SPOTLIGHT KING MELLOW G

No one fits a nickname better than Teyun “Mellow G” Calvert.

Sitting down to talk to the “Soul” of Spotlight Entertainment, and that is according to Spotlight CEO Reggie “P-Nice” Parham, at The Spot, a nightclub owned by Calvert’s fiancé, Stephanie Soto, Mellow G is just that; MELLOW. The rapper exudes cool…until you talk to him.

Once you start a conversation with Mellow, you learn so much about him just from listening to him speak. He is articulate, but vulgar. Intelligent, but crass. Educated, but at the same time, there is a little bit of ghetto that sneaks out in his prose. You aren’t going to pull the wool over his eyes by any stretch.

Mostly because you will never have the chance to.

Like a good chess player, Mellow is always thinking two to three moves ahead of everyone else. It’s one of the main reasons he has so much respect in the game in this area. From P-Nice saying the Mellow is “very vital” to the success of Spotlight, to Spotlight artist J. Irja sending shout outs to him mid-song, it’s no wonder he is called the “King” of Spotlight.

As we sat in The Spot, with his Queen not too far away handling her business, you could tell by the look on his face as he watched her and surveyed his kingdom that it was GOOD to be King.

When did you fall with music?

I have naturally always loved music. So I can’t pinpoint a date on that, but I CAN tell you when I fell in love with rap music. It was the first Tupac album, “2Pacalypse Now”and there was an intro on there that was just a beat. He did a 32 on there that was just flowing, and I played that shit like 72 days in a row. I just couldn’t stop listening to the m***af**kin’ intro. To me, from that point, that has always been my favorite music. Like KRS-One said, hip-hop didn’t INVENT anything, it RE-INVENTED everything, and whatever the f**k that re-invention was, I loved it.

Who are your musical influences?

For the most part the influences are Tupac, Eminem, and NAS.

Describe your music.

I rap my life, so it’s more about the fact that I came up rough, so it’s a little more vulgar than most these days. In the 90’s, I would have fit right in. Now, I think my music is lot harder than most music that’s out. Wait, not harder, but more potent; more than NWA-ish then most these days.

What do you want people to hear in your music?

The power to move on, not matter what you been through. That’s what I want you to hear. That is why I rap my life so much, and still show you what I am doing and continue to do it. I am just letting you know that I could have most definitely gracefully bowed out and be where I should be, which is dead or in jail.

 

You are making a mix tape of your all time favorite songs. What is the first song on it and why?

I would say Tupac, “Ambitionz as a Ridah”. Just because it always gets me in my zone. I mean, it came out in 1996, but I listened to it yesterday, and it still sounds like new hot shit to me.

Best performance you ever gave.

It was at the Rail, a couple years back. I had just gone and gotten my Spotlight King tats on my hands, and I was already on tens feeling myself anyway so…(laughs). We get there, and it’s packed wall to wall in that m***af***a. There were some people on the lineup that I had wanted to compete with and bust they ass, so when I performed, the energy was all the way up. There were so many people in there that already knew my music, and I didn’t know who the hell they was. But they were singing my songs and it was the first show that I had that I was able to grab the mic, put it out to the crowd, and let THEM spit my shit, you know? The was my best performance.

Worst performance you ever gave.

The first performance I ever did. I didn’t know how to perform. I was mostly just moving my arms, and looking at the m***af***kin’ floor for the most part. That shit was horrible.

What are, in your mind, some of the good things about the music scene in this area?

In this area what’s good is that I think there are a few people that have the talent to go all the way. Especially if they continue to get better. There are some cats that I can see at 23 that by 26, 27 most definitely should be super crucial. There are some actually some real good artists around here. A few; not many.

What are some of the things that could be improved?

Talent is only 10% of the game. That is only 10% of what is going to make you successful. Promotions aren’t there. Marketing isn’t there. There is not continued showing of elevation. If people start to get a buzz, they just stay in the same area. But you have to show elevation if you are local artist, an underground artist. To me, your shows should get bigger, in better places, different places, you know what I am sayin’? I see people staying in the same spot.

What would you do if you ran the music scene in this area?

That is a rough one. Cause it comes down to what you can do. Everything I said about marketing and promotion takes money. Its seems like the people with the money don’t know what the f**k to do with it and the people that DO know what to do with it don’t have it. You have to spend that money on marketing and promotion. You have to be willing to say “f**k it, I’m going to get some $4,000 billboards instead of this new whip.” You know what I am sayin’?

One song that describes your life?

Since it is the one song that starts with me being young to getting older, IT would have to be a song a wrote called “Just Ventin’”. That would show my upbringing. The first verse is about me being young and my the second verse is my reaction to that upbringing. I rap my life, though, so you would have to listen to my whole music catalog to really get my life.

 

One artist, alive or dead, that you would want to do a song with?

Eminem.

What was your first concert?

R. Kelly! (laughing)

            You have a quote on Facebook that begins with "To BE is a m***af**ka..."  

 

I think there is a lot of people out there that are ‘People are this, people are that, I wish people would keep it real’ or ‘I’m real’….To me it is just so easy to do that and when you know some of these people personally, or see how they get down..I am comfortable with it because that is who I am. I know a lot of people that LOOK like they are real, or TALK like they are, and most definitely RAP like it, but in the end, they fall short.

Spotlight CEO P-Nice said that you are very vital to Spotlight; the soul of Spotlight. How does that feel.

It feels phenomenal. It’s been a rough road. Been some sacrifices that have been hard, but it no matter what, I stood on it. Even when it came down to it just been me out here, shit still got down and I kept us relevant enough until when we could get back full strength. I am definitely proud of that.

Where did King of Spotlight come from?

From THAT, for the most part (laughing). When P-Nice says I am the soul, it’s the same thing as being King. When shit was at its highest, I celebrated it, and when it was at its lowest, I stood on it like it was at its highest. And when people abandoned ship, I still stood there when shit was burning.

There are beefs in hip-hop. There is beef between your camp and other camps around

here…

That’s not beef, that’s luncheon meat.

…Ok, PLEASE explain that. That is best line I have heard all day…

With beef, it really goes down. There are shoot outs, people get hurt, shit gets hot. It gets to a point where people’s money starts getting low cause there is too much beef going on. My life has not been altered in ONE WAY with these problems that these people have with me. And I am not looking for them because it’s not an issue to me.

What is their problem with you?

I don’t know. They’re a bitch and I ain’t. Some of it is just some weak Facebook shit.

So, with the beef it causes a division in the fan base. How do you fix that?

You don’t fix it. It is just something you deal with. Cause there is nothing you can do. What I do to avoid shit like that is to not start shit. It’s that simple.