So Slink Proper hails from the Mid-West, Specifically the Twin Cities over in Minnesota where I am from as well. This Emcee has caught my eye, or rather my ears for that matter, I’ve been watching him progress over the last few months and finally got a chance to sit and chat with him and grab a few minutes for an interview.
illRoots: First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to sit and answer a few questions homie. So, Slink Proper can you tell me how you got the name? or what it stands for?
Slink Proper: Well Slink itself has alot of definitions but the one that made me choose it as a name was one that said, “the offspring of something” and I used that to say Ii am the offspring or child of hip hop. And Proper means alot of things too, in my case it means to break people off proper with lyrics, its an old school saying but not out of date!
iR: You just released FREE SLINK PROPER PT 2, what can we expect on this album? and where can we get it?
SP: You can expect to hear a vast variety of songs a songs for everyone’s taste in hip hop, you can expect to hear the unexpected, hot lyrics, different melodies, songs that will pick you up, and songs that will make you sad. Not to forget songs that will make you bounce! You can get it off of iTunes just type in Slink Proper, or you can get it off of my page at www.myspace.com/slinkproper it is also available in select stores around Minnesota’s Twin Cities area like 5th Element , or Electric Fetus, FREE SLINK PROPER PT.2 pick it up!!!
iR: You’ve released 3 of your own mixtapes now, been featured on another 3, anything you can tell us about the older stuff?
SP: The older mixtapes I’ve released are not hard to find you can probably download them for free by now. You can expect to hear a vast variety of songs on those too I might sound younger because I was (laughs) but it is still me, if you cant manage to find any just hit me up on my myspace I always reply back www.myspace.com/slinkproper and check out my other page for mixtape joints at www.myspace.com/slinkpropermixtapepage for the mixtapes I’m on you can find me on local MN DJ’s mixtapes such as DJ Nexus “too underground for radio” and others.
iR: Your biography says you’ve been creating music since you were 10, do you remember your influences back then? and who would you say influences you today?
SP: Yea I’ve been writing music for a long time my influences back then still are my influences today from B.I.G, Jay-Z, DMX, Eminem, BIG L to more recent artist like Kanye west and 50 Cent, the first cd I purchased on my own was, “And then there was X”, by DMX I had it for like a month before my parents found it and threw it away but I had it on cassette too.
iR: One artist you could work with dead or alive, who would it be? and why?
SP: It would have to be Notorious B.I.G because I feel he is my biggest influence.
iR: What is it that keeps you going as an artist?
SP: The fans, Anyone who likes my music, The feeling of people wanting to hear what i have to say is what keeps me wanting to make the next song.
iR: Any plans of any tours? or new albums in the near future we can expect?
SP: Just look out for Slink Proper, I try to keep my projects under wraps until they go down, I like to surprise!
iR: So how about the industry today, what’s your opinion on the rise of the DJ’s, mixtapes, and internet emcees?
SP: Man to be honest I cant tell you one new rapper that I like that has come out in the last year , it seems your legal record has taken priority over your lyrical ability , not only that 90% of the songs that have come out from hip hop artist are for women, (and) to tell the truth i feel left out as a male listener. I just hope this is a phase that hip hop will get over, including the record sales.
iR: Well Slink, Thanks a lot for your time, is there anything else you’d like to say to all of our illRoots readers out there?
SP: All i gotta say is check out my music, www.myspace.com/slink proper drop a comment, and good looks Demik.
Influences
The Notorious B.I.G (RIP)
Sounds Like
I’m O.G.
Miller & this is just my two cents!
I remember early one morning in 2007; I was my spacing looking for artists for an upcoming project that was working on. I ran across a my space page that caught my ears. The music was totally deferent from what I had been listening to. I mean it was gangster but not in your face, educational but not geekish.
I spent a lot of time on the page listening to what it had to offer, and I must say not only was I entertained I felt like I had a chance to walk through the rappers mind because everything was believable or should I say real life like. I didn’t feel like he was over stepping his boundaries by trying to be something that he wasn’t. A few days and a few more disappointing pages pass, I found myself back on this page bobbing my head. A few more pages then back to this page just to keep my mind on what I was trying to do and that there was hope or should I say talent out there.
Now don’t get me wrong, I found a lot while searching thru myspace like a hot rapper with a garbage beat, a hot beat and a garbage rapper or a garbage beat and rapper but a hot hook. I found the whole package with SLINK PROPER. I’m a man who when he finds greatness he doesn’t have a problem speaking very highly of that thing or person. Whether you trust my ears or not, all I can say is go check for yourself the very first song that I listened to from SLINK PROPER was “ALPHA PRESIDENT”. You can find this song along with others on his soundclick player on his page. But to tell you the truth I don’t think that you’ll make it to “ALPHA PRESIDENT” before you agree that SLINK PROPER is destine to be one of the greatest to do it from Minnesota.
