Redemption Songs: Vince Hill talks about his latest album and the beast within

Like many of us, Vince Hill works a 9-5 job, putting years of schooling and experience toward bringing home the bacon. But his passion, his hustle, his grind, his starvation for good music has created an extraordinary man, steadfastly determined. And now, after seven years honing his craft and finding his voice, Hill has unleashed a 19-track effort in Redemption; a reconciliation of who he is, what he has become and where he wants to go.

Gerrard Qluiché (Motif): So why do you call this project “Redemption”?

Vince Hill: This is my comeback. I feel like I had a lot to come back and prove. I feel like a lot of artists right now are watered down and I feel like I’m the difference, so I wanted to come back and prove myself to everyone, to my family.

GQ: I like that. You’re the difference.  Is there redemption for something in particular?

VH: Mostly something within myself. I feel like I lost myself. I finally realized that being myself … is ok, that being different … you know what I’m saying?

GQ: Of course! What was the most fun or rewarding part of this project for you?

VH: Just hearing the whole project with my team, my family.  That was a dope moment! Like, I remember, when I finally finished the whole project, I had my boys come through. And I played a song, and like the room went quiet. Like the room was loud there; I didn’t even say, “Yo everybody listen to this song.” Like the room went quiet when they started hearing the song, and they were like, “Yo yo yo yo! Play that back!” And we like brought the lights down. I got chills, I was looking, probably throughout the middle of the song, at everyone’s faces and they were like so zoned out, just like feeling it! And I’m looking around and I’m like, I got the chills and I’m like “Yooo … this is gonna be crazy!”

GQ: What song was it, do you remember?

VH: I think it was “Chasing That Bag.”

GQ: Throughout the album you say that this project is about you, your life, your team. So who do you have to thank for this; is there a particular person who steps up in your life and makes you feel good about your music?

VH: Hell yeah! My girl, Evelin definitely … is everything. You know, that’s my right hand, my partner. She tells me if my songs are trash, she is the one who determined pretty much the songs I would keep. ‘Cause we would be driving down the street, I’d play a song and she’d be like, “Ehh, nah, I’m not really feeling this. You can do better.” And I would either scrap the song completely or go back in and just rework it. Some of the songs like there was no discussion, like I was gonna put it on the album, so I just would go back in and rework it.

GQ: Does your mom play a role? Cause you mention her in a few songs.

VH: Oh yeah. Her having two jobs kills me so…

GQ: So she still has two jobs now?

VH: Oh yeah. So she goes from one job, she works like, 8 to 6, and then she works the other from sometimes, like, 9 or 11 to sometimes 6am, and then be at her other job for 8.

GQ: So Mom’s tough. Well, it reflects; it all comes out in your music.

VH: Yeah, so that’s why I grind. I’m trying to grind for better.

GQ: Who inspires you, or is there anyone you want to collab with?

VH: A lot of artists. I’d love to work with Drake … seriously, Drake is fire … but definitely you have to get there, that’s a whole ‘nother level. Chris Brown, Pusha T…

GQ: Anyone local?

VH: My boy, Yung Rhoam. We already work together, but you know, that’s my dude. A.Cee from Woonsocket is nice. He’s younger, but he doesn’t make music like the younger dudes. He just dropped an album, too; it’s fire. Mr. Ocean State, King OSF, Vic Muck, Jay Deuce, Sky Jonez, Flawless Real Talk. I try to work with passionate MCs.                               

GQ: I notice in your music you don’t objectify or exclude anyone with your diction, you don’t say the n-word a lot, not even the f-word. Is this intentional?

VH: Yeah, I’m trying to make music for everybody to listen to. So, you don’t have to cuss. I think I cuss more talking regular than in my music!

GQ: So do the lyrics come first or the music?
VH: The music, the beats … I need to feel it, then everything flows out of me.

GQ: Does music come first for you in life as well?

VH: Music is my love, that’s my everything. It definitely gets hard balancing everything, but I just keep working.

GQ: So is being a rapper just your medium for contributing?

VH: It’s just the relief. Like, if I don’t make music, if I don’t get in the studio and record, I literally go crazy. I feel like a bomb ready to explode. And yo, if I don’t let it out, I explode. Yeah! So there’s times where I’m like fiending to go in the studio, cause like a beast just needs to get let out before I do something crazy! So I just go in the studio and…

GQ: So without music you would be a danger to society?

VH: Shit, maybe! Yo, a beast comes out of me and I just go in and let it out.

GQ: We get to know who through this album. You often mention a hunger you have for music. What is that about? Honestly, from my take, you are an authentic MC. No lie, no filter; all story, no fiction.

VH: Music is my therapy, my stress relief. That’s how I started making music. I was like stressed, lonely. I was in 5th grade, 12 years old, making little freestyles, putting out lots of songs just messing around, but I started taking it more seriously after high school. I just wanted to be heard at first, for people to have music to listen to, you know? But now I’ve been taking it seriously, studying more of the business aspect first, like behind-the-scenes stuff. Like how to market, how to distribute, what pays the most, how will I be heard the most, who listens, who buys hip-hop music the most. So I’m not even worried about being famous or heard in the US to be honest. I don’t really wanna be heard in the US. Like, I wanna blow up in other countries and be normal here.

GQ: Damn … that’s different! So what’s next for Vince Hill?

VH:I’m going to be shooting some music videos for songs from Redemption.  I already have about three to five in progress. This is just who I am, finding a way to be me. Being Vince and being heard heals me.