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Rhyson Hall performs "Respiration"

The lowdown: Rhyson (pronounced “Reason”) Hall isn’t your average hip-hop emcee. An African-American Studies major in his senior year at UB, he is one of the featured stars on local rap label DeepThinka Records. Having amassed a solid local following and with his single, “Still Raw,” heard on the college airwaves stateside and in Canada, Hall is set to release his debut album, The Restoration, this spring. With a wide-open style, Rhyson uses his smooth delivery to speak to audiences about his life, his art, and pretty much anything else he wants you to know. Hall is one of the opening act performers for a concert featuring the critically acclaimed hip-hop group Little Brother on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 9pm at the Icon. You can check out Hall’s new single and DeepThinka Records at www.deepthinka.com.

What inspired you to get into hip-hop? “There was a freestyle thing in the basement at [Hutchinson Central Technical] high school at the end of my junior year, and I always wrote poetry, so I figured, ‘Why not write rhymes?’ I didn’t even rap that day, but I kept on writing rhymes, and it turned into this.”

When did you seriously consider doing hip-hop for a living? “A couple of years ago in college, I decided to put out a free mixtape. I didn’t have a plan, but I wanted to see where it took me, and I definitely liked hip-hop enough to keep doing it.”

What’s your musical style like, and are there any artists that you think you sound like? “I rap about anything that goes on in my life, so I don’t keep myself in a box. I use metaphors, because I feel that sometimes people just miss the cleverness of hip-hop. I always appreciate artists like Common and Nas, who talk about what they’ve been through in life, or Jay-Z who just exudes his confidence.”

For people who may not listen to hip-hop that often, what’s going down in the Buffalo scene? “There’s always been the Baby Steps scene. Right now, the Buffalo Soldiers are having their battles once a month and it gets all the serious cats out. And, of course, there’s Deep Thinka.”

Speaking of which, tell me about your label... “They’ve been around since ’97, and I’ve been with them for the last two years. They put out free Rebel Radio compilations every spring ... Deep Thinka artists like myself, Grand Phee and Wise Mecca are in your face, but we don’t really label ourselves.”

Generally speaking, do you think of socially-conscious hip-hop as a new trend or just a phase? “I don’t think any emcee who’s labeled ‘socially conscious’ considers himself to be. I think they rap about what’s important to them. Someone who’s labeled a ‘gangster’ rapper might not really consider themselves to be a gangster.”

Which artists have you been listening to recently? What’s in your CD player? “I have MF Doom, Madvillain, Kanye’s Late Registration, I’m listening to Big L’s Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous, and I listen to a lot of people like Coltrane and Gladys Knight and the Pips. I just got the new Green Day album, but I’ve only heard a couple of tracks on there so far.”

Who are some of your other non-hip-hop influences? “I like a lot of alternative rock. When I was in fifth grade, I went on this trip to Canada, and that was when I first heard Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ and I thought, ‘Man, this is raw.’”

How do you balance school and a music career and manage to have something that resembles a social life? “School takes a blow [laughs], but it’s definitely tough. It makes you hone your time management skills. There are times when I don’t really get to chill with my friends, because I have to do work.”

As a Buffalo native, can you pick the best wings in Buffalo? “I have to say my Aunt Darlene, but if I had to pick a restaurant, I’d say La Nova’s. I always get the medium joints, because I don’t like them too hot.”