Sona Akale (born December 18, 1987), better known by his stage name Slink Proper, is a Hip Hop / Soul rapper. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Slink Proper began writing and rapping his own lyrics at a young age of 10. To this date he has been featured in 3 local mixtapes and he has released 3 mixtapes of his own.
In 2007 Slink proper’s single “Holla” was played on-air by B96’s on-air personality Peter Parker. Since then, Slink Proper's fan base has increased. After his song was on B96, Minnesota's prominent Top 40 Hip Hop and Urban Music station, his single “Holla” is requested on the radio by many listeners.
REQUEST "HOLLA" on B96: 651-989-4B96 (4296)
At this time Slink Proper has released a new mixtape called “Free Slink Proper part 2” Slink has performed many times at different venues. He is currently working on new music and seeks out to be noticed.
So far, he has made more than 100 songs and yet he makes new songs everyday. Slink Proper is such a promising artist with a lot of potential. His style is not the commercial hip hop we listen to now, he is true to his unique Hip hop/Soul style. He is more of a Midwest rapper with a soulful touch. His lyrics are about situations that really matter, people can always relate to his music.
"Slink" hopes to rap his way to the top!
Patricia Drey Busse South Washington County Bulletin
Published Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Cottage Grove hip hop artist Sona Akale, known as Slink Proper, said much of his music is motivational, encouraging people to go after their dreams.
It’s a subject the fledgling artist working hard to make a name for himself knows about firsthand.
“When I was younger I was a little more naive,” he said. “I just thought that somebody will find me and then I’ll be famous.”
Cottage Grove artist Slink Proper just released his latest album Free Slink Proper 2. His music is available through iTunes, MySpace and at stores including the Electric Fetus and Fifth Element.
He’s far from complacent now, though. He performs at least once per week around the Twin Cities, and if he’s not making music or practicing, he’s likely working on promoting himself, and his new album through MySpace and other channels.
“You have to do all this stuff that has nothing to do with rapping, it just has to do with getting out there,” he said. “You could be the best rapper; you could rap the stars from the sky to fall and touch the ground but if nobody hears you you’re not anybody, it won’t matter.”
Akale got his start when he was 10 years old during weekly freestyle rap “battles” at his Grange Avenue home.
Akale’s father is an immigrant from the African country of Cameroon who worked to bring many of his family members to the United States, Akale said. That meant Akale grew up surrounded by cousins and siblings. He credited them with getting him into hip hop.
At 15, Akale began putting out CDs with a friend who had a home studio, he said. Back then he went by the name “Slink.” He went through the dictionary looking for names and was caught by the word which means the offspring of an animal.
“I said, I could manipulate that to say I’m the offspring of hip hop — the child of hip hop,” he said. He added the “proper” to the end three years ago to say, “I do what I do well, and I try to give people what they want,” he said.
He said his father was less than pleased that he was getting into the hip hop genre.
“He doesn’t mind hip hop, but he doesn’t necessarily like the stereotypes that come along with it,” he said.
In Akale’s opinion, hip hop has unfairly gotten a bad name. With violence pervasive in American media, Akale wonders why hip hop music is singled out as promoting it, he said.
“If a person goes out and makes a movie about killing or something, they can be nominated for all these types of awards and hailed as this high person, but if you’re a hip hop artist and you talk about that stuff … you get looked at as a gangster or a criminal,” he said.
That said, Akale does think the record labels seem to be going out of their way to recruit rappers with criminal records and a “bad” image, he said. Although Akale has had brushes with the law in the past, and served jail time, he said he chooses to avoid that part of his background in his music.
“I try not to say a lot of that type of stuff in my music, because I don’t want to sound like I’m glorifying it,” he said. “That’s when you get put into categories like gangster rapper or pop rapper. I don’t want to be put in any categories.”
Akale said he thinks the hip hop industry has lost its way, and that many of the songs that get radio play lack creativity, and seem like they were just written to sell.
“I feel like it’s just not hip hop anymore,” he said. “There’s only a few artists out there that are still doing music that is hip hop that reflects them.”
He’s hoping to buck the trend, though. He wants to be signed by a major record label and bring the Minnesota hip hop scene national attention, he said. The new people finding his music every day through shows or the Internet, keep Akale going, he said.
“When people say they’re interested in what you have to say, you want to say more,” he said. “My love for the hip hop music, and me thinking I can do better than some of the people that are out there, that’s what keeps me going.”
Ni55a You the Best Rapper In mn So far famm. keep yer head up. Keep Doing yer thing. dont let anything slow you down. I love yer song and im waiting for more. I bet other ppl is too.
wuts good? thanks for the add.. do me a favor and check out my mixtape and let me know wut u think? i promise this insnt spam this is personally me hittin you.. thanks for the support!
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