Metal Lungies

Wow. It was a fucking honour to interview Black, who I can safely call one of my top 5 producers out there right now. Black Milk discusses his upcoming projects, different methods of making beats, and his favorite soul records.

ML: Hey man, how you doing?

Black Milk: What’s going on, man?

ML: The first single, “Give The Drummer Sum” came out fairly recently. Is that the first time you used live instruments in your beats?

BM: I’ve brought live musicians in for certain tracks but it wasn’t for my actual album. We did some live stuff for a few Slum Village tracks I did. This is the first time I used live instrumentation for my solo project.

ML: Is it something you could see yourself doing more of in the future? It’s an interesting fusion because you did some programmed stuff – I watched the video of you making it and you’ve got all the programmed elements and then you cue in the pre-recorded live stuff and add some live instrumentation on top.

BM: Right, right. It still samples and evolves on that. That particular track, “Give The Drummer Sum”, there’s no samples in there. That’s all me – I chopped up a breakbeat, programmed it on an MPC and brought in a live bass player to play it over, a couple organ stabs and live horn. That was all basically original music. Still sampled, but you know, I flipped it in my own way. But yeah, other tracks on the album that had live instrumentation on it, that’s played over actual samples.

Like the first track, “Long Story Short”, I got Dwele playing the horns on it, I’m playing a Moog, and a live bass player…I got Kid Rock’s bass player playing on it. And piano by my man Ab. You know, all those elements on top of an actual sample that I chopped it up.

That’s how I start off, with a skeleton of a beat, you know, a sample.

ML: What’s your studio set-up right now?

BM: It’s basically the same. I’ve been working with basically the same set-up for the last year, I guess you could say. A lot of vinyl, a lot of old records, an MPC 2000 XL, Pro Tools. You know, the basics. A few synth keyboards, stuff like that. That’s how I start off most of my production, with the MPC, still. I haven’t tried any new programs or nothing like that.

The only new thing I did was work with other producers and musicians.

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DJ Premier had a release party for his Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 1 album at this stank ass bar that threw me out because I was grabbing too much booty. I thought I had blown my chance to talk to the legendary DJ Premier but Thankfully, a heaven-sent PR lady arranged for me to talk to Premo outside. He rolled up in a truck and walked toward the bar like he was just a normal guy and not the greatest (greatest? yeah, greatest) producer of all time. He agreed to the interview, but had to take a piss first. And that’s how I met DJ Premier.

ML: What do you use today?

Premo: Same equipment.

ML: MPC?

Premo: MPC60, the old beat up clunker. It’s not broke, keep rockin’ that.

ML: My friend’s a digger. He has a shitload of records. [Ed. Note: my friend had accompanied me]

Premo: Shitload meaning how many?

Friend: I just started, I got like four hundred.

Premo: Aight, that’s cool. Nah, ’cause some people be like they DJs and they only own like fifteen records due to the whole digital age. So I make sure that the original way is respected.

ML: That’s why you still use the MPC?

Premo:  Yeah.

ML: You hear what Nas was saying about what he wants to do with his new album?

Premo: Oh, the one about Dre doing one and I do one and they drop ’em on the same day?

ML: So is that gonna happen?

Premo: Shit, I haven’t heard from Nas yet, didn’t get a call. Nas, where you at?

ML: Do you want it to happen?

Premo: It would be fun. I love Dre, I love Nas, I love what I do.  It would be crazy. And plus the competition would be that incredible because I know Dre’s gonna come with it and I gotta come with it and Nas gotta come with it. The pressure’s on all three of us, but in a good way. It would be healthy and it would funky and probably make the music industry a lot better again. I’d like to see it happen, but it’s up to Nas. It’s his project, it’s up to him to make it happen. He’s the ‘make it happen’ guy.

ML: Most people your size, you don’t see them working with smaller artists like Little Vic and Termanology. How does that happen? How do you find these guys?

Premo: From either word of mouth or I just do my research. For the most part, I still know how to identify skills versus just alright rhyming. There’s a difference. Skills is something that has a serious attachment to it. So, there’s a difference between rapping and skills.

ML: Awhile ago the sample for “Nas Is Like” — people finally found out what it was.

Premo: Yeah, I remember somebody was telling me they found it.

Friend: Dusty Fingers found it.

Premo: Really.

Friend: I know you’re not down with that though–

Premo: I mean, I don’t care if they find it. Don’t put used by me. They could put whatever they want on the record. They could be the original artist, all that. Except don’t put used by me, ‘as sample by…’. Because now it’s like you’re using that to sell the original, where a lot of other people dig for the original instead of having to cheat that way, which is all good because those are just Ultimate Breaks and Beats. It’s just don’t put who sampled it. We already know not everybody’s not in the love portion of hip-hop culture. They’d like to see it go away. So it’s only for the people that love it, so there’s certain things you don’t have to speak on and that’s one of them. I think they stopped now, though. Yeah, I think they stopped. Dusty Fingers don’t put who used it, now it’s just artists and the song.

ML: What are you working on right now?

Premo: Right now I have a label called Year Round Records. We have an artist named Blaq Poet who’s about to drop in 2009. He’s about to drop his album called The Blaqprint. Produced everything on it except two joints. Easy Mo Bee did a track and Jim Crates did a track, he’s a new producer that’s coming up. And then also the NYGz album is actually in stores, it’s called Welcome 2 G-Dom. It’s like their jump off project that showcased their crew and themselves and I did nine songs on that album. And now the new album from the NYGz is called Pros and Cons and we’re working on that right now. We’ve got five in right now, so another ten or twelve joints and we’ll be done with that. Then I have artist named Khalil who’s on my label and an artist named Nick Javas from Jersey. Remember that name. Nick Javas. He’s nice. He can spit.

ML: I’m looking forward to it.

