A Night Out with Rahzel the Godfather of Noize

The well lit skyline of the City of Lost Angels sparkles behind Mr. Julio G, as he hosts his nightly "Nine O'Clock Bomb" session. The former student of Eazy, Julio has become one of the coolest cats in urban radio, playing with a fly old school yo yo during the breaks and sending his love on and off air to his daughter, listening to daddy work.

Across the boards from him sits the Godfather of Noize, the human sound machine who has dazzled crowds and listeners internationally, who came from the obscure origins of the Vibe Khameleons with underground heroine Sha-Key to national recognition with the Illadelph dynamite we call the Roots. Referring to himself as a mix between Bobby McFerrin, Police Academy's Michael Winslow, Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markie, Rahzel is now pushed farther into the spotlight by appearances on MTV's Hip Hop Week and on air promos.

As Julio provided the background music (and, admittedly, some of the questions), Rahzel related how he struggles with his home life (his son asking for proof, so he can show the kids at school his daddy's a rap star), the rigors of travelling (being a beat box artists saves tons on instruments, but after days and days of demanding, on-the-spot performances, it can make a brother long for a lozenge), and the struggle of being a quality musician in an age of glitter and plated gold. Rap Pages followed Rahzel as he hit some salient points on his ever expanding life.

HT: Your sound and face is getting even more popular after work you did with MTV. How did that happen?

RAHZEL: Some friends of mine from Philly, from this alternative group called 3-7000-9, we were in New York. I'm like, "I wanna go home." They're like "come with us to this birthday party. Be a lot of people there, you can probably network or whatever." I'd just come off tour, I was like "I'm really, really tired. I'm beat, I really need to go home." They were like, "just come for a little while." I'm like "aight, cool."