Features Hip Hop Artists Erk tha Jerk: Your Average Hood Nerd
| Erk tha Jerk: Your Average Hood Nerd |
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| Wednesday, 10 June 2009 23:04 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Self-identifying as a nerd probably doesn’t gain you many points in a lot of circles. And coming from a virtually unknown, impoverished city like “It just kind of happened,” Erk explains to me as his 6 foot 3 inch frame finds comfort on the far end of the couch. His cell phone is nonchalantly placed at his side, within an arm’s length, and is consistently ignored with every vibration. Dressed simply in jeans and a hoodie, Erk is able to disguise his growing collection of body art, although the look in his eyes behind his prescription glasses reveals the duality of his personality. “Someone approached me and asked if they could manage me, “he asserts surprisingly, “and I asked why? For what?”
What Erk perceived as a hobby suddenly became a viable career option. Shortly thereafter Erk recorded his first mixtape in one day and began traveling and doing shows. “This is when it became a career,’ he adds. For the last eight years, Erk has successfully juggled being a professional musician as well as a husband and father. With a wife and three children at home, it proves difficult to “make time and still live a regular life,” admits Erk. But so far, neither has stopped him nor even slowed him down for that matter. After releasing his Hood Nerd mixtape in 2008, Erk has been in the lab creating his definition of good music. What irks Tha Jerk the most, however, is also his biggest motivation: bad music. Bad music, according to Erk, is, “music that doesn’t move you to do anything. It doesn’t motivate you or pick your brain”. Oddly enough this was Erk’s primary issue with the Bay Area‘s hyphy movement and inspired the infamous track “I’m So Dumb.” When asked about this, it became clear immediately that this is not a topic Erk enjoys discussing. He drops he head and laughs and looks me directly in the eye and asks, “Who told you that?” he goes on to say, “Hyphy is like drug money. It’s cool for awhile, but once it runs out you’re back at square one.” The “drug money” Erk is referring to is the momentary national media attention felt by a large number of Bay Area artists who fed into the hyphy movement with songs like “Go Dumb” and “Get Stupid”. But according to Erk, “the quality of the music was becoming less and less. It was hard to tell the difference between songs. To me, it was a step backward.” While Erk does not associate himself with hyphy music, he definitely reps the Bay and is receiving much love from the entire West Coast. On his upcoming album, Nerd’s Eye View, Erk has chosen to work exclusively with West Coast producers like Traxxamillion, The Trak Lords and 15 or nothin’. The album, which is still in the works, is set for a summer’s end release. Erk’s hope is that his album will compete with the majors. “People can’t deny good music,” he says, “And that’s what I’m giving you.” Erk’s latest single “Plane in the Air” features the legendary Too Short. This record alone is building great anticipation for the album. It was described in one fan’s blog as “slapping harder than anything that slaps,” and that’s saying a lot. If this record is any indication f what the album sounds like, these rappers better brace themselves. Erk’s lyrics are poignant, relatable and classic while the rasping of his voice lingers in your ears long after the record has ended. The songs itself introduces listeners to Erk’s personality with a few key lines exemplifying his pet peeves (”grown niggas wearing skinny jeans buy a bigger pair”), his self-confidence (“yep I’m fly and I don’t’ need a plane to get me there”) as well as his witty and clever sense of humor (“your chick ride shotty give me brain she a tutor, its music to my ears and she a fool on the tuba”). Erk raps not as an artist trying to make it, but one who already has. Erk is truly in tune with himself and that translate clearly into his music. “I’m laid back and comfortable just being me, “he says, “Everybody else fronts trying to be overly gangsta or way too cool.” As his career jets into the sky, Erk is planning to take the Bay area with him. “In the future I want to create a label for the Bay that’s just as good as any label anywhere in the country.” And with his versatile ability, creativity and growing business sense, we’ll just have to meet him at the top to see where he ends up. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites                  
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:59 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
