There’s no question that North Shore rapper Token has a rare talent. His unique exposure to the Hip-hop genre at a young age combined with his unfathomable work ethic put in towards mastering the craft only leaves debate on whether or not the seventeen-year-old deserves the often overused but rarely deserving label of prodigy, and whether or not that label would end up being a blessing or a curse.
If we were to break down his hip hop career in Gladwellian perspectives, Token, whose given name is Ben Goldberg, certainly fits the outlier mold for future stardom. From an elementary school experience that quickly turned poems about isolation and confusion into raps behind Youtube beats, to producing his own mix tapes, videos and touring with his own bus, Token has been racking up a serious amount of credentials mastering all aspects of what it takes to be a successful hip-hop artist.
His biggest obstacle now isn’t so much a test of his skill but perhaps the acceptance of the genre itself along with its diverse fans. After all, the mainstream Hip-hop world still churns out success stories for artists whose ‘street cred’ and often inaudible geographical slang overshadow anything resembling talent. The flip side of the coin is a thriving underground scene of true hip-hop revivalists who have long since moved on from the facade of glamorized misogyny and dumbed down perceived ways of urban culture. Goldberg, whose raps already take on a social consciousness seems to be moving in that artistic direction in hopes of cultivating a lasting impression rather than one of a mainstream flash in the pan.
Perhaps more importantly, Token seems to have an overall sense of gratitude in the discovery of his talent that permeates his character and perspective. He carries himself with an air of confidence and swagger that you’d expect from a young man that just plainly knows he’s got something but also with a light-heartedness and smile that lets you know that he feels lucky that he’s found it. Even when there are hints of emulation, Token’s confidence assures listeners that he’s just scratching the surface of his creative impulses. We were lucky enough to catch up with Token himself before his Eraser Shavings mixtape release show this Friday night at Once Ballroom in Somerville. We got the chance to talk about his famous freestyle cipher with Sway, the thriving Boston hip hop scene, and why he’s more than just another rapper walking down the street.
Allston Pudding: There is a duality to your name Token, can you describe how and when you came up with it?
Ben Goldberg: I came up with it when I was really young, I think like 5th grade. It was before I started calling myself Token as a rapper. I had a different name, but I just liked the idea of it. Basically the idea of it is that I always felt real different when I was in school and I was out of the loop on a lot things. Even with my family I always felt that I was just different. Token can also mean different, like the token ‘black kid’ at an all white school- he’s the only one. But it can also means something that’s worth something, like a token of gratitude. The first poem that I ever wrote was about being different and it turned out that me being different turned out to be my gift, so that’s how it sort of fell into place. I started calling myself Token and that was when I was in the 8th grade.
AP: The connection to T. Pain and the freestyle on Sway’s show are probably you’re biggest claims to fame so far. The freestyle is super long I think they cut the beat out on you, would you describe your experience from that day and would you have kept going if they didn’t cut you off?
BG: The T. Pain thing is something completely different. I kind of even forgot that happened. T. Pain shared my first video I ever did as Token when I was 14 and he just tweeted it.
The Sway video was something I prepared for for a really long time. The story behind it is that I actually did have way more material to put into that verse. I actually had prepared over 250 bars. Being on that show was always a dream of mine. I used to watch it religiously. When I heard about it I thought I was getting my own segment so I just went crazy with writing. It took up most of my time for close to a month, writing over 250 bars. The day before I go to New York, literally the day before we get the official invitation, we found out it was a part of Fire Cypher Friday or something like that, meaning there were going to be other dudes there. You can’t be spitting 250 bars with other dudes there and I didn’t know what beat they were gonna give.
Basically I only had a few choices. I could back out and hope to get my own segment, which would have been the easiest thing to do but I knew that Sway would look at it like “who is this kid thinking he’s too good for the cypher?” and that’s not what I felt but I just prepared so hard for something completely different. Then another option was to take old verses that were 12 or 16 or 24’s that were old but kind of average, and I didn’t really want to do that either. My third option was just try to trim it and rearrange what I prepared and take the most potent parts of the original verses and put it together, and that’s what I did.
AP: Freestyle is a unique craft different from writing songs, how much time goes into learning and practicing that before you start to get out in front of people?
BG: The Sway verse wasn’t really an off the top freestyle. Practicing in general? I practice and write everyday. A lot of rappers pretend like “oh, this just happened”, calling stuff a freestyle and not talking about the practice and I never really understood that. Like, saying that you practice is an insult? But this is all I do, I got too much of a big goal. I want to be a famous rapper. I look like an idiot when I say that so it’s like, who would I be if I didn’t work my ass off every single day? It just wouldn’t add up. And thats how I look at it, I don’t think its gonna happen if I’m slacking off.
AP: When was the moment you realized you were good enough for it to be a real thing?
BG: I always thought I was the shit. Music was the outlet for me to feel like the shit when I wasn’t feeling like it. Ever since I was young I was really prolific with it because it became something that I relied on rather than I just did as a hobby. I was writing poems everyday when I was in second grade, so I’ve been doing it a while. I even go back sometimes to my first recordings when I was ten or eleven and there was stuff in there…I’ll still take lines of stuff that I said when I was in 4th or 5th grade that never got released that Ill put into my songs today. Obviously I have a lot to work on and I had a lot to work on then, but there were elements that I still feel are kind of dope.
AP: You look back and you’re proud of them?
BG: Yeah, I remember being in 7th grade and thinking, “man I’m gonna be one the greatest ever.” I remember thinking that, I’m gonna put these lyrics together and I’m gonna be one of the greatest ever.
AP: Coming from the North Shore and only being 17, how would describe your approach to Hip Hop when so much respect is given to artists based on where they’re from and their life experiences?
