Ohzhe – An Xperience Interview

Ohzhe – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

Photo By: Jason Zuppardi

RRX: I appreciate you taking the time. I know everybody wants to talk to you today.

Ohzhe: Pretty much.

RRX: I figured. I can’t even understand how you felt being up on that stage with KRS One, doing a freestyle like that. That was just incredible, but we were all there with you, you know what I mean? We were all experiencing it with you and I thought that was really big for us as a whole. For the city in its entirety. So how did you feel when you were on stage with KRS One? I saw your face, man.

Ohzhe: It all happened by accident, I guess, but not really by accident. I was given a one-minute warning. My boy Dion came up to me, he was like, “Yo, bro, we gotta run this song, we gotta hurry up to get off stage because he’s ready to go.” So I’m like, alright, we’re about to run it, but I saw him – I didn’t think that he was outside; he was right at the back of the stage. So I’m like, “Oh sh**, yo, do you want me to get off the stage right now?” You can have it. Because I’m thirsty, I wanna sit down, I wanna see my family and friends. I know I did a great job, but he just came up on stage and gave me a hug. It was insane. It was real and I’m tripping over it.

RRX: That’s why I wanted to talk to you today when the emotions are still fresh, you know?

Ohzhe: Yeah.

RRX: You were performing with a live band. I like that, and then he got your band involved and just kicked a little something and you went back and forth. The rest is history. But all of the whole hip hop scene in Albany is talking about it right now.

Ohzhe: They should, they should.

RRX: Absolutely, they should. Well, you know what else is really cool about it? I left there feeling like Ohzhe is like Albany’s Kendrick tonight.

Ohzhe: I’m not gonna lie. You’re right.

RRX: Yeah, we’re feeling it, man. I’ve been into the hip-hop scene for many, many years. That was the first time I’ve seen you live. But I was thoroughly impressed before KRS even came up on stage. I’m like, damn, this guy … that’s what’s up! So, I’m definitely in your corner now.

Ohzhe: Yeah, I have so many photos. My little brother was taking a bunch of pictures while I was on stage. And I had another one of my brothers down at the bottom of the stage taking pictures with everybody else. which is surreal. Oh man, I’ve only seen this sh** in my head. I’ve only seen this in dreams, meditations, and daydreams and sh**.

RRX: It’s a dream turned reality!

Ohzhe: It only happened because of the work that I’ve been putting in. But not just for me, but for the community too. Supporting the youth, supporting the community, and supporting the artist. It’s the best way that I can do it without depleting myself of my resources and my sh**, because you know: first law of the land is self-preservation. Without it, I can’t be right, I can’t help nobody else.

RRX: That’s true. I was actually backstage talking to JB!! aka Dirty Moses …

Ohzhe: Shout out to JB, man!

RRX: Yeah, I love him. But we’re just talking, and right during our conversation, we heard you multiple times ask for a cease-fire. I looked at JB and said, “I didn’t hear the beginning of that.” So I don’t know if you were talking about the wars going on in the world, or the war going on here in our community. I was like, either way, I’m for both.

Ohzhe: Yeah, facts. It needs to come because we gotta come together. The war is not between us. I can talk forever about that, just based off my feeling. I can’t put together statistics or numbers and shit about it, but I see sh** for what it is. I know when someone’s trying to take advantage of you and pin you against other people, I know what manipulation feels like. You know what it looks like. It’s just on a grander scale, and they want us to be against each other and they want us to bicker, they want us to argue about color. They want us to argue because it’s about money at the end of the day.

I feel like my community is growing; I’m not gonna say that they’re not. My community is growing to learn more on how to communicate. Another thing that was astonishing is that I feel like the whole city, I mean the whole 518, I’m talking about Troy, Schenectady, and Albany all together, right? From my perspective, at least from what I feel, I know there was different hoods in different sections of that park (referring to Alive at 5). While we were there everybody left with no problem, no beef. We left with a clean slate. We all had a good time and we all left safe, everybody!

RRX: It was beautiful.

Ohzhe: But that was because there was camaraderie and it was an equal interest. It was an experience for us all to feel, which brings me to my next point about artistry and about artists. If artists focus more on creating experiences for their audiences, they will always be successful no matter what it is. I feel the way the industry has set up some of the artists that they put in front of us, they put them in chains, they put them in flashy cars. They completely stripped the artist from community and they make it individualized. Now it’s just about, “Look what I got. Look what I got. You don’t got this. You’re not f***ing her. I’m f***ing her. I got a million dollars. You don’t got a million dollars. I got a nice car. You don’t got a nice car. I’m better than you.”

RRX: 100%

Ohzhe: A lot of people forget who they are and assist the whole system, and that’s why you got a bunch of trash out in the industry too. Motherf***ers are getting in there and they lose their mind because they don’t know how to handle money and they don’t know how to handle themselves. They’ve experienced themselves through poverty but they never experienced themselves with money and they forget that money is a resource, it’s a tool. It’s not something that you’re supposed to be like … I don’t know. I could rant all day about that sh**, bro. I’m sorry.

RRX: I love this conversation though, man. That means a lot to me. Was there anything else that you’d like to say to people?

Ohzhe: I’m working on an album called “Ghetto Savant” and it’s gonna be a special project. I can’t wait for you guys to hear it.

RRX: Absolutely. Well, when it comes out, let me know and we’ll give you some love! I appreciate your time.

Ohzhe: Thank you for reaching out and thank you for being you, man. Thank you for being in the communities and supporting the cause. We appreciate you too.

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