[Si] TV

Termanology AKA Daniel Carrillo is the talk of the East coast rap scene these days. The half Puerto Rican, half white champion of "real hip-hop" used his relationship with fellow Massachusetts native, DJ Statik Selektah, to emerge on the Boston hip-hop radar in 2002. Since then countless media outlets have taken notice of his skills, showcased on the Hood Politics mixtape series. On the heels of signing a joint venture deal with Nature Sounds, Term talks about working with the legendary Preemo and his official debut album Politics as Usual.

Bridgez: Production-wise, who are you working with on your official debut Politics as Usual?
Termanology: I'm working with The Lucky Seven, that's what I call them. [It's] DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Buckwild, Alchemist, Havoc, Nottz and Large Professor. So it's coming out pretty classic.

Bridgez: How did you hook up with Statik?
Term: I met Statik when I was like 15 in this club called Club Heaven in New Hampshire. We came up together. He started blowing up in the Boston scene and I started blowing up in the Lawrence scene. Then he moved to New York and I also moved to New York, so seeing since we're from the same area we figured let's [come] together get this money and make this music.

Bridgez: How did you start working with the legendary DJ Premier?
Term: I met DJ Premier in 2003; I went to his video shoot for "Same Fee No Games." I got a little cameo in that and gave him my demo. I went over there with Krumbsnatcha who was Preemo's artist at the time. So I kept seeing him around and he [always] showed [me] mad love. I would always give him my new CDs. Eventually in January of 2006 we recorded "Watch How It Go Down." Him and Statik called me on the phone and played me the beat. I loved it and that's how the relationship started. Now he's like a big brother to me.

Bridgez: What do you think you bring to the table as an artist that other MCs don't?
Term: There are pretty much no rappers from Lawrence, Massachusetts that have blown up on a national scale. Also, being Latin definitely sets me apart. There are a lot of black and white rappers but a lot of Latin rappers don't really get a lot of props. Just being where I'm from, just being that I still do real lyrical records whereas a lot of people just kind of dumbed down their style to move along with the times. Which is cool, I respect it, I like 50 Cent and all that stuff too. I just choose to be a little more lyrical with it.

Bridgez: People are always looking for the next Big Pun. Why do you think you could be his successor?
Term: Well, ain't nobody really trying to be the next Pun. Being [that] we don't have a lot of successful Latino rappers, if I were to go platinum or make a classic album, that immediately puts me in the category with him. There's nothing I can really do about the comparison except be honored that people even compare me to him. I don't think anyone can [be his successor], not even me. I give a lot of respect to Joell Ortiz, he's doing his thing. I like Tru-Life, also Easy Money from my hood, Big Lou from Camden, New Jersey. There's a lot of dope [Latino] rappers it's just that they don't have records all over the radio so they don't get the recognition.