Interview with California rapper Oktayne

Oktayne is a rapper based out of Rodeo, California. He has maintained his own identity, while giving the world a taste of his life through his body of work. He is inspired by his environment, and is determined to just be HIMSELF. We caught up and interview him, here's what he had to say....

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Oktayne. Tell us a bit about yourself, your name, age, where you’re from and an interesting fact if you like?
I’m Oktayne, a 24 year old rap artist from a small town in California called Rodeo. I can be a jack-of-all-trades in media as I do my own videos and if I don’t direct it chances are I edited them. There is only one music video where I didn’t direct nor edit.

MUSIC
Is there a story behind your name Oktayne?
I was looking for a rap name as I was chilling with a friend. That friend gave me that name because I was looking for something explosive.

How long have you been rapping?
If talking about my seriousness then I’d about 4 years now, if not then I was rapping for 13 years.

What first got you interested in becoming a rapper?
My brother’s friend who happens to have the same government first name as me had a little indie label. So living in Rodeo I saw people wanting to rap. I saw his beat machine and a microphone. Then one day I went to my Yamaha keyboard, which I had for years. I turned on to a drum loop and started freestyling. As I was doing that my brother walked in on me and the rest is history.

What/who inspires your music?
My biggest influence is LL Cool J because he’s a ladies’ man. So I guess you can say good and bad women influence my music.

Do you see being a rapper as a career, or as a hobby?
I don’t see anything I do as a hobby; I see music as a career. If you treat it the way you wanted to be treated then people will take you seriously.

What are you trying to do with your music? Do you want to help your community? Are you trying to get rich? What is your goal for your music?
I’m trying to reach the masses with no record deal at all. I am looking to start a youth group by next year. My goal is to maintain my focus and don’t get sidetracked and drop everything I need to drop this year.

Have you ever performed live? How did it feel?
Yes, and nothing in music feels better than having people vibe with you at live events.

Do you have any kind of management, publishing or distribution team behind you? If so what are their responsibilities?
None of that yet.

What are some accomplishments that you have achieved, and are most proud of?
I have had a 4/5 review on my old album and I have yet to top that.

Have you ever made any contact with major artists or other high positioned people in the music industry and do you keep in contact with them?
People I talked with aren’t as high position as the people I want to work with.

What one tip would you give to other aspiring rappers?
Be the person that believes in your music more than anyone. That person is you so please be yourself and nobody else.

What do you see is in the future for the music industry? How do you think it will evolve/change?
The whole game will be swaying towards being independent again and you will not need a major label.

INTERNET
Do you feel like the internet is helping you as an underground artist?
Man, I love the Internet because without the Internet I wouldn’t have the resource to build with.

How do you think social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have affected the music industry?
Social network makes it easy to network with people. Everybody who has a business or service pretty much has either one. Some may even have both twitter and facebook.

Where can we hear your music online?
www.oktayne.com, www.soundcloud.com/oktayne, www.facebook.com/oktayneoffical

IN CLOSING
What projects are you working on at the moment?
I’m about to drop my solo album. I am working on some mixtapes and compilations to release real soon.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years time?
If my hard work plays off, I see myself making an impact as a mainstream artist that is independent. It took Tech N9ne about 10 years to do it so he is influent in that right.

Do you have any shoutouts you want to give?
I don’t like doing shoutouts because that can run on forever. My main shoutouts is to my team FLU, HBK Gang, Inf Gang, Ruby Ibara, Hopie, Every rapper from the town of Rodeo, Kareless Mf’ah, Da-1 aka Kevin Lamar aspiring director. The most important is Mom, Dad, Jason & Jatauan Jackson, LaeCharles, and the FLUent Gentlemen and the Red Carpet Ladies

Thanks again Oktayne for doing this interview!
No the thanks is to you, hope you the best for your site.