Interview w/Tidal Wave (Adam 12 & Tarp)
by: Justin Rizzio

Every so often, a group or an album comes along that really makes you want to listen. Tidal Wave is that group, and Sink Or Swim is the album. Consisting of Tarp and long time collaborator and Philly veteran mc Adam 12, Tidal Wave is looking to crash the shores hard with this one. Tarp and 12, along with help from DJ Panek(ill!), have put together their latest offering, which is sure to make any Philly hip hop fan proud that this is the city they represent.

Check out Tidal Wave live at Ulana’s this Thursday for there Album Release Party.
Click here for event Details
Click here to purchase album at cdbaby.com

215hiphop: Introduce and tell us about yourselves.

Tarp: Tarp. The sh*t.

Adam 12: Adam 12, one portion of Tidal Wave. Also, the sh*t.

215: How did the formation of Tidal Wave come about?

Adam 12: Well, we’re together because we’re boys. Tarp scooped me up one day to go to the studio. He was gonna do a Tarp joint. He played the beat and it was bangin’. It was by our boy Decypher. And halfway up there, he was like, “you know you’re gonna be on this song”. We wrote to the beat and made Come Indulge. And Come Indulge is the f**king formation of Tidal Wave.

Tarp: It was definitely the first track. As far as the name, it was definitely a play on something being destroyed and put back together. As far as the group, it came together with Come Indulge over Decypher’s beat. He (Adam ) was hype when he heard it. I was hype when I heard it. And it just felt right. That was when the talk came to form Tidal Wave and take it more serious.

215: Dj Panek (Illvibe Collective) is also on the album. Is he an official member of the group?

Tarp: He’s a part time member of the group.

Adam 12: He’s like Destro. Not an official member, but always there when we need him. If we got put on trial as Tidal Wave, he could easily get a lawyer to be like, “he ain’t part of the group”.

Tarp: He might get a conspiracy charge, but he ain’t goin’ down for the RICO.

215: In a city full of aspiring hip hop acts, what does Tidal Wave bring to the table?

Tarp: The truth. For so long, at least for me, the rhymes were just dirty and gritty and full of drugs and negativity. And that was a direct result of the way i was living. I look at Tidal Wave as a chance to open up my horizons and make tracks that are not just based on the negative side of things, even though i fight with myself each day. Majority of people don’t want to hear positive shit or even something different. People are real judgmental about hearing something other than what they are force-fed. Tidal Wave touches on allot of different things that mc’s might not be true with themselves to touch on.

Adam 12: I totally agree with Tarp.

Tarp: Plus, Tidal Wave’s got love for everything. If you’re into rock, alternative, mainstream, underground, we got a little something for you. We’re willing to flow from side to side.

Adam 12: You always see in an interview, an artist lets you know what they are down with outside of what they are doing. We put that on the record. You can hear a negative song and then a positive one right after that. We’re not afraid of contradicting ourselves. Everything is three dimensional and complex and we’re using it all.

215: Being that you are both individual artists, what was the inspiration for the direction of the record?

Adam 12: For me, it was doing different shit. I feel different when I’m doing shit with other people. If I’m doing a cameo on a song I have a different attitude about rhyming. It’s more to show my style and shine and less introspective. Tarp had the reigns on this jawn, so I just felt like it opened up a whole new door for me as far as rhyming. I’m coming at heads in a different way than they heard on Skeletons.

Tarp: For me, it’s like strength in numbers. I’m a naturally lazy, procrastinating, laid back dude. So when you have someone there saying let’s do this, it gives me the extra motivation that I need.

Adam 12: I agree with Tarp. It’s funny that he said it, because I don’t know how much I’m telling him to get off his ass. He was definitely doing it for me. That’s what I always like about Tarp. He’s a dope dude to have in your life. Even though it’s about the group, it’s about my life too. The motivation is awesome.

Tarp: To touch more on the inspiration, we definitely have similar tastes in art and movies, and just different aspects on life. I’m not afraid to say that I’m privileged to work with Adam. Allot of people in this city, I feel, judge Adam for the way he looks as opposed to what he has to say. That’s just sad. People in Philly won’t give someone a chance because they don’t meet the criteria of a certain mold of what someone’s supposed to be. It’s allowed me to open up my eyes and be allot less judgmental on different types of music and different types of people. That inspired me and helped me find myself.

Adam 12: I totally agree. There’s heads we know that know I’m dope as far as rhyming. Do they understand hip hop and do it good? Yes, but they’re shook. They think something will reflect on them. Even if they’re cool with you. They can hang with you, but they don’t wanna do joints with you. Whatever. Thanks Tarp.

215: What are your goals for this album?

Tarp: Sell every single copy of it by all means. I’m dead serious when I say that. This album will be in every store I can get my hand in and every online store. People are gonna know about this. In work, selling it out of my trunk, any state I arrive in, any person I talk to…I refuse to take an L with this album. I’m looking to break down some stereotypes. I’m looking to open up some people’s minds. And I’m looking to give people the chance to see some struggles that me and Adam both went through that reflect on this album.

Adam 12: Yeah. All the shit I’m always about. Opening people’s minds, whatever. Also, no freebies. I like to give away. I don’t give a fuck who you are, you gotta buy it. I don’t care how bad i want you to hear it. Fuck you, it isn’t for free.

