Talent Couture: In the Loop

This Sicilian born, New York Bred and Milwaukee raised

artist has been making crazy noise across the internet this summer. With songs

with Trae tha Truth, Smoke DZA, Kid Ink, Killa Kyleon, Kid Cudi and many others

Talent Couture is really taking his music to the next level by working on his

craft and doing so with a humble and confident posture that is as real as it

gets.

With the help of the internationally known DJ Woogie and a

close circle of people working on his team, Talent has put together a string of

videos and songs that have everyone wondering if this kid is the next to

blow. Take a look at AllHipHop.com’s exclusive sit down with one of the game’s most prominent Italian rappers ever. Not that that matters though, when you hear the music you’ll know for yourself, the talent is there.

AllHipHop.com: So tell me a little bit about yourself

man.

Talent Couture:

Pretty much what happened is man, I’m full-blooded Sicilian, in my family, I’m

first generation in this country. So we came from Sicily, moved to Brooklyn,

Red Hook Brooklyn, NYC and so then my family relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in my

early teens. The family business relocated, me being from NY and then moving to

the Midwest, from the mainstay artists from the Midwest like Bone to the East,

to the West, I heard it all. So I think that had a lot to do with how diverse my music is. I grew up around a lot of different styles of hip-hop. So I can do the “Aint Bout Money” track with Trae and then

also do some emo-electronica stuff that has other kinds of appeal

AllHipHop.com:

Talk to me about the Milwaukee hip hop scene…

Talent Couture: Ive

been on Z100 the big station out there and I didn’t go the typical route. A lot of people are busy hating and trying to block each other and there is no unity. I never tried to pop on a local level and cats know me from the national buzz and people know me from my national buzz, but I’m not worried about bar shows, I love Milwaukee but I went right for the throat of the game to the internet. I got a lot of respect for artists out here, but I went straight to the net.

AllHipHop.com:

What are driving forces behind you buzzing on the net?

Talent Couture: Its crazy that you guys at AllHipHop.com recognize that. A lot of artists think that you have to record in million dollar studio, and it’s a misconception about what you have to do to get in the game and get your name, you don’t have to pay $500 an hour in studio time. What I started recording on was a studio in the basement, we did it all ourselves, I have a small circle of producers that I work with. And my dude Philly who helped get my label situation going, he shoots all my videos and ever since we have been buzzin’, he’s been shooting videos for a lot of people. He’s shot videos for Lil B, to Young Berg, and I’ve worked with Smoke DZA, Trae, Kid Cudi.

And really it’s just a difference between being “hungry” and

“thirsty”. Like I have no problem

reaching out to anyone. Its hard work man. Pretty much. The general rapper has the misconception that they might look a certain way trying to reach out to someone to work with them, but not me. DJ Ill Will did my first 3 mixtapes and DJ Z did my first few mixtapes at DJBooth.net. It took me forever to get recognized by

the big websites, and now it feels like they are chasing me and hitting me up

to drop my music exclusively. It’s pretty dope man.

AllHipHop.com: Of your records that are buzzing, what should people be checking for if they aren’t familiar with you at this point?

Talent Couture: The joint that we are pushing right now is produced by Cardo from Taylor Gang and it features Trae tha Truth and Mickey Factz. If you are a hip-hop head, I’m sure you heard it. Then there is “J## Out”, it’s a term in

Milwaukee that is like spazzing out and its like going crazy. No hook, two and

half minutes of me going crazy. Remember how Peedi Crack, used to go in? Production

is by Jahlil Beatz so you already know its dope. Both videos are done and it starts with the “Aint Bout Money” and then it flips into the “J## Out” video. My first tape was Plastic Frames and Bookbags. I got four mixtapes over the last year and a half and you can see the progression on each tape and every mixtape is a progression. Every tape I drop you can feel me improving, its something special and I go back and listen to the material. Just a run down…

1. Plastic Frames and Bookbags Hosted by DJ Ill Will and

Rockstar

2. Jersey Shore

Couture

3. First

Quarter Push –Hosted by DJ Woogie

4. So Many Gems – We dropped that

May 4th on my birthday

5. A New Light

– that’s hosted by Woogie as well.

AllHipHop.com: How have you been making yourself better, what do you do to work on your style? What is your mind state that helps you get better.

