Bronx Ace, “Whispers” Bringing Lyricist Back to the Forefront!

Whispers planning to follow up his, “Wizardly” album with part 2 later this year.

Whispers musical influences range from all regions. From lyrical spitters, party record providers, to emcees that delivered street anthems, Whispers snagged a little bit from every region, mixed it in a pot and became one of the hottest spitters out of the Bronx. We call that, gumbo where I’m from. The Bronx native shared mics with some of New York’s finest, including collaborations with, Chris Rivers, The L.O.X. and Chip-Fu of Fu-Schickens. Holding his own on tracks and freestyles alike, Whispers developed into the type of artist that couldn’t be overlooked. In 2016, Whispers dropped, “The Red Door” EP, the following year he released, “Whismonoxide,” and earlier this year he released what most feel is his best work to date, “Wizardly,” in which he’s working on a sequel for.

During my recent conversation with, Whispers, we discuss the, “Wizardly” album, his goal to get back overseas and his relationship with, Chris Rivers and Sheek Louch.

What’s good, Whispers?

Whispers: I’m good, I’m good. Life is alright. I’m just grinding and trying to get to it.

You dropped the “Wizardly” album in June. What has the reception been like and do you feel that’s been your best work to date?

Whispers: “Wizardly,” a few people close to me said this is probably my best project. You know what I’m saying. But to me, “Wizardly” is just another part of my collection. When I do these projects, I try to always elevate to another level. So, when I did, “Wizardly,” I did it in a whole new process. I guess the way I did it, it came out pretty much fire to everybody’s liking and they all loved it. As far as the response I’m getting, it’s all fire only.

Where are you from, bruh?

Whispers: The Bronx, New York!

That’s what’s up. You have a close relationship with, Chris Rivers. How did you guys form that bond?

Whispers: Me and Chris are like family. He’s been doing this since he was young, and I was helping him out during those times too. We were young kids. He was my brother and all that. As time goes on, he grew into his own man and we just linked together. We started doing music together. We just had a pack like, “Yo, we gonna get it.” He’s going to help me and I’m going to help him pretty much. It’s family. It’s like if you and your cousin come up or you and your brother come up… ya’ll gonna go hard together. We do the same thing. It just made a good team.

I watched a few freestyles where you guys are getting after it. It obvious that you guys bounce off of each others energy and it helps to be around those type of vibes.

Whispers: Definitely! Chris is a monster, man. He doesn’t play. When he wants to accomplish something, he knocks it out the park. So, having that around me and then me being around him, we just share that same energy.

What are your feelings towards where New York hip-hop is right now? You know as well as I do, music swings from region to region in terms of popularity or being hot, what are your thoughts on where New York is musically right now?

Whispers: New York music is cool. To me it’s more gang now when it comes to the music. New York music is real gangish. You got a lot of Blood shit going on, a lot of Crip shit going on and even deeper gangs than that. But at the same time, if you look at the “Rolling Loud” shit, they banned a few artists which was crazy. They banned a few artists who they felt like were going to bring violence to the venue. New York music is hard. It’s back on its hard shit, but it’s real gang feuds. It’s like some real east coast drill music shit.

You have been in the studio with heavy hitters like, Chris Rivers, Sheek Louch, Styles P and Jada. Did that elevate your game?

Whispers: Oh, Sheek is my brother, man. That’s the God right there. First off, growing up and listening to all three of the L.O.X. members was crazy. For everybody else in that era, they were just fire to me. They were the top group to me. When I got a chance to get around them and put in work, it just elevated me like you said mentally because it let me know, whatever I was doing I was doing it correctly because they respected what I was doing. And from there, you just keep putting in work. You build that relationship and it gets to the point where it’s at now. Whatever we knock out, Sheek will do something for me and I’ll do something for him. Ghost too, Kiss, it don’t matter. It’s all family, so when I get around them, it’s like some, Voltron shit to me. I have to get charged up and put in work, you feel me.

You definitely can’t half-step in the booth with those guys.

Whispers: Nah, not at all. They don’t play at all. Seriously.

Who are your musical influences outside of The L.O.X.?

Whispers: It was, Pun, I’ve always liked, Slick Rick, DMX for sure and Nas. It’s a whole bunch of people. Outkast before they got to the, “Mrs. Jackson” level; throwback Outkast. Goodie Mob and even some 36 [Mafia]. I listen to a lot of things. West coast music heavy for sure. Snoop Dogg, the whole Dogg Pound and Death Row movement. I listen to so much music, I just put it all in one pot. I draw a lot of inspirations from everywhere.

