Independent record label Rhymesayers is recognized for underground acts like Brother Ali, MF Doom and Atmosphere. We recently caught up with CEO and President Brent “Siddiq” Sayers to talk about the company which for years the company has contributed music to a number of video game soundtracks, including the brand new Xbox 360 snowboarding title Stoked.

The Source: Tell us a little bit about Rhymesayers’ accomplishments.

Brent “Siddiq” Sayers: I would like to think that we’re one of the stronger independent Hip-Hop labels out there right now, as far as across the board with what we’re doing, as well as actual record sales. We definitely have some of the larger independent groups amongst the Indies.

Interview by: CJ Washington

What is it about the video game Stoked that appealed to you guys?

First, we’ve always done some videogame work. Obviously, it goes hand in hand with the Hip-Hop market. The market is obviously intertwined, but with Stoked, one of my guy’s works for the company (Destineer), I’ve known him for years…we understand the same struggle as far as trying to build something up on your own. Going through those trials and tribulations I think we have an appreciation for anybody doing independent minded things. For us, we could see it was a no-brainer.

The label has been independent for so long, how does it feel to make major moves like appearing on a video game soundtrack?

It’s cool! I think we have an everyday/everyman approach to everything we do. All were doing is bringing some of our music to the game…it’s just a continuation of what we kind of do here in general.

How did you know the song “Smart When Crazy” would be a perfect fit Stoked?

We submitted some songs to them. They went through some catalog stuff and picked out a few songs. It did work well, so we rolled with it.

So did you feel that “Smart When Crazy” would be one of those titles to be picked up by the publisher?

It was really them (Destineer) and going through and finding what they liked.

Who are some of the groups/artists Rhymesayers is working with at the moment?

Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S.—those are three that we’re working on.

Do you fell the independent route is better when it comes to distributing music, rather than the major label approach?

I think it’s probably still a little bit better than the majors right now, given the industry. I think that there are definitely some benefits for us just because in the last 10 years we’ve been building bridges and building foundations with fan bases, so we don’t need to depend on a lot of that, but the extra marketing, those are issues that I think that the major labels as a commercial market have come to rely on.

We’ve never really had to depend on those things and now that those things are being pulled back because no one has the money to sink into projects and artists like that anymore, it kind of levels the playing field a little bit.

Other than the videogame front, what does Rhymesayers have lined up for 2009?

Obviously [we'll] release some more records. We got the new Brother Ali album coming out later, as well as a little EP dropping in March. A couple of other things, big signings, more of the same. There are definitely some other things that would probably be good to drop that will definitely catch a lot of people by surprise, but I can’t really elaborate.

Besides Atmosphere, anyone else we can expect to hear in Stoked?

I have no idea what the soundtrack looks like or whatever artists are onboard for the game.

So did they use one record or multiple tracks from your company?

They picked up a few tracks. I think it’s predominantly Atmosphere tracks that they picked up for the game.

Have other gaming companies reached out to you guys requesting the label’s services?

We’ve done stuff before with EA Sports; we’ve done stuff with Nike and different companies in gaming.