Interview with T-NO
Interviewed by : Craig Harrison

PTM: For starters tell the world who T-NO is, and where you rep.

T-NO: is just another person out here tryin' to survive and live life.T-No has been a lotta things in life,but the one thing that nobody has ever changed and can't change is, the fact that T-No is simply himself...at the end of the day, when u look in da mirror and u take all the jewelry off, the hat comes off, you are you, and nobody can change that, T-NO is short for Tha Nati's Own,me bein' from Cincinnati,but I really don't limit or stick myself to just one city anymore,I just never forget where I came from.I always tell people I'm not tryin to be the king of anything, the boss of anything, I'm just bein' myself. A lotta people in rap nowadays try to be somethin' or portray somethin' they ain't at all. I can only be myself and nothin' else. Call it what u want, but this is me bein' my usual true self. That's what "Doin' Me" was about...

PTM: How did you first get started in the rap game?

T-NO: been recrodin' music way before I got started in the business,but it was back in 2006 September...I was livin' in GA at the time,I had sent a CD in with some new songs on it to 101.1 WIZF Radio's station...and one day I got a call from Big Greg AKA Buckie Naked (the music director at the time). He asked me which track I wanted him to play.I was shocked, mad I couldn't listen to the radio myself, but I made a buncha calls after that spreadin the word.He played it so late a lotta people went to sleep before it came on but around 1130pm my mom called me, and sure enough I heard it in the background,at first I thought she was just playin it at home,til I heard Big Greg's voice over it...I got a lotta calls after I got off the phone wit my mom...a lotta people on myspace started requestin it, and tellin me they heard it a couple more times after that..it probably lasted two or three weeks. Everybody expected me to blow then, I didn't.

PTM: Tell us about your first rap song ever?

T-NO: Hahaha,my first song was recorded with two portable cd players usin a tape! I was 12 years old...the name of it was "This Ghetto",I had about 6 different versions of that song,LOL,that's what brought it all about, me just havin' fun bein able to put the words together like that. I had such a high voice back then,it was funny to hear after I got older.MY sisters had years of laughs at me for that song, cuz my dad had a copy that we ended up doin together when I got to 14...

PTM:Where are you in your journey as an independent recording artist?

T-NO:: I really wouldn't know.I just know I'm not signed yet. I'm startin to get shows,I'm workin on gettin radio play, I'm networkin'...I'm gettin a lotta love as if I'm already signed, myspace is goin crazy wit T-No Supporters.I am gettin friend requests in groups on the regular now and I dont even have to be logged on. People think I'm really signed sometimes too.I need a couple more songs to put my demo together and that might bring some more attention. A promoter in Washington told me to e-mail her some tracks so she could get them on radio, and that was just out of love! I finally hit the point where I don't have to make it in the game, but I'm not just gon sit back and bow out while the talent is there!

PTM: What other artist have you worked with in Cincinnati?

T-NO: I only been back in Tha Nati a lil over a year now, I spent most of that as a member of the group/network Cash Connection.But before I even left that, I never stopped writin' as a solo artist. I'm workin' wit this artist named Dramaqueen, and man, she can spit! She bringin' the gutta back in it! She ain't like them sassy female rappers, she bring the hood to you! That's why I wouldn't mind workin wit her on a couple of tracks! She like my music I like hers. Singer Ms RnB AKA Nia C, hooked me up on "Get U Right". I am pretty sure it'll be more with time but I ain't sure at the moment.If u not a hollywood act type of artist, and we got good chemistry together, we can work.I don't wanna work wit just anybody cuz they got a hit or they blowin up. No matter how confident or better I get, I can never say I'm da hottest or only hot one in Cincinnati. If Hi-Tek did say it ain't no talent in Cincinnati, he a damn lie, he ain't heard what I be hearin!

PTM: Are there T-NO haters out there? any rappers who diss you, if so how do you react to haters?

T-NO: I don't think I got no haters,I'm been too cool for that sh*t.I really don't worry bout it too much.He say she say drama is brand new to me,it just started comin'.I could be ignorant and respond, but it's a waste of time. Sh*t never dies out like that, and I wouldn't care who diss me how they diss me or why...I don't do diss music,if somebody take anything I say on a song as a diss,it's just in they head alone, or maybe they listening to he say she say.I'm a grown man, that's child's play really, and I quit playin tag a long time ago.If the issue that serious where it need to be addressed, I aint gon get on no song and start sayin a buncha sh*t. Im'a be a man about it, like I said, I aint no gangsta rapper, I aint out here tryin to be top goon on da block, all dat don't matter to me. Let me make my money, you make yours, and don't worry bout what's in my pockets or in my bank, ya dig!

PTM: What advice do you want to give to the up and coming new artist on Passthemic.com that are starting out?

T-NO:  e self conscious about yo music, yo lyrics, yo whole profile.Stay focused, be yo self, stick to doin what's you. Don't try to compete,be honest wit yo self and if u really believe in what you got, don't worry bout somebody else's opinion, just do yo thang and take yo product out there.Network wherever whenever. U gotta put money into it, but you aint gotta go broke over it!

PTM: Shout outs?

T-NO: Shout out to Big Greg, DJ Skillz, Core DJ's, DJ OK Da Southern Menace (Lifestyles of da unsigned and dangerous comin soon), Beat Catererz (Rookies of The Year comin soon!), DJ Ghost, DJ City Sharp, Fleet DJ's, Dramaqueen, Noonie JR and SSC, Duval County, Camden County, Cincinnati, Detroit, Kentucky, Texas, My boy Merrill, Louisiana, My boy Corey, Cali, Washington, everywhere! All my peeps on myspace, the fans, the artists, the homies, the ladies, keep showin love cuz it's more on da way...oh, and to whoever read this interview! Check da myspace... www.myspace.com/tno513 and make sure u download the tracks!