Urban Vault caught up with Arizona based emcee WISECRVCKER to ask him some questions about his new album SUPREME PARADIGM ACT II (THE NTH DEGREE) & more…

Arizona based emcee WISECRVCKER recently dropped his new full-length project SUPREME PARADIGM ACT II (THE NTH DEGREE). The album is fully armed with beats from France’s omnipresent Underground producer Kyo Itachi and showcases WISECRVCKER alongside a roster of heavy-hitting guest appearances including performances from Killah Priest, Capadonna, Planet Asia, Conway The Machine, Rockness of Heltah Skeltah, Guilty Simpson, Ruste Juxx, Tragedy Khadafi, Madchild and more.

What is your name?

Well WISECRVCKER aka Wisecracker is my official moniker but my given name is Robert Zacatecas Bryant.

Where are you from?

I was born in Bisbee, AZ which is a small mining town in Arizona on the border of the US and Mexico.

How long have you been making music?

My father was a musician and ran a music store, so I got my hands on a guitar and drumset as an infant. I was getting pretty into playing guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards at a young age but when I really started in my music career was when my father passed away when I was 13. I began writing heavily. I was listening to and influenced by cats like Immortal Technique, Dead Prez’ Stic & M1, Mos Def, Guru, Brand Nubian, and at that age I was really inspired by Swollen Members most of all. I did a lot of local rap battles in the southern AZ and northern Mexico streets from 2003-2007. In 2006 is when I started really taking the studio production of Hip Hop music seriously but let’s face it I sucked and had little to offer until I matured a bit. My more serious debut was in 2011 for a competition on 16bars.com called the Sharkbait Tournament. My winning entry to that contest is still available on my bandcamp.

Your recent album ‘The Nth Degree: Act II of the Supreme Paradigm’ was entirely produced by Kyo Itachi from Paris/France. How did you get in contact with him and how was it working with him?

I discovered Kyo Itachi via Instagram in I’d say 2015 or 2016. He was chopping samples I had never heard before and has this mystique about his character. I was impressed with his work and what he was doing, so I approached him on Instagram during the production of The Grand Scheme which is Part I of the Supreme Paradigm saga. I really enjoy working with Kyo, he’s a perfectionist like myself so together I think we really set the bar high, so to speak.

What can people expect of ‘The Nth Degree: Act II of the Supreme Paradigm’?

The Nth Degree is that hardbody, god body type Hip Hop. Some cats now days call it boom-bap but to me, it’s just the core of what Hip Hop is really about. That hard-hitting, gully street shit.

The album has a long and pretty impressive feature list including legends like Killah Priest, Capadonna, Planet Asia, Conway The Machine, Nems, Heltah Skeltah, Moka Only… just to name a few. How did you get all these artists on the project?

Well, to answer that I really have to go all the way back to the origin of the Supreme Paradigm. In 2014 I linked up with Moka Only and Madchild to put out a track called ‘Caustic’ and I just hit them up via email. In 2015, Moka Only was on the Magickal Weirdness tour and he and his tour comrade Nicbam broke down in the desert between Phoenix and Tucson Arizona. I saw Moka’s post about the situation and hopped in the car heading their way. After the car situation was taken care of Moka put on an unforgettable live performance at a local dive bar in Scottsdale, AZ. Since then he and I had been tight and put out a few tracks in which he was the featured emcee. I had shown interest in having him produce a project for me and we set out to do a small EP. I enlisted 2mex, Rakaa of Dilated Peoples, Eligh, and Abstract Rude for this EP and in the midst of that several other cats got word of the project and joined in. I rapidly had too many potential features for an EP and hit Moka up for more beats. Hence The Grand Scheme was born. Once I had name that album I decided I really wanted to do more albums that were feature-rich and had a title based on a figure of speech, or common idiom in the English language. Thus the Supreme Paradigm saga was born. Once the first chapter was released it was relatively easy to demonstrate what I was doing and what the saga was about. This caught the eye of a lot of emcees even though general Hip Hop heads were kind of asleep. For most of 2019, my following was growing, not in quantity but in quality. I wasn’t getting over the top numbers of plays or follows but I was seeing follows and comments from cats like Sicknature, King Magnetic, Tame One, Goretex, Necro, Stu Bangas, PF Cuttin, Bizarre, Diabolic, Members of Cunninlynguists, etc. so I wasn’t necessarily catching the public’s eye but I was gaining traction in the realm of other skilled artists. I believe that has helped me to create these albums.

Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?

