Rahiem Supreme Interview
03/09/2022 3:15PM
What was your first car and what made you really fall in love with working with cars
My first car was probably an ‘89 Acura Legend. I bought it from my cousin but he got it from my uncle. A few of my first cars was like passing on the family before purchasing, like a playa price deal for it . And the car I’ve got now, I was very fascinated with those...
What is the car that you have now?
It is a Datsun 84 Z turbo 300 ZX. Also, right before Datsun switched to Nissan. So some people that don’t know what Datsun is refer to it as a Nissan. So, a lot of people back in day thatwas getting money in the 80s and stuff when that car came out. You’d see a lot of them Paid in Full type dudes or musicians and athletes getting money
So the fly niggas, the get-money niggas
Type shit, it was one of them joints. So that was one of the inspirations why I wanted it and then I liked the car, how it looked before even I got the information about how much impactful the car was within within the culture. Because it just was a lot of state of the art like ahead of its time type of features on it. Like the car talks, has a leather dashboard, digital dash, T-tops, all that type of shit popping lights and I’m just just looking at it like what the fuck, I’m like 16 amazed at all of it.
The doors, did the doors come like that? are those Gullwing doors?
Well nah, they’re regular doors but yeah you can take the roof off. It’s T-top so it looks like a Gull- wing when the roof is off. I want to throw some fucking lamb doors or some shit on it. But that joint, I’m seeing people in the barber shop family members driving that joint and I was like man I want one so bad. So my cousin he helped me find on Craigslist this is back in Craigslist was popping, we drove to Richmond. I bought a fucked up one, it had mice in it, all types of shit was wrong with it but i was pressed!
How long ago was this?
2012-2011 It was around that time. So I had my fair share of them like about 10 of them. And this one is the one that after the experience of fucking them up and learning shit. This was the one where I got my got my vision together with.
So this is your first Datsun?
This is my 10th Datsun, like consecutively year after year. I’ll get one and fuck them up. And yeah.
Wow. How long have you had this one?
I had this one probably going on three years now.
Does it feel like a keeper?
Yeah, this one is the one, the only way somebody could get it, and I would probably still turn down the money, they’d had to offer me probably about $20,000 Wow. And I’d probably still not take it because then I’d have to start over.
You’ve obviously put a lot of care into it. I feel like that’s another thing with a car, You’ve you’ve spent so much time with it like you’ve made it to your specifications, It’s kinda like shoes right? Not “just like shoes” but humans breaking in shoes. Once you’ve broken them in you enjoy wearing them. Like I don’t want to have to break in another pair of shoes
Right? You got to search for ‘em again and all that shit.
I know you like the beauty of the cars and like the vibe and the culture but do you like to go inside and under the hood ? Are you involved in the build, taking apart and putting together?
Yeah, definitely that came after. A few years ago, I started doing it in that aspect, because some shit that’s too intricate, or I might not have the tools I won’t do. But my plan is to like when I’ve soon moved and have a garage and all that shit. I literally do like every single thing. But I got a mechanic. I had a vision, you know, I was like, I wanted a car that I can drive daily and I can take to the track sometimes. That turned into, recently I’m like, you don’t wanna daily a daily classic like this you feel me... So I need to make that a secondary cause sooner or later. But yeah I just wanted to build it and have it track ready and if I want to hang out and there’s stuff going on or it’s a nice day I want to have it for that. So doing preventative maintenance to keep it on the road and things like that. So if shit goes wrong, it won’t be nothing catastrophic. And everything else that happens is because it’s old, seals and shit are gonna go bad and leaks will start so you’ll know this motherfucker need seals.
So kind of reason I brought that up is because the other day, I was hanging with my friend work- ing on this car. He has a 98 Civic that he just got and he’s replacing the coilovers and things that are like, just deep inside the car. Just watching them take everything apart, unscrewing shit that’s been in there for 20 years. And half of me is like, “damn, it’s crazy how hard it is to take this off.” And the other half is like “okay, but that’s why the car doesn’t fall apart while you’re driving it right? Because this is tight. Like it has to be.” Do you think about like how How insane that is? Like how so many different pieces and like parts come together to make a car and then just add four wheels and it moves.
Nah that shit is, they definitely nerded out on some technician and craftsmanship, building, me- chanical, operating, yeah this shit is definitely some yeah.
Because that’s kind of how every machine is right It’s just a collection of components, components that have to work in harmony, just for one goal. Even the human body is like that I guess, everything has to work together to go. Humans were designed through I don’t know evolution, God whatever you want to call it right? But then for us to design and create more, it’s mad even thinking about the invention of cars
Oh yeah, computers too, game and shit.
Do you ever think about how that can be the way songs are made as well? Because even in your music, we were talking about how you’ve got different sketches, you’re not telling one story but everything just has to work together
Yeah facts facts. Joints be lasting and certain shits, they’d be ahead of the time. I’m back buying old school game systems and shit, i’m catching on late that pricing and games won’t be the same price they used to be. I dropped $170 not too long ago on Fight For New York Def Jam. On PS2.
That’s crazy. It’s that rare?