Premo: Last thing, Royce da 5’9″, new single.

ML: I heard the new track. “Shake This”.

Premo: That wasn’t the mix though. I mixed it tonight, so I’m about to send out the mixed version where it’s beefed up. A CD got lost and whoever got their hands on it just started going around messing with stuff. It happens. [He starts moving to go inside] That’s pretty much it, man. Big shout out to Royce and Big Shug’s album’s about to drop November 4th. We’re staying busy, man, staying busy. I’m about to go up in here and do my thing. Sorry you couldn’t come in, young’n!

In a drastic departure from the usual ML fare, your boy Knobbz took some time out of his busy schedule to hang out with pornstars. Strenuous work, I know. Both Savanna and Sunny were friendly, knowledgeable and professional. They certainly changed my perception of pornstars. Regardless, everything to do with this interview has made me feel really dirty.

Savanna is veteran of the porn business and is currently promoting her album, “Possession” which is coming out on KOCH. She also has her own wine company. Peep her single, I guess.

Download: Savanna Samson – Possession

ML: What’s the life of a pornstar like?

Savanna: You know, I don’t really know because to the day, although I happen to be a pornstar, I live in New York, my porn career is in LA, I make six movies a year — I mean, I could tell you what life in New York is like, but I go and I shoot my movies and it’s exciting and it’s fun and then I come back and I’m a normal person. So life as a pornstar as you might envision it is not my reality.

ML: Is it rewarding?

Savanna: Well if I have a good orgasm, it’s rewarding.

ML: Is the sex as good as it looks?

Savanna: In all my movies, I try to make the sex as real as possible. It’s not always happening because you have to remember the camera and the lighting and opening up the camera and do it in ways that the camera has a good view that doesn’t necessarily feel good, but for me the foreplay starts in the makeup room, so I try to make it as real as possible and for those few hours that I’m with my costar, he’s my man, my one and only man and I want to make it as hot as possible. So if I’m lucky, it’s as good as it looks.

ML: So, the action starts before the camera starts rolling?

Savanna: For me, yes. When the guy comes in, even though I’m curlers in the hair and no makeup on, we start the foreplay. I’m not one of these girls that looks at my watch and is like ‘Let’s do three positions and leave’. I want to make it true and real. I’ve been watching porn my whole life and I would say, ‘God, that girl is not enjoying it, that does not feel good, there’s no way’ and so I don’t want my viewers to think that about me. There have been times that the chemistry’s not there and maybe we’re working, but mostly, I chose who I work with and make it as real as possible.

ML: What’s the difference between sex in real life and sex on camera?

Savanna: Most of my fantasies come from things I’ve actually already done on camera and then I wanna take it home and do it in a way that feels good; you don’t have to worry about the camera and opening up and things like that and I was like ‘Wow I never thought of doing that’. I mean there are certain perks to being with a pornstar, because like I said I’ll want to make it hot and bring that home so my partner can enjoy what I’ve experienced.

ML: I was doing my research and you said your favorite position is with a man in the back and a woman in the front. How often do you get to do that?

Savanna: I get to do that more often than you can imagine. I’m fortunate enough to be open enough with my sexuality that if I’m with a man, and I’m recently single, but when you’re my boyfriend at the time, I know that it’s every man’s fantasy to be with a woman so I like to give that gift and I don’t like to do it all the time, but for special occasions, I love to get another girl and kind of share that experience with a man.

ML: What kind of music do you like to listen to during sex?

Savanna: Wow. Gosh, this depends. I love music and a full array of music. I love opera, I love house music, dance music, rock and roll, and it depends what mood I’m in. When I’m doing something loving, I’ll listen to something a little more seductive and sensual, but I could do hardcore rock and roll. It just depends on my mood.

ML: Does the mood affect the music or does the music affect the sex?

Savanna: I think the mood affects the music. When I’m in a certain mood, that’s when I tune into the music. I’ll put on music to fit my mood, but if I’m in the mood, then the music will either enhance it or lose my mood.

ML: Who are you voting for?

Savanna: I don’t like to share my politics, because I’m gonna piss certain people off, but I will tell you that I’ve been and am a liberal conservative, registered Republican, but I’ve regretted a lot of things about Bush. I’m not going to talk bad about our president because I think that’s totally disrespectful. He’s our president, we should not dock him while he’s still our president. And I’m waiting to hear all the views, but I’m really taking this stand and so I don’t want to make the wrong decision.

ML: What was the last thing you bought?

Savanna: I bought size twelve pants for my baby. He’s seven and he’s huge and he started school and his little belly’s getting so big. He’s a big guy like his father and I just went shopping and bought him some clothes that he would be more comfortable in for the school year.

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Termanology drops his debut album Politics as Usual on September 30th. In this interview, he talks about his myriad of collaborations and his experiences as an up-and-comer. He also gives the most boring answer ever to our signature question.  Nice, humble guy.

ML: How’s the press day going?

Term: I’m chillin’ man, kickin’ it man, smokin’ a blunt, man I feel so good right now.

ML: Anybody ask you any dumb shit yet?

Term: Yeah, some crazy shit, but I like the press days man, they help you out.

ML: If somebody’s been sleeping on Termanology so far, what songs do you think they should check out?

Term: I think the best thing to do is just go to iTunes and buy Hood Politics IV and V and get to really see who I am as a person and if you’re into my stuff then you go and cop the Politics as Usual. Those are like the lead up albums to the official album.

ML: You said you wanted to get the producers that did Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt and Ready to Die, right?

Term: Yeah, definitely. That was crazy man, because that was a vision I had and I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to make it happen, but I did. A lot of people tried to stop me from doing that, so I kept it moving and did my dream and shit and it ended up coming out crazy.

ML: What are your favorite tracks on each album?

