1. Who are you? “Yo, What’s up, first off, thank you for having me for this interview. It’s a honor man! I love what your doing for the 618! My name is Courtlin Jabrae, I’m a singer, rapper, song-writer, producer and engineer. I’ve been doing music my whole life. I’ve wrote for Trey Songz, T-Pain and Demetria McKinney. In 2017, Me and producer Eldeve got added to the Grammy Nomination poll for Demetria McKinney’s “Easy”. I’ve worked with some of the industry’s top producers, Business Boi (credits: PartyNextDoor, Rae Stemmurd, 6Lack) Needlz (credits: Drake, Cardi B, Lil Wayne). I share my talents with my fellow artist from the 618 by helping write and engineer their music just like I do with some of these big artists in the music industry”.

2. Where are you from? “I’m from the eastside of Carbondale, IL”.
​
3. How old were you when you released your first project? “I got my first record deal at 15 with my group “Pop It Off Boys”.

4. Tell me about your old group, the “Pop It Off Boys”. “Me and Lil Action meet each other playing basketball on the eastside. He mentioned he had a studio at his grandparents’ house and was only here for the summer. So me, always being interested in music, I went over to check it out. All he had was a computer with FL studio on it and a tape recorder. We started making beats and recorded songs on a cassette tape with a $20 Walmart microphone. A year later after my dad seen us taking this music thing serious, he bought us a real studio. We then started to actually put our music out on SoundClick.com and MySpace.com. We soon generated our first hit song “Crank That Batman”. After our good friend DJ Soufside Kent and his boys made a dance video to the song, Crank That Batman went viral. That moment changed our lives forever!"

5. How would you describe your musical style? “My musical style changes every month man. I’m always trying new things, I’m like a Chameleon, I’m changing different vibes all the time haha. When you listen to my music expect a surprise here and there”.

6. What kind of message are you sending your fans? “There are levels to the messages I will be sending to my fans over time. The first message I’m sending to my fans is living your life with no regrets! Being yourself! That the bigger the struggle, the bigger the blessing. Later on, I will have a bigger message but you’ll see. It takes time to lead the future”.

7. Who are your biggest music inspirations? “Well, sound in general inspires me musically lol but I really enjoy Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Dream, Jay Electronia and Drake. That’s just off the top of my head but there so much more”.

8. Who is your dream collab with? “Currently, I want to collab with 6lack and that’s very possible for me right now. My dream collab would be MJ”.

9. What is your opinion on the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “I love it man, It’s so much talent in the 618! My biggest dream is to start my own label and only sign 618 artists. Right now, I’m doing my best to engineer 618 artists. If any 618 artist wants good industry quality sound or help with perfecting their craft, come work with me. My job is to develop artists man and I don’t think people realize that.”

10. When is your next project dropping? “I really don’t know man. I’m currently just focused on pushing my new single “Drippy Drip. I’ve gotten a lot of good reactions to the song. It takes time to blow up a hit record. Sometimes it can take a year! It literally took us a full year to promote “Crank That Batman’ before it really blew up. So after my new single, I’ll start planning on a project release”.

Follow @CourtlinJabrae on all Social Media!

Follow @618HipHop on Instagram & @618_HipHop on Twitter!

1. Who are you? “I’m Tony T White. When people ask me who is T.White, I tell them that, I’m Southern Illinois because that’s what I represent, that’s who I’am. As far as music goes, I stepped into the scene a little later then my guys because I had to find my sound, with the help from T.Gates and Courtlin Jabrae,  I was able to do that.” 

2. Where are you from? “I’m from Evanston, Illinois, right outside of Chicago. I moved to Southern Illinois when I was 5 years old.” 

3. What inspires you to write your lyrics? “My life and stuff I go through, good and bad. I use music to vent most of the time.” 

4. Who came up with the name of “Grind Majors”? “T.Gates came up with the name “Grind Majors”. We’re from a college town (Carbondale) where most of the people we’re surrounded by, go to school and major in science, business and stuff like that. We major in grinding. Anybody could be a Grind Major, just set your grind to it and do it and be the best at what you do.” 

