The mini-mogul, who has been performing in the Valley for more than 10 years, has his own record label, Intrinz INK Records, on which he's released 14 albums. He puts out a local mix tape every month each featuring about 20 artists, and has distributed music around the world.

Now, he's organized a 10-artist show at the Marquee Theatre on Friday, March 13. In addition to his own headlining set, the show features underground artists Tilted Lids, 480 Underground and Masonic Minds.

Intrinzik is a force in the rap scene, but he started his musical career playing drums for punk and metal bands. He still uses a rock influence in his rap now, creating a genre he calls “crack rock.”

We talked to him about why he loves Arizona's music scene and where he hopes to take it.

How did you make the transition from rock to rap?

I was usually the primary songwriter and lyricist for the bands I played in. I'm a real type-A personality, and I only had one person who stuck with me the entire time we were doing the whole band thing, so eventually it just turned into, if I'm going to do music by myself for a living, then I have to do it by myself. The front men I was writing these songs for didn't know how to interact with the crowd or had boring stage presence, and I can't really sing, so this was pretty much the only option I had to keep living out the dream.

What's it like being a musician in Arizona?

I think Arizona is the best place to be because it's a big pond, and you can be a pretty big fish easily. Phoenix is always on people's tour routes and is near to LA, and there's an international airport. I can be on a flight to London in hours if I wanted to be, so it's a good little spot, and not too many people are doing what I'm doing at this level, so it is a good place for me.

What inspires you lyrically?

On (my latest album), “Fallguy: Resurrection,” there's a lot of religious innuendo and references. My dad died during that period, so there's a song about that, and there's a lot of looking back on life types of things and leaving a legacy types of messages going on that record. I felt like I was the Jesus/God of the genre I was doing, in the sense that I had to resurrect what I was doing and let people know. Every record you put out, 90 percent of the buyers are new fans, so I had to let people know, I've been doing this forever, and I'm still the best.

What are your goals in the music business?

I want to start a new label that not only includes music but also includes beats, mixing, mastering, etc. Basically anything a rapper needs, we can provide an international roster with all these services and a centralized place to get these services and for artists to promote their music and sell their music, almost like a farm league for this kind of music. Artistically, I just want to re-invent myself every time.

Why should people come to Friday's show?

I would tell them to come to see what their city's underground music scene is all about. If you are a Juggalo (a fan of Psychopathic Records artists) and you like that type of music and you want to be with your family, your Juggalo community, then you need to do that. If you're not, then you need to see what the whole big deal is about.


EDIT: Also, here's a little more exposure! Check em out!

http://phoenix.metromix.com/music/band/intrinzik/1021958/content


http://phoenix.metromix.com/music/article/q-and-a-local/1021980/content