Tag: Interviews

MVRemix Urban’s interviews

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Method Man – 4:21…The Day After review

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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Method Man – 4:21…The Day After review

Method Man is fed up. Maybe he’s been carousing the message boards, reading what the suburban kids have to say about (in their opinion) the floundering state of his career. Maybe he’s been strolling the street with his trademark swagger and the love’s not coming back the way it used to. Most likely, he’s still reeling from the debacle that was his last album.

In 2004, fresh off a valiant but ultimately failed jaunt as a sitcom joker on the prime time “Method & Red” and in the midst of a low level Wu-Tang revival (Ghostface’s The Pretty Toney Album left the heads wanting more) Meth dropped Tical O: The Prequel, much to the chagrin of fans and critics alike. Defending the project as doomed from the beginning, Mr. Mef was left with no other option than to apologize for an admittedly sub-par album that had all the Wu-Tang die-hards shaking their heads and wondering: When is Meth finally going to drop the flawless solo album he’s capable of making? And what the fuck is P. Diddy doing on a Method Man record?

Fortunately, the Ticallion Stallion is back, and he’s got a score to settle. Using a carefully selected and varied array of producers, Meth runs the gamut, banging out a radio-ready joint with Scott Storch (“Is It Me”) and then hitting up Erick Sermon for the grimy “Problem” on the very next track. Speaking of grime, RZA is back, playing a bigger role on the boards and making his presence felt on some of the best tracks on the album. “4:20” is reminiscent of “Mr. Sandman” from 1994’s Tical, bringing back Carlton Fisk and Streetlife to drop some hard verses that hearken back to the golden age of the Wu.

Aside from brief guest verses by Fat Joe and Styles P and a pre-recorded Lauryn Hill loop on the mega-catchy single “Say,” the supporting players here are all Wu-Tang affiliated, which should keep the hardcore fans happy. “The Glide” is a genuine RZA beat: dark, orchestral jabs with dirty bass lurking in the background. Raekwon proves he is back in fighting form by kicking it off, and U-God and longtime Wu associate La the Darkman do justice to the tail end. While these Wu Fam appearances are peppered throughout the album, the most lively guest work comes fairly early in the proceedings. When ODB busts in slurring “fuck you” on “Dirty Mef,” you know it’s on. Seemingly back from the dead, it’s compelling to hear Dirt McGirt share a mic one more time with Johnny Blaze.

The weakest track here is “4Ever,” a love song that goes through the motions as it jacks its chorus from an old Atlantic Starr jam. Luckily, it’s tucked away at the end of the album and comes off as a completely forgivable indulgence considering the verbal barrage that precedes it. The production slips sporadically throughout the album, but Meth is always quick to pick up the slack and retain the feel before the album loses focus. As usual, the rhymes are reliable, with Method Man showing us why he is the go-to guy in the Wu and one of hip hop’s most sought after guest artists. The important difference here is his refined fury, a focused energy that surpasses the thematic elements of his previous efforts.

While this is arguably still not the end-all-be-all solo album that hopefuls have been waiting for Meth to pony up since the original Tical (an extremely underrated album), this is as close as he’s going to get. It’s not ’94 anymore, and the hip hop landscape has changed. Method Man has changed. Considering everything that he has been through in a full and tumultuous career, this album should be considered a spot-on reflection of a man who’s place in the game should have been secured a long time ago. If his standing wasn’t locked down in some doubter’s eyes previous to this, 4:21… should serve as the record that will force them to wise up.

Method Man – 4:21…The Day After review

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Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

The Universal Language Of Mathematics – DJ Mathematics Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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The Universal Language Of Mathematics – DJ Mathematics Interview

Mathematics is the universal language. It is the study of the measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols. It can cross barriers of language, color, religion, ethnicity, race, and more. Mathematics (also known as Allah Mathematics) is also one of the most talented and up and coming DJ/producers in the Wu-Tang camp. He first began doing production work for some of the Wu-Tang solo albums.

“Wu Banga 101” from Ghostface Killah’s “Supreme Clientele” was an instant classic. Mathematics helped bring back the Wu sound. On “Iron Flag” by Wu-Tang Clan, he produced the incredible “Rules” that literally rocked the whole album. Many people do not know that Mathematics has been in the hip-hop game for a long time. Since the 80’s, he has been DJ-ing block parties. He hooked up with his cousin Gza and eventually with Rza.

Even though Rza taught him a great deal about production, Mathematics soon began to create his own signature sound. High Times Records and his own label, Quewisha Records, just released his debut album “Love, Hell Or Right (Da Come Up)”.

Some critics hail the LP as the best recent Wu-tang related album in a long time. Others say that he is bringing the Wu-tang sound back. Both statements are true. Not only is he a major force in Wu-Tang but he is in charge of all the music on the TV show “Wanda At Large”. Mathematics is just getting started.

With a humble attitude mixed in with a hunger, Mathematics continues to create amazing music. On a rainy evening in October, I had an in-depth conversation with Mathematics about Wu-Tang Clan, the record industry, family, and much more. As a science, mathematics is the language of numbers. It is a universal language that can cross language barriers, racial barriers, geographical barriers, and more. As a DJ and producer, Mathematics is using the universal language of music to communicate.

MVRemix: What goes on?

Mathematics: What’s up, Todd? Just working, man. I’m working on a new project and trying to promote the one out right now. Today is my daughter’s birthday. It’s her first birthday. This year is one.

MVRemix: Your new album is called ‘Love, Hell, Or Right (Da Come Up)’. Tell us about it?

Mathematics: The meaning behind the title is this. If you see the cover, you see me sitting in front of the projects. That’s my old building. I come from Southside Queens. I was sitting right there and the two kids are looking at me. The whole thing has a science behind it all. No matter what you do, if you want to be a role model or not, people are always looking at you or up to you regardless and it doesn’t matter what you are doing. There are so many people who are caught up. In all reality, where we live at now is hell. There are many people who are caught up in this hell and they love the hell that they go through. Instead of coming out right, they would rather do wrong because it is easier to do wrong than to do right. The album is basically that to sum it up. That is what it is: love, hell or right. You have different aspects on it. You have jewels where people try to drop knowledge here and there. Music is also entertainment so, I kept it at that note too. I introduce a lot of cats from around my way, Southside Queens, into the picture. I have my Wu brothers helping me out too.

MVRemix: Do you have a favorite song on ‘Love, Hell, Or Right’?

Mathematics: Nah, not really. To me, it is important to put an album together from beginning to end. The whole thing has to have a certain type of theme or a certain type of feel. I didn’t try to make a joint for radio or anything. I tried to make a great album.

MVRemix: How and why did you get involved with High Times Records?

Mathematics: That was Devon Horowitz. Dev is cool people. He was doing his thing at the same time I was doing my thing. We just came together. High Times Records and Quewisha Records too, which is my label. We did it through Caroline.

MVRemix: Was there marijuana everywhere? Is everyone at the label stoned all the time?

Mathematics: Yeah, I love to smoke! You know what I mean?

MVRemix: What is your favorite way to smoke? Bongs? Blunts? Joints? If blunts, what kind of cigar paper?

Mathematics: I smoke it in an onion leaf. It’s all natural. It burns slower than a Dutch too and it tastes pretty good too. I go to the store and just buy an onion. Just buy an onion. It’s a little trick to rolling it that you have to really learn. It’s not easy. Once you start rolling them, it becomes easy. Now, I roll them like a Dutch Master.

MVRemix: How is High Times Records different from other labels?

Mathematics: Basically, it’s my label too, Quewisha Recordings. So, I have control. That’s the whole key. I own my music and what I’m doing. That’s an important factor. A lot of people ain’t gonna give you your own. They ain’t gonna let you have creative control and do what you want to do. To me, I got to do what I wanted to do. If I had control creating it, I have to own it. I can’t sell myself short. Nobody else is willing to let you be you.

MVRemix: As an producer, who were some of your major influences?

Mathematics: Main influences would be old timers like Issac Hayes, David Porter, Norman Whitfield and cats like that. Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder. Those are my main influences right there. As far as hip-hop goes, of course you have Marley Marl, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, Rza, Erick Sermon. Anybody who makes good music, I am a fan of them.

MVRemix: How did you get the name Mathematics? What does it mean?

Mathematics: Everything is on a mathematical plane of existence. It is the universal language. Math is something that everybody understands. Wherever you go in the world, 1 plus 2 always equals 3. That’s just me. It’s simple and basic but a lot of people make it complicated. Math is a necessity and I am a necessity to this music.

MVRemix: When doing a song, do you give the emcee the beat first and they write from there or do they have the theme and lyrics first and you build the beat or choose a beat according to them?

Mathematics: I make beats all the time. I have my own studio. I bring my beats in. Being in the Wu-Tang, I know certain cats. Everybody doesn’t sound good on a certain beat so I match voices with my beats. With the individuals I deal with, I know that a certain emcee would sound good on the specific track so let me give him that one. I’ll come up with a beat and say to them ‘I want this one to be like this’.

MVRemix: Do you have a favorite sampler or drum machine?

Mathematics: Yeah, the ASR-10. That’s my baby. It’s hip-hop. the sound of it is hip-hop. It’s not as clean. I have other equipment of course. I use the Triton. I use the MP. I don’t need to use it for the same reason or the same sound that everybody else uses it for. I basically think the ASR-10 is my baby because you can function with it while you are making a beat. It has many good advantages. It has good envelopes and the chopping is real good.

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Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan Interview

While releasing 4 Wu-Tang Clan albums and contributing to almost every single solo Wu-Tang album, it took many years to finally get his solo album out from Loud Records. “Uncontrolled Substance” was a thick album filled with guest spots from Killa Sin, U-God and Street Life and production by Pete Rock, Rza, and others. Out of many of the Wu-Tang solo albums, “Uncontrolled Substance” was one of the most respected LPs.

Now, times have changed. It has almost been 6 years since “Uncontrolled Substance” has been released and Loud Records has dissolved. Inspectah Deck has returned with a new album on a new label. “The Movement” is coming out on his own record label (INS Productions) and Koch Entertainment. With only a couple of guest appearances (Kool G Rap, Street Life and Killa Sin), “The Movement” is filled with thick, old-school soul samples and thick, electronic pounding drum beats. In the past, Deck used to do much of his own production along with Rza and other Wu-Tang producers.

On “The Movement”, a majority of the production is handled by Hassan (aka Phantom Of The Beats) and Ayatollah. Times sure have changed since the days of “36 Chambers”. These days, the state of the Wu-Tang Clan is in question. Ol Dirty Bastard just signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. Loud Records is gone. Every core Wu-Tang member is doing their own thing in different parts of the world. It’s time for the rebel to come back and reclaim the mic. While he does have a braggadocio flow, Deck wants to move his people and his community. He wants his music to move you spiritually, physically, emotionally and creatively. Inspectah Deck lives up to his name “The Rebel INS”. He is not making albums with tons of guest appearances, radio friendly tracks, or Casio-sounding party/dance songs. Deck’s tracks are soulful and have themes, which range from tales of ghetto life, city living, police, prejudice, and racism. The song “Vendetta” is a vivid tale of gritty street life and the song “Framed” is a wild tale of being falsely accused of a crime. The blaxploitation-esque sound of “Stereotype” that deals with living up to images emcees portray.

Other incredible tracks include the motivating “Get Right” and the sad “Cradle To The Grave” about losing loved ones. Deck’s new album “The Movement” proves to fans that The Wu-Tang Clan is far from dead. While they may be doing their own thing, The Wu flows through their veins for life. On Sunday afternoon in June, I had a deep conversation with Inspectah Deck about his new album, racism, music, and the current state of the Wu-Tang Clan. If you love hip-hop and love The Wu-Tang Clan, you better get with the movement.

MVRemix: What goes on?

Inspectah Deck: Yeah, yeah. I just woke up and sh*t. I was out. You know, I’m out here working on this album, man. I’m trying to get it out. It drops June 10th. It’s called ‘The Movement’. I ain’t trying to bring it back to the streets, I’m trying to bring the streets forward. ‘Back To The Future’ style.

MVRemix: Your new album is called ‘The Movement”. What’s the meaning behind that title?

Inspectah Deck: Basically, what I’m talking about is that there are a lot of big corporations running us, telling us what to make, what type of songs to make, how to make it, when to make it. I realized that everybody out there is making money has an urban market they cater to. Us, being the ghetto youth, we create the trend. If we buy a Prada hat, we’re boosting Prada’s sales for 18%. We don’t invest that time and energy in ourselves. My whole thing is like: support your local bakery. You know. You have a store in the hood? Support that store!

MVRemix: How is ‘The Movement’ different from ‘Uncontrolled Substance’?

Inspectah Deck: The album ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ was just me, trying to be satisfied with doing an album. Being in the game, you want your own personal album so you can shine. That LP was a joint for me to get my lyrics off and to let everybody know ‘He’s an ill dude with it!’. This album, ‘The Movement’ is more of me taking a stand for something. ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ was more of a personal braggadocio thing. With ‘The Movement’, I’m looking past myself. I’m looking for the ones who are coming behind me. I’m still rhyming and kicking it on the album. It’s not like an anti-establishment thing. Still, the establishment is controlling everything we do in hip-hop. They see that it is lucrative.

MVRemix: Do you have a favorite song on ‘The Movement’?

Inspectah Deck: Right now, I feel ‘Cradle To The Grave’. It’s the last song on the album. It’s dedicated to my 2 peoples who past away. It’s a little personal edge.”

MVRemix: Can you explain the name Inspectah Deck?

Inspectah Deck: Deck has always been my name and I used to write graffiti for years. I was real hazardous with it, doing it at the train stations. I was doing all the hazardous ‘Beat Street’ styles. The name Inspectah came from when I was in jail. I’ve been to jail and when you’re in jail, it’s different than the streets. You have to settle down and understand your surroundings. You always have to be aware. You always have to have one eye open. That’s basically where that name came from. When I came home from jail, I was a much more calm person. I took my time and analyzed things. I thought about what I had to deal with before I dealt with it. Inspectah is the description and Deck is just a name.

MVRemix: As an emcee, who were some of your major influences?

Inspectah Deck: Early on, the cats who made me want to rhyme were Rakim, Biz Markie, and Kool G Rap. Yeah, Kool G Rap is on the album.

MVRemix: What guests are on the album ‘The Movement’?

Inspectah Deck: Kool G Rap definitely came through and gave me a hot verse. There are not a lot of guest stars on my album. Killa Sin from Killarmy, that’s my boy! Street Life is on it. He’s been down with Wu-Tang since day one, catching war over Method Man’s projects. Vinia Mojica, she sung on my first album on a song called ‘Trouble Man’. I met her through Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def and them.

MVRemix: On ‘The Movement’, there are many samples and loops from old soul records. It also has a more soulful sound. Why did you go this route?

Inspectah Deck: Everybody else sounds Casio right now. I just wanted to be something different. I didn’t want to be a follower. That’s what ‘The Movement’ is… it’s about leading yourself. Don’t do what you see me doing. But, if it works for you, follow the path.”

MVRemix: On your last album and many other Wu-related releases, you produced many tracks. Why didn’t you produce tracks for ‘The Movement’?”

Inspectah Deck: On ‘The Movement’, I was more into my pen. I was trying to figure out the direction that I wanted to come at people. Inspectah Deck is a lyrical emcee. On this album, I had to reach out for the soul. I had to reach deeper into the people. I had to make different types of songs.”

MVRemix: There aren’t any core Wu-Tang Clan members on this LP. Was that done intentionally? Why?

Inspectah Deck: Nah, that wasn’t done intentionally. That was just because of the state of affairs right now. Raekwon was in Miami with Ghostface. Rza was overseas. Method Man was on the Def Jam Vendetta Tour. Even before that, Meth was busy making the movies and things like that. It was hard to get with everybody at every given time. I have songs that I had Wu-Tang Clan members on that never made it to the board like that. I may release those on the website. Check my site out at www.inspectahdeck.net. I may release those as brand new, exclusive and un-heard tracks.”

MVRemix: There also isn’t any production by Rza or 4th Disciple or True Master. Why?

