Where did you get your name from ?
Parliament Funkadelic is rarely ever an influence for Hip Hop artists , how have they influenced you ?
PF isn ’ t your only influence , and of your many influences , DMX is one of them as well . How has he influenced you ?
3 year later , does “ Monkey See , Monkey do ” mean more now than it did before ?
Is there a big Hip Hop scene in Longview , TX ?
How ’ d you end up in Atlanta ?
“ My father put me on to hip-hop .” He was a huge hip-hop fan so I heard it all the time . He would pick me up from school or take me with him to get comic books and would always tell me , “ Saying I don ’ t want you to repeat these cuss words ” and blast the rawest hip-hop music at the time . Ice Cube was the first artist I gravitated to heavily though .
Where did you get your name from ?
Bishop actually comes from 2pac ’ s character in Juice . I felt as though Bishop was a representation of every black male in America on some kind of level plus 2pac is one of my favorite rappers so I felt I embodied those traits to call myself Bishop . 3rd is me representing Texas and the 3rdcoast . 000 ( Thousand ) is referencing me being ahead of my time and is also paying homage to one of my other favorite rappers Andre 3000 . So you put those together and you get Bishop3rd000 .
Parliament Funkadelic is rarely ever an influence for Hip Hop artists , how have they influenced you ?
[ laughs ] Well Parliment Funkadelic is my Father ’ s favorite group of any genre and I heard their music growing up all the time . Parliment Funkadelic is really a bridge to hip-hop because of their impact on Funk music . You know Dr . Dre , Dungeon Family , Ice Cube , Snoop , Kendrick Lamar , Redman were influenced by P Funk . The funk still resonates with hip-hop . The production , style , the melodies , the slang , they pretty much created music with no barriers and that drew me in and inspired me to create hip-hop in the same fashion .
PF isn ’ t your only influence , and of your many influences , DMX is one of them as well . How has he influenced you ?
X is just pure raw unfiltered energy ! When he first popped up on the mainstream scene , there was nothing like him . I probably listen to his first 2 albums damn near everyday with no skipping . I get compared to him alot because of my aggressive delivery . Even though we come from 2 different backgrounds his raw spirit connected with me which influenced my sound .
“ it was a no-brainer for me to move to the A !”
3 year later , does “ Monkey See , Monkey do ” mean more now than it did before ?
I guess , in a sense , it means more since I have a nostalgic attachment to it . It was my first solo mixtape and signified me taking my music to another level compared to my earlier work . Plus incorporating more substance into my music that reflects the times we ’ re living in compared to making trendy music that only lasts in the moment .
Is there a big Hip Hop scene in Longview , TX ?
I love my hometown and hopefully this won ’ t be seen as a diss because it is talent out of my hometown and I support the hip-hop community out the View . However , if Imma be honest then I gotta tell you , it aint a big hip-hop scene AT ALL . But it is growing and I salute anybody coming out my city !
How ’ d you end up in Atlanta ?
Again not a diss [ laughs ], but I was living in Houston and felt like the music scene for indie artist was just too all over the place and not organized . Too many politics , clickish and it was just frustrating . Especially with the type of music I make . It just felt like indie artists out of the “ New Houston ” era were treated like burdens and wasn ’ t truly appreciated . I went to Atlanta for the 1st time at A3C back in 2014 and performed during the event and got lots of love and connections from the whole event . I did my research and realized from the jump the scene for artists here is alot more organized and appreciated . An actual industry , so it was a no brainer for me to move to the A ! I love the H and learned alot there but this is where I belong , I ’ m luvin the A !
16 .