Shit yeah. They got so many good games on PS2 I forgot about that shit. Starting with the bas- ketball joints, they want bread for the NBA Street. The half court NBA Ballers type shit. The soundtrack on those joints
They were going crazy like those late 2000s. The PS2 was just the golden age of video games man, so many sick games
Like that Scarface joint, I forgot you can do all that shit on there, a cousin of mine was like “man you showed me this on the joint how you don’t remember?” Because you go you gotta negotiate
go to the clubs, the bar, go to bank ,going over the border and all that. You had a driver, call the driver whip you around with any car you request and he strapped up too you gotta pay cops, all types of shit.
What draws you towards vintage, old shit because I feel like you’re definitely drawn to classic shit like 90s 80s vibes right? What is it about that era?
I like how the technology and all the shit they were using are still here like good production, good writing, well put-together and the visual aesthetics. There was a whole bunch of like anime and cyberpunk type joints like endless different joints like hold up, joints back then was already pre- dicting[now] and then the animations like how they put anime together has changed, that shit looked tough in the 80s
Yeah and that shit was hard as hell for them to put together, drawing everything by hand and stitching slides together.
Yeah and for some reason they were on some futuristic in the 80s and then the music was just like, niggas on some whole different shit. Because Rick James singing shit he’s doing like crazy storytelling, you know how he be harmonizing melodies and shit.
You know he used to just freestyle too because when he was performing, Rick James a lot of times was more of a bandleader. So he would just be up there on stage going crazy and he’d be like, he’d tell like the drummer yeah, gimme a beat or something and then he’d just starts singing, obviously he’s got his songs that they already got in order but a lot of times he would just like start doing shit and improvise.
Yeah he’s the GOAT, James definitely one of the wildest, and like RUN DMC, the female singers back then some of their songs and reggae and shit fat boys, whodini, all that shit
And they all had eccentric styles too
Everybody had on some lil two piece on or some different type shit
It’s so crazy how people talk about like fashion nowadays and like oh, like talking about rappers what rappers wear but rappers have been dressing weird since rap began, it’s just what it is. Rappers are always gonna put that shit on
Yeah thats all bullshit
Alright, so music shit, you’re in the underground universe at this point, working a lot of great underground rappers and producers. Are there any artists in the underground right now that you fuck with but haven’t had a chance to work with?
Definitely Swan[Lingo], Wifigawd, Sadhugold. I need to figure out some more joints to do cus there’s so many producers
Somebody wanted me to ask if you plan on or want to work with August Fanon or Concept Jackson?
Con yeah definitely, I have to look more into August Fanon
*Listening to Espionage* I swear I can visualize all of this shit you’re saying, it’s really sick
Yeah I was really spazzing on this joint
Do you think that America wants to go to war with Russia?
It’s a possibility man, but how do you feel about all the fake bodybags they were showing people?
Fake body bags? In Ukraine?
Yeah they had them lined up and all that but it turned out the video was from somewhere else.
So it was real bodies but not really Ukrainian bodies?
Nah it wasn’t even dead people in the joints, it was some type climate change protest.
White people are crazy man. I’m gonna keep real I’m honestly neutral in this conflict. I don’t know, it’s not really my business but I’m curious to see where it goes.
So you grew up Uptown right? what parts?
Hilltop, around Georgia Ave
What was that like?
Fly shit, rough times, good times, summertime shit, hood ass shit. It was live because motherfuck- ers was always cooking out around the way throwing block parties or club shit on the regular. It would just feel like everywhere was like a strip of live shit walking past on the regular type shit back then. Then there was the frontline and shit so you couldn’t really go to every party or hood.
What’s frontline?
That’s like if a hood is scheming whoever walks past next type shit or whoever comes to that joint so they’re just all out already, waiting.
That’s wild
Yeah back in the Myspace days, you could have a joint set you up on there and tell you to come to her crib, all them social network joints, have the whole hood waiting on your ass. I’d see the address and be like nah I ain’t going out there.
Luckily now you can just like Google to address and see where it’s at
Yeah man back then... niggas got endless stories where niggas almost got caught.
Where there really no school buses in DC?
I think I probably seen one now and then... it definitely wasn’t in the public schools.
What is the kundalini
Thats some shit you gotta study, you know the people that they sit in certain ways praying or med- itating, chakra you know, it be like a bulletin or something with diagrams. Yeah it’s some spiritu- al shit definitely. The dominant focus is probably on getting the feminine energy type shit, semen retention and shit. Whats that shit called taoism? Niggas just be building up spirit bombs.
That’s what Taoism is about? Semen retention?
When you be strengthening your joint and just not busting the joint. We have all this energy but I guess they say sexual energy emits powerful energy and you can be super alert or super saiyan or super focused type shit. You might be like damn I’m going out soon alright for a week I won’t bus no joints out that way it works the day I go out you know what I’m saying? Retain for like a week, we good money. and that’s Taoism. Because they say the energy of the joint too is like if a nigga walks in a store that be busting nuts all the time, the woman at the register can tell that you just bust nuts all the time and the pheromones that to react
You are quite prolific, with 7 releases in just the past year, what drives to to release music on such a consistent basis?
Sometimes I just want to drop as soon as I’m done recording. You can either drop a single, EP, or album. Sometimes by the time you drop the season has changed and the music is no longer rele- vant. Other times I have to wait for the perfect scenario to release.
What is the ultimate truth?
Being real, love, staying consistent.