After a slow start in 2018, the second half of the year has been rather impressive in terms of the Baltimore music scene. One of the bright spots has been the resurgence of Haz2Real. The South Baltimore native released his 1993 mixtape over the summer, and it is widely regarded as one of the better projects to come out of the city this year. I sat down with Haz to discuss the project, his birthday and other topics.
It’s your birthday. What you getting into?
Shit, I’m getting faded. [laughs] I’m on blunt number 11 so far and it’s only 2:30. I got more left. I got the Henny sitting right there. Just getting faded and spending time with my family and my loved ones for real.
Where did you get the nickname Haz from?
Well, my rap name was Hazmat. Niggas was just calling me Haz for short. And then Hazmat got kind of cheesy to me after a while. I was like 15 or 16 when I gave myself that name. So I dropped the “mat” and kept it as Haz. That’s what everybody was already calling me anyway.
You came up during the Baltimore rap battle days. How did that influence the artist you are today?
To be honest, I don’t even think about the battle rap shit like that. I did that because it’s fun, but it kind of distracts you from making music. When you try to establish yourself as a battle rapper, nobody be trying to hear your music. I fuck with the music more than that, so that’s why I switched my focus. But, it did help me out with my wordplay and stuff like that. It really did help me as far as getting better lyrically. So I’m thankful for the battle rap opportunity.
You dropped 1993 this year — first project on major streaming. It was trending on Twitter. How was that?
Man, that shit was fucking crazy. I didn’t expect that for real. For it to actually hit the trending maps? Like that was just sick. I dropped it at midnight and I think it was trending by 1am. It probably was trending before that and it stayed trending til like 3pm the following day. That shit was crazy, but it showed me my elevation from the last tape. My last tape did good. I didn’t expect it to do as good as it did. But, I went over the top with this one. My next solo project, I gotta do it even bigger.
What’s your favorite song on 1993?
Hmm. I’m gonna say “Letter From the Real Pg. 2” for real. To me, that’s like the most heartfelt song that I wrote on the tape. That’s my favorite one.
For a while you were slept on in the city. Do you feel like you’re finally getting the credit that you deserve?
Somewhat, yeah. It’s not there all the way, but it’s getting there. Like you said, when my mixtape was trending, I was getting mentions from people that I never talked to ever in life. People I ain’t hear from in a long time was like “I’m glad you still doing your music thing for real, dah dah dah.” So it’s getting there. I’m not one of the most talked about artists in the city but people know what’s up with me. I know half the top artists in the city anyway, so I’m good for real.
So, what’s it like being in the studio with Haz?
You gonna be high as shit. You gonna laugh. And you probably gonna make that face. You know how you make that face when you hear a hard ass song? You gonna make that face at least twice in there before you leave, depending on how many songs I do. It’s just a good vibe in the studio. Just smoking and drinking, sometimes. I don’t really drink all the time in the studio. But yeah, we just let loose in there.
Do you like having a lot of people in there?
Here and there. Sometimes I like working alone though. Like I’ll have a studio session and it’s just me and the engineer. But it depends on what mood I’m in at the time. Sometimes, I’ll book a session with my niggas and we invite people to the studio. And it’ll be like 10-15 heads in the studio. It’s either that, or I’ll just be in there by myself and the other artists I’m collaborating with.
What do you think separates you from the other artists in the city?
Man, I rap about real shit. I mean, trapping is real shit cause, you feel me, that’s some tough shit to go through. Like everyday, fiends and all that. Getting shot at, police all that shit. That’s some real shit, but a lot of niggas not living that life. Like I’ve done it before, don’t get me wrong. But, that’s not my lifestyle. I rap about my lifestyle, shit that I been through. And I try to encourage other people to just be yourself. That’s when you the most comfortable — when you being yourself, no matter what type of person you are. You gonna give people the best of you if you being yourself. You can only do but so much being something you’re not.
How has growing up in Baltimore influenced your music and the way you move?
It influenced my music in a way because instead of rapping about stuff that the city thrives off of like violence and shit, I try to rap about shit that’s motivation. I want to motivate people to be better because a lot of people in Baltimore are brainwashed. It’s really people that have never been outside of the city. Even out the county, it’s people that never been anywhere. Last year, traveling made me realize there’s way more to life than just Baltimore. That’s what I want people to realize. I’m still living in the city, but I know for a fact there’s more to life than just Baltimore. So I just want to get people to realize. I don’t be going out like that, hitting the club. I don’t even remember that last time I been to a club. I go around the corner, go chill with my mans and them or I go chill with a female. I don’t be fucking around with too many people. The more people you fuck with, the more drama you gonna be in.
What motivates you?
That goes back to my last answer for real — knowing that it’s more to life than Baltimore. I watched my mother go check to check her whole life. That shit ain’t cool. It’s people out here that’s really waking up and don’t have any worries. They just living life. People out here traveling for a living. It’s 190 countries in this world, you feel me? I’m trying to touch at least 100 of them. That’s what motivates me, knowing it’s more out here. And anybody can get to it. You just gotta want it bad enough.
Switching gears, if I pass you the aux, name 3 artists or projects you have to throw on.
Other than myself? I’m not even gonna list my niggas for real cause they would probably be the first ones. Right now, I’m fucking with Roddy Ricch. I’ll probably throw him on. I’m fucking with that Shy Glizzy tape, Fully Loaded. And uh, that Future and Juice WRLD too, WRLD ON DRUGS. That’s probably the three I would throw on. And I just heard that Tee Grizzley tape yesterday, so I’m putting that in my rotation.
Right now you have the momentum, so what’s next for you?
I got a lot of collab projects coming out. Like, me and HotBoy Slick, me and ISH, me and OTG Groove, me and Kash Corleone. Then, I’m working on the sequel to 1993. But that’s probably not gonna be out for awhile because I want to take my time with that one, just like I did with 1993. I’m working on a lot of shit for real. I was supposed to be in a movie, but I don’t know what happened. The extras backed out at the last minute or something. It was supposed to be like some Halloween shit. That would’ve been cool. So, I’m just working on a lot of collab projects and recording songs. I might slap together an EP one day. And I’m working on a project for the girls too, like 5 or 6 songs. They all gonna be songs that girls can relate to. That’s gonna come out around Valentine’s Day. I can get that done in no time.
When is that “Dancing in Da Trap” dropping?
[Laughs] I want to drop it now, but when I listen to it, it gives me summertime vibes. Feel me? I didn’t get to do what I wanted to do with it this summer, so I’ll probably hold on to it til next summer. Maybe spring time, so it can fully gravitate by the time the summer hits. But that’s dropping next year.
Stream 1993 by Haz2Real on Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal.
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