Metal Lungies

Akon came out with one of the most diverse urban albums in recent memory with Konvicted. Filled with everything from social commentary, huge ass shaking records, grimy hip-hop cuts to a song that In my opinion could be considered an anthem for a whole country. That track by the way is ‘Mama Africa’ which is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in a while. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Akon to discuss his new album, his past work with the Fugees, all of his big callabos, recent big purchases and as always much much more.

Note: This interview was conducted in late ’06, but due to some serious glitches with our recording equipment its hitting you up a little late.

Akon: Hello?

ML: Hey, Akon.

Akon: Hey.

ML: What’s up?

Akon: What’s poppin’ baby?

ML: Not much. I just want to say congratulations on the single. I saw that it was breaking records on the charts.

Akon: Yeah man, it jumped from 95 to 7.

ML: That’s incredible.

Akon: Biggest leap in Billboard history.

ML: Incredible.

Akon: That’s crazy.

ML: I want to start talking about your album. How is this album different from your debut album?

Akon: Ah, man. It’s pretty much the same format. You know I try to keep the same format €“ the only difference; it’s like really a step up. You know my production got – way better, you know what I’m saying? The songwriting, like, the skills and attitudes is way better. It’s just another Trouble album but two or three times steps up. You know what I’m saying?

ML: More advanced?

Akon: Way more advanced.

ML: Do you prefer to do your own production or would you rather have someone else handle the production; does it matter to you?

Akon: No, actually it really doesn’t matter. Honestly I don’t care where the hit comes from €“ the hit record. I want to be a part of it. But when it comes to like Akon records, a lot of times I would prefer to do it myself because I know exactly what I’m thinking and exactly where I’m going as Akon the artist. But normally, sometime I may be working with people and they may have an idea that may be in a direction of where I’m going and I will definitely get a part of that. You know like, even with this album I had three producers which I co-produced with. It was not like the first album where I produced the whole album alone. This album I produced the whole album but I had three co-producers on a couple of records which was Giorgio Tuinfort out of Amsterdam; he’s like the biggest producer on that side of Europe, you know what I’m saying? And I had Benny-D which is my DJ. You know he’s an inspiring producer but he came up with a track that was like, yo €“ we gotta get with that, let me add this add that to it, you know.

Then I had Hakim Abdulsamad which was with the group formerly The Boys, you know he was the singer. And he had some ideas for the song I had called Mama Africa so we did that together.

ML: What was the most challenging or difficult song that’s on this album?

Akon: The most challenging song that I had on this album would probably have to be Smack That with Eminem. And the reason why I say that is because when me and Em got together we was trying to figure out what kind of record could we do that people wouldn’t expect us to do. That’s the only record where we had to literally think about okay, what are we gonna do man? What are we gonna do? *Laughs* But you know that was really because, like he’s a reality artist. He sings a lot about his things that goes on around him. And I’m the same way. I sing about things that goes around me so it’s like, we both do a reality record. People gonna expect that. How about we try to do something that they would never expect like a crazy party record about smackin’ a girl’s ass. You know what I’m saying? *Laughs* So it was like that humor where it was something that catered to his sense of humor and mine at the same time.

ML: Yeah. And it’s like, probably your lightest, not the most serious of your tracks, you know.

Akon: Exactly. Because you know the last album was so dark . I had so much going on around me; it was like I kind of wanted to brighten up just a little bit as far as the records I release. And I saved the majority of the dark records for the album, you understand?

ML: How was it working with Eminem? How long did it take you guys to finish that track?

Akon: Oh gosh. Man, we did that record literally within hours. Record was finished, all wrote and done. You know what I’m saying? Because the chemistry we had was incredible. The way he work and the way I work is so much similar, like we really got a connection in the studio.

ML: You mentioned chemistry. I was looking at who you have on this album and you have Styles P again on this album.

Akon: Yep.

ML: How is it working with him? What kind of chemistry do you guys have?

Akon: Nah, like the chemistry with him is infinite. You know what I’m saying? And there’s like a friendship with me and him too, so like we understand each other both musically and personally. So it was like, working with him was like working with a brother. So, it was so easy. I like to do records with Styles man, he’s crazy. The reason I’m so lured to just dealing with Styles on a lot of records – I want to make sure he’s on every album – is because when I first came up as an artist he was already established in the street. And he was the only artist that literally came out and lended a hand with my project after reaching out to some many other artists and getting rejected, you know. He was one of the few artists that was like, “Yo, that’s not a problem. I got you dog, I got you.”

ML: So, are you going to be on his album?

Akon: Yeah. I’m all over his album.

ML: Alright. How did you guys meet up?

Akon: Actually we met up through Hit. That’s his road manager. Me and Hit had a relationship from way back in the day. I used to deal a lot with Dee and Waah from Ruff Ryders so that connection just made it naturally happen together.

ML: What were some of your first works that people may not have heard or did you have any works prior to your first album?

Akon: Yeah, you know I was on the Nappy Heads remix with the Fugees. You know a lot of people €“ like, if you listen to that album real closely you’ll hear my voices all in the backgrounds of songs and stuff. You know what I’m saying? Like that was like my original family. I used to be a part of Refugee Camp before all this was over. Then I got locked up of course and they blew up and I came out and had to start over because they was already too far gone.

ML: Yes. So, any other records like that that people, you know, some hard core Akon fans should know about?

Akon: Man, there’s so many. I can’t even think that far back, you know what I’m saying? It’s crazy because I’m putting together like a catalog of my records from way back in the day that people didn’t know I had anything to do with. I’m putting it all together on a CD, like a compilation type situation, you know what I’m saying, for the Konvict album so people can get to know what I’ve done in the past and what I was involved in and so on and so forth.

ML: Is that going to be with the album?

Akon: Nah, that won’t be with the album but I do have a DVD that I’m putting with this album. It’s going to be in the DVD jacket.

ML: I saw the trailer for that and that was crazy. How does it feel, like, was it filmed in Senegal, right?

Akon: Yeah, that was actually when I took my trip to Senegal €“ that was my trip to Senegal.

ML: How does it feel, like, going through the streets and having like hundreds of people running after you? How does that feel?

Akon: Man it’s crazy. Like I have €“ no, that’s ridiculous, you know what I’m saying? Like, people would never know how that feels unless you actually experience it. Because there’s no way, no words to describe that. That’s just nothing but a whole bunch of love just coming at you at one time from every angle.

ML: How does Senegal influence your music?

Akon: It influences my music more spiritually than it does physically. You know, because a lot of times like when I am creating records and I’m in a position where I’m creating a lot of stuff that comes directly from me, always when I’m recording I keep in mind that I’m representing a lot of people from Senegal. Because when people listen to me the first time, when they ask, well where is he from, they just naturally say Senegal.

So I try to be the best representation for Senegalese talent that I can be so it makes the whole country look great.

ML: When you go to Senegal do you have like a spot like, or a thing you need to do like the first thing you do when you get there? Is there anything like that?

Akon: Yep. You know the first thing I do pretty much is go pray. You know I go pray with my family. We go to tooba and pray and you know, pray for like a better future, healthy future. You know anything bad that’s to come to us we try to pray to get it prevented before it happens. You know, things like that, spirituality, I think is very important. And after that we just go on about our regular program throughout the day.

ML: Well, in your music, for example on your first album, you had most of the songs with a lot of social messages. Right now, in the world what do you think is the biggest social issue that we’re facing right now?

Akon: The biggest social issue I think we’re having is this religious war thing going on that’s started by Bush. You know I think, like, it’s to a point where it’s almost like dividing Muslims from Christians and other religions. Because they made it more like a religious war than it was basically, you know what I mean? And I think that’s crazy because, like, people are people. What they believe in has nothing to do with the decision that a president should make. And I think really that whatever decision you make as far as your religion, if it makes you a better person then that’s great, because it only makes you a better person to be able to surround yourself with other people that may even believe different, but at the end of the day if it makes you a better person it makes the world a better place. So I think the biggest mistake that they’re making is they’re making it a religious thing where it’s Muslims against the Christians and stuff like that when it has nothing to do with religion whatsoever. You know what I mean? So I think that’s definitely one of the main political issues that I think that we need to, you know, address, face and try to control before it becomes a race war later in the future.

ML: Yeah. Yeah, ’cause you can sense it, you know, there’s signs of it already.

Akon: You can, ’cause it’s going in that direction. And I think we got to start doing little things so it don’t become a religious war that it’s just something they can make, keep political and deal with so regular people don’t be effected by it.

ML: Going in a little bit different direction about some of your other projects you have on your table. I read you’re going to be on the Gwen Stefani album?

Akon: Yeah.

ML: Can you talk about that?

Akon: Oh man, we got a crazy record. I did a couple of records on Gwen Stefani’s album. And one of the singles that actually gonna be on it is one I produced and wrote called “Sweet Escape.”And I think that record is like the biggest record I’ve done in my career. You know what I’m saying? It’s crazy. It’s like I took her back to the whole “No Doubt” sound.

ML: Oh, shit.

Akon: Yeah. Cause I feel like it was missing . . .I needed her to do that so I was like we gotta get it bangin’. So as soon as she heard the record she just fell in love with it.

ML: Yeah.

Akon: Actually, you know, got in the booth and did her thing; you know what I’m saying?

ML: Yeah. It’s one of those albums you can’t wait for fans to hear, huh? It sounds like.

Akon: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

ML: The other thing is talk about your label and also the project Chili’s trying to put out through your label.

Akon: Yep. I got KLD, Kon Live Distribution.And that’s done, it’s actually cut through Interscope with Jimmy Iovine /Geffen Records. It’s crazy because that’s like one of the main deals that I cut this year that I’m really proud of. I got a chance to really set myself, set my mark to be an exec. So now it’s like I’ve gotta choose the right artists to put out that I really believe in, that I think that I know can definitely do some damage out there. You know I went and signed Chili from TLC whose been hungry since day one to do, you know, her personal project.You know what I’m saying? She really came to me and was like, “I need to get this project poppin, I know you can do it, I trust you with this project.” So I didn’t want to let her down with it, I want to make sure we put the right music on her that really tells her story. Because she has a story that the rest of the world don’t know nothing about. And like it’s literally a real story. You know what I’m saying? And she has the energy and definitely has the talent to bring it across on the album so we definitely going to make that happen.

ML: What direction would you want to take an album like that in? Would you want to take it maybe more towards your style of music or more towards a TLC style of music? Like how do you balance that?

Akon: Well pretty much we’re really going to shy away from the TLC stuff. Like I don’t want her to sound €“ I don’t want no record on the album to sound like a TLC record. Because then it would be a TLC record. *Laughs* You know, and that’s what she’s already known for doing. She has like, literally, her personality is totally opposite from what the TLC group had portrayed. Even though it’s all a part of her, but it was like three different personalities mixed into one.

