Baby Sis: Bringin' That Cali Heat
By Toleya Kamara
Creative and precise, a new school mommy blazes a trail with her lyrical and production skills. Baby Sis, discusses what her inspiration is and how she wants to share her gift with others.
Toleya Kamara: What is your heritage? Where are you from originally?
Baby Sis: Well, my dad is Black & Indian (Blackfoot tribe) and my mom is Filipino & Mexican, so as you can see, my heritage is very diverse. I was born and raised in Long Beach, California and then I moved to Lake Elsinore, California, a.k.a the Inland Empire, back in 1996. Now even though the I.E. is where I lay my head, Long Beach is my home and I'll always hold it down...562 to tha' 909 holla!!!
TK: How did your rap battle in "The Roll Call" affect your aspirations in life?
BS: I was always singing and dancing around the house and doing all these fancy poses when the camera came out, and I would also play practical jokes on my family and call it my "acting lessons," so I always knew I wanted to be an entertainer, since music was my passion, I started there by mixing songs with two cassette decks, which turned into two turntables that led to djing, but I still dabbled a bit in other areas. I was an "on-air" personality at a local Tustin radio station, I looked into modeling but was too short, I took acting classes and was an extra in a movie, but I didn't like all the sitting around and waiting in between shots.....but I never thought about rapping seriously because first, I was too shy to get in front of all those people, and second, I didn't really have any raps. But one day the radio station was giving away tickets to a sold out concert that I wanted to go to, and to win them you had to do the Roll Call, which is a little rap battle with about four different people taking turns saying their verses and then people call up and vote for the best one! So I wrote my rhymes, went into a back room and locked the door cause I was all nervous and shaking and didn't want anyone to know what I was doing. I was on the phone waiting for my turn to go and saying my rhymes over and over in my head to make sure I had it down to the beatand when my turn came up, the words just came out all on point!! I didn't think I was gonna win though cause I was the only girl in the contest, but when the calls started coming in and I kept hearing my name....my heart started pounding again, and when they announced the winner and it was me, I was so excited, not cause I won the tickets, but because I beat 3 guys in a rap battle! From that moment on I knew I wanted to be a rapper, because I never got that nervous or excited djing, or doing any of the other stuff, as I did when I was saying my rhymes on that phone!
TK: When did you begin djing?
BS: I got my turntables and mixer in 1992, and after I taught myself how to mix and scratch on them I started doing parties there after for money, but hell, I was djing parties ghetto-style years before that. Like I said earlier, I used to mix songs with two cassette decks. I'd blend songs together so that you would have a 60 min. cassette of non-stop music and I was good at it too!! So when people were planning their parties they would call me to make my mix tapes to play at the party, and instead of being behind two turntables, I was behind the dual cassette deck getting one tape ready to start after the first tape ended, and then flippin' that tape over and ready to play when the next one endedsee I told you, ghetto-style!!
TK: What is hip hop to you?
BS: Damn, I would say it's like my left hand! See, even though I'm right-handed and I do everything with it...I still wouldn't want to live my life without my left hand! Does that make any sense? Ok, even though Hip-Hop is not a part of my life on a daily basis cause after all, I am a wife and new mommy, I couldn't imagine my life without Hip-Hop in it at all!
TK: Has hip hop changed your life?
BS: Other than giving me another outlet to express myself, I would have to say no. But I never got into this to change my life. I have a house, a couple of cars...the SUV with the rims and stuff, a boat, a seadoo, skies (even though I don't know how to ski) and all without a record deal!! I got it cause I finished school, used my education to get ahead and my common sense to stay out of trouble, that's how I changed my life......you hear that boys and girls!!
TK: If you had to describe your style, what style would you say you possess?
BS: A lot of people say it's old school, but I don't think so! If it's any type of "school"...I'd say it would be the School of Hard Knocks! I grew up in Long Beach and I've been through a lot of shit and seen a lot of shit and that's what I write about...life stories, mine as well as others, but all true!! I won't say which stories are mine and which are not though! But if I had to describe it as a style, then I'd guess say hmmmm.......... SEXYGANGSTACLUBSTREETREALASSBITCH........yeah, that about describes it!
TK: How do you infuse your heritage in your music?
BS: Well being black., no matter how dark or light your skin is, you deal with racism in some way, shape or form, and I just try to get those experiences, how they made me feel and how I dealt with them down on paper and some of them eventually become songs! As far as the mexican part of me, I really haven't yet. I've been wanting to add Spanish lyrics to some of my raps from the beginning, but I never really learned the language that well, my mom said it was because my older brothers and sisters were too hard-headed and by the time she got to the last three kids she just gave up trying to teach us! But I've already made a Salsa type beat, now I'm just working on putting the Spanish lyrics to it with my moms help of course, but some stuff I just don't feel comfortable askin' moms how to say in Spanish, you know what I mean?