Term: Oh man, that’s a hard one. Probably “Unbelievable” on Ready to Die. That and “Warning”. Those two are crazy, I mean everything on that shit’s crazy. Reasonable Doubt, probably “D’Evils”.  I love “D’Evils”. That’s like the craziest. Jay and Premo went so hard and “Can’t Knock the Hustle” I love too. On Illmatic, my favorite shit is “NY State of Mind”. That’s like the definition of real hip-hop right there. That’s the shit.

ML: How come Statik isn’t on the album?

Term: Well the thing was, I did this album with all like platinum fresh legendary producers. This is like an elite group I hand picked. Statik is my brother, we work together a lot and do a lot of shit, but he understood that this dream and this goal was bigger than myself and himself. This was like a big picture type thing. He fell back from the beats, but he A&R’ed the project and helped put it together because these guys are legends and he looks up to them also. It was our dream to make it happen. So we did it.

ML: You’re going to be on his new album, right?

Term: Yeah, I was on Statik’s first album, seven records I did on there and on this one I got three. Yeah, Statik is my brother and you’re going to hear a lot of music from us in the future.

ML: How did you connect with DJ Premier?

Term: Met him in ’03. My man brought me to a video shoot Gang Starr was doing and then I gave him my demo, I spit for him and Guru and yeah, that was cool. I kept doing my thing for a couple years and then in late ’05, early ’06, Statik became really really good friends with Premo and they called me on the phone and played me “Watch How It Go Down” and asked me if I liked it. I fuckin’ loved that shit so I took it and I smashed it. Ever since then, it’s all love. Premo like fam now. I got  a whole bunch of records with him and there’s more to come.

ML: That’s a good guy to have in your corner. Premo is pretty good, I’d say.

Term: Yeah, he’s the man, dog and I owe him a lot. After I did my first song with Premier, my stock went up. I started getting paid and it was no more free shows and free t-shirts. So I owe a lot to Premier, he’s the one with the new record with Bun B. He just keeps helping me up my stock.

ML: Everybody who records with Dre says the same thing: he’s a perfectionist, he makes them record the track like ten times. What’s it like working with Premier?

Term: It’s the same thing, man. He’s a perfectionist too. He’ll make me do a take like fifty times sometimes, but I respect his word. I always try to see his vision. I stick to my guns, but the only cat I pretty much let get in the driver’s seat and I just lean back is Premo. The rest of my music, I pretty much do on my own with my man Bob Nash. I grab the beat from a producer and I go up to Walker Sound, that’s my studio, my man Bob Nash runs that. He just leans back and let’s me do what I wanna do. All the rest of the tracks, I pretty much did on my own, but the Premo ones, Premo was really the one. Like, “rap faster right here, rap slow, go hard right here”. He’s a coach, he’s good.

ML: Who was your favorite producer on this album to be in the studio with?

Term:  Oh, Premo was the shit. Pete Rock’s shit was great.  I was in Bassline Studio with Young Guru. Young Guru recorded some legendary albums. Blueprint and all that shit. That was great and Pete Rock gave the hook to me and adlibbed the whole track, so it was really really love. Buckwild is my man, that’s my brother. I recorded like four or five songs with Buckwild and used one of those on the album. He’s going to executive produce the St. Squad album coming up soon too, my group. So Buck’s always fam. The rest of the cats gave me beat tapes which was fine too, ’cause we gotta get it done and as long as we get it done it’s on.

ML: It seems like you know a lot of legendary guys. Do they tell good stories?

Term: Aw man, they all got stories, the best stories you ever heard. That’s the thing, I’m a big hip-hop fan so I’m obsessed with the origin of hip-hop and how it started and everything that happened since it started. One minute I’m with Premo and he’s telling me about Biggie and Pac and all these cats and Easy Mo Bee has mad stories about Pac and BI and shit. They passin’ it down to me and we just keep it movin’ like that and keep the culture alive.

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If there is no Tanya Morgan there is no Lessondary Crew. We caught up with the center of the Lessondary core right before they were gearing up to hit the road on their 40+ “Freshly Dipped” tour with the Hieroglyphics. We linked up online to chat and get a bunch of vital questions answered including finding out what Don was deleting off of his ipod. If you missed the first feature of the Lessondary Month with Jermiside.. no excuses go read. Done? Now read this:

ML: What up sir?
Ilyas: Chillin man…chillin.
Don: Party people.
ML: So this is probably going to turn in to same craziness, making in the history shit.. I can see the whole G-Unit talking to The Source in an AIM chat next week.
Don: Wordup.
Von Pea: lol.
ML: So just jump on whatever you want to say something about.. lets go.
Ilyas: My 4th of July was great! lol.
ML: haha

ML: Well first thing.. who came up with the Kyte channel (I’m guessing Don?), what did the rest of the guys think?
Don: Our label got the kyte channel, in promotion for our tour with Hiero[glyphics]. Its a promotional tool to help tune people in and keep em interested.

ML: Where are all of guys located right this moment?
Ilyas: Cincinnati, I dont have NY money right now.
Von Pea: NYC.
Don: I’m in Brooklyn.

ML: Are you waiting till the tour starts in a few days to regroup?
Don: Well the tour kinda starts tomorrow for real. The travel part, we go to LA tomorrow.

ML: Is there a date any of you are looking forward to the most?
Don: All of them, its a few cities I’ve never seen before on there, but its kinda just all of em. They all should be major.
Von Pea: Yeah, I’d agree.

