October 15, 2024 • 53 mins
In this episode of The Load Out, Ashanti Abdullah sits down with underground hip-hop legend Rob Sonic. Known for his solo work and collaborations with Aesop Rock in Hail Mary Mallon, Rob reflects on his early influences, the evolution of hip-hop, and life on tour. They dive into everything from breakdancing battles and DJing to the realities of performing for massive crowds at festivals like Coachella. Whether you’re a music fan or a touring artist, this candid conversation offers a deep look into Rob's career and the culture that shaped him.
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Produced by: @probablyashanti for @Ternwheel
Mixed by: MMYYKK- @mmyykkvibes
Music by: MMYYKK - @mmyykkvibes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ashanti (00:08):
Welcome to the loadout. I'm your host, Ashanti Abdulla.
In each week, we take you behindthe scenes of the live music
industry From touring tips andindustry insights to candid
conversations with artists,managers, and music
professionals, we uncover thestories and strategies that make
live performances unforgettable.Whether you're an artist, a tour
manager, or just a live musicenthusiast, this podcast is your
(00:32):
backstage pass to the world oftouring and live events. On
today's version of the loadout,I'm joined by none other than
hip hop legend, Rob Sonic.
From his groundbreaking solowork to his collaborations with
Aesop Rock and Harold LarryMalon, Rob has been a force in
the underground hip hop scenefor years. We're diving into his
journey, his thoughts ontouring, and what keeps him
(00:53):
inspired after all this time.Rob Sonic, Bananas Foster, Bobby
Freedom. Don't they call you thepurveyor of premium small batch
hip hop?
Rob Sonic (01:07):
Some people do. Only me, though. Though. I call them
something.
Ashanti (01:13):
How you been, bro? It's been a minute.
Rob Sonic (01:15):
It has been a minute, man. I've been alright. You
know? Dealing. Dealing.
You know? I'm I'm getting upthere in here, so, you know, I'm
I'm, I'm good for the most part.You know, can't complain. I'm
here. I'm breathing.
So I'm I'm breathing.
Ashanti (01:27):
That's right. That's right. You're back on the west
or you're out on the west coastnow from the east coast a little
bit. Kinda in between, you weresaying?
Rob Sonic (01:33):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Split time between, you know,
the East Coast, New York, andDC. I'm from DC originally.
Ashanti (01:40):
Oh, gotcha.
Rob Sonic (01:40):
So, but, you know, lived most of my life in the
Bronx. But, yeah.
Ashanti (01:45):
Ace is still up Ace is still up there. Right?
Rob Sonic (01:48):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's on the he's on we're in the
same city, so we're we're going
Ashanti (01:52):
to call up.
Rob Sonic (01:53):
Yeah. Yeah.
Ashanti (01:53):
That's what's up, man. That's what's up. My bad. We, we
we we had a little bit oftalking before we got recording,
so let's just get into the realbusiness of it. What like, you
you started rapping at age 12.
Is that correct?
Rob Sonic (02:05):
Yeah. About 11 or 12. Yeah.
Ashanti (02:07):
11 or 12. What were those influences? Well, like,
what got this kid from from DCthat moved to New York? I assume
it was the move to New York. Imean, I don't know.
Rob Sonic (02:15):
No. I was still in DC at that time. When I when I
first started writing rhymes, Iwas still in DC, and it was just
basically that everybody and,you know, everybody in my school
was doing it, and it was just,like, breaking and and rhyming
and just hip hop in general. Theculture was, was coming up. And
it wasn't, it was, it was just,you know, everybody was,
(02:38):
everybody who I affiliated withand everybody I associated with
was doing it.
And, you know, it was it was itwas new and it was something
that that we just wanted to do.And in all the all the ways, you
know what I'm saying? Like allthe elements and and all the all
the the the the ways to expressourselves was it was just hip
(03:01):
hop, and it was just that'swhere it was coming from. I
guess the early stuff wasprobably, obviously, Sugar Hill
stuff and and but it was a itwas a little bit little bit
deeper than that. Like, it wasbecause it wasn't really
available like that back then.
It was like hours on the radiohere and there, but it it wasn't
(03:21):
when it first started and andpeople were first starting to
embrace rap, it wasn't out therelike it is now. It's a big,
huge, you know, biggest music inthe world now, probably. Outside
of Definitely. Outside of maybecountry, but it wasn't like
that. It was a realcounterculture when it started
when it came, when it when itcame out.
And and there's a reason forthat is, you know, obviously,
(03:42):
you know, the people that, youknow, the the just the people
making it and the theenvironment it comes from, you
know, is Yeah. That's just whatit is. It's just people doing
that and that was the, you know,my associates were and friends
were all people that did it andthey were like, yo, just, you
(04:03):
know, just be down, Just just bedoing what all my friends did.
You know?
Ashanti (04:08):
Exactly. Wait. So you picked you picked rhyming
because you're a shitbreakdancer or what? How did
that end up?
Rob Sonic (04:14):
Yeah. But well, I went through all of them. I went
through all of them.
Ashanti (04:17):
Yeah. I think we all did. That's why I ended up being
a DJ because I was like, I can'tfucking rap. This I suck. Like,
what?
Rob Sonic (04:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that that was basically it. The
gist of it was that basically II saw I started off, I guess,
breaking.
And that was just because, like,you know, that's that was just
so big at the time. It it justswept across the you know, it
was, like, why, 82, 83 whenbreaking was, like, popping. And
I was, like, 10 years old. So itwas like, you know, I'd try to
(04:45):
do it, but I wasn't really youknow, I was kind of a fat kid,
so I couldn't really I I I hadsome moves, though. You know
what I'm saying?
I had I had some things, butwhen you got into, like you
know, they they were dudes whowere, like, really, really good
at it. You know, like to and tobe good at break dance, it's an
Olympic sport now.
Ashanti (05:04):
Yeah, for sure.
Rob Sonic (05:04):
You know what I'm saying? Like break dance is just
hard, man. Yeah. Like that shitis straight up gymnastics. You
know what I'm saying?
Like like I saw dudes, you know,when I was, like, that age, and
I have to I'll do my littlething at home in the mirror, you
know, try to get my littleshuffle, my little 6 step, or or
a little with you know, kneespin or whatever backspin going.
(05:26):
And then you see dudes who arereally good at breakdancing, and
you're like, oh, I can't dothat.
Ashanti (05:30):
Yeah. Not even close, bro.
Rob Sonic (05:31):
That dude is doing, like, aerials and shit. They're
doing, like, they're doing,like, shit you do on a pommel
horse on a floor.
Ashanti (05:38):
I mean, pop master Fable doesn't even do all of
that. He's a pop master, andhe's still way more than I could
ever even dream of.
Rob Sonic (05:44):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I I I had a
little little wave andeverything here and there, and,
but I just wasn't you know, itit was really you know, when I
was in a couple of crews, youknow, the local crews and battle
some dudes, and we did thebattle thing, you know, the the
breakdance battle stuff. And Irealized then that I was like,
(06:06):
after, like, couple of battles,and I was just like, nah.
I'm not really holding anybodydown. So so so dudes were like,
okay. So maybe try DJing, youknow, like, hold the box. You
know? Right.
Because they you know, they youstill gotta be there in case,
like, somebody gets injuredbecause
Ashanti (06:23):
you can get injured.
Rob Sonic (06:25):
You can get injured and break these battles.
Ashanti (06:27):
You know what
Rob Sonic (06:27):
I'm saying? Like, you can the the shit that people are
doing is that you can break anankle or some shit, you know, or
nap. For sure. You know? I mean,I I had a suicide at one point,
which is like a flip, you know,where you just basically land on
the small of your back and feetfirst.
So it doesn't it's sort of likea wrestling kind of thing, like
(06:48):
a wrestling flip. You know? And,like, I just think about it
sometimes. I'm like, I couldabroke every I coulda broke my
spine just doing that.
Ashanti (06:57):
You know? Like, I don't even know how I quit, I quit
skateboarding about 3 years agobecause I broke my last bone.
Yeah. And I'm, like, in myforties, and I was like, nah.
Yeah.
Let's say for
Rob Sonic (07:11):
me no more. No more. No. I mean, yeah, you gotta go
all out in both of those things.You just go all out, and kids
just have that energy.
You know? So I had
Ashanti (07:20):
to Sorry. No. Go ahead.
Rob Sonic (07:22):
So I was good in that respect. Like, I I was I was
always, you know, I loved it somuch and, was into it so much
that I was ready to do ready tobreak break whatever if I had
to.
Ashanti (07:37):
I had a similar similar story. I, I wanted to do
everything. I wanted to dograffiti. Well, I'm a shit
artist. I can't pave a straightline.
Yeah. I'm definitely not I'm adancer, but not that kind of
dancer.
Rob Sonic (07:50):
Right.
Ashanti (07:50):
And I couldn't rap to save my life. Yep. And so I
became a DJ. And then every Imean, people who know me, they
know that, like, over time, Iwas good enough. And then over
time, everyone else got betterthan me.
And I was like, cool. Well, Iguess I'll just book the shows
and do all this other stuffbecause that's what I'm good at.
So that's how I ended up in thatside of it. You know?
Rob Sonic (08:09):
Right. Right. So it's it's not it's not unsimilar to
that. You know what I'm saying?Like, that is ex that is
essentially what happened.
It just it just, I guess, so,you know, they were like, I'll
just hold the box or whateverwhile we do while we do our
battles or whatever. And then Itried to DJ for a little while
and I just couldn't scratch.Right? Because but, yeah, I've
always had, like, thisdisconnect and it's always
(08:32):
caused me problems throughout mymy musical career is like
because I produce and I I canmake beats and stuff, but my
left hand is just
Ashanti (08:41):
I I can't get
Rob Sonic (08:43):
it to do what I want. So if you're a DJ, you you gotta
have both that ambidextrousthing going on where you can
work the fader and and scratch.So I think I got a bubble
scratch back when, like, DST waslike, you know, the, you know,
obviously coming out and killingshit. But I was like, I got,
(09:03):
like, a bubble scratch once, andthat was that was the extent of
my DJ career. But but back butback then, it wasn't like people
had, like, direct driveturntables even.
Ashanti (09:13):
Nah. Like, you had, like, belt driven. Yep.
Rob Sonic (09:16):
Yeah. Like,
Ashanti (09:18):
Belt driven. For making it work.
Rob Sonic (09:19):
Dude, you had to forget it.
Ashanti (09:22):
Yeah. That's right. Making it work. Yeah. Not just
for Except for, you know, thatthat makes me think of, Eric
being Rakim.
I ain't no joke. Mhmm. That'sgotta be the worst display of
scratching of all time. And thenI was talking to somebody and
they were like, yo, Eric B wasthe drug dealer, B. He wasn't
(09:43):
really in the band.
You know what I mean? Rakim wasjust giving him a shot. You know
what I'm saying? Like
Rob Sonic (09:48):
I mean, I I lived in Queens for a while. I'm not I
don't know about the the history
Ashanti (09:53):
of that.
Rob Sonic (09:54):
That is, you know? But I don't I don't I don't
really talk about things likethat, but, you know, I'm saying,
like, you know, it's it's it'she Eric b was, you know, he was
he was in there.
Ashanti (10:07):
He was the man, bro.
Rob Sonic (10:08):
He was
Ashanti (10:09):
the man. Yeah. Early early like Eventually, I mean,
just
Rob Sonic (10:13):
to just to wrap it up. Yeah. I just I I was tried
brass and I I had no cancontrol. And then I started
rapping and and I could actuallyhold the beat better than a lot
of people. So
Ashanti (10:25):
Right. That's dope, man. Were there any, like,
particular moments orexperiences that, like, like,
significantly shaped what yoursound was gonna be kinda early
on? Or I'm sure you've probablyprogressed over the years. It's
been different things.
But
Rob Sonic (10:38):
Yes. Craft work, I remember. Craft work, soul Sonic
Force, specifically, planetrock, play at your own risk.
I've I always forget who would Iforget who that is, but and that
sucks because that's like one ofmy I still play that shit to
(10:59):
this day. Mhmm.
And, a lot of electro shit. AndMantronix was was huge for me in
the beginning. Just in in theearly sound of Def Jam. When,
you know, when Def Jam came out,what was it like? Tila Wright.
Right? It was the first Yeah.Def Jam. I think so. Yeah.
So, Yeah. Yeah. That that, like,hard sort of it it wasn't the
(11:26):
most rhythmic thing. You knowwhat I'm saying? Mhmm.
And and that kinda that kindahad, like, real that shit that
had, like, that edge that waskinda busted and kinda like it
felt very, like, rebellious andand and pumped. So Mhmm. That
that was always what reallyspoke to me the most. Gotcha.
That one I wasn't the happiestkid coming up.
Ashanti (11:52):
I feel you. I mean, I think that I mean yeah. I mean,
that will definitely draw you tohip hop at the earlier days.
Obviously, there was a bright,shiny reason for kids to for
kids to add to it later on. Butin the early days, yeah.
I mean, hip hop was punk. Punkwas hip hop. It was it was Yeah,
man. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (12:08):
It was it was all it was all just like, yeah, with,
you know, the the voice of thevoiceless. Right?
Ashanti (12:15):
For sure.
Rob Sonic (12:16):
Yeah. Like like, heads didn't really know, you
know, we were just the youth ofof the the eighties and shit.
We're just like, what what arewe supposed to do? Yeah.
Ashanti (12:26):
What are we supposed to do?
Rob Sonic (12:27):
Man and obviously crack and all that shit. Like
Yeah. The fuckers are just like,yo, what are what are we
supposed to do?
Ashanti (12:33):
I mean, as much as it annoys the shit out of me, I
can't even be mad at, like, the,like, the the the teams and the
people of this time and, like,what they're up to. No.
