The Soil Rises (Bushwicked) with Xav - R

[00:00:03][music] >> Growing up in Bushwick, the block smell like love and smell like coochie frito and smell like grandma's [ __ ] sofrito, you know what I'm saying? It smell It felt like community.

[00:00:25]And you know, Bushwick, um, how I seen it growing up was, you know, there was a lot of broken buildings, but the way everybody was together, it it it gave hope, you know what I'm saying? So, even through the storm of our journey growing up in Bushwick, we still seen hope, so it was always hopeful. And that was Bushwick to me.

[00:00:50]It's 254 Jefferson Street, is where where we landed, you know what I'm saying? From Puerto Rico, we landed straight to um LES, and then the mom stayed over there for a year, and then me and then came here '88, and we've been here since '88, and on this building, we grew up in the first floor, all my family, and then from when my stepdad and mom broke up in '96, when we originally dropped off, you know what I'm saying? We moved to 256 Jefferson, second floor, mom's, you know what I'm saying? She she was out there working the sweatshop factories down Star Street, and she, you know what I'm saying? Made sure we kept everything going, but at that time, you know what I'm saying? The crack was out, everything was still out, you know what I'm saying? And and you had to learn and you had to run fast, you know what I'm saying?

[00:01:35]Jefferson Street, this where the story begins, like I said, Bushwick it.

[00:01:44]>> [music] [music] >> I've been writing music since I was um 9 years old and like writing lyrics. I've been writing lyrics since I was 9 [music] years old. I've been recording since I was 12.

[00:02:06]And I started dropping little mixtapes when I was like 18.

[00:02:10]You know what I'm saying? So, and like not one specific artist, you know what I'm saying? Impacted what I was doing with with the music. It was everybody, maybe that they didn't go in Spanish, you know what I'm saying? Like there was certain artists the way they was doing it, certain artists the way they was approaching it.

[00:02:29]I I was like, "Oh [ __ ] I got to go this way."

[00:02:32]I was listening to Jay-Z. I was listening to a lot of artists, but Jay-Z the way he cornered the market by like mentioning Marcy, Marcy, Marcy, Marcy, Marcy, Marcy.

[00:02:44]Like when I when I was doing the whole wave that I've been doing for the past 10 years, it's been like, you know, taking a page, you know what I'm saying?

[00:02:52]As far as like, you know, embracing that he mentioned the neighbor, his neighborhood, and I wanted to mention my neighborhood, but at the same time I wanted to, you know, do my twist and be like, "I'm in my neighborhood, the story rises, there's many other artists in the neighborhood, you know what I'm saying? So, through my impact, I wanted to make sure that everybody else was seen."

[00:03:13]>> [music] >> Another day in the wicked town.

[00:03:22]>> Yes, sir. How long this mural been here for?

[00:03:25]>> The mural has been here for 2 years.

[00:03:27]>> Yeah. 2 years.

[00:03:29]>> Yeah. Man, it means everything to me because I basically get to um put a stamp right where, you know what I'm saying? I was raised at, you know what I'm saying? So, yeah, we get we come back to where I was where where everything all started, you know what I'm saying? So, when Gito, my guy, allowed me, gave me permission to rock this wall, it was it mattered It matter because it impacted the soil. You know what I'm saying? It's right off the corner.

[00:03:58]And and it really it's like without this here, you know what I'm saying? You can't tell our story. So, that's why we had to put the the stamp on the block.

[00:04:07]It was right here, you know, shows the before now and after of the culture.

[00:04:10]What was happening, what's going to happen, and what's going to continue to keep happening. Black now.

[00:04:16]I feel like when I walk through the neighborhood and I see this gentrification, I I don't judge it. You know what I'm saying? Because I want the neighborhood to grow.

[00:04:30]But, I always try to promote the fact that they have to understand that there's a before, now, and after of the Bushwick culture. So, when you everything is embraced, anybody could come through and you know, be like Bushwick love because Bushwick's always been love.

[00:05:06]The culture of Bushwick inspires me sonically cuz it's gritty. But, it's it's flavor. It's our song. It's It's It's home. It's It's It's everything. This is where we bled, where we got our first scars. It's where we felt our first pain. We felt We felt our first glory. And from from it being little things. So, everything that's Bushwick, from buildings to to the sound to the sound of Myrtle and Broadway, you know what I'm saying? Everything inspires me because it's the ground.

[00:06:23]That's what Soy Sauce is. Um, we we rising from the bottom, you know what I'm saying? From from from the from the soil, from from the ground and we we rising so the world could see the fruits of our labor. That's what the Soy Sauce is. Soy Sauce is a record label. It's a Xavier, it's Bushwick and yo, watch out for Bushwick 83 coming through, you heard?

[00:06:47]May only made for kings, you heard?

[00:07:04]I've been rich. Like I is I don't plan I've been rich in my heart, you know what I'm saying? My mind, my my my blood is rich.

[00:07:13]It's just basically to to to tap into to doing keep doing what I love and actually having some type of income coming through financially. Of course, yeah, yeah, we want we want to get we want to get the money, you know what I'm saying?

[00:07:28]But we want to make sure that that that we doing what we love.

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