Seattle hiphop artist Kublakai (aka Ian Waller) released The Basics in early January, and we've happily kept tracks from the record such "Oh Lord" and "Power Food" in our frequent playlist rotation ever since. This week, Kublakai talked to Seattlest in an exclusive about jazz, Snoop Dogg, his mom, a budding film career, and more!

What kind of music did you listen to during your growing up years? What was the first record you ever purchased?
Well, before I had a choice, my mom forced me to listen to jazz, which in hindsight really ain't so bad. When you're listening the beats I chose for my cd, you can probably hear the heavy influence of jazz in it. My mom would quiz me on it. A jazz singer would come on in a movie or on the radio and I would be forced to guess [who was singing], or a trumpet solo would come on and I would have to guess. She never made it too complicated. Usually the singer was Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald, or the trumpet was Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis, but as time went on, my knowledge of jazz talent deepened. I do the same thing with her now. An MC will come on the TV and I'm like, "Who's that?" She usually just throws out "Wu-Tang" like it's one person. She does know her local MC's pretty well though.

The first cd I ever bought with my own money was Doggystyle by Snoop. Mom wouldn't buy it for me, so my fifth grade ass snuck out of the house to the mall and bought it with two weeks' allowance. Until about freshman year in high school, I was a slave to the radio coming up: whatever was hot, regardless of genre. I never knew how to find music besides mainstream radio until I found Napster, and then it was good ol' indie hiphop all the way. My friend gave me Camp Lo in 7th grade and I damn near shit myself because I didn't know hiphop like this was out there.

What would you name as the top three components of your life that contribute to your creative process? How do you feed your soul and avoid burnout? (Or do you?!)
The Music. It sounds too simple to be true, but if the beat inspires, the writing of the song comes easy. You can work real hard at a beat that is just mediocre to make something from nothing, and there is always a huge pay-off when that happens. But if the music is already dope, the creativity just spills forward. When it comes to reading, I tend to keep my nose into odd/interesting things. If you're learning new things your brain should never stop forming new ideas, and thus more creation happens.

And of course, the inevitable life drama. I tend to try not to get too personal on tracks, just because I don't always want to explain myself. Still, it's a natural stress relief. If something's on your chest, it's easy to put it down in whatever creative medium you use. And although a lot of those songs never get recorded, there are a lot of them that get written, please believe.

Lots more after the jump! Photo of Kublakai by Ryan Lewis on Imeem.com.

How would you describe your music to someone who's never heard hiphop before?
A mixture of brutal truth, sometimes in a comedic way as to soften the blow; compassionate, light-hearted social commentary with a sprinkling of personal struggles spoken over music that you wanna hear over and over again for hours. Everyone may not love it but no one's gonna hate it, and no one will ever say what I'm talking about isn't important.

The new cd--what kind of reception did it get, and what were you hoping for? How are you feeling about your baby now that it's borne the public eye?
Well, I would have to say the jury is still out. Since it's a self-released indie record, trying to get it to all avenues to be heard for critique (let alone heard in general) is a looooooonnnnnnng process. But so far, it's been incredible. I had high hopes, but the amount of love and respect and appreciation I've gotten in the first six weeks since the release has been far beyond what I expected. Especially in this highly critical 206 scene, everyone has had nothing but good things to say about it. For me, that was the biggest relief.

A lot of people have extended a hand to say how much they liked the cd. Two of the best ones were Larry [Mizell Jr] giving me his whole column, which was extremely flattering, and Geologic [from Blue Scholars] sending me a text message while he was on the road telling me they'd been bumping [the cd] on tour. For me, that's mind-blowing. These are peers in the community giving me love for my cd: it's extremely validating and appreciated. And I have to mention that my album just got added to regular rotation on KEXP. I hoped it would get played, but that's pretty crazy to me. REQUEST ME!!! lol.