It’s crazy you named some southern influences because you have a little southern sound going on.

Whispers: Oh, that’s crazy because I lived in the south for a while. I lived there for about 7-years. It was fun, it was a great experience. Like I said, I was listening to 36 [Mafia] crazy down there. I would even listen to certain Houston rappers. They don’t play too much up top music where I’m from, so they played a lot of that. And I had to learn how to understand their patterns and how they rhymed. It may not be as lyrical as ours was back home, but what they were saying was pivotal. It was simple, but it was hard. And they had a different rhythm. I definitely want to project that in my music. Also, the west coast music with the bounce and the way I do certain songs. You know the east coast is just always going to be in me regardless.

Are you currently in the studio working on something?

Whispers: I got that “Wizardly” out for sure, but I’m working on, “Wizardly 2,” now. I can’t give an exact, but I’m gonna say some time around Halloween or the first week of November, I should have, “Wizardly 2” for ya’ll. And I got some visuals coming out too.

What are your short-term goals for this year through early 2020?

Whispers: Overseas. I want to be overseas tearing it up over there. I’ve been there before, but I want to go back and get busy over there. That’s a whole nother world. Everybody is so stuck on where they from and they want to be the king of where they from, I don’t give a shit about none of that. I’m good. I’m good. I got enough respect. I’m straight. I want to go tap the world out. That’s what I want to do.

You’re right, some get content with being in their own backyard. How different was it for you overseas?

Whispers: Overseas is beautiful, man. I put it like this, you don’t have to do the bouncy trap joints. I’m not shitting on that music because that music is hard too. But music is music so it’s infective. Everybody gonna get it sooner or later. But for the market that I went to when I was out there, it was like… motherfuckers had skully’s on. Even the chicks were jumping around looking like fucking maniacs. It was all love. They were buying merch; they’ll buy you a drink. The only thing I can say, the language barrier is kind of crazy. They may sound a little aggressive towards you, but you gotta know how to read in between that shit. It’s crazy love, man. it’s a lot of love and they respect you when you come on. They want to see you put your guts out on the stage and if you do that, they’ll definitely take a liking to you.

Can we expect features on the “Wizardly 2” or do you want to make this your album?

Whispers: As far as the features on the first one, I did that because usually I do a lot of music on my own. When I did, “Wizardly” I wanted to showcase a little bit of features here, I didn’t have to do the hook here or whatever the case may be. So, on “Wizardly 2” I definitely got some features. I don’t want to speak on who is going to be on it, but I definitely got some features.

When you’re collabing with guys like, The L.O.X. and Chris Rivers, do you have to check egos at the door because that is a lot of talent on a project or is that not even an issue?

Whispers: To me there are no egos. I’ve never had to deal with that; with Chris with Sheek, nobody. You don’t walk into a situation like, “Yeah, I’m the illest motherfucker in here…blah-blah-blah.” At the end of the day, it’s competition. So, you want to go in there, work hard and prove yourself at all times, but that ego shit is poison. It’s just like pride, it’s poison, you understand. You come through, who you are, and you know what you can provide, and you shouldn’t have to worry about egos. You gotta play your position in all situations.

How important is it for you to stay true to yourself and not get caught up in some of the… no disrespect, but clown stuff that’s put out sometimes?

Whispers: That’s who I am and that’s how I came up. Being around lyrical God’s and studying lyrical God’s. That’s my era. I can’t say it’s a lot of clown shit because a lot of people are just making shit on how they feel. People don’t give a fuck about lyrics no more. It’s like a circus… so I guess you can say its clown shit. I don’t want to call it that because everybody getting their money, it is what it is. But as far as me and what I’m doing, it’s definitely a lane for lyricist and it keeps growing. Like underground got bread right now. It’s crazy. A lot of shit is going on. A lot of things are going on for certain artists from upstate or wherever they coming from, Brooklyn. Lyrical is just me. I can’t change and do something that undermines what I was raised to do. It’s just my moral. This is who I am. And don’t get it fucked up, I could have fun. I can do a lot of shit but staying lyrical is who I am, and I want to keep that going. Whenever I get where I’m going or whenever my chance comes, they will understand that I stuck to my era and my legacy is real.