and be independent from the get-go?

Akrobatik: Yeah, I mean anybody who’s sitting around and waiting for a deal and not putting out anything themselves, I mean that’s crazy. You might as well put a penny in your toilet and hope there’s a quarter in there the next time you walk over there. It doesn’t work that way. Those days of making a demo and sending it over to some executive at a label and getting signed are over. If that works for one person, there’s a million that tried the same thing and it didn’t work for them. I don’t like those odds, I don’t gamble like that. I would rather go with the definite which is make my music, shop it around to a couple of indie labels who already know of me because I’ve been grinding for multiple years.

The budget may be moderate but I can do big things with it because I know how to network and I form relationships. People respect me because I been around for a while. Some people are going to hear this record and think it’s an introduction to me but in all reality I been surviving for ten years in the game because of all these things I’m talking about. I can give you a list of a hundred rappers who were around at the same time as me but you don’t know who they are right now. It has to do with me not sitting around and waiting on something bigger when I can make something pretty damn big on my own.

Sixshot.com: I feel like there’s a lot of confusion these days with all the outlets to get music, from digital to physical so I’m curious, how many records will you sell factoring all these options in?

Akrobatik: I mean, there’s no way of telling that, it depends on how hard I work. The last album I put out was in 2003 and then an album with my group in 2005 and both those albums sold 20,000 copies and I don’t see why this one won’t do the same or better. It just won’t happen in two weeks and it won’t happen in four weeks. It’s gonna happen because I’m not gonna sit on my ass and wait for it to sell. I’m gonna go to every city and every country and put the records in people’s faces and let them see me live so they know I’m the real deal and it’s not just another CD.

Everybody has a CD so you have to do something to stand out. I think as long as I continue to push it all year long, it’s gonna be good because who knows what opportunities will come along? Right now I’m on the radio, on television, I’m doing my live shows, I’m recording my own music. I have a group; it’s a lot of things going on.

What I’m trying to say is that if Absolute Value doesn’t sell a hundred thousand my career won’t be over because there are other things I’m doing. I think the recognition will be there. Regardless of how many copies I sell, I can rest assured that more than the number of people have bought it have heard it. Not everybody is buying record because we all know how the downloading game works. I’m not gonna let my sales define me or define my success because I’m still out here. As long as you know who I am whether you buy a CD or come to my show, I’ll still get it.

Sixshot.com: Now let me ask you man, because I always pictured myself getting frustrated in the situation that you’re in, where you’re a great MC but you might not get as much praise as a dude who’s not even close to being as good. Does that get frustrating?

Akrobatik: Thank you man, I appreciate that. That frustrated me when I was younger. I work for a commercial radio station now so I hear that stuff all the time and it’s just a reflection of society really and not a reflection of what I’m not doing. Real recognizes real and I would say that real hip-hop fans, it’s probably more frustrating for them. The stuff gets shoved down their throat. People tell me all the time about how at my station they play the same six songs all day. I know there are more than six songs out but they have their own agenda of who they’re trying to appease and that doesn’t have anything to do with me. Although it might be slightly frustrating, yes, but look at it like this, if Akrobatik was in the top ten in music right now I must have compromised in some way.

I can’t be so selfish that I’m the only independent artist to break into the countdown and get play amongst artists like Trey Songz and Soulja Boy. I don’t think that, I think that’s a different format, a different genre, just a different type of music in general. When people talk about hip-hop and they know what hip-hop is then I think my name will come up. I feel like I’m still up and coming and that feels good to be in the game for this long and still like I got work to do. I got my name to get out there, People aren’t tired of me because I haven’t been dropping new music every year so I will get the love I’m supposed to get. I’m okay if I’m not on the Power 105 mixshow because, I mean there’s stations that wont even play Talib, they won’t even play Common. I can’t worry about me not getting that play while other cats are, they’re supposed to fit that format and that’s what they’re going for and that’s what their audience expects.

Sixshot.com: What can we expect to see from Akrobatik in the near future?

Akrobatik: I got a lot of stuff going on. I got my radio gig, Monday through Friday, which keeps me real busy. I’m gonna launch a full on tour to promote absolute value and go overseas in the summer and the fall also. We plan to hit Autralia, Brazil, and hopefully we get to go to Japan this year. I’ll also be gathering beats for the next Akrobatik solo album, which should be out within the next year and a half. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to put out a couple of artists through my own label within the next year or so but I’m definitely busy and I’m having a lot of fun. I appreciate all the love I’m getting from my fan base. 

Sixshot.com: Anything you’d like to say to the fans at Sixshot.Com?

I would say the same thing I’ve been saying, buy my shit. Don’t download it for free and think you’re doing me a favor. There’s a million ways to listen so it doesn’t impress me if you heard it. It impresses me if you bought it and casted that vote for the Akrobatik campaign. That’s really what it comes down to man. If you want that next Akrobatik record instead of me just going to find other things to do with my time then buy the record. That’s the whole point of calling it Absolute Value because we’re in a time when people really want to get their moneys worth. But my record, you’ll get your money’s worth, come to my show; you’ll get your money’s worth. I’m not gonna stand around looking goofy, you’re gonna yell, you’re gonna sweat, you’re gonna scream your lungs out. I’m doing this to let the fans know that I’m not bullshitting.