5. Who are your biggest music inspirations? “My biggest music inspirations would have to be Jay Z, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti, and Drake, in that order.”

6. If you could collab with any artist in the world, who would that be? “I would like to work with a lot of artists in the industry right now, but just to name a few, I’ll say Drake, Moneybagg Yo, Derez De’Shon and a couple of other artists.” 

7. What kind of message are you sending your fans? “To stand for something, embrace who you are and chase your dreams because if you really believe it, then it can come true.” 

8. Which one of your songs, is your favorite so far? “Cold Wit It” is my favorite track at the moment.” 

9. What is your opinion of the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “I think we have a lot of dope talent in Southern Illinois, but it’s levels to this sh*t. I see a lot of artists that don’t invest in themselves or are just too lazy. I think the culture here could be bigger than we could imagine.” 

​10. When is your next project dropping? “Sometime in November, I got a mixtape called “From The Land” dropping soon.”

​Follow @_TonyWhite on Instagram & Twitter @tonywhite328 
Follow @618HipHop on Instagram & Twitter @618_HipHop

1. Who are you? “My name is Denzel Long and I’m a recording artist based in Southern Illinois bringing a new unique sound to the scene.”

2. Where are you from? “I was born and raised in Mount Vernon, Illinois.”

3. What was the title of your first album and how old were you when it dropped? “My first album was called “Verses” and I dropped it when I was 14.” 

4. How do you think the rap scene has changed since you first started? “I was young when I started, it was around the time 50 Cent, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane and Kanye first started off so the sound was completely different compared to now, but I’ve always been a fan of the culture so I loved it then and still do.” 

5. Who are your biggest music inspirations? “My biggest inspirations are Tupac, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and a lot of R&B and most trap music.” 

6. How would you describe your music using one word? “Versatile” 

7. If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would that be and why? “I would love to perform in Japan just because their culture has always interested me.” 

8. Which one of your songs is your favorite so far? “That’s hard, there’s a lot of my songs that I really like and even some I don't, but I’d have to say “Juicy” is one of my top favorites because of the R&B aspect.” 

9. What is your opinion of the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “I think there’s a lot of dope artists in Southern Illinois and I think a lot of them should link up and collaborate as well.” 

10. When is your next project dropping? “My next project “Heartbreak Hotel” will be out in November so be looking out for that, it’s different than anything we’ve ever done and shoutout 618 Hip-Hop for the love.” 

Follow @TheDenzelLong on all social media! 

Follow @618HipHop on Instagram & Twitter @618_HipHop !

1. Who are you? “I’m Lil Cactus and I released my first song last December but have already been putting up great numbers. I feel as though I have a lot of potential that just needs to be noticed.” 

2. Where are you from? “I was born in Carbondale, I been in Southern Illinois my whole life.” 

3. How did you get into making music? “I started from freestyling with my friends at parties and realized I have a pretty interesting and unique sound and I ran with it.” 

4. How would you describe your musical style? “I’d say my musical style is wavy and relaxing for the most part, but I have music for all types of people.” 

5. Who are your biggest music inspirations? “Drake was one of the first hip-hop artists, I really started enjoying. His blend of singing and rapping is something I feel as though I do well at too. He’ll definitely always be up in my top 3.”

6. What kind of message are you sending your fans? “I’m sending a message to have my fans feel comfortable and excited when they listen to my songs.” 

7. How did you come up with the name “Lil Cactus”? “Honestly it was just on some random sh*t in a freestyle and I ended up sticking with it.” 

8. Which one of your songs, is your favorite so far? “I’d say my favorite song out right now is ‘Icicles’ but every single song on my next album ‘Mr. Wavy’ is a banger.” 

9. What is your opinion of the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “We got of lotta great talent around here that needs to start getting noticed and I wouldn't mind working with a couple people locally either.” 

10. When is your next project dropping? "I have the ‘Pre Waves’ EP dropping August 31st and my full album ‘Mr. Wavy’ coming towards the end of this year.” 

