Alph Tha Alien Talks Past, Present & Future

Los Angeles emcee Alph Tha Alien recently released the Evan Clark-directed music video for “Black Tax”, the self-produced title track from his new album out now on Dystopia Records featuring guest appearances from Open Mike Eagle and Sahtyre. Under his previous moniker Alpha MC he was part of LA underground collective Swimteam which also included Open Mike Eagle and Dumbfoundead (watch the 2013 Swimteam cypher). In 2014 he released The Rebound, a 7-track EP with fellow LA emcee Pigeon John (watch the music video for “Outchea”). “I wrote this when you really started to see the shift in America’s race dynamic after Trump came into office,” says Alph. “The song is about the veil of racism and what black Americans do to work around that.”

Why did you change your stage name?

I changed my name because I’m a different person/artist from when I made music as Alpha MC. I gave up cigarettes, weed, booze, and other recreational drugs because they were stifling my creativity and motivation. As Alph Tha Alien, I’m able to explore every aspect of my creative mind like producing, singing, and film not just aiming to be the best rapper. I kept “Alph” to signify that I still have all the magic I did when I was coming up as a youngster in Project Blowed, studying the styles of Freestyle Fellowship and earning my stripes as a battle emcee in Grindtime and Bar Exam. I’ve always been a black sheep with an affinity for sci-fi and I identify as more than an emcee so I created a more appropriate title.

What is your artistic mission?

I want to show people the true range of my skill set and inspire other artists to search themselves for greatness opposed to trying to appeal to a specific audience. We can fight social programming this way! As Alph Tha Alien, I want to make beat tapes, rap albums, comedic films, movie scores and anything else my child-like imagination can think of.

Has your rebranding from Alpha MC to Alph Tha Alien been an adaptation of the changes taking place in the scene?

Yes and no. Changes taking place in the scene among other life events made the rebrand appropriate but I didn’t change my name, style, and approach to keep up with the times. I rebranded as an artist to achieve timelessness. The velocity and intensity in the way LA’s music climate changes is too dizzying to keep track of so I just went for what I knew and chose a name that fit my black sheep sensibilities.

“Black Tax” is a new style of record for you. How did you approach its creation differently than your previous songs?

Black Tax was actually approached in the same style as my first record “Loving Life” as Alpha Mc. I chose beats from packs I made over the past few years, taking my time with each one and once I had the baseline for the record (5 solid tracks) I arranged them so they would transition well with each other. It wasn’t until my sophomore endeavors that I changed my song writing style. I remedied events in my personal life with the relevancy of the times to make an honest vignette of myself in that moment. I drew inspiration from Kendrick’s latest projects, sci fi shows like “stranger things” and “west world” and books like “A quick killing in art (Basquiat biography)” and Alex Haley’s “Malcolm X”.

What’s a life motto you try to live by?

“Make ya next move ya best move”. Always try to step it up in every and all facets of your life but also give yourself a chance to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes and teach others what you know.

Alph Tha Alien socials: [@alphthaalien] | Instagram | Facebook