ML: What has been your favorite live show you’ve done to this point?
Don: Toronto with The Roots, hands down.
Von Pea: Yeah, the Toronto show with The Roots was the best, thus far…
Ilyas: Yeah, T dot! love the T dot! the women are suuuperb! hahaha.
Don: We won that crowd over, hard. Thats a great feeling to watch people fall in love.
Ilyas: I fell in love with the crowd right back lol.
ML: and then to seal the night with The Roots, who I’m sure tore it down.
Von Pea: Hell yes.
Ilyas: I was walking with a little more pimp in my step that night lol.
ML: So you needed a cane at that point?
Von Pea: lol.
Don: I had a broke toe the whole tour, I needed a cane, hahaha.

ML: hahaha, hey canes can serve all kinds of purposes. It’s 30 minutes before you guys hit the stage.. what are each one of you doing, whats going through your minds? Other than polishing your canes.
Ilyas: I’m acting like a boxer warming up for a night while Von and Don tell me “It aint that serious man, we got this”.
Von Pea: LOL.
Ilyas: At the Roots show they had jokes cuz a brother was neeervous.
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You have been waiting all day, so we’ll keep it brief. The Clipse rolled up I-95 to do a live show, hit the radio, and talk to ML. Thanks to our dude Dan H. at Koch & Geezy we were able to link up with The Clipse to talk for a hot minute (knowing us it couldve been a few hours) on all sorts of goodness. Oh yeah and just like Buhizzle promised in the Beat Drop- the Brothers chip in their favorite Neptunes productions. For a higher cohesiveness sake we decided to keep their picks seperate. The Clipse Present The Re-Up Gang in stores August 5th.

ML: What are your top 5 Neptunes beats and why?

Malice: Oh man… Okay, I’mma say “Grindin'” for one, cause its mine and its just so infectious, and its very minimalistic. I like the joint that they did, “Throw Them Bows [Southern Hospitality]” or whatever for Ludacris. I wanted that, that’s crazy. I liked the “What What [Superthug]” by NORE. That was insane. I don’t know, that was just a good time. Neptunes were all over the place. When I think about it I think about the nostalgia of what we were doing at that time, how everybody was just getting big and it was just real cool. But “Superthug” was definitely crazy, to me. Um… Neptunes, what else? They got so many man, it’s not even fair to try and pinpoint. But we got “Throw Them Bows [Southern Hospitality]”, “Grindin”, what else I say? “Superthug”. Help me, throw something at me.

ML: Did you like “The Call (Remix)”? That’s one of our picks.

Malice: [laughs] Hey, Hey, Hey!! No, No. I did the The Call, with the Backstreet Boys. Yeah, “The Call”. Definitely, Definitely. That was the first time I heard my voice on MTV.

ML: Yeah, that’s the only way I would listen to a Backstreet Boys track was if the Clipse are on it.

Malice: Ok, appreciate that.

Malice [to Pusha]: Favorite Neptune beat?

Malice: “Grindin”, “Superthug”, “Throw Them Bows [Southern Hospitality]”

ML: On the site, we had a few other writers come up. “Ride Around Shinin”, a lot of people liked that.

Malice: Yeah. What was the one I really liked by Bubonic and them though?

Some Dude: Cross The Border

Pusha T: [Philly’s Most Wanted-] Cross The Border Remix

Malice: Yeah, Yeah. And the Lox joint that was just like that.

ML: What about you Pusha?

Pusha T: Cross the Border remix is my favorite Neptune beat.

ML: You guys are on the “Everybody Nose (Remix)” right?

Malice: Pusha…

ML: How’d you get on that? Did Pharrell just call you up?

Pusha: Basically. I mean, I was down there when it was going down. They were doing the Glow in The Dark tour. I mean it only makes sense. “Everybody Nose”, you know what it is. You can’t have Lupe, Kanye West, Pharrell, and me there and not be on a record of that magnitude.

ML: He didn’t have to ask? You were there.

Pusha: I already had it written.

ML: Alright. Are you gonna be in the video? Did you already shoot it?

Pusha: Yeah, we just shot the video.

ML: And how did that go? A good time?

Pusha: It was good. Hype Williams.

ML: I saw the Consequence [kyte] video, you were in the background checking out the BBC t-shirts.

Pusha: Yeah

ML: What are your personal highlights from the upcoming Re-Up Gang project?

Malice: Man… It’s just great when all of us get together. Personal highlights off of the album?

ML: Yeah

Pusha: Making it man! Making the album! You know what I’m sayin? The four of us just together brings it back to the fun of hip-hop.

ML: What kind of reception have people given you working with producers outside of the Neptunes?

Malice: It’s been love. A lot of people really look forward to hearing us on different tracks. You know, they love us on the Neptunes tracks, but they just wanna see What else the Clipse can do with other tracks as well.

ML: With “We Got it 4 Cheap” you proved that it can be Joe Schmo and you’ll fucking murder it.

Malice: Appreciate that man.

ML: Working with other producers, how do you feel that the dynamic has changed in the studio?

Malice: Well, we had it real easy with the Neptunes because they would just make a beat and toss it to us, and then we just go do what we do. Now we gotta sit down, we collaborate, let the producers get a feel for us. We also get to see where they think the Clipse should be from their mindset or point of view.

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I recently got the chance to chop it up with west coast up-and-comer Omar Cruz. Signed to Interscope-Geffen, Omar’s been straight busting his ass to get LA’s Latinos some long overdue recognition.

On Latino rappers…

The one that I looked up to the most is already passed away, rest in peace, Christopher Rios aka Big Punisher. Was a huge influence on my career. He was one of those kinds of MCs that it didn’t matter that he was Latino, he was just sick with it. He was just a beast, a monster. There’s a lot of rappers that have come and gone, out of the ones that are out today, 95% of ’em can’t even get get nowhere near that dude. He was representing Boricuas in New York and what he did for Boricuas in New York, I wanna do for Latinos in LA.

