Rapper WAX @ The Troc Balcony Next Wednesday.

WAX called our staff writer Sofiya Ballin from his home in Los Angeles the other day. From his bedroom, to be precise. The casualness of his voice exuded instant likeability as he introduced himself.

The week prior, he did shows on the East Coast and a few in Seattle, Los Angeles and Oakland. The Maryland-born rapper started humbly on YouTube with his twin brother Herbal T and has now grown to become one of YouTube’s most prominent offspring.

He recently released his second project as a Def Jam signee, Eviction Notice, a lyrically solid yet free-form mixtape. WAX will perform at the balcony at The Trocadero on Wednesday, December 28. Check here for details.

What’s the meaning behind the name WAX?

The substance wax can be molded into different things and can be a solid as well as a liquid. It represents versatility. And musically, I can do a lot of different things.

Eviction Notice was released last week how is it different from your previous mixtape Scrublife?

Scrublife actually has a bit more of a mixtape feel. It had a lot of long free-style type tracks on it where Eviction Notice is more songs. It’s more like an album. It was put out in a shorter period of time. Scrublife was like the culmination of a year whereas Eviction Notice was put together within the last 2 months.

You started out on YouTube. What made you put out that first video?

Vibe magazine in 2007 or 2006 had a contest called Vibe Verses where you film yourself rapping and upload it to their site. People comment on it. People rate it. There’s a winner and some money. I didn’t win it but a friend told me about the contest so I entered it and it was kinda cool to see how many people were watching me and commenting on it. So me and my twin brother, who I started YouTube with, we were like, “Let’s just start putting out stuff ourselves.” That’s how it started.

Were there a lot of views immediately or did it start out kinda slow?

It definitely started out slow. From then until right now, it’s been like a non-speed rant.

Did you guys ever get discouraged?

No, because we did it for fun, you know? We never did it with the expectation of it being some type of career we never had a goal besides entertainment. It was just something we enjoyed doing.

Now you’re on YouTube’s Top 100 Musicians list. Did you expect it to ever get this big?

No, I can’t say that I did. After a while, I saw it getting bigger and bigger. Now that I started thinking about making a career out of it,  it never seems big enough. I’m always trying to take it to the next level.

You and your twin brother Herbal T are really good …

Thank you.

What was it like growing up for you guys … music-wise?

We started really young. I remember getting a guitar when I was 10 and I started playing. I was in a jazz band in middle school playing my guitar and my brother had a drum set. When we were in middle school we had a band and we always rapped, just clownin’ on each other and making little songs. Throughout middle school and high school, our parents’ basement had a drum set, a bass, a bass amp, guitar, a guitar amp, microphones, a 4 track recorder and that’s all we ever did. That’s all we were ever interested in when we were young.

What groups/rappers influenced you growing up?

I loved Wu-tang, Public Enemy, NWA … a lot of early 90’s stuff. I liked a lot of different rappers. Too Short was big for me. When I was young, anybody that cursed was cool in my mind.

Did you know you wanted to be a rapper then?

I think when I was younger I was more interested in being like a guitar player singer guy, rapping was more for fun but over time rap was the thing  I got to be the best at. But I always wanted to make a career in music.

You went to Jay-Z and Kanye’s Watch The Throne concert recently. Is there anything that you take from shows like that? Does it affect your own performances?

Yeah those guys are legends, and every song they performed was pretty much known by everyone in the audience. You can definitely learn something from either of those guys. The confidence that they have, the showmanship they put into it. Jay-Z, he’s a good live rapper. everything is really well articulated. Definitely inspirational.

Your videos and your songs are very comedic and unique. Where do you come up with these concepts? Like the video for “Coins.”

“Coins” was more like a barrage of randomness but most of the stuff that I write has to do with stuff that’s happened to me in real life. A lot of times something will happen and if it’s funny you can exaggerate it to make it extremely funny. It’s usually based off of something that really happened to me, pretty much it always is.