ML: It’s one third of her.

Akon: Exactly. There’s so much more of her that she even wants to express though. The music, even that she’s choosing, like when I do a record, she’s choosing certain records that fit her personality that sounds totally different or opposite of what you expect her to do. And that’s what’s so interesting about this project.

ML: The other thing I wanted to ask is, are you going to be handling most of the production on this?

Akon: Yeah. I’m going to be doing half the album and then I’m going to toss her off to other producers that I really do business with. I’m going to grab Missy Elliot to do some. Actually she’s in the studio with Missy Elliot now doing a couple of records. And then I’m going to grab Will.I.Am to do some records, you know, grab Polo to do some records. You know what I’m saying? Get with Timbaland, get a record. You know what I’m saying? So that way we make this record an event.

ML: When can we expect the album?

Akon: Well it’s going to definitely be 2007. We don’t know if it’s going to be, you know, second quarter or third quarter but it’ll be soon.

ML: Alright. Also I wanted to ask you, you were actually on an episode of CSI with Obie. How was that experience? Is that something you’d like to get into?

Akon: Yeah, definitely. The next step is motion pictures. I’m working on a movie now called “The Illegal Alien.” Which is based on my life story. Little things like that just slowly stack up, you know what I’m saying?

ML: I was actually reading about that. Has that “Illegal Alien” come closer to starting and what’s the status of the movie right now?

Akon: Yeah I’m like literally in the last chapters as far as writing it. Cause like, it’s pretty much based on me, I want to be like really the main writer so that I can just be able to give the director direction as far as where we want to go. But I’m not going to actually be the lead, you know, like star, I’m not going to star in the movie. I always felt like that was corny when the person that they’re writing about was the one, you know. So you know we’re going to get Mekhi Phifer to play my role in this movie.

ML: So that’s a done deal that Mekhi Phifer going to be starring as you?

Akon: Yeah.

ML: Oh, that’s cool. That’s cool. Any guess on when you’re going to start filming? 2007 probably?

Akon: Nah, well actually we’re going to be, I know we’re casting in February. And hopefully before the end of the year we’ll actually get the production together and start to shoot. Because we’re going to be shooting in Africa, Jersey and in L.A.

ML: So are you going to make sure like everything’s authentic, like everything’s shot in Senegal and not like on the set.

Akon: No literally. Just like that. Because I mean it’s like a mixture of you know like, “City of God”/ “Menace II Society”/ “Ray” like all in one movie. You know it’s like crazy, the whole concept.

ML: Another thing I wanted to ask you is, are you going to have a tour to support this album or . . .

Akon: Yep.

ML: Is that in the works?

Akon: Mm hm. That’s in the works now. Actually I know we’re doing a promo run to just get the album to where it needs to go, then I’m going to do a House of Blues tour. And through the House of Blues tour we’d be promoting the world tour that we’re going to be doing in 2007.

ML: Oh, alright. That’s something to look for. Something I always ask people I interview, are you a fan of any sports teams?

Akon: Me? When it comes to basketball my team is wherever Shaq’s at.

ML: Oh really.

Akon: I’m loyal to Shaq, I ain’t loyal to the team. *Laughs* Wherever Shaq goes I go.

ML: *Laughs* Even if Shaq goes to the Bobcats, you’ll still . . .?

Akon: If Shaq goes to the Bobcats I’m a Bobcat fan.

ML and Akon: *Laughs*

ML: You’ll be talking to your friends like, “Man, I don’t give a shit.” *Laughs*

Akon: I don’t care. I’m wherever Shaq goes. *Laughs*

ML: Have you met Shaq?

Akon: Yeah. That’s my dog too.

ML: He’s a cool dude?

Akon: Real cool man.

ML: Some other random questions I wanted to ask you is what’s the last thing you bought?

Akon: The last thing I literally bought . . . Lamborghini Gallardo.

ML: Uh oh. That’s a big purchase right there.

Akon: That was a big, and the last purchase of this year.

ML: Uh oh. *Laughs*

Akon: Cause I’m broke now.

ML: *Laughs* This album better do well now.

Akon: This album better do well now. If not I’m taking it back! *Laughs*

ML: *Laughs* Alright. What color?

Akon: And get a used one!

ML and Akon: *Laughs*

ML: You still gotta have it you just gotta downgrade a little!

Akon: I still gotta have one.

ML: What color?

Akon: It’s orange.

ML: Orange? That’s a nice color.

Akon: Yeah, it’s incredible man.

ML: What’s the last thing you listened to?

Akon: The last thing I listened to was “Shake Down.” Song off my album.

ML: Oh alright. So you like to listen to your own stuff.

Akon: Yeah. I just stay focused, like really focused on my own stuff. Especially around this time so I can have all my energy set up on it now. The last six months I haven’t listened to anything outside my album.

ML: Really. When you listen to your stuff do you see things like that you can improve on?

Akon: Oh yeah. I used to get that all the time. But then after a while I found myself constantly going and fixing stuff. Now I just allow it to be. You know what I’m saying? Unless it’s something that definitely needs to be changed then I’ll go in and change it.

ML: Another thing I wanted to ask you is when you go back to Senegal, …and do you live in New Jersey? Or Atlanta?

Akon: Me? I live in Atlanta.

ML: When you go from Atlanta to Senegal, what’s the biggest difference that you feel?

Akon: Ooh, big difference. It’s not even no comparison.

ML: What’s like the pace of life? Is it more calm there? is it the same?

Akon: It’s more calm in Atlanta for me. In Africa everything’s fast.

ML: Really, everything moves fast?

Akon: Even going to the bathroom is fast.

ML and Akon: *Laughs*

Akon: I gotta run to the bathroom!

ML and Akon: *Laughs*

ML: Sprint, you see Akon sprinting to the bathroom.

Akon: Sprinting. I’m like that. I gotta keep the blinds closed €“ I’m like Michael Jackson. As soon as I go out and put my hand out “ahhhhhhhh!” It’s ridiculous.

ML: Really?

Akon: Mm hm.

ML: Do you have a fan club based out of Senegal?

Akon: Yeah, like every, every section. Like every borough, every county has a Akon fan club.

ML: Really?

Akon: All independently, they’re like cells. It’s ridiculous.

ML: Like a cult following . . .

Akon: Yeah. It’s like cells. And every time I’m there I try to go visit as many fan clubs, you know, you know, like organizations as possible but it’s over two or three thousand fan clubs over there. It’s mine, and I don’t even know these people.

ML: That’s incredible.

Akon: Yeah, it’s incredible.

ML: The last thing I was going to ask you to wrap it up, You said you’re going to go on tour and I saw that you did shows from Senegal and you’ve obviously done a bunch of shows in the U.S. and Europe. What’s the difference between a fan from Senegal and a fan from the U.S.?

Akon: Wow. I think the fans here in the U.S., they’re more, it’s like an ego thing. Like they’ll be very, very excited but they can’t let you see they’re excited. So like, right as you’re leaving they’ll build the nerve to say, “Oh, can I have your autograph” or “Can I get a picture?” Whereas, over there, the moment you step down, as soon as they see you they jumping on you. Aaaah! *Laughs* You see off the top they like, “I want a picture, I want a da da da!” So you can see the excitement, it’s totally different.

ML: Yeah, you can see that they’re genuinely excited to see you.

Akon: Yeah.

ML: That’s big. Alright, well, it looks like our time is pretty much set. Thanks for taking your time; I know you’re on a busy press schedule right now.

Akon: Yeah man, they got me tied up over here. I’m telling you.

ML: Alright well, have a good one now. I really appreciate the time.

Akon: Thank you man.

—-

Thanks to Akon for his time & the lovely Ms. Battle for hooking up the opportunity. Konvicted is in stores NOW. Hit up his MySpace for all his up to date tour info.

Bonuses:

*Gwen Stefani-The Sweet Escape (Konvict Remix)) which is one of the top club songs this year.

*Apparently Akon is a big fan of ’24’ and thats also his reason for not wanting to be president, read:

I don’t even want to be president no more. Remember, back then I used to say I wanted to run for president in the next 10 years? Now I’m like, ‘Never.’ I see what I have to go through as an artist, on a day-to-day basis. Can you imagine what the president goes through?

Then after watching 24 the series, I was like man… I’m good. I’ll just be the ambassador.

Post Chronicle via Stero Gum

Sphere: Related Content

ML hollers @ comes back with a vengeance, as we got to talk to Sean Price. One of the best “underground” rappers out, he recently dropped his new album ‘Jesus Price’ at the end of last month. Lyrically and production wise (with help from 9th Wonder and Khrysis) Sean Peeeee steps it up to another level from his great 2005 ‘Monkey Barz’ album. Read below as Sean Price talks about the new album, shoes, new mattress purchases, very hard liquor and oh so much more.

MetalLungies: Sean? Sean Price?

Sean Price: Yeah yeah yeah

ML: What’s goin on? how are you?

SP: Oh good. I’m good. What’s going on homie?

ML: Not much, how about you, how are you spending your Martin Luther King Day?

SP: I’m spending my Martin Luther King Day on the phone doing a bunch of fuckin interviews all day.

ML: How are they going so far?

SP: They corny.

ML: They corny?

SP: Everybody asked me what’s the state of hip-hop? Or they ask me how do I feel about Nas saying hip-hop is dead. I won’t be worried if you don’t ask me those two questions.

ML: I don’t even have those two quick questions written down, so you don’t have to worry.

SP: Thank you

ML: I’m going to change it up a little for you all right?

SP: Thank you Sir, I appreciate it.

ML: All right, first thing I want to know is, talk about the title of your album. How did you come up with Jesus Price?

SP: The people gave me that.

ML: People gave you that?

SP: Yeah, I was going to name the album Mighty Flow Young. So, I mean, to keep it all gorilla, you know, like last album was Monkey Bars. So I was trying to keep it all gorillas. But I started getting a lot of fan mail, like yo Ruck, we like your shit, big, your holding it down. The word I kept getting, was that I was saving hip-hop, you saving it, you saving it. So after too many savings, I’m like, you know what, Jesus? And I just ran with it. I didn’t want to get like crazy religious with it, cause that’s not my thing. So I named it after a Broadway play which was Jesus Christ Superstar, I just named it Jesus Price Superstar, know what I mean? You know, like I said, in the Bible he went through the town and spread the word and the word was God, so Jesus Price is going through the town spreading the word and the word is good hip-hop, that’s all.

ML: True that. What is going to be different on the album and what is going to be the same. I know you are hooking up with 9th Wonder again, you are getting tracks for him, but what is going to be same, what’s going to be different from your previous album?

SP: I think this album is more harder than Monkey Barz, you know, overall it’s harder. This is like I want to let you all know it ain’t no fluke, I ain’t here and I ain’t no fake solo artist, I’m here for real. I ain’t here just till Rock gets his shit together, and we form Heltah Skeltah again, we aint have to form Heltah Skeltah again, I don’t give a fuck, I’m here. That’s what I want you all to know.

