Pro'Verb

After months of delays, DMV emcee Pro'Verb today released his While You're Waiting... mixtape, his first full-length project since 2008. The tape, a 14-track collection of mostly original work, also finds the young MC flexing his lyrical dexterity on "Exhibit P," a remake of Jay Electronica's monstrous "Exhibit C" from two years ago.

Elsewhere, he and RAtheMC address their haters on "Can't Forget About You." On "County," Pro and Don Juan show love to Prince George's County over a methodical, Kokayi-produced beat.

We've foreshadowed Pro'Verb's new project a couple times on Arts Desk: once when he dropped the reflective "Too Hip-Hop," featuring Diamond District member yU, and when he released the energetic "Write Brothers," featuring Lyriciss, an MC with whom he frequently collaborates.

DJ Booth has the full mixtape. - Washington City Paper

DMV's own lyricist Pro'Verb is currently promoting his mixtape 'While You're Waiting', the first release from him since '08. I had a chance to sit down and speak with him briefly regarding the project. Check out some of our conversation below, and see exactly what his name means, the concept behind this project and his advice to other artists trying to get on!



LA: I see a couple different ways you could take your name, I mean in terms of the meaning. I want to hear it from you though. What does your name mean?

Pro: I want to hear what you thought.

LA: Well, it could be Pro in terms of ‘for’ and Verb- action words; just saying that you are about proactive action. Or it could be taken like Proverb as in a saying that conveys a wise truth.

Pro: The first one definitely. But also, professional action. Everything that we do, we try to do it as professional as possible. My father made up an acronym for Pro, I don’t use it but it’s an ideology that I keep. Preparation reaches opportunity, when that happens, you are a pro. My music and my lifestyle bring definition to the name, more than the name itself. But definitely professional action.


LA: How long have you been doing this?

Pro: Writing since I was about 16. But it was tenth grade that I was like, ‘I’m gonna do this.’

LA: What was it that was going on in your life at the time that made you know that you wanted to rap?

Pro: I used to battle rap a lot. And i still do for sport. I started rapping because of battle rap. Cuz they used to jone. And i couldn’t jone. It’s a combination of things. This guy used to freestyle battle me and I couldn’t rap. So i went home over the summer and learned how to freestyle. I entered this huge battle at Largo HS at the last minute. I made it all the way to the finals. I got a really great reaction from the crowd. That made me feel like “maybe i could do this’. Also, I’ve always been a socially conscious person. And this is a great platform to say something. Music is a direct line into the minds and hearts of people. That’s really where my motivation comes from.

LA: Let’s talk about ‘Can’t forget about you’ How did that song come to be?

Pro: E-minor aka Grussle, InnerLoop records. Sent me the track and I loved the beat. I just kept hearing this hook, ‘Can’t forget about you’. I don’t even write to tracks unless i hear a hook. It was stuff i was going through with people. No matter what i do in life, I’m not gonna forget about the people that tried to slight me. Not to say I’m gonna get revenge. But I just can’t forget about it. That’s my motivation. The people who are so focused on me not winning. It was kind of a love song... to haters. Reesa Renee did a wonderful job. I was trying to find the right vocalist. We re-did the song. The first singer, it didn’t work out. The soul just wasn’t there and the vibe had to be perfect. Ra held me down. She was the anchor. I know she’d been going through some things lately too that kind of matched. It’s a soulful joint and it’s all about feeling. I know everybody can relate to this joint.

LA: Let’s talk about the mixtape. What's the concept?

Pro: We dropped it on September 2nd. It’s available at DJBooth.net. You know it’s ironic; the cover was actually shot outside of here. It’s a picture of me serving me. I used to be a server/bartender here (at the Bugaboo Creek in the Largo Town Center). It’s like the rap version of me, serving the other me. The whole idea behind it was ‘what are you waiting for’ and i was waiting on me. I think a lot of people are holding themselves back. The project starts off with a restaurant skit, a whole bunch of stuff going on and then a girl asks me “what are you waiting for” and then that’s when the music starts.

LA: That being said, what advice would you give to up and comers?

