Hailing from Pontiac, Michigan, One Be Lo has been one of the main representatives for his state. He is appreciated for his down to earth lyrics and his out of this world lyrical ability.

However, it doesn’t stop there, as One Be Lo’s accomplishments in the hip-hop world are vast. Besides being recognized as one of the hottest spitters around, One has started his own label, Subterraneous, released three independent albums, and performed alongside KRS-One.

The most amazing part about it is that for the most part, he’s done it on his own. He has no major labels, no huge entourages, and no big recording budgets. While promoting his third album, The R.E.B.I.R.T.H, One Be Lo made some time for Sixshot.com to discuss his new album, his work with the community, and his plans for the future.

Sup man, what's good?
 
Everything is good man.

You're a real diverse dude, so I wanna ask you, how did you get into hip-hop?

I started off just being a fan.  I'm still a fan, but in the beginning I never thought I would be doing this. 

I know you also do spoken word. Do you find it similar to hip-hop? I've heard a lot of people say yes and a lot of people say no.

To me, Hip Hop is a combination of diffe rent things, from DJ'ing to emceeing, sampling music and other things.  Spoken word is all about lyrics and in most cases that's all.  Lyrically I guess they could be similar, but Hip-Hop is more than just lyrics. I don't really do spoken word in my opinion.  I just spit my rhymes accapella.  People call it spoken word, but it's whatever.  I don't like when I go to spoken word spots and everybody sound the same or talk about the same shit.  I'd rather hear some Lil' Wayne. (Laughs

S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M was hot, were you happy with the response it got?

It was good to see how people reacted to that record.  I did what I wanted to do despite what some others may have advised but in the end, real fans don't care about all that business or political shit.  They just want good music.  And that's what I do.

You're real involved in your community, why is that important for you?

Well for one, I got caught up in some bullshit when I was younger, and I try to be there if and when I can to talk to younger heads.  Music is a great outlet for many people as well as a way to communicate with a lot of people at once.

You've done a lot in the game with a small team, how did you accomplish that?

Well first and foremost I believe that you can't do anything without God's help.  Keeping that in mind, I just try to keep good intentions and surround myself with good people.  I couldn't have done too much of anything without those people holding me down.  I do a lot of traveling, but it's not because I got a crazy budget.  I got folks in almost every city that hold me down wherever I go. In Islam it teaches that if God favors you, the people will favor you.  I'm not saying that I'm in his favor, but for whatever reason I do get mad love from the people so I can't complain.

You perform a lot, any favorite spots?

My favorite spot is the stage period.  I don't care how big or small it is, or what city it is.  The shows are always live and everybody always seems to have a good time.  It's always a few haters out there, but most people don't come to shows to hate.

Born and Raised is one of my favorite joints, what was the creative process like for that?

Actually, I wrote that joint to a Black Milk track.  When I hit him up to lock down the beat, he had just sold it.  So as much as I like that joint the way it is, it will never sound the way it did over that Black joint.  It's still dope though.  Just reminded me of home and doing some shit about where I'm from. 

Tell us about Subterraneous Records. 

Sub T, that's my shit.  I figured that if there was no other vehicle, that I would create my own vehicle to take me there.  Never had the intentions of being some crazy big label.  Just a channel to put my shit out if all else fails. I'm an independent kind of person.

Lyrically you're a beast, how do you manage to bring it crazy on every verse so consistently?

All I know is that I try to out do the last verse I wrote every time. And I never want to repeat myself.  I'm always trying to out do One Be Lo.  I can't rap better than most people, but nobody can do me better than me.

What was it like making the R.E.B.I.R.T.H?

Recording the songs for this album was fun.  I was in my own basement for the most part, all the producers I worked with were excited and easy to work with. And my guy Bean One and D Sane made the shit sound 10 times better than it was supposed to in the end.

You've been on stage with a lot of legends, any favorites in particular?

I guess my most memorable moment was with KRS One.  I had just got my wisdom tooth pulled the day before and didn't think I would be able to rock. Right when I was about to play the first track, they came out and told me KRS had to rock and then I couldn't go on.  I was mad disappointed, but fuck it, I knew my tooth was killing me anyway.  About 45 minutes into his set, he called me back to the stage, passed me the mic, and stood right behind me the whole time I was performing.  I passed the mic back and he did 'Criminal Minded'.  That shit was bananas.

Who are some of your musical influences?

I couldn't even list all of them; most of them hip hop of course, like Ice Cube or Wu Tang.  But dudes like Fela have a big influence as well.

What projects can we expect to see from you in the near future?

I do have a few things in the works.  Look out for Baby (Being a Black Youth), Life (Lo is for Everybody), Black Man Army (collab with Black Milk), The Ones and Only (collab with Bean One), and more.

Anything you'd like to say to all the fans at Sixshot.com?

I just like to thank anybody for the past, present and future support of this music and movement.