- For those who don’t know could you please give a little background as to who you are, what you do and where you’re from?
On December 1988 (Winter Break), in South Side San Jose, California, I decided to pick up the pen and write my very first rap called “Breakthrough”. I busted it for my family, and my uncle said I’m pretty good, I should keep it up. So I continued to write like a mad man, and I created this unorthadox dance style. My friends will tell you I use to do Hyfee type dances way before it’s time. I took on the name Zest because thats what my uncle use to tag. Back then I use to write what I called “Scrolls”, 7 to 12 page raps, lol. It was perfect for the X-Clan period, but that’s about it. But anyway, I started off battle rhyming, shifted to conscious rap, and formed a group called “Positively Divine” which later merged with “Dave Dub” and his cousin “Player Priest” to form “Disciple X Trybe” in 1991. At the time and still true to this day, Dave and I stayed on the same wavelength, always seen eye to eye. I moved down to Southern California during the peak of Crip and Blood season. The “Boyz in the Hood” movie just launched and the experience in the streets was unbelievable. I slowly turned back to battle rhyming only this time my rhymes became darker. I talked with Dave on the phone discussing the changes in our rhyme content. He decided we’d called it the “Nightbreed”. It was a dark journey that we were to take, but eventually rise from (we were kids with a big imagination). As crazy as it sounds, it was truly parallel to our real life, it was just a huge metaphor. It was the end of 1991, at this point our level of the Hip Hop experience became a parable. By 1993 it was solidified, I was totally submerged, there was no turning back. I lived, breath, and pumped underground hip hop in my veins. I lived with my boy “Zono aka Dracula” we formed the “Sunflower Kids”. The name was purposely deceiving, we were on some wickedness. I was the styler, Zest aka Nigalooh Damon. One night of that summer I wrote DFTUA, while listening to an old broken record of Sade looping, over and over. Sunflower Kids later evolved into HP (the Hyena Pack), then I moved back up to Northern Cali summer 1994.
- Break it down for us on how you got your name Zest The Smoker?
After being inspired by DFTUA, I felt like I was under the influence of a spirit. It kept talking about this guy who nobody likes to hang around because he smokes too much. I could not shake it. I worked swing shift in a steel mill, 6 days a week. Only had Tuesdays off, it was horrible. So early January 1994, one night on my lunch break, I pulled out this paper towel and wrote “Im tweaking seeking a new planet to live on- I’m finding rappers I can wrap my Zag Zigs on-” Then I caught writers block for about 30-45mins, then the rest of the song poured out to me in a few minutes. I recited that song to a few friends, they loved it, and started calling me the Smoker.
- Death…At 27 (The Motion Picture Soundtrack) is your debut album recorded back in 2002, why did it take til’ /09 to drop?
I use to work a corporate job in Electronics, had plenty of money to furnish my own home studio. By 2002, I officially changed my label name to “Cryogenic Recordz” (original founded my label in 1997). I quit my corporate job thinking I had enough money to last another year. During that time I could release Death, record a solo LP and a Crystal Lake L.P. But my calculations were wrong. Everything in my life started to go down hill. First the money got tight after 6 months, then after another 8 months everything crumbled. By 2004 I started to work on another project called “Kill to Live”. I recorded the first song “It Aint All Good” by that point I was on a whole different zone. No more zoned out parables, I was talking about the drama of my everyday life. Due to financial priorities, Death took the back burner. Death mainly represented the “Nightbreed Era”, not that I didn’t like it, I recorded countless songs and Death is my only complete project. Meaning, I can actually listen to Death from beginning to the end and be in the same zone, I’m very satisfied with the end results, I just felt I elevated (hence the end track transcend). I actually played some of the Death tracks for RZA back in 2004, he like it. Said I reminded him of the late “Grym Reaper” and said the Gravediggaz might do another album, if so, he’ll reach out to get me on it. Dave always liked the Death EP, he called me up and asked me what am I doing with it, I said “It’s just waiting to be released”. He said he had a distribution deal with “Legendary Entertainment”, I was like “Whatever’s Clever”. It’s a very personal project, I did all of the engineering, even the cover art. I walked miles trying to find that skull, lol. Then I spray painted it Chrome, wrapped a Hundred Dollar bill around a pen to look like a cigarette, and use my boy Progress’s cheap digital camera he got free with his computer. It took forever to get that picture because the camera never captured what I viewed through the lens. If I had the skull in focus, the picture would capture a partial skull, or it would come out blurry, it was never consistent.
- You’ve got a crew called Camp Crystal Lake Cult whats up with that & who’s down with yall?
Camp Crystal Lake was founded in 1996 by “Cough it Up” and I. Cough just started producing, and played his first batch of beats for me. I was able to rhyme over every single track which is very unusual for me. I’m very picky, my style is so unorthadoxed that it is hard for me rhyme over just any beat, even beats that I like. I told him I was vibing on the name Crystal Lake, because I thought nothing could be iller than that name when it comes to killin emcees on the mic. It’s a plain massacre. He agreed, then we invited all of the members from our existing crew: HP, Subcontents, and the Kynivn Bastards. Then later we added the Kilohertz Devils and Defense in 2001. Nowadays even though there’s a lot of members who say they are down, only a few Lake members actually rep the Lake like me, Cough, Barry Bones, and Progress aka Wolf. I get the feeling everyone else treats Crystal Lake like its just an album or something they can dip in and out of, but we’ll see.
- Will you be touring any time soon and if so where?
No touring until I finish my two SMokeVillain projects, or at least my first one.
- You also do your own production & engineering under the alias OddZilla, have you been / will you be working with any other artists on the production tip?
Not yet, I have so many back logged solo projects and Camp Crystal Lake projects that take priority. I don’t produced that much to have an over flow of beats for non-Crystal Lake artist, but eventually I would like to.
- Whats motivates Zest The Smoker in making music?
Getting shyt of my chest, tired of all these wack emcees, wack music, and I got something to say about it. I do what I want to hear, nothing matches what I hear in my head, I fiend for that sound, since nobody else can do it, guess I have to take matters into my own hands. You know the old saying, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Thats why I do all of my own engineering, I’ve had too many bad experiences letting people take over my mix.
- Whats next on your agenda Zest?
I have two SMokeVillain projects, two Nuakia SMoke projects, and two Crystal Lake projects. One of the Lake projects will just be me and Dave Dub as “Black Christ” After that, inshallah, I can go on to complete 7 more major projects I have in mind. But the first SMokeVillain project should be ready by the end of this year, if things stay on schedule. Through the years I have created many songs, and lost many as well. So I have fragments of incomplete projects. I’m thinking of releases some of those fragments on an album called “the SMoker Filez”, sometime between now and the end of 2009. I have many marketing strategies in mind that I don’t want to speak on, until I finish the first two SMokeVillain projects. I also plan on writing a screen play for a short film in between that time. I did a score for my sister’s short film “Long Gone” and love how it came out. I co-directed the “My Ol’ Nasty Habit” video, I kinda wanna do an extension to that.
- Anything else you wanna say?
Yeah, Blue mics are cutting back on quality, but selling the product as if nothing change. This is pissing me off. We all know Gold sounds better than Alloy (or whatever type of metal they are using now), we need to do something about this, lol! Check me out on myspace for more info “ZesttheSmoker”… stay tuned.