Follow @itsLilCactus on all social media! 
​
Follow @618HipHop on Instagram & Twitter @618_HipHop !

1. Who are you? “I’m Chapo Banz and I’m the next artist to put the midwest back on the map again.” 

2. Where are you from? “East St. Louis” 

3. How old were you, when your first song dropped? “I was 15 back then I would record off the SoundCloud app on my phone and play the beat on my computer.” 

4. How has your new music changed from your old music? “”Learning from flows to riding beats definitely is something I learned especially experimenting with flows and much more. Listening to other musicians also helped me as well.” 

5. Who are your biggest inspirations? “Lil Wayne, Eminem, Young Thug, Chief Keef and Lil Uzi Vert.” 

6. What kind of message are you sending your fans? “I’m sending a positive but energetic energy, if you get what I'm saying.”
 
7. During your first concert performance. How were you feeling? “I was nervous because at that time I cared what people thought about me and now I don’t.” 

8. Which one of your songs? Do you think is your best so far? “Fake Love which isn't out yet.” 

9. What is your opinion of the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “There is a lot of undiscovered talent that need to be heard for sure.” 

10. When is your next project dropping? “ I don't have a release dat yet for Tokyo Love but I do wan’t to do a EP very soon maybe August 16th.”

Follow @ChapoBanz on all social media!
Follow @618HipHop on Instagram & Twitter @618_HipHop !

1. Who are you? “Well I go by Sean Bennett, Formerly known as Louieboii Slim. I’m one of the front runners in the Southern Illinois music scene.” 

2. Where are you from? “I’m from Carbondale Illinois born and raised. I currently live in Las Vegas where I plan on expanding my brand.” 

3. How old were you when your first song dropped? “I first started rapping and recording at the age of 13. Back then we had to use tape recorders, then as time went by I always continued to make music. Once I got out of the army I decided to take it more serious and started fully recording around the age of 25.”
 
4. How has your music changed since you first started? “My content of music changed when I started rapping more towards motivating my listeners and letting them know and understand that life gets hard but you have to go at with everything you got each and everyday. When I first started I was making music the radios would appreciate but now that I'm older and wiser, I want my listeners to not only vibe to my music but learn life lessons from it.” 

5. Why do you make music? “I make music honestly because I like to hear myself on songs. I know it sounds a tad bit self centered but I enjoy hearing myself sound just as good as the big dawgs doing music. Also my fans, family and friends always supported me and wanted to push me to higher levels in life, without them I would of been gave up.” 

6. What kind of message are you sending your fans? “My message is to let my fans know to never give up, no matter how bad the chips are down, Always strive for greatness.” 

7. Who are your  biggest inspirations? “Music wise, J Cole and Juelz Santana inspired me the most.” 

8. If you could collab with any artist, Who would that be? Devin the Dude, Andre 3k, J Cole, Juelz Santana, Lil Wayne, not on one song but different collins.” 

9. What is your opinion on the Southern Illinois Hip-Hop scene? “I love it, I just don't think many take it as serious as they should, they rather worry about being the best there besides being great around the world, There minds at times is too small, when it shouldn’t be because we make incredible music in the 618.” 
​
10. When is your next song dropping? Right now I'm just focused on spreading my fan base out west more. I just recently dropped two projects so you be seeing a few new visuals, merchandise and I wrote a movie script that I'm working on getting together next year in Hollywood.”  

Follow Sean Bennett on Social Media @SeanBennett618

Follow 618 Hip-Hop on Instagram @618HipHop and Twitter @618_HipHop

THE 618 HIP-HOP CLOTHING LINE WILL CONSIT OF AROUND 3 DIFFERENT SHIRTS, AND LATER ON, OTHER COLLECTIONS WILL BE ADDED TO THE CLOTHING LINE.
THE MONEY WILL GO TO MY 618 HIP-HOP FEST SAVINGS,

THE  "BANGERS OF THE 618" MIXTAPE COULD BE RELEASE ON JANUARY 5TH, 2018. IF EVERYTHING GOES AS PLAN.