Photo Courtesy of Mista Encore
It’s no secret that Asbury Park has been a hotbed of musical talent for decades, but just a few miles to the north on Ocean Ave is the often slept-on city of Long Branch that has a music history of its’ own. Legendary venues like The Brighton Bar and newer spots like Trident Art Gallery and The Creative Space are key players in the Jersey Shore’s music scene.
Mista Encore grew up in this “other” city by the beach and has repped it for over a decade as a battle rapper, songwriter, live performer, producer and all-around-artist. In less than a year he has released two volumes of The Cleanse series that have garnered attention and praise and performed all over New Jersey all while being a dedicated father (Check out his Daddy’s Girl series for proof).
NJ Next’s Angelo Gingerelli recently caught up with Mista Encore to talk about growing up in Long Branch, live shows, fatherhood and how DMX changed the course of his career.
When does Hip-Hop enter your life and when do you decide to transition from fan to artist?
I always had a love for music at a young age and it started in the church. My grandmother was a drummer and my uncle played the keyboard, so I wanted to be a musician since I could remember. I didn’t start writing my own songs until middle school, but I use to sing R&B to the girls lol.
It wasn’t until I had a crush on a girl who was in love with DMX, so I started acting like him and writing raps to get her attention. I have been rapping ever since and when I turned 16 I really started focusing on becoming a rapper and music producer full time.
You are from Long Branch New Jersey, what was the Hip-Hop scene like there when you were growing up and how has it evolved in the last few years?
Hip hop was everywhere in Long Branch when I was growing up. At the time I was coming up everybody was battling each other to get recognition. I would battle anybody at any time and people respected me because of it. I started to gain a little name and would only write battle raps. There weren’t any venues at the time that would let us really perform, so local hip hop was super underground.
Your last two projects have been called The Cleanse 1 & 2 what does that name mean and how did it turn into a two part project?
The title for The Cleanse started as song idea then it turned into a whole project. The definition of The Cleanse to me is to hit the reset button and start fresh. It’s about purging everything you know and getting rid of the negative so you can prepare for the positive. I released The Cleanse 1 in November 2018, it was sort of an experiment to see what the reaction would be. I was happy that a lot of people were impressed by just a five-song project, and they said they wanted more music right away! I started working on The Cleanse 2 in January and released the eight song project in July 2019.
You have two songs about your daughter. How has becoming a father affected you as an artist?
This is super cliche but being a father changed everything about me. The Cleanse series I’m doing is super personal and I want my supporters to understand who I am and what I’m about. It’s only right I dedicate songs to my daughter to show them being a father is super important to me.
90% of the time my daughter is usually right next to me when I make beats or record so it’s like she’s a part of the process. I wrote Daddy’s Girl 1 when she was like 5 months and had to record it while she napped in the stroller right next to me (laughs). I plan on writing a song for her every year until she turns 18 then making it an album so she can listen to it and play it back! I think that would be dope!
Where did the name “Mista Encore” come from?
I had many rap names when I started out but none of them stuck. I went by RomeShyne for a while, Jay Encore, and few others I can’t even remember. I named myself Encore because when I would battle rap I would come up with these crazy punchlines. When I would finish spitting a lot of people would be like “Yo! Say that verse or line again.” So I would have to perform it twice. I thought Encore would be a dope rap name. So I put the Mista in front of it to personalize it and just ran with it!
Better “Encore”… Jay-Z’s song produced by Kanye or Eminem’s “Encore” album?
It’s hard to compare one song to a whole album, but Jay-z’s Encore is a banger so I gotta pick that one!
You performed at this summer’s “Rap N Rock Tour” what was that experience like?
The Rap N Rock Tour was amazing! Every show I did the crowd was rocking with it and the venues Bob Makin and Rodney Coursey picked were dope! It was great to see Rock and Hip-Hop on the same line up, I never did a show like that before. We need more of that in this area, I felt like the Rap N Rock tour will be even bigger the next time around!
What’s next for Mista Encore?
Big things are happening this year, we just released The Cleanse 2 so we are pushing that. I’m shooting some visuals for that project so be on the lookout for those. I’m still doing my 365 beat challenge on my Instagram @MistaEncore_ , I will be posting a beat everyday this year so check that out. I’m doing more live shows in August and the winter so come out and support!
Quick Response Questions:
Top 5 MC’s : Jay-z, Nas, BIG, Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dogg
Top 4 Venues : The Saint (AP), House of Independents (AP), Mill Hill Basement, Trenton NJ, Blackthorn in New Brunswick, NJ.
Top 3 producers : Dr. Dre, Salaam Remi, Quincy Jones
Top 2 artist about to blow : Mista Encore for sure! K-prez is going to be big as well!
Top reason to listen to Mista Encore : You should listen to my music because its honest, pure, and the beats are fire!
