This interview with Boston underground MC Esoteric was originally published on HipHopCanada on July 30, 2002, and stands as one of the earliest artist interviews in the platform’s history. At the time, Esoteric — best known as one half of the duo 7L & Esoteric — was a rising figure in the independent hip-hop circuit, fresh off the momentum of The Soul Purpose, recognition at the Boston Hip-Hop Awards, and growing affiliations with collectives like Army of the Pharaohs and Demigodz.
For HipHopCanada, this conversation marked one of its first interviews with an artist outside of Canada, reflecting both Christopher Collins aka Compleck’s depth of knowledge as an interviewer and the site’s early credibility within the international underground rap community.
We are republishing it now alongside our new tribute to Chris, who sadly passed away on January 4 2026. It’s a reminder of the thoughtful work he contributed during the platform’s formative years.
Interview with Esoteric, published on HipHopCanada.com on July 30, 2002
Esoteric Interview
Complecks: What’s the deally Esoteric, how have you been?
Esoteric: Chilling man, thank you. I just got back from Aruba…my first time there…first time to an island like that at all… shit is lovely out there and I’m sorry I’m home. I think life should begin and end on that island. Lots of everything…
Complecks: I understand that you have been working hard on your up-coming release Dangerous Connection, you wanna speak on that?
Esoteric: Definitely. I feel this is more of a “7L & Esoteric” album than the last one. We have returned to our first label brick records and are ready to hit hard with this shit. We were really only happy with about half of The Soul Purpose. The original “Soul Purpose” was “The Speaking Real Words” EP, and about 7 tracks from the LP… like Jealous Over Nothing, Operating Correctly, Verbal Assault, Think Back, Chain Reaction and a few others. It was ready to go, and then landspeed threw this budget at us and we got a little sidetracked…we got caught in the middle of a big waiting game for tracks from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and a verse or two from Bumpy Knuckles, who was supposed to cover the third verse on Chain Reaction. we figured it was worth the wait. Once Foxxx’s relationship went sour with the label, none of this worked out. This put the whole lp on hold, so we dropped the EP to tide people over for a few minutes. It really caught on though, and everyone was recognizing it as our first release. Once that dropped we watched our Soul Purpose release date get further and further away. As the up and LP became further apart as time elapsed, we took the EPs songs off the LP and just did some joints to take their place…until we were just sick of the whole idea and lost focus. This is a new era now, and you will hear that in the music.
Complecks: Who can we expect as far as guest appearances (vocal and production)?
Esoteric: The majority of the production on the LP is from my DJ, 7L, and the majority of the emceeing is from myself. Other guests dropping lyrics are Vinnie Paz, J-live, Count Bass D, Apathy, and my man Beyonder. Beat wise, we have some help from Jedi Mind Tricks’ Stoupe, Kutmasta Kurt, and once again, my man Beyonder but for the most part, it’s 7L. We have stuff done with Celph Titled as well, but I think that is going to be released later in the year on a 12 or something due to timelines.
Complecks: Word is that your “Soul Purpose” release was awarded the best hip-hop LP at this years Boston Hip Hop Awards. Big Ups!
Esoteric: Yes it did. Thank you.
Complecks: You have definitely come a long way since the days of God Complex. Now, not only are you and 7L doin your thing but you are a member of both the Army of the Pharaohs and the Demigodz crew. What keeps you so motivated?
Esoteric: I think the fans keep me motivated. If someone quotes my rhymes here or there, it means a real lot to me. Somebody shakes my hand and tells me how certain songs make them feel, it makes it worth while. As far as the Pharaohs, Vinnie Paz is fam and we’ve been scheming on this hip-hop shit together for a long time so working together is just an excuse to hang out, same with Apathy. I mean, sixteen bars is nothing to me, so it’s kind of second nature to get on a track and keep myself on the radio.
Complecks: Being a close acquaintance of Vinnie Paz, has the whole beef between him and Jus Allah had any effect on your relationship with Virtuoso since he signed Jus to Omnipotent?
Esoteric: Most definitely. That fucked a lot of shit up.
Complecks: How did the True School Academics tour turn out? Did Europe show you much love?
Esoteric: Oh yeah, that was off the hook. Paris, London, Stockholm, Nottingham, Vicenza…everywhere… I think we played around 25 cities and saw several countries so it was a pleasure. The crowds were extremely enthusiastic and we had a lot of fun on the off days with everyone on the tour.
Complecks: When should we expect the first single off the up-coming Dangerous Connection to drop? I understand it will be “Can’t Come Close” b/w “Word Association.”
Esoteric: Yeah, those two songs, but the A-side is called “Watch Me.” It’s hot. Yeah, “Watch Me” is the a-side, and “Word Association” and “Can’t Come Close” round out the B-side. It’s three songs and it will mark the return on 7LES. 7L produced the first two and Beyonder did the third. This will be in stores mid-august with the full-length album to follow in October.
Complecks: What do you got in store that will differ this album from The Soul Purpose?
Esoteric: You will have to wait and see, but everyone that’s heard it says it’s different than The Soul Purpose. We took this LP a little more seriously. It’s a little more dangerous. A little dirtier I think.
Complecks: Esoteric is a hell of a nice concept for an alias. How did you come up with it, and how does it represent you as an emcee?
Esoteric: Esoteric means speaking to a certain few, or over the heads of some and if you look at some of my lyrics, especially the ones from 95-98, they were looked at as Esoteric to the average hip-hop fan. Some would stereotype the lyricism as “scientific” or “complex” or whatever. This was before everyone, with the exception of a few, was doing that type of thing. Anyway, someone very close to me pointed out my complexity as a negative thing, saying I’m not reaching the listeners, and i took it and used it as a positive thing and made “Esoteric” my emcee name.
Complecks: I’m sure I speak on behalf of all the Army Of The Pharaohs fans worldwide when I ask when can we expect a full-length release?
Esoteric: Yeah, I heard that A LOT in Europe. Trust me, it is in the works my man, it is in the works. After “Dangerous Connection” and “Visions Of Ghandi” drop, we will wrap that up. There is a lot of cleaning up to do beforehand though, if you know what I mean.
Complecks: The style that you bring forth on the mic is very commanding; you definitely know how to capture the listeners attention. Who do you consider to be your inspirations in the hip hop culture?
Esoteric: From the 80’s it was definitely people like Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Eric B & Rakim, Lord Finesse, EPMD, Public Enemy and BDP. Then in the early 90’s it was Gang Starr, Organized Konfusion, DITC, and Pete Rock. Mid-90’s it was Nas and Wu-Tang, especially Deck. Now it’s myself and the people I hang with.
Complecks: Do you as an artist thrive for commercial success (cop a range rover, sip Dom P., rock platinum links, etc.), or would you be satisfied just making ends meet, providing your family with life’s necessities?
Esoteric: I would be very happy with a range rover and being able to buy whatever I need in life. I like the taste of Dom Pérignon. I like lobster and stuffed shrimp… I would like to travel at the drop of a hat, buy nice things… have a nice house… but I think the type of hip-hop we do might be a little too esoteric to capture the fans that Nelly or Jay-Z ropes in. I don’t really plan on doing anything with NSYNC at all either. In the long run, I would be happy making ends meet and being able to keep my family fed.
Complecks: Alright, I will wrap this up right about now. You got any shout outs?
Esoteric: Thank you for the interview Chris… no real shout-outs… except my DJ, 7L, webmaster Ed, and the New England hip-hop scene. Check out www.7L-Esoteric.com (website no longer active).
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