Goddess Interviews & Reviews: Midas Welle
June 13, 2010 9 Comments
Cincinnati based rapper Midas Welle recently dropped The Wettening: Battlelion mixtape and hit up the Goddess giving me the opportunity to share the love with my readers. Bar after bar of jaw dropping satire, sensational storytelling, and subtle sex appeal, the Battlelion takes the listener on a journey into the mind of a man without borders.
“Many people dedicate their lives to finding themselves or improving themselves. As a child, you are under the impression you know everything, and you are more free. If only one could preserve their innocence in this world, I think it is possible for one to un-tap their hidden powers. People are at their most creative as children as well.”
Source: wellebeing.blogspot.com
After taking a listen to Battlelion one will be in shock to find out that Midas Welle is a 90’s baby. His style is mature, laid back and witty. Not caught up in trends or hype, there is something for everyone on the joint.
There was a few instances where the concept of the song and hook overpowered the actual lyrical content for example “The One He Auto Tuned”. Created to poke fun at auto-tune it actually comes off as irrelevant and distracting to the listener who may have been amped from previous hard hitting tracks.
My personal favorites, “The One He opened up with”, “The One He Didn’t Play On”, “The One For The Cincy Girls”, “The One for The Mind”, “The One For the Birds”, “The One That Went Nowhere”, and of course, “The One for The Freaks”.
Below is a little Q& A with my man Midas Welle:
1. Tell the G.I (Goddess Intellect) readers a bit about yourself: What city/state do you represent? What do you do? and Why do you do what you do?
I’m just a young rapper/producer with quintrillion dollar dreams from Cincinnati, Ohio. I started out as just trying to rap for respect, but now I aspire to change the game. Why I do it? I do it to show people that rap music is more than guns, drugs, bitches, cars, and clothes. I used to be into drawing and painting heavily, and I still do it, but I find through music, the message lasts a lot longer than anything you can put on a canvas. I also like writing, which is why I incorporate a lot of story telling in my lyrics.
2. Describe your current project The Wettening: Battlelion: What is the inspiration behind this project? How long did you work on it? What are some of the highlights of the The Wettening?
The Wettening is the name of an episode from an old Nickelodeon show, Invader Zim. I used that title for my mixtape series…Since it’s a series of mixtapes, I decided to hold true to myself. The first mixtape I ever listened to was Lil Wayne’s “Da Drought 3″, the double disc one, which made me respect him as an emcee…So I decided to bring the opposite of a drought, and make it wet for you. In Cincinnati, slang for drunk is “wet”, and usually when you’re drunk, you’re having a good time, and I wanted people to understand I’m an ill lyricist first, but I can also let it all hang out….You may notice every single song in the tracklist starts with “The One”. I want people to be able to refer to my mixtape songs with ease, kinda like episodes of Friends.
The tape took approximately two months to record, but I had a lot of written material from the Winter that went on the project. The highlights, I guess the whole thing really. Everybody can take a little something different from it. From the feedback I have gotten thus far, it taught one guy “how to be a man”, which I thought was kinda funny, ummm, the feature does show my comedic side as well as my serious-as-a-heart-attack-side, I converted a Rock’n'Rolla to a Hip-Hopper, some inner city cats call me genius, and apparently, some women say the raunchy songs had them “turned on”.
3. Tell me a bit about your record label, Third World Records? Is this your own label? How long have you been signed? Who are some of the other artists on this label?
Third World Records isn’t a major label, it’s just something me and my brother, Kaden, created back in 2007. We needed something serious to house our music in, and it’s looking like a mansion now. We aim to reach everybody someway or another. We believe that the whole world is a Third World Country, plus Earth is the third planet from the sun, so it ties in a little nicely. Some other artists on Third World, we got a whole stable. We have Ace Boogie(The One He Opened Up With Featuring Ace Boogie), Average Joe(The One With Average Joe), Shaun Fauste (The One With Shaun Fauste), Skeem Da General, M.O, Lady S, and all time producers like Seth Boogie, and Papa Smurf….It’s all about good music by any means to us.