Inspectah Deck: You know how it is, man. You live at home until you’re a grown man and then, you have to venture out and get your own apartment.

MVRemix: Why did you hook up with Phantom Of The Beats (aka Hassan) and Ayatollah for a majority of this LP?

Inspectah Deck: Phantom Of The Beats is also Hass D or Hassan, who was with UMC’s. I grew up with him. We worked summer jobs together. It’s like that. We have always talked about this. Ayatollah always had that sound to me. My name used to be Ayatollah. That was one of my code names. I used to ask around, ‘Who is this other Ayatollah dude?’ People told me that he was a producer and one day, I checked out his little resume. He worked with Black Rob, Styles P, Cormega, and more. He did a lot of work but never got recognized for it. I checked his sound and between him, Hass D, and myself, we all have that same type of sound. I knew that all of us could come together and make a nice little mixture right there.

MVRemix: What is the current state of The Wu-Tang Clan? Will there be another Wu-Tang Clan album?

Inspectah Deck: The current state of The Wu-Tang Clan is a little rough. Everybody is out there. The game ain’t the same for the Clan to come back and drop a full Wu-Tang Clan album. The state of hip-hop is not ready for Wu-Tang. Before Wu-Tang dropped the last album, they weren’t ready for it. Everybody wanted to party and dance and be candy-coated. They wanted to take the music away from having the drama, and real life of growing up broke in the ghetto. That’s where it comes from. Everything else is just added on. I can’t even place my finger on it. For Wu-Tang Clan to drop an album right now, we have to make sure that the people’s mind states are ready for what we have to say. Right now, there aren’t many original people out there. There aren’t many people setting trends and being originators and creators. Everything Wu-Tang tries to do, we try to be original and creative. We always want to bring out something that nobody else was doing. ‘Iron Flag’ reminded me of ’36 Chambers’. On ’36 Chambers’, Rza left the mistakes and everything on the album. It was to let everybody know that we are real. We’re not robots. You hear a mistake or two and it lets you know that it’s live and not Memorex.

MVRemix: What do you think of Ol Dirty Bastard signing to Roc-A-Fella?

Inspectah Deck: At first, I didn’t understand it. I was like ‘How could you? How dare you?’ because I’m Wu-Tang for life. But at the same time, we’re grown men. He may have gotten a $10 Million deal out of that. I don’t know the ballistics between what he and Damon Dash worked out but we are all grown men now. That’s one reason that there aren’t a lot of Wu-Tang members on the albums. Everybody is out there trying to peruse their next level. We’re not trying to be rhyming on the mic forever. Right now, I have INS Productions. I have a label called Urban Icons. I’m working on young dudes coming up, the new talent, the next wave of this.”

MVRemix: How did you originally get involved with Wu-Tang Clan?

Inspectah Deck: I’ve been Wu-Tang since day one… before we thought of the name or anything. Rza was on. Rza dropped an album on Tommy Boy as Prince Rakim. Gza dropped an album on Cold Chillin. Through their knowledge and the little money they had, they formulated a studio and things like that. We used to do our thing everyday. Rza came to me and Meth one day and was like ‘Yo! Are you willing to do this for real?’ We had to look at our options. We were hustling and I had 2 felonies. I was like ‘Alright!’. But Wu-Tang has always been together. The name came later from the karate flicks. They were the rebels that rebelled against the temple.”

MVRemix: What were the 2 felonies?

Inspectah Deck: Me? Just life. We can’t get all into that. You know felonies are serious. I ain’t proud of it but I ain’t ashamed of it either. Jail actually helped the kid.”

MVRemix: You have a gift for storytelling tracks (i.e. ‘Word Of The Street’ and ‘Vendetta’). What do you like about these kind of songs?

Inspectah Deck: I wanted to be the rap Langston Hughes or Isaac Hayes. I’m a 70’s child. I’m from the Blaxploitation era. I try to keep that cornbread and collard greens from that era but I don’t try to get all Camp Lo with it. You won’t see me with the sideburns and the bellbottoms. I just take the aspects and the feelings of how it used to be back then.”

MVRemix: Do you go into the studio with pre-written rhymes and themes or do you hear the beat first and write then and there?

Inspectah Deck: It depends. I may think of something first and may need a beat to support it. 9 times out of 10, I do hear a beat and let the beat create what I need to be thinking.”

MVRemix: Your delivery and flow is extremely rhythmic. It is always on beat.”

Inspectah Deck: Yeah, on this album, especially, I wrote the songs to the beat. I didn’t come in with a song I had already. On the song ‘You Wanna Be’, the chorus goes with the beat. On ‘Vendetta’, the chorus sinks right in there. ‘Bumpin And Grindin’ is the same. Everything I make, I try to have it be one with the beat. Regardless of what I’m saying, it is going to sound like it belongs there.”

MVRemix: Kool G Rap is on an incredible song called ‘Framed’. How did you hook up with him and what was it like working with him?

Inspectah Deck: Right now, I give many points and much respect to Kool G Rap because he was one of the cats that was willing to help me and put a verse on there and I didn’t even have to pay him at the time. He was doing it out of the strength that he wanted to work with Wu-Tang and I wanted to work with him. Until then, we never had a chance to link up. He did me a favor. That’s why I put him as one of the only guest stars on there. Other dudes were coming out me like ‘I need $50 Grand’ or ‘I need $60 Grand’. I’m like ‘Why should I give y’all $50 Grand a track?’ If I give a producer $60 Grand, to get another emcee on it, the emcee will want $20 Grand. If I make it a single, to get them in the video, the label will hit me with another $30 Grand. I’m spending $100 Grand on a side-artist! I’m not trying to pay 100 G’s for somebody to be on a song with me.

MVRemix: What emcee/group would you like to collaborate with in the future?

Inspectah Deck: Right now, I’m just feeling the underground dudes. I like the dudes who have been striving to get paid, to get their sound out there, and have been overlooked by the corporations. M.O.P. and Talib Kweli. Boot Camp Clik! I can go and take it to the West Coast. I would like to do something with the Golden State Warriors Squad. I’d work with Eminem and them. There’s a lot of people out there that I would work with but I’m not into trying to have a big name on my sh*t to try and blow me up. It usually works the other way. Some guest artists want $50 Grand just to show their face in the video. I executive produced this one. ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ sold ghetto-gold 400,000 plus. This one has the same potential. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. Still, you can say artistically, creatively, Inspectah Deck did his own thing.

MVRemix: Since you are executive producer for ‘The Movement’, how much more responsibility do you have?

Inspectah Deck: It gives me a lot of responsibility for me to get out there and push this record. There’s dollars on the back end. Being executive producer, it takes some kind of ease off of you because you don’t have a whole bunch of people who want everything that is yours. You have to pay the label back and they put the money up. By the time you’re done, if you made $1 Million, you are only left with $100,000. That’s the difference.

MVRemix: What was the last incident of racism that you encountered?

Inspectah Deck: I don’t know. One thing I know now is that racism is not as blatant as it was. It’s really swept under the table but it is there. It’s like an unseen force. I think the airport was the last incident of racism I experienced. When I fly, I think my name is in the computer for them to f*ck with me and search me. I get searched at least 5 or 6 times each way. No bullsh*t! I went to a small airport out in Long Beach and never went there in my life! I go there for the first time and get searched like 4 to 5 times! Sneakers off and everything…more than once. Is it me? My bags come back marked different. They put it on the plane with a tag and by the time I get it, there’s another tag or two on there that lets me know that they opened the bag and searched it. Then, it lets me know that it’s clear. They are supposed to tell you that they are doing that. That is something I go through every single time, everywhere, when I fly. I don’t know if that is racism but I am definitely being profiled. I never had an incident in the airport but I want to bring a secret camera in the airport somehow. You can’t even get the camera in there. Somehow, I wanted to call Channel 2 News, Arnold Diaz. He’s on a spot called ‘Shame On You’. I want to get him and have somebody record this. Rappers are getting profiled like crazy. With police, I get pulled over. I don’t even tell them that I am Wu-Tang. I’d rather just pretend that I’m a normal dude. Wu-Tang must be in the computer because it rings my name up and it’s going to tell them that I am one of them and they should check me. It’s not one of the most powerful forms of racism but that is discrimination.

MVRemix: Death Penalty – for or against?

Inspectah Deck: I mean, I don’t see what gives anybody the right to take another person’s life. If I killed somebody, I don’t have the right to take that man’s life. So, what gives y’all the right to take my life for taking his? They’ll lock me up forever but taking my life is doing the same sh*t I did. It’s the same murder.

MVRemix: Where were you on Sept. 11th, 2002? How did you deal with it? How do you think it has affected or will affect hip-hop?

Inspectah Deck: It’s affected me now. My city ain’t the same anymore. New York has definitely done a 360 since that bombing. There’s 4,000 more cops on the street and 2,000 more surveillance cameras. There’s so much going on now and they are putting so much money into so-called security. They’re taking money from schools and jobs. They are firing teachers and union workers. People are striking. The lowest level of people are striking. Pastry shop owners are striking. We have a billionaire mayor who doesn’t understand the struggle of a city that has so much unemployment and a minority crisis.

MVRemix: What do you think hip-hop needs these days?

Inspectah Deck: Hip-hop needs to start speaking about sh*t because everybody using hip-hop to do what they need to do. Car companies are using hip-hop to sell cars. Shampoo companies are using hip-hop to sell shampoo. Right now, hip-hop needs to use itself to sell the message that we are trying to bring. This is a culture and a way of life for us. Hip-hop is becoming a marketing tool.

MVRemix: What is your all time favorite collaboration so far?

Inspectah Deck: I have a lot of them. One of the real influential ones I did was with me, U-God, Mobb Deep, and Blondie. It was on Blondie’s last album. We ended up performing it on American Music Awards a week later. They flew us out to Cali and we went out there and pounded that song out. Damn, we just recorded it. We just did it and we were live on TV with Blondie. That was influential to me. Blondie, she’s been there. That song made history.

MVRemix: What classic hip-hop song would you like to remake? How would you approach it?

Inspectah Deck: The Ultra Magnetic MC’s ‘MC Ultra’. I’m about to do that with Tony Touch. That’s crazy because that was when hip-hop was hip-hop. That was when the thugged out, cock-diesel, killer dude would still get out there and do a dance move. It’s not all about who you are thugging and who you are bugging.

MVRemix: Hassan used the same beat on Pop The Brown Hornet’s ‘Wants & Needs’ that he did on your song ‘Big City’. What do you think of Pop’s song?

Inspectah Deck: Actually, Hass wasn’t feeling the original song so he told me ‘Don’t worry about that’. Actually, my boy, Fess Taylor, was on there. He’s another artist that I’m working with. Personally, I love the beat but I don’t want somebody else’s song. He basically said, ‘You know what? It’s your song.’ And, I wrote ‘Big City’ to it. Even the dude who used to have the song, Pop Da Brown Hornet, there were no bad feelings or remorse about it. Pop Da Brown Hornet is my man. I have no grudges or personal things with anybody about anything so, if they had one with me, I would hope that they would have voiced it by now.

MVRemix: On the song ‘Show And Prove’ from ‘Uncontrolled Substance’, the hook says ‘The power of God’s in you.’ Can you explain that more?

Inspectah Deck: That was a song that talked to my people, the Black people. Stop blaming everybody for your sh*t. Stop blaming the white man. Stop blaming your moms or whoever it is. Stop blaming your girl. Get off of your ass and do something. The power is inside you to change what is going on with you. You know, I put that song out when everybody wanted to do the Bank Head Bounce and the Harlem Shake, so the point went unnoticed. The video is alright. It didn’t get no burn but it was a song that tried to uplift the people. The big corporations and the powers that be, they were like ‘Ah, another radical. Let’s shut him down instantaneous. Let’s demoralize him’.

MVRemix: Can you explain the song ‘Stereotype’ for us?

Inspectah Deck: The song ‘Stereotype’ is basically everything I’m talking about. They look at rappers and say, ‘They ain’t sh*t. They smoke weed. It’s not real work.’ You know what I mean? They think it’s a luxury to be a rapper. It’s more work than you would ever think. The song ‘Stereotype’ is like, you look at me and you may see something or somebody but I’m so much more than that. But, at the same time, I am that stereotype. I am that n*gga. I will get wild. I will do all of that sh*t that you’re thinking. I am civilized also. So, don’t look at me just for face value. Don’t look at a person and think, ‘Okay, he looks Spanish so he must be Spanish.’

MVRemix: As a solo artist, how has your live shows evolved?

Inspectah Deck: My live show is just my live show. I come there and I talk to the people. I’m not just a rapper. I speak and I let people know what is really going on, what’s really good. It’s not all about ‘All my ladies say Hoe! All my n*ggas say yeah!’ You know? It’s like ‘How y’all been? I ain’t seen y’all in a minute. What’s good out here? Who’s in here?’ See, I talk to the people. Live, the beats come rumbling through the speakers. I made the album for live shows. I didn’t figure that the radio would play my sh*t. I’m not a Jay-Z. I’m not making these female records. Everybody is making these female records where they are singing and they have their shirt off. The companies are making these dudes do that. The dudes don’t even be those type of cats but the companies make them into that type of dude. They say, ‘Ok, he’s not selling records the underground way, let’s take his shirt off an cater to the women.’ Now, he’s a sex symbol and he’s moving a little records but now, he has to be a sex symbol all the time. You can’t be the original person you were. With me, I’m good in the game. I’m still me. I never switched. I have always been the verbal assassin. That’s how I am. Whatever else I am, you cannot label me because I am only displaying to you one thing. Ok, they think that I’m talented and creative and they know that I can come in at any shape or form. I refuse to come other than myself.

MVRemix: Many of last LPS you and the Wu have put out have been recorded in California. Why? Do you think not recording in New York changes the vibe or approach to the music?

Inspectah Deck: Right, those were albums by Wu-Tang Clan or affiliated Wu-Tang projects that were probably handled by Rza. To me? Yeah. In New York, the stress keeps you on your toes. The stress of New York keeps you to a point where you have to stay focused, stay moving, and there’s no time to be slacking or falling asleep. The studios cost more in New York than they do in California. In California, you can take your time and be in a drop top, cruising down Sunset Blvd. In New York, you can’t even get through the traffic to get to the studio. It’s a whole different state of mind. I’m low-key in New York.

MVRemix: You worked with Gangstarr on the amazing track ‘Above The Clouds’. How did you hook up with them? What was it like working with Premier and Guru?

Inspectah Deck: Premo has always been one of my dogs. I was trying to reach out and get some joints from him for ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ but before that came about, I would always meet Guru in the low-key spots. I would be going downtown Manhattan, in a low-key little bar that may be popping off with only 50 people in it. It wouldn’t be too crowded, it wouldn’t be too gangsta. I would catch him in there, listening to jazz. I’m the type who is out and about. I may be in the big, wild club today but I may in the little pub tomorrow. I used to run into Guru, Sadat X, and Brand Nubian. There’s mad people out in the town. One day, I ran into Guru and he told me that he was recording a new album (‘The Moment Of Truth’). He said that he had the beat and the track, and he wanted to get down. I came through D&D Studios the next day and we took care of that. Premo, being the scientist he is, he didn’t even want me to just rhyme to any beat. Once he knew that I was there and I wanted to do it, he went home and concocted a whole new beat that same day. When I heard it again, that was the finished product. Premo is a genius with it. I look at Rza and him in the same boat.

MVRemix: Word association time. I’m going to say a name of a group/emcee and you say the first word that pops in your head. So, if I say ‘Chuck D’, you may say ‘Revolution’. Okay?

Inspectah Deck: For Chuck D, I would say ‘The other rebel’.

MVRemix: Pharoahe Monch

Inspectah Deck: Organized Konfusion.

MVRemix: Jay-Z

Inspectah Deck: Slick with it.

MVRemix: Eminem

Inspectah Deck: Ill white boy, straight up. The illest one I have ever heard.

MVRemix: Freddie Foxxx

Inspectah Deck: Authentic 80’s. That’s classic hip-hop. That’s Union Square.

MVRemix: Starang Wondah

Inspectah Deck: That’s hood. Boot Camp is hood. I love Boot Camp. They stay on the grind, Buckshot and them.

