Interview with Anybody Killa
By David Friedman
Continued from Murder Dog vol 16 #1
What made you want to return to Psychopathic Records and how have you
liked being back so far?
I just wanted to work with the underground – start building another underground
label to where I’ve got homies that I felt deserved a chance just like
I did. And a lot of publishi
ng rights and issues that Alex (Abbiss) had
dealt with. But me and Billy cleared everything up and it’s good. We’re
here.
Do you notice any changes with the label since you’ve been back?
A lot of hard work. I see a lot of extra work. Everybody’s grindin. If
you look at it, everybody’s got songs about grindin nowadays. So I think
that’s the mentality of a lot of Detroit artists now. It’s time to grind.
It’s time to take Motown back and put it back on the map.
On DJ Clay’s latest mixtape, you say you’ve got over 100,000 albums sold
with another about to drop. Is it harder to sell CDs now than it was
when “Hatchet Warrior” came out back in 2003?
Of course it is. Downloading happens a lot more now and it’s expanding
– the whole Internet system. That’s the bad part about it. But it’s also
a good thing because you get a lot more people who couldn’t afford to
hear you able to hear you. So it don’t matter. As long as you come hang
out with me when I come to your town, hey, you can download whatever
you want!
What can you tell me about your first single and video from “Mudface,”
for the song “Grind 2 the Flow?”
The first concept, it was like ABK against Jaymo. It’s like with the
‘Possession.’ With that album, I’m possessed to do some type of Jaymo-type
Krazy Klan-type tracks. So it’s that. It’s ABK against Jaymo. And it’s
the old school against the new school. It’s more or less showing that
they’re homies.
How would you describe your two rap personas – Jaymo from the Krazy Klan
days and ABK, your current stage name?
Jaymo is more of a drinker. The ABK personality would be more of a smoker,
I guess.
I like the song you did on “Mudface” with Strict 9, which is called “Thoughts
Of Suicide.” What are your thoughts on that track?
Who hasn’t thought about killing themselves at one point in time? Even
if you’re not serious about it – I don’t want to be here no more – who
hasn’t thought that? And that song is me and Strict saying, ‘Everybody
goes through it, but we’re glad you didn’t do it because if you did,
you wouldn’t be here now.’
What are some of your other favorite songs from the album?
I like the ‘Neighborhood’ track me and Boondox did because it shows two
different outlooks of two different guys growing up in two different
places. And when you really listen to it, it’s kind of the same thing
going on. I like that one because it tells a story to it. I like ‘Same
Thing 2.’ That one is just a weird song to me. I get a party feeling
off of it. It makes me want to crack a 40. There’s a few of them. There’s
‘Attitude.’ I like that one. That one will make me want to go jog around
the block and lose some weight. There’s a bunch of them. They all have
different meanings and feelings to me, so it’s hard to say which one
is the best. They’re all the best. They’re my songs.
How about the song “Racist?” What went into making that one?
‘Racist,’ it’s not really the Black-White, Indian-White issue. It’s more
of how people dress, how people look – and people are racist of that.
‘Oh, you’ve got tattoos. I’m not hiring you.’ Or ‘you’re too fat to look
good on the mic’ – you know, the whole Milli Vanilli thing. All that
stuff is not right. So it’s that concept.
Can you tell me about some of the producers who worked on the “Mudface”
CD with you?
Leonard (Contreras), he’s a cat from here in Michigan. He’s a young dude.
He’s got a lot of heart. We’re trying to keep him in the studio. Of course,
he’s Native. Look for him in about 5, 10 years because he’s gonna be
super-hot. He’s gonna be the Detroit Dre. There’s a cat called Mitch
E Mitch. Him and Leonard actually work together. They’ve been working
together for the intro and things. And them two together is super-hot.
I’ve got Eric Davie at Psychopathic. He’s another guy you’ve gotta look
out for. He’s been doing a lot of the tracks up there from when I was
previously off the label. He did ‘Racist’ and ‘Same Thing 2’ and ‘U Ain’t
No Killa’ with me and ICP. I’ve been doing a few tracks here and there.
How and when did you get into production?
After I departed from Psychopathic, I bought a studio and had to do my
thing, you know? It took a lot of fuckin money! That’s the first step,
a lot of money, because if you want to throw it all into the studio,
I was between my studio and other studios working on the ‘Rattlesnake’
album. So that’s the first step. And after that, do a lot of reading,
a lot of research and ask a lot of questions. Hopefully, you’ve got some
homies that know something. Lavel and I grew up together, so he helped
me out with a lot of stuff.
Is there any chance that you and Lavel will eventually re-release “Frustrations”
and “Developmental,” the two Krazy Klan albums you dropped before going
solo?
Krazy Klan stuff? Who knows what will be floating around? Right now,
Lavel’s doing his thing, I’m doing my thing. Actually, I think he’s stepped
away from the music. He’s getting his head all clear. And who knows what
will happen in the near future. People are out there bootlegging that
stuff daily. I was at an in-store here and this guy came up and had me
sign one that we’d never released! It was the ‘Developmental.’ I was
like, ‘Where did you get that?’ I don’t know. But it’s up for download,
so if we ever do release it, we’ll have to probably add some new tracks
to it or something like that.
Tell me about Detroit Warriors, who have released two mix CDs on your
Native World label. It’s Strict and Venomiz, right?
