Interview With Michigan’s Tha Baztad

When did you start making music?

I started writing lyrics when I was 13 years old, I’m currently 20 years old so about 7 and a half years ago.

Who inspires you the most?

My family has been My biggest inspiration since day 1. They always push Me to keep going which helps Me to push Myself to keep going so I can continue to do this for Them and for anybody who may connect with what I say.

What got you into making music?

I’ve been a fan of Hip-Hop/Rap music since I was young young, but pain and anger is what got Me to start writing. I started writing as a means of ventilation.

Who is your favorite producer?

I’m gonna have to go with Michael “Seven” Summers.

What is one of your best songs/beats?

Personally I think “You Can Stay Here” is My best song. It’s also the very first song I ever got to record.

Are you signed to a record or label?

No.

Who would you most likely collaborate with?

I think it’d be dope to work with Vinnie Paz, Tech N9ne, RJ Payne, G-Mo Skee and/or R.A the Rugged Man. They have some of the tightest pen game ever witnessed. From lyric construction to flow to cadance to deliverance, each of them are as best as it comes in every one of those categories. I think to work with any of them would actually be a dream come true.

Who are some artists that you have done shows with?

I haven’t had the opportunity to do a show yet because I live in a VERY small town and there isn’t anybody around here who lets rappers up on the stage.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a new 5 track EP (6 including an outro).
It’s a short album called “I’s Uv Eyesolashun”, self produced through and through. It’s 9 minutes and 38 seconds long. I put My heart and soul into the words that I say in this EP so please listen to the lyrics when You hear it. I feel like/hope this simple album will help anybody it reaches with anything They’re going through. Other than that, I’m currently working on a new single titled, “Brain Drain” using a beat produced by Anabolic Beatz which I’m going to release before I drop the EP.

What is your most popular track?

“You Can Stay Here”.

What are some things you have been through in real life?

I went through My Dad dying when I was at the age of 4, and I’ve had SEVERE scoliosis which caused severe pain through every cell in My body and Michigan doctors put it off for YEARS.

I started getting pain from it when I was 13 years old, and They didn’t do the surgery to correct it until I was 17. They can’t do the Spinal Fusion surgery unless Your curvature is over 40 degrees. My spine had 3 curvatures, one in the top of My spine toward My neck which was 40 degrees, one at the bottom of My spine in My lower back which was 42 degrees and the largest one in the center which was 72 degrees. The 72 degree one got so bad that My spine pushed over, under My shoulder blade, and was partially pressed into My right lung greatly reducing My right lung function. Because of the spinal cord being warped and twisted, it also caused Me to have Grand Mal seizures. I’d go from just standing up trying to talk, to dropping like a cinder block, to waking up from it, sometimes bleeding from hitting My knee off of My nose during the seizure, other times bleeding from hitting something on My way down. Sometimes I’d wake up and wouldn’t be able to move for a while, sometimes I’d wake up not being able to see for a while, sometimes I’d wake up not being able to remember anything anyone around Me nor Myself for a while, and other time’s I’d wake up not knowing how to/not being able to pronounce words for a short while. I’d have them multiple times a day which impacted My coordination, energy, and ability to memorize and/or remember a lot of things. For My back pain, the doctors tried every muscle relaxer that They could put Me on, along with combinations of them, and none of it helped, so for My severe pain which was at a 8 out of 10 every single day, which sometimes got to a 10 which is the point that the pain would knock Me out, They eventually ended up telling Me to just take Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen. It was originally supposed to be a 7 and a half hour surgery, but ended up turning into a 9 hour surgery after They went in and found that My spine was “Corkscrewed”, meaning My spine was actually turned around backwards in Me as was that way for who knows how long. They say They don’t know how it happens. But Here I am, 3 years after My Spinal Fusion surgery which was on August 9th, 2019, spine full of steel rods and screws, still healing, still living with phantom pains, muscle pains and nerve pain caused by the YEARS of My spine being contorted and being left to just get worse. So when I say pain is My greatest inspiration, I mean it.
See Me as a monster, see Me as a poet, see Me as an advocate, see Me as hope, paint Me however You choose, just know the state of Michigan created whatever You think I am.

They like to tell Me that I can’t, so not only do I, but I do it in Their faces and Me having this interview here right now is proof that no matter how much You say I can’t do it, I can and I will.

What’s your biggest accomplishment?

My biggest accomplishment is the fact that after everything, I’m still standing here today for the ones I love.