MVRemix: Curtis Mayfield

Inspectah Deck: That’s my father from another father. I’m his illegitimate son.

MVRemix: Gil-Scott Heron

Inspectah Deck: He’s my illegitimate uncle. I’m related to them somehow. I always said that if I was here before or back then, I would be one of those type of people.

MVRemix: What happened to Loud Records?

Inspectah Deck: Loud fell apart because they were like The Clippers. They had all the #1 draft picks but couldn’t put a win together. I guess Steve Rifkind took his money and jetted off.

MVRemix: Why did you choose Koch Entertainment for this release?

Inspectah Deck: We just chose an independent vessel to move this album that didn’t have any ties with the majority of The Wu-Tang Clan. You can’t mix the two. I was signed to Loud Records as a solo artist and a group artist. That sh*t right there is something that I would never do again. You can’t be signed twice to the same label.

MVRemix: How did being signed twice to Loud Records, as a solo artist and a group artist, cause problems for you?

Inspectah Deck: Simple and plain, Wu-Tang is the engine while Inspectah Deck is the individual. So, when Inspectah Deck is trying to make something happen, in the course of Wu-Tang, my solo stuff always gets overshadowed. That was the big picture. I had Raekwon on the label too. There was also Mobb Deep, Big Pun, Fat Joe and others. They had the draft picks but they didn’t know how to win. Like a Portland thing, they didn’t know how to ration out the playing time.

MVRemix: You and Kurupt collaborated on the classic track ‘True Master’ from Pete Rock’s ‘Soul Survivor’ LP. How did that collaboration come to fruition? Were you and Kurupt there at the same time or did you record your parts at different times?

Inspectah Deck: Nah, we did all of that in the same spot. Love to Pete Rock! That’s another one of my dogs who we’ve been working with for the longest time. We did ‘Trouble Man’ together on ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ LP. I just try to keep it with the cats who I identify with. I did a freestyle off of Freeway’s joint with Talib Kweli, when I hooked up with him. I met Talib for the first time. Certain cats, you just vibe with because they are on the same path as you.

MVRemix: There are 2 songs on the promo copy that were left off ‘The Movement’. They were called ‘Action Man’ and ‘He’s A Rebel’. Why were they left off?

Inspectah Deck: The song ‘He’s A Rebel’ had problems with Phil Spector. He tried to make a big scene and act like we sampled his record and it actually wasn’t his record! So, the people that we told him who it was, they made a big fiasco. They got in touch with those people. They got nervous and they wanted us not to use that song at the last second. So, we went and did a new version of ‘He’s A Rebel’ without the sample that may be out on the next shipment of album. We may put a whole new add out and let people know that. That was some bullsh*t right there. You may have to guy 2 copies man. I’m sorry about that sh*t but you may have to buy 2 copies. I’ll put that on my website also.

MVRemix: What Wu-Tang collaborations and other collaborations are you going to be on in the future?

Inspectah Deck: Right now, you don’t hear anyone on my album but you’ll hear me on their album. I’m the dude who makes my way. I’m in the working ant stage. I don’t let anything fly past me right now. I did some sh*t for Sweden. I did some sh*t for London. It may migrate back over here. I’m not discriminating. If I could do a song with Japan and Germany, I will. I want it to migrate back out here. I have at least 20 freestyles on the plate that I’m working with right now. You can go to inspectahdeck.net on the website and all of those songs that you’re talking about like ‘True Master’ and ‘Above The Clouds’ and ‘Tres Leches’ are on the mix tape that are on my website. The mix tape is called ‘The Best Of Inspectah Deck’.

MVRemix: What is the biggest mistake you made in your career?

Inspectah Deck: Signing to Loud. It stagnated me. My album got pushed back for a couple of years. I got caught up. When BMG dropped them, they got picked up by Sony. Then, they did the merger with Relativity Record and Columbia. All of that was a 3-4 year process that got me caught up in the shuffle. After I dropped an album, there was a lack of promotion, a lack of everything. I still ended up pulling off 400,000 plus. Even after that, I still had a hiatus of 2-3 years of trying to get out of those contracts.

MVRemix: What can we expect from Inspectah Deck in the future?

Inspectah Deck: I got the Urban Icons Records popping off. INS Productions is already in effect. That’s what this album is out on along with Koch. We’ve got the DVD popping off called ‘A Day In The Life’ that’s just showing cats what it is really like to be me and the sh*t I go through. It ranges from traveling to checking into hotels, to being in the parties, to radio stations. You can see what a rapper really goes through. I also have the website inspectahdeck.net . I got the mix tape popping off on the website. It’s called ‘The Best Of Inspectah Deck’. You can order the album. You got the discount price on the website. You can find out about tour dates and everything. Whatever I’m getting into, you can find it out on my website: inspectahdeck.net”

MVRemix: Any final words for the people who will be reading this?

Inspectah Deck: Yeah! ‘The Movement’ comes out June 10th! Support the reality of the situation. Corporations are puppeting us. Just call them Gepetto and we’re Pinocchio right now. We need to become real. We need to cut the strings! That’s what Pinocchio wanted. Cut the strings because the corporations are puppeting us. Aim your dollars! The urban market is the #1 market for any company right now. Anybody that has dealt with the urban market in the last year has increased their sales by at leas 10%. The urban dollar is the most powerful weapon right now. They know if they can get us to buy something, we go out an buy it in abundance. Sometimes, we don’t even know what we’re doing. They capitalize on us not knowing. It was a good interview. I like the questions you asked. You don’t ask the same old questions. I’m interviewing from my bed, man! Thank you! I’m trying to get some tour dates for y’all. Come down and check out my live joint. Like I was saying, my stage show is not all pyrotechnics and half-naked women but it’s just me out there following my goals. Peace

Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan Interview

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Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

These are the transcripts of an interview with Inspectah Deck. The interview was conducted by Hugo Lunny on May 30th, 2003.

For those unaware, Inspectah Deck is a member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan. Arguably one of the most talented members, Inspectah Deck dropped his debut solo album, ‘Uncontrolled Substance’ a few years back. Due to poor promotion, it didn’t do as well as expected. On June 10th, the Rebel INS releases ‘The Movement,’ his sophmore effort on Koch Records.

MVRemix: How do you keep yourself motivated? What makes you continue to make music… What inspires your creative spirit?

Inspectah Deck: It’s in my blood man! I’m a 2009 70’s child. It’s like corn bread – you’ve gotta have soul, man.

MVRemix: Do you have anything that you feel has you inspired to continue creating?

Inspectah Deck: I just witness life. I walk out the door and I see things and hear things. I’ve experienced a lot. So, I combine and use all of that when I sit down and write. A sunny day may inspire something, but a rainy day may also.

MVRemix: What are your thoughts on ODB joining The Roc?

Inspectah Deck: More power to him! He might be making ten mill. over there just for signing. I don’t know the situation or how it went down or whatever. But I know Ol’ Dirty’s a grown man. The decision he made is gonna benefit him in the future, I know that much. I support him man, plus I like them “Roc” dudes. It’s love, whatever the case may be.

MVRemix: Have you been in contact with him much since he hooked up with the label?

Inspectah Deck: Nah, I’ve been on the move and since he touched down, he’s been on the tracks. Soon as we bump heads though, we’re definitely gonna hook up and make something happen. That’s guaranteed.

MVRemix: I heard that you recently filmed a video for for ‘The Movement.’ Can you tell me a little about it?

Inspectah Deck: It’s hi-octane! It’s just ‘The Fast and The Furious’ meets Hip Hop type thing. There’s not a whole lot of commercialism going on, it’s just a little club scene – we’re in there wilding out. High energy. A lot of laser lights and things being shaken around. Just a high energy party, bringing it back to when Hip Hop was fun.

MVRemix: Can you explain to me your alias “Manny Festo”

Inspectah Deck: That’s my rhyme-writer mode. When you write an important document, it’s a manifesto. So I just took “Manifesto” and turned it into a code name, a mob name. “Manny Festo” – that’s when I get a pen in my hand, I turn into him. The same when I get the mic in my hand on stage. I’ve got “Charlie Horse” too, that’s the worker. That’s the worker ant in me. That’s for when I’m out their grindin’, sellin’ mixtapes on the corner or something.

MVRemix: I interviewed Killah Priest recently, and he doesn’t always have the nicest things to say about The RZA. What are your thoughts on Bobby Digital and his production allocation…

Inspectah Deck: I know RZA’s the greatest to me as far as beat making. He taught me how to do this shit, and I know he taught the game how to rock. I don’t know what Killah Priest’s personal beef is. I know I owe the dog a lot. He taught me a lot as far as how to conduct my lyrics, as far as perfecting what I do. I can differ with that. Everybody goes through stages. I mean I remember a stage where RZA didn’t want to sample anymore and he wanted to play all of those instruments. I can understand that move because you grow as a person. It’s all your artistic development as well. He’s getting to the stage where it’s “Why sample when I’m learning how to play the piano?” The violin, and all of that. To each his own.

MVRemix: Tell me about I.N.S. Productions

Inspectah Deck: That’s what’s next. Right now, I’m just trying to open the doorways to myself. I’m trying to get people to relax and get out of that, “Kill a nigga every five minutes” frame of mind. I’m trying to get them to just party and have fun with Hip Hop again. It’s not about takin’ it back to ’88 or ’95. It’s bringing that same vibe up to now. What’s next after you’re killing everybody and you’ve bought all the diamonds and you’ve got the biggest Hummer truck sitting on 40-inch rims? What’s after that?

So we’ve got to strip all of that naked, bring it back up and rebirth this shit. That’s what “The Movement” is all about. It’s like the rebirth of Hip Hop. It’s trying to make it come through a new angle. Hip Hop went through Jazz, Gospel – about the only one that it hasn’t hit yet is Country. But Hip Hop went into every chamber, I don’t care what it is. Hip Hop is the driving force behind everything. You’ll hear an instrumental beat behind a Cheerio’s commercial.

So “The Movement” is “Lets take the control out of the corporations’ hands who’re programming us to be and sound, and look like this.” Lets take the power and put it back in our own hands. We’re the ones who dictate what’s hot and what’s not anyway. There’s an urban market that everybody’s targeting. Being that everybody’s targeting us. Lets use that. Our dollar is the weapon. The urban dollar.

I’m trying to tell everyone “Support what we do!” Instead of re-boosting Gucci and Prada sales 18-20% for the year.

MVRemix: So speaking of corporations etc. taking over everything, in ‘Vendetta’ you talk about being held down and ignored but coming back. Can you elaborate on what your feelings are with regards to that given the delaying of “Uncontrolled Substance” and its poor promotion.

Inspectah Deck: I got postponed four times. Didn’t get promoted right. I got bootlegged to death. I got caught in a label merger. I got caught when Loud got dropped from BMG distribution. And, I still almost pulled out a [certified] Gold album. With no promotion, no video support, no nothin’!

So what does that say? There’s still love out there for what I do. Eventually, I’ll break through. It all just takes the proper promotion, guidance and things like that. I’ll come through with a lot more of that this time. This time it’s a lot more of my thoughts and not ten people collectively telling me what to do and this, that and the third. It’s more of I.N.S. Productions. I.N.S. is Inspectah Deck and he’s off on his own two feet right now trying to build his legacy, before he goes out as a legend.

MVRemix: Now I’ve heard you’ve already started on your next album; ‘Ghetto Child’ can you tell me any details about that one?

Inspectah Deck: That’s gonna be, once I get you open to the new sound, then I can bring the “Ghetto Child” which really brings the essence of what I want the people to see, hear and know about Inspectah Deck. I’m a ghetto child. I was born in the seventies. I grew up with the fire hoses being sprayed and dogs sicked upon us. I learned about abortion politics and all that as a child. I was interested in just learning about life. I had a fun childhood. I rolled bikes, I built shit from scratch as well as going through the pain of being poor and not having much. All of that is what makes me. That’s why I’m the “Ghetto Child,” and “ghetto” is not a bad thing. We turned the bad situations we were faced with and made some type of good. Or, if we couldn’t make good. We saw some sign of good and tried to take advantage of that.

That’s what makes me the man I am today. I rap, but I’m not a rapper. I’m more of a Langston Hughes. I’m more of a Gil Scott Heron. I’m more of a Marvin Gaye type. This is my vehicle to help get people to understand. I always compare it to Marvin Gaye vs. Smokey on the same label. Smokey was the ladies man, Marvin was telling you to stop the war.

We’re happy with ourselves to just have made it this far. In a mix where close friends around me done got knocked off, shot up, locked up or whatever the case may be. I’m still here grindin’, living and breathing every day. I’m grateful, but that’s the “ghetto child.” That sums it up. I have songs of joy and pain. I’m not ballin’ on every song, I’m not a player on every song. I’m also going through shit and that’s what this album(‘The Movement’) is all about. It’s showing “He’s not afraid to stand on the front line and be himself.”

MVRemix: With regards to “Standing on the front line,” supposedly the next Wu album is the last, do you have any details on it? Or whether you can confirm or de-confirm that rumour?

Inspectah Deck: Right now we are trying to put a Wu album together. We’ve got to get everybody under one roof. We’re Voltron, but we’ve broken down into the lion stages now. Everybody’s out their on their own on a manhunt right now. But, when we get everybody under one roof and discuss the terms and everything, we gon’ pop that off. Hopefully it could be like a back to school joint.

MVRemix: Is there actually any talk of it being “the last”?

Inspectah Deck: It might be and it might not be, but I know the next Wu album is going to be stronger than any other album we ever gave to ya’ll. A lot of album’s we’ve done were ahead of their time. We could put ‘The Iron Flag’ out right now and it symbolizes what’s going on. We were on the front cover lookin’ like the marines’ first brigade out there in Iraq. We were there, and people didn’t understand that because they wanted to party and shake their ass all the time. But we were already there. We talked about man-made diseases being spread. Look at SARS. People have got to start understanding man, Wu-Tang was before its time. It’s still before its time and I know, when we drop that next one. It’s gonna stop time. There’s gonna be so much information and knowledge that whoever’s willing to sit down and stomach it, and know that that’s the real world. They’re gonna benefit from it. If you’re lookin for the shake ya ass, party all day songs. This ain’t the place to come for that.

I mean, I may have one or two. Haha. I have some shit that makes you vibe, party and dance but we don’t live in the clubs. We live in the fucked up assed neighbourhoods.

MVRemix: Is there anything else, aside from the DJ 4-5 mix CD and ‘The Movement’ that has yet to come out? In terms of guest appearances, b-sides, collaborations or anything…

Inspectah Deck: Right now I’m working on some little freestyle joints that I’m about to spread out there. I’ve got a song I’m doing for Japan right now, one I’m doing for Sweden. I’m filming a DVD for the album, it’s called “A Day In The Life.” We filming it as I’m speaking to you right now.

Also, I started a new label. It’s called “Urban Icon Records,” and I’m dropping off the Street Life album.

Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

Tags Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview, Interviews

Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

The Struggle Of Cappadonna Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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The Struggle Of Cappadonna Interview

John Gardner (an activist, author, teacher and reformer) once wrote, “When we find meaning in the struggle, we are capable of heroic effort and endurance.” Many people in this world are caught in the struggle. Some struggle to survive. Some struggle to feed their kids. Some struggle to maintain their hip-hop career. Some struggle with their inner demons.

Even though Cappadonna has been on platinum records, he is still struggling in day-to-day life. Cappadonna was considered the unofficial 10th member of The Wu-Tang Clan. While he was not on the debut “Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” album, he soon became a major part of the Wu-Tang phenomenon. His debut with Wu-Tang was on the classic track “Ice Cream” from Raekwon’s classic “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” album. He had the 3rd and final verse to the song. With a confidence and arrogance, he rocked the track and stole it: “Black chocolate girl wonder, shade brown like Thunder / Politic til your deficit step, gimme your number.” Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon made a perfect team. All three of them made classic Wu-Tang tracks on both Raekwon’s “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” LP and Ghostface Killah’s “Ironman” LP.

