WPGU's Christine Italia caught up with Al-iteration. This is what he had to say:

1) How you got your start as an artist?

I don't even know what a start is really...what defines an artist.... erase all the music I've recorded and the things I've written and I'd still probably have worked the same job I did in high school....still ended up at U of I, and still be working at Espresso Royale. I used to like writing short stories in grammar school. Sometime in high school I thought freestyle battling was cool after seeing the Blaze Battles on HBO, so my cousin and I and some friends from the around the way. At the same time (this was '01) my friend was putting me on to some good hip-hop shit like The Last Emperor, RZA, and MF Doom (although I ignored the MF Doom until '04). I used to post lyrics on stupid internet rap message boards like LeThaL LyRiCiTz and other crap like that and cypher after school with the few other emcee/beatboxers in the school. My friend Drew who used to cypher and beatbox with us put out his own CD my junior year of high school, and after seeing that I was inspired to get one out by next time last year. That's when I started getting a lot of ambition to get better and go out to open mics and record. Then I got involved in spoken word stuff, volunteering for the youth poetry slam in Chicago to get my community service hours for my high school, which added the concentration on poetics (albeit sometimes at a loss) in my tracks.

2) Where are you originally from?

I'm from Chicago--I've been quasi-Northside/near North kid since birth.

3) Who are your musical influences?

Lots of marginally witty rappers I guess--for my earlier stuff a lot of "punchline artists" as we call 'em---Rise, Pack FM, lots of east coast no-name rappers I found about through the internet...as for nowadays---you're influenced by everything. Plus I've been getting into a lot more stuff since my last CD. But for compliance's sake, the rappers/producers that change my perception of what I make are: El-P, Breezely Brewin', MF Doom, Madlib, Jay-Z, '94 Common, Nas, '97 Slug, and U of I's very own Sasha Skolnik.

4) What is your latest music/what are you currently working on?

I'm working on myself...no music right now. Input over output...soaking up the silence...it's been an album a year since I was 17, no more schedules---I feel like I'm contracted sometimes...and people asking what's up with something new...it's just kinda like, hey, it'll happen when it happens, and if not, it wasn't meant to happen [yet].