By Nicholas Jason Lopez
On Apr. 24, 2020, St. Louis-based hip-hop artist Frodo The Ghost released his first official album ‘Crazy Not Crazy’ and has kept busy while in quarantine with the creation of two music videos.
Usually highly regarded for his stage presence and charismatic personality, The Music Bugle had the chance to talk with him about his career thus far and more.
Music Bugle – What was it like making your album ‘Crazy Not Crazy’?
Frodo The Ghost – It was fun, but it was also long and tedious. There was quite a bit put into the project itself on the grounds of making it sound as perfect as possible. Made sure I was sure of how it sounded and what I was writing, although at the end of the day, I never stop thinking I can do better or else I will stop improving.
Music Bugle – How have you been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Frodo The Ghost – Well, within this time period of quarantine, I released my ‘Crazy Not Crazy’ album along with two music videos for songs on the project. I’m just glad I had content to release while everyone was confined to their jobs or homes. Aside from that, it has held off any live show plans I’ve really had for 2020 in general. Really not good for any performing arts in general and I anxiously await the day I can step on stage to rock for the people again.
Music Bugle – What excites you the most about Hip-Hop?
Frodo The Ghost – Hip-hop as a whole excites me. The feeling of my words as they leave my tongue when I rap, holding the mic in my hand on a stage with a crowd in front of me, the work in the booth when I’m recording my long, thought-out lyrics, plus all the awesome people I’ve met through hip-hop.
Music Bugle – What was your most memorable moment while onstage?
Frodo The Ghost – I have a list of memorable moments on stage, but one in particular was in Gallup, New Mexico at a place called Juggernauts. The place is a music store and venue – myself and my other friends I’ve traveled there with have always had a good time there. The moment onstage happened at my last song in my performance that night. It’s a heavier song I called “Inferno Cage,” which can be found on my SoundCloud page. The song is different when I perform it compared to what I’ve released for it. Since it’s a heavier song, I told the crowd to start a mosh pit and they moshed the whole song, so much, in fact, that two separate fights on opposite sides of the room broke out and the main lights in the building came on. I knelt on the speaker in front of the stage and just took in the moment. Order was restored very quickly.
Music Bugle – How would you describe St. Louis to someone who has never been there before?
Frodo The Ghost – I would describe St. Louis as somewhere that strives to have a little something for everybody. Though it can get a little crazy, all in all, the people of STL love STL.
Music Bugle – What was the hardest song for you to write?
Frodo The Ghost – This is actually a tough question. I’ve had different hills to climb when it came to writing every song I’ve wrote. It’s all about climbing those hills. All in all, I’d say “Shade” off of ‘Crazy Not Crazy’ took a whole lot of time, effort and decision. Started off using one beat, then Mixx, FTI Army’s engineer/producer/videographer aka The Film Legends, made a new beat around my lyrics, then we rerecorded it to make it sound smoother. Within that process, I rewrote the song a few times ’til we came to the final product, which is out now with a music video for it as well.
Music Bugle – If you had the chance to chat one-on-one with one of your musical influences, who would it be?
Frodo The Ghost – That’s a really tough question, because I have gotten the chance to speak with a good number of my musical influences in general, for which I am grateful and consider myself lucky. As far as ones I haven’t met that I would love the chance to speak with, one of them would be Slaine of La Coka Nostra, lately because I’ve just been feeling the music he makes and I’ve been listening to it on a daily. He inspires me greatly. The other one would be Redman, because dude is one of the greatest rappers alive hands down. You really can’t find many artists who can hold a candle to his level of skill.
Music Bugle – What do you feel is still left for you to accomplish?
Frodo The Ghost – Top of the list is tour the world and do shows outside of the U.S.. I would say it’s the biggest step forward I have my eyes on at the moment. Other than that, there is plenty more. Always love having bigger crowds at shows. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to perform in front of thousands before and I would love to make that a regular thing whenever I play a show. All in all, I’m always trying to better myself as an artist. With that said, I still don’t think the best song I’ll ever write has been written yet. At the same time, I don’t want to call my songs “the best I’ll ever write” because I feel that could limit me and would mean I truly believe I can’t improve anymore, which will never be the case. I will always have a way to improve.
Music Bugle – What’s something people should know about you as a person, away from music?
Frodo The Ghost – As a person, I’m a hard-working guy always looking to get better and better at all that I set out to do. I’m a hell of a cook, I’m also a wrestler and I have quite the nerdy side. I love anime, Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Cartoons in general. My NFL team is the Kansas City Chiefs, NHL team is the St. Louis Blues, MLB team is the St. Louis Cardinals. Don’t exactly know what more to say here.
Music Bugle – What would you say is the hardest part of “finding your groove” as a musician?
Frodo The Ghost – The hardest part for finding one’s groove as a musician is different for each one. It’s not often musicians face the exact same obstacles on their come-up as another one. Comes down to everyone has their own story and their own path to rhythm. For me, one challenge at the start was learning to rap on beat and over time, I was around the right people to really mentor me and show me the way to my rhythm. I’ve been at this for 10 years and I’m a different man on the mic than I was back in 2010 when I first stepped foot on a stage at a hip-hop show. My advice is if you really want it, keep pushing forward, but be 100 percent sure that you want it and understand the way there is never easy.
