Since the drop of SELiV the songs have set up camp in our playlist and even though we have listened to this project religiously, there are still questions that can only be answered by the man himSELiV.

Bl: Vile Blakkey, it’s been a minute since we last caught up with you. However the content has been coming out at a steady rate from singles to features to videos. There is so much to talk about but let’s stick to the project you dropped. It was your debut solo project, can you break down the title for us, why did you go with SELiV?

Vile: SELiV (Pronounced SELF) has got multiple meanings. First if you were to break it down, it stands for “[S]omething [E]lectrik [L]ives in [V]ile”. Now in poetry there’s poetic license so I took advantage of that and turned the pronunciation of the ‘V’ to an ‘F’. Just like how in Afrikaans the ‘V’ is an ‘F’ sound. The ‘i’ is lower case as to show that it doesn’t hold much weight or play a huge role in the pronunciation and can be omitted. When you read SELiV backwards you can read “ViLE’S” which further emphasizes that this body of work is ViLE’S and I gave the listener a piece of the true me. It can also depict the “backwards” way of thinking I, Vile, also have as I often think of things in a way that others may find unusual, further enforcing the ViLE’S own piece of work.

BI: Whaaaaaaaat!? We didn’t even think of flipping it backwards. The title is ill! It’s been quite a journey for you to get to this point. You worked on a number of different projects prior to this drop. When did the journey begin for you?

Vile: haha, I bet that was unrecognized by a number of people, thanks for that. I initially started in ’08 but then that was just playing around but nothing serious, then in 2011 I messed around writing verses here and there but they never really got anywhere. I could say I started taking it seriously in 2012. Then I was taken over by the idea of actually trying to make this a career for myself in 2015… That’s when I started getting serious about trying to make music and not just rapping over a beat and doing the bare minimum. I really did it in patches.

Bl: When you look at the album art, then you listen to the project, then you tie it to the explanation of the title, it doesn’t feel like patches. It ties together very well. S/o to you for that. One of the highlights from this project, for the BI, is the track where you feature LLN. This collaboration is significant to us because we rate both of you highly as artist coming out of the EC and it came as a surprise to us because you two are not crew affiliated or anything like that. How did this collab come together?

Vile: Everything there is just literally me being [myself]. Even the album art, I created it. It was like my 3rd or 4th Photoshop project I ever made. Thanks for the props. “Message In A Meteorite” came about when LLN was at the studio with John A and I, while we were just plotting on my tape and everything to do with it. I decided to just pass the time so I started making the beat and got John on some minor additions to the initial beat and that was the beat. LLN messed with what we came up with so I decided since we had him in studio why not just get [him] on the track. We knocked it out right there and then. That’s what happened literally. So we got to writing it and recorded it same day!

Bl: You have been promoting the project for some time now. What has been your highlight post release and looking at the EC scene, what has been a challenge for you?

Vile: My main challenge is partly the reason why I’ve been pushing it all this time. I hold this project near and dear to me and before I even drop new music for people to hear, I’d like them to first hear me on this project so they can get a good introduction to just what type of person I am. So what I find a challenge is just reaching out further and unlocking new fans from different places and different backgrounds cause I know I’ve got a core following of people that never miss a drop, but those numbers are still very low.

My highlights from this project is just hearing the different songs that people have as their favourites [since] they’re very different for everyone. I’ve received accolades for every track on that project from different people and some people shocked me with the song they like the most as I wouldn’t have guessed they would have grown to like that particular song?

Bl: Real talk! Congrats to you and your team (Thiird Eye) y’all put in a lot of work in 2017. We felt that you guys deserve to be on our list of Top Ten Moves in EC. What did you think about the list and what can we expect from Vile Blakkey this year?

Vile: Thank you very much I appreciate it and on behalf of the team this means a lot. To y’all, Thank you for the platform y’all have provided for the EC and for us. We are making use of all the resources we have and the Bl is a valuable one. The list was a solid one on a real and in all honesty I wasn’t even expecting any one of us or the team to make it on there hahaha, that was a very nice surprise to see we had made it on there. Maybe that’s why we spazzed on the socials for people to read about it so much!

For me this year? I got videos that are ready for publication already, actually they have beeeen ready but the perfect time just hasn’t come yet so I’m still holding on to them but y’all can expect a visual or two. I’ve obviously got new music ready and waiting but let’s get people onto SELiV first and not over saturate.

Bl: Y’all did the most last year, literally! Thank you for catching up with us. We’ll definitely keep an eye out for that.

Vile: hahaha ey bruuuh we flooded those streets foreal! The pleasure is mine, thank you for the consideration.