Rob Sonic (12:41):
You know
Ashanti (12:41):
what I mean? Because, like, there was always
something. And, like, to behonest with you, some of the
shit they're up to is, like,smarter. You know? And you're
like, that's a smarter way to dothat, actually.
Rob Sonic (12:49):
Well, yeah, man. They they have so much more access to
information than we do. True.You know what I'm saying? We
were we were, like, you know,like, or whatever.
What do you call it? Urbanlegends and shit. Yeah. Right?
Like, that kind of thing.
Like
Ashanti (13:03):
I heard this. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (13:05):
Yeah. Yeah. Like, don't put pop rocks in Coke.
Ashanti (13:09):
Right. Don't put You
Rob Sonic (13:10):
know what I'm saying? Now they just that's a that's
like a challenge
Ashanti (13:13):
now. Right.
Rob Sonic (13:14):
Right. You know, they they I you know, there's there's
obvious things that I'm like,that that's real dangerous for
the for the culture. You know?Sure. But but how much of that
is necessarily just what we'veleft them?
So
Ashanti (13:32):
Yeah. No. That's that's what it that's what it comes
down to, really. It's like Yeah.
Rob Sonic (13:36):
So you can't you can't really be like, nah. You
know? Like, unless you, like,really did it. Like like, okay.
This is, you know, I'm I I amthe person that stood on
business on on the for thecommunity
Ashanti (13:51):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (13:52):
For the kids and and but I wasn't thinking about that
shit. And I'm sure a lot of ourrappers wouldn't think about
that shit when they get got on.No. You know? We're just
rappers.
Ashanti (14:02):
Yeah. You, how'd your experiences with, Sonic some and
Hail Mary Malin shape your solocareer?
Rob Sonic (14:11):
I learned a lot with Sonic some.
Ashanti (14:13):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (14:13):
With Sonic some, it was the the the Sonic some stuff
was was interesting because Iwas coming at it from I had met
Mike Ladd, and Mike Ladd sortof, you know, he he's sort of
the dude. You know? And and andthen I the poetry scene. And, I
just wasn't at that point ofyears years years of trying to
(14:36):
get on, I was like, man, I gottado something different to sorta
separate myself from me and myman. Like, the sonic sum was
originally me and my rappartner.
The Sonic sum that everybodyknows it, that's not how it
started. It started with me andthis my man, Seams, rest in
peace, from Corona Queens. And Iwas living in in East Elmhurst
(14:57):
at the time, I think. Mhmm. And,we were just trying to do
something a little different.
You know? And and and it was itwas still it was still, like,
you know, it was still bars andeverything, but but we we were
trying to branch out a littlebit and do just super creative
stuff because we were both inthe real heavy into jazz music.
(15:17):
Mhmm. And, the the the sort ofthe process of being a jazz head
is you had you go further intothe backstory of because it's
not it it's like the stars ofjazz music. It's not like the
stars of other shit.
Ashanti (15:36):
Right. You know what
Rob Sonic (15:36):
I'm saying? Like, these these are like these are
like musicians, like like Mingusand and and, so many others,
like, you know, Charlie Parkerand, like, the backstory of
those dudes, it's not it's notlike this glamorous thing. It
was
Ashanti (15:51):
just
Rob Sonic (15:52):
No. Not at all. Dudes who are just they're just ill
characters. You know what I'msaying? Like like, ill by
nature.
Yep. So so that's we sortawanted to go. We you don't wanna
be that because that's like,these are greats. You know?
Mhmm.
Mhmm. It's like somebody wantingto be like, yes. Everybody would
aspire to be Jimmy Hendrix or orJimmy Page, but you're not gonna
(16:15):
you know?
Ashanti (16:15):
You don't wanna be you don't wanna live that life.
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (16:18):
So we kinda wanted to be to to be as as, like,
principally sound to a creativemovement in music in that
happened to be rap becausethat's what we did.
Ashanti (16:34):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (16:34):
Right? And then he passed away and and we had this
sort of body of work with TMEand then that was Fred and John
and Eric was around. So we justsort of became Sonic some later.
We kept that going Mhmm. Youknow, after after seems passed.
But, so I learned a lot aboutthat. I learned a lot about,
(16:56):
like, yes, you can aspire to bethis this great, like, person
that changes whatever it is, youknow? And, but it's you also
have to be sort of accepting ofthe fact that that that stuff is
there's some other worldly stuffwith, like, Miles Davis. Like,
(17:16):
it's like there there'ssomething else going on. You
know?
And you have to you have tounderstand, like, you know, that
you have to be receptive to thatkind of energy. Those vibrations
coming in that that set thosepeople apart are not necessarily
available to everybody, youknow?
Ashanti (17:34):
True. True.
Rob Sonic (17:35):
But it was, it was a good, it was a good I mean,
that's why people don't, youknow, it doesn't miss it stays,
you know, relevant to the peoplethat delve as deeply as they
can, you know, and, but it'sstill almost niche. You know
what I'm saying?
Ashanti (17:52):
Because Yeah.
Rob Sonic (17:53):
Who who is you know? I mean, there's a lot of good
current jazz and shit like that,but it there was that that time
was just There's a
Ashanti (18:02):
lot of things that were happening at that time that were
in the air that were a part ofit. It felt like there's great
there's I've I'm into jazz too,and I Right. I actually work
with jazz musicians and blahblah blah. So there's great jazz
musicians right now, but thatwas a very, very different time.
I don't know how to explainthat.
Like, it's just the vibe of itat that time was very different.
(18:22):
There was something about beinga jazz player. You know what I
mean?
Rob Sonic (18:25):
Yeah. And and that's that's that's what I'm saying.
Like, there are people that thatare extremely but there was just
something to that time. Youknow? Yeah.
And, and I think a lot of thathappened a lot of that happens
with with the hip hop, thedifferent eras in in in hip hop
music too. You know?
Ashanti (18:44):
I agree. Your first album came out in 04,
Telekintesson.
Rob Sonic (18:50):
Yes.
Ashanti (18:50):
What how do you feel like do you feel like there's
been this major evolution sincethat first album or do you feel
like you've kinda stayed on thesame the same, playing field?
Rob Sonic (19:02):
No. There's definitely an evolution because
the the first one, I'll behonest, like, I I had never
produced anything before, Ithink, Rocket. Gotcha. Rocket is
Rocket is a song by Sonic somethat came out pretty late in the
Sonic some stuff. You know?
I think it's on films or, yeah,maybe it's on yeah. Or it was
(19:24):
just a single. I think it's onfilms, but I had never made a
beat before that. And that wasactually how I sort of made the
connection with Def Jokes is isI knew Meach. Meach was handling
our our business and stuff forSonic Song.
And, I would see Al at Ozone.Entertainment. So, that was how
(19:47):
I sort of made, I played Rocketfor Al and I was like, yo, you
make a record like this, I'llfucking put it out.
Ashanti (19:53):
Oh, all right.
Rob Sonic (19:54):
And I was like, oh shit. I had no idea. I was even
making it good here. You know?It was like I remember it was
like I was just just all I hadwas like little bookshelf
speakers and an and an MPC 2000XL and just got it because I had
literally was like, it wasn'tthat I wanted to break away from
(20:16):
TME.
It was just like, I couldn't,there was always it it's issues
when people are look becausethey were producing for so many
people. They were
Ashanti (20:25):
producing
Rob Sonic (20:26):
for like half the
Ashanti (20:27):
Bronx. Right. Right.
Rob Sonic (20:28):
So, you know what I'm saying? And and running Fred was
running his studio, which wasright across the street from my
building. So it was just hard toget, you know, things going and,
and sometimes, and I would belike, well, I'll just, just get
this for fun and see whathappens. And then I sort of, I
sort of developed this sort ofsound that I wanted realized
(20:50):
that I wanted to rhyme over. Andthat was more akin to the stuff
that it influenced me, theelectro stuff.
Gotcha. But that first record Ithink is is is cool because it's
a it's a time capsule in amoment in time and it's cool.
But I mean, I was like, Sam, youknow, I was using, like, test
tones as instruments. So, youknow,
Ashanti (21:12):
I was like, oh, that's cool. No. But it's the bro,
that's that's hip hop. You knowwhat I mean? At the end of the
day, that's hip hop.
Taking what you got. You knowwhat I mean?
Rob Sonic (21:22):
Doesn't matter nothing. It was, you know, and
that's that's sort of what it itwas for me at the beginning. And
that is that record, you know,if you listen to it, you it's
it's cool. I mean, there'sdefinitely some good starter
stuff in there, but you know,it's to me at least.
Ashanti (21:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (21:40):
But, yeah, it's at this point, you know, I actually
have an idea and, and
Ashanti (21:46):
Right.
Rob Sonic (21:46):
Know know know my way around things a little bit.
Ashanti (21:49):
A little bit more. Right. Doing a Hail Mary Mall
and collaborating with ASAP. Howdid that all come about?
Rob Sonic (21:58):
That would that was just a byproduct of us being on
tour all the time. Yeah. Becauseyeah. Like, he like, he, I think
the first show I did with himwas actually in Portland Okay.
Which is crazy.
But, yeah. Like, I I had to fillin. Like, I I had somebody
couldn't make it up, maybe Lyftor or Okay. Move or somebody
(22:19):
could make it up. I don'tremember exactly, but he hit me
up and we went and we had itlike a blast.
You know? Mhmm. We had like alegit good time because I we we
weren't we didn't all thosedudes and jokes were like in
Brooklyn and I was in the Bronx.So I didn't see them as much as
as people might think. You know,I wasn't around the the core
(22:41):
unit of jokes, all that much.
But, yeah, me and Ace, we just,you know, we would see each
other at certain things, mostlylabel, label related and we
would, we just kinda clicked,you know? Yeah. And so one time
when he needed, somebody to fillin to do the hype stuff Yeah. He
was like, yo, you wanna do it?And I went out there and we had
(23:03):
a ball and then we just stayedtorn together forever.
Ashanti (23:07):
Where was that in your so your first what was your
first tour?
Rob Sonic (23:12):
My first tour was probably my first like official
tour would be Sonic Song.
Ashanti (23:18):
Sonic Song. Okay.
Rob Sonic (23:19):
Yeah. And that was
Ashanti (23:20):
How many days was that like a big was that a big one?
Was that a short one?
Rob Sonic (23:24):
It was me, Mike Ladd. It was Sonic Some, Mike Ladd,
and Antipop.
Ashanti (23:30):
Okay. Oh, okay.
Rob Sonic (23:31):
We went out to the West Coast. I had never been out
never been to the West Coast.I'd never been really out of two
places. I had never been out ofthe DMV
Ashanti (23:43):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (23:43):
And I'd never been out of the Bronx, really. Mhmm.
New York. Let's say New York. II did live in Queens for about a
year and I lived in Brooklyn forabout 6 months before I've been
but I was in the Bronx for,like, 20 years, 20 years.
Ashanti (23:57):
Okay.
Rob Sonic (23:58):
But, so I had never been to the west coast and any
of that. And and I guess weMitchie put this thing together
and we went out to the WestCoast, and it did not go well.
It was it was it there was not alot of people at those shows.
Ashanti (24:16):
And How many shows did you guys play?
Rob Sonic (24:20):
I think we only ended up being able to keep because,
you know, like, if there'snobody if
Ashanti (24:24):
There's nobody there. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (24:26):
Do it. You know what I'm saying? Like, if there's no
if nothing is funding themachine, the machine can't go.
Ashanti (24:31):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (24:32):
And that's what we were sort of banking on. We were
banking on the the strength thatpeople were were gonna come to
these joints. And so a couple offirst you know, a couple of
nights where it doesn't happenand you're like, oh, shit. Yeah.
So I think we had, we ended updoing just 4 on that one.
It was Okay. Oh, we did an LAshow at the LA Ray, and that's
(24:54):
that's kind of a big spot. Youknow?
Ashanti (24:55):
Yeah. It's yeah. It's not a small spot.
Rob Sonic (24:57):
And I I had laryngitis randomly because I
used to get sick before everytour. I you know, that's that's
one of the things is I used toget sick. And no matter what I
did, I'd be like, put myself ina bubble before a tour and I
would still get sick. Like onetime I got the mumps.
Ashanti (25:17):
Maybe you think mumps, bro?
Rob Sonic (25:19):
Who gets the mumps? Nobody gets the mumps. I got
well, technically, I hadparatitis.
Ashanti (25:26):
Okay.
Rob Sonic (25:26):
But that's that's the the shit that does the mumps.
Ashanti (25:30):
You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:31):
Like, I woke up. I was married at the time, and I
woke up. And my wife was like,yo, why is your fate that you
get in a fight? And I was like,not I was drinking heavy.
Ashanti (25:42):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:42):
Yeah. So that's probably also why I was, like
Ashanti (25:45):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:45):
Always sick. But Yeah. I was drinking like crazy
at the time, like likeridiculous amounts of alcohol
Yeah. Every night. So I I wokeup.
I was, like, at a party in thenight before, and she she was
like, yo, what's wrong with yourface, man? You you must have
gotten a fight, but somesomebody beat your ass. And I
got up and I was like, I don'tremember fighting anybody. And I
(26:08):
got up and my face was allswollen. And I was like, what is
happening?
I went to open my mouth just to,you know, like wide, like, be
like, ah, ah, like, stretch itout and put an open my mouth.
Ashanti (26:21):
Oh, damn.
Rob Sonic (26:22):
And it was like all this crazy pain in under my ear
and everything else. And I wentto the Montefiore and they were
like they took one look at myface and were like, yo. You got
the the mums, man. You can'tcome in the in the thing. You
can't like, just come straightback here with me.
Ashanti (26:38):
Weren't they handing out vaccines for that in, like,
the eighties, bro?
Rob Sonic (26:42):
Like Yes. Yes. No. I I was I had my MMR vaccine. But
that was what that's what itwas.