4. I was very touched by the track about the young suicidal girl, “The One that went Nowhere,” . Is the story based on your personal life experience?
In a sense…it contains elements from two women I knew, but the rest is fiction and just lyricism. I’m just a storyteller, and a lot of what I put on songs, I make it up…but it’s interesting that this song sticks out to people so much. I didn’t think it would hit like that….I just tried to incorporate a lot of things people could relate to based off what goes on in this crazy world.
5. From tracks like, “The one For the Freaks” and “The one for the Cincy Girls”, its apparent you are quite the ladies man. what is your takes on relationships and being in the industry? Is it more difficult to attract a woman who likes you for you, and not what you do?
If you knew how I used to rap when I was 15 and 16, you would never expect songs like “Freaks” and “Cincy Girls” to EVER come out of my mouth. I’m not quite the most thorough of ladies men, I seem to attract a lot of women, but deep down I’m all about true love and faithful relationships. I think if you’re entering the industry, you ought to come in single, cuz groupies will maul a relationship if you choose to be unfaithful…look at Superhead and Kat Stacks…but usually when I chew the fat with a woman, I don’t ever drop the fact I make music to them from Jump Street. Cuz there are two extremes: Either they don’t care, or they wanna hop on the bandwagon. As a rapper who just makes beats and makes songs, I don’t think that’s “panty-worthy” cuz so many other cats in the city rap and all that good stuff….It seems a lot of women in my city won’t even give you the time of day if you make rap, so I don’t like to bring it up until it comes.
6. Describe MIDAS WELLE in 3 words.
Easy-going, outstanding, genius, I suppose.
7. What are your personal favorites on The Wettening?
“The One He Killed”, “The One That Went Nowhere”, “The One For The Freaks”, “The One For The Money”, “The One He Enjoyed” and “The One He Buried”….When it comes to my music, I don’t really care how it sounds, I just like to impress myself with my compound syllables and storytelling…I hope other people will feel the same way…one day…
8. What other projects are you currently working on?
I’m working on an LP called Les Miserables…pronounced the same as the play. I have a lot of Third World featured on it, a few Cincinnati emcees, and a guy from California. It’s gonna be a more serious toned version of The Wettening: Battlelion, but also a few tracks dedicated to easing up. Keep in mind, I’m actually making the beats to every song on this project. I’m trying to show the world how diverse my producing style as well as my song making abilities. I got some conscious songs, some summer-BBQ-cookout-type-material, one “club banger” which serves as a diss towards those who actually make those songs all night and day, and just some “better” material versus what’s out today.
Every LP will be accompanied by a Wettening installment. So after the hype of Battlelion and Miserables dies down, I’m going to drop The Wettening2: Man on Neptune(With beats The Neptunes produced) and Double Infinity, which is a concept LP, telling the story of a two dollar bill, and how it changes hands and whatnot.
9. How can G.I readers find you?
Two places, http://www.facebook.com/midaswelle513 and my blog, I hate that word, http://www.wellebeing.blogspot.com/. I prefer you all visit the blog, it’s kinda nifty, my music can be downloaded there, and you can get a taste of the B.S philosphies/opinions I drop on the daily…..Thanks for the interview, I feel all official.
Midas Welle… cop a listen to The Wettening: Battlelion, (click here).
Bumping The One for the Freaks…again smh,
Lifestyle
Haha, this article has a journalist feel to it. Keep in touch and stay sweet!
You know how I do???!!!
I enjoy your work, come back when you release the LP & I look fwd to working w you on future ventures.
Good Interview G.I.
The Blog. The Interviewer. The Interviewee. The Music. Engulfed in Flames.
Word.
I’M LOVIN’ IT!
I’m usually not one for reading interviews, but this one was a good read. Great questions, greats answers, and I’m going to have to check out the music. An intelligent young man, I like that. Very eloquently done on both your parts.
look at my lil homie gettin his shine and whatnot…and yay, i was on a song she liked…
I’m impressed. There are a lot of rappers out there and not a lot of real emcees or lyricist. I’m headed to the blog right now..
Great interview G.I.!!
how old are u Goddess?