BG: It’s interesting because my perspective is definitely unique and a lot of the music I’ve put out thus far hasn’t really touched upon the things that I’ve gone through or the stuff that I’ve seen or been around. It was kind of a plan because of where I’m from, because of the way I look, I had to prove myself lyrically before I did anything else. My very first songs were about my life, but nobody really gravitated towards those because they didn’t want to hear an eleven-year-old talking about his life. I made a decision that I was just going to show people that I can rap my ass off. Thats the first thing I’m gonna do. Now I’m at the point where I feel like I’ve built everything up and it’s time that I need to talk again about certain things in my life. That’s really what this project is. Its an introduction to what my fans are fans of. They’re fans of my skill, but I don’t think they’re fans of the person yet. I’m going to touch upon subjects that I haven’t approached yet.
AP: Your songs do tell stories of people around you though, like “Happiness”. Where did the inspiration to write a song like that come from? Did you have any fear that you’d get backlash from your classmates or family for using them for inspiration?
BG: The inspiration for “Happiness” came from my experience in public school in Marblehead. I noticed that a lot of kids in that town appeared to have these really fortunate lifestyles- money, family, good school, stuff that appeared to be for them an awesome life. But then I would get to know some of them and find out they’d be on medication for depression, or they have a history of cutting themselves. That was the original inspiration for the girl in the song. Then I just linked it back to the person who you would expect to be unhappy and kind of told my story a little bit. That song is just opening up the door to let people know that Token is more than just walking down the street rapping. Thats something that I’ve always believed, that happiness isn’t dictated by one specific thing-money. It’s about your self worth.
AP: You’re still in high school now, how do you balance being an artist with your academics? Do you have a typical high school life, is there a traditional college plan in the works? Do your teachers and classmates treat you differently?
BG: I take online classes now. Last year I started the second semester of my Junior year. I did that for multiple reasons, the most obvious being when I’m on the road I can go around my schedule with school.
Definitely as the music took off people began acting differently and trying to get on the boat. I do my best not to surround myself with “yes men.” I just noticed that I was a kid who no one really knew when I was younger and when I was quiet. And now I feel like I haven’t even really changed that much but everyone is more interested obviously because of the music. I don’t knock those people though, I would be interested in some dude who had his own career at my age and want to learn about it too. But I just don’t like to surround myself with that energy.
I don’t plan to go to college next year, but it’s definitely not something I’m writing off. I’ve always been about school. I’ve never done just hip-hop and not cared about school.
AP: I read you have overcome a language disability to do something that obviously requires a strong grasp of language. Do you think working through the disability played into the development of your rhyme and flow?
BG: I don’t think so but it’s interesting. When I was younger I was getting tested a lot and going to different therapists and I didn’t know what was going on until later, like kind of recently. I just remember one of the classes I used to go to was all about the way I comprehended words and broke words down and how I didn’t understand bigger words and having to go there all the time after school and I hated it so much. I was already rapping at that time too and it just didn’t add up to me. But I really didn’t understand it until now, so I feel like that didn’t effect anything at all. Its just kind of interesting that you pay this money to get tested and they tell you what you have wrong with yourself and its just ironic that for me its literally what I do. And they told me that I can’t do it.
AP: That leads me into my next question, I watched a little of your AMA the other day and a lot of people are really inspired by you and ask you for advice. Is that a little overwhelming?
Token: It’s definitely overwhelming, but inspiring is my biggest inspiration because it’s just crazy what music can do . It’s insane. I’m still young and a lot of times it’s a lot to handle. But that comes from putting yourself in the music. When you’re talking about things like depression people can relate and want to hear your story. I can’t be talking to fans all the time but I try to talk to as many as possible and hear them out. The power you have with the music is insane and I never would have thought about it. I also think it’s because I’m young because there a lot of young people out there that think that they don’t have the respect that they should have. People think that they’re thinking on a younger level and they haven’t gone through certain stuff and they see what I’ve done at this age and they’re inspired by that. It’s awesome because I know so many people that are my age or even younger that are so mature for their age and could do so much for the world if they were just given a little more credit.
AP: You do swear in some of your songs but generally you’re a clean rapper. Is that conscious effort to stay accessible to all listeners and demographics or is that something you don’t really think about?
BG: I definitely didn’t think about it in the past. I think about it a little bit more now but I really don’t censor myself. If it adds emotion to it and it’s really what I’m feeling. I really go by how I feel and not how people are going to react to it. There are specific songs like “Happiness” that I want everyone to hear. I want the kids to hear it, I want the parents to hear it, so that song specifically doesn’t have any swears in it.
AP: How would you describe the Boston hip hop scene? Has it embraced you? Is there anyone that you’ve connected with?
BG: When I was 13 I got introduced to the scene because my dude Jon Glass was taking me around to local cyphers and I got introduced to this group called Wreckshop Movement. They kind of showed me a lot about hip hop and performing on the spot and really built my courage up. That introduced me to a lot of the locals that didn’t necessarily have a ton of fans or were touring the world but to me that’s what the local scene is: people doing it for the love. That’s who I really wanted to earn the respect of more than these rappers who are touring all over the world. I’d love to get respect from them too but I still talk to dudes I met when I was thirteen and ask them what they ‘think of this song.’
But there’s a lot of cats… specifically I’m a fan of Joyner Lucas. That’s my dude, he’s from Worcester. I mean Mass is coming up. You got Cousin Stizz, Michael Christmas. I think it’s coming. I really feel like there hasn’t been this amount of buzz coming from Mass hip hop in a while and I feel like its just a matter of time before it becomes known as a main hub for hip hop.
Leeds Edutainment presents Token at Once Ballroom in Somerville this Friday, Tickets $13 advance, $15 day of show.