DOPE Magazine chops it up with Brownsville rapper OTIS BRUNO about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the importance of a lead single, and the “good pressure” of being a Hip Hop artist from Brooklyn - where legendary is customary and greatness is always the goal.

Here is an Excerpt from the Full Length Interview

(Tone Swep: TS) Firstly, man. Let’s start off with Hurricane Sandy. How is New York recovering in the wake of such a violent storm?

(Otis Bruno: OB) Everybody is really just trying to get everything in their lives back together. Tryna get shit back in order. Like my aunt, her car got flooded to the top. The whole car is submerged in water. People are lined up around the block for the busses, and those busses are running super slow. That makes them late for their jobs and appointments. It’s crazy so people are just trying to get back on track. A hurricane came through and flooded out the city. It’s crazy to even know that’s true. And you know the subways are underground, but the whole system is flooded. So no trains are running. The city is on pause. It’s crazy.

(TS) Bophead is a popular song, a hot record, particularly in the Tri-State area. What compelled you to release it as your first single?

(OB) It was like a year-and-a-half ago. Me and my friends were just chilling. And I was like, ‘yo, what can I do just to be fun?’ Make a record people can have fun with. I was in a group called PNG, Persona Non Grada. One of my group members had passed away, so I was forced by that situation, and decided from that situation, to go solo. So for Bophead, I came up with the concept. And as soon as I got the beat, I was like yo… I have a lot of Bopheads in my phone. I’m sure you do too (Laughs!). DJ’s at Hot 97 broke the record. Then DJ’s at Power 105 started playing it. Then we dropped the video. It just took off from there.

(TS) Is “Bophead” indicative of your style? Or is it just a hot single to get you in the door? I ask that question as I think about a New York artist such as MIMS, who dropped “This is Why I’m Hot” back in ’09, but never duplicated the success of his lead single.

(OB) Nah, not at all. Bophead, that was an experiment. I’m not even really that type of character. That is just one side of me. If you listen to Hunnids, my new single, it’s totally different. But I knew there was a demographic for that type of record. I took other records to the radio stations and they didn’t play them. Bopheads was in rotation in two weeks. Certain people don’t want to hear songs that are very lyrical. Certain people do. But the people who do aren’t really listening to radio, feel me. So that’s my radio single.

(TS) Fab, Jay, Mos, BIG, Kim, Kweli, Foxy, Papoose, the list goes on. When I think Brooklyn, I think MC. Is there artistic pressure to create only memorable music? What only has potential to be great, as if disposable records meant just for one season or one summer aren’t good enough?

(OB) You can never be average. Even if you do a corny record, a party record, it has to be something that makes the press. I come from a place that has all these great artists. People like Papoose and Foxy, Kim and Biggie. If the spotlight is going to be on you next, you have to perform. You gotta show out, or the people who came before you are going to diss. Like, you came from where I came from and saw what I saw but you couldn’t tell your story the right way. Its pressure, but it’s a good pressure. The type pressure that makes you a better artist.

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