MISTA LONG
UDC: Name and background information?
ML: This is Mista Long. I’m from Hamilton Park over here on the North side of Dallas Texas. I’m a pioneer to the game. I have been with Slump Masters and Chocolate City from back in the day, which was 817 the Mecca. Then it was Ghetto Priest and Mista Long, I was one half of that. Now it is just Mista Long solo.
UDC: Give us some insight into any current projects?
ML: I have a mix tape out right now called Friday the 13th: Beat Jacker takes Texas Vol I. I have that in the streets right now. I‘m also starting a new series of mix tapes called “I hustle by my lonely”: Vol.1 Mista Long. I already have that completed so I will start on volume two. After that in the early part of next year I should be ready to drop “Chronicles of a Hustler”, which is my first ever solo album.
UDC: As an artist, do you feel you have a responsibility to the community?
ML: Definitely but I can’t say that I don’t buy into athletes and artists being role models to kids. I think it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their kids just like my mom and dad taught me. You can’t let your kids go out and think that just because an artist or athlete does something that’s what you are supposed to be doing. I do know that I have a certain responsibility when I’m in the public eye to conduct myself in a certain manner and paint a certain picture for young kids to see. What I’m doing is cool but everything I say isn’t what is necessarily real. I try to keep my music a hundred percent real. I give back to the kids whether the kids need jerseys or schools supplies. My boys and I will shell out money. I have kids myself so for my own personal house, I read to my daughters and I do all the stuff that fathers should do. There is definitely a responsibility to the community but I also try to maintain who I am as a person.
UDC: How has the internet affected your music and the hip hop world as a whole?
ML: Let’s just say before the internet, people in Istanbul would not who Mista Long is. The internet gave me and millions of people like me the opportunity to drop music. It has given us the opportunity to represent our city, region and let the world know what is going on with us. Now the world is listening to us on internet radio and we aren’t having too pay for certain spots and you know what I’m talking about. The internet hooked it up and put us out there worldwide.
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UDC: Off the new mix tape, what track is your favorite and why?
ML: Right now I have a song called “Crossover” that I hooked up with producer Dawgs Dabato. It’s the hottest track because it is all me. It is raw, heart, and street. I feel like it is something that I have tapped into that will tap into a lot of cats that have been on that side of the game. It is a real raw song but it is controlled and directed to a certain audience. I think it is one of the hottest tracks coming off of a mix tape anywhere.
UDC: Do you have any advice for indie artists?
ML: Rule number one get your business straight. Have a dream but understand what it takes to achieve your dream. People tell if you dream it, it can come true. They never tell you about the hard work in between. It is ninety percent grind and ten percent hustle. If you noticed I didn’t include talent because you have cats out here that are on the radio with absolutely no talent. You can think it, dream it, and be prepared to put in that ninety percent grind. Do some research on what that ninety percent grind is. I know what a lot of cats don’t know, like I have to have a press kit, a one sheet, photos and bios. That is industry standard. I don’t care how cold you are in the streets if you don’t handle your business. Corporate America doesn’t want to deal with you, if you don’t have your business in order.
UDC: As members of the hip hop community how can we strengthen our community?
ML: This is hard to say but when you take a melting pot of people with different beliefs you actually have cats that think what they are doing and saying is okay. I think it is a big responsibility for the music we put out to reflect what is really going on and not really glamorizing it. You can speak about it without making it sound like it is the thing to do. I think the responsibility is on the artist to paint a real picture to the world because even in the wake of Katrina the world still doesn’t understand what is going on. We also have a responsibility to rebuild the community. We are now the new Martin Luther Kings and Jesse Jacksons. I say that not jokingly because the kids don’t look up to Martin Luther King or Malcolm X like we did unless it is us teaching them about it. These kids are looking at Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Baby from Cash Money. Now that we know we are the spoke persons for the black community and the hood, we have to be careful about what we say. We have to put out music that is fun enough to take it lightly so things don’t become too serious and secondly make sure it tells the truth.
MISTA LONG
Blacklight Management
EMAIL
214.914.1046
Interviewed By Lejend@undevco.com
Photography By Lesley Lawson
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