It’s hard being an independent artist.  You’re constantly fishing for a major record deal; hustling to get CD’s pressed up; and you’re constantly worried about your next meal.

Meanwhile you turn on the radio and catch the latest mindless hip-hop track that’s in heavy rotation, as you sit on the floor of your parent’s house thinking, WTF?!?! 

Boston’s hip-hop underground hero, Akrobatik, has likely weathered similar storms and then some during his decade long fight to the top.  He’s now got a list of brand new challenges as his impressive resume and profile continues to grow.  One such challenge is convincing listeners that he’s still relevant after five years between solo albums with the recent release of Absolute Value. 

The album features his signature hard-hitting delivery, lyrical consciousness, and an added bonus of some major guest artists and producers: Chuck D of Public Enemy, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, 9th Wonder, the late and great J.Dilla, and more. 

While munching on his lunch, Akrobatik, delved deep with Sixshot into his battle with depression, the new challenges he faces as an indie artist, why the Black family needs to get it’s act together, why we’ll probably never catch him record a song with Justin Timberlake, dealing with l oneliness on the road, and more. 

You worked with some great established and underground talent on this record.  Which collaboration was your favorite?

It’s hard to pick a favorite one 'cause I like them all for so many different reasons.  I think the one with Chuck D might be the most meaningful.  He was so generous and told me if I needed anything to just give him a call.  It was really meaningful because he’s like my idol and he still is to this day.

What was the inspiration behind the album title, Absolute Value?

It’s like anything in a situation can be turned to a positive one.  That’s what absolute value is all about in math.  Also the album is worth the money.  You pick this album up and it’s gon’ be dope.  It’s gon’ be worth every cent you paid for it, and I’m assuming it’s gonna stand the test of time.

Playing off of the mathematical meaning—what negative situations have you had to turn into positive ones?

I had to deal with depression.  That’s always been what I had to overcome.  It’s easy for me to fall into a rut and then have that turn into to a three week long rut.  So situations like that I have to fight through.  That’s why it took so long for the record to come out.  S*** would happen to me and I would just let it consume me.  I would lose focus on what I should be doing and that’s why I wrote the song, “Rain.”  I feel like I got knocked off my feet a few times as I was trying to make the record, but I kept coming back.  The final outcome is that I think I came up with something really dope.  My crew helped me out and we turned it into something special.

Have you been diagnosed with depression?

Nah, I don’t f*** with hospitals.

So how are you overcoming your battle with depression?

I just work hard and I got good friends.  My friends keep me up.  I chill and hang out as much as I can.  Any type of situation in my life that’s toxic I cut that s*** out.  I try to stay disciplined.  I don’t think I’m much different than anybody else in that regard.

You’re been described as a renaissance MC.  One of the meanings of renaissance is rebirth.  What rebirth are you hoping to initiate with this project?

It’s been five years since I put out my last album so by far this is a rebirth.  I’m coming back out as a solo artist.  I really do feel like I reinvented myself for this record.  Back then I was just happy to have a record deal.  I just wanted to show everybody that I had something to say.  With this record I was angry; I was frustrated; I was hungry; and I just really wanted to get my just due with this project.  I’m a slightly older cat and I’m in my prime.

What brought out this new aggression in you?

I think it just comes from eagerness and anxiousness to get back out there.  A lot of my peers like Common has put out four albums in the time that it took me to get this one album out.  So I know I have a lot of work to do.  So I’m just chopping at the bit.  Sometimes I feel like my resources don’t equal my ambition.  I feel like I got so much I want to do, so much that I’m capable of doing, and ready to do now; but some of my resources can’t handle the demand of what I’m trying to put across.  So I’m just really trying to pull it all together and just make sure that I keep all my business tight.  That’s the most important thing for me

You’ve had several record deals with a couple of different labels?  Are you happy where you are now with Fat Beats Records?

I’m definitely happy now.  If you asked me a year ago I think I would have had a different answer.  I’ve been able to strengthen my rapport with Fat Beats and I see what they’re about.  They’re definitely a hip-hop and music first label.  The music that I make is right in line with the music they’re trying to bring back.  A lot of people are worried and fearful of what’s gonna happen to the real hip-hop or underground hip-hop and everything's so commercialized.  But there’s a situation now where there are a billion rappers and fifteen of them are dope.  I’m one of the fifteen and I’m just glad for that.  I just want to continue that and keep coming up with new ideas and doing good shows.

On the album you discuss the continuing struggle of Black America.  What do you see as the most prevalent challenges facing contemporary Black America?

I feel like education is really bad if you think about the fact that there are people who are borderline illiterate in college.  It’s an ugly cycle of people having kids and people not knowing what they’re doing with their own self.  Then those kids aren’t being taught.

We’re in a country where we were brought over in certain circumstances and we were freed, but there’s no direction.  People have no home training and I think that the black family needs to be reinstated.  People need to get it together on that whole each one, teach one s*** that Big Daddy Kane and Rakim and them were talking about when they were nineteen years old.  I don’t know why they understood it then and we don’t understand it now.

You never shy away from politics on your records.  What are your thoughts on the current fight for the white house?

I don’t have the most clear cut opinion on who I think is best.  One thing I usually feel is that the person who’s best is probably not the person at the forefront of this election.  So I don’t really know what to make of it.

You also have a radio gig on Boston’s 94.5 Jam’n named Sports Rap-Up.  Do you see many parallels between the worlds of sports and hip-hop?

Sports and hip-hop are probably two of the only things out there that bring people together for one common cause.  You go to a bar to watch the Patriots game and it’s like all different types of people.  No one’s caring what your race is or how much money you have.  In hip-hop it’s the same thing.  As long as you live in the name of hip-hop it doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are.  I think that’s the main parallel between the two and that’s why they work so well together.

With your recent success you seem to be right on the cusp of mainstream acceptance.  How does that position make you feel?

I don’t know.  I don’t know what mainstream acceptance would do for me in my life, besides the obvious which is a higher profile and more money.  I can’t say that I would necessarily enjoy that life more.  I’m pretty reluctant to compromise when it comes to my music.  Commercial success is cool but you never know in what form that’s gonna come.  If it comes in the form of me doing a movie or something like that, that would be great.  But in terms of it coming in the form of me putting out a commercial album with Justin Timberlake singing on it and all this other crazy stuff; I don’t know if that’s ever gonna happen or if I would want it to.

So how do you measure success for yourself?

For me success is not having to do anything I don’t want to do.  I like being in a situation where I do something because I want to do it.  That’s the life I want.  Then it’s just a mater of balancing those things that you want to do, with enough of them being things that you want to do for yourself and some for others.  I’m pretty comfortable now.  I’m having a good time.  I know all my bills are paid.  I know where my next meal is coming from.  I travel all over the world with my boys.  I don’t really have any complaints other than the fact that at times you get lonely on the road all the time.  Other than that it’s like whatever—that comes with the territory.

And by lonely do you mean for romance or family?

Whether you have a girl or not it’s hard to show someone the attention that you might want to show them when you’re constantly working.  I’m constantly working, so it’s tough. 

For more information on Akrobatik please visit:
http://www.myspace.com/therealakrobatik
www.akrobatik.com