Haji Springer
Interview by Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol 14 #2
I’ve been hearing that you are one of the hot up and coming Hyphy artists in the Bay.
I think the Hyphy movement is great, but the Bay is capable of way more than just Hyphy. Take Haji for an example. I’m the hyphyest, plus I’m international. I’m Indian and I got world music. People that don’t even listen to Rap music like to listen to my music. Ever since they heard Haji they like to listen to the Hyphy music. I bring world music into my shit. All my songs are not Hyphy. But when it’s time to get Hyph
y I go real stupid.You’re Indian, but you live in the Bay now and you’re considered to be a Bay Artist. For a long time the Bay had the Mobb music and it was dominating the music scene. With Hyphy many new doors have opened.
It’s an open door. Anybody can step into the Hyphy store right now. Now even the Mobb artists are doing Hyphy shit. Everybody is doin all kinds of stuff. Like E-40 wasn’t doin Hyphy back then, but he’s doin Hyphy now. You gotta be versatile with your game. Take C-Bo, he’s a very big Gangsta rapper. You might not catch C-Bo too much on the Hyphy movement, but he might have one track on the whole album that’s Hyphy. The Gangstaz can still keep it Gangsta and get on a Hyphy track. You don’t gotta be all dumb and stupid.
You can create your own Hyphy style. You can take your influence from World music and bring it into Hyphy.
Right. And I’m with Thizz Entertainment. Thizz is full of gangstaz and pimps and hustlers. I’m a hustler myself, that’s where I fall in at.
What part of the Bay are you from?
I was raised in the East Bay all over. I mainly grew up in San Leandro.
When did your parents come to America?
They came in the middle of the seventies. I was born in ’81. My dad’s from Poona, and my mom’s from Gujrat.
For an Indian person to be part of the Rap scene, it wasn’t really possible a few years ago.
I think I’ve opened the doors for a whole lotta Indians. I think a lot of Indians look up to me right now because there has not been any other Indian rapper that I know of in the USA that has come this strong. I’ve done like 120 shows in the last 2 years. I featured on 50 major projects that are out right now.
It’s good that you’ve kept your Indian identity. You’re not trying to hide the fact that you’re Indian.
My slogan is “Haji Springer the Indian Rap Singer”. I keep it real and I’m accepted in all the hoods. I’m signed to the biggest label in the Bay, Thizz Entertainment. Mac Dre even gave me the blessings. And J. Diggs got my back. He pulled me in, man. He brought me into Thizz Entertainment and said, “Go ahead. It’s all you. Let’s see what you can do.” Next thing you know, I’m on “Trill TV 2”, I’m on 6 Yukmouth albums that just came out. I’m on J. Digg’s album. I’m on about 50 big mixtapes in the Bay Area. I’m everywhere now.
How long have you been rapping? And how did you get into doing this?
I’ve been rappin since I was 15. I was always freestyling. I used to be a good poet. A couple of my buddies used to rap around me, which inspired me to start rappin. I would listen to a lot of Snoop back then. I grew up on Snoop, Eazy E, and that hardcore Bay Area Rap music. Spice 1, C-Bo, E-40, Killa Tay, all that good shit. I’m surprised I’ve never been in Murder Dog before. I hate to say it myself, but I’m one of the biggest rappers in the Bay Area right now. Not too many rappers are getting attention like me. I have a big movement. You know I have a taxi?
I heard about that.
It’s a nice car, a luxury car, and I wrapped it up. It looks like a taxi, it says “Haji’s Taxi”. It’s got the Mac Dre logo all over it. The shit is crazy. The fans love it. I’m doin my thing. I call myself the 7-11 Rapper. When I rap I throw in the accent like I’m straight from India. I got a song with Mistah FAB and Turf Talk, it’s called “Thizzin” and I kill ‘em on that song! I play with my words. And I have a new video and my CD is comin out on April 17th. It’s gonna be very big.
How did you connect with J. Diggs and Thizz?
I was young. This was in 2002, I was workin on music, recording and doin a whole lotta good things. I was recording with Bambino in LA, he’s a big producer. I had some different music, so my sound was different. I went to LA to record so my sound was like that super Dr. Dre sound. People out here was respectin me, I had a lotta street cred. Then I met J. Diggs one day, he came and did a song with me, and he brought me into Thizz. He took the song and put it on his album. Ever since then we just been rockin. I opened up a lotta shows for Mac Dre before he passed away. Diggs put me in.
You seem to be doing a lot. The doors are open for you.
The doors are open, I’m doing shows every weekend. I did hundreds of verses for people and I get money for this shit. I got a single that’s the biggest buzz in the streets right now. It’s called “Hello Buddy”. That’s the new song with me, Keak Da Sneak and San Quinn. I’m workin with a lotta songs with Keak right now. I’m workin with Yukmouth. I was on the Mistah FAB mixtape that was hosted by Funkmaster Flex and 50 Cent. I was the only other artist besides FAB on that mixtape. I did all that I don’t even have an album out.
How old are you?
I’m 25 and I’m just getting started. My flow is very on point. My delivery is a million bucks, man. I’m in pocket.
I’ve been told that you are one artist that’s really doing Hyphy to the max. Is that true?
I don’t know if I’m doin it to the max. I gotta give that Hyphy crown to Keak Da Sneak. I wouldn’t say that I get the Hyphyest, but I do go very dumb. I go dumber than most rappers out here. I think so. And my performance is an extravaganza. I have a famous dance that everybody knows. It’s the Haji dance. Everybody when they see me are like, “Do the Haji dance!” They go crazy.
The music you do is all up-tempo?
It’s everything in there. You might find a couple of serious tracks to blend in with the fast crazy shit. The album is equally balanced out. But you’re gonna find a lotta Hyphy in the album.
It seems like the Hyphy movement opened the door for a lot of people, like you.
It helped a lot of people. But before the Hyphy movement I was already on my way. I was on my way. My album was supposed to be out in 2005. I just slowed my process down.
Why did you hold the release date back?
Because I was waiting for the buzz to get bigger and I wanted the anticipation. Now they’re begging me. I got fans runnin up, “I’ll give you 50 dollars, just sell me a CD!”
You record is all done and ready to release? You feel it’s going to be a big record this year?
It’s gonna be the most entertaining album of the year, guaranteed. April 17 it will be out and it’s got a free DVD. It shows the whole Haji lifestyle. Everything from A to Z that has to do with Haji, it’s on there.