In the liner notes for The Basics, you thank your mother first. And on your Myspace profile, your mom is your #1 friend! Tell us more about what seems like an amazingly strong, supportive relationship, and how it's impacted your music career.
She raised me, and I like me, so thats a good sign....hahaha. Seriously, telling my mom I didn't want to go to college any more and that I would rather try and persue a career in hiphop was the most terrifying experience ever. It is actually probably one of the main reasons it took me so long to dive into this whole thing feet first. But since I did, she's supported me every step of the way. So has my whole family, and having support like that....I can't lose. Like I said before, my mom immersed me in the jazz culture growing up. Like jazz, hiphop is one of the only music cultures to which America can lay claim to birthing, so I think it's fitting that I become a part of it similarly to how she did. She was a DJ and her love and knowledge for music was (and is) pretty profound; I think it's safe to say some of that rubbed off on me. She's a great mom and a great person, and super-supportive of my music and the direction I'm going. I'm pretty blessed.

Seems like Nectar is home-base for you. What do you like about that venue?
Well, not only is Nectar just a great spot to play at when it comes to a mid-sized venue for sound, stage and mood, but it's relatively central in the city and it's supportive of hiphop. Also, Colin has been more than generous and accomodating. He gave me the opportunity to throw my record release there, and continues to work with me on shows in the future. Nectar and their entire staff have been great to me, and as long as they're good to me, I'm gonna continue to book shows through them and build a great business relationship. So far, so good.

I've heard you talk about getting involved in the movie business. What are your ambitions in that area of the entertainment world? Are we talking indie films, music videos, or Hollywood blockbusters (or all three)?
Before I had the sack to tell Moms I wanted to be a rapper, I was pretty into the idea of making movies, or more specifically, writing movies. Me and my friend Mark Sayre were gonna go to Hollywood and become famous--at least, that was the plan. Well, somewhere in there, life happened and I decided that I like movies, but I don't know how much I want to make them. And why can't I be a rapper and still write a script or two along the way? Answer: I can. So, who knows what Kubi has up his sleeve?

Funny thing is, I changed my mind but my friend Mark did not. He is now a Hollywood producer working on several different projects that vary in scale and grandeur. One of his projects is called Perfect Sport, an independent film directed by Anthony O' Brian and starring Gary Hudson (from Law & Order) and Jessica Rose from Myspace fame: "lonely girl 16". It has no contemporary music in it, aside from music from The Basics. Another is a comedy called The Life of Lucky Cucumber with some of your favorite Jackasses and Dian Bacher (also known as "Squeak" from Baseketball), with Matt Stone and Trey Parker (creators of South Park). It's rumored (shhhh) to have another Kublakai song in it.

I also just had my first acting role in Henry McComas' short film Emerald City. My part in it is about five seconds long, but a fun time for me nonetheless. I love film and I hope to be a part of them, but I'll be honest. Rappers are not the best actors. Common, please stop. Andre 3000, please stop. Y'all are some of my favorite rappers and you are blowing it. Luda was pretty good in Crash, not so much in 2Fast2Furious though. Yeah, I saw it. So WHAT!!!?! I got lucky to have a friend down in L.A. making some incredible things happen, and if I'm lucky enough to be a part of a movie or two here and there on my road to wherever....I more than welcome the experience.

There is a music video in the works with Griff J, the same director who did [Grieves' and Type's video] My Girlfriend Beats Me. I'm also in the very, very baby stages of possibly going down to LALA Land and doing a music video with the aforemetioned Mark Sayre. Whatever happens, I look forward to it.

Where's your favorite place to get a sandwich in Seattle?
Tubs Gourmet Subs. That place is the muthafuckin' truth.

It's 2am on a Saturday night. Where are you (and what are you drinking)?
Probably with Type, drinkin shitty beer and getting my ass kicked at Super Mario Kart. It's supernatural how good at that game he is. I have to drink to make it make sense.

Seattle: don't miss Kublakai, Alpha P, Neema, Prem, and Jay Barz at Nectar on Friday night! Thank you, Kublakai, and we'll see you on Friday.