Interview in Clout #7 | Click here to purchase this issue!
Interview by J. Anaya

You’ve been quoted saying that you’re the next Malcom X. Do you still feel that way and how do you plan on achieving that kind of goal?
When I said that, it’s like I don’t mean exactly like Malcom was; there could never be another Malcom X. We have kind of the same plight that Malcom X had. I plan on trying to achieve that goal by just being honest and being responsible with my music. Music is powerful. It’s a weapon; it’s a weapon we have to reach millions and millions of people. Hip-hop is very influential. So being that this is the music that I do and I know the influence that it has, I’m gonna try and use the influence that I have by me being a hip-hop artist, to then teach people some of the things that I think people need to know, as far as Black people, you know what I’m saying. That’s what I mean. I don’t mean I’m gonna be Malcom X and all like how Malcom X was cause you know, the whole time when he lived was different then; totally different mind state, totally different social conditions, so there could never be another Malcom X but his plight needs to be carried on. He lived for a purpose, you know what I mean.

This is kind of a two parted question here. Why did you make “Color Purple” and how did you feel New York, a place of originality and trendsetting, would adapt to a 20 year old plus, West Coast custom and make it like a trendy fashion statement?
I made the “Color Purple” because I’ve seen a lot of people using hip-hop to promote gang violence or promote gang activity. To answer the second part of your question, I made it because I feel a lot of people [are] using it to glamorize gang life and gang culture and things of that nature in hip-hop and I see it as
becoming a problem for us with the young kids in the ghetto in New York and other ghettos in Newark, New Jersey where it’s real, real, real hectic at right now. They’re intrigued by these artists and a lot of them don’t have nothing; they don’t have anything to really replace what they’re doing with so by somebody glamorizing it and making it seem cool, it’s like almost cool for them to go and say okay, I’m a gang banger, I’m a banger, and things of that nature so I figure if they can use music to promote it and glamorize it, I can use it to teach people that it’s not the right thing to do. And I’ll tell people what it really does to us, which is kill us; we destroy our own communities by gang banging. We kill each other; we don’t hurt nobody else. And secondly, on New York, I feel like New York is usually trendsetting but…as hip-hop spreads, it’s almost like everybody gets a little culture from other regions of the country. So I think it was hip-hop that spread the gang culture over to New York more so than anything. Not just hip-hop but like, entertainment, period. From the movie “Colors” to gang movies, “South Central.” Movies where we learn gang life that we never knew nothing about it; we learned about it through movies. I think that’s what made it spread. It’s like, intriguing; the same way they found out about hip-hop. They wasn’t really messing with hip-hop in the seventies and all that; it spread over there. That’s the power of this music. You can teach anything. You see how they use it to sell toothpaste, deodorant, anything, so it’s easy to get a culture to somebody that lives on the other side of the country, to be familiarized with us over here. But that’s the power of it. That’s why I made “Color Purple;” to show that if they can use it for detrimental purposes, I can use it for good. Same resource, you know what I mean.

With that said, do you feel like what’s missing is the groups from the late eighties, early nineties like Public Enemy and X-Clan who got their point across, but with good music; do you think groups like that could make a stand out today in this industry?
I mean, it’s beyond music right now. I mean, it would help, but I think you gotta lead by example, you know what I’m saying. You gotta do more so than just rap about it and talk about the problems. ‘Cause I’m sure by now, we all know that these problems exist; we all know that there’s too many guns in our communities, we all know crack is in our communities, AIDS, we all know the problems we have. They’re there; they’re clear as day, so for somebody to keep addressing the problems that we have, it’s like duh, you know what I’m saying. Okay, we understand that, but it’s all about making some solutions to these problems; like what we gonna do about it? And you can only do that by walking the walk, not just talking this shit, because it’s beyond the point where I can come out and rap about them being fucked up…being teenage pregnancies and dudes not being fathers to their kids and all that because we all know that exists but it’s more so doing something about it, like being out there, touching these people. Relating to them, letting them know, like, yo, we gotta start changing the stereotype that Black people have, that we’re all ignorant and dumb and stupid, because the more we do this shit, the more we cosign it and the bigger, the deeper hole we put ourselves into you know what I’m saying. It’s bad enough that we have this stereotype on us, that we’re ignorant and we’re stupid, and pretty much when we cosign it and make it seem true, then it’s like we’re at fault. Like fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, you know what I’m saying.

On to the new album, have you chosen a lead off single and when can we expect it?
I haven’t chosen one yet but you could expect it around March. The album should be out in June. (Editor’s note: Interview conducted in December 2004)

Any possibles so far?
Oh yeah, we got some joints, you know what I mean, but I don’t think we picked the lead off single yet. You know, there’s a lot of songs I’m happy with, but I’m new with them major label thing. I’m used to putting out shit that I like, but now I got to go through a whole order of operations where I have to get approved by this one and that one and this one and that one. If it was up to me, I would have it, but it’s not totally up to me anymore. That’s not really gonna change too much cause you know, I’m gonna still do what I do.