If he hadn’t come from the hood…

I would hope I would be [still be a rapper], because I don’t think that hip hop is just about the hood… Let’s say I came from a family with old money, if I would’ve rapped, I wouldn’t be rapping about the same things. But me being where I’m from, seeing the things that I’ve seen, it’s allowed me to almost be a speaker for those that have no voice, a lot of the Latinos in these inner city areas… I don’t think I would’ve listened to the type of music I listened to if I didn’t [grow up in the hood]. Boyz n the Hood, the movie was filmed literally – like, I rode my bike to the set when I was a little kid. That shit was down the street from me. And being the only Latino on my block, also, I had to deal with certain race issues as well. But, it made me who I am. It molded me into the person that I am and I think it made me a better MC, because I grew up listening to everything from Big Daddy Kane and Rakim to NWA and Dr. Dre and the whole gangsta rap movement pretty much started around the time I was coming up. I wouldn’t give that up for the world. To answer your question, I think I would, but my style would be totally different. I’d probably  be on some Kanye type shit. Who knows, who the fuck knows?

On the decline in gangsta rap…

I think gangsta rap is alive. I think the labels have changed. The question is, what do you consider gangsta rap? Because, it’s just a label. Young Jeezy is pretty hot, if you ask me that’s gangsta rap. Rick Ross is gangsta rap. T.I. is gangsta rap. Just because it’s not on the West coast, it’s on some other shit. But let’s face it: NWA talked about drugs, bitches, money, guns. What does Rick Ross talk about? What does T.I. talk about? Shawty Lo? It’s gangsta rap, man. I don’t even consider my shit gangsta rap, I like to call it reality rap, because that’s my reality. Just because you ain’t bangin’ or you ain’t claiming a hood or a clique or a set, doesn’t mean it’s not gangsta rap. Gangsta rap is all over the world, man.

Can gangsta rap survive without shock value?

I think that there’s little that people are shocked by these days. A lot of it has already been said. Eminem, about ten years ago, he came out, he was shocking people with the things he was saying about murdering his baby momma and putting her in his trunk and killing his mom’s right there. I think now, and I touch on a few of these issues which is almost kind of a political undertone, which is you’re challenging the system, you’re challenging corporate America, you’re challenging the way people view a certain group of people. I grew up in that type of environment that NWA described. That was my reality. But I also came from a Latino standpoint which a lot of people really haven’t, besides a few movies, saw deep in. I don’t know what can shock people now, because with all that’s gone on in the last ten years it’s kind of hard. And I think what’s really shocked people is the success of artists, like I mentioned before, like Kanye or a Lupe or these guys who are normal guys who are just speaking their minds about regular shit. I think that’s why they are successful because I think people are tired of hearing it. How many times can you shoot a dude? How many times can you say ‘fuck’ or ‘bitch’ or whatever.

On his album…

The reason why I have a huge fanbase out here, not only in LA but in the southwest and even in New York and Miami where I get a lot of love is they haven’t heard my side of the story, the Latino struggle on wax. Not only on wax, but coming from LA it’s a whole different world. The Chronic, and The Chronic 2001, those two records you would say represent LA, right? There was not one mention of a Latino in there. There was not one mention of our involvement, our contributions to whatever, whether it be drugs or the streets. And I talked to Dre about that on occasion. When I talked to Dre once, I told him that he’s gotta have a Mexican on Detox and it might as well be me. When those come out, those records represent Los Angeles to the whole world and I feel like we haven’t been represented. I think that’s why my album, Sign of the Cruz, is really gonna turn heads, because for the first time, you’re really gonna see that struggle come to life. Do you know how many first born sons of immigrants listen to hip hop and are in the United States of America and love hip hop, love rap music, but they don’t have someone like them to represent them? They’ll go buy a Jeezy record or a Rick Ross record or a 2Pac record or what have you, and that’s great, but now they have an opportunity to hear a piece of them in hip hop. And that’s what Sign of the Cruz is.

On the black, Latino tensions in LA…

If you take the books away, you throw crack and crystal meth and PCP guns in that neighborhood, who is gonna get along in that environment? The truth of the matter is that we do get along, but there are isolated incidents that the media likes to glorify… I don’t believe it, don’t believe it. I was in a video shoot with the The Game yesterday and there’s was a bunch of Latino gang members and a bunch of black gang members and we all got along and had a great fuckin’ time, no fuckin’ problem. Me and the Game have talked about that, we have worked on a few records together just to show that there’s positivity in the hood… If I have a problem with somebody, black, white, asian, I don’t give a fuck, I’m gonna handle it. And if it happens to be a black dude, that’s tension? Nah, that’s just personal, but they like to blow these isolated incidents out of proportion. They like to see us at each other’s throats. That’s the perfect situation for the government, that’s how you control us. Imagine us united, shit, that would be the biggest problem for them.

On Latinos in LA…

I have my own story to tell. I’m trying to make sure that we get represented properly…2Pac said it wouldn’t be LA without Mexicans. He was right. I guarantee if 2Pac were alive, we’d be working together, because he knew how important that section of his fanbase was to him. We’ve been here the whole time, now it’s just time for us to rise up.

On the majors…

The advantages are obvious, you’re part of a big machine that gets you heard faster, but if you don’t bust your ass and do everything on your end, then you might as well stay home. I go hard. We have a special kind of deal with Interscope, we have a 50/50 joint venture through Interscope/Geffen…basically what that means is we have creative control, but we do our part and our part means hitting the spots up that they want. They have their normal way of doing things and we have our way. We go to the swap meets, we go to the hoods, we go to the markets, wherever our people our at. For a Latino MC, I have to go the extra mile to make sure I get heard and people know I exist, because if they don’t know I exist, it’s not gonna matter. Where a lot of people fail is they rely on the label to do everything and they expect everything to be handed to them and that’s where they fuckin’ fall.

Pressure from the label?