Detroit Warriors is a group that me and Strict started. It was right
after I left Psychopathic. Me and Strict started it and we introduced
Venomiz. That was one of the artists we introduced. Pretty much each
one that was gonna come out was gonna introduce new artists – like the
second one had Flagrant on there and it had AJAX on there and it had
a few more variety of artists. And then ‘Strike 3’ is going to be going
back to the original – minus me. It’s gonna be Strict and Venomiz and
they’re gonna introduce a few new artists on that one.
You’ve known Strict for years, right? Ever since you were on that label
you probably don’t want to mention!
Oh, Slangtown? Oh, yeah, we were all slangin in the town! Hey, that’s
part of history. We grew up together, you know? A couple blocks away.
Me, him, Paul, Jamie, Lavel, JD tha Weedman. We grew up and we went to
the boys’ clubs together. We all entered rap battles and competitions
and we just grew up together.
Are there any plans for you to be on a future Dark Lotus album? Do you
miss being in that group?
Hey, who knows? If the track’s there, I’ll write to it. You know how
it goes.
Which Psychopathic Rydas albums were you on?
‘Ryden Dirtay’ and ‘Check Your Shit In Bitch!’ Well, they weren’t me.
That wasn’t me, I was Sawed Off, Dave!
How did the Drive-By group come about with you and Blaze?
That was actually a group me and Blaze were working on when he was on
his second album. If you heard from his second album on, we were talking
about Drive-By this and that. But we just finally got a chance to do
it and recorded it and it came out.
Are you working on more Drive-By material?
Yeah, that’s another one. There’s so many projects that can be done or
want to be done or are on hold. We’re all working on solo projects, doing
our thing. If there’s time and everybody has time to do it, then, yeah.
I’m sure we’ll all be down to hop in the ride and start drivin by.
You’re about to go on a nationwide headlining tour. What can people expect
when they head to the shows?
I’m doing a lot of ‘Mudface’ tracks, I’m doing a lot of the old-school
Psychopathic tracks and I’m doing a handful of the Native World tracks.
So it’s gonna be a variety. I’m gonna have Strict out there. We’ll be
doing do songs like ‘Thoughts of Suicide’ for you, stuff like that. Venomiz
will be out there – him and Strict. They’re doing the Detroit Warriors
set. They’re gonna do some from ‘Strike 1.’ Strict’s gonna be doing some
of the ‘Strike 2’ and then they’re gonna give a treat – some ‘Strike
3’ tracks. And ‘Strike 3’ is gonna be a lot different because it’s all
original tracks. It’s not downloaded, other people’s tracks. It’s an
actual album, ‘Strike 3.’
When is the Detroit Warriors “Strike 3” album coming out?
We’ve recorded it. It’s just gotta be mixed. You know, that’s the word
on the streets.
Will Venomiz also be releasing a solo album?
Yeah, he was working on one. I believe it was called ‘Pills and Potions.’
He plans on releasing it on Native World.
Tell me about your Native World label. Will you be releasing any ABK
material on it?
I’ve got all my back catalog from here on Native World. And I’ve got
a door open for underground artists that are here in Michigan – some
that are out anywhere pretty much. It’s just a doorway for them to have
a store to put their albums on for the world to check out. It’s pretty
much up to them to push their product. The people here will do what they
can. It’s a small company, but it’s a door open. It’s the boys’ club
of record labels, but it’s more than a record label because you don’t
just have to have an album. You can make jewelry if you want and put
it up on that store. It’s just a place for you to express yourself in
whatever way you do.
Why was it so important for you to give back to other artists like you’re
doing?
Karma. That’s it. Karma’s a bitch. That’s why I try to keep a level head.
What inspires you to make not only special Halloween CDs, but also Christmas
CDs?
I always wanted to do a Christmas song – just make them up myself – some
holiday songs. They’re re-enactments. I change the complete title. Like
instead of ‘Jingle Bells,’ it’s ‘Jingle My Balls.’ And I don’t know,
it’s something funny. Just get drunk during the holidays, just get all
eggnogged up and turn on the mic. And the Halloween thing, I love Halloween.
Halloween is one of the freshest holidays. So just get creepy with it.
Make some tracks. I’ve made tracks to play on my porch and pass out candy.
I don’t care. I love Halloween stuff and I’ll make a song. I made a Halloween
song this year, but I didn’t release it. I like making it.
Do you have a lot of material that you have yet to release?
Oh, yeah. I’ve got a couple hard drives full of stuff. I’m building a
vault like Esham!
What are you looking forward to that’s coming out on Psychopathic soon?
I’m just looking forward to all the Gatherings and the Hallowickeds and
the tours with everybody again and just taking that matrix and making
that bitch bright. That’s what I’m looking forward to – a bright-ass
matrix.
For your tour coming up, what are some of the songs you’re looking forward
to playing from the “Hatchet Warrior” LP?
You know, of course, the “Gang Relateds” and just the ones that fans
love – the party ones, the vibe. I want to get out there and keep it
muddy, keep everybody fun and grinding and leaving the building sweating.
How did you like touring with Mack 10 and recording with Paris?
He was cool. Mack 10 was awesome. He was real down to earth and laid
back. That’s always cool because that’s how I am. Paris is another cool
guy. Anyone that I’ve worked with or hung with, they’re cool-ass people
because that’s how I like to be – laid back and just chillin. Why be
uptight and all this and that? You get gray that way.
