On April 7, 2017, I interviewed Raheem Jarbo, better known by his stage name Mega Ran, a 'nerdcore' rapper from Phoenix, Arizona on the rise who actually his own verified account on the site! Fortunately enough, I was able to contact him at the perfect time for a interview, and I'm very glad to have asked him these questions and for having him to take the time out of his day to answer them. b33_t33_g33: So, you recently released Mat Mania: The Revenge, a WWE centered album. What does this mean for more wrestling themed projects? Are they going to be the same concept?

Mega Ran: I'm done with wrestling projects, for now. The last thing I want to do is be predictable, so after two Mat Mania releases, I'll probably take a vastly different approach to do something like that again. It's been a great run and I look forward to working with Lynx Kinetic on a different type of release in the near future.

b33_t33_g33: I did like this project, since I'm a huge fan of wrestling and it's good to see another person who makes music around the sole appreciation of the sport. You also work with underappreciated producers that haven't been heard as much, and Lynx is sure one of them. Your Biggie themed mixtape, Notorious R.A.N: Ready To Live, gained a lot of notoriety. Are you proud of this project? I'd assume you are.

Mega Ran: Yes, I am. I am a huge Biggie fan so to put together a tribute that people enjoyed was important to me.

b33_t33_g33: I'm certain that a lot of other rappers cite Biggie as their inspiration, since he is considered a legend even to this day. I do want to say one thing, even though it's not the most important; you don't really tell whether a project that you come out with is a mixtape or not. Assuming with how much stuff you can come out with in one year (let's take the last year alone), more of that is mixtapes or singles rather than full-length albums. Which producers do you want to collaborate with in the future? Could you see yourself over something DJ Premier or Statik Selektah produced?

Mega Ran: Man, I love Lazerbeak's production... we did one track together ("Rushmore") that became a lot of people's favorites on that album. I'd like to work with Premier or Statik, they're at the top of my bucket list for sure, next to Pete Rock, DJ Quik and Erick Sermon.

b33_t33_g33: It's safe to say that you're getting more appreciated as the days, months, and years go by, so let's see how a few years will pass by if you ever get the chance to work with one of them or not. Premier has produced for a bunch of well-known artists (Royce Da 5'9", Nas, if you've heard Preem's work I think you should know the rest under his belt), and Statik all the same with the former that I just mentioned. Which features do you want to collaborate with in the future? When you did "Losses" with Joell Ortiz and Murs, that's when I feel like you stepped out of the circle of your usual features.

Mega Ran: Yes, that was a big goal going into RNDM... to create something new you need new folks around and they help to foster new ways of thinking..and new ideas. I'm very proud of that. In the future though I want to work with people who respect my art as much as I respect theirs. Cee Lo Green, MF Doom and others are on my list, but if they heard my music and didn't like it, it couldn't happen. It was hard getting that respect and now folks who had turned me down for feature requests are now interested and it's a great feeling, but at the same time makes you wonder if they appreciate your art, or if they just want to capitalize off of you, your movement or what you have going on at the moment. I do a lot of overthinking these days, ha.

b33_t33_g33: Don't get me wrong when I say I appreciate people such as Sammus, Lars, Frontalot on your songs, but to see different features like Ortiz or Murs is what I would consider unconventional but wonderful at the same time. I think it's a matter of just seeing your favorite artist with another favorite artist. Are you going to do any more 'freestyles' over popular rap instrumentals like you did with Drake's "Hype" and Desiigner's "Panda"?

Mega Ran: Probably. I had fun with that, the Fetty Wap one as well. That's a tradition as old as hip-hop to me, as an east coast kid, raised on mixtapes, I loved to hear my favorite MC crush a new popular beat. So there will be more.

b33_t33_g33: I'm glad to hear that there will be more freestyles coming up soon. You and MC Lars are truly inspirational as a duo and very approachable. You don't get much interaction as a fan but that barrier of not being recognized becomes nonexistant when talking to you two. How do you both manage that?

Mega Ran: It's something I pride myself on. I know how much of a hard time i had in the past reaching my favorite artists, so I try to be there for people who want to reach me, and respond to every message or email as soon as I can. It's important to me to be present, as I learn as much from fan interaction as they may get from my music. It means a lot to me.

b33_t33_g33: You do a lot of concerts. How do you do so much? Does this put a lot of stress on you?

Mega Ran: Most of my friends work 40+ hours a week, 5 to 6 days. I work on stage about 150 nights per year. It's not much different than anyone else who works a gig... maybe I love my job a little more than they do, so there's that. The traveling is stressful, but I love it and wouldn't do anything else.

b33_t33_g33: I'd guess it isn't much different as someone who has gigs in comedy or something of the sort, but I'd say it's more frequent around this time of year. What do you think about the services that your music is on? (Spotify, Bandcamp, etc.) Do they allow a lot of freedom to release your music?

Mega Ran: I fought the streaming services as much as I could, but Bandcamp singlehandedly made it possible to do what I do. I have to thank them for that. I now subscribe to and get most of my music from Spotify, so there is freedom, except when you want to do the mixtape-style thing... rapping on other peoples beats is almost impossible because everything is monetized. So putting a free promo track on the leading streaming sites isn't possible. That's my only complaint.

b33_t33_g33: I've heard of people having trouble with Spotify in the past. Rapping another over instrumental, not being able to clear samples, what you were basically talking about. I'd also have to say that Bandcamp is the best source for music, and doesn't require a type of subscription in order to receive the high-quality version of music like Spotify does. You are signed independently to your own record label, RandomBeats; correct me if I'm wrong? Do you think this gives you a lot of freedom but less fans since it doesn't go out as much?

Mega Ran: I love putting out music independently because I have no boss telling me when I can or can't put out a song. If the lack of worldwide reach is my sacrifice for full independence, then I don't mind. The fact that I can go grocery shopping without being mobbed is okay with me. We don't want to be pop-stars. I enjoy what I do and I'm very pleased with the reach that my music has. I put together an album with a team of 3 people that hit the top 25 on iTunes, next to albums that cost millions of dollars to produce. That same record entered GRAMMY consideration next to albums that spent millions in advertising. So I know that the music we create is on the level of anything made and I won't let a label like "indie" keep me from being proud of what we do. We're on the right track. I live my dreams every day, and that's really all I can ask for.

b33_t33_g33: You posted a tweet not too long ago in which a fan brought a Trump hat to one of your concerts and wanted you to sign it. Why do you think that person did it?

Mega Ran: I think he was a Trump supporter, which is fine. I also think he wanted to make a statement by having a rapper sign it, and I was extremely nice and signed a poster instead for him. He probably doesn't even know I had a problem with it being a MAGA hat, unless he reads my tweets, hahahaha.

b33_t33_g33: Is there any other rappers from Philadelphia that are on the rise and need to be heard at this very moment?

Mega Ran: I don't live in Philly anymore, haven't for almost a decade, though it's still considered my home. I live in Phoenix and out there I'd recommend RoQy TyRaiD, Mr. Miranda, The Stakes, and a lot more out there doing really cool stuff.

That wraps it up! I'm glad to have done my first interview on here, especially with a verified artist. Big thanks to Ran for going through with it.