Check out our exclusive interview with Baron Von Alias.
I2G is here with Baron Von Alias how’s it going?
How’s it going, yeah all good, thanks. Just deep into the promo campaign right now, dropping these singles leading up to the album dropping next year.
You just dropped your new single with The High & Mighty & Copywrite entitled Buck Rogers. Tell me a little bit about the single and how it came together for you.
So the single was massively influenced by the production- shout out to Doc Sus, a producer I have known for a long time now but had never officially worked with; we had both been part of a collective out of Florida (Ft. Lauderdale)known as the GCD, alongside many others such as Butta Verses, DJ Shorte & Lucian White. I heard Doc Sus creating this beat on his social media, showing his making-of process, and I contacted him straight away, as I had the perfect track in mind.
The beat wasn’t actually available at that point, so I kind of had to let that one go… then a few weeks later Doc Sus got in touch to say that beat was now free, so I had to claim it as my own.
I had this idea that I wanted to collaborate with The High & Mighty and Copywrite, as I had always been a huge fan of Eastern Conference, and B-Boy Document 99 with Skillz and Mos Def was one of my favourite tracks.
The whole concept behind my upcoming album was kind of inspired by the Rawkus Soundbombing era and those collaboration albums of that time. So to have the opportunity to work with those guys is something I really wanted to make happen.
I contacted the guys, and they were interested in being involved too, as everyone loved the beat so much, especially Copywrite; he said it was exactly the type of beat he was looking for for his own project.
So I had no problem getting everyone involved. I sent the track to Mr. Eon first, and he had that done in no time, and absolutely killed it and was so good to hear him over this beat.
I then sent the track over to Copywrite, and he absolutely destroyed it with his verse too; it just hit so hard with his killer lines. Then I sent the track over to Milo, and he came back with the idea of They Can’t Think, They Can’t Speak for the cuts,
and it just fit perfectly and helped tie it all together. The line about Twiki from Buck Rogers in Eons verse really made me want to run with that concept about being ahead of our time like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, so that kind of inspired the direction of the track from that point.
It was an absolute pleasure to have the guys grace the track, and I think we made an absolute beast of a banger in the process.
What are listeners in store for with your upcoming album, Bootstrap Paradox?
Bootstrap Paradox is like a huge collaborative collection of artists and styles set to the theme of the time travel aspect of the Bootstrap Paradox. The tracklist is absolutely stacked with incredible artists, as you may have seen from the singles I have dropped so far.
There is so much more to come and so many more amazing names involved in this project that it’s hard not to blurt it all out right now, but I wanted to keep it secret for now and let the singles do the talking, showing what kind of thing people can expect.
The actual explanation for the Bootstrap Paradox if people are unfamiliar, is basically that a bootstrap paradox occurs when information or an object exists without ever being created. It travels backwards through time in a closed loop—the information comes from the future
but has no origin point in the past. For example, a time traveller brings a symphony from the future to the past, where a composer learns it and later sends it forward in time. The music exists, but nobody actually composed it. It’s a logical puzzle that challenges our understanding of causality and creation.
So I see that as my album, in a few ways, this timeless piece of art, travelling through time, connecting with artists from across the multiverse, from multiple variant timelines where Baron Von Alias is connected to all of these incredible artists and creating these amazing tracks together.
Kind of like a Marvel Comics ‘ What If? storyline. The whole album tracklist plays out like the Hero’s Journey story arc formula as well, portraying the full circle concept behind that idea, from getting the call to action, taking on the adventure, facing the challenge, returning from the abyss with a new,
changed perspective from the experience, and returning to where it all began with that new mentality as a changed person from the journey. A lot of the artists involved in this album are people I connected with probably around 18 years ago, through MySpace.
I attempted to start this journey way back then, but a lot of the artists I wanted involved I couldn’t contact or had no access to, so there was a lot of unfinished business there that I wanted to go back to and finally make happen. I reconnected with artists from back then and made new connections
with the artists i wanted to originally. SO that sums up the whole full-circle hero’s journey and Bootstrap Paradox concept behind the whole thing, really. And it feels like now is the right time to finish it up and put it out into the world.
Do you have any other albums, mixtapes or EPs in the works?
My whole schedule is pretty filled up with this album promo campaign and run of singles leading up to the album currently; there’s a lot going on and a lot of music involved. It’s kind of like my life’s work, I guess, so all of my energy and focus is on this right now and getting it right, and putting it out in the right way.
I have a lot of music out there in the world already, from my Baron Von Alias solo work, and all the other projects I have been involved in over the years, from The Great & The Magnificent, Big Beat Bronson and PSIMITAR. I originally started out as the solo artist Baron Von Alias, but my career as a solo artist kind
of got put on hold for a long time due to being involved in so many other group projects, so now is the time for Baron Von Alias to once again step forward and reclaim his place in the world of hip hop music.
Do you have any more upcoming videos or singles?
