Hibernation rumored to join Hellfyre Club [Interview]

If you’re a fan of battle rap, and you hadn’t heard the name Hibernation before two weeks ago, you probably know it now.

Recently, Hibe (as he’s known) committed to entering the battle scene through a promotion known as Colorado Rap. As opinions on the fiasco are more common than assholes, I’ll cut to the objective fact: Hibernation did not battle. I’ll tell you what his fans already know: This hiccup is an insignificant obstacle, more akin to a dead animal on the highway than a roadblock. The more important battle in Hibe’s life, one that has secured the loyalty of fans for years, is his battle with “the disease of addiction.”

Before I unleash him to readers in his own words, I have to acknowledge a unique bias I have for the rapper. Hibe is my arch-nemesis turned friend. Long after the days of hearing his mother’s voice say “Noodles is garbage,” on his diss record toward me, I enjoy every perk of our online friendship. With that out of the way, I’ll let him represent himself, and be careful to let you form your own thoughts.

Speaking with Hibe, I learned that he has set aside any aspirations as a battler. I asked him if he took this recent fiasco as a “sign.”

Hibe: It could be. I realized through the course of trying to even land a battle that it’s all about politics and bullshit. No actual talent is the matter. I’m an artist . . . not a comedian. I make people feel better about waking up knowing they have the comfort of my songs as a loyal companion. I don’t want to make my craft a 2,000 bar verse on some other guys looks, family, life, and downfalls.

Dane Curley: So, you’re more focused on this upcoming album. And it looks like it’s going to be cosigned by Hellfyre Club. How did you get involved with them?

Hibe: I don’t know. Some label dude named Rob had his eye on me . . . and out of nowhere he three-way called me with Nocando on the line.

DC: Did this happen before or after all the Colorado Rap drama?

Hibe: Before. Way before. I make people famous, not the other way around. (Ed’s note: He said this in jest)

DC: You’re releasing an album, hopefully with their support, in Spring 2013. Is there a title?

Hibe: No sir, I don’t name children before I have sex.

DC: From your talks with Hellfyre Club, are you going to be an official member, an affiliate, or a one-and-done album deal? What’s it looking like in your opinion?

Hibe: Affiliate. And it’s looking beautiful.

I asked him another question and he didn’t respond for a while. Just as I was getting frustrated, he picked back up the conversation.

Hibe: I was just kissing my baby’s tummy, and asking her if she’s even aware that there’s a thing called pain that she’s never felt yet. Babies cry for absolutely no reason sometimes and it baffles me.

I talk with him about his daughter a lot. He’s a dedicated father and puts tremendous effort into making sure her life will be easier than his own. “It fucking better be,” he says. Hibernation has never kept his life in the shadows, and most of his criticism as both an artist and human being is about his relationship with hardcore drugs. He says he’s changed his ways.

DC: Let’s talk about drugs in an official capacity. You’re well known now, and I’d say 99% of the criticism about you is that you’re a no good, lazy, drug addict.

Hibe: Yeah, this is, absolutely, not the case. I get high maybe once a month . . . in the comfort of my beautiful home with a wonderful wife who will take care of my daughter while I’m down [in the basement] doing my thing.

DC: What drugs?

Hibe: I smoke k2 [legal weed] regularly, because I’m on parole and I can’t smoke. I prefer it, actually. The only “actual” drugs I do are molly and occasionally [once per month] heroin.

DC: What are some of the drugs you previously were addicted to, that you no longer do?

Hibe: All of them. Namely, crack and heroin.

DC: A list of them, for the fans?

Hibe: Crack, heroin, methadone/suboxone/subutex, morphine, Percocet, oxy’s, and Xanax was a big one. I just stopped that four months ago, when my daughter was born. And liquor, but not so much; it was a good fallback for withdrawal.

Hibe told me that he has no message to his fans about drugs one way or the other. Simply, they have been a part of his life; he turned to them for help coping with his own problems. He lives his life “day to day, assuming the worst.” For the rest of our conversation, I shotgun fired off a few non-related questions.

DC: The other 1% of criticism is that you’re a “queer.” What do you got to say about that?

Hibe: I’ve been married [to a woman] for three years. A little dick on the side is nothing.

DC: We’ve heard from the critics. Tell me who you are in your own words.

Hibe: A sensitive soul that’s attracted to ugly because it’s all I ever knew.

DC: What’s your goal in music?

Hibe: TO LET EVERYONE KNOW I BEAT YOU 32 – 17! [at the 2008 RM GRB] And to have my life changed through the course of trying to change others with my words. And to let everyone know I beat a Sopranos character in a battle.

DC: One more for the road, dingleberry. Say something you want to say for the article.

Hibe: “Pet peeve numero dos: When people talk to me when I’m mad. Don’t talk to me or I will take it out on you. Do you not understand that? I figured people would learn their lesson, but I mean, I guess not.”

DC: There was a numero uno?

Hibe: Oh, I’m sorry, that’s a 15-year-old girl’s Facebook status I copied.

Stay tuned to the official Hellfyre Club blog, hellfyreclub.tumblr.com, for more information about the upcoming solo effort and other future Nocando-backed projects.