Lindenhurst Rapper Prophet

January 10, 2012

Lindenhurst Rapper Prophet

by Jason Pollak

Sean Werner, aka Prophet, is a young up and coming rapper from Lindenhurst, NY. In a time where Long Island is missing a true, original sound, Prophet hopes to be that voice. Thus far, Prophet has graced the stages of legendary clubs and venues such as BB Kings in NYC. He has also opened up for the legendary Big Daddy Kane and soon will be opening up for Too Short at the Knitting Factory early next year.

He has been featured on a multitude of tracks and mixtapes such as “Genesis” and “Overrated Underachievers” with his group High Street. Prophet is now embarking on his solo career as well and has released his own mixtape called “The Gate Keeper”. Now, it’s Prophet’s time to drop his debut album, set to come out in the up coming weeks. As of now, you can check out his debut single “Forest Of Lies”.

Jason: When and where were you born?

Prophet: I was born in Boca Raton, Florida. My mom grew up in Lindenhurst, NY, so we moved back here when I was five. I’ve been living here since.

Jason: Cool. What kind of music did you listen to growing up?

Prophet: I was heavily influenced by classic rock. I grew up on Back Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, etc. My mom was a big influence in that, she was really into all types of music. As far as hip hop, my brother, DJ Labrat got me into that. When I was a kid he would play me 2 Pac and Biggie.

Jason: Who inspired you to begin rapping?

Prophet: I would say Eminem was the one. His first album got me into hip hop heavy. My brother is responsible for me initially getting into it, but Em was the one who made me want to do it. I remember ever since his first album in ‘99, my friends and I would emulate him when we were young.

Jason: Have you been in any rap battles yourself?

Prophet: Some, but mostly I just did like cyphers with my friends. We just did some friendly rap battles. That’s how I met Chance and Knockie from USB. They’re from Brooklyn. We began cyphering together. Sometimes we’d start cyphering at a party in a circle like you’d see in the movies. We’d just chill together and kick rhymes.

Jason: Do you practice freestyling a lot?

Prophet: That’s something my brother always gets on me for. I’m more of a writer, always have been. I respect the guys that can freestyle, takes a lot of practice.

Jason: True. So how’s it been memorizing all these lines. You’ve been performing a lot lately.

Prophet: I wind up memorizing them as I’m recording. I’m constantly practicing, so I wind up just memorizing them as I go along. Gets ingrained in your head. I do go back and change lines throughout the process. I like to think out what I’m writing. Like the single off my album, “Forest of Lies”, took a month to make. Ya know, the whole process from thought to finish. So, some songs can take that long. Some get done quicker.

Jason: Do you have a name for the album yet?

Prophet: No not yet, we’re still kicking around a couple of titles. One of the titles ended up becoming the name of the last track. It’s called “Roses on a Battlefield”. It kind of sums up what the whole album is about.

Jason: Could you tell me a little more about the album?

Prophet: Well I basically like to write about whatever is going on around me at the current time. Some of the tracks in the past have been darker, or there were some songs about relationships. This album is more about me trying to pinpoint certain emotions. The topics can be about anything from world issues to events taking place such as Occupy Wall Street. My song “Forest of Lies”, that’s about how the world is ran on greed. There’s also some records with a battle vibe. One of those records is called “Break it Down”. It’s just got an old school vibe to it. It’s pretty much me showing off my MC skills. Some crazy scratching is on there. Lots of stuff on the album. Something for everybody. Basically, anything I heard while growing up. I’m trying to take all those ideas and sounds and incorporate it into my music. It’s definitely got a more 90’s rap feel to it. But we have incorporated the newer style as well. My favorite artists were like Mobb Deep, Tupac, LL Cool J, Atmosphere, Joe Budden, Eminem. They were all big influences to me and the way my record sounds.

Jason: You’ve also begun the process of building your kind of own “at home” studio as well. Can you tell me a little about that?

Prophet: Yea, we had been recording in New York City at this place called No Mystery Studios. There are a couple of earlier records on the album that were recorded there. We thought it was smart, if we could, to invest in a small level studio at my place. We were able to pull it off, fortunately, and it’s starting to sound really good. We’re gonna finish up the rest of the album here. And most importantly, having a mic and studio equipment set up down stairs, makes it that much easier to perfect your craft. You don’t have to worry about paying $50 for an extra hour of studio time.