He showed his skills on classic Wu-Tang collaborations like “Daytona 500” and “Camey”. When Wu-Tang Clan finally put out their sophomore album “Wu-Tang Forever”, Cappadonna was not an official member but he was all over the double CD. His verse on “Triumph” was also one of the hungriest. With the help of Rza, Mathematics, 4th Disciple, and True Master on production, Cappadonna put out his debut solo album “The Pillage”. With thick beats and a hungry rhyme delivery, Cappadonna’s debut LP went Gold. “Slang Editorial” was one of the best tracks by a Wu-Tang affiliate. Other incredible tracks included “Run”, “The Pillage”, “Blood On Blood War”, “Milk The Cow”, “Dark Throwing”, and “Supa Ningaz”. Guests included Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, U-God, and others. The future looked bright for Cappadonna.

Eventually, when Wu-Tang Clan was ready to put out another album, Ol Dirty Bastard was locked up. Cappadonna took his place and was finally considered an official member on “The W” album. While many critics and fans thought that Wu-Tang was falling off, they still made some incredible hip-hop. Cappadonna had some major problems with his sophomore LP “The Yin & The Yang”. Due to sample clearances and lack of promotion, the album was considered a disappointment by fans and critics. The LP was only 11 tracks long. Still, “The Ying & The Yang” had some incredible tracks like “Love Is The Message” featuring Raekwon, “Supermodel” featuring Ghostface Killah, “One Way To Zion”, and “The Grits” featuring 8-Off Agallah.

Eventually, Wu-Tang Clan released “Iron Flag” and Cappadonna did not seem to be as close to The Wu as before. Cappadonna began to struggle even more. He made a deal with Mad Lion’s Killah Pride Records to release the “Love Is Love” LP but it has yet to be released. There have been news reports that Cappadonna has been driving a cab to make ends meet. So, how does an emcee from one of hip-hop’s largest and most successful crews end up driving a cab? The music industry is a struggle. Cappadonna claims that he is owed up to $300,000 in royalties and publishing.

In 2003, Cappadonna hooked up with Remedy and Code Red Entertainment to release “The Struggle” LP. With a majority of the beats done by unknown and “poor” producers, “The Struggle” is an entertaining and thick portrait of where Cappadonna is today. Production is handled by Cologerio, 4th Disciple, Remedy, Soulfingers, Qyasi, Mizza, Knockaround Guys, and others. Guests include Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Lounge Mode, Remedy, Solomon Child, and more. While the Wu-Tang sound is there, Cappadonna is truly doing his own thing.

There are the street tracks filled with drugs, hustling, guns, and violence. There are the sentimental tracks like “Momma”. There are the tracks about heartache and relationships like “Calling It Quits” and “Life Of A Lesbo”. Cappadonna was always a loner.

He never was a sports addict or interested in strip clubs. Could this and the money situation be the reasons why Wu-Tang Clan and Cappadonna are not as close as they used to be? To this day, Cappadonna still represents The Wu. Even though this is his 3rd album, Cappadonna is still driving his cab. He is a father of triplets and he has 2 other children. He is evidence that the music industry is harsh.

On a warm Autumn evening in 2003, I had an in-depth conversation with Cappadonna. We talked about hip-hop, driving cabs, Wu-Tang Clan, ‘The Pillage’, ‘The Struggle’, relationships, death, labels, and more. He refuses to give up and continues to work hard. It is a story we all can relate to. From rocking classic verses on platinum albums to driving a cab, Cappadonna is an emcee caught up in the struggle. Through this struggle, Cappadonna has endured, has become a hero to his family, and has found meaning in his life.

MVRemix: Your new album is called ‘The Struggle’. Tell us about it. Who is on it? Who is doing the production?

Cappadonna: I’m on it. As far as production is concerned, I got a couple of heads. I have 4th Disciple on there for the ‘Blood Brothers’ track. I have Cologero and a few other heads. Qazi. I was searching for that local talent. I wanted the poor people, the struggling people. Not the $80,000 a beat people.

MVRemix: Is that why Rza is not on the new album ‘The Struggle’?

Cappadonna: Rza is not on there because he ain’t want to be on there.

MVRemix: What is the meaning behind the title?

Cappadonna: Self-explanatory. Anything that requires you busting your *ss in trying to get to the next level acquires a struggle. If you are looking for a victory, you have to work hard and struggle to get that.

MVRemix: Do you have a favorite song on ‘The Struggle’?

Cappadonna: I like ‘Momma’. That’s one of the phattest tracks.

MVRemix: You are now on Code Red Entertainment, a label run by Remedy. How and why did this happen?

Cappadonna: Code Red Entertainment? That’s an independent label. I was finishing up another album on another label. I was going through whatever I was going through with those people over there and I decided to write about my struggle and all the things that I was going through to put this next album out.

MVRemix: Personally, I truly liked ‘The Yin & The Yang’ but critics did not and some fans did not either. Why do you think so?

Cappadonna: It has a lot to do with promotion. If the album is not promoted right, it will be hard to put it out there and get the recognition needed to succeed. We have to constantly strive to get that notoriety, you know?

MVRemix: Your last album ‘The Yin And The Yang’ was extremely short and many of songs like ‘The Odd Couple’ weren’t on it. How did this happen? Were you satisfied with the album?

Cappadonna: If I do not have total control over the whole project, I think there will always be things missing. Word. I had to get what I needed to get. That was just part of my struggle right there.

MVRemix: What happened to your previous deal with Sony?

Cappadonna: In the previous deal with Sony, they weren’t giving me the love and respect that I needed. I had to go. They had ‘The Yin & The Yang’ but it was not promoted to the best of their abilities. So, it did not get that airplay that it needed to succeed. Basically, everybody was dropped from that label at that time.

MVRemix: Were there any contract problems or disputes with Sony?

Cappadonna: Nah, not necessarily. I wanted to be independent anyway.

MVRemix: For people who do not know, how did you get involved with Wu-Tang Clan?

Cappadonna: Well, that started years ago. That was one of my first projects, you know? We all grew up together so it was easy for us to start to get into music like that. We all from the same hood like Brooklyn and Staten Island. We were rhyming and decided to make it into a business. That’s when we felt that we could do something bigger with these raps and make something happen. That’s what we did. When ‘Protect Ya Neck’ came out, I wasn’t around at that time. I didn’t come out until the ‘Only Built For Cuban Linx’ album. When ‘Only Built For Cuban Linx’ dropped, we dropped a single off there called ‘Ice Cream’ so that right there put me right on the top of things. We polly-ed that sh*t and the sh*t went platinum. That’s when I dropped ‘The Pillage’ album. That went gold in like 3 weeks. I just kept working from there and got a couple of soundtracks and everything. I was just doing me.

MVRemix: There are many rumors going around about tensions between you and Wu-Tang Clan? What is going on? Are there any tensions? Are there any Wu members that you just don’t get along with?

Cappadonna: The only tension that was created was that I felt like n*ggas owed me some royalty checks. Everything I was on went platinum basically with the exception of my solo projects. ‘The Pillage’ went gold, like 700,000.

MVRemix: Did Wu-Tang screw you out of publishing?

Cappadonna: Yeah, yeah but not necessarily the publishing but the royalties. Actually, the publishing too! They still owe me. All together, they probably owe me around $300,000.

MVRemix: If Wu-Tang Clan made another group album, would you be on it?

Cappadonna: I don’t know. Right now, I’m not doing anything unless my money is being paid upfront. I have to get paid up front or I can’t do it. I cannot be waiting for the mystery God to come after the album is already shipped out and sold however many copies. Then, I’m still waiting years to get my little crumbs. I can’t play that role right now. Life is different. I have my triplets and my wifey. I have to take care of my kids. I can’t be the one acting like I’m going to be stuck in the back. I have to play front and center now. I have my album out now.

MVRemix: How did you get your name Cappadonna? What is the meaning behind it?

Cappadonna: My brother gave me that name. There’s a meaning behind that. I’m a don. I’m a captain of the dons. It stands for the head of the household. It’s a mafia name. It’s Italian. It’s something like that.

MVRemix: I always thought your verse stole the song on ‘Daytona 500’. That final verse was mind-blowing.

Cappadonna: I did my best to provide that spot that they needed to keep their songs on their album. Sometimes, I don’t know either. I really don’t know my quality of rap sometimes. A lot of times, I leave it to the crowd to decide but I know that they are so young and inexperienced with creativity. Anybody can kick a rhyme but when you come with a whole new and different style, it’s is almost like it has to be trendy in order to reach the masses. It has to be a trendy kind of style. If everyone is not really feeling it, then it ain’t gonna pop. It ain’t gonna happen. No matter what. You can rhyme all day. You can be the illest n*gga but you may not be that kind of person. The bully of the class has to like you. If the bully of the class likes you, then the whole class will like you. If everyone is looking at the bully and he ain’t smiling, ain’t nobody else will smile. They’re scared to take those kind of chances. I know my album is hot. I brought it back to the streets. I’m from the streets. I talk about the struggle because that is what I know. I don’t think that there is another possible different way for me to go on. I know the contents is kind of harsh but hey, so is the struggle. Nothing in life comes easy. I don’t care what it is.

MVRemix: Your old label put out a ‘Greatest Hits’ album of your work. Did you have any say in that?

Cappadonna: My ‘Greatest Hits’ album is one that Sony put out without even confronting or talking to me. They just put it out like ‘F*ck Cappa’! You know what I mean? I don’t know what they wanted to do. It’s disgusting, man. It’s disgusting.

MVRemix: Out of all of your albums, which one is your favorite?

Cappadonna: I guess ‘The Pillage’ is my favorite album. I like ‘The Pillage’ album.

MVRemix: As an emcee, who were your biggest influences?

Cappadonna: I get a lot of influence from just music, period. I like to hear a little of everything. I like to listen to a lot of music. Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye. Those people make me write because they are saying the same things I be saying. I put it out but I put it out in a rap form and they put it out in a singing form. I try to keep involved. Maybe I’m not too good of a beat picker. I’m always going for that gritty, gritty.

MVRemix: You were a major part of the 2nd Wu album ‘Wu-Tang Forever’ that went double platinum. Can you tell us about this? Did the label swindle you out of money? Was the deal very bad? How did you go from having classic verses on songs like ‘Ice Cream’, ‘Camey’, ‘Daytona 500’, ‘Triumph’ to struggling for money?

Cappadonna: It’s all in the checks, man. It’s all in the royalties and the publishing. Wherever that money goes to, that is where that money goes to. You don’t really get to know. You don’t really get to see. So, you can’t really tell. If you ain’t there, you are out of sight and out of mind. The label is not going to call you and say ‘We sent a big check over there. Make sure you get yours.’ Who is going to call you to tell you that you have money sitting over here when they can go ahead and flip that on crack or whatever?

MVRemix: You are getting more points on ‘The Struggle’ album though, right?

Cappadonna: Yeah. It’s business.

MVRemix: There were some news reports about you driving a cab and being broke. How long were you driving a cab? What was it like?

Cappadonna: That was no rumor. How could it be a rumor when my big *ss face was right up on MTV sitting in the car? I do it right now until today. I got to eat. Ain’t no shame in my game. Gotta get money. I got to do what I have to do. I have to feed the kids. It’s a f*cked up world that we’re living in. Society is f*cking dealing with n*ggas with $100,000 and forgetting about the people who are trying to come up in the struggle. It makes it hard to live. It’s my car. I just drive my car as a cab. I drive that sh*t to pay my bills and do what I have to do.

MVRemix: On your new album, ‘The Struggle’, there are more songs about women and relationships. Was this a conscious choice or something that just happened?

Cappadonna: It’s a lot of trials and tribulations. Women play 50% part of a man’s life. I know how sneaky and deceitful they can be and I know how loving and caring they could be at the same time. That’s another struggle. You get the good with the bad.

MVRemix: One of the hidden songs is about a woman cheating on you called ‘Calling It Quits’. It deals with betrayal and a woman stabbing you in the back. Did this happen in real life? How did you deal with it?

Cappadonna: Women do that. It happened to me a few times or whatever but it could have been the result of how I was coming. I was stabbing women in their back too. As a matter of fact, I was stabbing them in their sides all over their body. (Laughs). Ain’t nobody perfect, man. God already said that we all fall short of the glory.

MVRemix: Are you in a committed relationship now?

Cappadonna: Yeah, I’m in a committed relationship because it’s like I’m committed to being in it until I cannot be in it any more. That’s the good and the bad.

MVRemix: When you go into the studio to record a song, do you go in with lyrics and themes already written and prepared or do you hear the beat first and create from there?

Cappadonna: I do it both ways. I don’t know. I just do it. Whenever I write, I write. I probably would prefer to write to the beat but sometimes I have some sh*t already written that goes with the beat too.

MVRemix: There was also a rumor about an associate of yours being involved with the Witness Protection Program. Can you explain that?

Cappadonna: That’s what they say. That was Mike Caruso. I don’t know. They tried to sh*t on my man and all of that. He’s alright. He works for Ghostface now. Rza wanted me to let him go. Rza told me to fire him. I thought I was making a good decision but now, I don’t think it was a wise decision and sh*t. Now, he’s working for Ghost.

MVRemix: On your album, you said you were in many different prisons. What was the charge the last time you got locked up?

Cappadonna: Scounding. I escaped from work release. I refused to go back. I just f*cking left.

MVRemix: Do the problems with the law get in the way of your music career?

Cappadonna: Nope. I try to stay away from the police and all that. I hate the police. That’s a ghetto thing right there. If you lived in the ghetto, you would not like the police. I guess the suburbs are pretty cool because I never saw them in the suburbs.

MVRemix: They are there in the suburbs. They are just different.

Cappadonna: Point blank, they don’t roll through the suburban areas like they do in the ghetto. They do their 8 hour shifts in the projects.

MVRemix: There are some suburbs in NJ that if you are a minority, the cops will pull you over instantly and all the time.

Cappadonna: Well, you shouldn’t be riding through their hood. The suburbs are where the police live. There are only 2 places you can live. The ghetto or the suburbs. The police don’t live in the ghetto.

MVRemix: Many artists are more popular overseas than in the United States. Would you ever consider moving to Europe or Japan?

Cappadonna: One of my good markets was Canada. As a group, we sold well overseas. I don’t mind doing the whole overseas thing but I want to embrace my home. I have to go where the love is. That’s what my father always told me. Go where the love is. If you are getting no love where you are, then, be out. F*ck them. That’s what I did, man.

MVRemix: What artist or group would you like to collaborate with in the future that you haven’t worked with yet?

Cappadonna: I’d work with just about anybody. Whoever, as long as I have the capabilities.

MVRemix: I always thought that you and Thirstin Howl III would make a great collaboration.

Cappadonna: Thirstin Howl III? That’s my good buddy right there. I spoke to him not too long ago.

MVRemix: What producer would you like to collaborate with in the future that you haven’t worked with yet?

Cappadonna: I like to work with the poor producers. The ones who aren’t getting sh*t. Everyone is trying to buy all of these expensive beats and leaving the others in the street to die. I’d rather work with those guys. I’d like to stay with my mind on the grind. You hear about motherf*ckers that are struggling and trying to come up. I’m always maintaining and I always will.

MVRemix: What was the last incident of racism you experienced?

Cappadonna: Racism right now, I look at it as anybody who doesn’t like me. I don’t really classify it in a Black or White thing. I know Black people who treated me way worse than any white man or Chinese man in the world. Those who were the closest to me stabbed me in the back the hardest. That’s not white, Black, Chinese, Hispanic, or whoever.

MVRemix: Where were you on the September 11th Terrorist Attack? How did you deal with it? How do you think it affected hip-hop?

Cappadonna: I was in bed. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe that it was really going down. That was one of the things that I said would happen before I left New York. Before I left Sony, that day, I was giving them my album ‘The Yin & The Yang’. I was telling them that New York was coming down. I told them that New York would fall. I just felt it. I don’t know if my energy was mad high at that time or whatever it was. I have always been kind of spiritual and conscious about life. It was a premonition that came to me that really happened. Inside the sleeve of ‘The Yin & The Yang’, you see a picture of the Twin Towers.

MVRemix: On the song ‘Bread Of Life’ from ‘The Ying & The Yang’ album, you have a lyric that goes ‘You don’t really want God in your life.’ Can you explain that?

