The Goldenchild | Beatmaker | Producer

How long have you been making music?
3-ish, maybe 2 ½ years now?

What’s your favorite food?
I gotta think about this one for a minute. Penne alfredo. With chicken

What’s your favorite city?
The one I’m from, obviously [laughs]. Edmonton

Who’s your favorite artist of all time?
Of all time? Oh man, this is hard. That’s a hard one. There’s so many. Y’know what, put Jedi Mind Tricks

What musical trend would you like to see end right now and never, ever come back?
Karaoke. Not like real karaoke, like rapping over your own track. Stop it. Rae Sremmurd did it at Pemby and it was horrible. YG did, too. He literally played a Kendrick track. Stop.

What’s been your favorite collaboration to take part in so far?
Well, I guess probably the J. Black Sampler Café thing we did.

Who are three artists you would you like to work with in the future?
Okay, uh, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, and, uh…you got good questions. Gotta dream big here.This is a hard choice. Let’s go with Anderson.Paak

What made you want to be a hip hop artist?
I just, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the music – and it’s something that brought me and my friends closer together. It was the first genre that really opened my eyes.

What’s the advice you’d give to somebody who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Practice what you’re good at, and keep practicing. Practice, practice, practice

How long does it take you to create a beat, on average?
It depends, but on average, an hour to three hours

What’s the hardest thing about your job?
Mixing. The mix is the hardest part, getting it to sound good. Everything else is pretty easy for me

What inspires you, in general?
honestly, everyone around me. The community. The love and peace that everyone brings. And music, in general

What’s your favorite color?
I have to say green

What other styles of music inspire you?
,Everything from punk to funk, to jazz, soul, a little bit of R&B and rock – everything, really

What are three artists you’ve got bumpin’ right now?
That’s a good one. Anderson.Paak, ScHoolboy Q, and Joey Bada$$

Are there any myths about the industry you’d like to dispel?
I haven’t been in it long enough to dispel any [smiles]

Is we finish, or is we done?
[Laughs] I don’t understand this, but I guess we done

What do you have coming up that we can all look forward to?
Coming up is the show at Union Hall with Vekked and Freshkils, and support from Cypherwild, Skratcher, and Sampler Cafe.

What, to you, is ‘Living the Dream?’
Being able to pay your bills with music, and every month. Being able to just create, and not have to worry about much else

 Any shoutouts?
[Laughs] I could shout out for days. Cypherwild, Sampler Cafe, Skratcher, and the homies

Bonus Question: With the legalization of marijuana at the helm of North American politics, what do you have to say about legalization vs. decriminalization, and the war on drugs, in general?
|I think legalization haqs obviously worked in Colorado and elsewhere, but decriminalization is more appealing to the average stoner – I mean, none of us really like government weed [laughs]. The war on drugs is a waste of time

Bonus Question #2: What is your opinion on how best to handle the recent wave of racial intolerance, violence, and injustice that has been on the rise in North America? Do you feel that as a hip hop artist, you have any responsibilities in this regard? Why or why not?
|I definitely feel that any artist has a responsibility to speak on it but HH especially because it’s an issue brought up within out culture. I think the best way to handle it is to show that we can work together. A good example are barbeques with cops in the black community. It opens up a dialogue, and breaks down a wall. We have to remember that the way we look doesn’t dictate who we are or how we act