“Bazille is my middle name. It comes from a great-great grandfather on my dad’s side, Bazil Claymore. Growing up, my uncles and grandpa (who begged my mom to name me it) would call me versions of this name. “Baaazille!”, “Bazillion!” & “Baz”… but that wasn’t why I took this name as my “artist/rap name”. As I began releasing mixtapes in high school, I visited great-great grandpa Bazil’s grave. On the tombstone it read that he was fair to everyone, no matter their background, just that he was a fair and common man, basically…. That gave me some purpose and direction in my voice. It was then that I fully recognized the legacy of his name, and told myself that I would be fair and open when it came to how I operate in and around music and also in my life. Thus, in my material I don’t lie or construct things out of a deceitful motive. In that, I remind myself that I refuse to hold back in this music. I may be more reserved in my day to day, I think maybe because I transmute a lot of my pain and strong emotions into the music and onstage when I perform. This is why, as a Dakota & Lakota, while I do incorporate things like my culture and language, I try to incorporate that in ways that I feel more reflect my honest state of being, even if that means being vulnerable or taking a risk.”