TK: Tell us about the G-Spot and the birth of Ready Fo This.
BS: Well in order to make a rap song, you have to have a beat and I didn't want to rap over other artist's instrumentals because I didn't want people to think of that artist when they hear my song, I wanted them to hear me so I needed my own beats. And since I didn't know any producers at the time, I went out and bought some equipment and set it all up in a spare room, which would be my production studio, and all studios have a name, right, like the "Lab" or "The Hit Factory," so I decided to call mine the "G-Spot". The "G" is the first letter of my last name, and "spot" is slang for my house put it together and you got "The G-Spot"!! After being locked in the "G-Spot" for hours just trying to figure out how to use all of that new equipment I eventually created my first beat, wrote some lyrics to that beat and created my first original song, which was "Ready Fo This.
TK: You have your own independent record label, Incredible Hitz. How did that come about?
BS: I take what I do very serious, and I want others to take me just as serious! I mean, how can I expect a fan to spend their hard earned money on A cd that doesn't look like I worked hard on it, or a radio station to give my song any air time if I don't spend any time puttin' it together! I wanted to be treated like a professional in the music industry, and since I wasn't signed to a label, I decided to create my own label so my project can be just as professional as those coming out of one of the major labels! I chose the name "Incredible Hitz" because I expect nothing less from myself or from anyone else who wants to be on my team so if you wanna be recruited to "Tha Hittaz," you betta be able to knock it out of tha' park baby!
TK: Do you feel that being the sixth of seven children, prompted your drive to make a name for yourself?
BS: Naw, even though there were seven of us I never felt ignored or lost in the crowd. The last three of us were only a year apart from each other so we did a lot together, like me and my sister were cheerleaders for my brothers football team, we all had the same group of friends so we hung out together, and stuff like that and even though the other four were at least 4yrs older than us, they still did things with us. As a matter of fact, we still get together for the holidays, or just hang out at each others house and play cards, dominoes, or just crank up the music and get our drink on! I do what I do because I want to...not cause I have to!
TK: Who has been a major influence in your life?
BS: My parents and all my brothers and sisters have all been major influences in my life because they support me in what I do, but I would have to say that my major influence is my husband! He's the one who bought me the two turntables and mixer when he saw my interest in djing, and he's the one who bought me all the production and recording equipment when I wanted to start rapping. He not only encourages me to follow my dreams, he dares me to pass 'em!
TK: Who are some artists and producers that youve worked with?
BS: Well for my debut cd, I've been working with a producer named Mix It Up out of New Jersey...maybe you've heard of him? I also got some beats from a producer out of Hawaii named Tristan Giallani, along with some tracks that I've produced myself. As far as artists, let's see...I've completed a collabo with an artist named Chucky from Minnesota called "It's On (Bring It On)" that I'm thinkin' bout including on the cd, and I'm working on another collabo right now with an artist named AK out of Germany, and depending on how that comes out, I might include that on the cd as well. I've got a couple of other producers and artist that I've been talking to about doing some work with...but since we don't have anything planned, I won't mention their names!
TK: What is the next step for Baby Sis?
BS: After I release my debut cd, I'm gonna concentrate on looking for new artists to get down on my record label "Incredible Hitz,"s o if you wanna be a "Hitta," then holla at a sista on my website: www.babysis.com
TK: What are some or your upcoming projects?
BS: Right now, I'm working on my debut cd, and all my time and attention is solely on that project. My goal is to have it completed and ready for sale by this summer and being a first time mom with an 8-month old son to look after, it gets really hard to make time to work on the cd. I try to devote about 4-5 hours a week on the project, all of which comes at 11:30 at night and later, while still trying to get enough sleep to be alert and energized to cater to my son's needs! I know meeting my deadline is going to be tight, but as long as I stay focused, I'm confident that I can get it done in time.
TK: What are some words of advice for other female artists that want to get into the industry?
BS: One, make sure this is what you want to do! Because it's already hard as a new artist, so being a new artist and female means that you'll be facing twice as many obstacles to get over.
Two, not everybody is gonna like what you do, no matter how hot you think you are!
Third, you'll probably be told "no" a lot, so you better get some thick skin, and read advice number two again!
And last, but not least make sure you have fun, because if you don't enjoy what you do, then it just ain't worth all the bullshit you gotta deal with!
Now, before I go I would like to say "Thank You" to Femmixx.com for creating a website like this, and to Toleya, I had a cool time doing the interview and I'm sure it's something my fans will enjoy too!!
God Bless,
Baby Sis.
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