MC Spotlight: Jonathan Velazquez

I had the opportunity to interview Johnny Velazquez (aka Professor K), a 17 year old MC from Atlanta, Georgia. Johnny talks about the origins of his style and his experience performing.

Used with permission (c) 2012 Tyler Mitchell

When did you first start MC-ing and what got you interested in it?

JV: Well, I started trying out spoken word in 9th grade, but what really got me hooked on Hip-Hop was the Blue Scholars' "Hi-808" video. I remember seeing it and thinking, "I want to make music more like this." So eventually, in 11th grade I think, I tried my hand at a song. I thought it was the shit at the time, but looking back on it, it was completely horrible. [laughs]

What artists influence you?

JV: Definitely Blue Scholars, but newer age artists such as Hoodie Allen and Chiddy Bang have had a pretty big impact on me.

Describe your sound, your style of rap.

JV: That's tough. I consider it Alternative Hip-hop. It's usually a little more upbeat but it changes with each song. If I had to compare it to something, it'd probably be a Ditto (the Pokemon). I rap about how I'm feeling, certain topics that spark my interest, I even have a song that just follows the course of one day for me. It's all different. My whole philosophy around music is that it should make people feel good, so that's what I try to do. Just making the flow match the words so it can translate as "fun,"

whatever it is I talk about.

 Take us, step by step, through your creative process.

JV: Well first I smoke a whole bunch of crack. [laughs] Nah, seriously though. I just need to be inspired. I'll get a beat that just makes me say, "I need to get on that," and then I just start test running different flows over it.

Used with permission (c) 2012 Jonathan Velazquez

And how do you know when you've found the right flow?

JV: That's a good question. You just kinda know when the sounds are matching up. Its like hitting those little arrows in Dance Dance Revolution. You just feel things clicking. Once I get the flow and words on point, I go through the whole song repeatedly until I either deem it worthy or I lose my voice. [laughs] No, but its a lot of trial and error sometimes until everything works and you know "this works."

Talk a little bit about your experience performing.

JV: Well the first time I performed was last year and all I remember was being nervous as hell. People really felt it though and that kinda got me pumped. I ended up using a video of that performance to submit to some contest for 105.7 to open for Flo-Rida and Lil John. I won, but unfortunately couldn't perform because I was still under 18. [laughs] That sucked but it was a cool experience. Since then I've performed at a few festivals, showcases, and school events. It's hard to find gigs as an up and coming artist but I'm always excited when I see a new crowd of faces, however often that is.

Why is what you do important? What does Hip-Hop mean to you?

JV: Hip-hop is not only my form of self expression, it's my connection with the rest of the world. I'm trying to give people something they can relate to and something that can make them feel good. I need to do for others what music has done for me throughout my life. I guess that's why what I do is so important to me.

Thanks for sitting down with me! Any final thoughts?

JV: Nah dude, thanks for having me. I'll be coming out with some pretty cool stuff soon so stay tuned.

If you want to hear more from Johnny, follow him on Twitter @NerdyJohnny. Have a listen to one of his songs, "Paint Brushes" (posted with permission from Johnny).