Cappadonna: It’s like a lot of people out there, they don’t want God in their life. They just want to be forever negative and thinking life is miserable for people. There’s a lot of Black on Black crime and a lot of things that ain’t supposed to be. You have to just keep doing what you have to do. Don’t let that distract you from your goals.

MVRemix: How has being a father affected your approach to music?

Cappadonna: I would have thought that it would have toned things down for me, but it just made it more difficult. I really have a cause and a purpose for what I’m doing. I’m not just trying to do this sh*t just for the love. Sure, I do it for the love but I need to live. I need to do something that supports my children.

MVRemix: On the new album, ‘The Struggle’, you actually sing a little bit on the hooks. For example, ‘I Don’t Even Know You’ or ‘Calling It Quits’. Was that intentional?

Cappadonna: I think that was me regaining control over my soul. Music comes from the soul. That melody is like how the birds fly. The birds fly to a melody. I think I was getting more in tuned with that melody. I’m singing in the hooks. I have around 4 or 5 other new songs and another album I recorded called ‘Love Is Love’ but, I even sing on some of the hooks there too.

MVRemix: What is the story with the un-released ‘Love Is Love’ album?

Cappadonna: As soon as I can find Mad Lion’s number, I’ll get up with the kid. It’s not out yet. I need to find Mad Lion and hook up with him. I need to go ahead and polly that album there. Right now, he is trying to cease and desist me on some legal sh*t for dropping ‘The Struggle’ album because me and him had the ‘Love Is Love’ album that was supposed to come out. He was going through some kind of difficulties that were crazy. I couldn’t really call it. It was supposed to be on Killah Pride Records. He wanted to get ‘The Struggle’ album off the shelves because he said that I was locked into his deal or his label or whatever. He said that I had to do 4 albums with him. He’s an idiot. How can I be locked into doing 4 albums when he can’t even release one of them? Get the f*ck out of here! Brothers need to let the artists be the artist and stop trying to change a n*gga into something he’s not. N*ggas tried to do that sh*t with The Lox. Them n*ggas, The Lox, fought till the end to get free. Now they are free and they are doing what the f*ck they wanna do. That’s what I need to be doing, what the f*ck I wanna do. I can’t let nobody pimp me. Nobody can pimp me because I am not pimpable. I only can do what I do. I put myself in the right place at the right time.

MVRemix: Word association time. I am going to say a name of an emcee or group and you say the first word that pops into your head. So, if I said ‘Chuck D’, you may say ‘revolution’. If I said ‘Flavor Flav’, you may say ‘clock’ or ‘crack’. Okay?

Cappadonna: Mmmm.

MVRemix: Rza.

Cappadonna: Innovative.

MVRemix: Eminem.

Cappadonna: Magnificent.

MVRemix: Masta Killa.

Cappadonna: On the rise.

MVRemix: Jay-Z.

Cappadonna: Top choice.

MVRemix: Method Man.

Cappadonna: Commercial.

MVRemix: 50 Cent.

Cappadonna: Gangsta.

MVRemix: Cormega.

Cappadonna: Gangsta.

MVRemix: Common.

Cappadonna: Educational.

MVRemix: Gil-Scott Heron.

Cappadonna: Never heard of him.

MVRemix: George Bush.

Cappadonna: The killer. The murderer.

MVRemix: What do you think hip-hop is lacking these days? What do you think hip-hop needs?

Cappadonna: It needs more love.

MVRemix: What are some CDs or LPs that you have been listening to lately?

Cappadonna: In the last couple of days, I have been listening to this mix-tape. Old-school for the gangsters. Classic joints and old school joints. Slow jams and sh*t like that from back in the day. ‘Close The Door’ and all that sh*t. Teddy Pendergrass. I listen to a little Jahiem here and there and some R. Kelly and sh*t.

MVRemix: Some magazine articles described you as a loner. Even though you are like the 10th member of the Wu-Tang Clan, many articles portrayed you as a loner. Is this true? Why?

Cappadonna: Yeah. I do my best work when I am by myself and nobody can really relate to me. I’m not with a lot of the bullsh*t that has been played out in my life. I’m not no video game, up all night, smoking weed, playing video games *ss n*gga. I’m not too intrigued about sports. I like sports and sh*t but they don’t excite me. Stripping and strip clubs don’t’ excite me. I’m not a heavy drinker. To me, my idea of a good life is a cozy evening with a female. Maybe, we can check out a movie here and there and travel around. Nice food, talk to good people. Good conversation. Think about life. My favorite study is sociology. I try to deal socially. I’d love a big house because I would always have my family and friends come over and share that with me. 8 bedrooms, big living room, basement and my own studio. I want to do something positive and I want to come away from all of this subordinate music. I want healthy things but I think I can only do that when I’m living that healthy and positive productive life. I can’t do that from the struggle. I have to come out of the struggle and then do the beautiful and soulful music. That is really where I want to be at right now. I have to let them know that it is going to be a struggle to get to at that level. That’s where I am at right now. I’m in the struggle but I am working my way out.

MVRemix: What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career?

Cappadonna: Not having a career. (Laughs).

MVRemix: What are some misconceptions do you think people have of you?

Cappadonna: I don’t even think people have a conception of me. I don’t think they know how I’m coming or what I’m doing. I think they are a little bit confused about me like I still owe them a lot of information right now. That’s what I am trying to produce.

MVRemix: You have been on some classic Wu-Tang songs like ‘Ice Cream’, ‘Camey’, ‘Daytona 500’, ‘Triumph’, ‘Supermodel’, and many others. Which is your all-time favorite collaboration?

Cappadonna: I would say that the whole ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx’ is the greatest collaboration I ever did. Of course, ‘Ice Cream’ was the best sh*t I ever did for me. It was the sh*t that kicked the door down and gave me a chance to advance in my life. I can never forget that right there.

MVRemix: What advice would you give an up and coming emcee?

Cappadonna: If someone wanted to emcee, I would tell them to never give up and keep on doing it. No matter what you go through, there will always be somebody who will try to bring you down. To the people in the struggle, do whatever you got to do. Don’t just do rap music. Have a few other things to do as well. Try to get everything you can get.

MVRemix: What is next for Cappadonna? What is in the future?

Cappadonna: I want to do a video. That’s another struggle I have to deal with. I have to find somebody to do me a very, very big favor. I don’t know what song but I would like to do a video that would give people a visual concept of what I am trying to do. I think it is most necessary right now. I think I would like to do a video for ‘Momma’ and mix it with ‘Blood Brothers’. I don’t know. I don’t really know which direction to go in. I don’t want to go hard and then soft but I do want a balance. I want to go mid-core and then, hardcore.

MVRemix: Any collaborations, remixes, or future projects fans should look out for?

Cappadonna: Sh*t, I would love to do plenty of mixes and collabos with Rae and Ghost, man. Me, Raekwon, and Ghostface? That needs to be done. I think that Ghost and Rae are really overlooking that. However, me and Rae did collaborate on a track called ‘Ice Cream II’ but I come in like way at the last minute, after 4 minutes of the song is played already. Raekwon is on my album. He’s on ‘Killa Killa Hill’. It’s just me and him on the song. There’s no playing around when it comes to my icons. There ain’t no room for nobody else. Even Deck (Inspectah Deck) is on my album and it’s just me and him on the song. I don’t have time to be mixing joints and sh*t.

MVRemix: How is Code Red handling your current situation?

Cappadonna: The label does not really have my interests at heart. I’m working with Remedy and his father is a millionaire but he does not want to support and give the money required to push an album. He’s a Jewish dude and he’s acting real inconsiderate to me right now. Why did you say you wanted to do this if there are issues? This is a project and it’s real. It may be his pet project but this is my life! Yo, you can really f*cking destroy me!

MVRemix: Would you put out another album out on Code Red?

Cappadonna: If they gave me 100% control, yes. I don’t need nobody to be around me because they lessen the quality of my work. I need total control and need to be in there. I need to be able to reach out to the poor people in the struggle who are trying to come up and trying to sing and do something. I need to be able to reach out to them. There cannot be a middle man who will be second guessing the things that I do because he will be intervening on my destiny.

MVRemix: Do you want to be buried or cremated? If buried, what do you want on your epitaph (your gravestone)?

Cappadonna: I just want to disappear. I just want to get abducted by aliens. You know what I mean? I’m going to live to be an old man. I’m going to be like 100 years old but I’m going to still be. I’m going to lay down one day and that will just be it. My bed may empty in the morning and people will be like ‘Yo, he’s gone!’. People will be ‘Yo, where is he at?’ and others will say, ‘Yo, he’s just gone.’ Gone. In the air. That’s how I’m trying to move when I’m out here.

MVRemix: You said that you may need contributions, favors, or help making the video. Do you want me to put an address or email in this interview so that people can contact you and donate their services?

Cappadonna: Man, hit me on my cell. I don’t even care, man. You can call me direct! N*ggas can call me direct! I don’t care who it is! I’m the illest n*gga! I’m one with the sun, man. When the sun comes out, it’s all over the world. It shines on everybody. The sun is not prejudice. I’ll work with anybody. I don’t care if it is a Chinese or a white man. I’ll make that motherf*cker my brother if I have to.

MVRemix: Wait, you want me to put your cell phone number in this interview so the whole Internet can see it?

Cappadonna: Put it right there. 443-306-9762. Reach out! I need all the help I can get right now. I need all the help I can get. No matter what it is, mixes or remixes. If somebody wants to do whatever, let me know. You want me to model clothes for them? Do a party? Whatever, man! I don’t care. I have my DJ. I need to eat. I got my triplets. I got 2 other kids besides them. It’s a struggle!

MVRemix: Any final words for the people who are going to read this?

Cappadonna: I ain’t got nothing but love for all of you no matter what! Good, bad, for better or worse. My love is unconditional. No matter what, I got your back and I hope you got mine!

The Struggle Of Cappadonna Interview

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Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
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U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

These are the transcripts of an interview with U-God. The interview was conducted by Hugo on June 23rd, 1999.

MVRemix: So, Where’d the nicknames Goldenarms and U-God come from?

U-God: U-God, U-God, the U stands for universal man, I’m 5% man

MVRemix: Yeah, and Goldenarms?

U-God: My arms is golden here, they rockin’, they rockin’, they rockin’ you.

MVRemix: Each clan member comes with their own unique style and personality; how would you describe what you bring to the table?

U-God: I’m Sinatra, I’m Frank Sinatra in disguise.

MVRemix: RZA said your album was gonna be on a party vibe is that an accurate description of what we should expect?

U-God: Yeah, it’s live, it’s live, it’s live. A live vibe. It’s lively, it’s moveable.

MVRemix: Why did you leave Loud to join Wu-Tang records ?

U-God: huh?

MVRemix: Why did you leave Loud to join Wu-Tang records?

U-God: Money baby, it’s money. Hahahahahahaha. Mo-ney ba-by. Hahaha

MVRemix: Who’s gonna be producing your LP and who’s guesting?

U-God: I got ummm, you know I got my, I got my all-star producers from my, from my camp. You know I got RZA, True Master, I got new producers, I got new producers I got under my wing, Supernigga Productions. And, um, that’s basically it man.

MVRemix: Dope, so, what’s the title of your current single and when will it be released? I’ve heard it floating around but I haven’t seen it in stores yet.

U-God: Yeah, it’s comin’ out in a minute, it be out in July.

MVRemix: What’s the title of it?

U-God: It’s called ‘Bizarre’

MVRemix: How complete is the LP? By that I mean is it finished or do you have more tracks to do?

U-God: It’s done.

MVRemix: Do you have any videos planned for the LP?

U-God: Yeah, I’m filming a video this weekend, for ‘Bizarre’ right now.

MVRemix: Can you tell us a bit about it?

U-God: Action packed baby.
*pause*
Hahahahaha. Action packed

MVRemix: Do you have plans to tour after its release?

U-God: Of course, I’m all over the place. I’m here, I’m here. I’m all over the world.

MVRemix: What order will the solo albums follow GZA from the 29th? Is yours the next in September or are any others dropping inbetween?

U-God: First it’s the GZA, and then it’s Deck.

MVRemix: Yeah.

U-God: GZA and Deck is in July, right?

MVRemix: GZA is meant to be June, end of this month.

U-God: Yeah, yeah, um, Deck’s is July 27th I think. Mines, mines is gonna be like October 3rd, October, you know

MVRemix: I was told it was September, so it’s been delayed?

U-God: Yeah, ah, yeah it got pushed back, it was September 6th

MVRemix: Yeah

U-God: Might still be in September, like the end of September still though

MVRemix: What will you do after your lp drops, do you have any collaborations planned?

U-God: Collaborations with who?

MVRemix: Um, any rappers or whatever

U-God: Nah, I ain’t with all that biggy baggage shit man

MVRemix: How’s your store Walking Dogs going? Got any future ventures along this line planned?

U-God: I don’t know, I don’t like clothing man. I don’t like clothing no more man. I’m going into movies man, fuck clothing.

MVRemix: Who’s your favourite emcee in Wu-Tang Clan, your favourite affiliated emcee and favourite outside of the Wu?

U-God: MC? Did you say MC?

MVRemix: Yeah, who’s your favourite member of the Wu other than yourself?

U-God: Favourite member of the Wu? I’d have to say, umm, probably, it, it be RZA.

MVRemix: What about affiliate? Like a member of Killarmy or Sunz Of Man?

U-God: Err, Hellrazah

MVRemix: And, outside of the Wu, in Hip Hop in general?

U-God: Umm, outside the world? What you mean?

MVRemix: Someone like, I don’t know, someone like 2pac, or Biggie, or Kweli or Danja Mowf?

U-God: Nah, nah man.

MVRemix: Who are your influences?

U-God: Influences? Ahh, you know, Slick Rick, Kool Mo Dee, Cold Crush, um, um, ol’ skool rappers, Busy Bee, Starsky, you know, um, Rakim, KRS One

MVRemix: Who are you feeling at the moment?

U-God: I’m feelin’, I’m feelin’ Mobb Deep right now. Mobb Deep, that’s about it.

MVRemix: What do you think of Congress’ current near-censorship bullshit involving music and other media?

U-God: It’s already got ‘Parental Discretion Is Advised’ man

MVRemix: But, they were actually talking about doing something more than that, like a stronger certificate or something

U-God: Well, they gone have a hard time. They aint gone do it when my album come out, I’ll tell ya that fuckin’ much. Hahaha, by the time the bill came out, I probably be moving my third album. Hahaha. I don’t know. Whatever man. It’s on ’em man, they tryin’ to cut their dick off their head. You know how it is. They always fuckin’ trying to…they want that pop shit in they, in they, in they household, they don’t want no rap shit man. You know how it is, they prejudiced about it. You know how it is.

MVRemix: It seems the cops have had it in for ODB these last couple years with bullshit charges and false accusations you have any comment on that?

U-God: The police?

MVRemix: Yeah.

U-God: I don’t like Police man. Get a fucking new job man. A life.

MVRemix: Do you or any other Wu member have much creative control with the new Playstation game?

U-God: What you mean? As far as with the game right now? Chips and all that crazy shit? I don’t know, whatever man.

MVRemix: Have you ever been on the Internet?

U-God: Yeah

MVRemix: What do you think about it?

U-God: It’s good man, Bill Gates done capitalized on the whole shit, so, whatever

MVRemix: Currently there’s been a lot of debate on the subject of commercial hip hop and underground hip-hop. Where do you think yourself and the rest of the Wu fits in to this?

U-God: We go both ways man. We go any way we wanna go man. Wu-Tang is, Wu-tang is…Well, right now, we basically underground, but I’m going to the surface with my shit. Yeah, I’m coming to the surface with my shit, so…..It’s like whatever man, you know. Underground is underground, commercial is commercial. You know. There’s market for both, and both get money so, whatever man.

MVRemix: What did you think of Bobby Digital?

U-God: I ain’t like it, I told him I ain’t like it.

MVRemix: Yeah, I didn’t like it much, I mean I’m a fan of the Wu, but that was some weird shit.

U-God: Yeah, I aint like that type of music. Different type of music, man. Niggas aint, niggas aint ready for that music yet

MVRemix: What do you see for the Wu as we enter 2000, will the third LP be dropping?