ML: All right. Talk about another thing I have wanted to ask you about. I first saw you live about two years ago when you were opening up for GZA in DC and you just, honestly, GZA had a nice set, but your energy was off, ridiculous, I gotta give it to you. You were saying Tuesday Tuesday buy the album, I bought the album on Tuesday. Talk about, what is a Sean P show like for someone who hasn’t seen it?

SP: Oh you know, first of all, it ain’t planned, like I don’t really rehearse, I should but I don’t. I just go in there and vibe, we feed off the crowd. So everything your getting is spontaneous man, ain’t no set to plan. It’s just like, were going to do these certain songs, in what order? I have no idea. Usually I don’t even have a DJ, I got True Hard, True hard hold it down.

ML: Like, when I saw you I just remember, you were just putting on random tracks from Monkey Barz, you were like, I want to play that, you know, (SP *Laughs*) off the top. And everyone was having a good time you know?

SP: I was enjoying it man.

ML: What’s the last craziest thing that happened back stage at a Sean P show?

SP: The craziest thing that happened? You know when I finish off the show I sit on the stage and sign autographs, there is no really, back stage action like that. Like once I’m finished signing the autographs, I go back stage and gather up my shit and leave, it ain’t really like a back stage, you know drinks, it ain’t like that something, now I sit down on the stage and sign autographs and when I go back stage it’s time to go, we out.

ML: You do your business and your out.

SP: I handle my handle, I’m out.

ML: That’s cool. Any tour plans for this year? Maybe a BCC tour or, anything in the works?

SP: Yeah, that might be in the works. We are about to leave on the 26th, I’m going on tour overseas and then when I come back I’m going on tour with Jedi Mind Tricks, that’s a U.S. tour.

ML: You going to be hitting up DC?

SP: I hope so.

ML: All right well I will definitely checked you out.

SP: I was just in DC.

ML: Oh really?

SP: Just last week.

ML: Oh really??

SP: What was it last week, or two weeks ago — two weeks ago. Last week I was in Albany. The week before I want to DC, I just went to do XM radio, torch up some radio joints you know?

ML: XM radio showing you love?

SP: Yeah yeah, they showing me mad love.

ML: Another thing, Boot Camp Clik as a whole movement, I would look at you as one of the spokesman. What do you see as the plans for 2007 for Boot Camp Clik?

SP: Just more hard work, like I said we put out the Triple Threat, then we put out the Boot Camp album, now we back to the drawing board my album, we are doing Rusty Jerks, his album will be out soon, Smif N Wessun in the lab be working on their album, Buck and 9th just got back working on their album, so there is more, you know just continuously nonstop, were going to keep stuffing our eardrums with music all day. You know like I say, on working on this album, it will be out the 30th, then I am doing the Helter Skelter right now, so that will be out soon, and then me and Guilty Simpson , we are working on the album together, I don’t know if you ever heard of him. Me and Guilty are doing and album together.

ML: Now is Guilty someone you found?

SP: Nah, nah. Guilty from Detroit, he fucks with Black Milk, he’s on J. Dilla’s album, the shining, he’s a official, he’s official.

ML: Any other acts that we should be looking out maybe someone you’re going to try to bring up?

SP: Yeah like I said, Rustee Juxx, that’s my artist, look out for his album, it’s called Indestructible, he like 11, 12 songs deep so he be done soon.

ML: He’s on Cardiac from Jesus Price right?

SP: Yeah, he’s on cardiac, he’s on Slap Boxing on the last album, he’s on Magnum Force album, he’s been with me since Magnum Force.

ML: Going back to the album, I just want to go quickly through the track list and you give me a two sentence random fact about that track, is that cool?

SP: All right.

ML: Let’s start with Like You?

SP: Like You. I am not disrespecting nobody on that song, I am not attacking nobody personally on that record, but if you feel the weight, hey, that’s on you.

ML: What about P. Body?

SP: P. Body. That’s like, every superhero needs theme music you know what I mean?

ML: That’s your theme?

SP: Yeah, that’s my theme music baby. I got my homebit Petro with me right, so when I go outside, Petro got a big boombox, he pressed play, that’s the theme music right there.

ML: From now on when you go onstage that theme music should play.

SP: Yeah, that’s it, every superhero needs theme music and that’s my shit right there.

ML: Everybody’s like “oh shit that’s Sean P.” when that shit plays.

SP: When you think of the name Peabody you think of some old skinny dude with a pen protector in his pocket, I am the new P. Body. That is why I ain’t spell it “Pea”, I spelled it P. Body! So when you see it, I’m the new version of Peabody. So be careful when you see a nigga named Peabody, he might not your head off, it’s a warning.

ML: What about Cardiac?

SP: Cardiac. We named it that because when the beat came on I grabbed my mother fucking heart, Ya heard? I’m like that’s song, Cardiac, I am about to fucking croak on that shit.

ML: All right, what about Violent.

SP: The object of that song was like, you go on a picnic with your girl, nice park, nice day, and Godzilla walk through, that’s exactly what Violent is.

ML: The God?

SP: The God. That’s really a 5 Percent Nation thing. My people that slinged it out, I hear people call, yo god, they be havin pork chops in their hand they done broke it down like that so I did the song for those people. I put some Sadat X on there because that’s the god for real to solidify it.

ML: How was it working with him?

SP: That’s my dude, we’ve worked many times together, this ain’t the first time. I’m on his last two albums. That’s a good friend, we’ve been people ever since he put out that first solo album on Loud, we have been people ever since. We have been on the road together and all that. He in jail right now, he be home soon though, he doing good.

ML: So you have talked to him and he is doing good?

SP: Mhmm.

ML: That’s good news, What about Oops Upside Your Head?

SP: The beat was crazy, Mo$$ blessed us with a nice beat, I just started rhyming, I didn’t know what I was talking about until, I started talking about this radio dude, how you call them and you ask them to play this record, they don’t play at, then they see you later at a function and they are like “hey guys”, but I’m not one of those, I’m going to smack this shit out you for that. So that’s what that was about.

ML: Church?

SP: Church. I did that in Norway with Tommy Tee, are you familiar with his work?

ML: Give me a little background on Tommy Tee.

SP: He has done a lot of underground singles, he is a producer from Norway, he has a group called the Loud Mouth Choir with these two white boys and he asked me to be down with the Loud Mouth Choir, so in Norway if you buy a rap album called the Loud Mouth Choir you are bound to hear Sean Price on about six or seven times, yeah, I’m an of official member. I want to introduce them to my American audience so I put them on the album. These guys are crazy! They got an album called Greatest Hits and this is they first album, called Greatest Hits. You’ve got to hear this shit. This shit is awesome. Word up.

ML: What about King Kong?

SP: If you listened to King Kong you would think that was when the album was Mighty Flow Young, that was a continuation of the guerrilla shit, I just went in and beat the beat up, I love that track, it’s actually one of my favorite tracks on that album.

ML: So that’s you being King Kong on that track?

SP: Exactly, I had to guerrilla the track.

ML: What about One?

SP: One. One verse, I put one verse on there and just a bunch of one’s. People use one to say “peace”, “I am out”, I just flipped it.

ML:So it’s more of a concept track.

SP: Yeah, that’s a concept track. Ghostface had a “One”, I wasn’t going to fuck with it at first, but I put my twist on it, it worked.

ML: What about You Already Know?

SP: You Already Know. I had just knocked out a song, and 9th had this record and he made like four beats of one record and I’m like “Yo, let me get that”, and he said “which one” and I forgot which one because all four of them was shot nice and I went that one, and I went in there and tore it down and had my boy SkyZoo, he was out there working with Ninth too, so we just banged that out real quick.

ML: How was Skyzoo involved with this album?

SP: That’s my dude man. I fucks with the Justice League, they are like extended family, Skyzoo was down there recording while I was recording and he nice! He off the chain with it, I’m like yo let’s do this, can I get you on the chorus? And he like “yea”, he laid it down, we hung out, cracked jokes, that’s my dude.

ML: What about Directors Cut?

SP: I didn’t even like Directors Cut, that shit was just like random thoughts, that’s why it turned out, full of this mutual “you hate me” “I hate you”, this is the part where I shoot at you, then I stop and talk, then I go back to the rhyming, then I talk again, it’s kind of narrative, just like some random thoughts shit.

ML: What about Let It Be Known?

SP: I got Phonte from Little Brother, he had me under pressure, I had to go back to the hotel at night write that rhyme, bring it in the morning. That boy can rhyme, he’s talented.

ML: All right shout out to Phonte. What about Hearing Aid?

SP: Hearing Aid. That’s my dude Chaundon on there, from the Justice League. He had a bottle, I don’t know what kind of alcohol it was, that had a truck on the front of the bottle, like a 16 Wheeler truck with two big ass lights on it, the shit said Diesel, 100 and something proof. He took two swigs of the Diesel and went in. I’ll never forget Khrysis’ father came in and drunk some of that shit and I was like “god damn that shit looks harsh, looks like it could take the paint off a school bus.”

ML: So that track was a quart after that right?

SP: Yeah.

ML: What about Mess You Made?

SP: Actually, I made that with Block Mc Cloud a long time ago, it was for his mixtape, but I heard it again, so I’m like, let me get that, let me touch it up, I took a verse off and put two more verses on there, left him on the hook and it’s playing on the radio right now in New York so, that’s a good thing.

ML: The two producers that did that most tracks are Khrysis & 9th, talk about the differences between when you’re working with 9th and when you’re working with Khrysis.

SP: Khrysis plays the beat and I go in, we crack our little jokes, it doesn’t even look like I am writing sometimes, like we be talking so much, I jot something in between, and were start talking, the next thing you know, I’m done. He be like “what, you did it!” And I’m like “yeah, I’m done”. With 9th, 9th is kind of all business he go in there, play the beat, and he’s just “get the fuck out of my face”, he just goes and starts working on another beat, he be “here go a beat nigga” and he goes to start on another one, he is a machine

ML: Even though you say you’re the brokest rapper, but I’ve been reading that’s not true anymore, with that Myspace hustle. What is the last thing you purchased?

SP: That’s worth mentioning?

ML: Either worth mentioning or not worth mentioning.

SP: I bought a new bed, I got a new bed. Shit is awesome too, it’s some real Posturededic shit, a good firm mattress shit.

ML: So you’re getting some real sleep now. So is that worth mentioning or not worth mentioning?

SP: Yeah, that’s worth mentioning baby, now on getting some good rest. You know, the rest of the stuff, I don’t buy too much stuff, you’ve got to understand when you’re in our rap game, I could buy clothes but they give them to me and I could buy boots but they give them to me. I am a sucker for what they call them Grab Bags *Laughs*.