Yeah, there are a couple of visuals out there so far for some of the tracks, not full music videos but more like visualisers to set the scene for the tracks. There’s one for Better Know and another for Lost In Translation. I will probably be making more; it’s just fitting everything in, as I’m very self-contained
and create everything myself, from the beats to the rhymes to the artwork, the videos; it’s all me. So keeping on top of everything can be a challenge, but I kind of enjoy having my finger in all the pies. We are currently just over the halfway point of a run of singles leading up to the album release, so there
will be more singles dropping regularly until the album arrives, all featuring some incredible artists that I’m a huge fan of and have all been invested in the world of Baron Von Alias and this huge time travel-inspired concept album. So definitely keep a lookout for more singles dropping in December and the beginning of next year.
What are your current thoughts on the music industry in 2026?
I kind of live in my own little bubble, to be honest, so I’m not massively involved in all the politics of the music industry. I have been, and had a record deal in the past, but I know how that can really kill your passion for it, as it kind of did for me for a long time. Once you see how things work from behind the curtain, it kind of takes away the magic of it and can leave you extremely disheartened. So I wanted to encapsulate those old nostalgic feelings I had for this music with this project, from before those times. I found myself listening to a lot of those older albums, like the Rawkus Era, Pete Rock Soul Survivor series, etc.
They were always such a huge inspiration to me, and all the artists that were involved. A lot of those guys are all still dropping new material and are heavily active, which is amazing to see. The resurgence of a lot of the OGs has been an absolute inspiration, from things such as that Legend Has It series from Mass Appeal.
I’ve found myself listening to all the material from all the featured artists on this project over the last few years whilst making this album, so those artists themselves have been a big influence on this new material.
Regarding the whole streaming era, it’s all changed so much over the years, and how we used to create our own physical copies of our music and be able to sell it and actually make a profit from it. Unless you are a huge artist these days, the streaming world is just purely about having that accessibility for fans
and exposure to the music, because aside from that it literally does nothing for us as artists. I just want people to hear the music, so they kind of have you over a barrel, as the biggest platforms hold all the cards, really. You can still go the independent route and make and sell your own merch and copies of your music, and hopefully people will return to that and start getting back into the physical media; CDs, vinyl all seem to be making a bit of a comeback, especially vinyl. Which is great to see, so hopefully in time, things will change to swing more in the favour of the artists actually creating the music.
It feels like a lot of that aspect has gone these days, especially with stuff like AI music coming along and taking a huge dump on everything. Everyone is an artist these days; everyone likes to think they are creating music, but typing prompts and dragging and dropping premade loops into a sequence just doesn’t cut it for me, I’m afraid.
What is currently playing on your playlist musically outside of your album?
Like I say, I have been listening to a lot of the actual artists involved in my project over the last few years, so they have all been in heavy rotation. The High & Mighty – Sound of Market was an amazing return for the guys; Smif-N-Wessun – Infinity, Tash – Attention Is A Drug EP is insane. CZARFACE Meets Frankie Pulitzer is incredible.
StressEater – Everybody Eats! De La Soul – Cabin In The Sky, Shabaam Sahdeeq – Outside The Lines is such a good album too. Blu & Exile – Time Heals Everything, Ras Kass – Leopard Eat Face,
Wordsworth and Stu Bangas – Chemistry is a great album. Supastition & RJD2 – According To.. Von Pea – Loner, Skyzoo – Views of a Lifetime and Luxury Tax.
Just so much great music coming out, especially from a lot of these older artists who are still making all of the best music in my eyes.
Do you have any shows or tour dates?
I have just performed a couple of shows in my home city recently; the first solo shows I have played in probably around 15 years, so that’s been something I’ve had to get used to again. I had been so used to being part of a group or band or something onstage, so I had been surrounded by lots of other people,
but my last gig was just myself and DJ A.D.S., who has provided most of the cuts on my upcoming album. So it’s getting back to the core basics of one MC and one DJ, which I have really enjoyed. I have another show lined up in my home city again in January. And I’m currently working on ideas for an album launch party.
Which I’d like to try and get lined up, ready to bring the album to the world. I’d like to get more shows lined up, though for sure, so I’m open to that idea and taking this music to a wider audience.
What is your website information?
You can find me on all platforms as @baronvonalias, so Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, etc., or you can also look up @steeshhaggie, which is the producer side of the character, and I share a lot through both of those profiles. So go check them both out and give them a follow.
Baron Von Alias is a pretty unique name, so if you just run it through a Google search, you will find me.
Appreciate the interview, any last words or shout outs?
I just want to give a huge shout-out to all the artists involved in this upcoming album, Bootstrap Paradox; it is the culmination of my life’s work, essentially. So I appreciate everyone who has been involved and has helped or been a part of this journey so far.
I can’t wait for everyone to hear it in its entirety when it drops next year. Massive shout-out to I2G for this interview too; I really appreciate it, and I will keep those tracks coming, so keep a lookout. The Bootstrap Paradox draws ever closer.