Curren$y has been getting high before it was cool to get high. The New Orleans rapper is releasing his second album this year. Yes, it's only May, but The Stoned Immaculate is set for release in early June, and if you think he's stopping now, you're trippin'. Tonight, Curren$y and Jet Life all-stars make a stop at the Bluebird Theater. We caught up with the NOLA rap fiend yesterday while he was on his tour bus, maxing and relaxing and watching The Godfather. We chopped it up about the new album, inspiration and why he hates the so-called "weed rap" tag.
Westword: I can't believe you're putting out your second album already this year. Where does the inspiration come from?
Curren$y: I just go with what comes to me. It's not like I sit down and structure it out. I let myself just go with what feels best with the music. We're all working, the whole crew [and the crew] is getting it in right now. It's just a hot time, you know? The biggest thing that's different about this album is my choice of producers to work with, and the features I chose for the project. That's what keeps me inspired, just working, making music for the fans.
The producers make the record most different than your other projects? Who all are you working with?
I chose producers who have a sound I can vibe with, you know what I'm saying? Pharrell and DJ Toomp, J.U.S.T.I.C.E League. There's a lot of beats I chose because they sound so different than what my albums usually sound like.
The last time I saw you in Denver, you had the stage set up like your living room because of an injury. You're back to experience that high life in Denver at the Bluebird. What will be different?
Yeah, we had the whole couch set up because that's what I was doing the whole time I was hurt: Sitting on the couch. I'm upright now, so obviously, that's the most different thing. I love how much love people show out here in Denver. They'll come smoke with you; rock in the crowd -- there's mad love for Spitta in Denver. I'm gonna give the crowd everything they give me. If they give me 100 percent, I'm going to give them 150 percent. That's how my shows are with the fans.
How many more projects are you going to be able to crank out this year?
There's no telling, really. I'm spontaneous. It's always hard to tell what I'm going to do next. After I talk to you, I don't know what I might decide to do; it just depends on the moment. That's when I make my best music, when I just let the moment take over.
Weed rap is kind of a trend these days. The discussion of smoking is so flagrant these days, even more so than five years ago.
You know, I can't speak on "weed rap," 'cause I hate that it even has a name like that. Am I high? Of course. I don't make "weed rap," just because I smoke and talk about it. I think there are some of us who make the music the right way. People like me and Wiz and a few others might be more inclined to talk about weed in our songs, but that's because it's the lifestyle that we live, not because we're trying to make it a trend. There are gangsta rap songs where they talk about weed; positive rap is nothing but talking about reading books and smoking weed. I rap about cars, too, that doesn't mean I make "automotive rap."
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