Bezzolay – An Xperience Interview

Written by on February 5, 2025

Bezzolay – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

Photo Credit: 80am Productions

RRX: So how you doing, man?

Bezzo: I’m doing good, bro.

RRX: I’m really digging the New Year’s vibes that you sent over to me.

Bezzo: Oh, thanks, bro. I was in the process of making music and I was like, let me make a song for my cousin for his birthday and it turned into something else. First, it just started out as a birthday song for him, my cousin, and my best friend.

RRX: Ah, so “New Year, New Money.” Yeah, it’s totally equated to the new year (2025), but it sounds like the new year was originally a birthday.

Bezzo: Yeah, it’s actually a Capricorn song. That’s why the song is called “Garnet,” because that’s the first song of Capricorn, and it’s actually part of a 12-song process for every month.

RRX: No kidding.

Bezzo: We’ll be doing the next zodiac in the list.

RRX: I like that. See, that’s thinking outside the box right there. You got a whole series coming.

Bezzo: Yeah, I got a lot of music I’m dropping this year. It’ll be my biggest release of music in one year.

RRX: Well, that’s the best man, sky’s the limit now. I first became familiar with you from the Tiff Gabana “My City” remix.

Bezzo: Oh wow. That was a while ago.

RRX: It’s like a decade ago now, right?

Bezzo: Yeah, I was on the original and the remix version.

RRX: That’s right. Yeah, so that’s what got me familiar with you, and I’ve been paying attention ever since. When you sent in the song “Garnet,” I was playing it in the office, and my boss was like … we gotta get an interview with you. I was like, that’s cool. My boss very much appreciates old-school hip-hop, but he’s not really the hip-hop kind of guy, so for him to say that … he must have really heard something in your music.

Bezzo:  Thanks, I appreciate that so much.

RRX: So how long have you been at it?

Bezzo: I’m gonna say, what, 29 years?

RRX: How old are you now?

Bezzo: 42. My first rhymes … I ain’t let nobody hear them for a year. I started writing when I was 13, turning 14. My first beat I ever wrote to was the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Glaciers of Ice” (Raekwon). Back in the day, they used to have the promo tapes with the instrumental side beat.

RRX: Oh yeah.

Bezzo: That was my favorite beat, and I used to write from the beginning of the beat to the end of the beat and then go again and just write new rhymes. But I had learned that process from someone.

RRX: OK, so you had a mentor.

Bezzo: Oh, I’ve had some of the … I’m not gonna say the best, but in my lifetime, who taught me how to rap, and how to curate music and all that. I have some good names under my belt.

RRX: No, that’s the best. Good to have people in your corner, people that you could bounce ideas off of and learn from. Not everybody has that.

Bezzo: Yeah, I got introduced to hip-hop real early, at age 6. I didn’t know what hip-hop was. I didn’t know anything about hip-hop until my grandmother died. My grandma died, and for some strange reason, there were like 300 people at her funeral. I couldn’t understand it. Like, why? Who is this lady? Why are all these people here to see her pass?

RRX: Right.

Bezzo: I didn’t know. So when we came home, we had like a family reception at my mom’s house when I lived in the Bronx. I’m from the Bronx. I’m from the Sedgwick area, Sedgwick Projects, and Sedgwick Park. I’m blocks away from all of that. So I was raised in it. So when I came to realize, my mom introduced me to my cousin, and sure enough, it was Melle Mel.

RRX: No. Wow!

Bezzo: Mm-hmm

RRX: Well, yeah, that’s legendary right there

Bezzo: His real name is Melvin Glover. His mother and my mother are cousins, but they were like best friends. My mother grew up with Melvin before he went to Hollywood and became a superstar; they grew up together. That’s why he was at my house; because he and my mom were really good friends.

RRX: Wow. No, that’s something, man. So you’ve really got the foundation there.

Bezzo: I’m from New York, but I like West Coast music, you know what I mean? I grew up on Snoop Dogg. I grew up on Eminem. I mean, I love New York music; Jay-Z is one of my favorite rappers. I’m an honorary Rough Rider. I ran with Rough Riders, but I really like West Coast music. That’s why my style is kind of different. But anyhoo, I left New York (City). I mean, situations happened where I had to move away. So I come to Albany, and I’m by myself. But I got the drive, so what I did when I came up here was … what most black gentlemen do when they come up here; they become street dudes.

RRX: Right.

Bezzo: I chose to use every street dollar I made to go to the studio. I didn’t buy no cars. Yeah, I got clothes, I bought jewelry once … but every dollar went to the studio and learning how to record. And that’s all I did, from about 19 to 24, before I went to prison. That’s all I did, was go to the studio, perform, and hang out with other rappers. If you don’t know about the gentleman by the name of Dirty Moses (aka JB) …

RRX: Oh yeah, I know him.

Bezzo: Dirty Moses teaches me all the time, to this day. That’s one of my favorite guys in the whole world. I move up here. I’m 19 years old, and I’m street-rapping. I’m bust bust, gang gang, let’s get it. I’m from the hood, right? But I didn’t know there was a whole other rap scene across Lark Street.

RRX: Yup.

Bezzo: I mean … I live on Clinton, Second Ave, Grand Street … I didn’t know there was a whole other world of rappers on the other side.

RRX: Isn’t that something?

Bezzo: Right! So one day, I’m outside just walking up Central, and I walk up Lark because I wanna get some Chinese food, something like that, and I just see mad people out here. I go up in one of the old taverns across the street from Bombers, and they rapping in there. But everybody backpack rappers; ain’t no thug rappers. Moses is there. I get my opportunity. I’m talking crazy. I talk my s***. After I’m done and I get a drink … sure enough, Dirty Moses pulls me over to the side. He’s like, yo bro, you nasty. I’m like, thank you. He’s like, yo, but check it out, look around the room. I look around the room. He’s like, what do you see? I’m like, to be honest, 75% of the people in here are white. He’s like, yeah, so you gotta understand, you gotta make music that they’re gonna appreciate without changing who you are. So, I’m like, oh I gotta be a backpack rapper. He’s like, no, you just gotta tone it down. So that’s what I had to learn. I literally switched up my whole style. I stopped talking about guns, stopped talking about hustling, and I had to learn how to do that. And in that process, I met W. Steel, who was a predominant producer from California. We started a group called Type Official. So now I’m in the mix with the backpack rappers. I’m fully immersed in their world. We made a double album. I had a merchandise situation and ended up going on tour.

RRX: There is so much more to Bezzolay’s story, but for the purpose of the article, we’ll have to end it here. Anything else you’d like to get out to the readers before we go?

Bezzo: Yeah, I just wanna tell everybody they could Google me at Bezzolay or Bezzo House on social media platforms and streaming services. We are dropping a project a month for this year, plus a song a week for my fans. We’re doing a lot of cooking this year; I’m producing a lot of records. I’m gonna hands-on produce half of those projects, plus a dozen projects for my peers.

 

 

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