Links Q&A
Hey guys! Time for an interview! This time was with rapper Links. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany. His childhood, however, was spent in many cities in America such as Austin, TX, San Diego, CA, Macon, GA and other various counties in Kentucky before the age of 13. He was a foster child in his early years. He grew up learning to adapt to different downs and finding new friends everywhere he went. It wasn’t until the age of 7 when he finally met his actual birth mother and age 16 until he met his father. It was at the age of 11 when Links became enveloped in music but it wasn’t until the age of 16 when he truly began the actual recording process. His genre’ of choice was Rap, R & B and Hip Hop. He served in the Air Force from September 2007-May 2011 and is currently pursuing his Bachelor Degree in Recording Arts, then his Master’s Degree in Entertainment Business at Full Sail University.

1.    What made you want to follow music? Was it always the #1 thing you wanted to do for a living?
Not sure what it was that made me wanted to do music…I just remember at the age of 11 years old, I used to put in a blank tape in my boom box and record all of my favorite songs on the radio. After I recorded them, I would rewind the tape and write down line for line then recite the entire song until I knew it word for word. At the age of 16 is when I heard my voice on a microphone for the first time and was like, “Damn, I sound Dope”!! Every since then, I Decided to hit the ground running with it. Weird but True, lol. It was never the #1 thing that I wanted to do for a living. I really wanted to do construction, then real estate, and then business once the real estate field crashed in 2007. After that, that’s when I decided to do my own thing with music.

2.    What song - out of the ones you already released/written - means the most to you? Why?
I must say that I am divided between (3) different songs: Green, Been Ready, and Magnet. Out of those (3), Green has seemed to be the most successful one as it got me signed with Slip N’ Slide records in 2011 ‘On The Grind’, following the same path as Plies. But ‘Been Ready’ means the most emotional one to me. I wrote it, recorded it, and engineered it myself in 8 hrs. and it was exactly how I was feeling about this world at the time.

3.    Which artists influenced you the most to pursue a music career and to adopt this style of music?
I am not influenced much by any artist musically, but career wise Dr. Dre has def. inspired me to achieve and wear many hats in the music industry. He is def. a mogul and we have very similar backgrounds and ambitions. I want to accomplish all that he has accomplished, such as: being an Music Artist, Recording Engineer, Actor, CEO, Producer, and Business man. You can check out my ‘Producer’s Podcast’ that I created for a class assignment in Advanced Sessions, here at Full Sail University - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ji9ZktRbTU&list=UUOBOj63ZzysEwmcTZ9pn87g.

4.    Are you planning any collaborations/duets?
Yes, I actually am. I am waiting for Drake’s Manager reply for my Album that I am set to release on Thanksgiving 2015, called No Sacrifice, No Success. I am also planning on reaching out to Lil Boosie for a feature on the same album, as my brothers/friends and me grew up listening to him in the early 2000’s.

5.    With whom would you love to work with and why?
I would love to work with Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross, Pharrell, and T.I. Why, because growing up, they heavily influenced me because of what they rapped about, as it def. pertained to my lifestyle at that point and time. I was emotionally attached.

6.    What has been the defining moment of your musical career so far?
So far, the defining moment of my musical career has been me completing my most recent project, The Struggle, as It has taken me 2.5-3 years to complete, all awhile me going through the struggle. Hard work ALWAYS pays off.

7.    What kind of message do you want people to take away from your music?
I want people to take the message that we all go through the same thing as human beings. They are not alone. At the end of the day, I was to be a walking testimony that ‘the only person stopping you, is YOU”, which derives from my entire life from the day I was born – to where I am at today.

8.    If you were given the chance to pick one artist to tour with which one would it be and why?
If I had one artist to tour with, I would probably choose T.I. because of his progress from trapping in the hood etc., to his business mentality and success today. I would like to pick his brain and get some pointers on how he started from where he started from, too where he is now. #Respect.

9.    What advice do you have for people who want to make it in this business?
My advice, as I have stated before, would be to stay humble and stay loyal to them selves. The Music/Entertainment Business is an Ugly game; I cannot be a sheep in the jungle, I have to turn into a snake or a Lion and I am not a snake ass Ni**a, so you know what that means. I keep my circle small and my real ni**as around me in order to keep me well-grounded to who I really am, as I know that this game has and will change a lot of Artists.

10.    What artist are you listening to on your iPod?
I’m am going to be humble and not just say ME, but I sit back and listen to the early 80’s – late 90’s. I listen to Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Otis Redding, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, T.I., B.I.G., TuPac, 90s R&B, 90s Hip Hop, Drake, Eminem, August Alsina, and Lil Boosie.

11.    If you weren't singing, what would you be doing?
Well, Since I’m NOT singing, I would be doing Real Estate or Construction Management because that is what I was going to college for before I decided to fully pursue music.

12.    If you could only listen to one artist the rest of your life, who would it be?
Marvin Gaye.

13.    Name five things you can’t live without.
This is a hard question because I personally don’t feel the need to be physically nor emotionally attached to many things in this life because I am not a materialistic individual, except GOD. But, if I had to choose (5) things, they would probably be Loyalty, Good Company, Good Sleep, My Sanity, and Mary Jane.

14.    What’s your favorite song of 2014 so far?
My own song off of The Struggle, Track 13 - Been Ready.