U-God: I don’t know what’s gone happen man.

MVRemix: Have you done any tracks yet?

U-God: Yeah, yeah, there’s tracks there, there’s always tracks. Tracks layin’ around, but, we still gotta do more work though, you know. Right now everybody basically focusing on they solo projects right now, and then we gone come back together and show and prove that we can also do a solo, don’t forget about it now

MVRemix: Well, that’s about it. Thanks for the interview. Um, any last comments for your fans or anything like that?

U-God: Yeah, Goldenarms, Redemption, 2000 baby

MVRemix: Alright

U-God: Redemption. RE-DEMP-TION!

U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) Interview

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Interviews Wu-Tang Clan

Northstar Interview

Along with his partner in crime Christ Bearer, the two Long Beach natives dropped their debut self titled album “Northstar” on January 20th, 2004. The album is executively produced by Rza and features guest appearances from Kinetic, Freemurder, Ninth Prince, Doc Doom & Solomon Childs, among others. In the following interview Meko discuses the hardships coming up in the rap game as well as his thoughts on the industry as a whole. While from California, Northstar definitely does not portray the usual West Coast mold, which probably played a big role in their signing with RZA.

MVRemix: You have the self titled debut album already out, so what do you guys want to accomplish with this album and what do you want fans to take out of it?
What we want to accomplish out of it is the most that we can, as far as the work and the effort we put into it and the years it took to come to this point right here. As far as the fans, we want them to get the truth out of the album. The universal truth that we bring to the table.

MVRemix: And what do you think that universal truth is?
To bring that hardcore Hip Hop back to the streets, cause a lot of this music they got on the airwaves right now is watered down. It’s more shake ya ass music and different things like that.

MVRemix: You got a lot of different producers on the album, but the one that stands out the most is Armand Van Helden, who in my opinion, produced the two best tracks on the album (Luv Allah & Nuttin). Van Helden is not known for his endeavors in Hip Hop, so how did yall hook up with him?

Northstar: We was out there in New York dealing with Choco, one of our engineers out there when we was recording the album. He was a good friend with Van Helden and he came through and we was listening to a couple of tracks he said he had. So we listened to a couple of tracks and picked ’em out and he just said spell his name right basically. And that’s basically it, we moved on from there. We liked that sound he was brining to the table.

MVRemix: Yeah, he has that soulful sound.

Northstar: Yeah, that real soulful sound.

MVRemix: Were ya’ll surprised that has was able to produce such a good Hip Hop track?

Northstar: Na, not really cause I ain’t really know of him as far as his other works that he did. I just knew that he was a DJ over seas in different places, as I was speaking to him. I didn’t really know he did techno or what not until after.

MVRemix: What role did RZA play in making the whole album?

Northstar: He basically brought the music to the table, all the beats that he wanted us to have or which ones we chose. He dealt with the labels, as far as getting the deal for us. Basically as far as this album goes, he brought the beats to the table to get us going and start us off.

MVRemix: Did he try and mold you into making a sound or try and tell you what to do? Or did he basically let you do what you want?

Northstar: He let us do as we felt and we picked and choose what beats that we liked. It was more of a, “make this sound sharper” or telling us to “come stronger on this”. Or when he mixed everything down he would make things happen. But he let us do what we wanted.

MVRemix: Aight, how would you describe the differences or main difference between you and your partner Christ Bearer on the mic?

Northstar: The difference to me is his voice is a more high, high toned pitch, and mine is the opposite of that, it is a real deep tone. We come with that one two punch like that. That’s how we have been doing it for years, even when we went to little freestyle spots where we used to freestyle at, open mics. He came off with the little high sound, that’s how his voice is. And then I would come with the other sound, that real deep sound. That ‘s how we grew our style.

MVRemix: How about lyrically, is there any difference or are you both on the same level?

Northstar: He is more of a…I can’t even explain it. To me he is one of the best rappers out there, as far as lyrically and his words. My style is more direct, more raw, speaking to the people.

MVRemix: How did y’all originally hook up with Rza and the Wu?

Northstar: Me and Christ Bearer used to be on missions, like getting out there, just staying out there getting around at clubs, open mics, etc. We was moving through the L.A. underground and we went up to a lot of record companies, we went up to Load and saw Rza up there. We shouted out at him, he was coming off the elevator. He asked us what the name of our group was, and we was like Northstar. Rza was like “that’s a powerful name right there”. Then I went to a Killarmy concert, he was hosting it and they put me on stage and let me rap. I did my little freestyle and the crowd picked the winner, so I won the little situation right there. Then afterwards, he walked us out and gave us his contact numbers. Then Rza came back for the Super Bowl they had out there in San Diego, so he was on the radio station. So we was like, “man, we should just go up there”. So we went up there and when he came out of the radio station he had Cappadonna and Baretta 9 of Killarmy with him. So we were trying to give him a CD and telling him what’s going on because we had already talked to him before. He was like I don’t even wanna hear any music right now, I got some beats in the truck, come over here I wanna hear some verses. We just started spitting verses going back and forth, we ended up battling. It was him, Cappadonna, Baretta 9 and me, Christ Bearer and some of the Black Knights. So we was just exchanging verses and at the end he was like “yall ready to become Killer Bees”. We was with it and we moved on from there. We moved out to New York and lived out there on Staten Island for a minute. And we just kept moving from that day on.

MVRemix: How long did y’all live in New York for?

Northstar: For about a year, maybe a year and a half.

MVRemix: And y’all being from Cali, how did you like New York? What would you say the main difference is?

Northstar: The difference is, there is more family out there (New York), it’s more family orientated. In the neighborhood out here in California it’s more friends and different things going on. You got family but it’s more like friends, out there in New York you got cousins right near you, everybody knows each other. Out there they also starting to gang bang and stuff. Its terrible to me because we already been through that out here in the West Coast. And to see all that going on right now out there, it’s like they are confused like they used to say we were in the West Coast. They didn’t understand when we were doing it back in the day , that’s what we grew up in, we didn’t try and make it that way. But out there they are making it happen that way right now, it’s real sad.

MVRemix: Now you guys are from Long Beach, but your sound isn’t really West Coast, do you agree with that? Because I know a lot of people were surprised to know you guys were from the West when they first heard the album.

Northstar: Yeah, we get that a lot. It’s like we are universal with it, I wouldn’t say we are East or West , it just a universal speaking.

MVRemix: Right now not a lot of attention or credit is going to the West, do you think that is true, and if so why?

Northstar: Like as far as what?

MVRemix: Just as far as mainstream appeal. I am from Jersey , I’m from the East, and there is East Coast bias, I’ll even admit that. I just think the West don’t get the love it should. So why do you think that is?

Northstar: It’s just a difference in what people choose to listen to. The rappers on the West right now are coming with all the know, coming with the truth from the streets and what they have dealt with in their life. Certain people really can’t get with that or be apart of that because they don’t really feel it like that.

MVRemix: What do you think y’all have to do as a coast to maybe change that?

Northstar: What do you mean?

MVRemix: I mean just come together as a coast collectively and get the West back to where it was during its prime.

Northstar: We just gotta keep moving this music. People gotta hook up with each other and make connections. Get this music back to what its about basically, the truth. That real, real truth, the streets, for the kids and for the people period. Instead of all this little gangster stuff going on. There is truth in that, but at the same time we need to move on with it.

MVRemix: But do you deep down feel there is that New York biased, where it comes down to if your name isn’t Dre or Snoop you ain’t getting any air play, especially out here in the East.

Northstar: I can’t really say so….it is in a way…..na, I can’t really say that. It’s just more of what you are bringing to the table. That’s how it is in this music nowadays to me. It’s like yeah they cater to their people out there as far as on the East Coast and we cater to our people out here on the West as far as the music being played. But that’s just the music that people want in that area and the music they are recommending. It just depends, but I feel what you are saying as far if your name ain’t Snoop or Dre you ain’t getting no air time out there in New York. But it’s just the people out there that decide what is going to get played. I don’t look at it like biased like that.

MVRemix: Does being a Wu affiliate help your career or put a lot of pressure on you to live up to the name?

Northstar: It definitely helps our career guaranteed, because there is really no pressure involved in it. It really helps us because Wu is really out there, it’s a strong family based named. It really helped us a lot as far as understanding who we are and moving the way we move right now. There really wasn’t any pressure because we expected to do what the older gods did.

MVRemix: Did Rza put any pressure on you guys while making the album?

Northstar: It was more open, there really wasn’t any pressure because we already knew what had and what we were dealing with. There was really more company pressure if anything.

MVRemix: So the industry is definitely shady?

Northstar: Yeah, the industry is definitely cold. It’s a cold piece of work, as I’m learning. It’s not a game.

MVRemix: So what’s the coldest thing you guys have experienced?

Northstar: It’s just like going through all of this really. You gotta be strong because one day you got this the next day you got that. You got different things, interviews, getting your album pushed back, all kind of things that go on. We just stayed strong and kept our head up and moved through.

MVRemix: What is the main misconception, if any, about Northstar?

Northstar: That we are from the East Coast. A lot of people think that, especially when we heard our little songs on “The Storm” and “The Sting”.

MVRemix: Is there anything y’all regret doing in your career so far, or would want to take back?

Northstar: No, just keep it moving. Everything is a stepping stool, it’s a learning process.

MVRemix: Aight, now I’m just gonna ask you some random questions. Who is the best emcee ever in your opinion?

Northstar: Best emcee ever? Man, I really don’t have one, I have a few names. I would probably go with Rakim personally. I like Rakim, Krs One, a lot of old school dudes.

MVRemix: What was the best album you heard in 2003?

Northstar: I would have to say….man there really hasn’t been too much out there, it’s been too watered down. So I would say “Birth Of A Prince”, as far as I heard.

MVRemix: Best emcee in the Wu?

Northstar: All of them are the best.

MVRemix: If you had to choose one, I know its tough, but just one.

Northstar: All of the guys are the best, I’ll just say Northstar baby.

MVRemix: Worst emcee or artist in the game right now?

Northstar: I give everybody they credit because they wouldn’t be in the game if they didn’t push. They didn’t just wake up and make it happen, so I couldn’t really say because there is no worst to me. Because everybody is striving and struggling.

MVRemix: But there are a lot of candy ass emcees though, know what I’m saying.

Northstar: Yeah, you know that. At the same time though they pushing, they just not sitting on their asses.

MVRemix: Aight, how do you feel about the whole Eminem situation? Do you think he is racist or what is your whole opinion on that?

Northstar: Eminem is a cool kid, but I don’t know about him being racist and all that. He is who he is, he can’t stop of being who he is. So I don’t have a comment on that basically, he can do what ever the fuck he wants to do. But we did run into him, Christ Bearer ran into him at a little battle before he got signed with Dre back in the day.

MVRemix: For real, what happened with that?

Northstar: Christ Bearer served him, real bad! He had his little girls over there, some little females over there standing with RZA right where we got signed in. And he was telling us he was gonna sign with Dre, and Christ Bearer was like “yeah right, you just a white boy”. He (Christ Bearer) told him to come up stairs because we was all in these little housing things were little kids stay at and where we stayed at to do studio work and people who do commercials and shit like that. So everybody stayed in this one big old place, so they ran into him and had a battle and stuff. It was a fresh little battle and stuff, it was nothing.

MVRemix: He (Christ Bearer) tore him up?

Northstar: Yeah, he ripped him. Had his little girls, one damn near wanted to leave with him.

MVRemix: Aight, what is Northstar’s long term goal in this game?

Northstar: Just to stay fresh and keep that truth moving all over the globe. Just to let everybody know about Northstar.

MVRemix: Are you working on your next album? When should we expect that?

Northstar: We are moving on it right now. We got a couple of hits that we are moving right now.

MVRemix: And is that going to be on Koch Records?

Northstar: I can’t say, I really don’t know.

MVRemix: Besides the album, what’s in store for Northstar in the immediate future

Northstar: Basically just the album, not too much, this is the game right here. We’ll stay moving, traveling, doing shows.

MVRemix: Are you going to be touring a lot?

Northstar: The last tour we just did was with Rza & Das Efx. Rza had got hurt out there in L.A., so we had to end that tour. We are scheduled to go back on at the end of this month (January). I am not for sure with who, but for certain with Rza, maybe Method Man.

MVRemix: Any last words?

Northstar: Northstar for life baby, and pick up the album!

Tags Interviews, Northstar Interview

Atmosphere Interviews

Slug (Atmosphere) Interview

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
3 Comments on Slug (Atmosphere) Interview

These are the transcripts of an interview with Slug. The interview was conducted by Hugo on September 9th, 2002. Slug is a well established independent artist, who heads Atmosphere. He has worked with Anticon, the Molemen, El-P and many other well respected artists.

Slug (Atmosphere) Interview

MVRemix: Are major labels gunning for you and you’re ignoring them or is your goal for Rhymesayers to blow up on their own?

Slug: I mean, I’m doing this because I’ve got a new record and because I like to tour and I’m bringing other Rhymesayers artists out. Because its become a doorway for me, now that I’ve been able to get out there and pitch to different communities, it’s a way for me to introduce my brethren to my fans. But no, we’re not touring to try to get on a larger label n’ all. I mean that’s not really my interest. If someone makes me a stupid offer that I can’t turn down, I’m sure I’d give it some thought. But, I’m not going to ever put any work into attempting to be on a larger label. As it happens I got to do it without even having to work at it, haha.

MVRemix: What’s your view on your audience?

Slug: I mean, I think it’s probably…sociologically speaking it’s the same as my view on life or on the population in general. Most of them are probably just as lost and confused as lost and confused or found or focused as I am on any given day. Boys, I want them to buy the CD’s and play them for their girls. Girls, I want them to buy the CD’s just so they’ll make out with me. Just like everybody else.

MVRemix: Have you experimented much with drugs?

Slug: Have, not lately, but as a kid. I, you know…did a few things. But, I’ve never sniffed anything in my life. I’ve never done cocaine or speed or meth or any of that kind of shit. But in high school, I think I swallowed acid a couple of times. Ate mushrooms too, but, I outgrew that. All when I was a kid, I just don’t really want to experiment too much with that now. I did try ecstasy a few times over the last couple of years. But, I wouldn’t really suggest that to anybody. That shit was so funny that I have to respect the power of it. Pretty much, solely people get caught up with doing that shit a lot, because it’s just that fun. Anything that’s that fun, you’ve got to take for granted that there’s a trade off there. You’re giving up something in order to have that much fun, and I just don’t know if I’m prepared to give up anything to have that much fun. I’m not really into having a lot of fun, I kind of like being moody and brooding, pissed off and stuff like that.

MVRemix: Why haven’t you caved in and left Minneapolis for Chicago or New York?

Slug: Most of all because my family is in Minneapolis. I grew up there, there’s my mom, my brothers, and I have a son there. I’m not really trying to leave my family, I love Hip Hop, but, I love my family more. Plus I always felt that if you can’t do it in your own city, if you can’t accomplish your goals with the people who you worked with or grew up with. What makes you think you’re go into some alien scene and network your way up. That seems so strategic that I don’t really believe in the truth behind it. I’ve never really been one of those guys that thought “Well, if I lived in New York…” Face it, I’m in a city where I’m one of nearly three hundred rappers. I could move to New York and be one of three million? At least this way, I have more of a chance of clawing my way to the top.

MVRemix: A rapper who’s a mutual friend of ours told me recently that you’re light skinned black. Is this true?

Slug: Hahaha. I mean I’m mixed, you know. It’s kind of like, especially in America if you’ve got a little bit of black in you, when the revolution comes, you’re probably gonna get killed just like the rest of the blacks. So, under that guise group…My mother’s white and my father is black/native American. So, it makes me really light skinned. Most people think that I’m Italian or a very tall Spanish kid. Just by looking at me, you can’t really tell by my skin or my hair. But, girls always say that my features look like I’m not white. I don’t know, you know what, lets not talk about that kind of stuff.

MVRemix: Have disgruntled fans ever poured or thrown salt on you thinking you really were a slug?

Slug: No, never.

