LITT MAGAZINE

If you ever see the name Problemaddicts listed on a playlist don’t be scared, instead be ready for a group that is bringing political savviness and consciousness, mixed with deep thought lyrics and tight beats. The Problemaddicts are being compared with groups such as Jurassic Park and Dead Prez, but they are truly a hip hop group of the millennium. The Problemaddicts include Executive Producer Tone, Vorheez (formerly of Lords of tha Fly), Force (also of The Alchemystics), Black Buddha (multiple freestyle tournament winner and former WSKB DJ), and 1ne Man sound (also of Lyke Minds). Backed by 3-time Valley Advocate DJ of the Year, DJ Theory.

This group has won “Best Hip Hop for 2007”, in The Valley Advocate’s reader’s poll, as well as the #1 Hip Hop Song (August, ‘07) and #1 Alternative Hip Hop Song (February, ’08) on OurStage.com. They recently were featured on AOL radio, after winning the 65th HoodHype.com episode’s vote. The act was in Urb.com’s “Next 1000”. After you hear their music, you will understand why this group is taking front stage as the top hip hop group in Massachusetts and why the rest of the nation will be soon to follow.

Pete Rock who have the sound I grew up on. As for MCs, I'd love to do something with some of MA's larger acts- Term and Statik Selektah, Slaine, and Moe Pope among others. I think MA needs to get its own push, like they had in Texas or ATL a while back. People across the country don’t realize how much great hip hop comes from MA, and a lot of people IN MA don’t realize what they have right under their noses.
 
Litt:
Many say that the current state of hip hop doesn’t represent the art, the creativity and true life experiences that hip hop was founded on do you agree?

Problemaddicts:
There’s still a lot of creativity out there, but a lot falls thru the cracks and doesn’t get noticed. I don’t know if we can say "the current state" is messed up, or if it’s just that what gets pushed to the masses and heard the most is messed up. Maybe I’m an optimist, but I have faith that the majority of people want to hear things they can relate to. Imagine if a record label went as hard to push a Mos Def or Common album as they did to push the Gucci’s or Rick Ross's. People may actually get brainwashed by something worthwhile.
 
Litt:
How does your music bring back “True Hip Hop”?

Problemaddicts:
We just do what feels right. When you come to a Probs show we wanna see a party pop off. We don’t go out to mean mug people at the club. I wanna see some girls dance, or have a funny story about a drunk friend in the AM. To me, that’s hip hop- bringing different people together with music.
 
Litt:
You have shared the stage with some of the most realest, dopes artist in the industry Dead Prez, Beat Nuts, KRS 1, De La Soul, all pioneers in the industry how does it feel to continue on the path that they have started and where to you want to take hip hop?

Problemaddicts:
They laid a path for us to follow, but hopefully we can branch off from that and take it in our own direction. We want a Probs show to be an event for everyone to enjoy, not just hip hop heads. People have to realize that hip hop is a blend of ALL other music. Anyone should be able to enjoy it. You may catch us at a festival one night playing with a bunch of reggae bands, camping and all that. But the next day we can be rocking in a club in some city, buying rounds at the bar and free styling outside for the hell of it.
 As far as our albums, we want to get better with age. Hopefully we’re learning as we go along on this journey. We want to expand the sound we have, try new things whether it’s the style of beats, or the flows. That means meeting new people, listening to new music and just branching out where ever the music takes us.

Litt:
When people listen to your music what is one thing that you want them to take from it?

Problemaddicts:
We put ourselves into this- whether its time in the studio, writing rhymes, or driving 4 hours to rock for half an hour. We take time off from our families, jobs, and all that regular stuff cuz we think our music is worth the effort to get it to you. I hope yall agree cuz were not stopping yet.

Litt:
Tell everyone about your latest album-

Problemaddicts:
The first single, Dedication, produced by Illmind and featuring Masta ACE and Edo G, just got leaked and will be released for sale in the next month or so on Coalmine Records. We'll also be leaking another single, independence, in the next few weeks.

The album (Still untitled) is coming along slow and steady and should be done in the winter. We decided to step outside of the camp (Tone and Theory produced all of our first 2 albums and are doing some prod on this one.) and we've got some great production on there from J Rawls (BlackStar and Lone Catalysts), J Clyde (He did "Free" off Pharoah Monch's Desire album), and a couple dope up and coming producers like Sniper (from Portugal) and The Common Wealth (VA). There’s a few features involved too, but were not gonna get into them just yet. Were real confident in this album, but are taking our time with it to make sure it comes out just right.
 
Litt:
Any parting words for the readers?

Problemaddicts:
Keep an ear out for the Moke & Tone album, featuring the Probs' Tone. They'll have 2 singles dropping in the next few weeks, including "Respect" ft. Crooked I & Mr. Metaphor.

Mystika Music is the movement, and we plan on making 2011 a great year for us.

www.mystikamusic.com will be up soon so check in and join the mailing list.

Also, check out our recent mixtape, Burn This Sh$t, for 17 NEW Probs tracks. DL @ http://www.mediafire.com/?2zyn022vgxy

Interviewee: Vorheez, Probs MC and manager- the Player/Coach

Litt:
How did the group come together?

Problemaddicts:
The Problemaddicts are: Vorheez, Tone, 1ne Man Sound, Force, Black Buddha, and DJ Theory. We all grew up around the same area (the 413rd, Western MA) and were doing our own things individually with other groups, though none really panned out to what we wanted. Tone had the idea of making a "Supergroup" of MCs who really wanted to put out a good product. We were all just tired of the shit on the radio at the time, and we wanted our chance to be heard. Theory and him got together and brought us all the production for our debut, The First Step. Thru our first year, while we wrote and recorded that album, we played shows almost every weekend around the northeast to get people acquainted and work on our live show.

Litt
What is behind the name Problemaddicts?

Problemaddicts:
We aren’t crack heads or anything like that, and we don’t destroy venues or bring problems to shows for all promoters that are

out there who have said they were scared to book us! It started off as our way of saying that everyone has problems, and that the problems don’t stop. We deal with them by doing what we do- making tracks, saying what we think, and killing shows to get the stress off. Over time, it turned out that our name became a self fulfilling prophecy and anything bad that could happen to us probably has- car breakdowns, equipment failure, and a snowstorm that created national emergencies happening on the week of our tour... But we survive, and people seem to identify with the name.
 
Litt:
Who are some of your favorite artist in the industry?

Problemaddicts: 
Out now? I'm feeling Homeboy Sandman's new album, and the new Big Boi is crazy too. Mostly I rock a lot of old stuff- 90's hip hop, soul, all varieties. I think we all listen to real eclectic music, and you can hear it in our sound. Recently we've been getting into a lot of the breakbeat/ electronic groups like Beats Antique, STS9, and stuff like that.

Litt:
Who would you like to do a collaboration with and why?

Problemaddicts:
We've been blessed to work with a lot of great artists already- classic cats like ACE & Edo, and El Da Sensei from Artifacts, and up and comers like Crooked I and Homeboy Sandman (that coming soon...). There are a lot of musicians (not rappers) we'd like to get production from, people like the guys above who are really changing the sound of music. You can hear it in the bigger pop records coming out, like Kanye's new stuff or even some Drake. That’s not to say that I think we would be a good mesh, but I see where they’re trying to move with the production. Then there are the old school classics like Premo and