A Little Bit Insane; Meet Your New Favorite Rap Rebel
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| Photo by Joshua Elan |
The best artists are a little wild. And when I say Cliftun (real name
Clifton Williams III) is a little wild I mean it in the best way possible. In Los Angeles, a
city over saturated with self proclaimed "rappers", the scene can get undoubtedly boring. Its often hard to find the true gems in a pile of musical mediocrity and similarity. But Cliftun is a true
artist, and possibly an even better performer. Mixing components from the likes of punk rock and trap into cohesive work and visual imaginary, this is one case where I know you'll keep wanting more.
Describe yourself in one Tweet (hash-tags
welcome):
Where are you originally from
I'm originally from a small town called New Iberia, Louisiana. There's about 30,000 people there. It's no fun. That's why I'm here in LA.
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| Photo by http://www.joshuaelan.com |
Although you clearly identify as a rap artist/rap
slayer how would you more specifically describe the sound of your music?
I'd describe the sound of my music as punk rock trap rap that moves the soul.
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| https://instagram.com/cliftun/ |
Seeing as that you have a Basquiat crown tattoo,
what artists (past and current) keep you inspired?
Basquiat is my favorite. As well as Van Gogh, Kurt Cobain and Tupac. These are artists that inspire me, ones I can relate to. I also like Edgar Allan Poe. He was a poet but fuck it, he's an artist in my eyes. I love rebels.
Since you have a track featuring Kid Cudi, who
is one of our time’s most original & iconic rappers (no small
accomplishment), who would be your next dream collaboration?
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| Photo by Joshua Elan |
Is your next full-length project going to be
sonically similar to what we’ve heard before or take a new route?
My next project (SOUNDSOFINSANITY) is going in the direction I've always wanted to go, which is mixing elements of punk rock, trap, and filthy dirty nasty down south beats.
Following you on Snapchat and Instagram I can
see you constantly working on photo-shoots and videos, how important are music
videos and other visuals to musical artists in your opinion?
I believe visuals are super duper important and are my favorite part of the process. I'm a very visual person and I think giving your audience a reference for all the shit your talking about further helps express the art.
You also recently mentioned you’re going to
release a project with only remixed Lana del Rey beats. As a fan of both the
pop queen herself and hip-hop, exactly how did this Summertime Maddness come about? Perhaps a High By The Beach listening session?
I'm glad we have artists like Lana who are so raw and honest with their music, especially with all the pop bullshit out right now. I fuck with her heavy and can't wait to work with her. I've had the idea to do a remix to the Ryan Hemsworth Summertime Sadness remix since it was released about two or three years ago but I kept procrastinating and missing the whole summer so I kept missing the moment. This time around I was like "fuck it!" and recorded it in July's living room. Me and her also shot a really dope video to it in Malibu on an iPhone. It's lit and looks super professional.
Any last words?
Last words? Slay.
*Follow Cliftun on social media for that #newnew*