E.III on his Detroit roots, Keeping Positive Energy and New 2019 EP

Interview by Riley McKinnis

This week we got to talk it up with rising star and grind aficionado hailing straight from Detroit, Michigan, E.III. E.III's rise stems from his positive energy on the track mixed with intricate wordplay, which shines greatly on his latest project "This Far EP". You can read all the details from the interview below:

Riley: "So like I do with all artists I interview, I always like to start with where they started, so go ahead and tell me a little bit about where you from, and how you started rapping."

E.III: "So originally, I'm from Detroit, Michigan so there's a heavy rap influence there already, you could go back to somebody like Blade Icewood or somebody like that. There's just a lot of influences and a lot of local rappers, and they're like regular people that you see rapping so I kinda grew up on that. Of course the mainstream stuff as well but kinda growing up in the mid 2000's, I wasn't hip to lyrical rap it was kinda like the SouljaBoy and Lil Flip and stuff like that. So from then on, we would rap at the lunch table in middle school and things like that, but I had never took it seriously because of sports and basketball. When i moved out to AZ, I had a couple friends that started rapping and things like that, but I didn't really know how to go about it. I didn't know how my parents would look at it. Then, about 2 years ago there was an app called RapChat that came out and literally everyone was on it. One time somebody was like 'go ahead try it' and I did it and got good feedback and they started telling me 'You should do this for real'. I was still a little shaky on it and then they kept pushing me telling me 'Bro, just try it.' So then I put out my first song called 'The Preface' which came out in 2017 and from then on out I've just been experimenting with different sounds and things like that and now we're here."

R: "So your latest project, 'This Far', great project, perfect size as well coming in with 6 tracks. When I listen to your music, I get that same positive vibe I get when I listen to Nipsey, Tsu Surf or even Dom K, that's that 'it's time to get this money' feeling. A lot of the young kids out there that listen to your music, I'm sure they get the same feeling when they play your songs. So what would be your advice to a young kid out there listening to you with intent on conquering their dreams and whether it be rap or not?"

E: "Get to it anyway you can. There's gonna be a lot of people talking down, there's gonna be a lot of negative energy. I feel negative energy is pushed more than positive energy nowadays. Especially in terms of 'clout' and things like that so I would say definitely do what you wanna do despite what others say about you whether it be your family, friends, whoever. Do what you wanna do because you want to do it. Once you start doing things for you instead of other people, and switch your mindset, everything changes. Always gotta stay positive, especially now because on social media negative energy is promoted way more than positive energy. So always keep positive energy."

R: "In the music industry, now we're seeing a lot more artists being more versatile with their crafts. First one that comes to mind is Drake, he literally can and has done any and everything. How important do you feel it is for artists to be more versatile with their craft in today's day and age?"

E: "I feel like it;s very beneficial, in terms of features you can get featured on more things. Like you said Drake has a song with Beyonce, then he has a song with Jay-Z you know? Some people are just good at what they do and they can do whatever, and even if the style doesn't fit to a certain song, people will still want to work with you regardless. But if you're more versatile and can adapt to different sounds, I feel like that benefits you more. Like in basketball, instead of just being a shooter if you can be a shooter who dribbles, rebounds and plays good defense, you'll be a better help in the long run and it's the same thing with music."

R: "So 'This Far' was kind of like your coming out party this year, great idea throwing your SoundCloud tracks on an EP for Apple Music to stream it on another, more accessible platform with arguably a wider audience. Is there anything else you have in store for us in 2019?"

E: "Just been doing a lot of prepping, a lot of writing, getting back into the studio soon. I have an EP coming sometime early 2019. My goal is to have it out by the end of February, and that will be the first of 3 EPs, I'm not gonna touch too much on it but each EP is gonna be a different sound. I've been working on different ways to flex my versatility like we talked about earlier. I also have some singles coming out in the mean time."

R: "How much do you think the hate, or negative energy we talked about can be beneficial your career?"

E: "Haters kinda keep you going. I like that sense of doubt. I haven't dropped in a minute, since like September and I feel like people are sleeping on me right now. It's okay though they'll see what I've been working on soon enough."

Make sure to check out some of E.III's songs like No Losses, I Get It, and Conversations out now on SoundCloud, also be sure to stream "This Far EP" available on Apple Music. Last but not least be sure to be on the lookout for the new EP from E.III coming early 2019.