Jason: That’s definitely true. You’re also a part of the group High Street, correct?

Prophet: Yea, that’s how I really got started. I wrote a lot of rhymes when I was younger. I really started writing songs when I was 15. So, that was in 10th grade. My friends Chris, Rich and Gaffney; we all rapped together. We practiced at Mizzy’s house which was on High Street, so that’s how we got the name. We had a mic and would make our own mixtapes. That practice helped a lot. It’s funny cuz I still go back to that now and see how all of our voices have changed; ideas too. We’ve all gotten older and wiser. They all definitely helped out a lot with my songwriting. We still work together too. They’ll all be on the album, plus we perform at each other’s shows. So it was nothing like a break-up, we are kind of more like a label. We’re all doing our own thing, but still working together.

Jason: Who are some of your favorite artists doing it today?

Prophet: I’m very influenced by a lot of music as I said before. Me and my brother get into arguments all the time about hip hop. We are both big fans of old school hip hop. I’m also a fan some of the new school artists such as Drake and J.Cole though. Slaughterhouse is awesome. Yelawolf is really tight. I like the real artists. Guys like Yelawolf aren’t fabricated and just put out by the label. I like to listen to artists that I could feel and vibe with.

Jason: Yea, and for a while, there weren’t too many of those artists.

Prophet: Yea, I agree with you. I think in the mid 2000’s everyone was about making that club song as opposed to personifying with fans.

Jason: Yea, you can even say Eminem got caught up in that as well.

Prophet: Yea, definitely. He even realized it too. Then he came out with Recovery and that’s what the fans wanted. It was more like his older material. I think that’s what the core of hip-hop fans really wanted. There’s a lot of stuff out there, that I think is garbage, but there’s also some really great material as well.

Jason: So, I also gotta ask you about some of your performances. You recently opened up for Big Daddy Kane that must have been special.

Prophet: Oh, yea, that was an honor. That was a crazy show because that was my first major show. I had done some stuff before, but this was the biggest one. It was also at BB King’s, which is a legendary place to perform. So many talented artists have played there. I remember I saw Joe Budden performing there and I was only 20 years old when I played there. That’s pretty crazy. It also was just total support. There were about 500 people there, about a 100 from my core of fans. It’s really hard to describe being up there on stage. It’s just a great feeling. It’s like nervousness mixed with excitement. I tried shouting out Long Island and Lindenhurst as much as possible. We don’t really have a voice out here and I want to build up a credible name for the rappers from the neighborhood and Island. I would like to be that voice for us.

Jason: You get a chance to chat with Big Daddy Kane?

Prophet: Yea I did. He’s a very down to earth guy. I only gotta to talk to him for a little, took a picture with him. Basically just told him that he helped paved the way. He should be given the utmost respect. If it wasn’t for him, a lot of people wouldn’t be where they are today. All of those old school artists deserve a lot of credit for bolstering hip-hop and keeping it alive. It’s crazy for me to think where I came from. I haven’t made it by any means, but you can’t take away anything from what I have accomplished so far.

Jason: Yea true true. You also have a show coming up with Too Short, correct?

Prophet: Yea, I also just did a show December 3rd at Mulcahy’s. I did about a 45 minute opening set. I performed some of the new records. But the big show is January 27 at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, with Too Short. I’ll be going on at 9:30. Too Short is another legend from the West Coast, so that’s a big deal.

Jason: So when’s the album coming out and anything else coming from you?

Prophet: I would like to say before the New Year. I would like to have it pressed and ready to go before the Too Short concert, but we’ll see how things go. Sometimes things can take longer to complete than you thought, but I’m not too worried about it. Right now I’m still my own boss, so it’s not like there has to be a specific date for it to drop, but we’re working hard to get it out as soon as possible. Ya know, it’s a steady process. This is my first big offering, so I want to make sure it comes out the right way for my fans. You can also find me on Youtube at NYC Prophet. You can find me on Twitter @Prophet_NYC. Just search Prophet on Facebook to find me. Ya know, we’re just trying to make good records and hopefully good things come out of it.