That was the joke, and that wasbefore me and Ace were going to
Brazil for the first time.
Ashanti (26:55):
Right.
Rob Sonic (26:56):
Right. And I was like, yo. I I don't know what to
tell you, bro. I got the mumps.You know?
And he he would joke. He'd belike, oh, what you gonna get
next? Rubella?
Ashanti (27:04):
Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:05):
Old school disease, like, the the the plague.
Ashanti (27:09):
So that tour, so you guys flew out probably and then
drove, to do your dates on thattour and then Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:16):
We we flew out, rented rented a couple of vans,
couple of 15 passengers, and Isaw the West Coast and under you
know, I we tried to do the tour,but it just wasn't it was like
you know, it was that that wasmy first experience of of tour.
Ashanti (27:35):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:35):
And and how that all that stuff works and how, like,
really things impact everythingabout that. Like, who's playing
down the street? It was like,like, everywhere we're going,
souls of mischief was, like,playing across the street.
Ashanti (27:52):
That's not good for y'all at all.
Rob Sonic (27:54):
Well, I mean, you know, you play in the West Coast
and they're, like, the biggest,you know, you know, indie rap.
Ashanti (28:01):
Yeah. They were
Rob Sonic (28:02):
hot as they on. Like, I wonder like, it was like it
was like Soldier Bishops and,like, Slum Village.
Ashanti (28:07):
Right. Like, right. And it was
Rob Sonic (28:08):
like we were we're we're like, god. People will be
at our show.
Ashanti (28:14):
It worked out real well. I'm sure.
Rob Sonic (28:16):
Right. Nobody was at our show.
Ashanti (28:18):
So by the time so how many so by the time you did that
first tour with Def Jokes, youhad done a few tours since then
or it was just like a couple
Rob Sonic (28:26):
Oh, no. That was that was Ozone. That was before all
the Def Jokes stuff.
Ashanti (28:30):
Yeah. Yeah. No. That's what I'm saying. By the time so
with this tour, you're we werejust talking about you had a
bunch of stuff in between beforeyou did the Def Jokes thing or
or you okay.
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (28:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think I had to well, we had that
that record was was sort of atour for, you know, a few of us
had records out. I think, antipop had, the the one that came
out on 75 arc and Mike had, Ithink, after future at that
point, and we had the sanityannex. Mhmm.
(29:01):
So this was the beginning of ofall of it. You know? Yeah. And,
yeah. So so though there thatwas probably 5 or 6 years before
Jokes.
Ashanti (29:11):
Got you. Yeah. What's what's been your most, like,
plush tour experience?
Rob Sonic (29:18):
All the all the stuff I did with Ace.
Ashanti (29:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (29:20):
All that stuff was yeah. Because he's he brings
them in. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
People come out to see the thekid Ace, and, they those were
always we're always well takencare of. I mean, some of those
were, you know, because youplayed when you're like that
size. Yeah. You know, on anindie level, like you gotta play
a markets and b markets. Yep.
(29:40):
So b markets, you're not thosearen't really that plush, but
for the most part, you know,those
Ashanti (29:46):
an a market stuff.
Rob Sonic (29:47):
All those are all those are good, but I I've been
blessed.
Ashanti (29:51):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (29:51):
You know what I'm saying? Like like, I've I've had
some rough ones and I but forthe most part, I would say that
people have been, you know, kindof accommodating.
Ashanti (30:01):
Yeah. What was the roughest one?
Rob Sonic (30:06):
Man, there's been so there's been a lot of those.
Ashanti (30:09):
Other than other than your burst your, burst your,
your, the Yeah.
Rob Sonic (30:14):
But that wasn't that wasn't technically at core. But
the the the friend of Thor thatI tried to do on my own was
pretty rough. Yeah. Because thatwas really that was really some
road road dog shit. You know?
Okay. That was really like, I'mgoing out here and I'm seeing
what happens and but there wasactually good turnouts at that
(30:37):
point because it was so far intomy career. You know? Yep. Like
early stuff, like Sonic somewould would get these crazy
gigs.
Like, some of those were superrough because just because.
Yeah. But we'd get these, like,crazy gigs. Like, we would play,
like, all tomorrow's party in,like, in in Europe, and it would
be that's that's a huge gig for
Ashanti (30:57):
people. Of course.
Rob Sonic (30:57):
You know what I'm saying? And and it it was we
weren't really, you know, likeMhmm. In our minds, we we
belong.
Ashanti (31:07):
Every everybody is in their minds.
Rob Sonic (31:09):
We belonged, but, you know, this like, when we get up
there and and, you know, the thethe the mixers are all fucked up
and sending you know, we'resitting there basically talking
to the crowd. Like, literally,I'm trying to do stand up for
half an hour while my pizza getsfixed during our set at all
tomorrow's party. Like Is
Ashanti (31:30):
that where you hold, like, your commuted your
commuted timing, you think, ishaving to do, you probably
always had it.
Rob Sonic (31:36):
Yeah. I always try to I was always a class clown.
Ashanti (31:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (31:39):
Yeah. I mean, I don't know, like that stuff is hard.
Like I would never be acomedian.
Ashanti (31:45):
No, man, so that's one of my guilty pleasures, man. I
go to the comedy club at once aweek, once every 2 weeks. No
joke. I love comedy. I
Rob Sonic (31:55):
do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True.
And I
Ashanti (31:56):
go see all these great comedians. I keep up with it.
I'm really deep into thecomedian world. And I just sit
there like I would be soterrified. I couldn't give
anybody 30 seconds, Let alonelike 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes, you
know?
Rob Sonic (32:11):
Right. And those are like those are like intimate
settings.
Ashanti (32:15):
It's wild. You got nothing behind you. You got no
one.
Rob Sonic (32:19):
What about like people like Kevin Hart?
Ashanti (32:22):
Oh my god, bro.
Rob Sonic (32:23):
Stadiums, man. Like, are you kidding me?
Ashanti (32:27):
It's you and a mic, bro.
Rob Sonic (32:29):
Dude, the the minutes are so long. Yeah. On stage,
minutes are so long. Like like,people are like, oh, yeah. You
know, you do a half hour set.
It's not a big deal. Right?
Ashanti (32:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (32:40):
But that shit is forever. Like, I'm like, if I
was literally if I'm firingunder all cylinders. Right?
Ashanti (32:47):
Yes.
Rob Sonic (32:47):
Like, and and I'm really in game shape, I could do
10 songs in 1st minutes.
Ashanti (32:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (32:53):
You know what I'm saying? Right. But they and they
but there's still time inbetween where you guys just,
like you gotta make you know,you gotta interact with people,
and sometimes that is so hard.
Ashanti (33:03):
It is. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (33:03):
It is ridiculous. And you yeah. Forget about it. You
offend the shit out of people.
Ashanti (33:10):
You go from having a having some dope ass shit to
getting beers thrown at you andshit.
Rob Sonic (33:14):
Oh, yeah, man. Like, it's so easy. Like, making
people laugh because that's whatpeople are there for. Like Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm here to make me laugh, bro.Yeah. That's shit. Shit, son.
Yeah.
Like like, imagine if somebodyif you were beefing some with
somebody and he was like, yo,make me laugh then. Be like,
alright. That'd be the illestthat'd be the illest it'd be the
(33:36):
it was fight everybody.
Ashanti (33:39):
You what speaking of that, you when you and Ace would
tour, I remember, you know, yourtours, when I was at the label.
And I would look at the, like,the set times and all that, and
I'd be like, yo, how manyminutes is this dude playing?
Yeah. What what was the, like,what was the thought process
(33:59):
behind that? And I mean, peoplewere engaged the entire time.
It wasn't like it was too much.I just
Rob Sonic (34:05):
I don't know how. I don't know how. Yeah. Because I
and I think that that's thatjust speaks to to how many
people really are really loveAce. Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? Like,how how how many people are just
and I I am too. Like, it's justthe guy he what he does is is
(34:26):
really unique and it's like, youknow, it's it's intrigued. But
45 minutes of anybody rapping,I'm like, alright. I've I've got
I get I gotta go.
Ashanti (34:37):
Well, you know how it is for cats like me. Like, not
only is it, you know let's saysomebody does a 75 minute set.
I've heard that 75 minute set
Rob Sonic (34:47):
Yeah.
Ashanti (34:48):
Oh, I don't know. Yeah. 35, 40 times? Yeah, man. On that
in the, like, last month, I'mlike, oh, I'm done with this
shit, bro.
I don't soon as the you know,soon as everything goes on, I
walk away, go get something toeat, go do whatever, and cats
are like, yo, why aren't you,you know, like, why aren't you
sticking around? I'm like, I'veheard this before. I've heard it
a couple of times.
Rob Sonic (35:07):
And that is that is that is essentially what it is
for us too. You know what I'msaying?
Ashanti (35:12):
Right.
Rob Sonic (35:13):
Like like because with I think the the longest we
got our set up too because Acewas just like, I I just need to
to do this. You know? I need tomake it longer. And we were
because we were always doing 45to an hour Mhmm. For for most of
it.
And then towards the when thecatalogs became so extensive.
Ashanti (35:35):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (35:35):
There was no way to not make the shows longer
because he had to make sure thathe was addressing what Like what
was current Yep. And hisclassics. So Right. You know,
it's you do something like that,the show it I think it got up to
an hour and 40 hour and 45minutes at some point.
Ashanti (35:53):
That's just wild to me, man.
Rob Sonic (35:55):
If I it may have gotten to 2 hours, but it Yeah.
It at though at once it got pasta 110 minutes
Ashanti (36:02):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (36:03):
Of performing, it was all a blur to me. You know?
Because the only real the onlyreal breaks we ever took was for
our DJ to do their
Ashanti (36:13):
thing. Right.
Rob Sonic (36:13):
And those were, like, you know, those were 5, 7, 7, 8
minutes.
Ashanti (36:17):
Right. The
Rob Sonic (36:18):
rest of the time was was just
Ashanti (36:20):
Just like go go go. And it's it's like with y'all, it
was definitely like people getup and hey, there's different
cadences. It's just bang, bang,bang, right over the head. Just
how the records are. You knowwhat I mean?
Rob Sonic (36:34):
Yeah. It's I don't know how people did it.
Ashanti (36:37):
Yeah. Including yourself. Including yourself.
Rob Sonic (36:40):
I think about it sometimes and I'm like, man,
listen. I probably got my let'srun my knees all messed up.
Probably good with that shit.
Ashanti (36:49):
What's your what's your, what's your probably most
memorable tour experience? Whatdo you mean be like? That's
that's one that for the books,for sure.
Rob Sonic (36:59):
I mean, probably the the Coachella's and, like,
Bonnaroo was really memorable.Like, the like, that kinda
thing, like, not in a 1000000years that I think I'd be
playing for 40 or 50,000 people.
Ashanti (37:12):
Yeah. Yes.
Rob Sonic (37:13):
Ever. Like Yeah. I mean, I and I don't. Like, it's
not you know, don't get ittwisted. I'm not like, oh, you
know, I I did that.
Like, no. I didn't do that. Youknow what I'm saying? I was
helping somebody do that. Youknow what I'm saying?
And, that was that was crazythough, just to be a part of
that. And and I mean, that stuffis it's nutty to to be in those
(37:38):
situations is something that Iguess everybody dreams about.
And, you know, no matter what Iwas doing, what my role in that
was, it was just amazing. I'llnever forget that stuff. Like
going out to Coachella andhaving like a a trailer and all
that, you know, it's like likeyou really did something, you
know.
(37:59):
True. I
Ashanti (38:00):
was I was be behind the scenes of it, on the other side,
but working with Jordan and allof them and Christian and you
guys' tours. And, I do rememberyou you have to remind me. I
feel like Ace did 2 or 3 weekson and 1 week off. Is that what
he did when he would do histours?
Rob Sonic (38:17):
Yeah. It was like, yeah. I don't think it ever went
past 3 weeks. Yeah. I mean,like, in the early in the early
days, like, in the early partsof it, we were going a little
nutty.
Like, we would we would kindatake whatever, and I remember
that kinda had to stop after afew
Ashanti (38:37):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (38:37):
Because it was just too much. It was like It was.
Like, when when you're driving,you know, all day and getting
off getting on stage, doing yourshow Yep. And then you have to
get up at, like, 5 in themorning to drive because we
didn't we weren't busing it.
Ashanti (38:52):
Right.
Rob Sonic (38:53):
We we weren't in the bus. We were in we would always
take vans.
Ashanti (38:57):
Smarter. It's hard it's harder, but it financially, it's
smarter. Do you know what Imean?
Rob Sonic (39:03):
Right. And it I don't I mean, I don't know the
logistics of it, but but that'show we did it. And Yeah. That
was something we always did fromthe beginning, you know, from
the early days of touring, wewere always in the 15 passengers
and that eventually just turnedinto a sprinter and Yeah. But,
those, those things were, youknow, I feel like I lost what I
(39:27):
traded above.
Ashanti (39:27):
Memorable. Most memorable.
Rob Sonic (39:29):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the, those were the, the, the,
the bigger shows, you know,they're like, I think I saw like
Santa Gold at, at one of thoseand like seeing like the police
and and and Prince was Yep. Theheadliner of of Coachella that
we played.
And that was crazy, man. Like, Iam in the vicinity of Prince.
(39:53):
You know? I mean, that'sprobably not a you you guys are
in Minneapolis.
Ashanti (39:58):
It's all it's all it's all,
Rob Sonic (40:00):
Y'all probably saw a dude walking down the street.
Right?
Ashanti (40:03):
I I run into I ran into Prince a couple times before I
moved to the West Coast.
Rob Sonic (40:08):
Oh, okay. Okay.
Ashanti (40:09):
Surprisingly. One night was the night I got married,
actually. It was kinda crazy.But, yeah, I've definitely run
into Prince. I think I I thinkeveryone has their, like, oh
man, if I see this person that'shella dope.
