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Sounds like there was a lot of debating going on in that relationship.

Yeah, there was! It definitely didn’t last, but it was a good relationship nonetheless. Before Release, I went by Ko5 [pronounced “chaos”]. I had another rap name. Before her, before my last relationship, I went by Ko5 and basically when we hooked up, I got this intense writers’ block, I couldn’t write anything, I couldn’t make any beats or nothin’. I basically quit for about six months. And all the sudden, out the blue, it just snapped. I was asleep one time and I woke up and something told me, ‘The Phantom.’ I don’t know why, it was just a word that popped into my head. I was like, why is that word stuck in my head? You know what, I’m gonna change my rap name.

And that unlocked the creativity?

Exactly -- it allowed me to tap into something that was locked up.

Does your current girlfriend feel weird about this album being inspired by your ex?

No, I think because the entire process of making the album took two years, so a lot of things evolve. I got over a lot of things. Originally, I was going to have a song about the girl who inspired it but I scrapped that and built on top of the foundation I made, the premise. It was motivated by her. There was a girlfriend after the one who inspired the album, and “Soul Kiss” is about the middle girl. She’s long gone. [Laughs] There will be a song about my current girlfriend on my next album. I guess that’s just what I do.

Are these all your beats on this album?

Almost. A few of ‘em were made by guest producers but I produced most of it.

Some of them are really trance-y and electronic and complicated. Are those yours too?

Yep. I use Fruity Loops. It’s like one of the most basic producing, beat-making programs. If you say ‘Fruity Loops,’ people are like, ‘Man,’ [laughs] because, I’ll give you an example. Producers who use Fruity Loops: Soldier Boy. Hurricane Chris. Stuff like that. But, 9th Wonder, who produced stuff for Little Brother and Jay-Z, he uses Fruity Loops too. People are amazed when I say I use Fruity Loops. They actually changed their name as a marketing strategy, it’s now FL Studio.

But everyone’s going to keep calling it Fruity Loops.

Right. I’m sure it’s among the most pirated software available. I don’t know anybody who’s ever bought it. I make the beats basically on the computer, nothing else.

On the song, “Soul Kiss,” you use a sample, and you say on the track, “I don’t usually do this.”

That was from an Isaac Hays record, I believe. But I used Fruity Loops on it, too. I love it.

Has your style always had that electronic, drum-and-bass thing going on?

It’s always been there, always been some type of element, a small seed, since the beginning, but I never really ventured into that. My previous albums under the Ko5 name were more typical, or commercial. On this Release album I tried to study up in terms of hip-hop and history. I wanted to combine a lot of elements I previously didn’t know about.

I tried to pattern Release after the universe. The first section was the big bang, the real hard-hitting songs. If you know the universe gradually expands, that was basically what I wanted to follow. I guess it’s a psychological thing, but I want a flow on the album. Every song on my album is going to sound like it came from the last song. Like it’s, together.

Artists in the KC hip-hop scene are aligning themselves with crews or labels, like Innate Sounds or Soul Providers, forming crews, sort of. Do you see yourself doing that?

I would love to be a contributor or a collaborator or a friend of those crews, but I don’t really see myself joining. When you do that, you get another label, basically, and that’s something I’m not really into, I don’t know, whenever you get into a crew you get boxed in, and you have to deal with certain attitudes. I think I have more freedom independently. I know it has its drawbacks and its positive effects.

I also hear complaints that the scene is cliquey. Do you see that?

Yeah. It’s been kind of difficult getting on shows and stuff like that. Even when I try to invite certain people to be on one of my shows, it seems like there’s a certain hesitation. I mean, like, I understand because I guess I’m kind of new to people, but I’m also not one to go up and approach somebody too much. I’m laid-back. But I do see it being kind of cliquey. I attribute that to the fact that hip-hop hasn’t really been here as long as it’s been in New York, places like that. I don’t want to say it’s immature but…I guess the scene is growing obviously and those at the top are like, I don’t want anyone else competing at the top. That’s the impression I get, slightly. But it’s not going to stop me or anybody else who really wants to do it.

What shows do you have coming up?

June 6th and June 7th at the Peanut. It’s going to be upstairs, for all those who say, ‘I can’t find a show!’ The Peanut is the Mecca of KC hip-hop, and I love it dearly, but as DJ Kiz-One would say, ‘I don’t have time to be at the Peanut every Sunday and still call myself hip-hop.’

You see Kiz often?

Actually, for almost every show I’ve done, he’s been the DJ.

So you have the original Soul Provider on your shows anyway.

Actually, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be saying this but we’re starting a small group, kind of a Gnarls-Barkley-type-of-thing. Just putting that out there.

When can we expect to see that?

In June. Actually, we’re supposed to be releasing something in June.

Should we expect to see you dressed up like Roger Rabbit or something?

Definitely not. That would be funny though. Kiz is actually one of the people that’s reached out, he first heard of me because I had a song on my MySpace called “Sittin’ in the Rain,” which is from my last album. At that time he was a DJ at KKFI and he wanted to put it on the show and he asked me if he could put it on there. Heck yeah you can put it on there! We didn’t talk for another six months or so, then I asked him to do a show for me in December of 2006 at the El Torreon. Had about four people show up. [laughs] It was cool….Kiz, he’s been there. He’s cool.

I don’t know how to put this, but I’m really looking for some negative feedback on the album? Things to work on? Whenever I listen to my music, I start to reattach myself to the mindset I had then, and I’m really trying to progress. If I’m getting too far left, I’m like, OK, let me hear some stuff I did back in the day to know what I actually sound like. I feel like a lot of people are starting to hear it and enjoy it. I recently got it on iTunes, that was like a three-month process, so I’m glad it finally happened. That might be why you haven’t heard it til now – I’ve been trying the Master P approach, selling it out the trunk.

Who do people compare you to?

I get Chamillionaire. I get Tech N9ne a lot. He’s one of my main influences actually. I can understand that. Lupe [Fiasco], sometimes. I been rapping like this since before I even knew about Lupe. But mainly Tech N9ne and Chamillionaire.

Your dad’s a lawyer. What does he think of your music career?

He’s never been against it. When my dad came to my album release show, he was like, “I didn’t know you could talk that fast!” I mean, I told him, you don’t really know a lot of things.

Did you have to learn to rap that fast, or did it come naturally?

It took practice. I’ve been into fast hip-hop for awhile. My brothers, one’s 11 years older, the other is nine years older, and they actually introduced me to hip-hop. My brother named Hotep liked Bone Thugs N Harmony and they’re pretty fast. I listened to their stuff a lot and memorized it, basically, and after awhile I started listening to Twista and Tech N9ne, he’s been out since ’92, and I knew about him since ’98. So I started emulating those styles and doing it myself.

Do you worry that people can’t catch all the words?

Nah, I don’t worry about that. I try to articulate as best I can and I think a lot of people compare me to Tech N9ne – you can hear every single word that man is saying. I guess inadvertently I acquired that, or tried to emulate that. Even if people couldn’t understand, I’d be like, You know what? Catch up. There was a time when I thought E-40 was fast, and he’s not touching Twista or Tech N9ne.

[Reading fortune cookie:] “Next week, green is a lucky color for you.”

I got the best fortune last night! “Four wheels of wonder will come into your life soon.”

Sounds like you better look both ways.

I took it as a dream car. If you know me you know I drive an ’87 Acura Legend. It gets me from point A to point A-and-a-half. So I hope it’s true.

MP3: The Phantom, "Destroy & Rebuild (feat. Kawnar and Dalima)"

(The Phantom’s album, Release, is also available at Seventh Heaven.)