Pro: Make sure you really want to do this. Find out why you want to do this. Usually the people who would do it without money are the ones who are really serious. And be a student of the game. A student of your target audience. 80% of this is business and psychology. Surround yourself with honest people, or you end up being a delusional rapper. If she (DJ Heat, Pro’Verb’s manager) don’t like something then she tells me. Period. If it’s not good, it’s not good. Work on it again. It needs to be a consensus from a bunch of people that can say ‘this dude is hot’. That’s where I would start. Find out if you willing to make the sacrifices it takes to do this. I worked here, that was a sacrifice. So that i could be flexible enough to do this. Whatever your reasons are you have to make sure that you really believe in those reasons and that it’s not something that will change when everything else (in your life) changes.

LA: If there was any one song on this project that you could say is the definitive Pro’Verb. Which one would it be?

Pro: It’s a freestyle. I am very concept oriented. It’s difficult for me to just say one track. I did a freestyle over Jay Electronica’s ‘Exhibit C’. I did ‘Exhibit P’. It’s about 6 or 7 minutes. It goes from every angle. It is me. Between that (track) and ‘Glory’. Exhibit P was more lyrical flexing. Glory was just me. My strife, my struggle. It’s about the industry, the area and finding my place in it and not worrying about what i see other people doing. It was about doing ‘Rock the Bells’ in ‘09 getting like 5 stacks and that blowing my mind. And then coming back to work... here! Yeah, it’s Glory. I think that’s the most introspective one.



Pro'Verb will be performing cuts from 'While you're waiting' tonight October 18,2011, Live at Martin's Lounge on 9th Street, along the U Street corridor. Sound of the City will be providing the live instrumentation, and special guests Ra the MC and Reesa Renee will also be in the building. Come show your support!

Follow Pro'Verb on Twitter: @allproallday

- Examiner.com

The frothy extracurriculars in this Wiz-Cavs series have been banished to the sidelines, and we're (mostly) back to talking about basketball. That goes for the series's hip-hop participants as well, which is why Pro'Verb--the local rapper who famously responded to Jay-Z's DeShawn Stevenson diss track with a defense of D.C.--has a new, basketball-related track. It's called "Wizards Game 6 Anthem," it's based on Fat Joe's remix of the "300" soundtrack, and it's more or less about basketball more than battling emcees.

Who is this Pro'Verb? He's 21-year old Calvin Roberson, a P.G. County emcee who's been battlin' since his days at Largo High. He heard Jay-Z's DeShawn track, heard how it had been used against Stevenson in his own city, and heard the people calling for a response from the so-called DMV.

"If it was New Orleans, Lil Wayne would have responded; if it was St. Louis, Nelly would have said something," Pro'Verb told me this afternoon. "For us not having one of those major MAJOR rappers, I felt like it was kind of being taken for granted, and someone had to step up, regardless of how big the artist was....In my mind, what does it matter who Pro'Verb is? Someone stood up and said something and is representing your city."

By Monday morning, that response--laid over Jay-Z's seminal "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" track--made its way to WKYS afternoon drive host EZ Street. "I was like, 'Oh, I've got to get this on immediately," EZ Street told me. "I was like, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the DMV has spoken.' People have been requesting it ever since."

It was picked up by countless sports and hip-hop blogs and message boards, local news programs and sports talk radio stations, more places than Pro'Verb can keep track of, making it "most definitely" the biggest eruption in his fledgling career.

Stevenson's reaction?
"I thought it was very, very, very hot," said the guard, who estimated he's listened to it 60 times this week.

James was asked whether he's heard the track; "James' face turned stony and he simply said 'No,' " the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

But Pro'Verb was motivated, he said repeatedly, not by the desire to create cheap publicity nor by any enmity toward LeBron James. He just thought the Jay-Z onslaught was an unfair mixing of media, like "bringing guns to a knife fight." Jay-Z, a noted lyricist, was taking on a basketball player who didn't have a comparable platform to respond, and the implication that the D.C. area would take this insult quietly was belittling to local artists.