ML: But if you have to shop what are your favorite spots to shop at?

SP: Oh, I am a sneaker head, I am definitely at Subway’s, catch me in the Bathing Ape store on Green St., Atrium in Manhattan on Broadway and Bleecker, did I do with the regular stores like the S and D’s in Brooklyn the Jimmy Jazzes, I do all that. But I am definitely a sneaker head so you will catch me at all kinds of sneaker spots. The Fight Club Sneaker Store I be in there coppin things or wishin I could cop things *Laughs*, I mean my sneaker thing is crazy, I find myself in San Francisco I’m at the Huff store, get some Nikes out of there, matter of fact I bought the Mighty Crowns Nikes at the Huff store, they just put them in the magazines recently but I had them since the summer.

ML: So what’s the last pair of shoes that you bought?

SP: Oh, I just copped another pair of the Nike Gore-Tex ACG’s the other day, I got the brown with the orange stitch but they got scuffed and I’m going on tour so I bought the black Gore-Tex ones.

ML: Another thing I always ask, do you follow any sports?

SP: I fucks with basketball hardbody.

ML: All right, so who are your teams?

SP: I can’t wait to see how Denver turns out, Carmelo on suspension, can’t wait to see what they do when they get together, Carmelo with Allen Iverson, looks like a nice team up, but I am a Knicks fan, I’m from New York, I stick with my home team. They ain’t the best right now but I stick with the home team, I ain’t a fair weather fan. I’ve been a Knicks fan since Bernard King, I stick with the squad, I am a Bernard fan you know, he’s from Brooklyn, my uncle played ball with him back in the day, it started from there.

ML: Where did they play?

SP: I think at Wingate high school in Brooklyn in the Crown Heights Flatbush area

ML: Talk about Myspace and Youtube, how has that changed your whole approach as an artist?

SP: Well it is free promotion if you utilize it. I utilize that and then in return people get at me, like “I do music too”, “I’m you’re fan” “what would it take to get a verse from you”, so I make it profitable. I give people fresh verses all the time, it cost them between a G and $1200 I charge a dude for a verse which is relatively cheap for a nigga like me so they know a bargain when they see it, they jump on it.

ML: That’s a hot deal right there.

SP: Yeah, I’m nigga make between $4800 and $6000 a week just doing that, so, I’m definitely not the brokest rapper you know any more.

ML: You should have made a track Not The Brokest Rapper You Know on Jesus Price.

SP: You know what, some kid ran up on me “Yo, I’m the brokest rapper you know.” I’m like “You sure are.” *Laughs*

ML: He was looking broke?

SP: No, he wasn’t but, I’m not going to argue with you about that, you can have that title, I don’t want to battle for that title. I crown you the new brokest rapper, no problem.

ML: Do you have any DVDs on the way?

SP: Well, like I say, we have The Passion of Price, we are working on another one, I just don’t know how we are going to do it, I just don’t want it to be like the last one, that’s corny. So we might do it in a short film like the Street is Watching type thing, a little movie, a little acting between the songs, so we’re figuring about how were going to do it now.

ML: And I saw a clip, is that from you’re DVD with Buckshot pranking you?

SP: No, that’s on an old DVD.

ML: What DVD is that off of?

SP: I think it’s the Boot Camp one Behind The Lines, yeah, that shit was funny, you caught me out up there, I was mad as a mutherfucker B, If that wasn’t Buckshot back there I was going to punch the shit out of somebody. I can take a joke, once I found out it was a joke I was like, all right, that was cool.

ML: Did you ever get him back?

SP: I have got Buck so many times.

ML: What is the greatest thing, in your eyes, that you have done to him? Or one of the best?

SP: Just like, I left him hanging, like we would be in the studio and he’s waiting for me, and I just tell him I’m going to the store and just get on the train and go home and shit. *Laughs*.

ML: He is left thinking “where the fuck did he go?”

SP: I gotta a code to let you know that I am leaving and not coming back so everybody knows except him, so I’m like “Yo brother I’m going to the store, I’m going to get a 100 dutchess” he’s like “word?, all right!” and I leave and he’s like “he went to get a 100 dutchess” and everybody’s laughing at him, so I did that to him a 100 times and shit.

ML: Well that pretty much wraps sit up, that’s all I had for you, so, hopefully I haven’t been a asking you the same old questions everyone else has been a asking you. Good luck with the album. What day does the album drop?

SP: January 30th.

ML: I’ll be sure to pick that up. Maybe we can have another interview where we focused just on sneakers because you really know your shit on that. Good luck to everyone, BCC, Buckshot, Smif and Wesson, Dru Ha, everyone, 2007 is going to be a big year for you guys I think. I got you friended on Myspace so we got that covered, good luck!

SP: Peace!

The album is in stores now, so go get it, and check out the man’s Myspace (maybe even buy a verse!) Shout to Matt Conaway, for hooking it up as always!

out.

Sphere: Related Content

Apathy & Mike Shinoda

Apathy is a very busy man in his least favorite season, the winter but regardless he looks to get even busier. I caught up with him in the middle of hefty press day for his new album ‘Eastern Philosophy’. Which he was doing on the road while nearing the end of the Fort Minor tour, which he is a part of along with the aforementioned-Fort Minor, Styles of Beyond, and Little Brother. Don’t worry, he can hold his weight. When I got to talk to him, he just finished eating a 10 minute lunch. It was 4pm. As he chilled next to his partner in crime Celph-Titled, I talked to the Connecticut (see: complete opposite of Greenwich Village) rapper about everything from his new album to books. I was very hyped to speak to him after hearing some of his solo indie work, records with the Demigodz, and most recently, tracks on the Green Lantern + Fort Minor’s We Major Mixtape (which by the way was one of the best in 2005, and pretty much redeemed GL’s 2005 after the Shady Records fall out.).

ML: What’s up, man, are you are pretty busy right now on tour with Fort Minor and promoting the album?

Apathy: Yeah, I’m on tour right now with Fort Minor, and Styles of Beyond and Celph [Titled].

ML: How was it working with Fort Minor?

Apathy: It’s cool man, Mike Shinoda is the fucking man, he’s mad humble, he’s a homie, he’s a good dude, he looks out for us, its a real good experience.

ML: How did you meet up with him?

Apathy: Well, Styles of Beyond is a part of Demigodz, which is a part of our crew, and they’ve known Mike for a long time. They used to do a lot of work with Mike and shit. So Mike hit them up and wanted to sign them, and then they played Mike the shit we were all doing together, and put him on to us, and he was a fan immediately. He loved our shit, so that’s how that whole thing went down.

ML: How has the tour experience been so far?

Apathy: The tour is fucking bananas; we started out in a lot of markets that we don’t usually play. We went to Minnesota, we went to Detroit, to Chicago, to Toronto. That is my first time in all those places right there. It was dope, the fans were crazy, most of the fans were Fort Minor fans, but there was a huge amount of our fans there too, it really bugged me out. A lot of people came and were like “Yo, I just came just to see you guys,” it really bugged me out; it was an amazing thing to hear, for our fans to come out for us like that.

ML: Do you have any special or crazy stories from the tour so far?

Apathy: Not really, we’ve been so busy; nothing really crazy has jumped off yet. The craziest thing is how nuts the Fort Minor fans are. They draw these pictures and shit, draw our names out and try to give us presents. It’s really nuts compared to the regular underground hip-hop crowds we’ve been used to. They are really wild, devoted crazy fans.

ML: So just the whole experience as a whole?

Apathy: Exactly, just the whole experience has been fucking berserk.

ML: What do you think sets you apart as an MC from other MCs that are out right now?

Apathy: Well I mean there is a lot of MCs out there, I don’t know how they do their shit, but I’m a perfectionist no matter what I do. If you hear a song, you can guarantee that song has been scrutinized a billion times, or I’ve agonized over it or been crazy about it. And I think that’s the thing.

ML: Even the title of your debut album [Eastern Philosophy], I read that you came up with that in 1998! So you know it’s been scrutinized…

Apathy: That album has gone through so many changes. When I first started that album, when I first came up with that title, when I first recorded the songs for it, they were completely different songs, there was not one song on there that was the same, I was just unhappy with it. And I knew what I wanted the album to sound like and it just wasn’t there. I kept recording, I kept tweaking things, [and] it still wasn’t the same thing. Then all of the sudden like about a year and a half ago, I sat down and I was like you know what? I want this album to be my Reasonable Doubt, my Ready to Die, or my Illmatic. I’m not saying its on the level of those, those can’t be topped, but what I wanted to do was I wanted to present listeners that type of vibe, that type of shit from that era. So I sat down and I listened to only the classics and I crafted it that way.

ML: What’s the most amount of time that you’ve spent to redo a single song? Is there a song that you kept changing and changing?

Apathy: Yea, definitely, I think ‘The Buck Stops Here’ was one of the longest songs. It’s this song I did about the dollar bill, and it’s gone through like 5 beat changes. There is another song too called ‘Chemical’, we changed the beat on it like 3 or 4 times. Had like 7 different people remix it, 3 of them we were definitely going to use, then we kept changing out mind at the last minute every time. ‘The Buck Stops Here’ is a song about the travels of a dollar bill, I changed that shit so many times, I changed the verses, I flipped my ideas of what I wanted to do. That song really went through it in terms of constantly being switched up.

ML: What are your favorite albums of all time that are timeless and inspiring to you? Do you have albums like that?

Apathy: Yeah, definitely Illmatic and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, but Illmatic is the perfect album to me ,that’s my favorite album of all time hands down. If I had to pick my top 10 albums, that [single] album occupies like the first 4 spaces, that’s how big of a deal that album is to me.

ML: It’s interesting that you brought up Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, because it has [Wu-Tang Clan songstress] Blue Raspberry and you have her on your single. How did you come up with the idea to have her on the record?

Apathy: Well. like I was saying before, during that time when we were recording the Eastern Philosophy album, like within the past year and half, I was only listening to classic albums. I would only listen to Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, Organized Konfusion’s Stress:The Extinction Agenda and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is like one of the biggest albums of all time, that’s a huge fucking deal. What happened was I did ‘The Winter’ song, and once I did ‘The Winter’ song I really listened to it. We were originally going to do cuts on that song, but we couldn’t find any cuts that really were good, and then I’m like. ‘You know what, we’ve got so many songs on this albums with cuts for hooks, that I want to do something different.’ So I drove around with the song for a couple days and listened to it in my car. I started to piece together the hook in my head, and I really thought about the hook, and I wanted something real powerful. You know on ‘Glaciers Of Ice’ when Blue Raspberry sings real high? It’s crazy, OH SHIT. That’s the feeling that I wanted on that song, I wanted loud, screaming, yelling hook.

ML: So you could feel the emotion?

