Cryptic One
June 2015
Who are you?
I’m Cryptic One, aka Cryp Uno, from the 90s underground supergroup Atoms Fam and current sub supergroup ATOMS.
Where do you live?
Brooklyn, New York.
What do you do?
I’m a music producer, rapper, writer, videographer, photographer and a few other “ers” that I wont bore you with.
When did you start?
That would depend on which start you mean…
1986: I started DJing.
1987: I started writing rhymes.
1988: I started making beats.
1990: I recorded my first demo.
1995: I got my first production credit on an international release.
1996: I released my first record on my own label.
How was your first show/performance?
My first performance was in 1994 at an open mic in NYC. I was nervous to the point that my hands were shaking uncontrollably while on stage. I’ve since gotten over the hand shaking, but I still get nervous before every show.
What would you like to gain from your work?
A sustainable career while maintaining all of my dignity and integrity. Sounds easy, but in the music biz it’s a constant struggle.
What would you like your audience to gain from your work?
The main thing that threads all of my work together is emotion. I hope my art invokes an emotional response in my audience. They don’t have to be inline with what I’m portraying—everyone interprets things differently—but as long as they feel something, I’m doing my job.
Who or what are your biggest influences?
I could answer this 10 times a day every day for the rest of my life without repeating a thing. I’m influenced by everything: from environments to conversations, to books, to colors, lighting, etc. If we’re talking musically, it varies as well: from Tame Impala to David Axelrod, to Björk, to Mozart, to Earl Sweatshirt, to Jay Electronica, to Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, A Tribe Called Quest, Portishead, Black Moon, Stevie Wonder, Jay Z, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and onwards. New and old, pop or underground…I take from it all.
What keeps you up at night?
Not a damn thing: I sleep like a rock.
What’s next?
I’m very excited to be working on an upcoming project called Peloverde. I’m on production with my friend Poozy singing. We don’t have a release date just yet, but I will say that we’re aiming for sometime later this year. I’m also currently working on Beataday 2, which is the second part in a series where I make a beat every day for 100 days straight. Each beat is then accompanied with a 15 second video clip. You can see all of the beats/videos from the series here. http://crypticonebeataday.tumblr.com I also have some other projects in the works, including a bunch of stuff I’m producing for other rappers, but I’m not ready to reveal the details about those just yet.
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