Not really, it’s always pretty much been what we bring to the table. I don’t really deal with too many people on the creative side. It’s pretty much just my immediate circle and they talk to the VP of Geffen. We don’t deal with A&Rs, we do our thing and we bring it to the table. That’s part of our deal, that’s why we have 50/50, because that allows us to keep all the creative control. They get it. I can’t speak for anyone else on that label, but for some people it works better to be on an independent, especially if you had ten years building your profile. Then it makes sense to go independent. But for me, I’m in a great position.

Too many crappy rappers selling well?

Well, I guess if you consider Lil Wayne a crappy rapper. Not bad for one week. Whether you like Lil Wayne or not, he’s shook the music industry and I think that’s a very positive sign for things to come.  There’s a new way to reach a market…I think that Lil Wayne has given so much to his fans in the last two or three years that they felt responsible to go support him. He’s been saturating the market for the past two or three years. I personally look at it like, as an artist you gotta look at that and you gotta evolve…Whether you’re a backpack-underground, or a hipster rapper, or fuckin’ gangster rapper, or fuckin’ ringtone rapper, I don’t give a fuck. There’s still something out there…My niche is pretty much my story hasn’t been told yet. That’s what I’m banking on…I don’t want to compare myself to Eminem, but with Eminem, his story wasn’t told and people were interested in that story and it worked for him. It helped that Dr. Dre backed him up too.

On the election…

I’m not voting for an old man, I’ll tell you that much.

Last thing he bought…

Some magnum condoms.

What does a Hip Hop blogger (what a cornball term) do a on a lazy Sunday evening you ask? He hooks up with Tanya Morgan’s Underground Collective, the Lessondary crew on a Kyte channel to setup a month full of interviews. This whole month will be Lessondary Month on ML as we will be featuring Lessondary interview after interview. First up is Jermiside, an upcoming MC hailing out of Cincinnati, who has a healthy obsession with everything art.

But before we jump into the interview, some 411 you need to have.

Tanya Morgan is hitting the road this week, get all the dates on their MySpace.

& Check out the Lessonadary group anthem of sorts, Lessondary Nose over NERD’s Everybody Nose.

(Note: There is a OG Tanya Morgan interview from 2006, that will be hitting ML before summers out, as a time capusle of sorts.)

MetalLungies: : Where are you at right now?
Jermiside:  Musically?

ML:  Nah, physically
J:  Ha, physically I’m in Atlanta man, just kickin it really, working on some music.

ML: Can you break down your name, Jermiside?
J:  Well, first off my birth name is Jermaine so its kind of a play off of that. I used to do my little graffiti thing under the name Jermz and it kinda bled over from that into my rap name. It also kinda stands for ‘the cure’ you know?

ML:  How about Red Giants? is that a homage to Cincy?
J:  Yeah, it is. As some people may know, me & Brickbeats are both from Cincinnnati. The Reds had a nickname, “The Big Red Machine” back in there heyday so we kinda just flipped that around. A red giant is also a dying star that as a result begins to shine like 3 times brighter. So we kinda used that as a metaphor for the place we want to have in hip-hop, like people say its dying so we are just gonna come through with the dopest music possible and shine brighter than ever.

ML:  Does your approach differ when you are doing solo stuff vs Red Giants?
J:  Absolutely. I always try to adapt to the vibe of the production and just go wherever the beats take me. Usually Brickbeats’ production gives me a nostalgic kinda feeling so The Red Giants material comes out kinda light hearted for the most part. As a solo artist, my music tends to be a little more dark and personal.

ML:  Are you more focused on a solo or a Red Giants project right now?
J:  Right now, both actually. We are working on a new Red Giants project called “Chain Reaction” at the moment. Im also finishing up a “mixtape” called Die Jerm Die and a project with a producer from Ireland named Danny Diggs.

ML:  Ireland, how did that come about, a Nicolay-Phonte (of Little Brother) type situation?
J:  Sorta like that, yeah. If my memory is correct he heard some of The Red Giants music and just hit me up via myspace and asked I wanted to do some work. He sent me a joint, I knocked it out and we just kept on knocking out songs after that. The chemistry is just really dope. But yeah, the internet be making things happen man, haha.

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Some fast talking landed ML at the New York press event for The Wackness. After some roundtables, I had the pleasure of interviewing the always entertaining Method Man. A very nice PR lady walked me down a floor to where Meth’s room was and once I stepped into the hallway, the weed smell punched me in the face. Inside his room, Meth was sprawled on a couch and really out of it compared to earlier when he was doing the roundtables. He was really chill and friendly, but what really impressed me was when we got on the topic of the state of hip hop. Unlike some rappers who would launch into an old-head tirade, telling younger cats to eat a dick, Meth was nonchalantly optimistic and responded in a way that really made me think to myself, can it be that it was all so simple? Regardless of how high he was, he definitely displayed a rare level of maturity and wisdom.

ML: How did you get the part?

Meth: I wanted to do something independent and my manager, when she got the script from Jonathan, read it and was like ‘this is it, right here.’

ML: What’s better, music money or movie money?

Meth: They’re both good. Money is money.

ML: Who pays more?

Meth: Movies. Definitely.

ML: Do you think you’re going to be leaning more towards movies now?

Meth: Nah, I like music better. I do that for free.

ML: Ben Kingsley stole the show. What was the scene with him like?

Meth: It was cool. I mean, it was a small scene, but I learned so much in that little bit of time right there, y’know? Timing, giving the actor something to work with, just real subtle things to pick up on.

ML: You were on the set a couple of days, but do you have any funny stories from the set? Did you hang out with anybody at all?

Meth: I just remember stank in that motherfucker a little somethin’ and my man was there, Shannon Briggs, cool ass dude.

ML: Do you think it paints an accurate picture of New York in ’94?