Apathy: Exactly, so I wrote that hook out with her in mind. But in the back of my head I’m like “Yo, I’m never going to find her, I’m never going to get her”. So when I was talking to Chum about it, I’m like “Yo, how hot would that be if we got her?” and he was like “Oh my god, that would be incredible” but you know in our minds, we were both like “Yeah, whatever”. So I interviewed a whole bunch of singers, I interviewed and had like 6 or 7 different singers try to sing the thing , it just did not work, it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I was damn near ready to give up, I was almost ready to be like “Whatever, we’ll just find whoever to do the song”. Then my home girl Carmalita who helps organize and run The [World Famous] Wake Up Show over in LA. She is a very good friend of mine, and I said “Yo, aren’t you friends with RZA?” and she’s like “Yeah, I’m real good friends with RZA”, and I said can you ask him if by any chance if he knows how to get a hold of Blue Raspberry? So she called up RZA, and almost immediately hit me back, and goes “Yeah, here is her number” and I was like “WHAT!! Are you fucking kidding me?”. So I called up Blue immediately and Blue and I hit it off like right off the bat, and we became just real good friends.

ML: Do you have a favorite album of the moment right now?

Apathy: I mean, not for nothing but the only thing I’ve been listening to recently is my album, I don’t know if it’s cause I’m scrutinizing but I’m also a fan of my album. I know that sounds arrogant but it’s a big deal to me because my other CDs that I’ve put out, anything I’ve ever been on, I don’t listen to it, like I’m not a fan of it, I don’t love it, I like it and it’s cool but I can’t sit there and listen to it but my album I can listen to, and sit around and listen to. Basically recently the biggest thing I’ve been listening to is just mine. But I mean I’m anticipating Ghostface’s Fishscale that’s the only thing I’m really looking forward to right now.

ML: And the new Raekwon album too?

Apathy: Oh hell yeah, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, hell yeah!

ML: What was your favorite part of the long process of making your debut album?

Apathy: My favorite part of it was when we were about 75% done with it. Cause at first we’re just recording here and there and songs were still up in the air, I was still trying to figure out what’s going where. You’re kind of indecisive about shit; you are just trying to feel it out. But when we got about 75-85% done with the album, I kind of like smiled, like yo, this is going to be hot; I see what we’re doing now. So I started writing a couple new songs and when I started writing those couple new songs they really fell into place. And I was like yo this is exactly the direction I wanted to go in, this is exactly I wanted to hear, this is exactly how I wanted to do it and I’m real comfortable with how its coming out right now.

ML: I was wondering how you managed the joint venture to release your album through Babygrande and Atlantic? Because it’s pretty rare that an indie label works with a major label.

Apathy: Well, I told Atlantic, that this process is taking forever, and my A&R is cool, and I told him my fans need material, I need to put out material. I want to put out this Indie album, do I have your permission to do it? And he’s like yeah, definitely, 100%, keep your buzz going, keep everything going on and I’ll support you in that. Babygrande stepped to me and gave me a great offer. They said a lot of things that they wanted to do, like do the video, and they wanted to be real passionate about the marketing and just doing everything and really get behind the project. So I was like hell yeah, let’s go. From the time that we started talking and figuring out things until it actually popped off, it took like 9 months. This is the fucked up thing, everyone was in agreement, everyone was down to do it, Atlantic was like , ‘Yeah, defintely, we’re allowing you to do it.’ But it still took mad long just because you know all the red tape to process and procedure so it still took literally 9 or 10 months just to get the paperwork done for Atlantic to get all the things that they wanted, and for everybody to be happy. So going back forth between my lawyers, Atlantic’s lawyers, Babygrande’s lawyers, it was just a big mess for a long time, that was the most frustrating aspect about the whole entire shit. There was a lot times where I was just like fuck it, this isn’t even going to happen we are just going to put it out ourselves. Everything ended up working out and really poppin’ off.

ML: Do you have any hobbies you like to do?

Apathy: Music pretty much consumes all my time, I really don’t have any hobbies. I sit around watching movies pretty much whenever I have spare time. [Laughs] When I’m not doing music, I try to not think about music as much as possible. It is so overwhelming and takes up so much of my much time. I do it all the time, I love doing it. A hobby though that I consider [that I do] is I’m an MC so when I make beats, so that is a hobby to me, that is something I love, I’m not really known as much for.

ML: Do you follow any sports teams?

Apathy: I’ve always been a Yankees fan, I noticed that within the last 5-6 years, Yankees are bandwagon, huge, everybody jumped on. But I’ve been a Yankees fan since I was a little kid, my grandfather brought me up as a Yankees fan. I used to follow football and basketball, I used to play basketball. But I just don’t have time anymore, so I really don’t follow it all, like I have no idea who won the Super Bowl, I don’t care, I spent the whole super bowl shooting my video.

ML: You said you played sports growing up, but what role did music play in your upbringing?

Apathy: Oh, it was a huge thing; all my parents would do was listen to music. Whether it was funk shit, a lot of classic rock, they listened to a lot of rock, but my father listened to everything, he tried to keep it well rounded even though predominately he listened to rock the most, he listened to jazz, he listened to classical, he listened to everything, my father really listened to a lot of different shit.

ML: You said you liked movies, any particular ones that you are a big fan of?

Apathy: Yeah man, I’m a real big movie fanatic so it’s hard to pinpoint, but I got a whole list. I’m a big fan of the dude Wes Anderson [who] makes Rushmore, The Royal Tennebaums, The Life Aquatic, he makes real bugged out movies. Then I like old 80s classics like Red Dawn, and Commando, one of my favorite movies of all times is Juice, Juice is a classic. I even watch weird shit like right here, I’m on tour and I got my little mini DVD player with me, but I got The Ten Commandments, that movie is incredible, I got things like The Sopranos. I’m a real big movie head, everything here and there and everything in between, ‘City of God’, Napoleon Dynamite, you know what I mean?

ML: That can be your hobby right there, collecting DVDs!

Apathy: [Laughs] Yeah, slightly, I go to all the movies that come out and shit.

ML: I read in a previous interview that you’ve read about a book about communism, so it seems like you would be up to date with political things, what do you think is the state of the US government?

Apathy: Well, when I was talking about reading the book about communism, before it wasn’t modern day communism. I wasn’t reading it because it had to do with communism; I was just reading it because it was my favorite author. It’s just she just happened to be writing about communism. It was this lady Ayn Rand, she writes about philosophical objectivism, and basically that’s just putting a twist on reality, and looking at things from a different perspective. It was a book called We The Living and it took place in communist Russia back in early 1900s, and it was just a really really profound ill book. I really try not to get too involved in politics now and days because I used to be so gung-ho about it when I was younger. I used to be a part of Zulu nation, and this other crew Alien Nation and really be all about metaphysics, spirituality, religion, politics, conspiracies, new world order shit, everything, all of that, that was my life, I lived it. And the older I got, the more I realized, how much of your life you can waste sitting around worrying about that type of shit as to opposed to just living life. Life is short man, and to sit there and to waste time dwelling on what some other person is doing. I’m sure there are other people out there where it makes them happier in life to have a mindset where they want to change the world, or do something here and there, or have a cause or a purpose. And that’s good for them as individuals, but for me as an individual, I personally would like to focus more on my friends and family, and my life and learning other things. There is so much to learn and to deal with in life; you just can’t do it all, so I’d rather do something else, me personally. But politics is cool and it’s interesting for other people to be involved with but I just don’t waste my time holding interest with it anymore.

ML: You’d rather try to put all that energy toward something else?

Apathy: Exactly, something more positive, ’cause politics is a negative and it’s fucking crazy.

ML: Any other books you are reading at the moment?

Apathy: Nah, I have not had a chance to read in a long time and that disappoints me, I really wish I had more time. There is a book that I always read : Tuesdays with Morrie. It’s a real dope book. It’s one of my favorite books, and I’ve read it twice already, and I just keep it around and just skim through it and read my highlighted notes in it I have.

ML: I know Celph-Titled was a big part of your album, but do you think there is going to be an album in the future with you guys as a duo?

Apathy: Celph and I are always going to be doing stuff, so it’s inevitable. He is standing like 2 feet from me right now. Celph and I talk together everyday on the phone, so you know?

ML: What do you think the future holds for Demigodz?
Apathy: We’re trying to get Demigodz to do major label shit right now, we want to bring back the feeling of that old Wu-Tang type feel, that Wu-Tang gave to us when we were young as far as a crew hitting the mainstream and blowing up but still being grimy and still being hip hop and still being real. Everybody’s got a crew; we want a crew of individuals, not just a dude and his crew.

ML: So a family where everyone contributes?

Apathy: Exactly, all their own personalities.

ML: I wanted to go through the track listing of your album, and you tell me a sentence or two about each track, is that cool?

Apathy: Yeah, hell yeah.

ML: “Eastern Philosophy”.

Apathy: That’s the title track, that sets it off and sets the whole mood for the album that talks about living life on the east and just little details about it. It’s just basically the preface and the intro for the album.

ML: “1,000 Grams.”

Apathy: That’s just some shit talk shit. Just real braggadocio, ill shit.

ML: “All About Crime.”

Apathy: “All about Crime” is literary about all aspects of crime, not just gangster, gangster, hustler, hustler shit, street shit. It’s about every aspect of crime even from white collar, blue collar to Martha Stewart doing the crazy stock market shit. It’s everything, talking about crime from the beginning of time.

ML: “9 to 5.”

Apathy: “9 to 5” is about striving for something better. When I have a 9 to 5 job I feel trapped and I feel claustrophobic and crazy. It’s about me striving as a person to do something better because I really can’t work 9 to 5’s anymore and it’s just the stress and the pressure of having a 9 to 5 and just trying to do something big.

ML: “Here Come The Gangstas.”

Apathy: “Here Come The Gangstas” is talking about peoples misconceptions about some of the shit that I talk about. And its about fake gangster dudes, I mean as cliche as that is, but I really talk about it. If people first hear that hook and they think oh he is talking about he is a gangster, that’s not it at all. The best line that I say in one of my verses is “You swear to god you gangster gangster/but reality will rearrange ya”.

ML: “Can’t Leave Rap Alone.”

Apathy: “Can’t Leave Rap Alone” that’s a posse cut with me, Celph Titled and Ryu. That just another shit talk joint, just another posse cut battle rap joint about rapping.

ML: “One of Those Days.”

Apathy: “One of Those Days” is about stress and drama with the females. Whether she is on her period, or she’s being possessive and jealous and shit. And then the 3rd verse is about a girl who is materialistic, a gold digger type chick. So it’s just the stress and drama of females.

ML: “Me and My Friends.”

Apathy: “Me and My Friends” is a throwback track that’s got me, One-Two and Celph on it, and we’re all talking about a mixture of things that reminded us of the early 90s, late 80s, and also I told them both to put in where we reminisce about hip hop and reminisce about actual friends and actual events that happened to us. The names we say in there are really old memories and old friends that we have.