But for the most part, we're allin it. So it doesn't really
affect us either way, shape orform.
Rob Sonic (40:29):
With Prince? Oh, I
Ashanti (40:30):
don't know. No. With Prince? No, no, no, no, no, no.
Rob Sonic (40:32):
Prince is
Ashanti (40:33):
def I'm not saying hold on, hold on. Let me be real
particular. Prince specifically,I was like, what the fuck?
Right? Yes.
With Prince
Rob Sonic (40:41):
Yeah.
Ashanti (40:41):
DJ Premier for me. There's a couple other cats,
MCA, like shit like that. Yeah.But like other cats and
especially being on themanagement side, on the working
side of it, you're like
Rob Sonic (40:51):
Sure. Sure.
Ashanti (40:52):
You're either paying somebody or you're getting them
paid. Like your interaction withthem is pretty chill. You know
what I mean? Like Yeah. It's notsome homey shit.
So yeah.
Rob Sonic (40:59):
I can dig that. I can dig that.
Ashanti (41:01):
Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, there's definitely been
moments where I was like, it'skinda wild that I'm involved in
this right now and this ishappening. Do you know what I'm
saying? Yes. Like Yes.
When you sit there and you thinkabout it, really. You know what
I mean?
Rob Sonic (41:12):
Yeah. Right. And that's that's that's kind of why
probably those are the mostmemorable. I mean, we had, like,
the, you know, there was always,like, the 9 thirties and there
there were clubs all over thethe country that would always be
super memorable just because ofjust the vibe and and the shows
always went up and there wasalways good sound system. You
(41:33):
didn't have to, like, stress toomany things.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. And thenthere's some that were memorable
for the other reasons. Right.
Right. You know what I'm saying?Like, so so I guess that I
remember all of them. And, like,if if they're not all right in
the front. You know?
Right. But they're all able tobe recalled. You know? Right.
Like, every everything.
You know? It's it's it was agood time.
Ashanti (41:56):
Yeah. If you had to, wait. I can't remember. You guys
went out with a TM. Right?
Rob Sonic (42:02):
A few different ones. Yeah.
Ashanti (42:04):
Yeah. Who was your main scam?
Rob Sonic (42:08):
Probably James.
Ashanti (42:10):
Oh, yeah. James. Yeah. Yep. Yep.
Yeah. Baker, bro. Baker's theboy, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:16):
Is it with Baker? Is that his
Ashanti (42:18):
James Baker. Yeah. You talking about the British dude?
No. No.
No. No. Oh, which James? Oh, jOh. I know exact James Lynch,
bro.
James Lynch. Lynch is
Rob Sonic (42:29):
probably one we toured with the most. Yeah.
Ashanti (42:31):
Lynch is like, Lynch is one of the craziest
motherfuckers on the planet,bro. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (42:36):
I'm about
Ashanti (42:36):
to you know what? That's a good I'm a get his ass
on here, bro. Actually, I needto catch up with him, bro. Lynch
is wild, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:42):
Yeah, man.
Ashanti (42:43):
I wonder how he is these days, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:44):
Who knows? But, yeah, he he was probably the most and
then there was we went out withPaul a couple times.
Ashanti (42:51):
Oh, yeah. Paul's the boy. Paul's the boy too.
Rob Sonic (42:54):
Paul Wickman.
Ashanti (42:55):
Paul Wickman. Yeah, he's a boy too. Paul is, he's
very unassuming, you know what Imean? But he knows his shit bro.
So a few more questions and I'llget you out of here.
Number 1 is, what would you bedoing if you weren't rapping?
Like what would you be doing inyour life?
Rob Sonic (43:13):
Oh, man, you know? In my older age, I'm like, what am
I gonna be doing? Because Imean, I I really don't know. I
mean,
Ashanti (43:25):
I Would you still have been connected to music, you
think, in
Rob Sonic (43:28):
some some sort of Yeah. I there was no stopping
that. When when I started andmy, devotion to it and and what
I wanted to do, my drive was wasthat was it for me. That was the
only thing that connected to meso deeply that I would do
anything with that goal in mind,you know, anything I was having
(43:51):
to do was just a means to get tothat. Yeah.
You know? So and that's what Idid. And and, you know, it's I I
don't really know. It's when Ithink about that, I'm like,
there were a couple of momentswhere there were some
opportunities, like I could havebeen like regional manager of of
(44:12):
a department store on the EastCoast called Ames. Okay.
Which I think ended up becomingTarget or Walmart or some, like
something else, you know, it waslike the, one of the early big
box stores on the east coast.Yeah. And they liked me so much
that they were, you know, Ithink I was fresh out of high
school. I was like 18 years oldand they were like, we want you
(44:36):
to be, you know, store manager.And then eventually we wanna set
you up to be regional manager.
Ashanti (44:44):
I could see myself working for you as a regional
manager, bro. Yeah. I feel likewe would probably spend most of
our time smoking pot out back.Yeah.
Rob Sonic (44:52):
Yeah. I could I don't know I don't know if I coulda
done it. Like, like, it wasbecause they were like I like I
was a hard worker at everythingI did. You know? I had so many
jobs before I started doingmusic full time.
Yeah. And, like, I just that wasjust me. It's I just needed I
worked and I worked hard. I didI had everything I did. And they
were just like, well, you you'regood at working.
(45:15):
You know? So because that'sreally all all you do to become
like a in retail and and Yeah.
Ashanti (45:21):
You just gotta work hard.
Rob Sonic (45:22):
Yeah. You just have to be a hard worker. Yeah. There
there's nothing that reallyseparates any regional manager
from another one, I guess.Right.
Except for the for the fact thatthey work hard. Yeah. And that's
that's just what I've alwaysdone. I've just been a hard
worker. So that's the onlyreason I've made anything in
music was because I'm not like Isaid, my left hand don't really
work that well when it comes tomusic, and I'm kind of you know,
(45:46):
I don't think I'm that sharp,but, you know, but I work hard,
you know?
And, and so that that was reallythe only opportunity I had to do
anything else. The rest was,yeah, it wasn't it wasn't
looking too bright for me. Ihated school. I didn't like
school at all. I didn't likeschool.
I didn't like, there wasn't alot there's not not money come
(46:09):
you know, there's no money inthe family. So Yeah. There were
there's not a lot ofopportunity.
Ashanti (46:14):
Right. Right.
Rob Sonic (46:15):
Well, not for me. You know? My sister got lucky. My
sister got lucky when it comeup.
Ashanti (46:20):
Did she marry up or what?
Rob Sonic (46:22):
No. She she got in on some tech shit like before Oh,
dope. Before tech shit was techshit.
Ashanti (46:27):
Yeah. Good for her,
Rob Sonic (46:28):
man. Yeah.
Ashanti (46:28):
Good for her. Anything upcoming upcoming projects?
Rob Sonic (46:35):
I am working on an album that that I keep saying
that I I shoulda had it outbefore. Like, I I should have
had it out probably a year ago,but I'm I'm having to, you know,
it's it's different for me now,you know, because I'm not like
torn. I'm not I'm not, you know,I have to literally make ends
meet again, you know, like likeYeah. I have to tie everything
(46:58):
up and Yeah. So it it kinda getsin the way a little bit of Yeah.
What I really wanna be doing,which is that, but I am working
on.
Ashanti (47:08):
It.
Rob Sonic (47:09):
Good. And, hopefully, it'll be out by this year, but
I've said that now for 2 years.I'll
Ashanti (47:15):
show you. I I and also, there's a lot of reasons these
things take time too. You knowwhat I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
I mean,
Rob Sonic (47:21):
it's it's it's, you know, it's plus, I mean, it's
not necessarily the easiestthing to make a record.
Ashanti (47:28):
Oh, man. It's hard as shit, bro. I don't and that's
like step 1. Like, making it's,like, the first step. You know
what I mean?
Rob Sonic (47:34):
Yeah. And then for it to be good, it's like, you know,
because the the older you getand the more understanding you
have of music, you can't andhear things differently. When
you're first starting out,there's like, sort of a hubris
to it, you know, like, like whatI'm doing is good. Yeah. And
there's this confidence, youknow, the it's of youth and and
(47:59):
just to know that you're theillest plus music has changed so
much.
Ashanti (48:03):
Yeah. It has.
Rob Sonic (48:04):
You know what I'm saying? Because I mean, how many
what what are people are peoplelistening to people bar now?
Yeah. You know, people are, but
Ashanti (48:14):
Not like you know,
Rob Sonic (48:15):
To you know, there's so many things you that's like a
whole podcast in itself.
Ashanti (48:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (48:21):
Yeah. How the the the music itself has changed and and
what is actually, like, youknow, I guess, I don't know,
lucrative to people, you know?And and
Ashanti (48:35):
we just had a whole reckoning. Right. We just had a
whole reckoning and and rap withthat Kendrick. You know, it it
all it answered a question oflike, it made you feel good that
there still is the love for thearc, you know what I mean, at
the end of the day.
Rob Sonic (48:48):
But but if you think about it, like, if it wasn't
those 2 Yeah. They wouldn't haveyeah. It wouldn't have been
anything like this. So, youknow, and that speaks to, you
know, that speaks to their powerand that but it also speaks to
just the climate of it. It'slike
Ashanti (49:02):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (49:03):
You know, I don't I don't know. It's just it's that
too. Because, you know, theolder you get in this shit,
like, the more you think aboutthose things and you think
about, well, yeah, I gotta youknow, the car note is due, the
rent is due, and and, I gotta,you know And the bus shit
Ashanti (49:22):
it done.
Rob Sonic (49:23):
Yeah. And with with streaming is, you know, there's
the forget it. No. I'm justcomplaining. Let me
Ashanti (49:31):
ask you this. If you had to, leave leave the people
with one thing, someone who'strying to get into this or wants
to do this, what's the one thingyou would say? I know it's a
cliche question, but I'm alwayscurious about it.
Rob Sonic (49:44):
Just you'll know that if you're starting out, you will
know after, probably 3 or 4years. You'll know if you're
gonna stay in it or not. Youknow? So just, you know, if you
really love it and you you willride whatever it is and and
whatever direction you're gonnago in that. And also I think
(50:07):
it's it's very important to not,you know, like I was just
talking about it about the theconfidence that comes with youth
and stuff like that.
Don't let that don't let thatmess up in a, you know, like,
listening to people.
Ashanti (50:24):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (50:24):
You know what I'm saying? But it's also it's also
that's a dangerous it's justsuch a hard thing to do.
Ashanti (50:30):
Yeah. It's it's you gotta be careful. You gotta be
right
Rob Sonic (50:32):
in the
Ashanti (50:32):
middle of it. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Rob Sonic (50:34):
You got and you gotta, like, get with the right
people. Like, getting with theright people is such a big
thing. Yeah. Because there's somany people in this business
that are literally not the rightpeople.
Ashanti (50:44):
Yeah. I think there's more not right people than there
are right people.
Rob Sonic (50:48):
Yeah. I mean, there's there's people in this business
that are not have no they theythey do not care.
Ashanti (50:55):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (50:55):
Literally do not care about music or you as a person,
but
Ashanti (50:59):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:00):
But that's that is, you
Ashanti (51:01):
know That's a part of it.
Rob Sonic (51:02):
That's with every business, I'm sure. You know?
Ashanti (51:05):
Yeah. And then give me, before we jump off, give me
your, what's what's your one tipon tour?
Rob Sonic (51:17):
Probably take as many pictures, man.
Ashanti (51:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:21):
Like, I didn't take enough pictures of that shoot.
Ashanti (51:23):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:24):
You know? I, it's it because it it touring when you
get to if you're lucky enough tobe a part of a tour like I was,
that was large and and, youknow, good in in a lot of ways,
you tend to be in the momentmore than you are. Mhmm. And you
somehow aren't in the moment.Right.
(51:45):
You're saying because you'reonly in these cities every once
in a while for, you know, 12hours sometimes.
Ashanti (51:52):
Right.
Rob Sonic (51:53):
And, but just, you know, try and see things.
Ashanti (51:56):
Right.
Rob Sonic (51:56):
You know? Because I didn't I did I went to a few
things that I like, I was inJapan and Australia and and
places like that, and I don'thave any pictures of that shit.
Right. And I was, I was there.Like, sometimes I have to like,
yeah, I was in Japan.
Ashanti (52:14):
Right.
Rob Sonic (52:15):
I was there when people are talking about Tokyo
or something.
Ashanti (52:18):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (52:19):
Like, yeah, I've been there. Yeah. You know? And
that's that's that's a wild it'sa it's a it's a, like, a head
game or whatever. I
Ashanti (52:28):
don't know.
Rob Sonic (52:29):
It's a head trip
Ashanti (52:30):
because Head trip.
Rob Sonic (52:31):
Yeah. Like, I don't know if like like that that
really happens. You know? So
Ashanti (52:37):
it's wild. I'm going through that myself sometimes.
With that with that said, I'm aget you up out of here, man. Let
you let you have the rest ofyour day. We should talk soon,
though.
Actually, I'll just hit you up,and we'll talk soon. Just
because I'm I just wanna catchup in general and just, like,
see see what's going
Rob Sonic (52:55):
on. Of course. But I
Ashanti (52:56):
really appreciate you being on the show, bro.
Rob Sonic (52:58):
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for having me, man.
It's been good.
Ashanti (53:00):
You're in that first slate of people. You're in good,
like, good group of people. So
Rob Sonic (53:04):
That's what's up, man. I hope I hope I didn't
ramble too much.
Ashanti (53:07):
No, man. That's we're here to we're here to talk.
That's what we're here to do.
Rob Sonic (53:12):
Hell yeah.
Ashanti (53:12):
Work. Alright. We'll talk to you soon, my guy.
Rob Sonic (53:14):
Alright, brother.
