Interview conducted by Hugo Lunny
MVRemix: For those that are now hearing about you for the first time, tell us about yourself.
Choklate: I’m a left handed, Aquarian, big ol’ kid. The baby of seven folks and hate it when people call me things like Superstar… Just hate it. What else? I love the city I’m from and I have a degree in graphic design, nursing and office automation; and to this day can’t remember a lick of what I learned. That’s about it really. Well there’s more but you know… we’ll just start with that.
MVRemix: As a songwriter, who has influenced you?
Choklate: Marvin Gaye, Willie Hutch, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, Eric Roberson, Dwele, Maxwell etc. etc. Shoot, there are tons of writers that have inspired me. Tons.
MVRemix: How did you first get into singing? Who was your biggest personal influence?
Choklate: My biggest personal influence honestly is probably my big brother Mike D. I’ve just watched him be a complete boss out here in the game and I try to be like him in my business at least. Big shoes to fill but I like the way he gets down and I’ve learned a lot from him. He probably doesn’t even know it though. I’ll have to be sure and tell ‘em. He was the first person to ever let me get in the booth and my nephew Kuddie was the first person to ever let me ruin a beat, and I’m pretty sure I ruined it. It started by me jokin’ that they should let me “get in the booth” and one day after about two years of crackin’ that joke and a pretty serious accident they said, “Get in the booth and rap about that.” I did and I’ve been doin music every since…
MVRemix: How does living in Seattle shape your attitude towards music, art and culture in general?
Choklate: I don’t really know. I feel like I’m a bit removed from the industry so maybe that’s my attitude toward it. To me it doesn’t really exist when I’m home. This is home. So I connect to the game via this computer but when it’s off, I’m just home. My attitude toward music specifically though is that it’s my love and I could give a good hot damn if anyone thought differently.
This city is a very artsy city. There is art, photography, music, film, poetry etc. et.c darn near wherever you go. Literally. My culture is a big gloopy glop of a little bit of this and that here in Seattle… it’s a big mashed potato of all sorts of things. The culture of Seattle is that you do what you do and find folks that do the same things and make life happen day after day. If that makes any sense and if you wanna switch teams at any given point, you can. And no one will trip. They may look at you sideways but they won’t trip. Our culture is very live and let live. If that’s even an applicable description.
MVRemix: How did the name “Choklate” come to be?
Choklate: Back in the day my nephew was producing for this rap group and one of the guys referred to me as Choklate Angel in the song. I hated it cause I was quite the tomboy at the time. Well, I got them to drop the Angel thing but that darned Choklate name stuck… like ‘ol sap to the side of a tree.
MVRemix: Do you feel mis-spelled monikers are still as trendy as they once were?
Choklate: I’m a product of the hip hop generation and spelling things correctly has always seemed like a faux pas. And my first name starts with a K so it’s kind of a way to keep me in the stage name. ‘Cause at first I hated that name. Can you imagine tellin some respectable young man’s mother that your name is Choklate cause that’s what he knows you as? Sheesh, embarassing for real. well not anymore cause I’ve just gotten over it. No use in crying over spilt milk but at first it was the pits. I never even thought of it as a trend though and I don’t know… are they?
MVRemix: What separates you from other singers? Why should I opt to listen to your music above others?
Choklate: I think what may separate me from other singers is I don’t really have a great musical point of reference. My moms never let me listen to “worldly” music growin’ up and only gospel was allowed in my crib at the time. Because of that, I rebelled and didn’t listen to anything, so I don’t have those “growin’ up dancin in front of mom’s and dads friends” experiences or mom “jammin the oldies but goodies on Saturday mornin while she cleaned or drove down the freeway,” or the “hated when they played that old music!” memories. ‘Cause real talk, there wasn’t a lot of music in my life till my junior highschool years… and then hip hop was already on the scene. So I missed Frankie Beverly and Marvin Gaye and Stevie and Brick House and Chaka and Mary Jane Girls etc. and all that great music until later in life.
MVRemix: Tell me about what you’re currently working on musically.
Choklate: A really interesting R&B mixtape that’s going to be like no one in the mixtape game has ever done or heard with Vitamin D and the follow up to the last record, simultaneously.
MVRemix: Have fun with this one, a la “Fight Club” - “If you could fight any celebrity, who would you fight”?
Choklate: Rainbow Bright.
MVRemix: Who would win?
Choklate: Me!
MVRemix: Do you have any non musical aspirations?
Choklate: Yeah, I wanna get better at my Spanish. I’d like to take a real vacation.
MVRemix: What was the last book you read?
Choklate: “Wouldn’t Take Nothin For My Journey Now” by Maya Angelou. It was actually a really easy read. She’s a tough author to read to me but this book was plain old straight talk for the most part and I dug it.
MVRemix: In a sentence or less, what do you do to relax?
Choklate: Hike. Horseback ride. Read. Walk. Road trips to the Ocean etc.
MVRemix: Finish this sentence: ‘In a perfect world…’
Choklate: There’d be no need for the phrase, “In a perfect world…”
MVRemix: What next do we have to look forward to from you?
Choklate: A bunch of craziness if I can help it. Nah, I’m just going to live my life and keep makin music about it and hopefully it’s interesting and weird enough or dope enough and people keep diggin it.
MVRemix: Any last words?
Choklate: I appreciate being able to live this life. I appreciate being able to make music and I hope you all continue to dig the things that you hear and see. Check out my Myspace too.