ML: “Chemical.”

Apathy: I’m surprised I wrote that in one day, that song really surprised me when I finished it, and that’s one of my favorite songs on the album. That’s talking about all of the chemicals that’s our daily dependency, whether it’s through food, or through the products that we use, through the water, through the air, through everything. All of the chemicals that are introduced into our body , and how normal that is in our society, how chemical we are just because of all these things that we live with every single day.

ML: “Do Raker Check.”

Apathy: “Do Raker Check” that’s just another shit talking joint, I got a Clique called Do Rakers, and Motive who is in the Demigodz as well, Mo and I are part of another clique called Do Rakers. That is just basically a shit talking joint, crazy, show off rap shit.

ML: “Philosophical Gangster.”

Apathy: Philosophical Gangster once again was talking about being in a mind state where everybody overuses the term gangster now and days. And when Nas said on that ‘Thief’s Theme’ song, philosophical gangster, that really stood out to me. I thought that was a real ill duality, that was a ill balance, an intellectual person whose down to do whatever they got to do by any means.

ML: “I Remember.”

Apathy: “I Remember” was one of the last songs we added to the album. That song right there is one of the most personal songs on the album to me. It starts off with a little skit where my mother is trying to get me to go to school or get a job or help out somehow. That was actually happening, my mother was kind of yelling at me, like you better find something to do, either get a job or finish school or do something, I don’t know what you think you are going to do living this life like this, just running around rapping doing nothing. It starts off and I talk about Connecticut, where in Connecticut I’m from. People have big misconception about Connecticut. They thing that shit is plush and nice, Connecticut is grimy, Connecticut is shitty, Connecticut is desolate, Connecticut is trash, and there’s nice spots too. So I’m talking all about Connecticut and everything I went through and reminiscing about my hip hop experiences in my life. That’s a big introspective song right there for me.

ML: “The Buck Stops Here.”

Apathy: The Buck Stops Here follows the path of a single dollar bill. It’s like seeing life through the eyes of a dollar bill and from person to person. Just imagine what a dollar bill sees. That’s one object that gets to be shared from person to person, all different types of lives, and crosses all different [things].

ML: “The Winter.”

Apathy: “The Winter” is like the hell that winter is. I think if anything would be hell, it’s not fire and brimstone it’s fucking freezing cold, everything is dead, everything is grimy, everything is shitty. The winter is just a time that always bothers me, I say in rhymes ‘something in my soul dies every single time/ that it’s winter time”. Like I said it’s like a parallel hell with Satan freezing, the winter hurts.

ML: I know what you mean, being in Buffalo right now.

Apathy: Yeah and you know this winter has been mild, this has been the nicest winter, global warming whatever [laughs], that shit hurts emotionally.

ML: Last thing I’m going to ask you is, you said gangster is an overused term, what else do you think is overused in hip hop?

Apathy: I can sit here all day long and say hustler, people talk about hustling, people wanting to be involved in that whole hustling aspect. People popping shit about how ill they are, or the violent shit, all that is just overkill. Especially all that hustler shit, everybody wants to be a hustler, everybody thinks they are a hustler, whether it’s drug shit or hustling the business that they do. Just kill the term.

A big thank you goes out to Apathy for spending his very busy time talking to us & Matt at Movement Marketing for hooking it up!!

Eastern Philosophy comes out via Babygrande/Atlantic on March 21st.

MORE ON APATHY: (ALL IN MP3 FORMAT)

The Winter Ft. Blue Raspberry [Play]
Lead Single off Eastern Philosophy

It Takes a Seven Nation Army to Hold Us Back Ft. Emilio Lopez [Play]
off Where’s Your Album

Bloc Party Ft. Mike Shinoda & TAK of SOB [Play]
off We Major

Personal Jesus [Play]
off Where’s Your Album

All Night Ft. TAK of SOB & Celph Titled [Play]
off We Major

Apathy’s Myspace

out.

Sphere: Related Content

Young RJ in the flesh.

Recently I was able to talk with a man who looks to play a big role in the new generation of beat makers, but one that has a resume looks more veteran then rookie, Young RJ. Recording with everyone from Detroit legends Slum Village to Three Six Mafia, to Proof of D12 (who he even would go on to tour worldwide with as the sound engineer). You get a sense of how Young RJ lives for his workmanship, when asked about his favorite Slum Village moment, it wasn’t getting to meet some big name or partying it up, but instead he listed the time when Slum Village told him to keep working and improve his beats. He realizes that practice will get him far and that is why day in, day out, practice is what consumes him. When we caught up with Young RJ, he was out of the studio, he was on his way to get some 2-inch tapes baked (that’s analog tape restoration for you non-music lingo people), even when he has some rare time out of the studio, it’s something that is related to his craft. Don’t think Young RJ is in it for the shine or the popularity, that is clearly not the case as he noted when he was in High School, few knew about what he did after the daily homework assignments were done (which was always had to be completed before any tracks could be worked on). This was the stepping stone for Young RJ to succeed Jay Dee aka Dilla as the in-house guy for Slum Village, which if any of you have heard Dilla’s work, are quite some shoes to fill, but Young RJ has shown with his love and dedication for the music that he is definitely up to the task. But don’t think this talent for making records came out of nowhere, Young RJ is blessed with a music bloodline of Grammy nominated father RJ Rice who had his own R&B/Soul group ‘R.J.’s Latest Arrival’ that lasted for more than 2 decades. Outside of his father (who actually owns the label to which Slum Village is signed on to), Young RJ enjoys quite an eclectic mix of influences and music he looks to for inspiration to put into his own work, everything from Stereo Lab to the late great Marvin Gaye. Recently he and his partner Black Milk who together form BR Gunna (which could be the next producing group to be everywhere you turn ala Trackmasters/Neptunes) put out Dirty District Vol.2, with guest spots by big names such as Jay Dee aka Dilla (When I asked about Dilla’s state of health, Young RJ said he has improved a lot, which I don’t need to tell you is awesome news), MC Breed, Slum Village and Phat Kat. The album earned a good amount of critical acclaim, but Young RJ looks to take to a whole another level by collaborating with the some of the same artists in addition to names that include the likes of Nore, 3 Six Mafia, Skillz, to follow up with Volume 3, which he expects to be out in time for the warm months of the summer & spring.

Oh yeah what is his favorite thing to do outside of making his original sounding music? Is it sports (“I don’t have time for it”)? Nope, there is no other thing he’d rather do then make his music, you can see this man is completely dedicated to becoming a top beat maker in this hip-hop shit. It is clear when he sees his work, like one of the Slum Village track’s he produced in advertisement campaign for Chevy (yes, the same Chevy that makes your pimped out Tahoe), it inspires him and motivates him even more. In my complete honest opinion it is totally within his grasp, and he will be working be working with everyone in the rap game from Nas to Phat Kat like he aspires to. If you are true hip hop head be sure to check out Dirty District Vol.2 or the last 3 Slum Village albums to see how Young RJ shines.

out..

ps. Shout out to Matt at Movement Marketing for hooking it up!!

Sphere: Related Content

2006 is going to be another big year for music. One of the people that is looking to have a real big 2006 is Crooked I who is one of the best artists on the West Coast right now. He was once picked by Suge Knight to be the star of Death Row Records in it’s post-tupac era, he recorded a lot of tracks for compilations and mixtapes which gained him a lot of buzz, but his solo album never surfaced (as have a lot of things on Tha Row as of late). But now with his own label popping off called Dynasty the much anticipated debut of Crooked I is definitely on the way in 2006. We were able to get in touch with Crooked I, and had a really good time seeing what he had up his sleeves and what his views were on various issues.

ML: Hey what up, what’s going on with you?

Crooked I: All kinds of things man, trying to get it going, you know what I’m saying?

ML: Good weather outside right now in Cali? are you in Cali?

Crooked I: Yea, I’m In Cali man.

ML: Enjoying the Weather?

Crooked I: Yes sir, 72 degrees!

ML: Nice! Better then the 30 degrees I’m freezing in right now.

Crooked I: Where you at?

ML: I’m in Maryland right now, but I go to school in Buffalo where it’s like 4 degrees.

Crooked I: Wow!

ML: First off, one of the first freestyles I’ve heard from you was that freestyle on Sway & Tech over the [Clipse’s] gridin beat, and when I heard that my jaw dropped, its one of my favorite freestyles of all time, I really think if any one can bring the west back it can be you, so what do you have upcoming? What projects are you working on?

Crooked I: Well I’m working on a DVD, we just finally finished, edited it, it looks nice. I was trying to get it out before Christmas, but I missed it by just about a couple of days. We are gonna put that out first in January it’s called ‘Life after Death Row’. It’s a very good piece man, it’s a documentary but it also has Russell Simmons, Master P, Bun B, WC, just different people in there. A lot of these DVDs man, they just go around with a camera you know, with no real storyline. I think people will gain something from listening to these people talk about the different things that they’ve been through. It has a mini-soundtrack with it, with 8 brand new songs on it, that you get for free when you purchase that. I got my mixtape Young Boss Vol.2, I just did that one. We got that revved up, ready to go in January as well. Then I got the album, Bossman, the movement, the album is a good album, I really think people will enjoy it as far as west coast music goes. I will have to get some of my supporters to really adjust to the sound, cause some of the sounds is not typical west coast.

ML: But I think that’s what you gotta do to put the west into a new era, you gotta bring that new sound, you know?

Crooked I: I think so man, we can’t be in the same little cycle over here, the people that are in power over here, they pretty much put out the same type of music, you know what I’m saying? We gotta really break that cycle and bring a new era in. And that’s what I’m hoping I’ll be able to do man, you know there a lot of people here that don’t have deals yet or that have brand new record deals, that will be bringing a new sound themselves, but someone gotta open the door for it to go down. So we gonna go out and go hard on em and try to make it happen.

ML: Is ex-Bad Boy Loon gonna be on that DVD too?

Crooked I: Yea, I got on Loon on their, Loon is my buddy, Loon is a good dude. His career is somewhat parallel to mine from the other side, cause he was on Bad Boy for 4 years, I was on Death Row for 4 years and some change. Around the same time he left Bad Boy I left Death Row. There are similarities in our journey. He’s got some things to say. People will probably be surprised cause that dude right there is well informed with West Coast music.

ML: Do you have a concrete date for the DVD to come out or is it just January?

Crooked I: I’m thinking like January 21st to drop it, and I’ll put the trailer on the first week of January on different websites.

ML: That’s gonna be on www.westcoastdynasty.com right?

Crooked I: Yea, and I’m gonna see if I can get it to run on other hip-hop websites as well.

ML: What about a date for the mixtape, do you know when that’s gonna be hitting the streets?

