Once the rarest species of M.C., white rappers such as Asher Roth have recently been populating the diversified hip-hop landscape in increasing numbers. Combine that with the increasing prominence of heretofore musically ignored areas, such as this state giving rise to rappers like Wale, and you have someone who might just be an archetype of the modern M.C. – Wax, a university alumnus.
His is an unlikely journey, and unlike rappers who fervently disavow their pasts for street credibility (like Wale did), Wax was quick to speak of his time as a student at the university in an interview with The Diamondback.
“I was there … ’98 to 2001, I guess,” Wax said. “I majored in government and politics, minored in African American studies. I did pretty well. I got pretty good grades … I worked at the dining hall. I worked in the health building.”
Yet the transition from student to performer was part of a natural progression. According to Wax, he was bitten with the desire to write songs when he was “5 years old.” He has tried to be a musician in every manner or genre possible, even playing guitar and singing in a six-man rock band, Macgregor, which opened for Wyclef Jean at Art Attack in 2002.
“I learned to play guitar when I was, like, 10. I was playing rap guitar or whatever a little bit later than that when I was in high school, middle school or something,” Wax said of his musical evolution. “It’s not something that I decided to do. Those were two things I did so I combined them.”
It was rap music’s sense of rebellion, its braggadocio and disregard for mainstream musical and societal conventions that truly drew Wax – along with multitudes of white, suburban teenagers – into a love affair with the genre.
“When I was really young … it might’ve had to do with the fact that you could just say whatever you want,” Wax said. “Kids like stuff that’s kind of considered bad. I liked N.W.A for the same reason I would have liked Guns ‘N’ Roses or something. I think it’s mostly I just liked the rhythm and the way people were flowing to the beat.”
Taking a reflective step back, Wax is astute enough to make pointed observations about himself and appreciate the cultural history that he has, to a certain degree, inserted himself into through his music.
“I guess I am kind of fascinated with black culture, though,” Wax said. “If you look at any popular American art form … I don’t think I can think of one that wasn’t started by black people. … rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, hip-hop, blues – you can’t name a genre that wasn’t … started by black culture.”
As for the songs themselves, they are far wittier and cleverly conceived than they appear at first glance. Many who purchase Wax’s debut Liquid Courage for the club-ready, boozy odes to strippers, tricks and love will be pleasantly surprised by both the brilliant allusions (“Joan of Arc” and “Marie Antoinette” are name dropped) amidst the rich soulful accompaniments of producer EOM.
“I actually met him on the Internet,” Wax said, narrating the beginning of his fruitful, digital partnership with EOM. “At the time, I was trying to focus on making my own beats, but then he sent me this one beat, and I loved it. Ultimately, we wrote the first song that we wrote off the album to it, ‘The Adventures of Larry and Tina.’ … He ended up sending me like 30 beats, and we just decided to do a whole album together.”
Perhaps Courage’s most impressive effort, “The Adventures of Larry and Tina” is an alternately poignant and obscenely randy ballad about the bittersweet romance between Larry “a 39-year-old dude who was getting over divorce and a custody feud” and his “queen” of the “tight jeans,” Tina.
Wax flows perfectly over an EOM beat reminiscent of early Kanye West, all smooth female soul samples and intricate bass lines on the low end. It’s the type of song that hints at an inheritance of the coveted or reviled “next Eminem” title.
“I just started listening to [the beat]. I just wrote that story to it. It’s just what came to my head while listening to the beat,” Wax said of the song. “I have been to a lot of strip clubs, though. I don’t know. I guess it’s a fascinating place. You automatically know that everybody that works there has a kind of a strange story to them.”
Wax can also be startlingly philosophical regarding the arc his life has taken.
“When I was a kid … I would’ve thought when I was 29 … that I’d be married and have a house and have kids and have a normal job,” Wax said. “I guess what ultimately happened is that … I just said, ‘F— it,’ you know, go to L.A., try it, see what happens.”
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