Ashanti (53:15):
Alright, man. Yep. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to the
loadout. This episode wasproduced by me with music by the
incredible Mike and additionalediting and mixing also by Mike.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, don't forget to
subscribe and rate the podcast.Follow me at probably Ashanti on
all platforms. Until next time,keep buying those tickets.
(53:36):
Peace.
Welcome to the loadout. I'm your host, Ashanti Abdulla.
In each week, we take you behindthe scenes of the live music
industry From touring tips andindustry insights to candid
conversations with artists,managers, and music
professionals, we uncover thestories and strategies that make
live performances unforgettable.Whether you're an artist, a tour
manager, or just a live musicenthusiast, this podcast is your
(00:32):
backstage pass to the world oftouring and live events. On
today's version of the loadout,I'm joined by none other than
hip hop legend, Rob Sonic.
From his groundbreaking solowork to his collaborations with
Aesop Rock and Harold LarryMalon, Rob has been a force in
the underground hip hop scenefor years. We're diving into his
journey, his thoughts ontouring, and what keeps him
(00:53):
inspired after all this time.Rob Sonic, Bananas Foster, Bobby
Freedom. Don't they call you thepurveyor of premium small batch
hip hop?
Rob Sonic (01:07):
Some people do. Only me, though. Though. I call them
something.
Ashanti (01:13):
How you been, bro? It's been a minute.
Rob Sonic (01:15):
It has been a minute, man. I've been alright. You
know? Dealing. Dealing.
You know? I'm I'm getting upthere in here, so, you know, I'm
I'm, I'm good for the most part.You know, can't complain. I'm
here. I'm breathing.
So I'm I'm breathing.
Ashanti (01:27):
That's right. That's right. You're back on the west
or you're out on the west coastnow from the east coast a little
bit. Kinda in between, you weresaying?
Rob Sonic (01:33):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Split time between, you know,
the East Coast, New York, andDC. I'm from DC originally.
Ashanti (01:40):
Oh, gotcha.
Rob Sonic (01:40):
So, but, you know, lived most of my life in the
Bronx. But, yeah.
Ashanti (01:45):
Ace is still up Ace is still up there. Right?
Rob Sonic (01:48):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's on the he's on we're in the
same city, so we're we're going
Ashanti (01:52):
to call up.
Rob Sonic (01:53):
Yeah. Yeah.
Ashanti (01:53):
That's what's up, man. That's what's up. My bad. We, we
we we had a little bit oftalking before we got recording,
so let's just get into the realbusiness of it. What like, you
you started rapping at age 12.
Is that correct?
Rob Sonic (02:05):
Yeah. About 11 or 12. Yeah.
Ashanti (02:07):
11 or 12. What were those influences? Well, like,
what got this kid from from DCthat moved to New York? I assume
it was the move to New York. Imean, I don't know.
Rob Sonic (02:15):
No. I was still in DC at that time. When I when I
first started writing rhymes, Iwas still in DC, and it was just
basically that everybody and,you know, everybody in my school
was doing it, and it was just,like, breaking and and rhyming
and just hip hop in general. Theculture was, was coming up. And
it wasn't, it was, it was just,you know, everybody was,
(02:38):
everybody who I affiliated withand everybody I associated with
was doing it.
And, you know, it was it was itwas new and it was something
that that we just wanted to do.And in all the all the ways, you
know what I'm saying? Like allthe elements and and all the all
the the the the ways to expressourselves was it was just hip
(03:01):
hop, and it was just that'swhere it was coming from. I
guess the early stuff wasprobably, obviously, Sugar Hill
stuff and and but it was a itwas a little bit little bit
deeper than that. Like, it wasbecause it wasn't really
available like that back then.
It was like hours on the radiohere and there, but it it wasn't
(03:21):
when it first started and andpeople were first starting to
embrace rap, it wasn't out therelike it is now. It's a big,
huge, you know, biggest music inthe world now, probably. Outside
of Definitely. Outside of maybecountry, but it wasn't like
that. It was a realcounterculture when it started
when it came, when it when itcame out.
And and there's a reason forthat is, you know, obviously,
(03:42):
you know, the people that, youknow, the the just the people
making it and the theenvironment it comes from, you
know, is Yeah. That's just whatit is. It's just people doing
that and that was the, you know,my associates were and friends
were all people that did it andthey were like, yo, just, you
(04:03):
know, just be down, Just just bedoing what all my friends did.
You know?
Ashanti (04:08):
Exactly. Wait. So you picked you picked rhyming
because you're a shitbreakdancer or what? How did
that end up?
Rob Sonic (04:14):
Yeah. But well, I went through all of them. I went
through all of them.
Ashanti (04:17):
Yeah. I think we all did. That's why I ended up being
a DJ because I was like, I can'tfucking rap. This I suck. Like,
what?
Rob Sonic (04:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that that was basically it. The
gist of it was that basically II saw I started off, I guess,
breaking.
And that was just because, like,you know, that's that was just
so big at the time. It it justswept across the you know, it
was, like, why, 82, 83 whenbreaking was, like, popping. And
I was, like, 10 years old. So itwas like, you know, I'd try to
(04:45):
do it, but I wasn't really youknow, I was kind of a fat kid,
so I couldn't really I I I hadsome moves, though. You know
what I'm saying?
I had I had some things, butwhen you got into, like you
know, they they were dudes whowere, like, really, really good
at it. You know, like to and tobe good at break dance, it's an
Olympic sport now.
Ashanti (05:04):
Yeah, for sure.
Rob Sonic (05:04):
You know what I'm saying? Like break dance is just
hard, man. Yeah. Like that shitis straight up gymnastics. You
know what I'm saying?
Like like I saw dudes, you know,when I was, like, that age, and
I have to I'll do my littlething at home in the mirror, you
know, try to get my littleshuffle, my little 6 step, or or
a little with you know, kneespin or whatever backspin going.
(05:26):
And then you see dudes who arereally good at breakdancing, and
you're like, oh, I can't dothat.
Ashanti (05:30):
Yeah. Not even close, bro.
Rob Sonic (05:31):
That dude is doing, like, aerials and shit. They're
doing, like, they're doing,like, shit you do on a pommel
horse on a floor.
Ashanti (05:38):
I mean, pop master Fable doesn't even do all of
that. He's a pop master, andhe's still way more than I could
ever even dream of.
Rob Sonic (05:44):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I I I had a
little little wave andeverything here and there, and,
but I just wasn't you know, itit was really you know, when I
was in a couple of crews, youknow, the local crews and battle
some dudes, and we did thebattle thing, you know, the the
breakdance battle stuff. And Irealized then that I was like,
(06:06):
after, like, couple of battles,and I was just like, nah.
I'm not really holding anybodydown. So so so dudes were like,
okay. So maybe try DJing, youknow, like, hold the box. You
know? Right.
Because they you know, they youstill gotta be there in case,
like, somebody gets injuredbecause
Ashanti (06:23):
you can get injured.
Rob Sonic (06:25):
You can get injured and break these battles.
Ashanti (06:27):
You know what
Rob Sonic (06:27):
I'm saying? Like, you can the the shit that people are
doing is that you can break anankle or some shit, you know, or
nap. For sure. You know? I mean,I I had a suicide at one point,
which is like a flip, you know,where you just basically land on
the small of your back and feetfirst.
So it doesn't it's sort of likea wrestling kind of thing, like
(06:48):
a wrestling flip. You know? And,like, I just think about it
sometimes. I'm like, I couldabroke every I coulda broke my
spine just doing that.
Ashanti (06:57):
You know? Like, I don't even know how I quit, I quit
skateboarding about 3 years agobecause I broke my last bone.
Yeah. And I'm, like, in myforties, and I was like, nah.
Yeah.
Let's say for
Rob Sonic (07:11):
me no more. No more. No. I mean, yeah, you gotta go
all out in both of those things.You just go all out, and kids
just have that energy.
You know? So I had
Ashanti (07:20):
to Sorry. No. Go ahead.
Rob Sonic (07:22):
So I was good in that respect. Like, I I was I was
always, you know, I loved it somuch and, was into it so much
that I was ready to do ready tobreak break whatever if I had
to.
Ashanti (07:37):
I had a similar similar story. I, I wanted to do
everything. I wanted to dograffiti. Well, I'm a shit
artist. I can't pave a straightline.
Yeah. I'm definitely not I'm adancer, but not that kind of
dancer.
Rob Sonic (07:50):
Right.
Ashanti (07:50):
And I couldn't rap to save my life. Yep. And so I
became a DJ. And then every Imean, people who know me, they
know that, like, over time, Iwas good enough. And then over
time, everyone else got betterthan me.
And I was like, cool. Well, Iguess I'll just book the shows
and do all this other stuffbecause that's what I'm good at.
So that's how I ended up in thatside of it. You know?
Rob Sonic (08:09):
Right. Right. So it's it's not it's not unsimilar to
that. You know what I'm saying?Like, that is ex that is
essentially what happened.
It just it just, I guess, so,you know, they were like, I'll
just hold the box or whateverwhile we do while we do our
battles or whatever. And then Itried to DJ for a little while
and I just couldn't scratch.Right? Because but, yeah, I've
always had, like, thisdisconnect and it's always
(08:32):
caused me problems throughout mymy musical career is like
because I produce and I I canmake beats and stuff, but my
left hand is just
Ashanti (08:41):
I I can't get
Rob Sonic (08:43):
it to do what I want. So if you're a DJ, you you gotta
have both that ambidextrousthing going on where you can
work the fader and and scratch.So I think I got a bubble
scratch back when, like, DST waslike, you know, the, you know,
obviously coming out and killingshit. But I was like, I got,
(09:03):
like, a bubble scratch once, andthat was that was the extent of
my DJ career. But but back butback then, it wasn't like people
had, like, direct driveturntables even.
Ashanti (09:13):
Nah. Like, you had, like, belt driven. Yep.
Rob Sonic (09:16):
Yeah. Like,
Ashanti (09:18):
Belt driven. For making it work.
Rob Sonic (09:19):
Dude, you had to forget it.
Ashanti (09:22):
Yeah. That's right. Making it work. Yeah. Not just
for Except for, you know, thatthat makes me think of, Eric
being Rakim.
I ain't no joke. Mhmm. That'sgotta be the worst display of
scratching of all time. And thenI was talking to somebody and
they were like, yo, Eric B wasthe drug dealer, B. He wasn't
(09:43):
really in the band.
You know what I mean? Rakim wasjust giving him a shot. You know
what I'm saying? Like
Rob Sonic (09:48):
I mean, I I lived in Queens for a while. I'm not I
don't know about the the history
Ashanti (09:53):
of that.
Rob Sonic (09:54):
That is, you know? But I don't I don't I don't
really talk about things likethat, but, you know, I'm saying,
like, you know, it's it's it'she Eric b was, you know, he was
he was in there.
Ashanti (10:07):
He was the man, bro.
Rob Sonic (10:08):
He was
Ashanti (10:09):
the man. Yeah. Early early like Eventually, I mean,
just
Rob Sonic (10:13):
to just to wrap it up. Yeah. I just I I was tried
brass and I I had no cancontrol. And then I started
rapping and and I could actuallyhold the beat better than a lot
of people. So
Ashanti (10:25):
Right. That's dope, man. Were there any, like,
particular moments orexperiences that, like, like,
significantly shaped what yoursound was gonna be kinda early
on? Or I'm sure you've probablyprogressed over the years. It's
been different things.
But
Rob Sonic (10:38):
Yes. Craft work, I remember. Craft work, soul Sonic
Force, specifically, planetrock, play at your own risk.
I've I always forget who would Iforget who that is, but and that
sucks because that's like one ofmy I still play that shit to
(10:59):
this day. Mhmm.
And, a lot of electro shit. AndMantronix was was huge for me in
the beginning. Just in in theearly sound of Def Jam. When,
you know, when Def Jam came out,what was it like? Tila Wright.
Right? It was the first Yeah.Def Jam. I think so. Yeah.
So, Yeah. Yeah. That that, like,hard sort of it it wasn't the
(11:26):
most rhythmic thing. You knowwhat I'm saying? Mhmm.
And and that kinda that kindahad, like, real that shit that
had, like, that edge that waskinda busted and kinda like it
felt very, like, rebellious andand and pumped. So Mhmm. That
that was always what reallyspoke to me the most. Gotcha.
That one I wasn't the happiestkid coming up.
Ashanti (11:52):
I feel you. I mean, I think that I mean yeah. I mean,
that will definitely draw you tohip hop at the earlier days.
Obviously, there was a bright,shiny reason for kids to for
kids to add to it later on. Butin the early days, yeah.
I mean, hip hop was punk. Punkwas hip hop. It was it was Yeah,
man. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (12:08):
It was it was all it was all just like, yeah, with,
you know, the the voice of thevoiceless. Right?
Ashanti (12:15):
For sure.
Rob Sonic (12:16):
Yeah. Like like, heads didn't really know, you
know, we were just the youth ofof the the eighties and shit.
We're just like, what what arewe supposed to do? Yeah.
Ashanti (12:26):
What are we supposed to do?
Rob Sonic (12:27):
Man and obviously crack and all that shit. Like
Yeah. The fuckers are just like,yo, what are what are we
supposed to do?
Ashanti (12:33):
I mean, as much as it annoys the shit out of me, I
can't even be mad at, like, the,like, the the the teams and the
people of this time and, like,what they're up to. No.
Rob Sonic (12:41):
You know
Ashanti (12:41):
what I mean? Because, like, there was always
something. And, like, to behonest with you, some of the
shit they're up to is, like,smarter. You know? And you're
like, that's a smarter way to dothat, actually.
Rob Sonic (12:49):
Well, yeah, man. They they have so much more access to
information than we do. True.You know what I'm saying? We
were we were, like, you know,like, or whatever.
What do you call it? Urbanlegends and shit. Yeah. Right?
Like, that kind of thing.
