For those whom have complained that Hip-Hop has passed the torch without a flame, hold that thought. In his newly released CD Entitled “Da Wizzard of Barz” Da Wizzard has come and provided to Hip-Hop what The Wizard provided in OZ a brain, heart, and the courage to put a genre of music that has jumped off track back in perspective.   Glory International Magazine is proud to bring to you an Exclusive Interview with Da Wizzard himself.   Click To Listen to Da Wizzard of Barz's Album

Q.) Greetings, first of all let me start by saying thank you for flying all the way to the West Coast to hang out with us to conduct this interview, we appreciate it.   A.) My Pleasure   Q.) Tell us who is Da Wizzard and where are you from?   A.) My Birth name is Jermaine Evans and I am from Baltimore, Maryland (USA)   Q.) In your style of music you can detect a little New York influence along the lines of artist such as; Jay Z, Talib Kweli, Nas and AZ to name a few where would you say your influences come from?   A.) I’m influenced pretty much by the majority of artist you have named and then some. As far as my style my influences come from the way I was living and where I’m from.

Q.) Not to put my age on paper but you have an old school sample from Special Ed’s “I Got It Made” which was quite popular back in the day when Hip-Hop contained fun lyrics, meaning no toting 9’s and claiming sets, what attracted you to that particular track?   A.) When I was younger that use to be one of my favorite cuts. That was the first song I ever knew by heart, so I definitely had to put that on my album.

Q.) Speaking of your album, it contains 11 tracks and is very family friendly meaning children from 2 to 20 can enjoy listen to it track by track without hearing explicit lyrics. Was that by design?   A.) Yes, most definitely I don’t think I have to curse or use explicit lyrics to get my point across. Being an artist all ages hear your music and although we don’t intentionally set out to be role models sometimes it ends up that way. You have to be conscious of the roles that we portray because your actions weigh heavily on the influence of children that are growing under us. I try to make music all ages can enjoy from kids to elders. Which is what makes my style different from others today.

Q.) I must admit I am quite impressed with your album and would love to see you perform. Do you have any tour dates lined up?   A.) I haven’t committed to a tour schedule yet but I will most definitely keep you posted. I am in the process of planning a tour schedule this summer with a couple of artist so we will see how that goes.   Q.) As you know are publication is International, would you be interested in performing with artist in London, Canada or taking it back to your roots in Africa?   A.) Yes, definitely that would be an honor.

Q.) Anyone who knows my style of Q & A knows that I don’t like to pry into one’s personal life, so for the ladies out there who still want to know your hmmm…stats I’ll pose this question. When you are not busy with your music, what does the Da Wizzard enjoy doing?   A.) Getting piece of mind chilling, doing a lot of reading relaxing with family and every free minute being an attentive father to my daughter Trinity.   Q.) You have been done here in Los Angeles, California, La La Land as you have called it for a couple of days now, how have you enjoyed your stay?   A.) I love it. It’s prosperous. Just the atmosphere itself from where I am from. The air is cleaner, the people are friendlier and there are more opportunities for an artist to grow at a much faster pace. Baltimore is home but it is so small sometimes you have to leave to clear your head and stay focused. You have to do what you can to not get caught up in your environment. When it’s time to take care of business I come back and its still all love as if I never left.

Q.) As an unsigned artist seeing that you have basically done all the work that a major record label would have had to invest in you from production, engineering to packaging and CD layout, it may be difficult to find a label that is willing to pay you for the many hats you wear as an artist first, producer, song writer the complete package how do you intend on getting that task accomplished?   A.) I know it won’t be easy and that’s what I am working on now. Hopefully when I present my album to a major label they will give me a fair chance as far as promotions seeing that’s what it’s all about.  There have been a lot of very talented artist that have made good CD’s that sat on the shelf due to lack of promotions.

Q.) With Hip-Hop passing through at least 4 generations already in which we have had our:   Hip-Hop Classics-Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Big Daddy Kane Old School-LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, N.W.A. Modern Day-Tupac, Notorious BIG, Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Scarface Tomorrow-Kanye West, 50-Cent, TI, Crunk Music-Lil (John, Scrappy, Flip) and now Da Wizzard   How do you intend on not becoming a casualty of Hip-Hop and having yourself listed amongst those that have made Hip-Hop History?   A.) By me being a mixture of all those generations I know I won’t have a problem with being a 1 hit wonder. I have flavor for days and there is no expiration date on my lyrics, so I am comfortable knowing that I will partake in that chapter of Hip-Hop History.

Q.) Where do you see Da Wizzard in 5-10 years from now?   A.)  Somewhere chilling taking care of my family, comfortable not working for anybody else.   Q.) Still doing your music of course?   A.) Yes, of course   Q.) Just from general conversation you have a great deal of respect for family, how important is family to you?   A.)  Family always comes first. I owe a great deal to my family for holding me down. Thanks goes out to my grandfather and father for supporting me on my artistic projects and just giving me a clear path to follow in terms of being a man. I credit my late grandmother (RIP) and mother for providing me with a mold of what a woman’s worth is which has made it easier for me on a personal level. They say it takes a village to raise a child and collectively that’s been my village.

Q.) If you could send a message to the world, what would you want them to know about Da Wizzard?   A.) Time is of an essence and there is no time better than the present one at hand. It is what it is with me. This is me 24/7 365 days a year, no Clark Kent in the closet straight me. “So Real”   Q.) Well on behalf of Glory International Magazine we would like to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be one of the first of many to come to interview you and we look forward to much success and prosperity in the future.   A. ) I too would like to thank Glory International Magazine for allowing me the opportunity to share this project I really appreciate it.