Interview: TiRon recalls meeting Ayomari & hints at what comes after HNGRY

When TiRon says that there's nothing else out like his latest collaborative project, HNGRY, he's actually right. Featured in the foreground of the picture above with his longtime partner Ayomari, the west coast emcee has been making waves nationwide with very little promotion. Instead, he shines through talent, principle, and individuality. Declaring his refusal to adhere to the trends of hip-hop, TiRon instead seeks to create timeless music. New fans will be blown away by HNGRY, and even longtime fans will be thrilled and excited to hear that HNGRY is in fact only the "tip of the iceberg" for TiRon and Ayomari's musical development.

Above, listen to "They Go" off of TiRon and Ayomari's 'HNGRY.' Check out the exclusive interview with TiRon below.

What's been good man? 

I'm alright man, just getting ready to go on this tour. It's just us, me and brother Ayomari going around shaking the hands of those who support us. There's a lot of places we haven't been, where our fans want us to come. We just put the tour together ourselves, straight indie, with our own resources. 

When did you first meet Ayomari?

I met Ayo a minute ago, online. He was a battle rapper back when that was cool. We didn't get along at first, because I wasn't into the battle scene.  He had this arrogant way about him that used to bother me. But he moved out to Cali, and we linked up, because he was nearby, and we had similar musical style.  I had already been working on my solo stuff, and we just kept working together. I had worked with a lot of people, but he was the only person I could work with where no egos were involved. It was strictly for the love of music, so we just kept working. 

Did the two of you ever battle?

We never battled, cuz I wasn't into battling. I enjoyed battling and all that stuff, but because I was so into songwriting and structure and notation, I never saw a future in battling. It really doesn't mean anything if you can't sell or write records. 

If you had to describe yourself in ten words or less to a complete stranger, what would you say? 

Just progressive. I try to be as forward thinking as possible. I really don't get wrapped up in cultures as much, because cultures change. I don't get wrapped up in themes. As far as the 'hot scene ,' that shit will be dead in a year. Things change fast, so I just look for progression. Things that are tried and true, just classics. That's what I'm going for, in everything I do. Including the conversations I have with people. I try to have more to me than just the 'now.' 

What would define a classic record for you? 

Every time you hear it, it feels new. Classic is something that doesn't sound dated in my opinion. Timeless. Like John Lennon's "Imagine." Timeless record. It might sound old, but it's timeless. The subject matter is timeless. 'Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky….' that's something that's just as real now as it was years ago. Living beyond the current times and trends, which is something hip-hop doesn't do enough. It's less respected simply because it's so scene oriented, temporary, as a result of it being based off of selling culture. Before hip-hop was in its essence, before they even knew what the message was, hip-hop was bought and sold. Ultimately, that whole marketing scheme back in the day was to sell the hip-hop culture, the theme, the lingo, the revolution that was going on in the South Bronx at that time, instead of actually trying to figure out what the music was. That's why it changed so much. 

Who's been in your iPod lately? 

Hmmm... let's find out. I'll look it up right now. Aside from it being us, obviously, because I like to study and nitpick my music a lot. Thundercat, I still play the "Golden Age of Apocalypse" album, the Dirty Projectors "Swing Low Magellan" album. Other than that it would be Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a lot of Static Major and old School Timbaland & Magoo. Definitely not too much hip-hop. I spin Frank Ocean every once in a while. Plastic Beach, the Gorillas. I still listen to James Blake. Radiohead, I listen to a lot. Anything I can learn from, that's out of the box. Vampire Weekend's "Contra," I still listen to that album. 

It seems counter-intuitive, but a common theme I get from emcees is that a lot of emcees don't play other hip-hop artists on the daily.  Of course you can learn from all types of music, but wouldn't it be beneficial for emcees to learn from other emcees?

I'm really bored with rap in general. There are very few people pushing the envelope sonically. Since Eminem, the linguistics of it haven't really been challenged too much in terms of bending rhymes, the art form of rap. Eminem really took it there. I mean Lupe does it, or used to back then. I care more about music than rap. When I was young, I didn't grow up listening to rap music. I grew up listening to R&B, and Stevie Wonder. Probably the first rap song I heard was a pop song like MC Hammer. I grew up listening to melodics and musicians. I grew up playing the trumpet, the violas, the drums. It wasn't about just rapping. I mean don't get me wrong, there's a couple cats who have rap records that I can listen to, but I'm not really inspired by rap any more. I don't hear any love in it. I hear more braggadocios. Rap music is the only music that makes their listeners feel inadequate. Straight up. And it's fucked up. I'm listening to some music that says, if I don't have this, I'm not the shit. That's the worst shit ever. Especially considering that the majority of people listening to this music are from the hood, with low self esteem. People who didn't have Pops in the house to give them that strong moral compass. So you have all these songs saying that if you don't have this money or that, you weak. My spirit can only take so much of that bullshit. So I really don't listen to it. I'm not inspired by it. I like listening to Love, Bob Marley, the Beatles, you know? I can't listen to that bullshit! 

