Some of you may remember that I did a couple interviews around the middle of 2018. I’ve deleted them since then because they were terrible. I interviewed Kill Bill & MC Paul Barman, which was super exciting at the time, but I recently went back to read them, and my questions were so fucking bad. I hadn’t quite recovered from my psychotic episode at the time, so I was being really bizarre and low key disrespectful. I was ashamed of them and wanted to forget they happened, so that’s why I deleted them. I apologized to Kill Bill, who said I was cool at the time, so he either didn’t realize how weird I was being, or maybe he just forgot. I don’t know. Anyway, I’m saying all this to explain why I haven’t done any interviews since then. However, to celebrate Focus Hip Hop’s 5th birthday, I’m hoppin’ back on the interview train. I’m still prioritizing reviews, and I’m not really going out of my way to land interviews at the moment, but if any artists who I’m actually familiar with want me to interview them, I’ll gladly do it. I have to actually like some of your work though. In other words, if you’re some random ass Soundcloud rapper whose music I can’t stand, I’m most likely not gonna wanna talk to you. Anyway, as the title of this article suggests, the latest interview I’ve done is with SaVon, who released one of my favorite extended plays of 2019 in January, Don’t Sue Me. My words are written in pink.

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Is it fair to assume you’ve been working on a project?

Yeah, you could say that… Not necessarily a project, but I’ve been working on a lot of music; now I’m just looking for the right sound I want to bring everything together.

Gotcha. When did you start writing music?

Man… It’s always been in me… I wrote my first rap at like 7 or 8. My sister and younger brother with 2 of my friends recorded it on a cassette tape, but I didn’t take music serious and write seriously until high school at like 16. My friends seen how much I loved rap, and told me to try it out myself lol.

Ah, that’s dope. Are you planning on staying independent or would you be open to signing to a label?

I feel like the independent grind is for special people honestly. Not everyone is meant for that grind, even if it is “better” for the most part, but I’ve always dreamed of being part of a label. As long as the business is taken care of in the best way possible, and a label can help support my vision, that’s the way I’d go.

Are you following Big Sto?

Yeah, I follow him.

Ok good. I just wanted to make sure because I think it’s important for artists to get advice from him when dealing with business stuff like that.

Oh, okay. I’ll keep my eye out for him. Probably tap in with him for that knowledge one day.

For sure. Anyway, is there one artist who you can say has influenced you the most in your music?

Lol as much as I hate to say this, I’d have to say J. Cole, and I only hate to say it because I hear people tell me I sound like him or Kendrick all the time, which isn’t bad at all—I kind of love it—but it’s still annoying when you wanna come into your own.

Yeah, that’s understandable. Is there a celebrity or artist who doesn’t technically make music who has influenced you a lot?

Hell yeah, multiple. I’m a huge D. Rose fan; just watching his career from his 2nd year in the NBA to now was a rollercoaster as a fan. It inspired me to keep doing me regardless of what outside noise I hear. Dick Gregory, Floyd Mayweather, Mos Def… It’s a couple, man, but Rose probably the most important one lol.

That’s dope. Are you religious or spiritual at all?

Yeah, I think so. I think I’m becoming more spiritual than religious… I came from the country, so the church and Christianity is big where I grew up. As I got older I started looking into things for myself, and I could say I’m more spiritual than religious.

Ah, right. You’re from Charlotte right?

Nah, not technically lol… I’m from a small ass town called White Oak, NC, about 30-45 mins outside of Fayetteville. If I told you how small it was you wouldn’t believe it lol. If you’ve heard of Lumberton, NC, it’s a small ass town surrounding that area. I moved to Charlotte in 8th Grade, but it took a minute to feel like home.

Oh okay. DaBaby & Elevator Jay are from Charlotte and I think Lute is too. I’ve noticed that they all sound way more Southern than the people around my area in Durham. I’ve only been a couple times, but it’s been a while, so I couldn’t remember. Like, listening to Elevator Jay, I would’ve assumed he was from Mississippi or something.

Yeah, I’ve met a lot of Charlotte natives with heavy southern dialect lol.

How long does it typically take you to make one song?

Man, if I’m in the zone it could take me anywhere from 5 minutes to a couple hours. Some songs it may take me months to a year to finish.

That’s interesting. Is Don’t Sue Me on streaming platforms?

Nah, not yet. I’m still real new with this rap shit, and all this extra shit that goes into it. I’m working on getting that done in the process; that’ll be soon though. A lot of those beats were free non-profit, so I gotta hunt these guys down, pay ’em, and hope they respond to me lol.

Ah that makes sense. One thing that’s always kinda been a fantasy of mine is making my own version of Apollo Brown’s “Sincerely, Detroit” album, but with Hip Hop artists from the whole state of NC. The main issue is that I don’t actually make beats though lol. Would you be interested in contributing to something like that?

Fuck yeah, that sounds hard as hell.

If you could collaborate with any artist, do you know who you would choose? You can choose more than one lol.

50 Cent, hands down. J. Cole is my most notable influence, and probably my 2nd favorite rapper of all time, if that makes sense… 50 doesn’t get enough credit for his musical genius to me sometimes. Me and him would make FIRE. And Isaiah Rashad. I know me and that nigga would burn a studio down.

One more question; do you have a favorite song from Don’t Sue Me?

Yeah. Love Is Blue. That song was kinda for my pops. I kinda got to communicate with him through that song better than I could through convo.

That’s dope. Okay I lied I kinda have one more question; have you ever been in a rap battle or beef, and if not, how do you think a situation like that would go down?

Nah, I never had that problem, but anybody that knows me frfr knows I can’t wait for that day. It would be a bad day for somebody if they got me to actually write some raps for them.

That’s the kind of response I was hoping for. I’m ’bout to wrap this up; is there anything you wanna mention real quick for the audience who ends up reading this? Feel free to just say no if you can’t think of anything lol.

Yeah, I wanna say thank you to the people who actually enjoy the music; I appreciate you, and I won’t stop until 50 gets his credit lol.

Haha. Well thanks for letting me do this interview with you, man. I’m a big fan just based off of that one EP that I heard, and I’m really looking forward to hearing your future material. I can’t wait to see what you do in the future because you’re very talented and I think you’re gonna be successful.

I appreciate that fam, frfr! Can’t wait to do more with you in the future.

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Thank you once again to SaVon for participating and letting me speak to him. Check out his Don’t Sue Me EP on Soundcloud below.