Crooked I: You know what, I really want to put that out like the first week of January. I really wanna go hard in January. I want to put the first single out in late January. I want the DVD to drop on the 21st of January. And I want the mixtape to be out in the first week of January. So January is gonna be a very big month for me. I’m trying to put it all out there and go hard.

ML: Is Boom Boom Clap going to be the first single?

Crooked I: Oh na na, that was just a little buzz thing. I felt that I needed something to show people that hey I’m still over here homie, I’m doing my thing. We put that Boom Boom Clap together just a little buzz, to keep my name in the mix, to let people know I’m still over here cause you know there were a lot of rumors going around that I was still on Death Row Records. So I wanted to show the people that hey look, we got a new situation, and here is proof of it. We got a little buzz song out there; we did a uncut video for it. That was that, it served its purpose too. But now its time to him em hard, time to hit em real hard.

ML: I heard the song you had with a 50 Cent sample, “I got a mil out the deal”, is that going to be on an album or a mixtape? Cause that shit was hot!

Crooked I: Oh thank you man, It’s just gonna be a download. It was a lot of controversy too, out here in the west when people first heard that because there was a little feud going between 50 Cent and The Game. And a lot of people were going damn, why this dude doing songs with 50 Cent samples, you know what I’m saying.

ML: But it came out hot!

Crooked I: Yea, that’s all I worried about! (Laughs)

ML: Can you talk about your relationship with Sway & Tech? How have they helped you in your career?

Crooked I: Sway & Tech, are real standup guys, throughout out my whole career I’ve been able to do whatever I want with them. They always invite me to their projects, any project I’m doing, I invite them. They have artists, hey, I rock with their artists for free. Whatever they want because throughout the whole thing I’ve been knowing them for about 9-10 years now. To know anybody in the business for 10 years and still have a good relationship with them is kind of rare sometimes in the industry. Because things happen, things fall apart. Sway & Tech invited me on their show one night; they kind of didn’t really expect me to be able to come with what I came with. Cause at the time they invited me, they played a lot of east coast material and a lot of east coast MC’s were the main guests of their shows. I come straight of the block man, Eastside Long Beach. I think Thug-Life was there, a lot of the Wu-Tang was there, Killa-Army was there, and everybody was just rapping. And I just come out of nowhere spittin’, and these dudes are like “What??”. Clark Kent was there, and Clark Kent like “Yo, who is this dude right here??”. We just had fun that whole night. After that, our relationship began to grow, to the point I come to their house they come to my house, we have fun, kick it. It became more of a friendship, but throughout they’ve always supported me so I gotta give up love to them at all times.

ML: You mentioned Long Beach, when you were growing up in Long Beach, what kind of music were you listening to?

Crooked I: You know what, I was into so much, I tried absorb as much as I could. I would have anybody from Ice Cube and NWA, that was a heavy favorite of mine, Eazy-E, Ice T, The D.O.C., and then I loved the Ghetto Boys when they dropped. Out east it was always Rakim Allah, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Krs-One, Run DMC, LL [Cool J]. I just absorbed it like a sponge. Music was really my life, rap and hip-hop was my life. I still want all the consumers to be on that page, I don’t like when a dude’s CD changer is kind of bias. I like it when you got East, West, some South, some Midwest, because it’s a lot of talent across the whole map, and we can’t really discriminate on each other, we gotta be really open to each others music.

ML: You mentioned the south, what do you think of the music in the south?

Crooked I: Man the music in the south, it’s a beautiful thing, because they making a lot of noise right now. They got pushed to the side homie, in a real way; they had to create their own their industry. They didn’t have what we have in LA, and what New York has, as far as Capitol Records is down the street. They didn’t have all that. So, it turned them into entrepreneurs, they had to go sell out the trunk, they had to go make their own club scene hot, they had to go get radio support on their own. And It ended up being a better thing for them, because now they got control of the game somewhat, they are enjoying better contracts then a lot of people get because they were already selling independently. The south, that’s a cool story, its kind of re-teaching everybody in hip hop to not always lean on major corporations and to get out there on your own and put that grind in. That’s what a lot of them dudes did, so I got nothing but respect.

ML: Can you talk about your group the Horseshoe gang, do they have an album coming out or any other projects, and just what is the group about in general?

Crooked I: The horseshoe gang them all are my little brothers, 3 of them are my little brothers and one of them is my step-brother. I taught them how to rap when they were young, when they were 5 years old, I used to write two lines at a time for them and make them remember them, and when I came home they had to tell me the two lines. So when they 5,6,7,8,9 they just kept rapping on their own, now, they are incredible. They don’t really wanna rap about everything going on in the world like me. A person like me, I’ll rap about anything. They really just like a couple things to rap about and hey, to each his own. They like that battle rap scene, that lyrically destroying people, they like that microphone murder like Rakim. “Haven’t you ever heard of a mc murderer”, they love that type. Their album will be serving a lot of MC’s on a MC talk, they gonna be up their getting into it. So its like that’s a good thing, and the g.a.n.g. stands for grind and never give up, so its even not at all about a gang, you feel me? You got these young brothers and they doing they thing, and they’re real focused and they’re disciplined, and I got a lot stuff from them in 06. You gonna hear them on my project, you gonna hear them on the mixtapes, you gonna hear them on the mini-soundtrack, then we gonna start working on their project.

ML: So it’s much more of a family, then it is a gang?

Crooked I: Yea, It’s a family, and we trying just like Dynasty, that’s my label and that’s something I want to pass down, and have them pass it down, a successful family business is what I plan Dynasty to be.

ML: With Dynasty you finally have your own label situation, after putting work in for years and years, how does it feel to finally know you have a major album coming and you have your chance to shine?

Crooked I: Oh man, its crazy, its like one side of you, you’re very happy, you ready to go, the other side, you wanna make sure everything is right, and you wanna make sure that you’ve done what you can creatively to try to bring something to the table that was expected of you. It’s a lot of up and down feelings, but on the whole I feel great. I went through a long journey, a lot of these rappers I hear them say, I went straight to the league, I’m a rookie and I’m already platinum. I hear a lot of rappers talking about they just started rapping 2 years ago, well that ain’t me. I’ve been doin this since I was a shorty, I’ve been loving hip-hop and the whole culture since I was young. I wouldn’t trade my life for the next dude that did blow up overnight, because I feel like I paid my dues, I feel like I’m seasoned, and I feel like I understand the culture part of it more then a cat that just walks in and says “Well you know, I just started rapping last year and I’m already platinum so I feel sorry for you other guys”. When I hear that, it’s like you don’t even understand this culture, but its cool. But I wouldn’t trade it for nothing it feels great, we gonna put out an album and we got more albums to come and we gonna keep moving ahead, so I feel good man.

ML: Going back to Dynasty Records, another west coast rapper which I think is a part of the new era is Sly Boogy, are you going to be working with him on anything? Would you consider signing him to Dynasty Records?

Crooked I: Man, Sly Boogy is a talent, you know I did a show with Sly Boogy about a couple of weeks ago in Hollywood, we had a show together. Sly Boogy is incredible man, I’ve done songs with him for his album, and I’ve worked with him on other projects. I think you’re right, as far when it comes to the new west you definitely gotta mention Sly Boogy period. You’re only seeing a sample peek at his talent listening to his singles, the dude is crazy. That dude right there, he somebody to definitely look for. He has a situation with J Records but I just don’t think they are doing him right in my opinion. I don’t know all the particulars, but in my opinion they can be doing him a lot better.

ML: Can you touch on your situation with Snoop, is there any beef or tension between you guys, or was it more due to your previous label situation?

Crooked I: Yea we had a little, it wasn’t nothing though. He said some things, I said some things, and it was done. My whole thing was I went over there and I sat down with Suge Knight himself in the penitentiary, when I first did my record deal and I told him I’m not really gonna engage in no rap battles with nobody in Snoop’s camp. And I said I understand that you guys have issues, and that’s a business issue, I don’t feel like we should be brining it to the microphone one. Two, these guys are from Long Beach I’m from Long Beach it would make me look real stupid to just come over here sign with you and all the sudden I’m talking shit about everybody in Long Beach. The only thing is when Snoop took the first strike at me, it kind of disappointed me because if I haven’t said anything about you and I’ve been over here for a year, two years, and you never heard a negative comment come out of my mouth then why would you? He had a mixtape called the Church volume 1 or volume 2 or something like that. Where he did a little skit where he was like “Crooked I, best in the west, best in the west” and the guy whoever said it, got beat up, and then he made some comments. So I made a song, and it was a big underground hit over here on the west. The thing about it is, I saw him at a hip hop summit at USC, we talked, pretty much everything was squashed and it was all good. I’ve seen him since then and I’ve said my wassups and he said his wassups. I don’t have any kind of problem with Snoop Dogg or his camp. But, I’m really so focused on building the new Long Beach sound that sometimes we on two different sidewalks.

ML: I just wanted to ask you about some other artists like your former label mate Eastwood going to Black Wall Street and Spider Loc going to G-Unit, what do you think about those moves?

Crooked I: Yea man, Eastwood is over there, Spider Loc is over on G-Unit. I talked to Eastwood the other day and he’s on Black Wall Street, and I understand the moves, because I’ma be real with you, over here record deals aren’t just falling out the sky on the west coast. Ever since 2pac passed the numbers have dropped tremendously for west coast record sales. Sometimes a guy is offered a deal, and he gotta take what he gets. Him being on Black Wall Street, that could be a good move for him, if everything goes right and he’s happy then that’s the right move. If Spider is happy on G-Unit then that’s the right move. My whole thing about it is, we all came up together and I would hate to see a beef occur between the two due to their bosses beefing. I don’t want to see that because the whole thing about west coast beef is slightly different, people can die really, people around your entourage can get hurt and people go to jail, and then it become a war. And then you look back and say for what? I would be disappointed if 50 Cent was trying to encourage Spider to beef with these guys, and I would be disappointed if Game was trying to encourage Eastwood. Because really to be honest, I really believe in my heart that everybody needs to sit down and talk about all this stuff. We need to prevent a war from happening, because if this war happens it’s gonna be ugly, its gonna be really ugly, because everybody got guns, everybody got soldiers, everybody got everything, anything that you need, the perfect recipe for murder, everybody got it. So what I believe, and what I’m going to try to do, is assemble a conference going probably without the media, just to sit these guys down. Because I’m hearing some things and I’m seeing things on the internet, and I really don’t want this to escalate. Because it will get ugly, and there is no need, because we all came up together, it’s enough money for everybody, and me I’m neutral and I got love for people on both sides.

ML: And by doing that they are moving away from the main focus, which is the music, instead of putting out music they are doing other non sense, you know?

Crooked I: Yea, they are moving away from the main focus, and me I believe the west coast is a body. Someone one is the arms, somebody is the legs, somebody is the whatever. We can’t keep harming our own selves; your not going to cut off your own arm are you? Because the real deal is nobody is going to be able to make money over here when them bullets get to flying like that. Because now not only does the media not want to do business with West Coast artist, concert promoters are not going to want to do business with us, your not going to be welcomed at award ceremonies. You are not going to be welcomed no where, all because we got these big feuds going where two people can’t be in the same place at once. So we got to sit down and fix that.

