I went down to Austin last weekend for the Dean’s List and OnCue show and had the opportunity to catch up with OnCue after his set. I’m a huge fan of Cuey, ever since I started following him way back in 2010. I remember getting Cueyfornication way back when, and letting this kid’s style grow on me. Throughout the last year, Cuey has gained so much of my respect, taking huge steps in his style and artistic quality.
This is my interview with Cuey – it in an audio recording transcribed, so it should read like a conversation. There were several points where we spun off side conversations, which I haven’t included, so minor edits have been made to maintain the flow of the conversation. Throw on some OnCue, read the video, and support this man on Facebook. Enjoy!
Catch me up on what you’ve been working on – how’s the Pledge to Rage tour going?
The tour’s going great! Tiring, because it’s my first tour, like, I’ve been beat. This is like actually the first night my voice has been close to 100%. It’s just been great, an experience, connecting with these fans. Like, I’m fucking down in Texas! I didn’t even know I had like three people knowing my lyrics down here! The whole experience of connecting with fans and kind of building my chops up, as a live performer, it’s definitely a first. So it’s awesome.
What’s going on with Can’t Wait? You ready to launch?
At this moment, I have to record one more chorus. Um, most of the mixes are done. 88 Keys produced a track on it, Sonny’s on it, Mike Posner did a verse on it [laughs]. He saw Feel Tall, and it was funny, he hit me up over DM on Twitter, and he was dude ‘dude I saw Feel Tall, what’s your number?’ And I used to record a lot in Michigan, so I got a call like five minutes later and I saw the area code! So I talked to him for like five minutes and he was all ‘yo it’s Posner [in dry Posner voice][laughs]‘ It was cool.
It’s just great, know what I’m saying? It’s definitely my most personal project to date, by far. I’m diving into shit that I’ve never really spoken about, just touched upon the surface about before – my personal life, my family life. I’m kind of going more into depth. It’s really an album. There’s only two samples, I sing every chorus except one song.
Tell me about the Feel Tall video – it’s very different than anything you’ve ever done. What was it like making that and watching it come together?
Well, pretty much we knew we had a real strong record on our hands. And it was just the culmination of like everything I kind of stand for, but it was still upbeat and ‘poppy’ kind of, I guess. Me and Adam, the guy who was on stage with me, with the beard, he directed it. Pretty much we both come from a graphic design background, so he did most of the work, but I helped out and shit. Like, before music was paying my bills, I was doing mixtape covers for hood-ass rappers, but I was making good money so I just taught myself how to do it.
We took three months to make it. Shooting it was a bitch.
How many views is it at now?
I think it’s close to 160 [thousand] and besides blogs, we didn’t really do any promotion. No YouTube codes, so it’s cool man. It’s growing, and it’s getting added into rotation tomorrow at MTVU.
Yeah, you won that, congratulations! What went into that, how did you get picked for that?
My DJ knows a lot of people at MTV, and we sent it over and mad people liked it. It’s crazy though, I don’t know if you saw it, but on the website they put me as the main picture too. So it was great.
What happens now, what’s going to come of it?
They’re going to add it into rotation at MTVU, I’m almost 100% sure it’s going to get added onto MTV Jams. I mean, it’s just a stepping stone, you know? It’s a first. We made that video on a sixty dollar budget! Sixty bucks. There’s other videos dude, $20,000, major labels, so it was great!
Tell me about your growth as an artist? Has it been huge steps with songs like Crashing Down and Feel Tall, or has it been a gradual growth?
I would say, every project I gradually grow. I mean, I’m my own worst critic. I don’t listen to Cuey Sings the Blues, I just can’t listen to it. I don’t like listening to it. I just look back and I’m like, nah, I can do ten times better. Leftovers didn’t really count…
I liked Leftovers!
I like it too, but I only did like six new songs for it, know what I’m saying? Those were just old songs that just never really found their way out.
What will you be doing after Can’t Wait? What’s the plan?
There’s a lot of shit going right now. I mean, I’m riding Can’t Wait until the wheels fall off, just because it’s that dope man. There will probably be another tour in the spring. I’m dropping a new video this Wednesday. It’s just as dope as Feel Tall, honestly, it really is. I’m not just saying that, but it’s polar opposite. It’s more It Usually Goes, rather than Feel Tall. It’s a really, really honest record. It’s very cinematic, it’s very moving. It’s like the first moving video I’ve done.
Your music is a lot more emotional that what we normally see on The Kollection – how do fans respond to that? Do people like it, do they ask you for more pop stuff?
I think my real fans want that of me. It seems like lately, just reading search results, people just say it’s so real, he spits what’s on his mind. And I’ve never really looked at myself like that, I’ve just always felt comfortable doing it. I felt awkward always talking about hoes and bitches, you know? Yo, that’s cool and shit, I like fucking too [laughs], but I just felt like that wasn’t me? Know what I’m saying?
There’s a time and place for everything. Kanye and Jay rap about that shit all the time, and I look up to them religiously. So it’s not like all you find in my tape deck is Common and Talib Kweli, like that’s not the case. But I’m definitely lightening up a bit on Can’t Wait.
Are you writing while you’re on tour?
Yeah, I wrote the last chorus today. What I have to do is go in the tour van, you know because we’re stacked in these hotels, and I just go off in the van, plug my phone in, and record.
What’s been the best part of the tour?
New York…was crazy. New York was important – there were important people there, my friends were there. I’m really excited for LA. Austin was really dope, it was on a Sunday so the crowd was smaller, but the place. Like this and Atlanta have been the illest stops yet. I’ll be back here for South by Southwest.
Where will you be this time next year?
Fuck [laughs]. Everyone says five years, or what you want in your career, but a year from now is…like, I can’t be ‘I wanna be forty grammys deep!’
I would like to have a good label home where they’re not trying to jerk me. That’s been the problem – a lot of people don’t understand. It’s too much of this, or too much of this, I just want to be me. I want to be comfortable, and I want to be widely known by next year. I think Can’t Wait will do a lot.
So I’m gonna say…I want as much success as possible that I can handle. You know, sometimes fame, and fortune – a lot of it’s fake. A lot of it can fuck up your edge. So I don’t wanna change. Put that: I don’t wanna change!
Alright, last words to Kollectors and your fans. Go.
Thank you. Look out for Can’t Wait!
