Interview

Premiere: Muzique Magazine Exclusive Interview With Rapper “Serg Litty”

How did you come by your stage name?

I’ve gone through so many stage names over the years. I used to call myself “Skylit” years ago because I liked smoking, but it didn’t really have a ring to it, and it would be constantly mispronounced. Fast forward to the present day, I’ve had a lot of growth and maturity in my life and decided to make a name change to “Serg Litty” which is a blend between my first name Sergio and Skylit, and there you have it, Serg Litty.

When did you discover your love for your craft and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in it?

I used to go down the rabbit hole in the early days of YouTube and I came across SMACK DVD out in New York that would showcase battle rappers like Jae Millz, Murda Mook, and others. I was absolutely blown away by the bars and lyricism. That was the first real exposure that triggered a passion for me.

I started looking for battle rap forums online, like text battles and learned people were doing audio battles, where they would write and record diss tracks to each other. That’s when I fell in love with the craft and the level of creativity people had with their delivery and writing.

The rest was history, I knew this was something I wanted to pursue and over the years my perspective has been more refined along with the goals I have for a real music career.

I’ve been blessed to have friends in my inner circle that had the same passion for hip hop specifically the art form which always stuck with me and kept me focused on elevating my craft.

To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?

This is such a great question, but a loaded one at that. I’ve been exposed to so many great artists including personal friends who are artists themselves in San Jose, CA. I listened to everything from 2Pac, Big, Eminem, Wu-Tang downtime artists that are more underground, like Vinnie Paz, Jedi Mind Tricks, RA The Rugged Man, the reality is the list is endless and extremely broad.

I’ve been influenced by so many styles. However, moving to Atlanta, GA really exposed me to the trap style and sound that I fell in love with. I absolutely love trap beats and the new type of flow patterns that are coming out, which is something new to me.

I’m trying to encompass the trap style, with my own Serg Litty spin on it that is focused on my roots, which is the Bay Area.

On your current project, how did you come up with the concept?

I’ve been working very closely with a personal friend of mine, Josh Ruiz who goes by Spawntain The Illavator, who is executive producing the entire project which we are calling Shark Tales. However, we aren’t fully committed to the name yet.

This project is really about my story coming up out of San Jose, CA, and the chip on my shoulder that I carry as a driving factor to reach a level of success that most don’t achieve.

We call San Jose, the tank, Shark city because it is the home for the San Jose Sharks NHL team. The intent of the project is to showcase my new style while incorporating trap elements merged with staying true to my Bay Area roots.

Exclusive interview with San Jose Born and Raised Rapper Serg Litty

What are some of your greatest challenges, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?

Being an independent artist is challenging in itself especially when you don’t have a team to drive and manage the marketing elements. I feel my greatest challenge is finding myself lost in the weeds when it comes to the administrative and marketing tasks to push the music instead of focusing on creating solely. However, over time, we will scale the team to help automate tasks to ensure Spawn and myself, can focus on what we love to do, which is creating.

My greatest attribute is my ability to literally sacrifice everything to achieve a goal. I carry a large chip on my shoulder to prove people wrong, given the layers involved in my past. I’ve learned to love the process and not the finish line. You need to learn to love eating dirt, and I embrace that concept to the core of who I am.

Are you the best at what you do in your opinion?

Can you really say someone is the best in an art form that is totally driven off of your creative vision? If you’re looking at it from a technical perspective in one’s ability to be a lyricist then you can measure someone’s ability, however, isn’t the overall message to make the listener feel what they are feeling? I feel I am the best at what I do to the people that listen to me. That’s all that matters.

What are your plans for the near future?

My plans are to continue creating and building my vault with a heavy focus on marketing to build a larger fan base. This isn’t a sprint. My whole strategy is to crawl, walk, run. Spawn and I will continue to finish the Shark Tales EP while consistently releasing singles. From there we will be looking to do some features along with building our reach to the scale-out fan base.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?

The only shout outs I have are for the haters who constantly pray on your downfall which puts a larger chip on my shoulder to prove you wrong.

And then, of course my boys who continue to support me:

Josh Ruiz – Spawntain The Illavator

Jwon

Jmac

Sleep

Michael

Vicious

Louie

Descen

And everyone else from the Money EveryDay team.

