Brooklyn rapper Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire has had one hell of a year, rising from obscurity to internet sensation with the "Huzzah" video back in June. His Mishka-approved mixtape Lost In Translation (which Complex debuted back in September) solidified his reputation as one of hip-hop's most talented rookies (and his star-studden "Huzzah" remix video didn't hurt either). And now he's topping 2011 off by releasing a new mixtape on Christmas.
This Sunday, December 25, eXquo Claus will be releasing Merry Christmas, Suck My Dick, which he promises will be his last mixtape until a proper album release comes together. Last night, Complex caught up with eXquire and his manager, Vic Reznik, who is also the man behind most of his music videos, for an early screening of the mixtape's first release, "Motivate To Be Rich." Watch the video and peep the quick convo below...
What made you want to release a Christmas mixtape?
eXquire: It was just something ill to do, I thought it would be random as shit. It's just me kickin' ass. I got a song with Danny Brown on there. I got a song with Maffew Ragazino on there...actually no I don't, ’cause I forgot to send him the beat. I'll put that on the New Year's album. [Laughs.]
Do you want people to listen to it while they're at home with their families?
eXquire: Yeah, that'd be nice! That's ideal.
But you're not doing any "Jingle Bells" remakes?
eXquire: Nah, it's just rap. It just happens to be coming out on Christmas. I'm not doing no more tapes for a minute after this. I'm just gonna focus my attention on my album. I'm not like Charles Hamilton, every five minutes you getting a new song. Niggas is not getting all that. Take these two mixtapes, bump them shits. Give ’em a video or two, and I'll see you when the album come out.
What made you want to shoot "Motivate To be Rich" at eXquire's crib, the same place where you did the "Huzzah" video?
Vic: We shot that shit the same day we shot "Huzzah 2," which was a while ago. But that's the thing—we're moving around so much, so getting videos done, it's not like a nine to five. A lot of people will just get a director and they'll deal with him once, but we keep everything in-house so it can take a while.
eXquire: We shot it in the crib cause that's pretty much our hub. All our videos have to reflect our real life. The crib is legendary—so much shit done happened there.
Vic: It's just like giving it a different flavor. Relaying different energies from different nights. Not every Friday night feels the same. That's what were trying to do with the videos. You can have the same Friday night at the same spot, but it's always gonna be different, and tell a different story.
Aesthetically, I like how you layered the frames and played with the speed of the video.
Vic: Thanks. We gotta be constantly pushing ourselves creatively, cause that's what we've got. That's the story we're telling, that's us. So when you see it represented visually, it's like, what do you do with what you have? That's how style emerges. You go back and look at people's work who you admire, or videos that caught your attention. You just take from everything and create your own vision with it. Photography is always finding the holes in reality and telling the story of it.
What's with the lady at the end of the video?
Vic: That's like the signature of every video, we do a little scene at the end Like with "Huzzah," we did the "Hide & Fuck." But I'm gonna keep that one for drops: "I know about photography, baby—I went to college for it!"
So do you guys have other videos in the chamber? What can we expect to see?
Vic: We always got footage. We're trying to do Bon Jovi videos for the rest of our lives—like the on tour Bon Jovi videos. Like the ’80s Def Leppard shit where the groupies were coming back stage and shit. I wanna have groupie cams. Instead of wrist bands, we'll have groupie cams, and that's how we'll shoot videos. First-person experience.
