Cazwell

Get Into Cazwell

If you’re a hot gay rapper on the rise that lives to express himself with a little controversary, getting your video banned from MTV is a good start. The artist who formally introduced himself with a club anthem about shooting his money shot on someone’s face is now unloading his debut album “Get Into It”, proving he’s got more tricks up his sleeve coming up.

The potty mouthed rhymer, rocking a robe and slippers, chatted with me via AIM to give me the lowdown on the new music we’ve yet to hear, his taste for artsy boys, and being a homo in hip-hop.

JB: First off, what type of guy would you let get it "all over your face?"

Cazwell: Hmm, what really keeps my attention is a deep sexy voice, you know what I mean? You could have a hot looking guy with a tight body in front of you but if he sounds like your mom you don’t wanna f*ck him. I like brown eyes and I’m definitely more drawn to artists and passionate people.

JB: Are you seeing anybody?

Cazwell: I’m single. I haven’t had a boyfriend in 3 years. There is a guy that's very special to me that lives in San Francisco. I see him every 2 months. We both like a lot of space so it’s perfect. But basically I’m single and ready to f*ck... I mean mingle.

JB: Haha, you have a good sense of humor... makes me think "all over your face" could be the autobiographical part of the album.

Cazwell: Well just wait, I’m in the middle of making an X-rated commercial for the album only for the Internet with huge c*m shot at the end. I wont be in the commercial, sorry, but my friend with an 11-inch d*ck is. I’ll send it to you when it’s done.

JB: You love getting people to pay attention don't you?

Cazwell: Don’t you?

JB: you got me.

Cazwell: Of course, especially if it gets them to hear my record ;).

JB: How's the new album going?

Cazwell: The album is good. It’s selling and getting good reviews, I start touring in February.

JB: It's definitely getting great reviews, where are you heading to promote it?

Cazwell: Well first I'm going to the UK then I’m hitting Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and LA here.

JB: I heard from your publicist this morning (while he was on the treadmill, haha) that you're all over the major covers in Europe and Australia. What doe's it feel like to be interpreted by so many different languages and cultures?

Cazwell: I love it, the more the better. They’ve been really cool with me, especially Australia, who knew? I’m trying to set up a tour down there now.

JB: Did you have a preconceived idea of what you wanted the album to be like?... and did it end up that way?

Cazwell: Well not exactly. This is a mini album. My record company wanted people to just get a taste of me before the full length. It’s just to get peoples interest, I believe the full length will still be very dance oriented but tell a little bit more about who I am and my story. My album will ultimately be the story of a gay New Yorker.

JB: Your first single “All Over Your Face” is getting great play in clubs all over, I have like 10 mixes of it on my MP3 player, why did you choose the song for your first track?

Cazwell: Well, we didn’t even consider anything else as the first single. I knew that people would like it in clubs and it would help get attention…I wasn’t wrong.

JB: Tell me about the video for "watch my mouth", the second single.

Cazwell: Its similar to "face" but with more special effects I guess. Its 90% green screen. I actually haven’t seen the effects yet. We just took the footage and sent it off to San Francisco for the after effects. But it’s a very colorful club kid dance video.

JB: What led to your collaboration with Amanda Lepore with the song and what looks like a lot of your projects, even touring?

Cazwell: The first time I saw her, she was looking real fabulous at a party drinking champagne, I went right home wrote " Champagne". I hope that Amanda and I can continue to do a lot more touring together, probably when her album comes out. It’s very easy to write for her, I’d like to do something campy yet autobiographical with hers.

JB: She has quite a story, was your own journey from Boston to NYC to becoming a recognizable face a similar struggle?

Cazwell: No. Amanda had no agenda when she left Jersey except to escape her husband. I came here with an agenda to do music and make a living at it. I started gigging in NYC about a year before I moved here. At the time I was in the rap group Morplay. I've been solo for 2 years now.

JB: With gay men being a bit judgmental or catty with each other, do you think you've been welcomed with open arms by the gay boy crowd?

Cazwell: If you mean circuit queens... I guess so. I’ll let you know when i get invited to play the white party. I have a feeling' that crowd might rather hear some diva over a house track, but maybe I’m wrong.

JB: Your lyrics, you image, even some of your performances are somewhat sex-charged... do you find yourself using the "sex sells" philosophy or are you just a more sexual person?

Cazwell: Well I’m definitely a sexual person. I don’t really think about it too much at all. But I believe that the only thing that sells for a long period of time in the business is talent. You have to be good at writing catchy hit songs.

JB: Is it one of your goals to break into the mainstream and have artists similar to you be seen as solely artists in hip hop and lose the "gay rapper" stigma?

Cazwell: Yeah, definitely. But I’m not trying to be hip-hop either. I try not to think about it. I used to try really hard to be accepted by the hip-hop scene when I was living in Boston and it stressed me out. I realized that no matter how good I was straight people don’t really roll with gay people, and that’s not just in hip-hop that in a lot of art forms. If I was trying to be hip-hop, I don’t think I could be out of the closet. I just consider myself an artist that expresses himself with rhyme.

You can also read Justin's interview with Cazwell in Nightspots Magazine.