[Q+A] Silent Giant by CMONEYWAVE + Hooligan

Hi ya’ll! First of all thank you for taking the time out to talk to KinkyElevatorMusic. The album is hot! Producer and Artist projects have always been prevalent in hip hop and we love to see it! Can you tell me how you two met? 

C: Thank you so much I’m glad you enjoy the album. We met through a mutual friend (ric Wilson). We’ve all known each other for well over 10 years. It’s been a wild journey for us all in music lol

H: He (CMONEY) would come through the studio sometimes and record. That was maybe like 10 years ago I believe. After that, we collabbed here and there but never anything too solid until now.

If you could compare yall’s relationship to a well known duo, who would it be and why? 

C: Honestly I don’t know. If I had to choose, creating this project gave me alchemist & Freddie Gibbs vibes just due to our dynamic and the environment while in the studio. 

H: To be honest, I can’t say. I never really thought of us as a rap “duo” or anything but just two creatives that love the art, and came together to share that love on wax.

You previously stated that "Silent Giant" was the name because the music had a “toughness, a certain grit,” I definitely feel that in this album. Have you both always made this kind of music or this something you’ve grown into? 

C: This is definitely something I have always wanted to do but kinda grew into it. For years this type of music either wasn’t “cool” or just too underground to be noticed from it. Once it came back around thanks to artists like the Griselda crew, Gibbs and others, it was like the flood gates opened. Like true gritty rap was back in the forefront. I was always a lyrics and tough beat person but Hooligan is really the only person to bring it out of me like this lol 

H: CMONEY hit me up a little bit before the recording process, back when we were getting the beats together & asked for some more grittier type tracks. So I went to work. It’s all about the sonics at the end of the day. I kept my same groove but just mangled up the samples differently, which resulted in a “gritty” vibe and I just built around that. I used to really craft that type of sound years ago but over time, my beats mellowed out a lot. Every now and then, I push the envelope haha. I don’t know what would come from it or where it’s going. I just let the beat take me through it and that’s that.

How long have you been working on the album and how did 2020 impact the process? Any silver linings? 

C: We’ve been discussing this project for almost as long as we’ve known each other lol. The timing was just never as right as it’s been the past year and a half. We worked for pretty much all of 2020. Covid restrictions did set us back by a few months but we felt no rush. We wanted things to be as perfect as possible

H: I believe we started the recording process at the beginning of 2020 if I can remember correctly. Maybe late 2019. We’ve just been working every since then. We have quite a bit of material recorded actually. 2020 was a crazy ass year but I was so focused musically that I just kept working & keeping an open mind to new things. I started making beats on my iPad. I bought another drum machine. We got in the studio when we could ya know.

The WWE audio clips seem to be a theme. How did these come to be? I heard Bad Bunny made a guest appearance recently. Lol 

C: The WWE clips were really all me lol. I’m the wrestling fan in this duo. I did let Hooligan know ahead of time like “yo, I’m gonna be throwing some clips in if that’s cool.” And he was down with it. So I went in and found some of my favorite clips that I feel went well with the songs 

What would your wrestler names be? Finishing move?

C: I have absolutely no clue what my wrestler name would be lol it would probably still be CMONEYWAVE and my finisher would be the wave bomb or something Hella cheesy like that lol

H: Probably my producer name. & I have no idea LMAO. Usually I’m good with names but I don’t know what I’d call that hahahaha!

“Silent Giant” is a solid rap album. I feel like the old skool feels like it have had a resurgence in the mainstream since Griselda came on the scene. Do you agree and how do you feel that their presence will impact the game? 

C: 1000 percent agree. Their presence has opened doors for a lot of us already doing this type of music but not getting the respect or looks we may have deserved because it wasn’t considered “mainstream” or radio friendly. 

H: Sort of. It’s still not totally in the mainstream but the fans of that sound know where to find it. I think that matters most. I feel their presence HAS already impacted the game a lot. Rappers stepping up their overall presence. I hear a lot more talk about “coke” haha. I hear producers switching up the beats, going to strictly loops or going the “dirty drum” route. It’s out here. I respect it. Them and Roc Marciano himself have a lot of this on lock.

You say that “real rap ain’t dead, you just listenin to the wrong ni**as” Who have you all been listening to lately? Any stand out albums or artists of 2020? 

C: I’ve been listening to a lot of Griselda. Pretty much every project they’ve put out. Stand out albums from last year for me were westside gunn’s “who made the sun shine” album. As well as freddie Gibbs & alchemist “Alfredo” album. Conway’s “from a king to a god” album was on point too. 

H: I haven’t really been in tune with much music out here lately. I’ll get caught up shortly  haha. Honestly, I’d say Freddie Gibbs is having a great year. I’ve enjoyed his releases a lot.

What is next for you two? 

C: Much more music. We spent the last year and a half recording. We DEFINITELY have more than 6 songs 

H: Y’all will be doing the math shortly hahaha