Dope Ass Conversations #2: Cousin Stizz
Or: Revisit My 2019 Interview with Hip-hop's Favorite Cousin
Hailing from Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Cousin Stizz raps with the same blue-collar attitude and unapologetic character his city has earned a reputation for. Using music to tell the story of his come up, Stizz is blunt with the amount of work and sacrifices he's had to make to get to where he's at, and he's sure to inspire listeners to do the same with his motivational raps.
I’m one of the many people who’s found the drive and perseverance to push through life’s obstacles thanks to his music. I got put onto his catalog early on during my freshman year of college (s/o his #1 fan Shea Serrano), and he’s remained a staple in the soundtrack of my life ever since. It was very common to lock myself in the library for hours on end during weeks of midterms/finals listening to nothing but Stizz’s discography top to bottom.
While I could never relate to his stories of hustling on the street, I know what it’s like to grow up poor and fight like hell to make something out of nothing. Lyrics like “There’s a star in everyone, it’s up to you to find it” and “Life get ugly, but it’s perfect” became ingrained into my very being. So much so that during my time as an RA, I had made a bulletin board (as seen below) filled with some of his most motivational bars to help my residents to find that same persistence.
When I was presented with the opportunity to interview Cousin Stizz for These Days Magazine in 2019, it was like the perfect full circle moment. He had just dropped his most recent album at the time, Trying to Find My Next Thrill, earlier in the year and was in Chicago while supporting Freddie Gibbs who was headlining for his Bandana album tour. The conversation felt like a fever dream as I talked to him in the green room of the famous Metro.
There was a tray of chicken wings and a bottle of Hennessey in there to which I nervously asked if I can have some to which he responded, “Man, this ain’t my mama’s crib, you don’t gotta ask” and I helped myself to perhaps one too may. At one point, Freddie Gibbs briefly stepped in the room to snatch a wing, which he then immediately called trash after biting because they weren’t from Harold’s (they were from Shark’s). The energy overall was homely and laid back, and till this day it remains one of the highlights of my career.
Flash forward to 2022, and Stizz has grown to new heights. His latest album Just For You dropped in February and it’s one of his best albums of the year so far. He’s gonna be in town this upcoming Thursday at Reggies headlining his own tour now. So it only seemed right to revisit this particular Dope Ass Conversation with one of my favorite rappers ever, and hope that you’ll give him the chance to become one of your’s too.
Q: You've performed in Chicago a handful of times now, you even performed at last summer's Lollapalooza. What about Chicago makes it unique to perform compared to other cities?
A: Chicago reminds me of my crib lowkey. It's like a bigger Boston in a way. That's why I really, really fuck with Chicago. I got a lot of friends and family here too. A lot of my early family in this whole rap shit came directly from Chicago. It really do be feeling like home when I come out here.
How do you get through the grueling tour schedule?
I sleep. I sleep more than anybody. I'm on the bus and sleep all fucking day long. I literally wake up for 3 hours of the day, and that's to do the show. Then I'm back to sleep the rest of the day unless we're recording some new shit right after. But that's about it, I just be knocked.
In an era where rappers often feel pressured to release a project practically every six months, do you think that taking that extra year has made a difference in making the album that you envisioned to create with Trying To Find My Next Thrill?
I didn't take an extra year off to work on the album. I took a year off because I felt like I was getting in that lane where you feel the need to release music all the time. I felt pressured to release music all the time, and I don't ever want the shit I talk about to ever be watered down because I am doing that type of shit. So I had to fall back for a minute and remember why I do this in the first place.
The last three songs on this project are powerful and touching. What was it like recording them?
I like having fun with this music shit, but with those records ["Beamin," "Traumatized," "The Message"], you always gotta touch a certain place to somewhere that hurt. That's always the toughest part, reliving those moments. I think that's why I took until the end of the project to get to those records. We started to wind down and were like, "we need some shit that sounds like vintage Stizz." But I had to revisit those scars to get there. It takes a lot to get those muhfuckin records to even come out 'cause you really gotta do some soul searching.
What was it like working with Smino on Anonymous? And are there any Chicago artists that you would like to work with in the future?
Smino is my brother. Working with him is like nothing, we just get high and tell jokes for like 3 hours. We didn't even do "Anonymous" in the studio. I just sent it to him, and he was like "I like this, so Imma send shit back."
I like Lucki a lot. Lucki is my guy, I like him a lot. Obviously Sosa, RIP Fredo, the legends. I like Luck a lot, though. That's the homie, so I think we can make that happen.
You seem to have accomplished a lot of milestones this year. How do you feel that 2019 has fared for you and your career?
2019 has been very nice to me. I'm really blessed, I'm really happy. I'm here on tour with Fred, that's the homie and a legend. I'm happy to be here for that. I took 2 years off of music, and you know, you can get passed over. I'm blessed and fortunate that I can take 2 years off and be right back here still, for real for real.
If you’re already a fan of Cousin Stizz or you’re brand new and want to learn more about his music, pull up to his show at Reggies this Thursday (link here)
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