From The Archives | An Interview w/ Rekstizzy
This interview was from way back in 2015 when we used to be called GKK CREW. Almost 10 years ago, we had the privilege of being able to interview someone way beyond our young imagination. And our owner, DerShar, just resurfaced this interview and video from her personal memory bank. Haha So here you are, our interview with Korean rapper Rekstizzy… DISCLAIMER: The questions are kind of… premature. lol But it’s still nice to show a bit of our history (where Thee Ethereal started from)
Q: So first off, I know that you have a show coming up called “Ugly But Kawaii”. And I wanted to touch on the significance of the phrase. Cause I started a term a while ago, which is the way we came up with the “GKK” has a company name. The phrase is called “cute thug”, which, when translated into Korean (an extremely rough translation btw haha) becomes “gwiyeo kkangpae”.
A: Ugly but kawaii is what I find myself obsessing over most. I don’t know if I will always refer to it as that but it’s ultimately about humanity. Some people think we’re inherently good and maybe that’s true, I don’t know. But I do believe however you are, the decisions you make are ultimately up to you. You could want to fight everyone around you and never hurt a fly, and I respect that over somebody who always has good intention but always mess everything up. And then sometime, it’s vice versa. You could be kawaii but ugly.
Q: If I would like to join the “Ugly But Kawaii” band wagon. What would I have to do? Is there some sort of initiation process? Do I gotta buy a t-shirt? Put #uglybutkawaii as my instagram bio? What would I have to do to join your crew?
A: I sometimes come up with hashtags or concepts that I run with for a long time. For example, I was tagging everything #prayeveryday and #luxurious for awhile and then moved on to ugly but kawaii. But some of my friends hit me up saying that other people are copying me and running with the older hashtags. I had to explain to them that I don’t mind it at all. I do these things for everyone. I can see myself getting annoyed if somebody wants to claim they came up with it before me but I can always make a new thing. I’m not a petty artist who hordes my ideas. The more you let go, the more you can create. I think I got that from a Paul Arden book ha. So anwyway, to answer your question, you can #uglybutkawaii if that’s how you feel. Just be happy. Hopefully I inspire people and then they come up with their own thing someday that inspires other people. If you bought a t-shirt that would be cool though too because I like money.
Q: I remember when I met you at the first AMF show at the BB Kings Blues Club. During your set, with Danny Chung, you guys were the hypest dude up there. Which was hella dope! I was twerkin in the crowd with my camera, everyone was jumpin, yellin, into it. And then you jumped off the stage to crowd surf and it didn’t go as planned….
What happened? Did you not jump in the right place? Was there some miscommunication with the crowd and they weren’t prepared? And what was going through your mind at that point where you knew something was wrong?
A: That show was a lot of fun. A lot of inexperienced performers like to blame the crowd and yeah, sometimes crowds do kind of suck but it’s up to the performer to change that. Nobody in that room knew who I was but that didn’t matter. I gave back a lot of energy and slowly but surely the crowd began to reciprocate and send that energy back. In that moment, I was drunk off the vibes and it affected my judgement. I got the crowd to do the wave and then I tried to crowd surf that wave. It would’ve been okay if the crowd wasn’t full of fragile Korean girls and also I’m kinda chubby, it just wasn’t a good equation. I was never good at math.
Q: You recently came out with a mini instagram vid about s’mores. I enjoyed it! It was real… but funny. Like, it was real funny. You’re a funny dude. But, why? Why s’mores? Why not a Klondike bar? Or a reese’s cup? *storke chin*
A: Thank you. This winter, I was craving s’mores for some reason and I went out and made it a point to collect the necessary materials to build those. Once I did, I was overcome with joy and I had to find a way to celebrate. As you know, it became a song and silly video I shot from my kitchen counter top. My brother and his wife helped me film it and my homegirl Jenny edited it perfectly. I’m also a big fan of Rae Sremmurd, they have such a great album.
Q: Well thank you Rekstizzy for being apart of this GKK CREW interview ( ooh! bars!). Are there any critiques you would give to your interviewer?
A: I think you’re dope and this was fun to do. Please follow me on instagram, soundcloud, and youtube; it’s all @rekstizzy. Mm, I have a new album on the way called You Can’t Be Serious. It’s a therapeutic album which means there’s a lot of wild party shit on there as well as introspective zone out vibes. I also got a web series called Kawaii For Men coming out on ISAtv, plus the documentary I’m featured in alongside Dumbfoundead, Awkwafina, and Lyricks called BAD RAP. It’s a lot happening, I’m so appreciate.
