Catching up with Cousin Stizz @ Metro

Hailing from Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Cousin Stizz raps with the same blue-collar attitude and unapologetic character his city has earned a reputation for. Using music to tell the story of his come up, Stizz is blunt with the amount of work and sacrifices he's had to make to get to where he's at, and he's sure to inspire listeners to do the same with his motivational raps.

Last summer, Stizz dropped Trying To Find My Next Thrill, his first full-length album in two years and quietly one of this year's best. The project is undeniably Stizz through and through; balancing between celebrating his accomplishments and reflecting on the lessons from life's challenges.

As a performer, Stizz is all energy. Currently opening for Freddie Gibbs' on the Album of the Year tour, you'll find him on full throttle for the duration of his set. And by the time it's over, you'll realize he marathoned through a list of classic go-getter records and bangers from his latest project.

His chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is also a reason why he loves performing in Chicago so much. It reminds him of home. During his recent tour stop in the city, we caught up with our favorite cousin before the show to talk to him about TTFMNT, what 2019 has been like for him and his connection to Chicago.

You've performed in Chicago a handful of times now, you even performed at last summer's Lollapalooza. What about Chicago makes it unique to perform compared to other cities?

Chicago reminds me of my crib lowkey. It's like a bigger Boston in a way. That's why I really, really fuck with Chicago. I got a lot of friends and family here too. A lot of my early family in this whole rap shit came directly from Chicago. It really do be feeling like home when I come out here.

How do you get through the grueling tour schedule?

I sleep. I sleep more than anybody. I'm on the bus and sleep all fucking day long. I literally wake up for 3 hours of the day, and that's to do the show. Then I'm back to sleep the rest of the day unless we're recording some new shit right after. But that's about it, I just be knocked.

In an era where rappers often feel pressured to release a project practically every six months, do you think that taking that extra year has made a difference in making the album that you envisioned to create with TTFMNT?

I didn't take an extra year off to work on the album. I took a year off because I felt like I was getting in that lane where you feel the need to release music all the time. I felt pressured to release music all the time, and I don't ever want the shit I talk about to ever be watered down because I am doing that type of shit. So I had to fall back for a minute and remember why I do this in the first place.

The last three songs on this project are powerfull and touching, what was it like recording them?

I like having fun with this music shit, but with those records ["Beamin," "Traumatized," "The Message"], you always gotta touch a certain place to somewhere that hurt. That's always the toughest part, reliving those moments. I think that's why I took until the end of the project to get to those records. We started to wind down and were like, "we need some shit that sounds like vintage Stizz." But I had to revisit those scars to get there. It takes a lot to get those muhfuckin records to even come out 'cause you really gotta do some soul searching.

What was it like working with Smino? And are there any Chicago artists that you would like to work with in the future?

Smino is my brother. Working with him is like nothing, we just get high and tell jokes for like 3 hours. We didn't even do "Anonymous" in the studio. I just sent it to him, and he was like "I like this, so Imma send shit back."

I like Lucki a lot. Lucki is my guy, I like him a lot. Obviously Sosa, RIP Fredo, the legends. I like Luck a lot, though. That's the homie, so I think we can make that happen.

You seem to have accomplished a lot of milestones this year. How do you feel that 2019 has fared for you and your career?

2019 has been very nice to me. I'm really blessed, I'm really happy. I'm here on tour with Fred, that's the homie and a legend. I'm happy to be here for that. I took 2 years off of music, and you know, you can get passed over. I'm blessed and fortunate that I can take 2 years off and be right back here still, for real for real.

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