Tarp: I ain’t gonna beg anyone to buy this album. I’m confident that there will be enough people that will want to hear it and will be willing to spend a couple dollars to get a copy… Tidal Wave, sink or swim!

215: This will be Mudd Canal’s first official release. What can we expect from the label in the future?

Tarp: We’ve kicked around the idea of re-releasing Skeletons (Adam12). I honestly don’t think it had the proper push. I think if more people were made aware of it, it would have done allot better. As far as other artists, I’m gonna go on record and say there will be another Tidal Wave album. I want to release a solo album. I got Diana Diablo, a nice Russian opera singer with a huge set of double d’s that’s gonna take the market by storm. As far as long term, I’m playing it by ear. I know what I wanna do and what needs to be done. I’m just not ready to reveal all that at this time.

215: What do you think the pros and cons are of the Philly hip hop scene?

Tarp: As much as I would like to criticize the local scene, I dig it. There’s states out there with cities that can’t go once a week to a hip hop venue. I like the availability. And I understand that every spot doesn’t do hip hop regularly. I love Philadelphia. I’ve seen allot of great shows here. I can remember seeing Wu-Tang and being the only white dude in there. Now I been to shows where there might be one black dude in there. I like the availability, but in the same sense, I don’t like the repetition. I’d like to see more established names coming in with local up and comers as opening acts on the same bill. I’d like to see…I’d like to see more Scandal shows. Wherever you’re at, come out the woodworks! Philly needs a Scandal show!

Adam 12: One thing I wish was different is that fans love the local groups, but to a point. Then someone like Ghostface comes and everyone’s all about the big names. Why can’t we support our artists to where they’re at? You always read about T.I. selling 1,000 copies out of his trunk… in like a week! What the fuck? They (other local scenes) look at it like if you made it, we made it. And in Philly, they don’t do that. It’s probably because everyone knows everyone.

Tarp: I think allot of it has to do with fear. They don’t want to see anyone outshine them. Or see up and comers who are making way and putting in the work. If they get put on the bill, in a few months they might take over that bill. It’s like you’re on the outside looking in.

Adam 12: Promoters could do more to give heads from their city some shine. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and theirs been times I shouldn’t have been asked, but it was a long time before it started happening. We’re your scene. It should be the headliner and two other Philly groups. And it should be groups that you know. I hate when you see a group you never heard of, but supposedly they rep Philly. Whatever.

Tarp: I’m on record, I love Philadelphia.

Adam 12: I love Philly and I love the Eagles.

Tarp: And the 76ers and the Phillies.

215: What about the Flyers?

Tarp: I didn’t know they still played hockey and that we still had a team. Shout out to all my south Jersey hockey lovers… with mullets and Lee’s!

215: What producers did you work with for the record and do you have any guest appearances?

Tarp: That was another big reason why i enjoyed the album. A couple of the tracks were done by Panek. He spearheaded the production. As far as picking out the beats, we had a nice hand in selection. Stress is on there. Self the Custodian of Records came through with a banger. He’s nasty. Faust. Faust got jewels man, countless jewels. ZA from Innermission. Lord Lhus from North Carolina. Shout out to the Bloodline. Random, he did a track. Caliph Now.

Adam 12: We got a dope track that somebody from Poland gave me. We have no idea who made the track, but we loved it and used it anyway. Fuck it, you only live once.

Tarp: Decypher is another one who’s worked with a lot of heads. He’s on Viro’s shit. He’s major.

Adam 12: The mc’s on it are Reef the Lost Cauze, Scandal, Burke, and Doap Nixon.

Tarp: And Diana Diablo.

215: When is the official release date of Sink or Swim?

Tarp: March 27th. You can get it at Cue Records, Armand’s, Pat’s, and Sound of Music. For my Canada heads, Dr.Disk. Also Fat Beats, Cop Shop, CD Baby, UndergroundHipHop.Com, itunes. As far as the release date, it may take a few days for it to get on the shelves, but the stores will have them on the 27th.

215: What can we expect from you, as a group or separately, after this release?

Tarp: Right now, all my energy is going into this album. Aside from that, I’ve been getting up with a slew of producers. I have 7 or 8 beats so far that I’m gonna keep for my solo project. I’m working on a venture with Innermission for a breakbeat project. It’s a mixtape. Just bringing it back to the essence and rockin over beats.

Adam 12: The Network, which is me rhyming over jacked beats. Me and Panek are putting that together. All cameos because it’s the “network”. It’s everyone who i know that does dope shit. I got Three Amigos, this crazy joint I’m doing with Caliph Now and Decypher. I’m trying to be professional and business-like and learn from Tarp. Another Tidal Wave album, I wanna see how it grows and evolves.

215: Any last words for Philly?

Adam 12: Tidal Wave’s dope. We love rap. We love pushing the envelope. We ain’t against anybody, we’re all about it. Get the album. Support Philly shit and support dope hip hop shit. If you book shows or do magazines or anything, get at us! Peace to my man Dave Davis from The Rittenhouse. And peace to 215hiphop.com. Them heads are cool.

Tarp: I wanna give a shout out to 215hiphop.com for the interview and Justin for comin through. I want to give a shout out to anyone who had anything to do with the album. If it was a mc that blessed it off the love, I appreciate that. If it was a producer that believed in us, anyone who passed out a flyer, anyone who paid a couple dollars to get into a show, and anyone that gave encouraging words to keep doing what we’re doing on a daily basis. Peace Philly. Tarpdirt

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