Tim Holland, better known as Sole, is not one to hold back how he feels or what he thinks about anything. The outspoken emcee, activist, artist and musician has been making music since he was a teenager and retains the same unquenchable passion for DIY projects he's had since day one.
Born in Portland, Maine, Holland started his own label, 45 Below Records, at the ripe age of 15, which included fellow emcee Alias. In 1998, he paired up with rapper Pedestrian and established Anticon, which would evolve into one of the most reputable independent hip-hop labels in the business. He released his 2000 seminal album, Bottle of Humans, via Anticon, but Holland eventually left the label after 2010's Mansbestfriend 3: My Own Worst Enemy and the self-titled debut album from his other project, Sole and the Skyrider Band. Shortly after, he inked a deal with the New Haven, Connecticut-based label, Fake Four, Inc. and put out Plastique. At this time, he was touring heavily with artists like Awol One and Ceschi Ramos. He's released several albums since then through various labels, but once again, is at the helm of his own imprint, Black Box Tapes.
Holland currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where he's thrown himself into political activism, art, video game design and, of course, music. Although he's been flying under the radar for a few years, he's still heavily involved in all of his artistic endeavors. In Part One of the Sole interview, he talks about Public Enemy's influence, his work ethic, the state of the music industry and what happened with Anticon. In Part Two, he'll discuss his political stances on everything from capitalism to mass shootings and his Whitenoise project he does with his wife.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): First thing first, I love the remix you did of "By the Time I Get to Arizona" by Public Enemy. What about that track made you want to give it your own touch?
Sole (Tim Holland): I grew up on Public Enemy; it radicalized me. It got me reading Malcolm X, Black Panthers and opened up my revolutionary consciousness at the age of 14. I wanted to make a remix album of music that had a huge impact on me. At the time, I was living in Arizona and was concerned about the overt racist/anti-immigrant sentiment. Although the original song was about Martin Luther King Day not being celebrated in Arizona, I wanted to tie the remix in with the modern day struggle with racism and how it had morphed into ultra-nationalistic groups like the Minutemen. That was in 2007 and obviously things have gotten a lot worse in this country with the rise of fascists like Donald Trump. Racism doesn't die; it hides, it morphs, and these days, it's rolling well armed, in plain sight.
You mentioned you're working on not only music, but also art. Can you tell me a little bit about your new projects?
Well, I've been teaching myself 3D printing technology and been dabbling in video game design. I don't wanna say too much more about that stuff until I come out with what I've been working on. Don't want anyone steal my ideas.
You started your own label when you were just a teenager. Where does this work ethic come from?
Both of my parents were entrepreneurs. My dad ran a welding company until he lost it all to drugs and my mom ran a little hair shop out of our house that kept us fed when everything went to shit. So I grew up knowing that I could do anything I set my mind to, but also that you could lose everything if you fucked up. Everyone hears, 'You can be anything' when they are young, but when you watch your parents in different stages of their lives hustle with no bosses, it has a profound impact on you. So when I was 15, I worked at McDonald's and saved up every penny to press up my first vinyl. When it was time to mail them out, my mom took the day off from work and went to the post office with me and helped me mail everything out. We sat there for eight hours licking stamps with records laid out all over the floor. So even when we were kind of poor, I always felt encouraged and supported and knew that someone believed in me. That is huge when you are a teenager. Other kids were doing drugs and getting in trouble. I was recording songs over tape loops in my basement on equipment I borrowed from my art teacher in 8th grade.
What exactly happened with Anticon? I don't think I ever fully understood why you left.
Basically, when I set it up as a collective, the idea was that it would sustain our careers for our entire lives. Eventually, the guy who ended up handling the business had his own ideas that were contrary to that and after a few years of real negative shit, I just had to move on. It was really dragging me down psychologically and artistically so I pulled all my shit and started a new phase of my life. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but ultimately it was the right decision.
Is there anyone you want to work with but haven't had a chance yet?
I mean at this point not really. I don't wanna work with people for the sake of working with them. I want to work with people because I like them, because we've become friends and have things in common. There are a number of people that I've developed relationships with that I wanna make music with, people like Michael Menert, Ultra88 from Blue Sky Black Death, Pictureplane and Pat The Bunny. I name those peeps because I imagine we'll be doing shit this year and I'm stoked on it.
There's always this debate about underground vs. mainstream hip-hop. What do you think about the Kendrick Lamars, Kayne Wests and Drakes? Is that even hip-hop?
Personally, I love that stuff, on an artistic level. I thoroughly enjoy artists like Lil Wayne, French Montana, Kanye, Jay Z, etc. On an artistic level, all the popular "underground" stuff these days tries to sound mainstream and all the popular mainstream stuff is ripping off indie under currents. So this distinction doesn't really matter to me, especially now because major labels and corporations essentially control all the back channels that people experience their music through these days whether it's Spotify or YouTube or iTunes. The industry is fucked right now so in a sense we're all on major labels because the industry is completely devastated and big bank took all the little banks.
