Wax trying to give rap universal appeal with new album, ‘Livin’ Foul’

No longer signed to Def Jam Recordings, Los Angeles-based rapper Wax has steadily been on his independent grind largely due to his expansive Internet fan base. The former MacGregor frontman’s latest opus, Livin Foul, is everything one could hope for and more.

Let’s hop right into this brand-new album, Livin Foul. Conceptually, what does this title represent both to and for you?
The title track of the album is called “Livin Foul,” and it is about growing old but still living like you are young in terms of getting f—ed up and whatnot. The album is basically me talking about how great I am, and me talking about how bad I suck and I just want to escape from life. I think if you mushed all the songs together you would see an egomaniac trying to lose his ego.

How does Livin Foul either compare to your previous efforts?
It is a bit more cohesive since me and Davy Nathan produced the whole thing. It is still kinda all over the place, but it has a consistent vibe from start to finish, due to the production and my voice.

The set’s latest offering is titled, “This One’s On Me.” How did it come to fruition?
Davy and I made that beat last year or something. We were drinking in the studio one day, and my boy AK heard that beat and he was hammered. He said, with a slurred voice, “Yo, man, this sound like ‘I got it, everything’s on me!’ ” And, I agreed that it was a good topic. I proceeded to write the verses while thinking of my brother. My brother used to help me out all the time, financially and otherwise, when my money was low. The song is kinda about buying him a night out on the town as a form of payback I guess. It could also be about just helping people in general. Davy and I got some help at the end of the process from our boy Philip Lawrence of The Smeezingtons. He helped us with the production and some lyrical changes to try to make the song more powerful and universal.

Reflecting, when did you first become interested in music? 
I first got into music via MTV. My family was the first family in the neighborhood to get cable, and my brother and I would watch MTV all the time. We wanted to be like the people on there. I started playing guitar and writing songs when I was in 6th grade. My first rap song was a dis song to my friend about his haircut. That was a long time ago; I am old.

Now where exactly do you hail from? And growing up there, who were your strongest musical influences?
There is something funny to me about the phrase “hail from” … it makes me sound like I am a prize fighter. I appreciate you asking it that way. I hail from Maryland, although I have lived in California for nine years now. As far as local influences, I am from a small town so there were not a lot of crazy influential musicians there. That said, I owe my whole guitar style to my guitar teacher in Jim Wood. He was a Vietnam Vet and a blues guitar player. He had short fat fingers and was an amazing teacher. He taught me how to improvise and use the guitar as a writing tool. His original song that he would always play was about cocaine, and I didn’t realize that until much later in life; he taught me when I was like 13 (to) 15. Also, being from the DMV area I was very into go-go music. You can hear that influence in some of my music I think.

How then would you describe or define the style of music that you create and perform?
I do a lot of different stuff. I mostly make rap music that has kind of a ’90s feel to it, I guess. I also do acoustic, bluesy music. Sometimes I make country music, too. Rap pays the bills, though.

Where did the moniker “Wax” originally derive from?
I honestly don’t remember … I have had it since I was really young. I usually answer this question with a fake story or meaning to the name.

What do you feel you offer the music industry that we don’t already have in other performers?
I don’t really think like that. The most valuable thing you can be as a performer is yourself. Nobody else can be you.

What do you want people to get from your music? 
I want people to get whatever they get. Again, I don’t really think about it like that. I make what I wanna make, and a lot of people go through the same things so they can relate. I am always happy when I get an email from someone saying they got something positive out of my music.

If you could collaborate with any one artist, living or dead, who would it be and why? 
Probably Bob Marley just because he seems so wise. The music would be secondary. I would be just as interested in talking to him and gathering knowledge.

If you could play any venue in the world, which one would you choose and why?
I don’t know. So far, my favorite venues I have played are venues I didn’t know existed until I played them. I like the mystery of not knowing better than striving to do specific things.

One track of yours that you think defines you and why.
Right now, it would be “Scumbag,” which is the first song on this new album. It talks about how the ego driven Hollywood dream makes you a selfish a–hole. If you were raised right like I was, this produces a constant feeling of guilt in the background of your existence. You know inherently that something is wrong with this fake dream, but you are seduced by it and at a certain point you stop giving a f— at all, but you still kinda give a f—.   

What are your future plans and/or goals for sustaining longevity in music? 
I am just gonna make more music and other various types of art. I have a decent amount of fans that have supported me so far. Hopefully, they will continue to buy T-shirts and whatnot.

Do you have any other outside/additional aspirations, maybe even completely away from music?
I do stand up comedy now, which I actually plan to fuse with my music. As far as outside of the entertainment business, I just wanna spend way more time with family than I do now. 

To date, what has been your biggest career moment? 
My biggest career moment was definitely this interview.

Looking ahead, say five or maybe even 10 years from now, where do you see yourself?
What I like about this business and life in general is that you don’t know what is going to happen. In five years, I could either be a homeless drug addict or a billionaire. At this point, it’s a coin toss.

As for the immediate, what’s next for you, Wax? 
I am making some new music videos. I have a new web series called “Chain Reaction,” where I review chain restaurants. I do stand up comedy in Los Angeles. I am working on new music. I do a weekly podcast called Wax’s Podcast, where I ramble about various things. I may be on tour soon, not sure, and who knows what else.

Is there anything we left out or just plain forgot to mention?
Go get my album on iTunes. I got other albums on there, too, as well as on Spotify and all the other streaming services. Check out my YouTube page: youtube.com/wax . Follow me on Twitter and/or Instagram: @bigwax. My website is: waxdotcom.com. facebook.com/waxdotcom.

Any parting messages for our readers?
Thanks for reading this, y’all. I hope you are having a good day.