HNGRY dropped in August, and besides your longtime partner Ayomari it featured several talented emcees, including Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q of TDE. What was it like working with them? 

I've known Q for a cool minute. He reached out and asked me to rock a show with him. It was funny because my music doesn't really connect with his audience. So I went up there, I brought out Asher Roth, and his audience was like 'fuck you brought that white boy out for?' It was a culture shock, it was really weird. But Q was a really humble dude, he really respected what I was doing. We kept in contact. When he was making Habits & Contradictions, he hit me up, like "yo I got this record, how fast can you get the verse to me?" I was doing a lot of stuff, so I got the verse to him a little late. When I did, he said the song wouldn't really fit on the album, so I could do whatever I want with it. That's how that happened. That was originally supposed to be on Habits & Contradictions, but in retrospect, that song wouldn't fit anywhere on there. The song "Love Me Not" was so light hearted, and H&C was kind of a dark record. That's how that happened. The home girl Tiff gave me the beat for Bernie Mac. We wanted a couple different people on there. We originally wanted Danny Brown and Dom Kennedy. Ab-Soul was the only one who got it, and liked it. He said it was "next level." He shot the verse over, and that was it. TDE is the homies. 

How did you feel about the reception of HNGRY overall, in comparison to past releases? 

I think the reception has been good. Everybody who's heard it has said that it's crazy. It's not really a scene. Where hip-hop is now, it's really a scene. The music we make is a bit left of that scene. Listening to HNGRY, ain't shit else like it. Nobody major is putting anything out like it, and nobody underground besides us is putting out music like the, with crazy time signatures, R&B singers and writers- there's nothing else like it. So everyone who hears it feels that it's a breath of fresh air. It's a throwback. I don't think there's a single record on this whole album where we're just bragging about monetary level, and popping bottles. Trust, me and Ayomari definitely pop our share of bottles. I've tasted some expensive shit. But, who gives a fuck. I guess people ultimately care, but I feel that there's more to people than we give them credit for. So we just always try and shoot for that. So it's been great reception from the people who listen to music. 

Do you have a particular track off of HNGRY that is your personal favorite? 

My favorite song off of HNGRY might be "Yellow No. 5" or "HNGRY" too. Probably "HNGRY."

What changes can we expect with future releases?
There will definitely be another TiRon and Ayomari album, without a doubt. I feel like people want one, and that's my dude. He really inspires me and vice versa, so why not just keep that going? As far as the sound and where we're going, HNGRY is like the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our capabilities. We went to Sweden last year, and dropped this project with these Swedish producers called The Swedish Love Story, I think it was like seven songs total. The reason we did that project was because so many people were waiting for Sucker For Pumps, but we just kept pushing it back. We figured we needed to give the people something so they could feel like we weren't just wasting time. So we gave them that, which was the tip of the iceberg for Sucker For Pumps. HNGRY is the tip of the iceberg for the next TiRon and Ayomari project. It's introducing sounds, so that when we give them to you later it's not so foreign. 

If you could collaborate with one artist, past or present, from any genre, who would it be and why? 

John Lennon, Jaco Pastorius, Static Major, may he rest in peace. Timbaland, Missy, Pharrell, Will.I.Am. All the greats. Eminem. Damn near everybody, just because I know that the record that you'd get from me and Eminem wouldn't be the record that you'd get from Eminem and somebody else. If I had it my way, I'd push everyone I just named to do something that's not their ordinary style, and not over the ordinary beat. Originally, Souljah Boy was supposed to be on the song HNGRY. He was supposed to be saying, 'God is great.." He got wrapped up, but he was down. We had a deadline and couldn't wait around for him. There's so many people who get put into boxes because of their career and what they do. They're really into a lot of stuff, but you don't know it because people don't give them that chance. 

Where do you see yourself ten years from now? 

Still making music and trying to push the envelop as far as I can. Still studying music and making sure that I'm still inspired. Music is a language that can't be mastered, because it's always changing based on the information that you get. Making classics, if God willing, I'm still on this earth. 

A manifesto is a declaration of intents and principles. What is your Artistic Manifesto? 

My Artistic Manifesto is to never be comfortable. Don't compromise your sound for shit. If you believe in it, push. Never let anybody tell you that it's not the right way. There are so many people that want to tell you how to do it and how it should be done, but they forget that we're all completely different people. We're not all going to get it the same way. Everybody's going to have their way of doing it. Don't forget the magic. When you're a kid, you pick up your stick and it's a sword. But the older you get, the more people tell you it's a stick. And then you drop the stick. Keep believing in your imagination.

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