Photo courtesy of Tone Fultz
Producer and emcee Messiah of Madness is unapologetically hardcore. His music is reminiscent of early 90s artists that popularized hardcore Hip-Hop with its mix of wisdom, bravado, violence, and vulgarity. Also known as Tone Fultz, Madness is a veteran in rap with over 16 years of releases and production credits to his name.
His latest release is a 4-track EP titled “You Already Know.” The project is produced by Messiah of Madness with one track handled by Big Jerm and comes to us courtesy of Dominion Hill Records.
Messiah of Madness spoke to The Real Hip-Hop about the inspirations behind his creativity, his sons following in his footsteps, and his new EP, You Already Know.
TRHH: Why’d you title the EP You Already Know?
Messiah of Madness: Because all my people around the way expect a certain sound, they expect me to be going crazy and shit, so I just called it You Already Know. Plus, my young sons, that’s one of the phrases they always use that I picked up on.
TRHH: Do your sons listen to your music?
Messiah of Madness: You know what, I got two sons, they’re producers. I got a 28-year-old son, he does like trap type music, and I got a 17-year-old son, he does the kind of music I do. He’s nice.
TRHH: He got something out there?
Messiah of Madness: No, he got something on my Monstrosity album that came out last year. Lake of Fire – he produced that.
TRHH: On the song “Spray Time” you say, “Dirty funds tip the scales, of justice/Dead presidents corrupt us.” Explain what you mean by that rhyme.
Messiah of Madness: Well, dead presidents, people do anything for money. Anything.
TRHH: The drums on this project are hard, as well as on the Solomon Childs single that you produced, “Get on Ya Knees.” Do you start with the drums or with samples when you’re making a beat?
Messiah of Madness: It all depends. Most of the time it’s the samples, but sometimes I do start with the drums. The beat I’m working on right now I started with the drums on this one, but usually I start out with the samples first.
TRHH: What’s in your production workstation?
Messiah of Madness: MPC2500.
TRHH: Do you sample from sources other than vinyl?
Messiah of Madness: Sometimes I’ll use a CD, or I might get something online, but mostly it’s vinyl. About 80% of the time it’s vinyl. I got all kinds of records here, in the next room, and a garage full of vinyl.
TRHH: What’s your favorite genre to sample from?
Messiah of Madness: Old soul from like ‘68 to ‘74.
TRHH: You spent a lot of time away from the mic; do you prefer producing over emceeing?
Messiah of Madness: First I started out rapping and right now it’s like more production. It’s more production now, but early on I started out rapping and writing.
TRHH: So, you like them both equally?
Messiah of Madness: Yeah, yeah. Right now, I would say making beats. Making beats is what I like to do now. I write sporadically.
TRHH: Do you write to the beat or just write rhymes?
Messiah of Madness: I just write and then I go through my beats and find out which one will work with it. Every once in a while, I’ll write to a beat, like the song with Big Jerm — Crown Royal Bag, I wrote to that beat.
TRHH: “My Dick Stand on Business” is a hilarious song [laughs]. The line “I fuck white chicks in O.J. jerseys” was amazing. A song like this almost seems out of place in today’s era of politically correct rap. When you write a song like that do you have the punchlines already in mind or do they come to you as you’re writing?
Messiah of Madness: Actually, I wrote that the day before I went into the lab and it just came out like that. I wrote that probably in about 30 minutes. Funny shit just come popping up, I’m up here drinking, getting fucked up, and I did write to that beat.
TRHH: Who are your lyrical influences?
Messiah of Madness: Like early on I have to say Slick Rick, Ice-T. Because they always got the girls, fucked somebody up, and they both funny. Early on it was like them two. Of course, KRS-One, but I like Slick Rick for the words he used. Back then I didn’t know he was from Britain. Plus, both of them dudes tell stories and I like to tell stories too in my rhymes. A lot of people don’t do that no more either.
TRHH: That’s a tough skill though. There’s always an online debate of who’s the greatest storyteller in Hip-Hop. You see some of the same names, but I think a lot of the kids have no idea how good Slick Rick is.
Messiah of Madness: Nah, they don’t.
TRHH: To me he’s the best storyteller of all-time.
Messiah of Madness: I would agree with that.
TRHH: There’s a lot of great ones. I’m not disrespecting nobody — Ice-T, Ice Cube, Fresh Prince, Scarface, there’s been a few great ones.
Messiah of Madness: Ghostface was one of my favorites too.
TRHH: Ghostface is crazy! He’s one of my favorites as well. There’s so many great storytellers, but modern era? I can’t think of any.
Messiah of Madness: You know what? Me either.
TRHH: Kendrick a little bit.
Messiah of Madness: I never listened to him too much.
TRHH: Okay, check him out. He’s got some stories. I can understand how his style might not be for everybody, but he’s a storyteller. Other than that, I can’t really think of anyone. Action Bronson a little bit.
Messiah of Madness: I like him. He makes me laugh. He be saying some wild shit.
TRHH: Yeah, he’s wild. You’re in the lab right now, is a full-length album in the works?
Messiah of Madness: Yes, actually, I might have a couple of these joints on it, but I am working on something. There’s a jam with Solomon I got in the bag. I’m gonna let that loose, that’s a hard joint. He blacked out on that.
TRHH: When can fans expect to hear the full-length album?
Messiah of Madness: I say probably like around December or January. Before then, I’m going to re-release one of my old albums from 2011 called The Ordeal, and then I’m gonna drop my full-length after that.
TRHH: Who is the You Already Know EP made for?
Messiah of Madness: For the people who like that hard shit. You wanna hear that hard shit? That’s who it’s for. The real heads. Like everything I make. Everything I make gotta be hard.
Purchase: Messiah of Madness – You Already Know