Sean: Tell us about the things
you’ve done so far?
Referee: Music-wise, I’ve done
stuff all over the country, even
the biggest music festival —
SXSW, down in Austin, Texas.
I’ve had my music played on the
hip-hop station here as well as
Sirius and XM radio. I’m still
new to the battle world, but
my last battle was a win over
Degreez — who’s also from
Cleveland — on the Bar4Bar
battle league. It was a classic.
Sean: If you could collaborate with
anyone, who would it be and why?
Referee: Jay-Z. He rarely
collaborates and is one of the
greatest of all time.
Sean: When it’s all said and done,
what do you want the people to
say about you and your music or
battles?
Referee: I really want to be one
of the breakouts from Ohio,
in the battle world. Our scene
doesn’t get music attention,
so hopefully myself and a few
others from our Bar4Bar league
can break out and become the
first ones to get on some big
stages. Music-wise, I just hope
people find my music to be
timeless and listen to it years
from now.
Sean: How do you feel about the
return of LeBron?
Referee: It’s a huge boost for
the city. A lot of people on the
outside think our city hated
LeBron — and a few did — but
he’s one of our own. We still
f**ked with him when he left, it
just stung at first. I’m glad he’s
back though. I think that’s why
he came back, because we never
stopped rocking with him. He
knew the city loved him.
Sean: Any final thoughts?
Referee: My next battles are
against Real Deal on September
27, 2014 on Bar4Bar, in
Cleveland and against Showoff
on November 22, 2014 on ENJ
Battlegrounds, in New York. I’m
going all out against both of
them and I’m going to make my
mark. I’ll keep working until I’m
a household name. Follow me on
Twitter @itstheref, and one last
thing — my bars will take your
life and my beard will take your
b***h. Ughhh.
— Sean Kirtland
53