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1Nobody’s Fan

June, 2009

s.i.n.a.Succumbing Is Not Acceptable

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(Vol. 1 - No. 1)

s.i.n.a.One cool day in Tampa, Florida, S.I.N.A. sits down with me

to discuss his moves in the music industry. He comments

on how incredibly HOT (sexy) I look but I’m no match for

this man’s “A” game as he’s rocking real hard with the red,

blues, and whites. I get a chance to learn a little bit more

about this aspiring artist and how there’s so much more to

him than meets the eye.

A r T I S T S p O T l I g H T:


D: You go by the name of S.I.N.A.

Explain what that means.

S: S.I.N.A is an acronym; it stands for

“Succumbing Is Not Acceptable”. If

you don’t fold to anything, bow down.

Basically you live your life, do what you

need to do, and don’t let anything stop

you… you’re a S.I.N.A . So when your

boss tells you you can’t do something

and you do it, you’re a S.I.N.A . When

somebody tells you you can’t do some-

thing and you do it, you’re a S.I.N.A .

D: What is the SIN City project?

S: really and truly I didn’t want to do

a mix tape. The industry is flooded with

a lot of mix tapes. Today’s mix tapes

are not really mix tapes, they’re al-

bums. Mix tapes derived from taking a

beat and being lyrical on it, not making

it your own. That’s really how the mix

tape started. My engineer, Vibe, came

Personal Stats

Home Town:

Jamaica, New York

Age:

Unknown

Favorite Snack:

Charleston Chews, Crunch-N-Munch

Shoe Size: 13

Musical Influences:

KRS-One, Trick Daddy, Rakim, LL Cool J

Favorite Movie:

Zoolander

Label:

Street Ruckus Entertainment, Independent

5Nobody’s Fan

to me and was like, “Yo…why don’t

you do a mix tape?”. I was like I’m not

really sure. I don’t know if I really want

to do that and I grew up on mix tapes.

It’s how I started really and I said you

know what, why not? So I did it and I

had a lot of fun doing it. SIN City is get-

ting a really good response.

D: From what I understand your

game is pretty tight and I hear you

have a thing for sneakers.

S: I’m from Queens man, Southside

Queens. So your sneaker game has

to be tight. It’s not only that, sneak-

ers I feel describe a lot in a man. Most

women generally when they see a man,

not to say that I do it for the women,

but the one thing a woman looks at is

a mans shoes. like my mother always

told me you can tell a lot about a man

by the way he wears his shoes. But I

just have a fetish for sneakers. Being

from NY, we do like loud colors. So I

have plenty of sneakers. I have roughly

around a little over a 100, 120 some-

where around there.

D: That’s it. Right now. Active wear?

S: Compared to some to the people

that are out now, I’m not like Jay sta-

tus or Wayne status. Those dudes have

thousands of pairs of shoes, but when

the money comes I probably will. I’m a

huge fan of shoes.

D: As an artist in this industry where

do you see yourself fitting in and do

you think you can make it different?

S: I kind of want to bring it back to

where it all came from. My team calls

me Center lane. So it’s obviously two

meanings in one. S.I.N.A has his own

lane and I don’t go right or left, I go

right down the middle. I kind of just

want to bring it back to the way Hip-

Hop was. I’m a huge Joe Budden fan,

like, I think he is one of the epiphanies

of Hip-Hop. I’m glad to see Q-Tip back

in the game again, but at the same time

I like the street stuff. I’m a huge M.O.p.

fan, that’s the streets.

Everybody is on this club shit. Yo make

a club joint, make a club joint, make

a club joint. Well who solidifies what a

club joint is? I mean we was dancing to

those songs like when Black rob made

“Whoa”. The list can go forever but at

the same time it was still street but it

was Hip-Hop. That’s how I feel that I

can change the game. I can still do a


street anthem and then turnaround and

do a song like a Souljah Boy.

D: Who are some of your musical

influences?

S: KrS-One was a huge influence of

mine, huge influence, and Trick Daddy.

And now you’re giving me the look but

let me explain the combination. KrS-

One is what I was listening to when I

was living in NY but when I moved to

Fl the Hip-Hop scene wasn’t really the

same down here, as it was up there. It

was the Uncle luke’s, 95 South’s, the 2

live Crew’s, and music like that. It was

hard for me to relate because I came

from South Queens so when Trick Dad-

dy first came out I listened to this dude

and what he was talking about. I liked

this street dude and I related to it. Ever

since then with www.thug.com, I was

a Trick fan because again he related to

what I did.

D: What makes you special, what

makes you stand out?

S: Everybody has their own path. I feel

like the music that I put out is quality;

I feel that it’s good, and I get a good

response from it. The streets are go-

ing to speak for itself. The industry is

going to tell you that this is what you

have to do, but the streets are going to

decide. So, if the people start talking

like, “Yo this dude right here, this dude

is crack”. That will make the industry

notice you and be like, “Who is that

dude?”.

D: I had the

chance to lis-

ten to some

of the songs

on your album

and like the

“What’s Your

Name”. How

were you in-

spired to write

this song?

S: “What’s Your

Name” is actu-

ally based on a

true story be-

cause I met a

young lady and

we talked for a little while and I actually

forgot to get her name. That’s like the

worst, and because it was a club situa-

tion and I didn’t want to make it a club

song. So that’s why I chose the beat

and the storyline the way that I did. But

7Nobody’s Fan

yeah we were in the club and you know

something always happens in the club

and unfortunately the club had to be

broken up and people had to leave. I

never had the chance to get her name

or number of nothing. So if you hear

“What’s Your

Name” and

you know who

you are just

holla at me….

(laughing)

D: That could

be lots of

girls….

(laughing)

S: Yeah it could

be potentially

dangerous…

(laughing), but

that’s where

“What’s Your

Name” came

from and the

ladies do love this song.