How can fans find you?

Fans can find me on any of my social media platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serglitty

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/serglitty

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6fSsibk5ilUHSVQuLvr85D?si=Rb08grKJSHOaTG9xz9eBzw

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/serg-litty/1493020181

Email: serglitty@gmail.com

And on any other social media platform @serglitty

What suggestions do you have for other artist like yourself?

Keep grinding! Never slow down, focus on your marketing, and building a consistent release schedule to build your fan base. This game isn’t a sprint.

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Interview

Fabolous Claps Back at Hazel-E Over Controversial Health Claim

After reality TV sensation Hazel-E made a bombshell statement during her recent Unwine With Tasha K interview, Fabolous ended up at the heart of controversy after she said one of his exes down in Houston died from cervical cancer caused by an undiagnosed STI. That conversation, which was quickly shared on Instagram via a widely circulated clip, was widely criticized. Some people called out Hazel-E for being insensitive and speaking on the private medical history of a deceased woman, while others questioned the legitimacy of her statement as a whole.

In either case, the online chatter was quick and heated. However, Hazel-E doubled down later in the comments, trying to redirect the focus to women’s health awareness. “Allegedly is what I heard from a veryyyyyyyy reliable source… bv, hpv… tomatoes tomatoes,” she wrote, downplaying the backlash while saying her real goal was to bring attention to important topics of women’s health. It was damage already done, and it’s safe to say Fabolous wasn’t here for that. While he hasn’t penned an epic screed about the situation, sources close to the rapper tell us that he is furious behind the scenes, saying that Hazel-E really crossed a line, including someone close to him, especially under such uncertain and intimate circumstances.

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The situation gets at a bigger conversation happening in hip-hop. Hazel-E’s effort to turn the whole thing into some PSA may have been well-motivated, but going after someone connected to Fabolous with serious health allegations finds the balance between social media’s fodder for consumption and clout chasing, and now, a conversation about respect and consent in the digital age. Although Fabolous hasn’t clapped back with the same volume as the rumor, his lack of commentary is just as loud. In an era when everyone’s business is but a click away, this latest scrap is a reminder that in hip-hop, even the touchiest of subjects are often best broached or left untouched with a little more delicacy and a lot less guesswork.

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Interview

Corey Holcomb Ignites Controversy with Claims About Will Smith’s Sexuality on “Funky Friday”

Will Smith is riding high off the release of his new album, Based On A True Story, but instead of fans discussing his music, comedian Corey Holcomb has turned the attention on himself again with a very personal and controversial allegation. When Holcomb popped on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday YouTube show a while back, he didn’t pull any punches. In the middle of a conversation about celebrity polyamory and open relationships, topics that get linked to Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Holcomb went even further, claiming Will Smith is in the closet.

“But Will is gay,” Holcomb said bluntly, leading Newton to ask whether he had any proof. Not with proof but with casserole, “I live in L.A. Does that make sense to you? I live in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of opportunities I don’t get because the guys don’t want me to be in public with their boyfriends.” I’ve suffered from that. It’s like, everyone already knows anyway.” The exchange was casual in tone but had weighty implications. Holcomb’s comments, which are not substantiated, are rooted in hearsay and subjective opinion. However, they come at a moment when speculation about Will and Jada’s unusual marriage is still trending in public. It’s a step that straddles the line between audacious opinion and invasive rumor and raises questions about the ethics of speculating on someone’s sexuality without permission.

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With Based On A True Story being a creative comeback for Smith, the re-emergence of these kinds of headlines is somewhat déjà vu for the artist, whose personal life has long been tabloid fodder. And while Will has been open about love, fame, and even his mistakes in his memoir, the relentless mining of his identity, especially in such suggestive terms, continues to eclipse his artistry. To Holcomb, the comments seemed to express annoyance with Hollywood gatekeeping above all. But during a time in which queer identity is still a deeply personal journey, flinging allegations around without explicit context is hurtful. And though Corey Holcomb might feel like “everybody knows anyway,” we’re reminded here that there’s a difference between transparency and intrusion. In this case, the latter might have spoken louder than the actual joke.

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