Formerly known as Astro, Brooklyn native Stro managed to appear on the radar of Hip Hop after dropping last year’s highly lauded effort Computer Era. Of course, that came after the 19-year-old rapper dropped a slew of under-the-radar mixtapes going back as far as five years ago. At this point, it’s safe to say Brian Vaughn Bradley, Jr. has been putting in work. That all was threatened when rap fans saw a heated exchange between himself and Hot 97’s Ebro, a gatekeeper within New York radio. Then again, the exchange opened the door to more conversations about everything from payola to and confusing politics terrestrial radio plays in getting one’s music heard. For many, Stro was David arguing with a Goliath. Regardless of where one falls on the subject, he got his point across.
It does help that as Stro builds his status as an emcee, he’s treated acting with the same amount ferocity. Already, he’s been featured in numbers pulling Hollywood blockbusters including Earth To Echo and A Walk Among The Tombstones. The balance of Hollywood and Hip Hop hasn’t hurt him from coming out with bangers like the Ghostface Killah inspired “Mighty Healthy 16’” and “Skrrr” which dropped today.
Speaking with DX, Stro explains the ambitions for his music to compete with The Golden Era and why that matters to him as an emcee.
Stro Talks “Skrrr” and widely discussed on-air debate with Ebro on Hot 97
DX: You just dropped “Skrrr” today which sounds like an entire different beast than “Mighty Healthy 16’.”
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Stro: Well, the golden era was infamous for making great music…..not just great music but music that reflected what was going on at the time. I wasn’t born until 96, but if i wanna go back and find out what was happening before then I can do that just by listening to the music. That’s the type of record “Skrrr” is; it’s like when everybody was New Jack Swinging in 91 and Ice Cube came out and said “It ain’t no pop cuz that sucks and you can New Jack Swing on my nuts.” Right now everybody is wearing dresses and doing suspect shit in Hip Hop and people are too afraid to speak on it, be it for fear of political correctness or they just don’t give a fuck. Either way, I’m disgusted with the way they’re clowning and disrespecting the culture, so I wrote a record about it. “Skrrr” is new in flavor, but the creative formula remains in-line with the golden era’s way of making a records. Eighteen years from now, my kids will be able to visit 2015 just by listening to “Skrrr” or any of my records.
DX: This comes after the news you made a few weeks ago following the heated on-air debate with Ebro. Was that difficult considering how much of a gatekeeper he is?
Stro: It wasn’t hard. I got love for Hot 97 and I believe they got love for me. I’ve been up there like eight million times in the last year whether it was promoting a movie or promoting a record. Ebro has known me forever. Him and my manager are cool. Since I was nine, I was rapping with a manager. Every move I would make, Ebro would speak with my manager. He’d say what I could do to be better and whatnot. It’s really a deeper situation than what we could talk about on radio as far as why New York artists aren’t getting played in New York. But, I didn’t want to go into all of that. It was like yo, what steps could be made to get heard on radio in the day-time with everybody else or with these Southern artists? What can I do to be prince of the city? The records I make now aren’t ones that are debatable. I don’t go into the studio looking to do records for radio but I know what records have that quality to them and “Might Healthy 16’” was one of those records. It was at the level of getting played on New York radio. It was a matter of asking what moves needed to be made to get there. Then he hit me with the, “You gotta be hot” verse and that’s when the debate started.
DX: So are you and Ebro cool? Everything good?
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Stro: Yeah we good. You know Ebro know he lost. Even after we got off air, I was like you can see how he ended the interview like he just cut it off. That’s why I see everyone just wildin out over it. People were like, “How you gonna do that to that little boy?” I was like it’s a debate. When you saw it, I attacked with facts and you winning, the tone gets raised. When I argue with my homies and they wrong, they start to raise their voice. Now they want to fight. That was in his house so I couldn’t rebell on him. He knew he was wrong. Being fair, I asked him after we got off air “if I sell-out SOBs that means I’m going to get airplay right?” He said “huh?’ I asked him again and he answered with I’d be more respected. He changed his entire story and then hit me with the, “I gotta go use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” I was like wow. It was a great debate for Hip Hop. Nothing serious. I don’t have no beef. Even when I was leaving the station, he was telling me how the interview was going to do numbers and they were going to upload it that day.
Stro Admits Difficulties Acting Has On His Rap Career
DX: It’s crazy because “Might Healthy 16’” is both a dope track and homage to Ghostface Killah. Considering you just turned 19 recently and you’ve been rapping since nine, how much have you evolved with the game?
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Stro: I mean I’ve evolved through a lot of things. Mainly through the experience of music. I was a totally different artists before I listened to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon. Before, I rarely listened. I heard it but rarely listened. Then I realized like this is a timeless rap album. Everybody would look around me saying that Illmatic was a classic and I would ride the bandwagon without understanding why. When I went back, listened and understood why Nas is hailed as one of the best emcees ever, it changed me for the better. I just listened to both Raekwon and Nas back-to-back. I don’t necessarily want to be considered a 90s artists, but I want to compete with music made back then or in that era. Because to me, it’s ten times greater than anything that’s being put out today. It was just a higher quality of music back then. I always evolved by competing with the greats. I don’t try to compete with artists now because I feel like they’re not on that level yet of a Raekwon, Nas, Jay Z or Big. I might as well go after the head honchos first and that’s how I get better.