Even “Crazy Ex”?

Yeah, take that for example. I was with a girl that had a crazy ex and the dude stole my guitar out of the back of her car. He didn’t really look like the guy in the video. It wasn’t to that extreme but that’s what it was based on. Real life exaggerated.

I read that you were into stand-up. Is that something you’ve been able to get into?

I’m kinda busy and that would require a whole lot of time but I’ve done some stand-up.  I’ll play a comedy show then play a funny song on the guitar then do another 45 seconds worth of material then another song and a little routine. But I haven’t done a straight-ahead stand-up show with just me and the mic. I always kind of hide behind the guitar, it’s kind of cheating.

So you’re kind of nervous about just doing the stand-up?

Yeah, I would definitely be nervous but I want to do it though. I want to start doing some open mics sometime.

Is there anything else that you’re into that your fans might be surprised by?

Yeah, uh, I don’t do much. I’m either working on a video or working on music. My spare time, I usually spend relaxing or partying. I love barbecuing, and grilling out and drinking beer or liquor stuff like that. I used to be really into skateboarding. I still know how to skateboard but I don’t do that anymore. Too much of a pussy… I’m scared of falling down.

You recently signed to Def Jam. How does that feel? Has anything changed?

It feels good. I definitely consider it an accomplishment. A lot of people want to get a record deal and not many ever do, so I’m like a one in a million case. But it comes with it’s positives and negatives. It gets kinda weird, especially when I first started working with Def Jam. I just kinda got nervous, like every time I make music I got too worried about what other people think about it. But at this point, I’m like, “Fuck it.” That being said, everyone over there is really cool and they’ve been really nice to me and I hope that we can all have success together. I hope that my stuff makes them some money and all that.

How’d you overcome that urge to question yourself?

When you’re making any kind of art, the moment you start to question yourself all the time is the moment you’re screwed. It’s hard not to do that once you start doing it for a living. When it’s a hobby, you’re just doing it for yourself and making it entertaining for others. But I don’t know that I did overcome it … we’ll see what happens.

You respond to your fans on twitter and Facebook often. Not many artists do that. How important is it for you to do that?

It is important because on twitter I have a decent amount of followers on there but not to the point where I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the people that hit me up. It can turn someone from a fan to a super fan just by you saying, ‘Thank you,’ to them. Plus I like people. I like communicating with people. I’m glad people appreciate what I do.

You’ve performed in Philly a few times. Is there anything distinct that you notice about the Philly music scene? Or the audience?

I’ve been performing the last few times which is the upstairs of the Trocadero. That venue is the shit. It’s small and intimate. In between songs, it’s like I’m talking to each person. There’s a good dedicated fan base for me there and it’s one of my favorite places to perform. The Philly music scene is great. They’ve always had good hip-hop. A great jazz/hip-hop scene too. They have The Roots, Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk, Cassidy, Schoolly D. They have a history of great music.

A few blogs have called you “The Next Great White Rapper.” How do you feel about that?

I’m half-Cuban, so if you want to get technical, I’m Hispanic. That’s what I would fill out on the standardized tests in high school.  I try not to even think about it like that. I just do my thing.

Let’s say I’ve never listened to your stuff. How would you describe your sound?

I would describe it as a mixture of a variety of things but definitely funky. I try to keep it funky.

In the song “My Future Is a Big Wide Open Space,” you talk about the freedom of not having the wife or kids. Do you see that ever happening in the future?

I can see that. Not any time soon though. My brother has a wife and kid so when I visit, I can kinda pretend with them. But I’ll probably end up having an illegitimate child.

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I’m working on shooting videos for Eviction Notice and on new songs. But for the holidays, I’m gonna go to my parents’ home in Maryland and chill with my family and not do a damn thing.

What do you want people to get from your music?

There’s too much materialism – not just in rap but in society in general. I want people to relate to my music and to just be happy with what they have.