MVRemix: A lot of your material has been heavily bootlegged. Do you bootleg much yourself?

Slug: I used to bootleg lots of stuff. Just to give stuff to kids who I knew were doing trading and whatnot like that. Because, if I give you a 90 minute tape full of shit that I’m never gonna release. You have to bring me back a 90 minute tape full of shit that I can’t get. So I basically used to take my shit and trade it off. That’s how I really discovered people like Moka Only, or even Company Flow. I first heard them through tapes that I had gathered through trading off my tapes.

MVRemix: Are there still problems between Murs and El-P and Anticon? Does it affect you much if they have problems between themselves?

Slug: If they did have problems between themselves still, it wouldn’t affect me. I mean, I don’t even know if they still have problems because I never really talk about that shit with any of them. I don’t know if they do or not. Maybe they do, but due to the fact that it doesn’t affect me, or it wouldn’t affect me. I don’t think they do, I’ve never really seen any issues.

MVRemix: What is it about Christina Ricci that is so attractive to you?

Slug: I guess just the whole package, dude. I know she’s considerably homely to most people, but I’ve always kind of liked that kind of look. I like girls that are awkward looking and whatnot. Her whole package man, her vibe, her appearance, her money. Errr, I’m just kidding about the money part.

MVRemix: I think that’s a good factor

Slug: Yeah, haha, just the whole package. Plus I heard she’s a little bit of an art buff, and I like those girls because they’ve got lots of issues and they like to argue.

MVRemix: Is the “Woman With the Tattooed Hands” in any way real or solely a fictitious track?

Slug: I mean it’s fictitious; it’s a metaphor for that same old shit that everybody has already made songs about. Just trying to find your place within a belief and faith as well as people that you want to have sex with.

MVRemix: Who killed Tupac?

Slug: Hip Hop did.

MVRemix: Who would you diss if you had the opportunity to do so right now?

Slug: The Rolling Stones…nah, fuck that – Led Zepplin. I would diss the fuck out of Led Zepplin. Fuckin’ biters dude, they didn’t bite my shit, but in the name of every fucking blues artist that was making music in the early 60’s, down in the Delta. Fuck Led Zepplin!

MVRemix: If you weren’t a rapper what would you be doing?

Slug: I’d be a courier.

MVRemix: What are you currently working on/have soon to be released?

Slug: Um, ejaculation. Right now I’m just writing, finishing up ‘Se7ens Travels’ and writing for the next release. And, I’m working on a DVD that I might end up releasing, or I might not. I don’t know. I’m in a good place right now because I have the freedom to spend my time working on whatever I want to work on. I set my year up pretty good.

MVRemix: What exactly is the Christina Ricci tribute album?

Slug: It’s a record me and Murs did as a tribute to her.

MVRemix: Any last words?

Slug: Please brush your teeth before you attempt to kiss me.

Slug of Atmosphere Interview

Tags Atmosphere, Atmosphere Interview, Interviews, Slug (Atmosphere) Interview, slug artist

Atmosphere Interviews

Slug of Atmosphere Interview – Can’t You Imagine Atmosphere Having Fun?

Post author By MVRemix
Post date March 30, 2008
No Comments on Slug of Atmosphere Interview – Can’t You Imagine Atmosphere Having Fun?

Slug of Atmosphere Interview – Can’t You Imagine Atmosphere Having Fun?

Would you love hip-hop if the culture was not fun? Music is a form of escapism for both the musician and listener. How many times has something f*cked up happen to you, but you felt just a tiny bit better when you heard a certain song? Some people (including myself) will dig deep into their collection because they need to hear a specific track. Emotionally depressing music and socio-political music can also be pleasurable. The listener relates to the artist on a physical, mental, and emotional level. The artists utilize the entire emotional spectrum. Lovers of hip-hop culture can emotionally, financially, or philosophically depend on the music. Regardless of the song’s style or mood, hip-hop music is rooted in a party. The emcees play with words and rhythmic flows. The producer plays with beats & samples. As hip-hop groups, these artists “play” their music for the listeners. Perhaps, we use the word “play” in this context because the listeners and the artists are having a good time. Would you “throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care” if you were not having fun?

The music of Atmosphere (Slug & Ant) mixes the darkest emotions with the party energy of hip-hop. If you think Atmosphere is not having a great f*cking time these days, you do not know anything about the group. Hailing from Minneapolis (Minnesota), Atmosphere are one of the most respected and successful groups in underground / independent hip-hop. Like Gangstarr and Eric B. & Rakim, the duo consists of one impeccable producer/DJ and a charismatic emcee. The duo’s magnificent chemistry is showcased when Ant’s production intertwines with Slug’s vocals. Born from a racially mixed couple, Slug appears to be a Mid-western white guy who loves music. Friends and fans know that Slug’s respect for hip-hop pumps through his veins. He also happens to be a very talented, unique, and successful emcee. A maelstrom of emotion sweeps through every Atmosphere album. Furious anger, humble gratitude, love for friends / family, and bittersweet sadness can all be found in their expressive concoctions. Slug’s lyrics yield to multiple interpretations, mixed feelings, and sarcastic & ironic humor. He is having the time of his life while he follows his dreams. Fortunately, Slug is doing what he loves and having serious fucking fun!

Atmosphere’s success story is based on creativity, a shrewd business sense, chemistry, and a fervent work ethic. Originally consisting of Spawn, Ant, and Slug, Atmosphere released their “Overcast” LP on their own label, Rhymesayers Entertainment. Spawn eventually left the group and Slug continued to collaborate with a myriad of emcees. During 1999, Rhymesayers established Fifth Element, an independent record store in Minneapolis. Not only did they have a label to create their records, they had a store where they could sell the albums. Released with critically acclaim, the “Lucy Ford” CD mixed 2 separate EP’s together (“Lucy” and “Ford”). Once they released the classic “God Loves Ugly” LP, Atmosphere’s respect was cemented within hip-hop. Songs like “Modern Man’s Hustle”, “F*ck You Lucy”, “Vampires”, and “Flesh” all possessed a signature style. Slug’s introspective lyrics led to multiple interpretations. Ant’s soulful production was accessible but also unique. Listeners found something new every time they replayed their music. The “Sad Clown Bad Dub” DVD documented their successful tour across America (for the “God Loves Ugly” release parties). Slug also teamed up with Murs to release a side project called Felt. Produced by The Grouch, Felt’s “A Tribute To Christina Ricci” possessed a party vibe, in contrast to the darker feelings created by Atmosphere albums. Slug’s balanced diversity proved his maturity as an emcee. Simultaneously, Rhymesayers grew when they released the classic M.I.C. (Monsta Island Czars) “Escape From Monsta Island” LP (featuring MF Doom & MF Grimm’s super group). After years of touring, Atmosphere released another classic LP, “Seven’s Travels” (Rhymesayers / Epitaph). Songs like “Reflections”, “Trying To Find A Balance”, and “National Disgrace” showcased their musical and lyrical growth. The original fans were happy when Rhymesayers released “Headshots: Seven”. The CD was a collection of songs recorded on a 4-track between 1997 and 1998. In 2005, Murs and Slug teamed up again for Felt #2 “A Tribute To Lisa Bonet”. Produced by Ant, the Felt #2 project maintained the party vibe of their previous effort. Songs like “Woman Tonight”, “Dirty Girl”, “The Biggest Lie”, and “Employees Of The Year” were fun, but still rooted within an emotional honesty.

At the tail end of 2005, Atmosphere returns with “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having”. Slug and Ant have made an incomparable album that does not include one filler track. The duo’s growth is evident within every song. Slug is more focused and precise with his performance. Ant has created up-tempo rhythms with thick boom-bap beats. Although the music possesses an upbeat party-like energy (inspired by mid-90’s hip-hop), Slug’s performance remains poignantly astute and wickedly clever. “Watch Out” is a cunning statement about the typical independent / underground hip-hop fan. On the poignant track “That Night”, Slug rhymes about a true incident when a fan was raped and murdered at an Atmosphere show. In the introspective track “Little Man”, Slug’s verses are written as letters to various important people in his life. The first verse is to his son and the final verse is to himself. The instantly appealing, “Smart Went Crazy” works perfectly even though the subject is not obvious. Sine fans thought Atmosphere could not top “Seven’s Travels”. Atmosphere has done the impossible. They have made another classic LP.

Music has saved many lives. Every emcee uses music for lyrical & emotional communication. Slug has not only has used music to survive, Slug also uses hip-hop as a form of therapy. His dark emotions and showcased vulnerability entertains listeners. Even though hip-hop music was born in poverty, those people within the culture wanted to have a good time. Slug may create emotional music, but he still wants to party. The group have released classic albums, worked on multiple collaborations, toured the world, and maintained creative control of their music. How the hell can you think Atmosphere is not having a good time?

MVRemix: These days, Atmosphere is getting very popular and much more exposure.

Slug: I don’t even know if that is what you would call it. We are accumulating attachments, is what it is. These aren’t fans, they are girlfriends. You know what I mean?

MVRemix: I must say that the new album is excellent! I thought ‘Seven’s Travels’ was dope too. Usually groups do not maintain the same level of quality, but ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’ is dope.

Slug: Thanks, man. That means a lot since you are from New Jersey! This is New Jersey saying that, so you know you are making me feel good. The New Jersey thing is a cut. That’s serious. For me, growing up in Minneapolis, I look at the East Coast as the hip-hop Mecca. Just to see the kind of support we get from the East Coast, as well as L.A., blows my fucking mind. How the fuck did they get into this?

MVRemix: C Rayz Walz is friend of mine and a dope emcee. He was on the ‘Sad Clown Bad Dub’ DVD. That proves that you have got love on the East Coast.

Slug: I got co-signed by C Rayz Walz! You know, the advocates and the fans, who don’t even walk around with these rappers, pigeonhole me as that guy who makes that soft shit or whatever. It’s funny to me because I’ll get into an argument. They’ll come to my in-store or my show and say, ‘I used to like your shit.’ In my head, I would think, ‘You just paid $15 to see me and you don’t like my shit no more?’ Hey, that’s cool. It’s part of their identity search. Ask them who they favorite rapper is. They’re favorite rapper was probably at my house 2 weeks ago. At one point, I was insecure about how I stood amongst the rest of these emcees. You know, there’s that emcee thing where you want to impress other rappers first. It reached a point. C Rayz probably doesn’t bump my record. I listen to his on occasion, but I don’t roll around the street bumping his. Both of us are bumping old Jungle Brothers music. I’m learning a lot from this shit. I just hope someday, someway, somehow, I’ll be able to apply all this shit to something.

MVRemix: Rhymesayers just released the new Atmosphere album, ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’. Tell us about the new LP.

Slug: It’s the new record, man. A lot of people are telling us that they really like it. To me, it’s probably the record that had the least amount of problems to make.

MVRemix: The album does flow with an ease.

Slug: Thanks. It kind of made itself. I finally think that me and Ant reached a place where we both accept the fact that this is what we do. We don’t have to worry about doing a good job this time. This is what we do. We made it right on the tail end of Felt #2. We made Felt #2 with Murs. When Murs flew home, me & Ant stayed in the studio and started this album immediately. I was in the studio for about a month and a half between the 2 records. It seems like all of the energy I put into the Felt #2 record was basically depleted in me. I depleted that type of energy with the sex rhymes and party shit. When we started the Atmosphere record, it was almost like a hangover. We had so much fun making the 2nd Felt record, this Atmosphere record was like the day after. In a weird way, when I hear some of it, I think it feels like the day after you did a bunch of drugs. It’s that day that you are sitting there on your couch, the shades are pulled down, you are still taking it in, and saying, ‘Damn! I partied too hard last night!’

MVRemix: What is the meaning behind the title, ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’?

Slug: Actually, I chose the title because I have been pigeonholed as this guy, who because of the songs I make, you may think I am this brooding upset dude with issues. They think I am the dude who doesn’t like men or women. Like I say, ‘Get away from me!’ They think I’m just sitting here, observing all of you assholes. People get really surprised when they see how happy I really am. They see that I can be a fun dude when you put a couple of beers in me. The irony of the title is that there is no irony in the title. That was really what me and Ant were doing. Even though the songs don’t seem like we’re having fun, you can truly not begin to think of how much fun this really is. We are having the time of our fucking lives! I used to be a courier, dude!

MVRemix: How do you think ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’ different from ‘Seven’s Travels’?

Slug: Both of them, to me, are concept albums, even though nobody gets the concepts. They are the same concept. Here’s a look into or a few more chapters of what the hell I’ve been doing or thinking about. For ‘Seven’s Travels’, my dumb ass thought that I would make an album about touring. I didn’t stop to think that most of the kids that listen to these records don’t know shit about touring. How the fuck are they supposed to relate to any of this shit? I guess it didn’t matter because I felt that I needed to make that album. Not only that but, touring had become such a big part of my life, what the fuck else am I supposed to write about?

MVRemix: Everybody does travel in some way and ‘Seven’s Travels’ is a good record to travel with.

Slug: That’s true. I kind of hope that is the bond that allows cats to get it. Also, just for my own benefit, I try to keep my raps not so obvious so I don’t get bored. I have concepts inside Twinkies, inside this and that.

MVRemix: On the new album, which song took you the longest to do from conception to completion? Why?

Slug: The song, ‘Pour Me Another’ on the new record, took the longest to do. That was the hardest for me to bite into because it had such a ‘God Loves Ugly’ feel to it. The mood of the song is very similar to the song, ‘Fuck You Lucy’ (from ‘God Loves Ugly’). The mood is so similar that I heard people tell me that we used the same beat! No! We didn’t use the same beat! But, the mood is so similar that people immediately put them together. I think ‘Pour Me Another’ was the hardest to do because the 4-track version of that song was done incredibly well. It captured the moment so good the first time. It captured the mood so good the first time that, when I tried to recreate it in the studio, I thought I was trying too hard.

MVRemix: Do you find that the 4-track demos are often better than the final results created in the recording studio?

Slug: For the first couple of records, yeah. For ‘Overcast’ and ‘Lucy Ford’, definitely, because I didn’t quite learn how to. Now, I take the 4-track version and find the flaws and problems. I still have an okay time re-creating the mood. I usually create it better just because the song had a chance to breathe, have it’s own life, and have it’s own meaning to me.

MVRemix: Is that also the case with songs that you perform live?

Slug: Yeah, it’s just like performing it live. Honestly, live, to me, are my favorite versions of any of these songs. I love the live version of ‘Panic Attack’. I also love the way the mic sounds on the studio version. That is a sound you cannot usually get live, unless you use that real cheap plastic microphone. Just audio wise, there are certain situations where live songs do not come across as good. But, as far as feeling wise, live versions are always the best for me.

MVRemix: In the song ‘Watch Out’, you say, ‘They don’t want to see you climb out of the underground.’ Atmosphere has been getting more exposure & fans throughout the last couple of years. Have you received some criticism from those dedicated to the ‘underground’?

Slug: It’s very common. There is always this kid who says that they used to love us for ‘Overcast’ and ‘Lucy Ford’. We used to be their special secret. Now, they think suburban girls know about us and it ain’t cool. Are you serious? Come to my shows! Wouldn’t you rather come to a show that has a lot of girls at it than a show with a whole bunch of dudes? I throw that at the identity search of the American fucking teenager. Between the ages of 16 and 24, you will define yourself by what you hate, most of the time. That is how you find your like-minded peers and friends. ‘I hate that shit!’, someone says. Another says, ‘I hate it too. Let’s go over here and talk about how much we fucking can’t stand this’.

MVRemix: You know what, the Nazis grew that way.

Slug: Yo! I didn’t put that together, but that’s true. Here we go, backpacker rap Nazi! I understand growing up and hating shit When I was a kid, I was mad at L.L. Cool J when ‘Walking With A Panther’ came out. ‘I’m the type of guy…’ I didn’t give a fuck about all of that shit. I was mad! Now, as an older and more mature adult, I see the forest through the trees. It’s important, man. Hopefully, kids go through that little phase of hate until they figure out that it is not what life is all about. They’ll blossom, like the rest of us hopefully will. In the end, it’s just music, man. It’s just music, movies, books, and all of this shit. The other catch to it is, that it’s not even the have-nots that do that. The have-nots do not even get a chance to go out on an identity search. The urban, non-white kids, who are 16 years old, do not have the Internet in their homes for the most part.