What confirmed guest appearances do you have for the album?
Just Blaze, Alchemist, Buckwild, Scram Jones.

What about guest MCs?
I’m trying to get Nas. We spoke but we didn’t get in too deep. That’s pretty much it. Not too many outside rappers or guest appearances. I want pretty much my first album to me.

I read that you got Jay for the album.
We working on it; it ain’t confirmed. It’s like the best kept secret. We working on some things, but you know it ain’t confirmed. You know, Jay’s retiring now so we gotta drag him out of retirement, hopefully with it so, especially with his job up at Def Jam. It’s gonna be hard, but God willing, we’ll make a way.

That’d be great. How long did the FT. Knocks deal take?
It took about four months. It was a long and grueling process but we got it done. You know, everybody’s happy, everybody’s looking forward to the future. Everybody’s excited about me and Just working together,
and just the whole team. We got a strong team over here.

How many albums did you commit to in the contract with FT. Knocks/Atlantic?
You see, the way they do it, they do it different now. They don’t just make you commit, they give you one album and they get options. They have options whether they want to keep yours or let you go.

Kind of like a free agent type thing?
Yeah, exactly, sort of like that. But the difference is they get the first option, whether you like it or not. So if somebody could come with more money, they could say nah, we want to keep you, you know what I’m saying. That’s the difference, but yeah, I got like a one in five, one album with five options.

Did any other labels come close to this deal?
Yeah, there were some offers but none of ‘em matched. None of them came with Hip Hop and Gee. Gee Roberson and Hip Hop…Hip Hop Since 1978. They sealed the deal. Working with them is what made me go with Atlantic. I love Lyor, I love their structure over there, but Gee and Hip Hop made it; they was icing on the cake.

I read where you said if asked you would do an R&B track. Do you feel like you’d be pigeonholed as like a new 50 Cent by doing so or…
Do I feel like that? Nah man, 50 didn’t start singing in hip-hop, I don’t know why people act like he did. If you go to Big Daddy Kane’s first album, he got a song where he’s singing the whole song. Like, hip-hop started more of a sing-alongy, melodic type thing. If you go back to Furious Five and Cold Krush and all them, "when the party was shaking and the bells was ringing…" that’s how they used to flow. A lot of people get it misconstrued; they be like, oh yeah, you singing, that ain’t rap, that ain’t hip-hop. It gets really hard to turn one from another right now, because music evolves, it evolves so much ’till we get an artist like Andre 3000. His album is not really a quote unquote what we would call a hip-hop album but he’s a hip-hop artist and he’s one of the better ones…It’s art so you just can’t make it one thing. Plus, I’m secure in who I am as a man, so I’m not worried about nobody be like, oh he’s going soft or whatever. ‘Cause I’m trying new things and I want to try things with my voice, you know what I mean. Your voice is like an instrument, you know, so you gotta try new things. You don’t want to keep sounding repetitious.

So what quarter are you shooting for with the album?
We should be shooting for June, second quarter. Smack dab in the middle. I don’t know if you want to call that the end of the second or the top of the third but we right in the middle.

In the heat of the summer huh?
Yup, yup. Gonna try to heat it up. I’m on the cover of the Smack DVD. Got a new mixtape coming out, “Yardfather 3,” which people waiting for. We got a lot of good things going on. Just Blaze is pretty much
pioneering all the music. Hip Hop and Gee’s overseeing it. I think it’s going to do well.

I noticed in newer interviews that you sound more grown up with your answers. What and when was your turning point?
You know man, it’s like…I’m learning, I grow everyday. I read, you know, just life pretty much and understanding that I can’t change the world, especially being angry. Being angry is not going to do nothing
to change it.
 
You had good chemistry with Sly Boogie. You still fuckin’ with him?
Yeah, that’s a good friend of mine. I want to work with him again. He’s a very talented, talented MC.
 
Any chance he might be on the album?
On my album? I don’t know; we would have to make something undeniable ’cause on the first go around, I want to pretty much let people see what I can do on my own you know. To me that’s kind of cheating. They
should make a rule where you can’t put no guest appearances till you sell more albums. When I hear artists and they’re like featuring this one and that one and this one…I’m like that’s a compilation pretty much.

Yeah, exactly.
But it’s the labels; they use it as selling points and it takes away from the creativity and artistry of the artist. We don’t really know what this artist really could do on his own. You know, it’s industry things, but hopefully they let me do me and they don’t have to say, “Oh we gotta put all these artists on it.” At the end of the day, once I sign that paper, I’m at the mercy of the label.

