--- title: Interview: MeLo-X – The X-Factor author: Andrew Hazard published: 2012-11-01 modified: 2012-11-01 section: Lifestyle tags: Jesse Boykins III, MeLo-X, Melo-X 1991, Zulu Guru, Zulu Guru Australian tour canonical: https://www.stasheverything.com/interview-melo-x/ source: Stash Everything --- # Interview: MeLo-X – The X-Factor [![](https://www.stasheverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MeLo-X-feature-300x207.jpg)](https://www.stasheverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MeLo-X-feature.jpg)Producer and rapper, stylist and innovator. Brooklyn native **MeLo-X** pleads guilty on all counts, as both a solo artist and now in his new incarnation as one-half of the group **Zulu Guru**. His accomplice in this endeavour is fellow eccentric producer-vocalist **Jesse Boykins III**. Starting November 5, Melbourne Cup eve, they will be performing [three dates](https://www.stasheverything.com/news/melo-x-and-jesse-boykins-iii-embark-on-zulu-guru-australian-tour/) in Australia. We caught up with the MeLo man to discuss his popular [Azealia Banks remix](http://soundcloud.com/meloxtra/melo-x-azealia-banks-1991), his musical approach, balancing his different projects and more. **Stash Everything**: What type of response have you gotten for your remix of Azealia Banks’ *1991* so far, has it been largely positive? **MeLo-X**: It’s been a blessing. I dropped the track during a recent basement party in Brooklyn and the crowd went crazy, singing every lyric, which may I point out is hard to do [laughs]. I also performed it in London at the Jazz Café with a live band and that brought a whole new energy to it. So the response has been great. **SE**: What is it the draws you to the tracks you remix, what is the challenge for you? **M**: The music I remix is usually music I hear myself on and music that can push me to a newer level. Hearing*1991* was like fresh air. Azalea Banks killed that track so much I just wanted to challenge myself to do the same. It definitely elevated me lyrically. As for my production remixes like Yuna’s*Live Your Life (MotherLand God Mix),*I use those types of remixes as collaboration. I attack the song as if the artist and me are in the studio together creating something new. I like my remixes to sound totally different from the original. **SE**: Many artists take different approaches to their work. Would it be safe to say that you are emotionally invested in everything you do, can that be a draining process? **M**: I am always putting 100% of myself into everything I do. The one frustrating thing is when I create something for a label that hits me up to do a remix and then they take it and never release it and never email back about the process of the remix. In those cases I usually release the track myself, then it blows up and they come running behind it as if they we’re supporting it from jump. Corny shit. **SE**: With the success of past remixes like the Maxwell project are you in a position where you are now approached by artists to remix their work? **M**: I am usually approached by record labels, who want to reach my audience or get a ‘’MeLo-X co-sign” for their artist. I love good music so when it makes sense I am always down to work on a dope remix for a artist. Sometimes though these labels just want to have my name attached to their artist and the music doesn’t fit or make any sense with what I’m doing. In those cases I can always tell they don’t really know anything about me but just see my name popping up in the places they want to reach. I do feel blessed to have worked on the Maxwell Remix EP and he has stayed in contact with me to remix his next album. That should be interesting. **SE**: How do you balance your different ventures alongside the music, like the photography, is it important for you to have other outlets outside of the music? **M**: I’ve always been a super-creative person. Since a child I was always doing more than one thing creatively. But even with that said I always take my time to fully master each and everything I want to create. I usually go with the flow. Sometimes I’ll be deeply involved with my Photography, like this past summer. Then I will have a week or month period where it’s all about designing and painting. I just follow the universe and move as it shifts. **SE**: You have done work for Nike and other high profile companies, is it difficult to balance artistic integrity with the business side, do you like to test it? **M**: The best thing about being an independent artist is that no one can say they made you. No one can say they were the reason I got to where I am. My talent and my focus is what got me to where I am today. With that said when companies approach me they have that in mind so automatically everything is on my terms. Of course they have bi-laws and guidelines to follow, but because I have built this core audience and following on a indie level, it can be more of a meeting of the minds rather than a hand out. On this level it helps them to be in touch with the youth culture of today and it helps me to have my name circulate on a larger level all while staying true to my story. **SE**: Has it been a bit of a tough transition going from predominantly remixes and instrumentals to producing an entire studio album or is it a natural progression? **M**: It’s very natural. I have been producing full albums since high school. It’s all natural to me. I just go with the flow. Doing a remix is always a good way to spread my name and it has been a blessing, but in between those times I’m always crafting something bigger and more official. **SE**: When is your studio album coming out and what can we expect from it? **M**: My first official studio album for sale will be released next year and It will be a mix of my mixtape *More Merch* and my instrumental album *Fewture*. It will be like a meeting point between those two projects. I wanted to create a album that fully expressed my creative abilities as a producer, musician and writer. The music is unlike anything I have done in the past and I am proud of it so far. [![zulu-guru-feature](https://www.stasheverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/zulu-guru-feature-300x300.jpg)](https://www.stasheverything.com/interview-melo-x/zulu-guru-feature/) [![melo-x-banner](https://www.stasheverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/melo-x-banner-300x300.jpg)](https://www.stasheverything.com/interview-melo-x/melo-x-banner/)