Chicago emcee Twista is known as one of the fastest rappers in hip-hop. Akin to Busta Rhymes, the lyricist has tongue-twisting rhymes that blow people’s minds. The emcee first broke into the mainstream alongside Kanye West and even featured on his chart-topping single ‘Slow Jamz’.
As an emcee who can speedily deliver flawless verses, he is always on the lookout for other artists who can match the levels of speed he was once at and in an interview with the online magazine HipHopDX, the Chicago rhymer (real name Carl Mitchell) gave some advice to the up-and-coming Canadian rapper Dapper.
After playing Mitchell his demo, Twista had both compliments and constructive advice for the rising star. Concerning the lyrics, Twista told Dapper, “Don’t be scared to stop sometimes, you know what I’m saying? Switch it up a little. Switch up to some different shit.”
He continued, “You got to challenge yourself. Come up with it. But yeah, that’s dope, man. I like it a lot. That’s good shit.” Twista knows a good rapper when he hears one, and when speaking about the new wave of Canadian artists like Tory Lanez and The Weeknd, Mitchell opened up about the first time he heard Drake.
Attempting to recall the exact time, Mitchell unveiled, “[It Was] probably coming back from a show on the road or at the studio, y’know, and not being around a lot of people when I was listening to it ’cause I was in my own creative space.”
He continued, “It wasn’t like I was watching everybody vibe out to it; I’m sitting here listening to it myself, so I know a dope rapper when I hear it. ‘Going in for Life’ from the 2007 mixtape Comeback Season. I know I do a song and use four flows, so when I heard [Drake] say that, instantly I was like: ‘This cat is about to be, like, the man.'”
The 50-year-old rap star also recalled listening to Jay Electronica for the first time and stated, “I just went crazy when I heard him. He sounds like the pure essence of hip-hop to me, y’know what I mean? Like if you looked up hip-hop in the dictionary, there his ass go, right there. That’s what he sounded like to me, like just the pure essence of Hip Hop — lyrically, vocally, the whole intent, the way he sounds on Just Blaze’s music. Y’know, everything is just dope, so I like him as an artist.”