MVRemix: Yeah, they are busy struggling to go on an identity search.

Slug: Yeah! They’re busy struggling. They have to go get jobs or hustles. Over here in the burbs, their only struggle is basically against their parents or something. It’s almost like they want to rebel against the fact that they are coming from a family that has things. Those kids go out and try to shed that in order to find out who they really are. They do it through art. They do it through music, books, and whatever. If you can’t at least respect the fact that you are in a position to be on an identity search, you are already missing what the identity search is all about. I see why those kids reach a point that they think a group is not cool when everybody knows about the group. These kids don’t want to be identified as part of the masses. They see my video on MTV2 and immediately think that I am Kanye West. They don’t realize that Kanye West is selling 2 million records while I’m lucky if I break 100,000.

MVRemix: Some people think that since you have an album, you have tons of money. Many of these emcees who I interview, have full time jobs that have nothing to do with hip-hop, except for the fact that they are supporting themselves so that they can do hip-hop.

Slug: It’s funny because people look at me and say, ‘You get to do what you love and don’t have a full time job!’ I look at them and say, ‘Dog, are you serious?’

MVRemix: Shit, this is a lifetime job.

Slug: Yes! This is a lifetime job! I don’t get to punch out. It’s not even just the rap shit. I’m taking the little bit of money I make, the little bit of scratch I get, and put it into the record store. That’s another thing I have to pay attention to. Shit! It was easier being a courier.

MVRemix: When creating a track, do you have pre-written lyrics or a set theme? Or, do you write to the music?

Slug: We start in Ant’s basement on the 4-track. I write stuff on my own sometimes. Other times, he’ll give me a beat and I’ll write to it. We don’t really have a real pattern or standard equation. It kind of just happens how it happens. The only thing that is common over time is that we are not really looking for the fly shit. We’ve never been looking for the fly shit. We always look for moods. For me and him, that’s how we live. We live off of moods. We don’t live off of things like, ‘This is my joint! Turn it up!’ I’m in a certain mood to listen to this record, so I dig that record out and play it right now. That’s how we look at our songs. If the mood of my lyrics matches the mood of his music, then we agree that is the song. Whether the song is great or not doesn’t matter, we’ll make it. Later on, we’ll decide what songs go on the record. Essentially, there is not a pattern to how we do it, except for the fact we look for moods.

MVRemix: How did you meet Ant and decide to form Atmosphere? Was there a philosophy behind the group?

Slug: We met through a rapper, who used to call himself Beyond. Now, he’s Musab. I met Musab when he was in a group called Labyrinth. I was at a party and they were there. He was tight. His homies were okay, but they were nice dudes. I started kicking it with them. They were in St. Paul and I lived in Minneapolis, which is across the river. I started going to chill out over their house. We would drink beer, smoke weed, and do all of that shit that aspiring rappers do. Eventually, Musab became my weed dealer. One day, when he was dropping off some weed to me, he said, ‘Dude, come over to Ant’s house with me and make a joint.’ I was with making a song with him. We went over there and made this really horrible song that was on this ‘I kick a verse and you kick a verse’ rap shit. Then, Musab wanted me to get on the chorus for this song called, ‘Black Culture’. I asked, ‘Are you sure that you want me to do the chorus to a song called Black Culture?’ He was like, ‘You’re Black to me.’ At that point, he knew who my family was. He has seen my father and wasn’t on some funny shit. I wanted to do it. I was honored. That was kind of the beginning. I did the hook for ‘Black Culture’ and Ant told me, ‘You have a horrible voice, but you know how to use it.’ I didn’t know what he meant by that. I thought he was saying that I couldn’t rap. He thought that I had lyrics, but a whiney voice. I did at the time too. Ant thought that I had a way to use my whiney voice to my advantage.

MVRemix: Previously, Atmosphere had more members. How did the group form?

Slug: I was rapping with this kid named Spawn. The two of us were in Atmosphere. We used to make our own beats. When me and Spawn would make beats for ourselves, it would take us a year to complete 3 fucking songs because we were lazy. At Ant’s house, I watched Musab and Ant knock out 10 songs in one fucking night! That was what Spawn and I should have been doing. I brought Spawn over and told him, ‘This dude told us that he could rap over his beats!’ We went over there that night and pretty much made a whole record. I thought that this was how it was supposed to be! Prolific! Even if all 15 of these songs are garbage, it didn’t matter because we were learning how to make songs.

MVRemix: How did Ant’s contribution help you as an emcee?

Slug: The real deal was, before Ant made ‘Overcast’ with us, we made about 150 songs before we even allowed ourselves to make a record. I think that is something Ant does to the emcee. It’s the way that he works with the emcee. He taught us how to practice making songs, so when it is time to really make a song, you have a little bit of knowledge of how to structure it, and so on. You know, most rappers don’t even know how to count bars until they get out of the independent game. In Ant’s own way, he produced me for real! He was not just a producer who just makes the beat. He is a Dr. Dre-like producer. He gives the rapper direction. Quite honestly, until then, I sounded like a bad lovechild between Krs-One and Del. I had a whiney voice. It was Ant who taught me how to do this and be comfortable with my own voice.

MVRemix: Why did Spawn leave Atmosphere? Are you still cool with Spawn? Will you work together again?

Slug: Yeah, we’re still cool. He still makes music. It was one of those things. It wasn’t a matter of personal stuff. We did not split up because we didn’t like each other or talent. It was a matter of drive. He went and got married. He was talking about moving to Houston, Texas with his wife. That was where his wife was from. How could we tour as a rap group when you are in Houston? He couldn’t tour like that. He had a full time gig. He was a little bit older than me. We’re looking at a 28 or 29 year old man who was being asked to start up a rap career as if he was 19. He already had a life put together. I was like 25 or 26 at the time. Even for me, it was hard to get props outside of my city. I was like, ‘Fuck this!’ I wanted to do it. I couldn’t be a courier forever. I had dreams to chase. He still raps, but he raps the same way he rapped as an amateur. You know, he never did move to Houston either. He stayed in Minneapolis. He does local shows, but he doesn’t want to give up his life to do it, whereas I sacrificed everything to do this shit.

MVRemix: Hip-hop became your life.

Slug: Yes, it became my life. Honestly, you know what? In the end, I may look at his shit and say, ‘You did it right, dog!’ My man has a good life. He has a wife, kids, good dog, and a good house. Here I am living out of a goddamn suitcase for 8 months out of the year. I can’t maintain a relationship with a girlfriend. I have an 11 year old, who understands everything now, but when he was 6, it was rough.

MVRemix: The song, ‘That Night’ is an emotional track about your response to the tragedy of a fan being raped and murdered at your show. What actually happened? Emotionally, how difficult was it for you to create this song?

Slug: Yeah, that actually happened. It was weird how that song came about. Ant made this beat for me. I said, ‘Dude! The beat is fresh, but it is a little fast. With that kind of speed, it sounds like it is supposed to be on this rah-rah party shit but it is too sad or brooding to do that.’ Ant was like, ‘You have to write a song about something you are not supposed to write a song about.’ I thought about what I was not supposed to write a song about. That was what I came up with. I guess that was an exercise for me. Maybe, Ant wanted to see if I could really push myself to go there. The people in my life saw how big an effect that incident had on me. That incident altered me and a lot of the things that I was doing in my life. It altered a lot of the things that I stood for, the way that I was treating myself, women, and fans. It altered my self-medicating patterns. In the end, I’m glad anybody likes the song. It’s a hard song for me. When I listen to the album, I skip that track and I doubt that I’ll ever perform that song live.

MVRemix: You are in a side-project with Murs called Felt. Grouch produced the entire first Felt EP (‘A Tribute To Christina Ricci’), but Ant produced Felt #2 (‘A Tribute To Lisa Bonet’). Why did this happen?

Slug: When Murs and I decided to do Felt, from the beginning, we decided to use different producers for each album. It was always going to me and him. It’s our project. Whoever we decide to put down with it, we will. It is what it is.

MVRemix: Will there be a Felt #3?

Slug: I would like to see one happen, but it will have to happen naturally. We didn’t plan Felt #1 or Felt #2. They both happened because both of us needed a vacation. We were like, ‘Can I hang out in your city for 2 weeks?’

MVRemix: Did you ever hear the band, Felt? There was another band named Felt. They were from Europe, signed to Cherry Red Records, and led by an artist named Lawrence.

Slug: Nah. Oh, really?

MVRemix: For your current live shows, you are performing with a live band. Was this a difficult adjustment? What are some major differences performing with a band as opposed to a DJ?

Slug: We have a band and a DJ. I’ve got Ant with me. It was real different, man. I spent 4 months with them in a practice space for pretty much 5 nights a week, just to learn it. I have played with bands before, but it was more of a novelty thing. They had to learn my beat. But, with these guys, we went and deconstructed the Atmosphere songs. We brought in the songs that Ant actually took the samples from. For example, we incorporated parts of ‘Woman With The Tattooed Hands’ that are not in the album version, but are in the original song. When you do a band thing, you have to be careful. Whenever I watch rappers with bands, it goes 2 ways. Either they try to be The Roots or they sound like a hippie jam band. I couldn’t fuck with either. I tried to go with something that was actually based on some straight up soul. I didn’t want some virtuoso noodling or ‘I’m so good at my guitar’ bullshit. So, I think we did it right. Most of the people who come, my real friends go, ‘Man, I was nervous at first and didn’t think you would pull it off but it is actually fresh!’ It’s very different. In the end, it could probably be a project that I can keep working on that may not even be a rap project. They are teaching me things, music things. They are teaching me how to use my voice in a way that I never got to fuck with in rap. It is still such a big, open thing to me. I don’t even know what to make of it. The human factor is ill. Having to depend on so many people to come through is the shit. I’m into it. Everyday, there are mistakes made that become part of it. I’m into that.

MVRemix: Do you think success and credibility are mutually exclusive?

Slug: Nah, I don’t think that is necessarily true because I see people who seem to be successful and credible in rap. I look at Outkast, Busta Rhymes, and Ludacris. I even look at Eminem now. He pretty much substantiated his credibility. The people who want to discredit Eminem are on some dumb shit. They are mad at the homophobia or misogyny. As far as actual artistry, he’s dope. There’s no way you can take it away from him. I may not listen to his record or that kind of shit.

MVRemix: Skill respects skill.

Slug: Skill respects skill, yeah. Redman is successful and credible. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. I think the problem is that people get too hung up on one or the other. I have friends back home who are in these punk bands. They are bitter mad because they are now 33. They have been following this punk wave for so long. They never got successful because they were so worried about people taking away their credibility. I’m like, ‘You worry too much about that.’ There are other people who are so worried about success that they lost their credibility. I think that you just have to be yourself and not worry about either. If it comes to you, it comes to you. You can’t really control your credibility and you can’t really control your success. You can only control yourself and that’s it.

MVRemix: What LPs have you been listening to in the last 3 days? In one of the tracks, you rhyme about a girl who introduces you to new music. Who are some artists you have recently discovered?

Slug: I just rediscovered a band called Talk Talk. Ah! What’s the name of the record that I like? There’s a song on there called ‘Ascension Day’. If you can find that record, that whole record from front to back is amazing! It sounds like some Peter Gabriel meets Portishead meets fucking I don’t even know what. I’m super into it. I still listen to the Spoon record that came out a month ago. As far as rap goes, I listen to everybody once or twice just to study. I haven’t been to into bumping anything that was made after 1993.

MVRemix: Who are some artists or producers you would like to collaborate with in the future?

Slug: I don’t really have a wish list anymore. I used to want to work with this guy and want to work with that guy. I pretty much covered the basics on who I wanted to work with. Also, as I have gotten older, I have refined my ideas about working with other artists. Nowadays, I won’t work with anybody just for money. I won’t work with anybody just because they’re famous. I won’t even work with anybody just because they’re dope. My rule now is that I only work with friends. Even if my friend isn’t that tight, I would rather make a song with my friend than make a song with the dopest rapper in the world, who I don’t know. The song with the rapper I don’t know would sound like a fake collaboration for starters. Also, I don’t want to make a song with you and find out later that you beat your wife, kicked puppies, or some shit. I just don’t want to work with assholes. I don’t want that on my resume.

MVRemix: Word association. When I say a name of a name, you say the first word that pops into your head. So, if I said, ‘Flava Flav’, you may say ‘Clock’, ‘Crack’, or ‘The Surreal Life’. Okay?

Slug: Okay. I’m not that good at this, but I’ll try.

MVRemix: Murs.

Slug: White girls.

MVRemix: Dead Prez.

Slug: The realness.

MVRemix: Happy Mondays.

Slug: I don’t know. M&M’s. Something about the band Happy Mondays always reminded me of Skittles and M&M’s. I don’t know why. I wonder if they had a real colorful video at one time.

MVRemix: Necro.

Slug: Hubcaps.

MVRemix: Public Enemy.

Slug: Chuck D.

MVRemix: Phife Dawg.

Slug: Wack.

MVRemix: Curtis Mayfield.

Slug: The shit.

MVRemix: George Bush.

Slug: (Wack)… in parenthesis.

MVRemix: Do you think hip-hop has become too focused on what place the emcee represents?

Slug: I don’t know if it is too focused on that. I’m actually kind of excited that the rules of hip-hop, that were established years ago, are still in place in most areas. There is a rule to make people have a good time and forget about their problems. I might add that the back-packers don’t know how to do that. People like me, Aesop, Mr. Lif, and Murs, just remind you of your problems. You have mainstream guys, like Ludacris and 50 Cent, who put shit out that makes you forget about your problems. I have to appreciate that. I have to respect that. To me, in my mind and vision, hip-hop began in some basement of some burned out building in the Bronx. Those people weren’t there to listen to somebody woe over a woman. They were there to fucking throw their hands in the air and forget about their light bill. As far as take your boys with you, that rule is still in place. Represent where you are from is also a rule that is still in place. I’m always going to embrace those three rules. Without them, I don’t know if hip-hop would have made it here. I don’t know if it would have made it as far as it made it.

MVRemix: What are some major misconceptions do you think people have of you?

Slug: Just that we are upset and whiney. Yeah, some of the music is like that. People seem to relate to that. Yeah, that’s good for them and it is a bit of a catharsis for me to get shit out. But, in the end, I’m a happy dude, man. I know it sounds corny, but it’s the truth. I’m a happy dude.

MVRemix: Around what time in your career did you and Rhymesayers start to financially survive from hip-hop?

Slug: I quit working for other people and became self-employed in the year 2000. That was because we took every damn dime I made and opened up a record store. We weren’t living off of what we were making. We all had hustles, all legal hustles, but unethical. I’ve been working record retail for so long that I had a couple of industry scams. I was making about $1,200 to $2,000 a month from it. So, I was able to quit my job and go full time with this. I consider that self-employment. Granted, the money wasn’t coming directly to me because of rap. I was making money off of record label people and this and that. I was doing stupid little promo hustles, helping reps, and this or that. It was around 2000. That’s when we opened the store. I didn’t have to live off of the rap money I was making. I was able to take all of the rap money and keep flipping it on top of itself.

MVRemix: What’s next for Atmosphere (Ant & Slug)?

Slug: I’ve been working on a new project that has been all just in writing right now. We haven’t started to put beats to it yet, but when we get off this tour, we will. We’ll go home and start working on the new record. I don’t know yet what to say about it because it is still so early. There will probably be another record in us within a year and half.

MVRemix: Any collaborations?

Slug: I’ve been trying to track down Tom Waits. I know his son. I would like to sit down and have lunch with Tom. We could sit down and see if we get along. Maybe, if not collaborating, we may discuss some kind of conceptual collaboration that neither of us actually performs, but one that we both help orchestrate. I know some of the people he knows and I know some of the people he needs to know. I really think there is room to get a ‘Storytellers’ thing going on.

MVRemix: Any final words?

Slug: Eat your vegetables and wear your seatbelts.

Original Slug Interview with MVRemix

Tags Atmosphere, Atmosphere Interview, Interviews