Local Music Q&A: Scheme

Local rapper Scheme has been enamored with hip-hop since scoring his first Cypress Hill cassette as an 8-year-old growing up in Humboldt Park. "It stayed in my Walkman for months," he says. "I would fall asleep listening to that tape."
 
That seemingly small purchase ignited a lifelong love affair with the genre that culminates in the just-released "Same Rebel, New Cause," an album that finds the rapper (real name: Rafael Navarro) balancing streetwise tales with songs that touch on his unique background--born Stateside to Mexican immigrant parents, the MC admits he has struggled with identity since childhood. "I always thought that [being a Mexican rapper] was going to be my obstacle," says the 27-year-old, who currently makes his home in Belmont/Cragin. "Instead I've made it my upper-hand." Reached by telephone in late October, Scheme talked about the origin of his name, how he discovered hip-hop and the dangers now inherent in visiting his familial home. Click here to read our full interview.

Listen: "Billion Dollar Dream"

What do you think of Scheme?