Reem Cassanova Interview with Spate Magazine

What's up Reem Cassanova? For those new to the name, who are you and what do you do? I am an upcoming hip-hop artist from the Croton...

What's up Reem Cassanova? For those new to the name, who are you and what do you do?

I am an upcoming hip-hop artist from the Crotona park area in the Bronx. Music has always been my first love, which has inspired other hip-hop related ventures like my t-shirt line, animated series, and a reality show.

Early on who were some of your artistic influences?

I listened to every artist that had some impact in the game like Big, Pun, 50, Cam’ron, etc. The artist that actually influenced me the most, to where I decided to pick up a pen was Big L, The Lox, Ma$e, and Fab.

Being from NYC do you feel there is a certain pressure to follow the trend of what’s so called 'hot' in the industry or is there still room to be your own artist?

I think a couple of years ago you definitely needed a certain look and style of music to gain the interest of the public as an artist. Today, it seems like whatever is new at the time is what everyone follows. Once someone has some type of success with a certain type of style/record everyone follows that formula. But I think unique artist like Young Thug, Asap Rocky, and Lil B demonstrates that there is definitely room to be your own artist.

You are an artist that has always seemed to have a plan, talk about the 'Day Of The Beard' Project and how it all came together conceptually?

I remember hearing someone saying that the blueprint is already there, you just have to follow it. With the decline in record sales I had to figure out a way to make my mark independently. If everyone is going right I have to go left. Who are the most successful artist in hip hop today? What was their blue print? Jay-Z got his recognition from being independent and releasing "Streets is watching”. I don’t know another artist besides 50, and Beyonce who released visual projects. So I decided to take that blueprint to the next level.

Was animation in your videos something you originally set out to do or was it all a part of the master plan for the feel of 'Day Of The Beard' specifically?

The animation was definitely part of the plan. I wanted to take visuals to a level that no other artist has seen it before. People love comedy and every generation watches cartoons. In short, I thought a cartoon is an easy digestible way to reach multiple generations at once. Who wouldn’t like a beard that talks reckless?

You released 2 videos thus far off the project 'She Rollin' and 'Gangsta', how has the response been from the hip-hop blog community?

I haven’t quite made my blog debut as of yet. The feedback from my social media has been incredible so far. We are going to keep pushing and releasing conceptual videos until the blog communities catch on to the heat.

How does this mixtape project differ from projects you have put out in the past?

Everything is original and I actually took my time in crafting these records. I use to rap over any industry track that was hot. For some reason, I always felt that people would quicker listen to an unknown artist over a familiar track then an unknown artist over a hot original track. The fact that every song has a visual component is why I call it a movie mixtape album.

What's next for Reem Cassanova?

Right now I’m working on Day of the Beard 2 along with my cartoon animated series. I have a feeling that this mixtape is going to create a demand for the sequel. The people will speak…

Where can we find you online?

www.reembx.com, any social media @reemcassanova or google me.

Any last words or shouts?

Long beard don’t care.


She Rollin





Gangsta



The Beard Cartoon