Like
Ashanti (13:03):
I heard this. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (13:05):
Yeah. Yeah. Like, don't put pop rocks in Coke.
Ashanti (13:09):
Right. Don't put You
Rob Sonic (13:10):
know what I'm saying? Now they just that's a that's
like a challenge
Ashanti (13:13):
now. Right.
Rob Sonic (13:14):
Right. You know, they they I you know, there's there's
obvious things that I'm like,that that's real dangerous for
the for the culture. You know?Sure. But but how much of that
is necessarily just what we'veleft them?
So
Ashanti (13:32):
Yeah. No. That's that's what it that's what it comes
down to, really. It's like Yeah.
Rob Sonic (13:36):
So you can't you can't really be like, nah. You
know? Like, unless you, like,really did it. Like like, okay.
This is, you know, I'm I I amthe person that stood on
business on on the for thecommunity
Ashanti (13:51):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (13:52):
For the kids and and but I wasn't thinking about that
shit. And I'm sure a lot of ourrappers wouldn't think about
that shit when they get got on.No. You know? We're just
rappers.
Ashanti (14:02):
Yeah. You, how'd your experiences with, Sonic some and
Hail Mary Malin shape your solocareer?
Rob Sonic (14:11):
I learned a lot with Sonic some.
Ashanti (14:13):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (14:13):
With Sonic some, it was the the the Sonic some stuff
was was interesting because Iwas coming at it from I had met
Mike Ladd, and Mike Ladd sortof, you know, he he's sort of
the dude. You know? And and andthen I the poetry scene. And, I
just wasn't at that point ofyears years years of trying to
(14:36):
get on, I was like, man, I gottado something different to sorta
separate myself from me and myman. Like, the sonic sum was
originally me and my rappartner.
The Sonic sum that everybodyknows it, that's not how it
started. It started with me andthis my man, Seams, rest in
peace, from Corona Queens. And Iwas living in in East Elmhurst
(14:57):
at the time, I think. Mhmm. And,we were just trying to do
something a little different.
You know? And and and it was itwas still it was still, like,
you know, it was still bars andeverything, but but we we were
trying to branch out a littlebit and do just super creative
stuff because we were both inthe real heavy into jazz music.
(15:17):
Mhmm. And, the the the sort ofthe process of being a jazz head
is you had you go further intothe backstory of because it's
not it it's like the stars ofjazz music. It's not like the
stars of other shit.
Ashanti (15:36):
Right. You know what
Rob Sonic (15:36):
I'm saying? Like, these these are like these are
like musicians, like like Mingusand and and, so many others,
like, you know, Charlie Parkerand, like, the backstory of
those dudes, it's not it's notlike this glamorous thing. It
was
Ashanti (15:51):
just
Rob Sonic (15:52):
No. Not at all. Dudes who are just they're just ill
characters. You know what I'msaying? Like like, ill by
nature.
Yep. So so that's we sortawanted to go. We you don't wanna
be that because that's like,these are greats. You know?
Mhmm.
Mhmm. It's like somebody wantingto be like, yes. Everybody would
aspire to be Jimmy Hendrix or orJimmy Page, but you're not gonna
(16:15):
you know?
Ashanti (16:15):
You don't wanna be you don't wanna live that life.
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (16:18):
So we kinda wanted to be to to be as as, like,
principally sound to a creativemovement in music in that
happened to be rap becausethat's what we did.
Ashanti (16:34):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (16:34):
Right? And then he passed away and and we had this
sort of body of work with TMEand then that was Fred and John
and Eric was around. So we justsort of became Sonic some later.
We kept that going Mhmm. Youknow, after after seems passed.
But, so I learned a lot aboutthat. I learned a lot about,
(16:56):
like, yes, you can aspire to bethis this great, like, person
that changes whatever it is, youknow? And, but it's you also
have to be sort of accepting ofthe fact that that that stuff is
there's some other worldly stuffwith, like, Miles Davis. Like,
(17:16):
it's like there there'ssomething else going on. You
know?
And you have to you have tounderstand, like, you know, that
you have to be receptive to thatkind of energy. Those vibrations
coming in that that set thosepeople apart are not necessarily
available to everybody, youknow?
Ashanti (17:34):
True. True.
Rob Sonic (17:35):
But it was, it was a good, it was a good I mean,
that's why people don't, youknow, it doesn't miss it stays,
you know, relevant to the peoplethat delve as deeply as they
can, you know, and, but it'sstill almost niche. You know
what I'm saying?
Ashanti (17:52):
Because Yeah.
Rob Sonic (17:53):
Who who is you know? I mean, there's a lot of good
current jazz and shit like that,but it there was that that time
was just There's a
Ashanti (18:02):
lot of things that were happening at that time that were
in the air that were a part ofit. It felt like there's great
there's I've I'm into jazz too,and I Right. I actually work
with jazz musicians and blahblah blah. So there's great jazz
musicians right now, but thatwas a very, very different time.
I don't know how to explainthat.
Like, it's just the vibe of itat that time was very different.
(18:22):
There was something about beinga jazz player. You know what I
mean?
Rob Sonic (18:25):
Yeah. And and that's that's that's what I'm saying.
Like, there are people that thatare extremely but there was just
something to that time. Youknow? Yeah.
And, and I think a lot of thathappened a lot of that happens
with with the hip hop, thedifferent eras in in in hip hop
music too. You know?
Ashanti (18:44):
I agree. Your first album came out in 04,
Telekintesson.
Rob Sonic (18:50):
Yes.
Ashanti (18:50):
What how do you feel like do you feel like there's
been this major evolution sincethat first album or do you feel
like you've kinda stayed on thesame the same, playing field?
Rob Sonic (19:02):
No. There's definitely an evolution because
the the first one, I'll behonest, like, I I had never
produced anything before, Ithink, Rocket. Gotcha. Rocket is
Rocket is a song by Sonic somethat came out pretty late in the
Sonic some stuff. You know?
I think it's on films or, yeah,maybe it's on yeah. Or it was
(19:24):
just a single. I think it's onfilms, but I had never made a
beat before that. And that wasactually how I sort of made the
connection with Def Jokes is isI knew Meach. Meach was handling
our our business and stuff forSonic Song.
And, I would see Al at Ozone.Entertainment. So, that was how
(19:47):
I sort of made, I played Rocketfor Al and I was like, yo, you
make a record like this, I'llfucking put it out.
Ashanti (19:53):
Oh, all right.
Rob Sonic (19:54):
And I was like, oh shit. I had no idea. I was even
making it good here. You know?It was like I remember it was
like I was just just all I hadwas like little bookshelf
speakers and an and an MPC 2000XL and just got it because I had
literally was like, it wasn'tthat I wanted to break away from
(20:16):
TME.
It was just like, I couldn't,there was always it it's issues
when people are look becausethey were producing for so many
people. They were
Ashanti (20:25):
producing
Rob Sonic (20:26):
for like half the
Ashanti (20:27):
Bronx. Right. Right.
Rob Sonic (20:28):
So, you know what I'm saying? And and running Fred was
running his studio, which wasright across the street from my
building. So it was just hard toget, you know, things going and,
and sometimes, and I would belike, well, I'll just, just get
this for fun and see whathappens. And then I sort of, I
sort of developed this sort ofsound that I wanted realized
(20:50):
that I wanted to rhyme over. Andthat was more akin to the stuff
that it influenced me, theelectro stuff.
Gotcha. But that first record Ithink is is is cool because it's
a it's a time capsule in amoment in time and it's cool.
But I mean, I was like, Sam, youknow, I was using, like, test
tones as instruments. So, youknow,
Ashanti (21:12):
I was like, oh, that's cool. No. But it's the bro,
that's that's hip hop. You knowwhat I mean? At the end of the
day, that's hip hop.
Taking what you got. You knowwhat I mean?
Rob Sonic (21:22):
Doesn't matter nothing. It was, you know, and
that's that's sort of what it itwas for me at the beginning. And
that is that record, you know,if you listen to it, you it's
it's cool. I mean, there'sdefinitely some good starter
stuff in there, but you know,it's to me at least.
Ashanti (21:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (21:40):
But, yeah, it's at this point, you know, I actually
have an idea and, and
Ashanti (21:46):
Right.
Rob Sonic (21:46):
Know know know my way around things a little bit.
Ashanti (21:49):
A little bit more. Right. Doing a Hail Mary Mall
and collaborating with ASAP. Howdid that all come about?
Rob Sonic (21:58):
That would that was just a byproduct of us being on
tour all the time. Yeah. Becauseyeah. Like, he like, he, I think
the first show I did with himwas actually in Portland Okay.
Which is crazy.
But, yeah. Like, I I had to fillin. Like, I I had somebody
couldn't make it up, maybe Lyftor or Okay. Move or somebody
(22:19):
could make it up. I don'tremember exactly, but he hit me
up and we went and we had itlike a blast.
You know? Mhmm. We had like alegit good time because I we we
weren't we didn't all thosedudes and jokes were like in
Brooklyn and I was in the Bronx.So I didn't see them as much as
as people might think. You know,I wasn't around the the core
(22:41):
unit of jokes, all that much.
But, yeah, me and Ace, we just,you know, we would see each
other at certain things, mostlylabel, label related and we
would, we just kinda clicked,you know? Yeah. And so one time
when he needed, somebody to fillin to do the hype stuff Yeah. He
was like, yo, you wanna do it?And I went out there and we had
(23:03):
a ball and then we just stayedtorn together forever.
Ashanti (23:07):
Where was that in your so your first what was your
first tour?
Rob Sonic (23:12):
My first tour was probably my first like official
tour would be Sonic Song.
Ashanti (23:18):
Sonic Song. Okay.
Rob Sonic (23:19):
Yeah. And that was
Ashanti (23:20):
How many days was that like a big was that a big one?
Was that a short one?
Rob Sonic (23:24):
It was me, Mike Ladd. It was Sonic Some, Mike Ladd,
and Antipop.
Ashanti (23:30):
Okay. Oh, okay.
Rob Sonic (23:31):
We went out to the West Coast. I had never been out
never been to the West Coast.I'd never been really out of two
places. I had never been out ofthe DMV
Ashanti (23:43):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (23:43):
And I'd never been out of the Bronx, really. Mhmm.
New York. Let's say New York. II did live in Queens for about a
year and I lived in Brooklyn forabout 6 months before I've been
but I was in the Bronx for,like, 20 years, 20 years.
Ashanti (23:57):
Okay.
Rob Sonic (23:58):
But, so I had never been to the west coast and any
of that. And and I guess weMitchie put this thing together
and we went out to the WestCoast, and it did not go well.
It was it was it there was not alot of people at those shows.
Ashanti (24:16):
And How many shows did you guys play?
Rob Sonic (24:20):
I think we only ended up being able to keep because,
you know, like, if there'snobody if
Ashanti (24:24):
There's nobody there. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (24:26):
Do it. You know what I'm saying? Like, if there's no
if nothing is funding themachine, the machine can't go.
Ashanti (24:31):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (24:32):
And that's what we were sort of banking on. We were
banking on the the strength thatpeople were were gonna come to
these joints. And so a couple offirst you know, a couple of
nights where it doesn't happenand you're like, oh, shit. Yeah.
So I think we had, we ended updoing just 4 on that one.
It was Okay. Oh, we did an LAshow at the LA Ray, and that's
(24:54):
that's kind of a big spot. Youknow?
Ashanti (24:55):
Yeah. It's yeah. It's not a small spot.
Rob Sonic (24:57):
And I I had laryngitis randomly because I
used to get sick before everytour. I you know, that's that's
one of the things is I used toget sick. And no matter what I
did, I'd be like, put myself ina bubble before a tour and I
would still get sick. Like onetime I got the mumps.
Ashanti (25:17):
Maybe you think mumps, bro?
Rob Sonic (25:19):
Who gets the mumps? Nobody gets the mumps. I got
well, technically, I hadparatitis.
Ashanti (25:26):
Okay.
Rob Sonic (25:26):
But that's that's the the shit that does the mumps.
Ashanti (25:30):
You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:31):
Like, I woke up. I was married at the time, and I
woke up. And my wife was like,yo, why is your fate that you
get in a fight? And I was like,not I was drinking heavy.
Ashanti (25:42):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:42):
Yeah. So that's probably also why I was, like
Ashanti (25:45):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (25:45):
Always sick. But Yeah. I was drinking like crazy
at the time, like likeridiculous amounts of alcohol
Yeah. Every night. So I I wokeup.
I was, like, at a party in thenight before, and she she was
like, yo, what's wrong with yourface, man? You you must have
gotten a fight, but somesomebody beat your ass. And I
got up and I was like, I don'tremember fighting anybody. And I
(26:08):
got up and my face was allswollen. And I was like, what is
happening?
I went to open my mouth just to,you know, like wide, like, be
like, ah, ah, like, stretch itout and put an open my mouth.
Ashanti (26:21):
Oh, damn.
Rob Sonic (26:22):
And it was like all this crazy pain in under my ear
and everything else. And I wentto the Montefiore and they were
like they took one look at myface and were like, yo. You got
the the mums, man. You can'tcome in the in the thing. You
can't like, just come straightback here with me.
Ashanti (26:38):
Weren't they handing out vaccines for that in, like,
the eighties, bro?
Rob Sonic (26:42):
Like Yes. Yes. No. I I was I had my MMR vaccine. But
that was what that's what itwas.
That was the joke, and that wasbefore me and Ace were going to
Brazil for the first time.
Ashanti (26:55):
Right.
Rob Sonic (26:56):
Right. And I was like, yo. I I don't know what to
tell you, bro. I got the mumps.You know?
And he he would joke. He'd belike, oh, what you gonna get
next? Rubella?
Ashanti (27:04):
Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:05):
Old school disease, like, the the the plague.