ML: Because the west coast needs to work on making the music, like you said it’s much easier to get a deal as a east coast artist then a west coast artist as it is, so by beefing that isn’t going to help the cause to make more deals for artist if the labels see all they do is beef and not make music, then there are only going to be less opportunities for everybody that comes after them you know?

Crooked I: There is not, and we are really robbing the future of west coast hip-hop. Because all the young kids waiting, going to college, studying music, becoming producers, managers, executives, rappers, artists. All them guys that are waiting to be the next wave of west coast music are going to get held up by us. Because we are over here killing the buisnesss oppertunites, by having shootouts and all this stuff. That’s the whole thing. I wouldn’t blame MTV or BET if they banned certain artists from music awards ceremonies and all that. Because my thing is we are here to make music, we here to make money, we here to provide for our people that we love. We gotta get on the right page over here, because if we don’t we are going to sink.

ML: Speaking of beef, what did you think about the ‘peace treaty’ if you will, that happened last month between Jay-Z & Nas?

Crooked I: You know what, I really liked that, because everybody was waiting for Jay-Z to get on stage and start shitting on everybody. And he flipped it to where it was a peace treaty amongst people that haven’t been on stage in a long time together. That was a good move, but I’ve seen a lot people were disappointed because people love drama, people love controversy, people love beef. But he showed you, hey it don’t gotta be that. Peace is more powerful then beef, because peace you can create money, opportunities, you can create longevity, future, its all type of stuff you can create with peace. We gotta understand that, that’s stronger then beef. So I really liked that move. Even with the QDIII Beef DVDs, I’ll watch them. It’s entertaining, it’s got something crazy about this guy, this guy is making a mockery of this guy, you know? But now its time for somebody to put out peace treaty DVDs, the ones that made up. Get them on camera together and talk about how stupid it was to beef, and let the kids know that just because we all grew up in the ghetto and we live hard lives and all this shit, that don’t mean we ignorant. All the people in the street they don’t like that beef shit, my older homeboys and all my homeboys in Long Beach that have survived different real beefs, they don’t want to go back to that, they want to leave that alone. But, these rappers want to keep it up.

ML: Another thing I wanted to ask you about is what did you think about the whole Lox and Diddy publishing dispute?

Crooked I: I didn’t really get into it, but I saw it, I just say hey, if you owe somebody, pay them. My whole thing is you always gotta cross that bridge again, you never know, one day Puffy might need help from Jadakiss or from Styles P. Look Andre Harrell used to work over Puffy but now he works for him. So it’s like you never know, so why not treat the people fairly that worked with you, did the work, and they deserve the money, give it to them.

ML: With 2005 coming to a close what is your favorite moment of the year?

Crooked I: This is my favorite moment of 2005, when Tookie Williams [was set to be executed], I was watching TV and you know he is a crip, sworn enemies of bloods. And I saw some Bloods on the Fox News network, they held up AK-47s, Uzis, and different types of machine guns, some real heaters. They said we pledge these guns off the streets and more like them if you spare Tookie William’s life. And these were bloods, very historic moment; nobody really made a big deal out of it. But that was historical, because they could go to jail for just holding those guns. They kept their promise they put some of the guns in a cardboard box, they called the police, the police came over and they came and picked the guns up. And an officer said hey, we would love to get more of these guns off the streets; because the more guns that are off the streets the less murder. When I saw that right there, I knew that we still have people out there that want to see change, and that was one of my highlights.

[Editors Note: More info about this story can be found at: http://www.sfbayview.com/122105/vengeance122105.shtml, a real shame there wasn’t more coverage regarding this story in the media]

ML: Are you into sports, are you a sports fan out there in LA?

Crooked I: Oh yea, fo sho, I’m a Raider and a Laker for life, no matter what happens.

ML: How do you feel about their state right now?

Crooked I: Man I love the Lakers, there was two egos on that court it was Shaq & Kobe, and they tried to shift the blame on Kobe. But if I’m [Lakers owner Jerry] Buss, I understand, I might go with the younger cat too that’s going to be around a long time. We gotta rebuild. But right now we over .500, Kobe scored 63 in 3 quarters the other day, hey, I’m a happy Lakers fan. I understand it’s gonna take time to rebuild, its not going to turn around quick like that. Like our starting 5 is really like a starting 2 ½ maybe. We still need some more players, Latrell Sprewell is sitting out, go get him or something. Kwame Brown, he’s getting better but he gotta get his hands better, he dropping all the balls, he got some butterfingers dog (Laughs). But we got Kareem working with him, so maybe Kareem can give him something, but his hands, he gotta get his hands up.

ML: If Kareem can’t help him I don’t know who can.

Crooked I: If Kareem doesn’t help him, I don’t know what he is doing after that man (Laughs).

ML: What about the Raiders?

Crooked I: The Raiders, they symbolize the struggle, I love them, even though right now, Kerry Collins, oh my god, get that guy out of there, even Norv Turner get him out of there. What is he doing? We got Randy Moss, they should’ve automatically knew that we was gonna need a better quarterback. You put 2 seconds of pressure on Collins and he is going to throw an interception. I think that dude got the record last year for interceptions thrown. Those two guys gotta be removed quickly, because Norv he doesn’t know what the hell he is doing. Al Davis, he is just a tough man to work for, because that dude right there. The Raiders I love them because they symbolize what we stand for, the underdogs, societies outcast, you know what I mean (Laughs)?

ML: Do you pay any attention to the LA Kings?

Crooked I: You know what, I haven’t in a long time, ever since Gretzky.

ML: Oh yeah, was Gretzky leaving the end for you?

Crooked I: That was the end for me, when Gretzky dipped out, I said peace (Laughs).

ML: One other thing I wanted to ask you is, you seem to be well informed on world and current issues going on, what do you think about the job our president is doing right now?

Crooked I: Man to be honest, I’m not likening the job that he is doing. To me in America heroes and villains have a thin line between them. Some people look at a guy like a hero others like a villain. I have to respect Bush for this, that motherfucker is a cowboy; he rides for what he believes in. Now, I don’t think that it’s right, the whole oil situation, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with Al-Qadea, he didn’t even have weapons of mass destruction, they didn’t find anything, we blatantly are in Iraq getting oil. And a lot of people are losing their lives, I support the troops because they are over and I want them to come home safe. But I wish they weren’t over there, because they are over there to me, some bullshit. But, I have to say this dude, this dudes a rider, because he gets up there and they say well, Mr. Bush you’ve been invading peoples privacy, yup I’ve done it on 30 different occasions. And that’s breaking the law and he is up there like yup. It made me think, I said damn man, I wish Bill Clinton would’ve said yup, I got my dick sucked. I wish he would’ve said yea I did, I got my dick sucked, but you know its not going to effect the way I run the country. I wish he would’ve been on that mindset cause if Bush gets caught in that situation he is gonna be like “Yea, I got my dick sucked”!

ML: And what???

Crooked I: And what? Exactly, so I got to give it to him for that, that motherfucker right there man (Laughs).

ML: Any Guess to when the album is dropping?

Crooked: I think we gonna drop it around April. You’ll see me on 106 & Park no later then February introducing the new joint of the day.

ML: I’d like to thank you for spending your time with me, any last words?

Crooked I: My last words are let’s boss up, and all west coasters who happen to come across this interview, it’s our job to become more bossy. That’s why I’m pushing this boss era, because along with boss, comes executives, comes career minded individuals. So I’m pushing that because we are behind, we don’t own the Clippers, we don’t own a percentage of the Lakers, we don’t have successful clothing lines, we aren’t financing big movies over here. But we are the second largest market, that doesn’t even add up. So all my last words are, west coast, let’s boss up and lets do what we gotta do, and music in general and hip hop everywhere lets not discriminate on each other.

Be sure to pick up all the hot shit Crooked I has on the way this year and check out his offical website here. In the interview I mentioned some of his freestyles and that “Mil out the deal” song, those as well as a lot more hot shit can be found over at soundclick.

Out.

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Delon w/ Nelly

Recently we here at Metallungies were able to ask some questions to Delon. For those of you who don’t know who Delon is, you damn well should. He is a rapper that is very refreshing to hear, nothing like we here at ML have ever heard before. His Sri Lankan & Latin background fuses with everything that he experienced growing up in Los Angeles. This creates some of the most diverse lyrics in English, Spanish and Sinhalese, with a sound that is equally diverse. With such a rich background Delon is looking to and will have a huge 2006. He is currently on a sold out mini-tour in Sri Lanka.

ML: What upcoming projects are coming for you, and who are you working with?

Delon: I am now working on my mix tape that will release in March. I am working with the 306 allstars. This includes: Sef, Lex, Choice, and Derrese It is going to be a hot project. Also, working with the legend of doom dj’s.

ML: You are multi-talented when it comes to music, what is your favorite aspect of it?

Delon: Performing. I love to perform. To have thousands of people yelling and scream and having a good time, makes me feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do.

ML: Why do you think its important to release your music so people hear it?

Delon: Because I have a message. I am saying things that are important. Important historical facts that will help to bring some peace in this world

ML: Who are your 5 biggest influences of your music?

Delon: Mos Def, Outkast (first album), Jay-Z, Dead Prez, and Biggie Smalls

ML: What are you currently listening to in your CD-deck?

Delon: TI Urban Legend. Big ups to TI, you album is the shit.

ML: Considering your eclectic background, how is your music different from anything else we’ve heard before?

Delon: It has a lot of cultural beats in it, and my lyrics are not the usual. I have tried to comprise and album that tells the tell of a man who is from all ethnicites.

ML: Due to your Sri Lanka roots, how did you react to the Tsunami tragedy earlier in the year?

Delon: I WAS THERE. Probably one of the most depressing days of my life. Even now, I am in Sri Lanka and the country is still is shambles. I am doing everything I can to get my people back on their feet. I work with a non-profit organization called Sri Lanka Foundation and we are building house and giving food and much more.

www.srilankafoundation.org
check it out

ML: With your music, what kind of connection are you trying to make with your listeners?

Delon: A familial one. Where they love me as much as Iove them. This life is about communication. Without that we would not be human.

ML: What role does your family play in your music?

Delon: My brothers and sister have been helping me here and there with things. There help is really just being there for me. Being a family. My parents wish the best for me and they pray that I will get my days. I will get my days. 2006 is my year

ML: Do you have any hobbies you like to participate in when you aren’t touring or making music?

Delon: Driving I love to drive with a passion.

you can check out Delon’s website at @ http://ceylonrecords.com/. His Album ‘The Connection’ is in stores now. Pick it up!

Out.

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