Sole: The RAPstation Interview - Part One
Tim Holland, better known as Sole, is not one to hold back how he feels or what he thinks about anything. The outspoken emcee, activist, artist and musician has been making music since he was a teenager and retains the same unquenchable passion for DIY projects he's had since day one.
Born in Portland, Maine, Holland started his own label, 45 Below Records, at the ripe age of 15, which included fellow emcee Alias. In 1998, he paired up with rapper Pedestrian and established Anticon, which would evolve into one of the most reputable independent hip-hop labels in the business. He released his 2000 seminal album, Bottle of Humans, via Anticon, but Holland eventually left the label after 2010's Mansbestfriend 3: My Own Worst Enemy and the self-titled debut album from his other project, Sole and the Skyrider Band. Shortly after, he inked a deal with the New Haven, Connecticut-based label, Fake Four, Inc. and put out Plastique. At this time, he was touring heavily with artists like Awol One and Ceschi Ramos. He's released several albums since then through various labels, but once again, is at the helm of his own imprint, Black Box Tapes.
Holland currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where he's thrown himself into political activism, art, video game design and, of course, music. Although he's been flying under the radar for a few years, he's still heavily involved in all of his artistic endeavors. In Part One of the Sole interview, he talks about Public Enemy's influence, his work ethic, the state of the music industry and what happened with Anticon. In Part Two, he'll discuss his political stances on everything from capitalism to mass shootings and his Whitenoise project he does with his wife.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): First thing first, I love the remix you did of "By the Time I Get to Arizona" by Public Enemy. What about that track made you want to give it your own touch?
Sole (Tim Holland): I grew up on Public Enemy; it radicalized me. It got me reading Malcolm X, Black Panthers and opened up my revolutionary consciousness at the age of 14. I wanted to make a remix album of music that had a huge impact on me. At the time, I was living in Arizona and was concerned about the overt racist/anti-immigrant sentiment. Although the original song was about Martin Luther King Day not being celebrated in Arizona, I wanted to tie the remix in with the modern day struggle with racism and how it had morphed into ultra-nationalistic groups like the Minutemen. That was in 2007 and obviously things have gotten a lot worse in this country with the rise of fascists like Donald Trump. Racism doesn't die; it hides, it morphs, and these days, it's rolling well armed, in plain sight.
You mentioned you're working on not only music, but also art. Can you tell me a little bit about your new projects?
Well, I've been teaching myself 3D printing technology and been dabbling in video game design. I don't wanna say too much more about that stuff until I come out with what I've been working on. Don't want anyone steal my ideas.
You started your own label when you were just a teenager. Where does this work ethic come from?
Both of my parents were entrepreneurs. My dad ran a welding company until he lost it all to drugs and my mom ran a little hair shop out of our house that kept us fed when everything went to shit. So I grew up knowing that I could do anything I set my mind to, but also that you could lose everything if you fucked up. Everyone hears, 'You can be anything' when they are young, but when you watch your parents in different stages of their lives hustle with no bosses, it has a profound impact on you. So when I was 15, I worked at McDonald's and saved up every penny to press up my first vinyl. When it was time to mail them out, my mom took the day off from work and went to the post office with me and helped me mail everything out. We sat there for eight hours licking stamps with records laid out all over the floor. So even when we were kind of poor, I always felt encouraged and supported and knew that someone believed in me. That is huge when you are a teenager. Other kids were doing drugs and getting in trouble. I was recording songs over tape loops in my basement on equipment I borrowed from my art teacher in 8th grade.
What exactly happened with Anticon? I don't think I ever fully understood why you left.
Basically, when I set it up as a collective, the idea was that it would sustain our careers for our entire lives. Eventually, the guy who ended up handling the business had his own ideas that were contrary to that and after a few years of real negative shit, I just had to move on. It was really dragging me down psychologically and artistically so I pulled all my shit and started a new phase of my life. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but ultimately it was the right decision.
Is there anyone you want to work with but haven't had a chance yet?
I mean at this point not really. I don't wanna work with people for the sake of working with them. I want to work with people because I like them, because we've become friends and have things in common. There are a number of people that I've developed relationships with that I wanna make music with, people like Michael Menert, Ultra88 from Blue Sky Black Death, Pictureplane and Pat The Bunny. I name those peeps because I imagine we'll be doing shit this year and I'm stoked on it.
There's always this debate about underground vs. mainstream hip-hop. What do you think about the Kendrick Lamars, Kayne Wests and Drakes? Is that even hip-hop?
Personally, I love that stuff, on an artistic level. I thoroughly enjoy artists like Lil Wayne, French Montana, Kanye, Jay Z, etc. On an artistic level, all the popular "underground" stuff these days tries to sound mainstream and all the popular mainstream stuff is ripping off indie under currents. So this distinction doesn't really matter to me, especially now because major labels and corporations essentially control all the back channels that people experience their music through these days whether it's Spotify or YouTube or iTunes. The industry is fucked right now so in a sense we're all on major labels because the industry is completely devastated and big bank took all the little banks.