I’d really like to collaborate with Crimeapple, Joell Ortiz, and Pharaohe Monch more than anyone else right now. There are some others like Ghostface Killah, MF Doom, U God, and GZA that are on my bucket list for sure, but those first 3 are the last few in my top lyricist’s list that I haven’t worked with yet and they are up there for me. As far as producers go I’d love to work with Apollo Brown and the #1 choice for a producer is DJ Muggs. My middle name is Zacatecas which is a place in Mexico but also derives from a very Machismo Aztec word. I am saving the album name ‘Zacatecas’ for my collaboration with DJ Muggs on Soul Assassins Records. I’ve never been in touch with Muggs but I am very inspired by his Soul Assassins work with Crimeapple, Mayhem Lauren, Roc Marci, Mach Hommy and others and I feel the ‘Zacatecas’ concept can only be achieved alongside Muggs in the style of his Dia Del Asesinato. That album is one where I would weave more Spanish and Arizona Border themes into the project.

What inspires you when you make your music?

I take inspiration from a lot of sources, and mediums. My father was an amazing graphic artist; painter, illustrator etc. as well as a musician so I am inspired by him and his works, as well as things he and my mother taught me. My mother is a world-renowned Tapestry Weaver, she makes complex images and portraits from cloth on a loom, which is a very ancient art. Being raised in that environment, and homeschooled from grades k-8 in that environment is surely the seed of my creativity from a nurture perspective. Some may also say it is in my nature – My Grandfather, and Great Grandfather were both named William Cullen Bryant, which some may know is a family heritage of some notoriety. My great, great, Grandfather was William Cullen Bryant the father of American Nature poets, who was a famous writer, editor of the New York Post, and advisor to several presidents. – In that way, some say my knack for words is in my blood.

How have you ended up in the music industry?

Since I have explained a great deal of my history, I will take this question to its literal meaning. I have ended up in the music industry entirely by chance and good fortune. I have always made music but alongside other endeavors. In 2010 I was heavily involved in the illegal drug trade and landed myself behind bars. After my release, I put music on hold and pursued my career in IT as a Network Engineer. I clawed my way up the ladder from a $12/hr job at a retail computer shop in 2013 to making six-figures as the Director of Operations for a large managed IT service provider in 2016. After spending 3 years at that job working ungodly amounts of hours, responding to emergencies at all hours of the night and managing a high-stress work environment I made the choice to leave that career behind, or at least on pause. I had already bought my first home and felt I was at a point where I could sacrifice my income level to regain some of my time. In Summer 2019 I took a few months off and really focused on The Nth Degree, and here we are today. I am no longer working in the Computer Industry, and I am engulfed in the Hip Hop Industry which is truly a dream come true.

What do you think of the music industry in 2020?

I think the music industry itself is as it always has been: Volatile. You never know what technological advance will disrupt the industry, the artists, and the delivery methods. But as far as Hip Hop goes I think we are in an extremely healthy place. Artists of the golden era are still putting out killer music and they are polished and well-executed works by veterans of the craft. Newer artists are striving to meet them in the middle and we see some amazing collaborations and masterpieces coming from that.

What do you do when your not making music?

I am a multi-faceted producer of content. In addition to music I am also writing a book about how to navigate the world as a Felon, and how to have your record expunged and your rights reinstated which I have been successful at after 9 years as a felon, and 6 long years petitioning courts and paying court fees and lawyers. Besides writing both fiction and non-fiction prose I also dabble in photography, videography, and writing articles for Technical Journals and other IT-related publications. – Moving the conversation away from creation – I enjoy working on cars and building custom performance automobiles, I am a crate digger and love finding music made by others to enjoy and be inspired by, and every once in a while I find time to binge-watch a Netflix series or pick up a Playstation controller.

Instagram, Facebook or Twitter?

Instagram is my preferred platform, I have a Facebook and I think there is a Twitter out there too but I don’t use them, I just have my Instagram linked to them so if you see something posted there it’s because it has been forwarded from @WISECRVCKER on Instagram.

In a few words sum up your thoughts about Urban Vault and what we’re trying to do?

I think Urban Vault is real dope. Any collective of people that love Hip Hop and are pushing to spread unadulterated underground content is right up my alley, so thank you for doing so and thank you again for taking the time to interview me.

Thank you for your time and may you carry on making dope, fresh music…

WISECRVCKER – The Nth Degree: Act II of the Supreme Paradigm via iTunes

The album is available as a Limited Edition CD
(250 copies only)

www.facebook.com/the.mc.wisecracker
https://twitter.com/wisecrvcker
https://instagram.com/wisecrvcker