The target of most of his anger is rapculture itself.
“I consider myself part of the truthmovement,” he says. “In rap, there’s this idea that everybody has all thismoney and is, ‘Sell all these guns and all these drugs.’ I’m part of a movementthat says, ‘That’s not true, prove it. Stop lying, and start getting back tothe roots of what this music was all about.’”
Poppe sees deception everywhere in thegenre, from rappers who script their freestyles to producers who overcharge forchintzy beats to mixtapes that steal more material than they create.
“For these mixtapes, people will juststeal instrumentals off the Internet by famous producers like DJ Premier orPete Rock or whoever’s hot on the streets, or they do a ‘remix’ where they takea song that’s already made and just throw their verse at the end of it,” hevents. “That’s not making music, that’s just lying. It’s a cheap shot.”
Poppe vents his frustrations on his newalbum Sleep Therapy, which featuresguest spots from 88-Keys, Guilty Simpson and Naledge of Kidz in the Hall, aswell as Milwaukeerappers Dana Coppafeel, Speak Easy and Raze.
“The title has a dual meaning,” heexplains. “I suffer from a sleeping condition that has me up at all hours ofthe night, so it’s a personal reference, as well as a reference to the state ofrap music. There’s this emphasis on the commercial product, whatever can sell themost ringtones and whatever can be merchandised. That didn’t sit well with me,so I envisioned Sleep Therapy as analbum I could make that would make me feel better about hip-hop music at theend of the day. I was hoping for it to be a momentary pause from our ears beinginundated by commercial music.”
Poppe, not one to bite his tongue, hasmostly kind words for Milwaukee.The city’s rap scene, he says, is perhaps as strong as it’s ever been.
“The competition in the city is great,so rappers are really making a more concentrated effort to put out strongalbums,” he says. “In the past couple months we’ve had albums from Panic, Houseof M, Sose and myself, if I can speak confidently about having mine included inthat bunch. I think those albums have really established a good bar. I knowDylan Thomas and Haz Solo are about to come out with their album, and thatshould take it to another level, and Umbrella Music Group is releasing a lot ofstuff this winter, and that should also take it to another level. There’s a lotof competition in this city now that’s good and healthy, and it’s reallypushing people.”
JCPoppe’s Sleep Therapy isavailable at CDBaby.com.
