HIP HOP VIP: Cal Casta
CAL CASTA: The Original
Cal Casta once ranked as the 10th fastest rapper in Texas. The veteran of Valley rap -he's been spitting rhymes here while most other dudes still lived in other parts of the country-even modeled his flow back in the day off of Bone Thugz N Harmony. But he's evolved past that. He wants to try as much with his music as he can. Look for a new album from Cal later this year. It's a hip hop story about a mafia man who moves to Texas from Chicago. Expect fresh lyrical content with the same sick flow.
- LISTEN TO HIS MUSIC
Real Name: Issac Gonzalez
Hometown: McAllen
What he does: MC, rapper, lyricist
Years rapping: 10 years
Listen to: "Buddha Hit," but he's got new tracks coming soon
What would the girls look like in your video?
My girl would kill me if I answered this. (laughs)
What's the best rumor you've heard about yourself?
People think I'm a sexaholic!
Guilty listening pleasure?
I love rock music, like Slipknot, System of a Down. It's different, I love old school rock, too. Like Poison and Megadeth. I mean, I listen to hardcore rock. People think I listen to rap all day and it's like, naw. I listen to rock. It really gets the demon out of me, basically.
Most overrated rapper?
Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne is overrated. I mean, he's a good writer and all and everything like that, but I just feel like there's a lot of people out there, how do I say it? You can't go anywhere without hearing a Lil Wayne song, everybody's playing it. It kinda gets annoying. Not to hate on the boy.
Describe the hip hop scene in the Valley.
There's a lot of gangsta rap goin' on. It's not really like, I don't wanna say that it's hip hop. There's a lot of gangsta rap goin' on and not just gangsta rap, but like goin' back to the commercial type of thing like music that was basically built off of Houston and Philly. Which I don't really consider hip hop, but like I said, it's like, basically... like the first thing that makes them the money... a lot of people want to go with that image, y'know, they think it's going to make money basically. My style is more hip hop, it's close to the heart, it's more about, just basically the complexity that you can put in there so people who just bought it they want to rewind it and they want to hear exactly what you say. Hip hop in the Valley, there are some hip hop cats like, there's C-Styles, there's people like, I want to say, what's his name ... there are several others like Alex Montana, just a bunch of other artists out there that are real hip hop that are really into it, like, for the love of it and not just for what it can bring, you know what I mean?"
Is hip hop dead?
No, ma'am. All we need is a little bit of revival. Let's just say we're put at a point where, I don't wanna say like radio or anything, but they seem commercial. There's basically a lot of censorship because there's a lot of people that can't really express what they really want to express because it's not making money at the moment. So a lot of people are just making songs for the radio just to get played, you know what I mean?
Describe your flow.
My flow. It's like I said the last time, it's unpredictable. Because it's made up of all different types of styles. I have not yet found my own style because of just the way I can put these together, I'm still developing and still progressing, but I want to say that my style is really hip hop. I really take time in all compositions that I do, like I really take my time. I wanna say that it's real crafty.
Let's say you get signed to a big deal tomorrow, what's the first thing you're going to do with your money?
I'd buy a lot of property. That'd be the first thing. I'd pay back people that helped me out. As far as anything I'd do for myself, I'm not really a money hungry person, I'd probably just give back to the community.
What is your biggest beef, past or present?
It was probably with Future of [Dem ATM Boys.] It was due to misunderstandings. We're friends now!
What is your dream car?
Ooh, I like the Range Rovers.