Right, right. Speaking of the West you ever think of working with West Coast producers like DJ Khalil, Fred Wreck, Battlecat and Rick Rock?
Yeah, man. Jelly Roll from out there right?

Yeah, yeah.
I like Jelly Roll and DJ Quik is a great, great, great friend of mine. I would work with Quik. I think Quik is very talented. Of course, if I could get Dre that would be a blessing. Him and Just are close, but I don’t know if he’s within my budget but if Just could pull a favor off that would be beautiful, you know, but yeah, I love
the West Coast sound. I love West Coast music; I have since it came out, you know. I’m trying to make a universal album. I want it to be New York based but I don’t want it to be just only New York like a lot
of these New York artists do.

Do you see yourself working with any Left Coast artists at all or in the future?
Yeah, man. I would love to work with Quik, even as him as an artist, I think he’s dope. I like Ice Cube, he’s one of my favorites of all time. Put him in a time machine and bring him back a few years.

(Laughs) Right about ‘92.
Yeah, exactly. Right about that – his golden years. Ice Cube is like how I want to approach the game the way he approached it in his time because he was a gangsta but he also had a message.

Exactly, yeah. I can see that in your music too.
Yeah, that’s exactly how I’m approaching the game. Just like an East Coast version of that. Like, let you know, even though I’m about peace, I’m not a pushover, I’m not a punk. I’m not somebody you could
just come…be like, “Oh he’s peaceful, he ain’t gonna do nothing if I step on his shoes.” Step on my foot and I’mma bite you homie. That’s just the way it is. I don’t look for no trouble, but if it come my way, I’m gonna handle it accordingly. So a lot of people get a misconception when they hear about a conscious or a positive rapper, like, “Oh he must be soft if he’s positive.” I don’t want nobody to ever get it mistaken because more than likely I’ll do you worse than you do me and you’re the so called gangster rapper.

Back then, your conscious type rapper was you know Chuck D and Public Enemy and you could feel the power within them and you know, you didn’t want to fuck with them. Nowadays you got guys like Common Sense and Talib Kweli…
Yeah, Kanye and Common and…like they seem harmless.

Yeah exactly, so I mean…you know, when Chuck D was yelling in your face you had to listen to it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…hell yeah.

Like you expect Common to be like, oh hey you want to get a coffee or something.
Yeah. (Laughs) Exactly.

Okay, your song “Lames” is such an outstanding track with a great message; what’s your outlook on the new rap dudes, like Game for instance.
I like Game as an MC; I just don’t like all the whole image they got him portraying and all that. The poster boy for the Bloods and all that, like come on, if you smart, you a real gang member, that’s not nothing you want to run around, like I’m a gang member tattooed on your forehead. That’s the difference between us and organized criminals. When the cops came and got John Gotti and said hey are you in the mob, he said no. Gambino crime family, I don’t know what you’re talking about. So it’s like when we run around like yeah, I’m in a gang, I’m a gang banger, it’s like backwards; it don’t make sense you know what I’m saying. So I don’t like the image they got him portraying. I think he’s an okay rapper, but a lot of these new cats is a cookie cutter, you know what I mean. They have like an identity crisis; it’s like okay, what works. With the success of Kanye West and a lot of these other dudes, it’s like, okay, conscious rap is in, now I got to kick some conscious shit or I got to be political or I got to do this or that. And so yeah it could be kind of like monkey see, monkey do instead of you just being artistic and telling your story. Everybody’s not a gangster but if you listened to their rap music, you would think they were.

I notice that you always shit on Jadakiss in interviews.
I think Jadakiss is a dope writer. The thing that bothers me about Jadakiss is the power of his voice and the many people he can touch, the power he has to touch people, and he uses it to talk about when his coke come in. Number one, it’s not reality, it’s not real. Number two, it’s like you have this powerful voice that can
potentially be a force to touch so many people in a positive way, you use it to talk about imaginary drugs you sold? That to me, that makes me not like…it’s like us being on the same team as both being Black, and he’s not living up to his potential you know what I’m saying. Like I hate him, like come on man, do something with that shit, you know what I mean. And I don’t like the fact that he glamorizes jail and he’s never been to jail. That is kind of crazy. Nine outta ten rhymes he makes jail references, early go back, beating the coward to death, keep lock the box, the bing, and he never ever even stepped a foot into jail. That’s kind of crazy to me; that’s like me rapping about a place I’ve never been.

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Rapper Word Association

Joe Budden
Cool.

Ras Kass
Over lyrical.

Copywrite
Bee High artist. Can’t say I never heard his material.

T.I.
Overrated

Sly Boogie
Dope.

Grafh
Who?

E-40

Innovative.