Meth: Oh he murdered it. He killed it, because the towers at the end, that was dope.  Blowing of the Nintendo cartridge, priceless. Yeah, I think he did his damn thing. Fire Island, yeah.

ML: Anything you would have put in there that he forgot?

Meth: I would have had some of those benches missing slacks on em. ‘Cause you know dude, shit, New York, all that’s left is the cement part.

ML: What were you up to that summer?

Meth: We was on tour. We was out in LA.

ML: What was hip hop like? Illmatic is out, Ready to Die is coming in September.

Meth: It was more about lyricism than anything else. That’s what New York was known for. Deep lyrics, things was nice, flow, stories, some of the nicest came up out of here, but you can’t sleep, Snoop was hittin’ ’em too.

ML: So, Snoop is your favorite on the West?

Meth: I got a lot of favorites on the West. I love Snoop, Game, I like Roscoe, Kurupt, Daz, all my niggas over there man, Jayo Felony, Black Knights, word, my name Dru Down, Luniz, shit man, so many, man. Cypress, shit, definitely Cypress, my niggas.

ML: I remember Easy Mo Bee talking about recording “The What” and he said that Biggie thought that you outdid him.

Meth: Word? What do you think?

ML: I can’t tell, you’re both amazing on that song. “Spit on your grave then I grab my Charles Dickens”.

Meth: Yeah, that was the time we used to make up all kinds of jokes. Damn. It’s flattering, it’s nice to hear shit like that, to know that you held your own with one of the dudes that’s considered to be one of the all-time greats. That’s why there better be a place for me in that history book.

ML: You have some of the greatest guest verses ever. How does it feel murdering everybody on their own songs?

Meth: [Laughs] I almost walked into that shit. I think that I just try to meet the same level as the artist that I’m working with. You know what I mean? And then you leave it up to them to whether they’re going to man up and meet the level that you set. It depends on who goes first, you have to meet the level that the first person set. I don’t think I outdid any MC whose shit I rhymed on. I think I complemented the track, but outdid ’em? Nah.

ML: One of my favorite songs on All Eyez on Me is “Got my Mind Made Up”. How did you get on a West Coast record like that?

Meth: That was the time when there was beef, but I was fuckin’ with the Dogg Pound heavy. And we was in Daz’s basement and he threw the joints on and we writin’ and a nigga spit.

ML: So you were just hanging out and you ended up on a song?

Meth: Yeah.

ML: Did you know Pac?

Meth: I met Pac once.

ML: What was it like?

Meth: It was weird ’cause I was high on Mescaline. So, it was weird and shit, but Pac was cool, man. He was a cool nigga, you know? He was just explaining something to me that had happened in Vegas with a partner of mine and tellin’ me that if there was anybody he would fuck with on the east coast, it would be Wu-Tang. I remember him saying that.

ML: So was there ever any chance of a Pac/Wu-Tang collaboration?

Meth: If there was, I ain’t heard of none, but we would’ve loved to work with Pac. My dudes respected son.

ML: What’s your most memorable collaboration? You worked with Pac and Big, that’s amazing right there.

Meth: Mary.

ML: I’m bringing up all these fallen legends, I gotta mention ODB. Do you have any crazy ODB stories you could tell me?

Meth: One night he’s getting his dick sucked at the bar. That was pretty weird. Yeah.

ML: How far along is Blackout 2?

Meth: 25%.

ML: Can we expect the same producers? Erick Sermon and them? RZA?

Meth: You can expect to hear Erick. I don’t know about RZA though. Kwame, Pete Rock and a few others I ain’t gon’ mention ’til we get the tracks.

ML: What about acting, do you have anything on the table?

Meth: Right now, I’m looking at some scripts. I just finished an episode of Burn Notice. Hopefully I’ll get another CSI. I just wanna do another HBO.

ML: One of my favorite songs on Cuban Linx is “Ice Cream”. They’ve been talking about Cuban Linx II forever. Are you gonna be on that?

Meth: Yeah I’m on there twice, I hope. I’m on two songs, that’s if they make the cut.

ML: Wu is still tight, right?

Meth: Yeah, the Wu definitely still tight.

ML: I remember after 8 Diagrams, Raekwon said something like ‘we wanna do one thing without RZA called Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang‘.

Meth: I remember him saying something like that.

ML: Is that real?

Meth: I don’t know, you have to ask Rae.

ML: Would you be on that?

Meth: I don’t know, depends. As long as it doesn’t separate. We can’t alienate certain individuals. We still Wu.

ML: Did you hear RZA’s new album, Digi Snacks?

Meth: Nah, what is that? His album?

ML: It’s a Bobby Digital album.

Meth: Oh word?

ML: On Koch.

Meth: Wow. Damn, Digi Snacks, huh? How is it?

ML: It’s pretty cool, it’s out there.

Meth: Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He definitely is. Circle the planet nine times and shit. I think it’s just a little hoppy for him right now. He aight.

ML: RZA is all over this acting stuff. He’s always saying he wants to direct and do soundtracks. Would you be down to do a movie with him?

Meth: He’s always coming to me with movies. I don’t know, I guess.

ML: Who are you voting for?

Meth: No one.

ML: Do you like anyone more than anyone else?

Meth: Nah, it’s not that, I just don’t vote. That level of government doesn’t trickle down far enough for me to even want to vote. Ghetto don’t see none of that money that niggas be spendin’.

ML: I asked you in the roundtable something like, ‘what do we do to fix hip hop?’ and you said ‘I’m not doing anything’. I can’t believe that, you really don’t care what happens to hip hop now?

Meth: I mean, what am I gon’ do now without looking like a disgruntled, sour grape ass rapper.

ML: Put out the album that changes the world again? I don’t know.

Meth: Who’s gonna buy it?

ML: I don’t know, that’s a good question.