Ashanti (27:09):
So that tour, so you guys flew out probably and then
drove, to do your dates on thattour and then Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:16):
We we flew out, rented rented a couple of vans,
couple of 15 passengers, and Isaw the West Coast and under you
know, I we tried to do the tour,but it just wasn't it was like
you know, it was that that wasmy first experience of of tour.
Ashanti (27:35):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (27:35):
And and how that all that stuff works and how, like,
really things impact everythingabout that. Like, who's playing
down the street? It was like,like, everywhere we're going,
souls of mischief was, like,playing across the street.
Ashanti (27:52):
That's not good for y'all at all.
Rob Sonic (27:54):
Well, I mean, you know, you play in the West Coast
and they're, like, the biggest,you know, you know, indie rap.
Ashanti (28:01):
Yeah. They were
Rob Sonic (28:02):
hot as they on. Like, I wonder like, it was like it
was like Soldier Bishops and,like, Slum Village.
Ashanti (28:07):
Right. Like, right. And it was
Rob Sonic (28:08):
like we were we're we're like, god. People will be
at our show.
Ashanti (28:14):
It worked out real well. I'm sure.
Rob Sonic (28:16):
Right. Nobody was at our show.
Ashanti (28:18):
So by the time so how many so by the time you did that
first tour with Def Jokes, youhad done a few tours since then
or it was just like a couple
Rob Sonic (28:26):
Oh, no. That was that was Ozone. That was before all
the Def Jokes stuff.
Ashanti (28:30):
Yeah. Yeah. No. That's what I'm saying. By the time so
with this tour, you're we werejust talking about you had a
bunch of stuff in between beforeyou did the Def Jokes thing or
or you okay.
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (28:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think I had to well, we had that
that record was was sort of atour for, you know, a few of us
had records out. I think, antipop had, the the one that came
out on 75 arc and Mike had, Ithink, after future at that
point, and we had the sanityannex. Mhmm.
(29:01):
So this was the beginning of ofall of it. You know? Yeah. And,
yeah. So so though there thatwas probably 5 or 6 years before
Jokes.
Ashanti (29:11):
Got you. Yeah. What's what's been your most, like,
plush tour experience?
Rob Sonic (29:18):
All the all the stuff I did with Ace.
Ashanti (29:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (29:20):
All that stuff was yeah. Because he's he brings
them in. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
People come out to see the thekid Ace, and, they those were
always we're always well takencare of. I mean, some of those
were, you know, because youplayed when you're like that
size. Yeah. You know, on anindie level, like you gotta play
a markets and b markets. Yep.
(29:40):
So b markets, you're not thosearen't really that plush, but
for the most part, you know,those
Ashanti (29:46):
an a market stuff.
Rob Sonic (29:47):
All those are all those are good, but I I've been
blessed.
Ashanti (29:51):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (29:51):
You know what I'm saying? Like like, I've I've had
some rough ones and I but forthe most part, I would say that
people have been, you know, kindof accommodating.
Ashanti (30:01):
Yeah. What was the roughest one?
Rob Sonic (30:06):
Man, there's been so there's been a lot of those.
Ashanti (30:09):
Other than other than your burst your, burst your,
your, the Yeah.
Rob Sonic (30:14):
But that wasn't that wasn't technically at core. But
the the the friend of Thor thatI tried to do on my own was
pretty rough. Yeah. Because thatwas really that was really some
road road dog shit. You know?
Okay. That was really like, I'mgoing out here and I'm seeing
what happens and but there wasactually good turnouts at that
(30:37):
point because it was so far intomy career. You know? Yep. Like
early stuff, like Sonic somewould would get these crazy
gigs.
Like, some of those were superrough because just because.
Yeah. But we'd get these, like,crazy gigs. Like, we would play,
like, all tomorrow's party in,like, in in Europe, and it would
be that's that's a huge gig for
Ashanti (30:57):
people. Of course.
Rob Sonic (30:57):
You know what I'm saying? And and it it was we
weren't really, you know, likeMhmm. In our minds, we we
belong.
Ashanti (31:07):
Every everybody is in their minds.
Rob Sonic (31:09):
We belonged, but, you know, this like, when we get up
there and and, you know, the thethe the mixers are all fucked up
and sending you know, we'resitting there basically talking
to the crowd. Like, literally,I'm trying to do stand up for
half an hour while my pizza getsfixed during our set at all
tomorrow's party. Like Is
Ashanti (31:30):
that where you hold, like, your commuted your
commuted timing, you think, ishaving to do, you probably
always had it.
Rob Sonic (31:36):
Yeah. I always try to I was always a class clown.
Ashanti (31:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (31:39):
Yeah. I mean, I don't know, like that stuff is hard.
Like I would never be acomedian.
Ashanti (31:45):
No, man, so that's one of my guilty pleasures, man. I
go to the comedy club at once aweek, once every 2 weeks. No
joke. I love comedy. I
Rob Sonic (31:55):
do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True.
And I
Ashanti (31:56):
go see all these great comedians. I keep up with it.
I'm really deep into thecomedian world. And I just sit
there like I would be soterrified. I couldn't give
anybody 30 seconds, Let alonelike 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes, you
know?
Rob Sonic (32:11):
Right. And those are like those are like intimate
settings.
Ashanti (32:15):
It's wild. You got nothing behind you. You got no
one.
Rob Sonic (32:19):
What about like people like Kevin Hart?
Ashanti (32:22):
Oh my god, bro.
Rob Sonic (32:23):
Stadiums, man. Like, are you kidding me?
Ashanti (32:27):
It's you and a mic, bro.
Rob Sonic (32:29):
Dude, the the minutes are so long. Yeah. On stage,
minutes are so long. Like like,people are like, oh, yeah. You
know, you do a half hour set.
It's not a big deal. Right?
Ashanti (32:39):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (32:40):
But that shit is forever. Like, I'm like, if I
was literally if I'm firingunder all cylinders. Right?
Ashanti (32:47):
Yes.
Rob Sonic (32:47):
Like, and and I'm really in game shape, I could do
10 songs in 1st minutes.
Ashanti (32:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (32:53):
You know what I'm saying? Right. But they and they
but there's still time inbetween where you guys just,
like you gotta make you know,you gotta interact with people,
and sometimes that is so hard.
Ashanti (33:03):
It is. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (33:03):
It is ridiculous. And you yeah. Forget about it. You
offend the shit out of people.
Ashanti (33:10):
You go from having a having some dope ass shit to
getting beers thrown at you andshit.
Rob Sonic (33:14):
Oh, yeah, man. Like, it's so easy. Like, making
people laugh because that's whatpeople are there for. Like Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm here to make me laugh, bro.Yeah. That's shit. Shit, son.
Yeah.
Like like, imagine if somebodyif you were beefing some with
somebody and he was like, yo,make me laugh then. Be like,
alright. That'd be the illestthat'd be the illest it'd be the
(33:36):
it was fight everybody.
Ashanti (33:39):
You what speaking of that, you when you and Ace would
tour, I remember, you know, yourtours, when I was at the label.
And I would look at the, like,the set times and all that, and
I'd be like, yo, how manyminutes is this dude playing?
Yeah. What what was the, like,what was the thought process
(33:59):
behind that? And I mean, peoplewere engaged the entire time.
It wasn't like it was too much.I just
Rob Sonic (34:05):
I don't know how. I don't know how. Yeah. Because I
and I think that that's thatjust speaks to to how many
people really are really loveAce. Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? Like,how how how many people are just
and I I am too. Like, it's justthe guy he what he does is is
(34:26):
really unique and it's like, youknow, it's it's intrigued. But
45 minutes of anybody rapping,I'm like, alright. I've I've got
I get I gotta go.
Ashanti (34:37):
Well, you know how it is for cats like me. Like, not
only is it, you know let's saysomebody does a 75 minute set.
I've heard that 75 minute set
Rob Sonic (34:47):
Yeah.
Ashanti (34:48):
Oh, I don't know. Yeah. 35, 40 times? Yeah, man. On that
in the, like, last month, I'mlike, oh, I'm done with this
shit, bro.
I don't soon as the you know,soon as everything goes on, I
walk away, go get something toeat, go do whatever, and cats
are like, yo, why aren't you,you know, like, why aren't you
sticking around? I'm like, I'veheard this before. I've heard it
a couple of times.
Rob Sonic (35:07):
And that is that is that is essentially what it is
for us too. You know what I'msaying?
Ashanti (35:12):
Right.
Rob Sonic (35:13):
Like like because with I think the the longest we
got our set up too because Acewas just like, I I just need to
to do this. You know? I need tomake it longer. And we were
because we were always doing 45to an hour Mhmm. For for most of
it.
And then towards the when thecatalogs became so extensive.
Ashanti (35:35):
Mhmm.
Rob Sonic (35:35):
There was no way to not make the shows longer
because he had to make sure thathe was addressing what Like what
was current Yep. And hisclassics. So Right. You know,
it's you do something like that,the show it I think it got up to
an hour and 40 hour and 45minutes at some point.
Ashanti (35:53):
That's just wild to me, man.
Rob Sonic (35:55):
If I it may have gotten to 2 hours, but it Yeah.
It at though at once it got pasta 110 minutes
Ashanti (36:02):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (36:03):
Of performing, it was all a blur to me. You know?
Because the only real the onlyreal breaks we ever took was for
our DJ to do their
Ashanti (36:13):
thing. Right.
Rob Sonic (36:13):
And those were, like, you know, those were 5, 7, 7, 8
minutes.
Ashanti (36:17):
Right. The
Rob Sonic (36:18):
rest of the time was was just
Ashanti (36:20):
Just like go go go. And it's it's like with y'all, it
was definitely like people getup and hey, there's different
cadences. It's just bang, bang,bang, right over the head. Just
how the records are. You knowwhat I mean?
Rob Sonic (36:34):
Yeah. It's I don't know how people did it.
Ashanti (36:37):
Yeah. Including yourself. Including yourself.
Rob Sonic (36:40):
I think about it sometimes and I'm like, man,
listen. I probably got my let'srun my knees all messed up.
Probably good with that shit.
Ashanti (36:49):
What's your what's your, what's your probably most
memorable tour experience? Whatdo you mean be like? That's
that's one that for the books,for sure.
Rob Sonic (36:59):
I mean, probably the the Coachella's and, like,
Bonnaroo was really memorable.Like, the like, that kinda
thing, like, not in a 1000000years that I think I'd be
playing for 40 or 50,000 people.
Ashanti (37:12):
Yeah. Yes.
Rob Sonic (37:13):
Ever. Like Yeah. I mean, I and I don't. Like, it's
not you know, don't get ittwisted. I'm not like, oh, you
know, I I did that.
Like, no. I didn't do that. Youknow what I'm saying? I was
helping somebody do that. Youknow what I'm saying?
And, that was that was crazythough, just to be a part of
that. And and I mean, that stuffis it's nutty to to be in those
(37:38):
situations is something that Iguess everybody dreams about.
And, you know, no matter what Iwas doing, what my role in that
was, it was just amazing. I'llnever forget that stuff. Like
going out to Coachella andhaving like a a trailer and all
that, you know, it's like likeyou really did something, you
know.
(37:59):
True. I
Ashanti (38:00):
was I was be behind the scenes of it, on the other side,
but working with Jordan and allof them and Christian and you
guys' tours. And, I do rememberyou you have to remind me. I
feel like Ace did 2 or 3 weekson and 1 week off. Is that what
he did when he would do histours?
Rob Sonic (38:17):
Yeah. It was like, yeah. I don't think it ever went
past 3 weeks. Yeah. I mean,like, in the early in the early
days, like, in the early partsof it, we were going a little
nutty.
Like, we would we would kindatake whatever, and I remember
that kinda had to stop after afew
Ashanti (38:37):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (38:37):
Because it was just too much. It was like It was.
Like, when when you're driving,you know, all day and getting
off getting on stage, doing yourshow Yep. And then you have to
get up at, like, 5 in themorning to drive because we
didn't we weren't busing it.
Ashanti (38:52):
Right.
Rob Sonic (38:53):
We we weren't in the bus. We were in we would always
take vans.
Ashanti (38:57):
Smarter. It's hard it's harder, but it financially, it's
smarter. Do you know what Imean?
Rob Sonic (39:03):
Right. And it I don't I mean, I don't know the
logistics of it, but but that'show we did it. And Yeah. That
was something we always did fromthe beginning, you know, from
the early days of touring, wewere always in the 15 passengers
and that eventually just turnedinto a sprinter and Yeah. But,
those, those things were, youknow, I feel like I lost what I
(39:27):
traded above.
Ashanti (39:27):
Memorable. Most memorable.
Rob Sonic (39:29):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the, those were the, the, the,
the bigger shows, you know,they're like, I think I saw like
Santa Gold at, at one of thoseand like seeing like the police
and and and Prince was Yep. Theheadliner of of Coachella that
we played.
And that was crazy, man. Like, Iam in the vicinity of Prince.
(39:53):
You know? I mean, that'sprobably not a you you guys are
in Minneapolis.
Ashanti (39:58):
It's all it's all it's all,
Rob Sonic (40:00):
Y'all probably saw a dude walking down the street.
Right?
Ashanti (40:03):
I I run into I ran into Prince a couple times before I
moved to the West Coast.
Rob Sonic (40:08):
Oh, okay. Okay.
Ashanti (40:09):
Surprisingly. One night was the night I got married,
actually. It was kinda crazy.But, yeah, I've definitely run
into Prince. I think I I thinkeveryone has their, like, oh
man, if I see this person that'shella dope.
But for the most part, we're allin it. So it doesn't really
affect us either way, shape orform.
Rob Sonic (40:29):
With Prince? Oh, I
Ashanti (40:30):
don't know. No. With Prince? No, no, no, no, no, no.
Rob Sonic (40:32):
Prince is
Ashanti (40:33):
def I'm not saying hold on, hold on. Let me be real
particular. Prince specifically,I was like, what the fuck?