Talent Couture: With me I thought as a youngin’, I thought I was always so nice that people owed me something. Every rapper says that and after people really not taking to me, I fell back and worked on every facet as an artist. I worked on beat selection, my hooks. I think that I found my niche and I am in a real comfortable zone with my music, from my hooks, bars and its more than being an MC and I think I can achieve both. I can

make hot songs and I can rap my ass off.

AllHipHop.com: Who

are you getting compared to and who is in your circle or who do you pace

yourself against?

Talent Couture:

Musically I haven’t gotten caught too many comparisons, but as a whole when I

was coming up, you know people always want to sound like their favorite rapper,

at times people would say I sound too much like Corey Gunz or Lloyd Banks or

Lil’ Wayne. I was only looking at it like, that’s dope, but now only

comparisons I get now, is Pauly D from Jersey Shore. (laughs)

AllHipHop.com:

(laughs) Yea you got the hair thing…

Talent Couture: (laughs) Na, but now its like Talent Couture, Kid Ink, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar and Chevy Woods. Kid Ink is the homie, but I don’t know why everyone thinks that they need to tell me when his new project drops, but I get that a lot. (laughs) I always draw a comparison to Kid Ink.

AllHipHop.com:

That must feel good though to get that attention. Those artists are all doing well now.

Talent Couture: I can’t believe it bro. It took so long. So for all the artists that think that it won’t happen, I’m Italian. It was hard for me, and people would talk about my album covers and have slick comments, but when the actually

listen to the music, they think its dope and then they come back and they are

like, “Dude is nice!”

AllHipHop.com: Your Italian heritage has come up throughout the conversation.

How does that influence your style and how does Italian culture relate

to Hip-Hop culture?

Talent Couture: What

we have always talked about it in my family. I remember my uncles talking about

Italian culture being taken by other cultures with the mob and other stuff like

that. When I was a kid and I remember them saying that and our culture was picked apart in a lot of ways,and I think that’s why I am accepted in hip hop, the mob movies and Godfather etc… So white dudes immediately draw comparisons to Eminem, and for one everyone thinks I am Puerto Rican and people accept me, but as a whole they accept me and I really appreciate that.

AllHipHop.com:

Not only Italian, but Sicilian.

Talent Couture: (laughs)

I always heard that, “Don’t f### wit him he Sicilian” he got the mob f######

wit him… His uncles will kill you!”

AllHipHop.com:

Just shows how worldwide Hip-Hop is these days.

Talent Couture: There’s never been a main stream Italian artist ever and because of that a lot of people want to work with me.

AllHipHop.com: That’s cool man

Talent Couture: Yea I never hear anything bad about my race and everyone thinks it really cool, so I think that I am the first in a couple different facets of the Hip-Hop community.

AllHipHop.com: So what’s up for the rest of the summer and what are you looking forward to?

Talent Couture: Well… I will be back in NYC with DJ Woogie, he is my manager and mentor and he really helped me along the way, and he really believes in me so BIG shouts out to DJ Woogie. W are meeting from Sal from CEG talent and he is super agent. Did you ever watch Entourage? He’s like Ari Gold and he is the agent to Pauly D the Situation and he is a booking agent and he is going to be working with Sony and he wants to work with me and Woogie and next week we are meeting and if we get that hopefully I get that good mainstream push to get my music to the fans.

AllHipHop.com: Anything else you want to tell the

readers?

Talent Couture: It’s pretty much to the fans. It’s the Loop Troop. I keep the fans in the loop and if you in my loop, you f##### wit me. I got some die hard fans.

Anytime someone says something slick, they got my back, so salute the fans

because they don’t let no haters breath. New Light, DJ Woogie did the intro,

there’s no drops no yelling on the tape, so A New Light is brought to you by DJ

Woogie, It features Trae, Mickey Factz, Killa Kyleon, Esso from Harlem, Lil

Chuckee that drops late July, early August, find me on Twitter stay updated and

stay loopy.

AllHipHop.com:

Well thanks man, that great info for the fans.

Talent Couture:

Man I appreciate you man. I been checking for AllHipHop and Breeding Ground

forever. I’m talking about middle school, early high school, so for a site like

y’all to give me the shine it lets me know I am doing something right. Whatever