Meth: There’s been albums like that that thought they was gon’ change the world. Everybody goes into the studio thinkin’ they gon’ change the world. Hip hop’s gonna fix itself, not one individual. It’s gon’ take a mass amount of people. All I can do is plant a few seeds here and there.

ML: Is there anybody in particular of these up-and-comers that you like?

Meth: I like a lot of these dudes, man. I like Max B, Hell Rell, I like T.I. UGK been around a long time so I don’t think they count though, but I always loved UGK, man. I like a lot of these new cats, B.

ML: In five years, what kind of movie stuff do you think you’re going to be doing then? Do you think you’re going to move up to starring roles or do you like your spot right now?

Meth: It depends, I don’t know. At this point in time, the way things work, for every twenty five white actors that get in, one black one gets in and I think they made their quota. Will’s new movie drops the same day that ours, but we’re the little movie that could.

ML: What’s the last thing you bought?

Meth: Football equipment for my boys.

ML: It’s an honor to meet you, man.

Meth: Respect, my brother. Always. Thank you very much.

—————

The Wackness hits a Limited Release in New York & Los Angeles on July 3rd.

Hello Hello Hello..ML caught up with Shawty Lo this week to talk about his new video which premieres tonight on FN MTV @ 8pm EST (along with performances from Lil Wayne & Duffy), Bankhead, being a scholar with Killer Mike and other ML randomness you’ve surely come to expect.

Metal Lungies: How is your day going so far?

Shawty Lo: It’s going well, I’m just sitting here, eating a little bit, but everything’s good.

ML: What does Shawty Lo like to eat on?

Shawty Lo: Well, right now I’m eating a little baked chicken and rice.

ML: Is that from a local spot in Atlanta?

SL: Nah, it’s from the house.

ML: Alright, do you do your own cooking or do you have someone to cook that up for you?

SL: Yea, my girl, she cooked it for me.

ML: You have a video set to premier on the 20^th, the remix for Foolish. Talk about what we can expect from the video, what’s the idea behind it?

SL: Basically, it’s a good summer video, you know. Me, DJ Khaled, Baby, Rick Ross and Jim Jomes. We shot it in Miami, it was a real good look, pretty outside. We had the girls outside, we were having fun on the beach and just doing our thing.

ML: Is it an example of what a day in Shawty Lo’s life is like?

SL: Yea, its fun, ain’t no sweat, just fun.

ML: How did the whole situation with TI start? Did he take a jab at you on “King”, what happened?

SL: Yea, he threw a jab at me on the song “Big Shit Poppin”. When he said “I said I was king [and them lames started laughin’ and same suckers now want the King on a track with ’em]”. He could’ve gotten on a song of mine from 2002, I had a King song I had here in the street, but I guess he changed his mind and didn’t want to get on the song. It was no problem; he didn’t get on the song and threw a jab at me. I jabbed back with my song called Dunn Dunn. I ain’t never called his name out, he ain’t never called my name, If there was feeling like that, I would have called his name out on my album Units in The City, and he didn’t say my name. But, about a month later, he came on radio live in Atlanta and he was hollering my name, so that’s where it was brought back up at.

ML: Do you think it’s a real serious situation? What do you think of it now?

SL: Ah, no, I know it ain’t serious because he knew he shouldn’t have done that. I am in the streets for real and he’s a rapper.

ML: I saw that YouTube video you had of going through Bankhead and saying that no one had ever seen TI around there. Talk about Bankhead, what is the landscape there, what are the people like, what’s the environment like? Just give us a tour of Bankhead?

SL: It rough man, it’s like a jungle man, you know. It’s a poor town, It’s rough, bars of sugar [Ed note: it took me a while to get why bars of “sugar” were bad], AIDS. We were unfortunate, you know. And it’s like one of the most crime-ridden areas probably in Georgia. TI came to claim this side of town to get some street credibility behind him, But you know, I respect TI as a real rapper, he’s a real rapper, until he stepped on my toes and I had to tell the truth on him.

ML: Do you have a favorite spot in Bankhead or is it all just bad for you?

SL: It ain’t bad to me, but it’s bad to other people. I grew up there, I can handle it, that’s where I’m from. I’m from the projects, I was born and raised.

ML: What’s your favorite story about growing up in Bankhead? Do you have a favorite story?

SL: I really ain’t got no favorite stories, it just feels good to come from that and do something. Being that I’m from Bankhead, the people from Bankhead, they love it to see someone from Bankhead for real, to make it.

ML: So, Bankhead made you, who you are today, pretty much?

SL: Yea

ML: Where are you living today, in Atlanta?

SL: I live in the outskirts right now but I’m come up here, my studios still in Bankhead.

ML: Dey Know was such a monstrous song, everyone wanted to drop a freestyle on it. How’d that song come about, what’s the background story for that?

SL: It was crazy man, it was a beat at the studio. The beat, I got it from my man Balis he’s from Jersey. I ain’t like the song as soon I [first] did it . When the label heard it, they were like it’s a hit, and everyone else said it. Then once it got poppin in the street real good, everyone started calling, “I wanna get on the remix”, and it just happened.

ML: Were you slipped the beat CD or did someone play it for you? How did the whole song go down?

SL: That’s one of my other producers, Ryan Blatz, he’s [Balis] is one of his producers, basically our in house producer. I was in the studio late one night and one of our producers put it on and said “write to it”. And I started writing to it, but I didn’t like what I wrote at first, so I started over and started thinking to it in my head “Shawty Lo-I got flavor…” and it went from there.

ML: When I heard that song, I was blown away. I was like “Who is this? Shawty Lo?” So you really impressed me with that track.

SL: Thanks sir.

ML: You mentioned that you weren’t so sure at first about that track, was there another single that you would have gone with from the album as your first song?

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