I recently caught up with rapper/singer Heath McNease via e-mail to discuss The Weight of Glory: Second Edition – a hip hop remix of his album of songs inspired by the writings of C.S. Lewis.
Sketch: This is a hip hop spin on your folk album inspired by the writings of C.S. Lewis. I know you’ve written and released music in both styles before – but have you ever done something like this where you essentially sample and remix your previous work? How was that experience for you?
Heath: Bro…I never could’ve imagined it would feel so weird to sample/remix myself. It was a blast, but there were a few false starts along the way. There were definitely some tedious facets to re-imagining my own stuff.
Mainly it’s just tough to get out of the way emotionally. As a hip hop artist, you can sample James Brown with appreciation. But you probably don’t sample him thinking to yourself, “Well, that’s not what he would’ve wanted to communicate through that drum break.” It’s just crazy to think that the toughest part was that I wanted to pay homage and respect to myself as well as C.S. Lewis.
I wanted the Heath from last year to be happy and appreciative of this work and that was just getting confusing. So I enlisted Greg Lafollette to remix the beats. He co-produced The Weight of Glory with me. He has an amazing ear and he was there from the start. That made him qualified. But the fact that he would pay respect to the work without being too invested emotionally is why it worked so well. He did such a great job on the beats.
Sketch: Having previously interviewed folk singer Derek Webb about his love of hip hop, I was pretty stoked to see him featured on the album’s first single. I know a lot of different rappers, particularly from the faith community, would love to work with him on a track. I think you’re the first. How’s that guest appearance come about?
Heath: It is definitely a surreal experience. I’ve been a Caedmon’s Call fan since I was a kid. I went to see one of his first ever house shows in Albany, GA when She Must and Shall Go Free released. I’ve been fan for a long time. He actually purchased my Jesus Shuttlesworth mixtape online. Like…he paid for it. He contacted me and told me that he was really impressed and just encouraged me. I was really humbled by that.
By that time I had already been communicating a bit with Brannon McCallister (he co-owns Noisetrade.com along with Derek) about doing something original for them, and asked if he thought Derek would be interested.
I’m well aware of Derek’s affinity for hip hop. I know he feels it’s the folk music of today. I agree wholeheartedly. He respects it as an art form and he’s taking the time to learn it so that his opinion is informed as a true fan of rap…not just as a guy who likes some rap songs. He loved Watch the Throne, loves Macklemore, loves The Roots, he is familiar with MF Doom. His taste is quality. So I thought that since we both are singer/songwriters who happen to be big rap fans…it’d make sense a little more than just him being on a rapper’s song. I feel he can absolutely do that and hopefully this will allow other rappers the opportunity to reach out to him, because I know a ton of emcees who love his songwriting. But my thought was that we come from similar backgrounds of writing that it’d make the hip hop and the indie side of it feels really authentic.
And anytime I can put Playdough on something I will. The three of us also have a bit of a reputation as agitators…so I was well aware of that. We don’t play by any certain pre conceived rules, and a lot of people love that about us. Derek was so awesome and humble about it all. He’s a true example for how to do music and life with class.
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Sketch: You’ve posted that this record is your most spiritually significant rap record to date. Do you think this is a direction your lyrics will continue to drive in and/or regret any of your less spiritually significant raps in the past?
Heath: I don’t ever think my lyrics will have a direction as I move forward. People know that the only thing they can actually expect from me is quality. They don’t know exactly what they’re going to get until they get it.
And honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to give. I love my raps that are less spiritually significant. I feel that as an emcee…pound for pound…you can’t listen to what I did on the Shuttlesworth mixtape and not be impressed. I showcased all of it: bars, patterns, styles, punchlines, schemes, concepts, double and triple timing, half timing…all of it. It’s my favorite rap project I’ve done from a skills and technique perspective. And I defy any emcee to listen to that album and tell me I’m not killing it.
But with this…EVERYTHING had to be focused down to the last molecule. I can’t do those scatter-brained, Kool Keith raps when I’m dealing with an incredibly specific concept. So it’s tough to elaborate on a concept I already sang about, but give it a new life and personality. The spiritual content is so honest and so hard hitting. But that’s because the source material was that way.
I love both sides of the coin. And fans know they have to expect Heath to show up. But they don’t know exactly which Heath it’ll be. Yeah…third person interview technique. : )
Sketch: Is there a hip hop version of one of these songs you prefer more than the folk version or turned out better than you thought it might?
Heath: I love the way “Perelandra” turned out. Those hard 808′s and hand claps with a fuzzed out baseline and just ghetto keyboard loop just make me so incredibly happy. And it’s probably the song that sounds the least like its predecessor.
Sketch: I know you tour and perform about 250 days a year. That’s a lot of time behind the wheel and in and out of hotel rooms. What’s a part of travel that some people might think is minor but makes all the difference in a good or bad road trip?
Heath: People don’t understand that if a show is promoted terribly or if the etiquette at the show is bad…this affects your life. I may have just driven eight hours to play, and I may have an eight hour drive after the show. So if I show up to play and people are being loud and disinterested…that really pours salt in the whole equation. A 16-hour drive round trip in order to play for 45 minutes – the margin for error is slim. You NEED it to be a great experience, and when it isn’t…that’s heartbreaking. But when it is it makes me want to hug everyone and everything.
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