D: I understand that you have a label.

S: Street ruckus came to me from a

block party. So that’s where the name

derived from. Myself and the Vice

president/Co-Founder, Skeeta, came

up with Street ruckus Entertainment.

Basically Street ruckus is one big par-

ty but it also enables you to do and say

whatever you want to say. We don’t

want to limit you. We want the talent to

show because that’s what we’re in the

game for, the talent.

D: Name some of the artists on

your label.

S: Bread Money: He’s the Mayor of the

South. Bread has his own style that’s a

country swagger that’s just ridiculous.

Quiet Storm: is like the next Anthony

Hamilton. The dude is just talented.

There really isn’t way to explain him,

you’ve to just listen. He has his own

lane. Hollywood: he’s a flashy dude,

real swagger type but Hollywood’s got

a lot to talk about. Mag-Nif: lyrically a

beast but he’s focusing more on pro-

duction with making beats and as a

producer. That’s pretty much it for the

roster - I feel that what we have is a

force right now and we reach a lot of

people.

D: Why did you decide to create your

own label as opposed to trying to

get signed?


S: I think today’s industry wants you

to fit this certain trend or prototype,

and I don’t really fit those trends. So I

was like you know what, I’m just going

to build this on my own and if people

like what I’m doing, then it’s kind of

the whole if you build it they will come

type deal.

D: So how do you get yourself out

there without having that big Arista,

Bad Boys, Def Jam type money be-

hind you?

S: Strong team. I have people behind

me that help to distribute my stuff, as

well as, myself. A lot of people don’t

want to put in the work but you’ve got

to. I’m four hours away right now inter-

viewing with you, and anybody who’s

on my team cant sleep either. The In-

ternet is a huge thing and that’s basi-

cally going to be the future. I put copies

of my stuff in people’s hands, the DJ’s,

magazines, underground and internet

radio shows.

D: What artists do you think can do

really good shows live? Current and

maybe someone you admire.

S: Chris Brown is ridiculous; I could

never do half the shit that he does.

I saw Tribe Called Quest in concert

once and that blew my mind. I’m re-

ally, really upset that I’ve never seen

KrS-One in concert but one day. Ac-

tually, at this point I don’t even want

to go to see him… I want to be on the

stage with him!

D: As far as rapping goes, there is

only but so much you can do when

you’re speaking to the audience.

What makes your

show special?

S: I interact. When I do

a live show, I’m off the

stage and interacting

with the crowd. Usu-

ally when I do a song

for the ladies I find that

one lady and rhyme to

her and it works.

D: You don’t need 20 people behind

you on the stage when you’re on

stage rhyming?

S: I DON’T NEED NOBODY! Some-

times I’ll have a hype man, or if I’m do-

ing a song with someone, they’re on

there. But there is no need to have eight

people with mic’s if you’re the only one

rhyming. Those eight people didn’t

“A lot of people don’t want to

put in the work but you’ve

got to.”

9Nobody’s Fan

write that note pad and they weren’t in

the booth with you when you were lay-

ing your vocals.

D: If you could do collaboration with

any female artist who would it be?

S: It would have to Foxy Brown

hands down.

D: Before or after she looses

weight?…(laughing), I’m sorry…

(laughing)….Why Foxy

Brown?

S: I love Foxy Brown I

think she is so talented

it’s not even funny. I

think by far that she is

one of the hardest lyri-

cal MC’s in the game.

D: Foxy Brown, is that your

final answer?

S: That’s my final answer.

D: I’m big on the movies and I

feel that a movie says a lot about

a person. Name one of your

favorite movies.

S: I know I’m going to catch flack for

this one but I’m going to have to say

“Zoolander”. I don’t know why but that

movie drives me crazy. It’s just so stu-

pid that you just have to laugh. I’m a

big Ben Stiller fan. like if I’m having a

bad day and I just need to laugh “Zool-

ander” would have to be it.

D: What’s the album that you throw

on to make the ladies drop their

draws?

S: Charlie Wilson or Anthony Hamil-

ton. The thing is that Anthony Hamil-

ton doesn’t really strive for that, but he

knows how to make a woman feel like

a woman. Shout out to Anthony.

D: So how do you handle the groupie

love?

S: Treat them with respect. Some of my

verses, OK, if I’m pissed off or what-

ever but I’m not really big in degrading

women. I’ll tell them nah but I appre-

ciate it, I’m spoken for, or I belong to

somebody. I’m just focused on my son

and my career.

D: Would you like to tour on a bus

some day?

S: I definitely want to have the tour bus

experience. After watching the docu-

mentary “Back Stage” with Jay-Z, Ja

rule, DMX, redman, Method Man,

“A lot of people don’t want to

put in the work but you’ve

got to.”


Memphis Bleek, etc., like right then and

there I was like man… I really want to

do this. Those are memories you can’t

get back. I would also like to go to ger-

many, london, Brazil, Tokyo, Japan…

well anywhere actually. I will go any-

where in anything to get to my fans.

D: You’re trying to make moves right

now and obviously you’ve got peo-

ple who both love you and hate you

at the same time. How do you feel

about that?

S: When people try to stop you from

doing what you’re doing, that’s when

you know that you’re doing something.

I never really thought that at this stage

in the game that I’d actually have peo-

ple doing that. It’s ironic because you

hear about it and you see it with some

of the big named artists and you ex-

pect that to happen. But to be at this

stage in the game and hearing differ-

ent things… you’re like WOW. I’m just

waiting for someone to put it on wax

so that I can murder their career…until

then they’re non-existent.

I’m just

waiting for

someone to

put it on wax

so that I can

murder their

career…until

then they’re

non-existent.

To learn more about S.I.N.A. check out his MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/sincitysre


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