In terms of hip-hop, Chicago hasn’t gotten acclaim like Atlanta or Houston despite producing top talent like you, Common, Kanye, Rhymefest, Twista and Da Brat. Why do you think that is?
I think we get a lot of love internally within the city, but I also think we’ve gotten a lot of kudos. We don’t put out a massive amount of music, like Atlanta; we’re not always in the now. But when we do come, we come very strong. If you look at Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 albums of 2007, there were no hip-hop albums except mine.
Usually when the word esoteric is used to describe a rapper, it means A) that he’s not commercially viable or B) most of what he’s saying is over your head. Think you fit the description?
I don’t know what that really means in depth.
Q-Tip has been described as such. Early Eminem as well.
It’s a good thing to be compared to Q-Tip and others. Eminem—best MC of all time.
Yes, I said it. That’s a bad white boy. So, yes, I’ll take that description.
Overly sociopoliticized acts like Dead Prez rarely get the commercial acclaim that would help expose their messages to the masses. Are you worried about being tuned out?
It’s not a major concern. Everything is not meant for everybody. I don’t have a full understanding of what I mean to the world, and I don’t know if I ever will. Sometimes I find myself shooting in the dark. My fan base is so diverse. The accolades go from BET Awards to Tavis Smiley. I get pulled in so many directions that I decided I’m going to just try to do me.
You seem to be well-read. Any favorite books, newspapers or magazines?
I don’t read a lot of books. Never had the attention span to read a whole book, unless it was really engaging, like something about zombie warfare. Recently, I heard [Friedrich] Nietzsche was held in high regard, so I read some of his work. My mother reads more than I do. She’ll call me and give me everything she’s read. I’m a big PBS and public radio fan. I go to BBC News in the morning. Sometimes I’ll pick up a National Geographic instead of XXL.
With Optimus. January 18, 8 p.m., $25-$30. House of Blues, 632-7600.