TreeTop Entertainment is a local hip-hop group making major moves in the music scene. The group is made up of 3 members – Marcus Morris aka Casper The Ghost, Kyle McIntyre aka Kehmak and Ryan Barker aka Culture The Beatsmith.
Casper and Kehmak stopped by the XFM Studio to talk a little bit about what’s been going on with TreeTop, and what fans have to be excited about in the near future. Click here for the full interview.
Becoming TreeTop Entertainment
McIntyre is from London, and Morris is from Toronto but has been living in London for over a decade. The boys of TreeTop have been making music for ten years and originally started out as the Goonie Googoos, which they say was short lived, and eventually developed into TreeTop.
On being interested in music from an early age, McIntyre explains, “I liked writing, and I liked being good at something. I played sports as a kid and I was alright, but I didn’t get the pat on the back that I did with music. When people like what you’re doing, you start liking it more and more, and it just becomes a part of your life.”
Morris adds, “I think me and Kehmak really took it from the point of it being fun and a hobby, to dead serious. And we’re in it right now, and I think we’re in it for the long run.”
While breaking into a local hip-hop scene is never easy, the boys haven’t let them stop them from making a name for themselves. They have had the opportunity to perform with some pretty well known hip-hop artists, a number of them here in London.
“The MGK tour was a blessing. We got to go to Toronto and open for him in my hometown, and that was a blessing. And then there was the London show, which was crazy, and that was probably one of our best shows ever,” says Morris of their recent show with Machine Gun Kelly, at London Music Hall.
Some other big names they’ve collaborated with include Tech N9ne, Akon, Waka Flaka, Big Sean and Shaggy.
Photo courtesy of Kyle McIntyre’s Facebook page
Creative Inspiration
When asked about a typical day in the life, it’s no surprise, there could be no straight answer.
McIntyre explains, “Every day is different. Recording and writing is more of a therapeutic thing, it’s more personal. Whereas the performance aspect of it is definitely more fun. You’re out there on stage, you’re interacting with people. It’s more of an extroverted thing, whereas the studio is kind of like – you know, we could all be sitting there just writing, no one even speaking, for 2 hours or however long it takes to get the job done.”
Like many artists, they use life experiences as influence for their music, but also add that movies play a huge role in their creative inspiration as well. Morris explains, “I like to watch a new movie or read a book to take my mind to another level.”
“I’m a comedy guy,” he adds. “The dramas sometimes, but I don’t like to take life too seriously.”
On staying relevant, McIntyre says, “you gotta be in the studio, you gotta keep your material fresh and just keep writing.”
A Sneak Peek
As for what’s coming, the boys say that fans should be really excited about some upcoming projects and Morris shares their hopes for the next couple years, “hopefully we get a hit record, a music video – that’s huge, money, and some kind of win.”
McIntyre adds, “we got a few tours lined up for November and Decmber with 2 pretty big names. We can’t talk too much about it, but let’s just say you definitely know who they are and they have been both been played here on the X frequently.”
This weekend they look forward to opening for Canadian rapper Madchild at Rum Runners in London, “there’s no excuse for anybody not to be there – he’s a Canadian legend putting in a lot of work so hopefully the people are coming out,” says Morris.
They add that though London has been good to them, they’d love to relocate to Toronto one day.
