By Carlos Cureno
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Every year, new names pop up and they begin to make their presence felt on the entertainment industry. This year, Nazo Bravo is doing his part to make sure he is seen everywhere. A rising artist, Nazo Bravo is doing both music and acting.
Nazo Bravo has his single, “Put It In Reverse,” featuring E-40, that he is servicing to radio. Meanwhile, Nazo Bravo’s music helped land him onto the Vigilante Diaries. Now, he can boast about having Rampage Jackson and Michael Jai White as co-stars.
In our latest On The Rise interview, Hip Hop Vibe spoke to Nazo Bravo about his recent work. As the head of his own movement, Nazo Bravo is producing his own music and films, outside of his own placements. During the interview, he also discussed his role in the upcoming film, 2016, where he co-stars with K.D. Aubert and Tiny Lister.
Read the entire interview below:
You are a very busy man, but on the acting front, you have a new movie called Vigilante Diaries, can you tell us more about this film? Yeah, that film is an action/high octane thriller. It’s got a great cast, Michael Jai White, Rampage Jackson, Michael Madsen. Nice cast, fun story, my involvement in the film, I have two songs in the film and I touched base with the executive producer late in the film when they approached me for music. I was able to land a small acting part in the film, as they were almost done with filming. I have a lot of music in the movie and one song featured twice in the movie, including the main song in the credits. I got a lot of love from that side and that’s generally what I got into acting for, to open doors for my music. I have started to like the process of acting and the craft. Sometimes, I get cast as an actor and I’ll mention to the producers that I also do music and I will submit it to them and it gets picked.
What has it been like for you, working with Rampage Jackson and Michael Jai White? I actually didn’t have any interaction with Rampage during the filming, but we spoke at the premiere. However, I was on set with Michael Jai White and he’s a cool cat. He’s a real fighter and has a couple of black belt. They had a scene where he was doing a fight with the main character and he (White) coordinated the whole fight. Fighting is one thing, but fighting for the camera is another thing, it has to be handled a specific way, so it looks right. He was cool with the cast and I was just soaking up game, we had a mutual friend, so that definitely helped.
On the music side, you are also making a big name for yourself, can you tell us more about your meeting with Big Boy? Yeah, that happened in the most organic way. It was all love, I had the chance to play him a song and he invited me to the station. That was my first time being there, but I ran into him back in the day and gave him a record, but it was long before I developed my current style and sound. It turns out, Big Boy actually remembered my first demo from my old name and he gave me credit for grinding.
He allowed me to meet the rest of the staff, he played the song for everybody, got to really listen to it, and they all definitely enjoyed it. The DJs are important and they loved the record, I played another song I have, which features Jonn Hart, so it’s good for radio. It was real cool and then he was leaving and he gave me a shout out. The whole situation was cool, he’s such a funny and cool dude. It was great for him to shout me out like that. I’m from LA and the city has so much competition, so to get that was great for me.
Currently, you have the hit single, “Put It In Reverse,” featuring E-40, which is blowing up. How do you feel about the success of this record? It feels great, it takes a lot for an artist to break through. Artists make a lot of songs and to know which one to push the gas on is important. I could’ve sent 40 a record that wasn’t one that could be serviced to radio. It could’ve been nontraditional, but I had the specific purpose of getting a record into mainstream of the same ilk of Big Sean’s “IDFWU,” I’ve been working with F.A.B. and I have another version of this single with him on it.
This guy from Houston that I know asked me how it felt to have a hit record, he’s an artist, too, and he has a lot of music, it’s hard. We’re independent, we don’t have this machine behind us that helps us along. Major artists have that push, but us indies have to do it all on our own. Thankfully, I have a team behind me and they help, but the decision boils down to me, because it’s my company. It takes a lot to do this and I have a bunch of unreleased music and my team has advised me to hold onto my music, as opposed to releasing it all, so I had to somewhat control myself, as I worked more on my album. I feel like I can go all of the way with this one and take all the right steps.
Seeing how you’re making just as much progress in acting as you are music, which field interests you most? I love both. I really love both. Some say you have to stick to one, but I don’t believe that. Music allows you to share your soul with people and give the world a glimpse of who you are. Acting, meanwhile, shares the heart and not to soul, as you convey a feeling through your performance. As an artist, you have to be everything, either be the producer or get the producer. You have to be sharp about your negotiating and I’m even helping to produce films too and I love doing music for films. I feel like you reach more people through music, but acting is different, as it is all based on the role you play, because it’s acting, that isn’t who you are in real life. Sometimes I play bad guys, like psycho murderers, but rap is still very authentic, that was shown with the Meek Mill/Drake thing, as authenticity was the root of all that.
Speaking of films, you’re also set to appear in 2016 and your music will also be placed on it, can you tell us more about this movie? The push on this really hasn’t started, but it’s coming later this year. This has a great cast, it’s a zombie film, the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, a great cast. Tiny Lister, K.D. Aubert, myself, I actually have a big part in this film. I’m a supporting character, but I’m in a lot of the film. E. Roger Mitchell is in the movie, he’s a film vet, a good actor, Andrew Bryniarski from Any Given Sunday is in it. I never thought I’d do a zombie movie, but K.D. turned me on to it. It’s another opportunity to get my music out there, again. I have a line on “Put It In Reverse,” where I mention ‘walk like a zombie,’ which is ironic.
Where can we find you on social media? Social media is everything is Nazo Bravo. SoundCloud, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, is Nazo Bravo. We just got verified on Facebook, Twitter is picking up. I also have a movie coming in April to theaters, it focuses on genocide, it’s called Armenia My Love. That’s exciting, too. I have the music going and it’s fun to get the message out about where I’m from and to speak on my experiences. Hip hop and rap came from that, speaking on the black struggle. And to go and do this is a beautiful thing. This is the way to get the word out there, which is super dope.
Watch Nazo Bravo perform “Put It In Reverse” for Real 92.3 below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiJSRaIf2i8
Follow Carlos Cureno on Twitter @DjayyCharliee.