"I don't even know DeShawn; that wasn't really the point," Pro'Verb said. "It wasn't even about DeShawn, it was about Jay coming at DeShawn and him not even being a rapper... After not responding to so many rappers who come at you, now you come at a basketball player? It's not cool. That's a bama move to me."

But, as mentioned, just as cooler heads have prevailed on the court--with captains Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler stepping in to quiet the talking--so too has the hip-hop focus turned back to hoops.

"Hey, this is entertainment," said EZ Street, who continues to play the Pro'Verb track daily. "There's no reason for people to get excited about it, it's not serious."

Pro'Verb struck a similar note. He's hoping to make an appearance at Game 6 before a show at Fur and a competition on WPGC, and he thinks he D.C. area should unify around both its basketball team and its inspiring artists without seeking to stir up controversy.

"It's not a beef record, it's a pride record, that's the biggest thing that's been misconstrued," he said. "It's not about basketball; it's about men handling their business on the court and rappers handling their business at shows and on wax with other rappers. That's all this is about. I hope the Wizards stay focused and don't let any of this deter their attention from the mission we have at hand."

And that mission is?

"We bounce back," Pro'Verb said. "That's how we do."

(If you're interested, you can watch for Pro'Verb's upcoming "We Three Kings" mix tape with local rappers Rewind and Ransom Rellic and catch him on WPGC's "Ultimate Fight For The Mic.")
- The Washington Post

As I type this post, I'm on my sixth straight playback of "Too Hip-Hop," Pro'Verb's autobiographical new single featuring yU of the Diamond District.

Maybe it's the beat—a meditative head-nodder of chopped piano samples and dynamic drums, held together by the persistent hum of gentle strings. You can thank Soulful! for that.

Or maybe it's the confident yet unassuming way the MCs rhyme over the instrumental. ("Sicker than Earvin, Magic with the rock/They smell what I'm cookin' cause it's magic in the pot," Pro'Verb raps.) yU also gets in on the act: "Lot of new schoolers foolish, focused on the units moreso than just the movement."

Actually, it's probably all of the above. "Too Hip-Hop" is as addictive as it is reflective, an impressive prelude to Pro'Verb's While You're Waiting mixtape, dropping next Tuesday. - Washington City Paper

Today D.C. MC Pro’Verb released the hip-hop love song “Dreamin’,” featuring vocalist Tiffany Harley. Although the he says that "Dreamin'" isn't a brand new track (he wrote it about a year ago), today seemed like the perfect day to drop a piece of music about understanding real love.

"It’s really just about a relationship, and how delusional and superficial people can be with regard to quote unquote love and what it really means," he says. "And of course it circles back around to the [Valentine's Day] holiday perfectly."

The artist explains the science behind the EQuinox Professionals-produced track, why emotions have nothing to do with love, and why Valentine’s Day has nothing to do with love.



On the inspiration for "Dreamin'":

"I tend to just randomly gravitate towards love songs, relationship songs, and, to me, this just fit,” he says. "I think it's because of some personal situations I’ve been through, and listening to my friends in different situations trying to, you know, figure out what love it."

On money not buying people love:

"People think that the material means something, but that’s just nonsense—I address that in the song," he says. "That’s just getting further away from what love is. You can’t buy someone’s love, and just because someone does stuff for you doesn't mean they love you. Love is in the actions, the physical times, and the times when I don’t like you. That’s when I find out if I love you."

On love not being an emotion:

"I’m firmly against the idea of love being an emotion,," Pro'Verb says. "I don’t think it’s an emotion in any way, shape, or form. It’s commitment, endurance, patience, temperament--any number of things, but it's not an emotion. It’s a choice."

On the stigma often attached to rappers who dare to rhyme about being in love:

"To be completely honest, I’m completely me. I’m a relationship-oriented person," he says. "And every rapper has that one that got 'em, that broke their heart, that got them on this whole pimp tip. And I try to rap really well so that I can talk about whatever I want. If I do it well enough, they’ll say, ‘He can rap pretty good, maybe I’ll listen to a sappy record from him.’” - TBD.com