Steven Lopez is a Hip Hop artist born in 1992 in the Newburgh NY area, raised in the streets of Tampa FL from the age of 8. Lopez started his career as an ambitious Producer/Rapper at age 14 and since has collaborated with peoples all over soundcloud recently spawning GRE/MMMC with Cole the Kid and DjLuv in 2015, with the goal of growing in roster size and persistently releasing new music every week. When Lopez is not being a very busy and sought after Hip Hop Producer, Lopez can be found accumulating thought, or experementing with music, but in the back of his mind hes always preparing for the next chapter.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
TsB: I was born in Newburgh NY, and lived there for most of my child hood. At age 8 my dad moved to Florida, and i soon followed, growing up in Tampa, viewing it as my hometown, the people i ran with, and the lifestyle were very closely associated with hip hop so that was inevitably the category i fell in. Eventually i found myself back in NY for a few years and it was then that i truly developed my skill but only as a hobby, upon finishing high school i decided then and there that i would get serious and now after meeting Cole the kid and building GRE/MMMC along side him and DjLuv, I know I’m going to be here a while.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
TsB: TsB stands for ThaSteviiBananaz, its odd i know and id explain further but I cant get into specifics due to legal issues with the name, though i will say it stems from old school freestyle music from the 80s
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
TsB: Music Sharing is great, its been a big key to the success of GRE/MMMC. Though we rarely give free downloads but i mean lets face it with all the tech out there, especially cell phones, anyone can access my music from anywhere at anytime!
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
TsB: I’m not too big on gigs unless its on opportunity presented to me, Ive been with a cover band in NY formally known as No Strings Attached and even though it wasn’t a big hip hop atmosphere, the gigs i did with that band were spectacular, a totally different experience and well recommended for any artist trying to get a start. Airplay however is another animal. you want airplay you got to start networking, meeting people and learning who they are who they know, making connections till you find the guy that says ” yea i DJ at club 813″ that’s the guy you want to be friends with so when the time comes u can give him a copy of your tape and millions will hear your song at once. Radios a lot harder to get into, i believe they only want to play your song if your famous already
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
TsB: As an artist I’ve made tons of mistakes on stage, the trick to getting past it is getting past it. if you stumble on a word or a line keep going, most likely the crowed is inebriated anyway so just keep going, if you stop that’s when people notice.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
TsB: i have not toured yet but i cant wait for the opportunity, then i can come back to exposed vocals and give you guys the full scoop.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
TsB: Well i make both music and lyrics and so for my music 75% of the time i sample background music from Anime’s, the lyrics are all about heart though and i believe that’s where hip hop really shines in general. In order, my process for making a new song would be make the music first then write to that.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
TsB: I have a website that i built dedicated to the group, http://gameraidersmmmc.
wixsite.com/home , of course its not completed just yet but we are working on it! for now though we use soundcloud and reverbnation as the two main platforms, we also have the Bootleg Movies album out on itunes and spotify
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
TsB: Scars of Love by TKA and a bunch of old 80s freestyle
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
TsB: As a dedicated artist with a team of other great artist, id put it into my music. Advertising, distribution, maybe that tour you were talking about?
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
TsB: At the moment i have a Blue Snowball mic with a pair of Sony headphones. In the future we will upgrade to much better equipment, but for the price of the snowball and the quality I’m getting from it now, I’m going to stick with the snowball
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
TsB: So far i have the most fans on Soundcloud but that’s because i use that site more than any other site i have registered with. But i find social networking is the best way to get heard and promote your music especially if you have the pocket money to get some real advertisement.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
TsB: If i could only pick one id have to say it would be a tie between Big L and Eazy E, but just under that Big Pun and Left Eye from TLC
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
TsB: GRE/MMMC is an upcoming project on its own, Please if your reading this and you thing you have the skill to roll with us, check out our join page. it doesn’t matter what genre your in we are taking everyone with real talent!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
TsB: There was a brief time in my life where i sold drugs and i believe if it weren’t for rap and hip hop or even just music in general, i would still be there or maybe even in jail.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
TsB: Eazy E – Eazy Duz It which came with the other album he did named 5150, that album got me in so much trouble, even had me thinking darker for a period of time but i loved it, i gotta say without it i probably wouldn’t be a hip hop artist.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
TsB: Thats the hardest part, see making music is fun but when its time to work its time to work. I find its easier to get music done at night or early in the morning between 10pm and 630 am then the rest of the time is my own
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
TsB: Well its almost over but in 2017 we will be releasing two chopped and screwed albums coming out for those who like that type of hip hop. Look out for them!
