Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of catching a Rosetta Stoned show, then you already know the deal. Mental Stamina (Tyrone Norris) and Stoney Ashes (Chris Carr) have been twisting lyrics and smashing crowds along the East Coast for quite some time, and they have no plans to slow things down. This two-man show currently operates out of DC and Brooklyn, and we caught up with Mental Stamina to chat about elephants, kisses, and being an individual.

Rosetta Stoned – “Witchcraft” w/ Bucket (of Future) @ DC9 from DC Rap on Vimeo.

What is the philosophy or mission statement behind Rosetta Stoned? The name of the group must have a dual meaning and you released your album, “Kingdom of Kush” on April 20th. What’s up with that?

If there were a mission statement, it would be to just change shit. The name was a play off the kind of music and rapping that we do. People are always asking us, “What are you talking about? What does that lyric mean?” The basic thought is that there’s some type of inner translation, where it makes sense but not to everyone.

The Kingdom of Kush is a pretty important empire, but when people hear the word “Kush” they immediately think, “They’re talking about weed,” as opposed to, “They’re talking about one of the greatest empires that existed on the planet.” With so many things that deal with Africa, society makes them not exist anymore. When you think of the Rosetta Stone for instance, you don’t think of the artifact used to translate the hieroglyphics, you think of the language software. When you think about Kush, you think about weed. The first thing you think about when you hear Hannibal is The Silence of the Lambs, not the Carthaginians.

The philosophy behind what we do is to try to make new, creative, and innovative music, and try not to rap like anyone else, but at the same time try to rap better than everybody else and just blend genres together and be innovative.

Your icon is an elephant. I read that elephants symbolize strength, power, creativity, feminine energy and out of control masculine rage. Which one of these best describes your musical/artistic direction?

All of them. From the masculine rage, our music is real aggressive. We try to make strong powerful statements, but at the same time we try to do things that embrace feminine qualities like, we throw a party called Cake and Kisses. When we first named the group Rosetta Stoned, people weren’t even really talking about the weed thing or the language software. They heard Rosetta and thought it was a female’s name. It’s interesting using that icon. I use it just because it’s an African elephant. To me, it was powerful and strong.

You mentioned Cake and Kisses. Is that a monthly event?

It’s a monthly jam session. We have free cake, it’s a free party, but it’s also an open mic, so any artists who come through can just hop on stage. I call it an “organic open mic” because my concept was to get rid of the traditional open mic set-up where it’s only rappers there, no fans, you sign up on a list, people wait, and they rap in front of other rappers.

With Cake and Kisses, I put a live band, free cake and made it a party atmosphere. People come out, it’s always a good crowd, and it’s a lot of people to perform in front of so it becomes a cool platform. I’ve been doing a monthly in DC since August ‘07, I actually re-branded it as Cake and Kisses in November ‘08. I’m starting it in Baltimore in July and then I’m gonna try to get it in Philly and New York.

Cake and Kisses…when was your first kiss?

I don’t even remember, I think the first time I had my first kiss was the first time I had sex. I think it was all one package. Everything pre-pubescent is kind of a blur. Maybe I had a kiss back then, but I would say maybe 15, 16, something like that.

When people dig up your albums and music 100 years from now, what do you hope they’ll say?

That’s how I look at technology. It’s such a huge explosion of media right now. All of this stuff isn’t going to be digested and appreciated in our lifetime, so I’d love for people to dig it up in 100 years. I think in 100 years our music would probably make more sense than it does right now. Hopefully it will be something where they can go, “Yo, this is still kind of refreshing.” Something where it’s still relevant, or the emotional response you’ll get in 100 years may be even more passionate. I’m going to make it available for people to find it in 100 years. I’m just trying to figure out more efficient ways to document and distribute media.

If you could play a show with anyone dead or alive, who would you share the stage with and why?

Bjork. I think Bjork is just the pinnacle of an artist in any genre. I love Bjork. I saw her at the Apollo. She was fuckin’ amazing. I’d probably just stand there and worship at her feet.

DC has always been on some other shit in terms of a distinctive music, style, and overall culture. How do you think your sound contributes to this ongoing sense of individuality?

When we started, there really was no scene in DC for our style of music. We made our kind of shit, and so we automatically outcast ourselves from every scene. What happened is basically the dopest thing—we’re now trying to carve a niche in the area. I’ve got a collective called The Food Chain Collective, probably the biggest music collective in the city. I don’t really know yet how Rosetta Stoned will impact DC, but right now I’m in the scene on a regular basis. Everyday I’m doing something involved in the city. As far as our sound and where we fit in, I don’t know if we do fit in, or I’ve never really cared if we have, but I’m about taking your chisel and carving your own niche. It’s just really about how deep am I going to carve, or how long that stamp will last.

What’s your definition of  “cool?”

My definition of cool is honestly not giving fuck, but not in an I’m a nonconformist kind of way. Not giving a fuck as to this is what I wanna do. Not this is what I have to do, this is what I should do, but this is what I want to do. “Cool” to me is doing what you want to do mixed with what you need to do. It’s what makes me happy, what makes me feel comfortable, and what makes me feel like me. Otherwise, you could be wearing or dressing like what is supposed to be cool, but it’s really not you and at that point it’s just flattery of mimicry but it’s not you individually branding yourself as being cool or doing what you love. I guess individuality, uniqueness, innovativeness, all of that is cool.

Download your free copy of Kingdom of Kush and check out the band’s other projects: Hip Hop Database, DC Rap, Eat The Cake NYC and the apparel and creative agency One vs. Many.

Last 5 posts by Andrea Boston

• TheCoolAid... To Be Continued - February 8th, 2011
• Comic Series Illustrates Ugandan Civil War - May 5th, 2010
• The Death of Privacy: How an Internet genius got us to bare it all - May 4th, 2010
• M.I.A. is "Born Free" - April 26th, 2010
• The Illvibe Collective: Philadelphia's DJ Heroes - April 25th, 2010