Kuniva, a Detroit icon and former D12 member, sits down with Southpawer to discuss the 10th anniversary of his album “Lost Gold” and more.
During an interview held by Marshall Mann’s The Spotify Scavenger podcast, the 45-year-old hip-hop legend covered a variety of topics including today’s hip-hop, Proof and Eminem’s sacrifices for D12, and much more.
Here are some of the central topics discussed throughout the interview.
Kuniva talks about the “Lost Gold” album
Kuniva’s mixtape “Lost Gold” has eight songs. To celebrate the album’s tenth anniversary, the former Detroit member chose to re-release the digital version.
“I felt like it was a jewel that was missed because I only did a CD release when I first released it and I felt like it was some jewels on here that the masses didn’t exactly hear because it was only a limited edition… I decided to go back on 10th year anniversary to re-release it digitally just so the world can appreciate it. I want everyone to hear, everyone to experience it… Last time I did it, it had a mixtape feeling. This time its a solid LP project. I just want the world to experience this project.”
Kuniva discusses the modern hip-hop culture.
“The state of hip-hop right now, I think it is still great. I think its nothing but evolution. Everything evolves. .. There wasn’t any social media when we were popping up. Today’s artists face a lot of disrespect and a lot of judgment because they are in a public eye so much and everyone has an opinion… As far as the artists that I like. I really fu*k with, people laugh sometimes because they thought I would never picked them up, but I love NLE Choppa, I like his music. I like DaBaby, I like Migos. I rock with lots of new school stuff…. You have to know, as an artist, as just a person, that things change and nothing stays the same forever. And we have to change our substance too because in today’s world we could not get away with the s**t we were saying back then. We would be crucified. They would kill us. I don’t think we would survive in this day and age. As far as hip-hop scene today, there is always a great music, mediocre music, trash music and it’s always been like that. I rock with some of today’s music.”
Kuniva lists his top five hip-hop artists and announces new album
“I always fu*ked with Nas, Jay and Em and everything else under depends on how I feel. There is so many, I wish I could name… By the way, I got new album coming out, besides Lost Gold, and there are songs with Big Proof. Proof’s son actually gifted me with these songs.”
Kuniva describes the D12’s dynamic.
“I just want to see everybody succeed, I wanna see everybody shine. How we were taught and how I was taught on this business and just being in the group like D12. We never competed with each other, we always made each other better and it was a thing where we set the next person up for the next verse. Like, I didn’t want to come in like on instigator, I’m rapping first and just kill it and just did everything and then Swift comes in and his verse isn’t as climatic as mine is. So, I always wanted it, and how we were taught is to build up the next verse. If I was going last I would say, “Okay, this is the climax, I’m gonna go ahead and try to go up.”
Kuniva also discussed Big Proof’s sacrifices for the group and shared some D12 experiences. You can watch the full thing on YouTube or listen to it on Spotify.
Also, don’t forget to hear the “Lost Gold” album, which is now available on all digital platforms and consists of 11 songs!
