Bazo talks 'West Rogers' album preparation, traditionally standing out, and neighborhood influences in album Q+A.

By: GroovNuke

Bazo is here with the all new release of his album 'West Rogers'. His ode to his hometown hit all streaming platforms this past week. Bazo is one of many upcoming artists putting on for the North Chicago scene.

This brief Q+A is setting to provide some background on where the 'West Rogers' album is inspired from, and also to give insight on what play a huge part in Bazo's latest.

GroovNuke: Describe the project 'West Rogers' to new listeners?
Bazo: 'West Rogers' is a project that was dedicated to my neighborhood that I grew up and reside in. It's a project that blends in melodic sounds with upbeat rhythms to create different moods and cater to many different emotions a person might be feeling throughout his/her day. 

GroovNuke: Talk about the preparation for the album?
Bazo: The album took a year to create I usually use to record songs and hold them for months because I wanted to put them on this album. I use to drop snippets of the songs I recorded to build up the buzz every now and then and have people asking me when I was going to drop them and I always use to reply with “album coming soon, stay tuned”.

GroovNuke: How was it growing up in Rogers Park? Any influence tied directly in to the project?
Bazo: Growing up in Rogers Park wasn’t too bad I use to always be outside hooping with my homies in the summertime, when it use to get cold we would all be at high ridge YMCA doing the same thing. Rogers Park is very diverse area and one thing that I directly tied into this album was a specific song that I titled “Devon Ave” Devon Ave is a street where you can find people from all around the world but mostly Pakistani and indian people and this is where everyone went to shop for groceries and you could find many different types of restaurants most people from Rogers Park can identify that song title because they’re familiar with the area it was one of the many streets in Rogers Park where you could say it was bussin'.

GroovNuke: How is your buzz in your hometown?
Bazo: I got a really decent buzz in my hometown so far I’ve been approached by fans while waiting for my food at restaurants so that's something I would say is crazy these fans usually be telling me that my homies have told them about me and they put them on my music and that's how they heard of me.

Groovnuke: Who produced and mixed 'West Rogers'?
Bazo:  West Rogers was mixed and produced by many producers half the album is produced by Kidwonder the other half is produced by Ogmicwill, Justspvnk, and Gezin from 808 Mafia.
GroovNuke: How does your cultural influence tie in to the Chicago influence on your artistry?
Bazo: The cultural influence tie into the Chicago influence on my artistry would be that I’m Pakistani and there isn’t too many Pakistani artists like me in Chicago. I use my culture to my advantage to stand out by sometimes wearing traditional clothing in my videos to differentiate myself from other rappers and show people that it’s ok to do your own thing and not follow the norm of society. Most people describe my style as an old school rapper mixed with the new generation of rap music

GroovNuke: What's your favorite song from the project?
Bazo: My favorite track from the album would be “Have it” it's a song produced by Kidwonder. I wrote this song around a whole different beat at the time and this was the start of when I first met Kidwonder I went to his studio and just spit the hook and verse for him and hebuilt a beat around my lyrics in 15-20 mins the song talks about my experiences while maneuvering through the music industry. It talks about everything I’ve seen and gone through and how I got to make it to the top and have it literally after everything I’ve been through and sacrificed for this.

GroovNuke: How is it landing the fellow Chicago artist Lud Foe for a feature on 'West Rogers'?
Bazo: Landing Lud Foe on a track with me was raw as hell, I use to be in highschool and myclassmates around me use to always be blasting his music so getting him on a track withme seems sureel like he’s up there with the Chicago’s best like G Herbo, Chief Keef, FBG Duck this something I would say would go in the books in the things I have accomplished while coming up in the rap game.

 GroovNuke: Describe the feedback you've been receiving on the project?
Bazo: Everyone has been messaging me saying that this project is solid top to bottom and that I have really outdone myself with the creative titles to the cover and locking everything together with the music they been saying the music is different and it resonates with them and the people around them so that's good to know and it's only been a few days past the album’s release so there's still going to be more feedback coming in.

GroovNuke: What's your end goal for the project?
Bazo: My end goal for this project is to at least hit 50k streams or more, I also plan to dropmusic videos for this project I have one already prepared for a certain song off the album but at the moment I’m holding off on it to promo the album a bit more but it's going to beworth the wait once it drops.

GroovNuke: What can be expected from Bazo in 2020?
Bazo: I tend to go with the flow, my plan was to sign a record deal at the end of 2019 but chances are looking slim right now but that’s going to be my top priority start of 2020 and try to get my parents to stop working and get them to pass the load off to me.

After a few pointers at the background of the West Rogers project, go ahead and dive in to the album in full. Catch the release via Apple Music below. Keep Bazo in the loop as he plans on preparing methods for his album and continue to put on for his city.