At a house party in 1989 a young man spit some lyrics for a bunch of people they told him he was dope; that was all he needed to hear. It was then he decided he was going to be an emcee, Choclair has been on a mission ever since. After garnering notoriety on a Primo mix tape with “21 Years” and even more with “Flagrant,” Choclair really made his mark with “Let’s Ride.” The lead single from his debut album “Ice Cold” helped the album go gold in Canada. Choclair has since returned with “Memoirs Of Blake Savage,” and success seems evident once again. Don’t expect to hear the same album though, “It shows more of a growth, it’s a more mature record,” Choclair told HHDX of his new album. “The first album was done the same way cats do independent singles, record song, song, song and put out an album. This time we sat down, we had a focus and a direction of what we wanted to do. It sounds more polished, it comes more together musically, it’s funkier, more soulful.”
With the incredible success of his gold debut, you would think that Choclair would be out for the platinum this time around, but don’t be so sure about that. While he wouldn’t complain if he earned a platinum plaque, it isn’t his primary goal. “I just want to make music and have people appreciate it. Whether it is 300,000 people or 10,000 people, the sales aren’t a big thing,” Choclair said. “It is the impact that you have on the people that do hear it and having them say ‘you representin’ Canada for real, I like that.”
Lyrically content is a pressing issue in hip hop right now, as it always has been. While Choclair certainly does not get categorized as gangsta rap, he is still apart of the same industry. “You’ve got to put yourself out there, and it is weird because there is a fine line. The way I look at it, there is telling an experience and glorifying an experience and I think a lot of people walk that line,” Choclair said. “There is a lot of misunderstanding that goes on, a lot of artists are just telling it how it is, not how it should be. I think that people need to understand that and see that side of it. Hopefully, that will change in the future.”
Choclair has received some criticism of “selling out” after making some radio friendly songs like “Let’s Ride” when he had underground classics like “21 Years” and “Flagrant.” Of course, he is not the only artist to get that criticism, “Basically, you have got to let people do what they want to do. It isn’t like it is anything new when people are talking about diamonds and jewelry and all that, cats were wearing 5 finger rings in the 80’s. People have always been talking about partying, that is what hip hop used to be, that used to be keeping it real. I don’t look at it like anyone is selling out. You gotta look at it in that aspect that you have to let people do what they want to do, and you don’t have to like it, that is why there are different types of music.”
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“Memoirs Of Blake Savage” just dropped on March 5th and Choclair is currently on a Canadian tour to promote the album, but what does the future hold for him? “Probably looking at other things to do, expand, y’know? A lot of musicians jump into acting, I don’t know if acting is my thing right now, who knows? It might be, I read a script for someone the other day and they seemed pretty happy about it. If that comes to be another opportunity I didn’t realize then hey, its all good. I’ll probably drop another album real quick after this one and then chill for a minute and set up the foundation. Then I’ll start putting other artists out.”
Look for Choclair’s new LP, “Memoirs Of Blake Savage.” It features appearances from his Canadian brethren Saukrates and Kardinal Offishall as well as an appearance from Kurupt. About half of the albums production is handled by Saukrates. Don’t sleep y’all.