I’ve also evolved through my experiences and living life. I’m blessed to do a little acting too. I just filmed a movie with Ang Lee. It’s like a war movie that comes out Veterans Day 2016 and we had to film the war scenes in Morocco. It was just ill for me to make it from the hood to all the way out there. Just experiences like that are things that I write about in the rhymes and I’ve just seen more. I grow every day.
DX: It’s crazy how you mentioned Ang Lee during the interview with Ebro and even now when he’s probably the greatest Asian director of all time. I mean Crouching Tiger, Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain. What’s working with such a legend like?
Stro: He’s amazing. He’s a very humble dude who knows exactly what he wants as far as shots and things on screen. He’s a determined and great dude to be around. Very cool.
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DX: A lot of artists have a hard time balancing both acting and rapping. Sometimes, it can make one’s career very lopsided. Where do you find your balance as you’re growing on both ends?
Stro: That’s the only point that Ebro had is that I have to do more shows. A lot of that has to do with acting. When you’re shooting a film for two months and you sign the contract, you’re obligated. You can’t go home a do a show, you’re on Sony’s time or whoever is doing the film at the moment. I love acting, it’s definitely fun, dope and takes you all over the world. And, it pays very well. At the same time, I’m a product of Hip Hop. It’s a different level of love. I am Hip Hop. It’s a different relationship. From now on, I’m going to act but focus on the music and being seen more. For more, if you listen to all my projects, I just get better. I can be a better artists than I was on the last project. That’s all I pay attention to. It’s about writing and getting better with bars and getting better with records. You also have to be seen more. If people don’t see you, you’re really not going to get the support you need. I’m probably going to focus a little more on the music right now and get back to acting when I dominate rapping a little more.
Stro Compares Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” To Ice Cube’s “Death Certificate”
DX: You mentioned the “Ah ha” moment while you were listening to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. That album turned 20 this year. Technically, that makes the album older than you.
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Stro: Yeah man that’s crazy.
DX: How difficult is it being your age and having to go back to those albums? Especially when you’re a 19-year-old pressured by mainstream 19-year-old taste.
Stro: When I meant 90s, I meant good music. That’s why they call it the Golden Era. Like for me, Hip Hop turned to shit in the mid-2000s. Whatever year that “Crank That” Soulja Boy came out. It became more about dancing than the actual music. That’s when music started turning to shit. You had some great records in the 2000s. It’s not just the 90s and just not Hip Hop. Bobby Valentino’s “Tell Me?” Did you hear the production on that record? That’s an amazing record till this day. I’m just trying to compete with stuff on that level that makes you feel a certain way. It’s a matter of feelings. The songs that I’m doing now, you can’t even call them 90s and the reason I stopped because ten years from now, I don’t want my music sounding ten years earlier than it actually did. I’m just making music that’s good music. As far as me experiencing the 90s, I was born in 96 so even crossing over into the early 2000s, it’s sort-of that same mentality. I didn’t have an iPod when I was younger. I had to walk around with my cassette tape player. My mom at first wouldn’t let me listen to explicit cassette tapes so I had to hide the Parental Advisory sticker. Those were moments.
DX: Is there anything in Hip Hop now that inspires you now?
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Stro: It’s mad cats. I listen to everybody. Kendrick Lamar is dope. His last album was fire. To me, it reminded me of Ice Cube’s Death Certificate. Even the cover art was a story in itself which was dope. I like YG, he’s dope. I’m waiting on his next project because My Krazy Lifewas fire to me. I like Jay Rock and the whole TDE crew. I don’t fall into everything that’s going on now.
DX: What’s your method of discovering the past?
Stro: Honestly, a lot of the music that I discover, I discovered when I got older. I didn’t have to search for Death Certificate. A homie put me on to that record. The first record that I rocked with from that album was “Steady Mobbin.” That was during the Limewire days so that was the only joint I had on my mp3 player. I just kept rewinding that record. I remember going to my homie house and he was younger than me. He put me on to Death Certificate. When you’re a product of Hip Hop, you don’t have to go searching for much. I didn’t have to research much, it just came naturally. Everything from Wu-Tang to Dr. Dre and Snoop just all ended up in front of me. I listened to it and I liked it. It’s no real method for anything. The music makes its way to me someway, somehow. I just really listen and try to dissect it. If I don’t get it now, I get it when I’m older. I was thirteen when I started listening to The Wu. Man, I use to be scared of Wu-Tang with the mask and stuff on the covers but as I got older, I understand it. They made some of the most timeless records ever. It’s just a matter of hearing the music at the right time.