Right? Yes.
With Prince
Rob Sonic (40:41):
Yeah.
Ashanti (40:41):
DJ Premier for me. There's a couple other cats,
MCA, like shit like that. Yeah.But like other cats and
especially being on themanagement side, on the working
side of it, you're like
Rob Sonic (40:51):
Sure. Sure.
Ashanti (40:52):
You're either paying somebody or you're getting them
paid. Like your interaction withthem is pretty chill. You know
what I mean? Like Yeah. It's notsome homey shit.
So yeah.
Rob Sonic (40:59):
I can dig that. I can dig that.
Ashanti (41:01):
Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, there's definitely been
moments where I was like, it'skinda wild that I'm involved in
this right now and this ishappening. Do you know what I'm
saying? Yes. Like Yes.
When you sit there and you thinkabout it, really. You know what
I mean?
Rob Sonic (41:12):
Yeah. Right. And that's that's that's kind of why
probably those are the mostmemorable. I mean, we had, like,
the, you know, there was always,like, the 9 thirties and there
there were clubs all over thethe country that would always be
super memorable just because ofjust the vibe and and the shows
always went up and there wasalways good sound system. You
(41:33):
didn't have to, like, stress toomany things.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. And thenthere's some that were memorable
for the other reasons. Right.
Right. You know what I'm saying?Like, so so I guess that I
remember all of them. And, like,if if they're not all right in
the front. You know?
Right. But they're all able tobe recalled. You know? Right.
Like, every everything.
You know? It's it's it was agood time.
Ashanti (41:56):
Yeah. If you had to, wait. I can't remember. You guys
went out with a TM. Right?
Rob Sonic (42:02):
A few different ones. Yeah.
Ashanti (42:04):
Yeah. Who was your main scam?
Rob Sonic (42:08):
Probably James.
Ashanti (42:10):
Oh, yeah. James. Yeah. Yep. Yep.
Yeah. Baker, bro. Baker's theboy, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:16):
Is it with Baker? Is that his
Ashanti (42:18):
James Baker. Yeah. You talking about the British dude?
No. No.
No. No. Oh, which James? Oh, jOh. I know exact James Lynch,
bro.
James Lynch. Lynch is
Rob Sonic (42:29):
probably one we toured with the most. Yeah.
Ashanti (42:31):
Lynch is like, Lynch is one of the craziest
motherfuckers on the planet,bro. Yeah.
Rob Sonic (42:36):
I'm about
Ashanti (42:36):
to you know what? That's a good I'm a get his ass
on here, bro. Actually, I needto catch up with him, bro. Lynch
is wild, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:42):
Yeah, man.
Ashanti (42:43):
I wonder how he is these days, bro.
Rob Sonic (42:44):
Who knows? But, yeah, he he was probably the most and
then there was we went out withPaul a couple times.
Ashanti (42:51):
Oh, yeah. Paul's the boy. Paul's the boy too.
Rob Sonic (42:54):
Paul Wickman.
Ashanti (42:55):
Paul Wickman. Yeah, he's a boy too. Paul is, he's
very unassuming, you know what Imean? But he knows his shit bro.
So a few more questions and I'llget you out of here.
Number 1 is, what would you bedoing if you weren't rapping?
Like what would you be doing inyour life?
Rob Sonic (43:13):
Oh, man, you know? In my older age, I'm like, what am
I gonna be doing? Because Imean, I I really don't know. I
mean,
Ashanti (43:25):
I Would you still have been connected to music, you
think, in
Rob Sonic (43:28):
some some sort of Yeah. I there was no stopping
that. When when I started andmy, devotion to it and and what
I wanted to do, my drive was wasthat was it for me. That was the
only thing that connected to meso deeply that I would do
anything with that goal in mind,you know, anything I was having
(43:51):
to do was just a means to get tothat. Yeah.
You know? So and that's what Idid. And and, you know, it's I I
don't really know. It's when Ithink about that, I'm like,
there were a couple of momentswhere there were some
opportunities, like I could havebeen like regional manager of of
(44:12):
a department store on the EastCoast called Ames. Okay.
Which I think ended up becomingTarget or Walmart or some, like
something else, you know, it waslike the, one of the early big
box stores on the east coast.Yeah. And they liked me so much
that they were, you know, Ithink I was fresh out of high
school. I was like 18 years oldand they were like, we want you
(44:36):
to be, you know, store manager.And then eventually we wanna set
you up to be regional manager.
Ashanti (44:44):
I could see myself working for you as a regional
manager, bro. Yeah. I feel likewe would probably spend most of
our time smoking pot out back.Yeah.
Rob Sonic (44:52):
Yeah. I could I don't know I don't know if I coulda
done it. Like, like, it wasbecause they were like I like I
was a hard worker at everythingI did. You know? I had so many
jobs before I started doingmusic full time.
Yeah. And, like, I just that wasjust me. It's I just needed I
worked and I worked hard. I didI had everything I did. And they
were just like, well, you you'regood at working.
(45:15):
You know? So because that'sreally all all you do to become
like a in retail and and Yeah.
Ashanti (45:21):
You just gotta work hard.
Rob Sonic (45:22):
Yeah. You just have to be a hard worker. Yeah. There
there's nothing that reallyseparates any regional manager
from another one, I guess.Right.
Except for the for the fact thatthey work hard. Yeah. And that's
that's just what I've alwaysdone. I've just been a hard
worker. So that's the onlyreason I've made anything in
music was because I'm not like Isaid, my left hand don't really
work that well when it comes tomusic, and I'm kind of you know,
(45:46):
I don't think I'm that sharp,but, you know, but I work hard,
you know?
And, and so that that was reallythe only opportunity I had to do
anything else. The rest was,yeah, it wasn't it wasn't
looking too bright for me. Ihated school. I didn't like
school at all. I didn't likeschool.
I didn't like, there wasn't alot there's not not money come
(46:09):
you know, there's no money inthe family. So Yeah. There were
there's not a lot ofopportunity.
Ashanti (46:14):
Right. Right.
Rob Sonic (46:15):
Well, not for me. You know? My sister got lucky. My
sister got lucky when it comeup.
Ashanti (46:20):
Did she marry up or what?
Rob Sonic (46:22):
No. She she got in on some tech shit like before Oh,
dope. Before tech shit was techshit.
Ashanti (46:27):
Yeah. Good for her,
Rob Sonic (46:28):
man. Yeah.
Ashanti (46:28):
Good for her. Anything upcoming upcoming projects?
Rob Sonic (46:35):
I am working on an album that that I keep saying
that I I shoulda had it outbefore. Like, I I should have
had it out probably a year ago,but I'm I'm having to, you know,
it's it's different for me now,you know, because I'm not like
torn. I'm not I'm not, you know,I have to literally make ends
meet again, you know, like likeYeah. I have to tie everything
(46:58):
up and Yeah. So it it kinda getsin the way a little bit of Yeah.
What I really wanna be doing,which is that, but I am working
on.
Ashanti (47:08):
It.
Rob Sonic (47:09):
Good. And, hopefully, it'll be out by this year, but
I've said that now for 2 years.I'll
Ashanti (47:15):
show you. I I and also, there's a lot of reasons these
things take time too. You knowwhat I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
I mean,
Rob Sonic (47:21):
it's it's it's, you know, it's plus, I mean, it's
not necessarily the easiestthing to make a record.
Ashanti (47:28):
Oh, man. It's hard as shit, bro. I don't and that's
like step 1. Like, making it's,like, the first step. You know
what I mean?
Rob Sonic (47:34):
Yeah. And then for it to be good, it's like, you know,
because the the older you getand the more understanding you
have of music, you can't andhear things differently. When
you're first starting out,there's like, sort of a hubris
to it, you know, like, like whatI'm doing is good. Yeah. And
there's this confidence, youknow, the it's of youth and and
(47:59):
just to know that you're theillest plus music has changed so
much.
Ashanti (48:03):
Yeah. It has.
Rob Sonic (48:04):
You know what I'm saying? Because I mean, how many
what what are people are peoplelistening to people bar now?
Yeah. You know, people are, but
Ashanti (48:14):
Not like you know,
Rob Sonic (48:15):
To you know, there's so many things you that's like a
whole podcast in itself.
Ashanti (48:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (48:21):
Yeah. How the the the music itself has changed and and
what is actually, like, youknow, I guess, I don't know,
lucrative to people, you know?And and
Ashanti (48:35):
we just had a whole reckoning. Right. We just had a
whole reckoning and and rap withthat Kendrick. You know, it it
all it answered a question oflike, it made you feel good that
there still is the love for thearc, you know what I mean, at
the end of the day.
Rob Sonic (48:48):
But but if you think about it, like, if it wasn't
those 2 Yeah. They wouldn't haveyeah. It wouldn't have been
anything like this. So, youknow, and that speaks to, you
know, that speaks to their powerand that but it also speaks to
just the climate of it. It'slike
Ashanti (49:02):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (49:03):
You know, I don't I don't know. It's just it's that
too. Because, you know, theolder you get in this shit,
like, the more you think aboutthose things and you think
about, well, yeah, I gotta youknow, the car note is due, the
rent is due, and and, I gotta,you know And the bus shit
Ashanti (49:22):
it done.
Rob Sonic (49:23):
Yeah. And with with streaming is, you know, there's
the forget it. No. I'm justcomplaining. Let me
Ashanti (49:31):
ask you this. If you had to, leave leave the people
with one thing, someone who'strying to get into this or wants
to do this, what's the one thingyou would say? I know it's a
cliche question, but I'm alwayscurious about it.
Rob Sonic (49:44):
Just you'll know that if you're starting out, you will
know after, probably 3 or 4years. You'll know if you're
gonna stay in it or not. Youknow? So just, you know, if you
really love it and you you willride whatever it is and and
whatever direction you're gonnago in that. And also I think
(50:07):
it's it's very important to not,you know, like I was just
talking about it about the theconfidence that comes with youth
and stuff like that.
Don't let that don't let thatmess up in a, you know, like,
listening to people.
Ashanti (50:24):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (50:24):
You know what I'm saying? But it's also it's also
that's a dangerous it's justsuch a hard thing to do.
Ashanti (50:30):
Yeah. It's it's you gotta be careful. You gotta be
right
Rob Sonic (50:32):
in the
Ashanti (50:32):
middle of it. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Rob Sonic (50:34):
You got and you gotta, like, get with the right
people. Like, getting with theright people is such a big
thing. Yeah. Because there's somany people in this business
that are literally not the rightpeople.
Ashanti (50:44):
Yeah. I think there's more not right people than there
are right people.
Rob Sonic (50:48):
Yeah. I mean, there's there's people in this business
that are not have no they theythey do not care.
Ashanti (50:55):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (50:55):
Literally do not care about music or you as a person,
but
Ashanti (50:59):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:00):
But that's that is, you
Ashanti (51:01):
know That's a part of it.
Rob Sonic (51:02):
That's with every business, I'm sure. You know?
Ashanti (51:05):
Yeah. And then give me, before we jump off, give me
your, what's what's your one tipon tour?
Rob Sonic (51:17):
Probably take as many pictures, man.
Ashanti (51:20):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:21):
Like, I didn't take enough pictures of that shoot.
Ashanti (51:23):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (51:24):
You know? I, it's it because it it touring when you
get to if you're lucky enough tobe a part of a tour like I was,
that was large and and, youknow, good in in a lot of ways,
you tend to be in the momentmore than you are. Mhmm. And you
somehow aren't in the moment.Right.
(51:45):
You're saying because you'reonly in these cities every once
in a while for, you know, 12hours sometimes.
Ashanti (51:52):
Right.
Rob Sonic (51:53):
And, but just, you know, try and see things.
Ashanti (51:56):
Right.
Rob Sonic (51:56):
You know? Because I didn't I did I went to a few
things that I like, I was inJapan and Australia and and
places like that, and I don'thave any pictures of that shit.
Right. And I was, I was there.Like, sometimes I have to like,
yeah, I was in Japan.
Ashanti (52:14):
Right.
Rob Sonic (52:15):
I was there when people are talking about Tokyo
or something.
Ashanti (52:18):
Yeah.
Rob Sonic (52:19):
Like, yeah, I've been there. Yeah. You know? And
that's that's that's a wild it'sa it's a it's a, like, a head
game or whatever. I
Ashanti (52:28):
don't know.
Rob Sonic (52:29):
It's a head trip
Ashanti (52:30):
because Head trip.
Rob Sonic (52:31):
Yeah. Like, I don't know if like like that that
really happens. You know? So
Ashanti (52:37):
it's wild. I'm going through that myself sometimes.
With that with that said, I'm aget you up out of here, man. Let
you let you have the rest ofyour day. We should talk soon,
though.
Actually, I'll just hit you up,and we'll talk soon. Just
because I'm I just wanna catchup in general and just, like,
see see what's going
Rob Sonic (52:55):
on. Of course. But I
Ashanti (52:56):
really appreciate you being on the show, bro.
Rob Sonic (52:58):
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for having me, man.
It's been good.
Ashanti (53:00):
You're in that first slate of people. You're in good,
like, good group of people. So
Rob Sonic (53:04):
That's what's up, man. I hope I hope I didn't
ramble too much.
Ashanti (53:07):
No, man. That's we're here to we're here to talk.
That's what we're here to do.
Rob Sonic (53:12):
Hell yeah.
Ashanti (53:12):
Work. Alright. We'll talk to you soon, my guy.
Rob Sonic (53:14):
Alright, brother.
Ashanti (53:15):
Alright, man. Yep. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to the
loadout. This episode wasproduced by me with music by the
incredible Mike and additionalediting and mixing also by Mike.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, don't forget to
subscribe and rate the podcast.Follow me at probably Ashanti on
all platforms. Until next time,keep buying those tickets.
(53:36):
Peace.
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