Pistol
Interview by Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog vol 5 #4
In these last two years the South has come to the forefront in Rap.
Everybody’s talkin about the South. It’s time for the South. People are lookin for different thangs now. The listeners are ready for something different.
When people talk about the West Coast they’re talking about California, but when you talk about the South it’s a lot of different states.
You got Texas, Tennessee, Atlanta, New Orleans--so many states to mess with, so many cities to mess with. You can’t get no better.
And every spot has a different style.
That’s why I’m lookin out for Nashville, cause Nashville got a gang of talent. Nashville is growin as a city. Bizzy Bones is recording his album here in Nashville. That’s a tight album too, I checked his album out. Bushwick is doin some songs in a studio up the street where I'm recording. There’s a gang of studios in Nashville. I got a group called the Billionare Boys, I got a group called the Young Millionaires, got a group called P.J.N. comin out, guy by the name of Hitman, got Boogie comin out. All them comin soon from Toppa Da Line. We’re gonna be hittin back to back with ‘em, they all slammin. We're gonna take over cause my new album, Ballaholic, it's so tight--I ain't braggin, but I ain't nothing that could mess with it--I ain't tryin to sound cocky or big headed, but I feel like I come to an advanced level with this album. Usually, a guy who's got to much money wouldn't put so much into his project. You gotta stay hungry, I'm hungry cause I still got something to prove. Lotta these guys ain't got nothing to prove--they got the money, they get in the studio, close the shit down and straight out. I'm doin the homework. I'm listening to what's sellin, what's not sellin, I'm studyin all that and then I'm lockin it all in and comin with some shit that's gonna be the bomb.
In a way it's good you when can put out a few albums before you blow up. Your style develops, but you're still hungry.
You're gonna keep comin with it. and you keep gettin better and better. Each of album sounds so much better than the last one. This album I'm puttin out got more and more power. This album Ballaholic is so tight muthafucka's is like, what you smokin when you did that muthafucka? Gangsta Pat did a couple tracks on there with me.
Are your old albums still available in stores?
Yeah, you can get 'em. But we sold so many of the last one, The Money And The Power, that we stopped pressin them. We got distributors callin us up tryin to get more stock.
What was the name of your first album?
The very first album was called Young Gangsta. It's like a real real low budget album. Then my second, the one most people think of as my first, was Hittin' Like A Bullet. That's the one when I had signed with Street Flavor, then Ruthless had picked it up and rereleased. Then I had one, They Shoulda Killed Me, that I did with Street Flavor. Then I got Money And The Power, which came out on my own label, Toppa Da Line Records. Now I'm comin out with Ballaholic. due to release late August. We got such a big demand for it, it's crazy. It's been about two years since I came out.
You're the biggest selling Rap artist in Nashville.
People give me props for havin it in lockdown, but I don't get big headed cause I know it's a lotta Nashville rappers who made it easy for me. I listened to a lotta Nashville rappers when I was gettin started. When they was doin it I was the little cat that never got noticed, I was always doin talent shows up under them. I just kept on it, kept on. Like Blow Pop, I used to look up to him. He was with the Blow Pop Crew, they did something with Luke. I got him doin something on my album. Then Kool Daddy Fresh, he's one of the first local celebrities, I got him on there. Boogie's another one, he's doin a lot of production for me. Boogie did 4 or 5 beats on my new album--he's tight as hell. He was on Street Flavor too.
What's behind the name of your new album, Ballaholic?
You got a alcoholic--people who are addicted to alcohol--me, I'm addicted to ballin. It's a sickness, I can't stop ballin. Everywhere I go I ball.
What’s your definition of ballin?
My ballin is like no limit. Like in the clubs I’m gonna ball, in the strip joints, if I go to the mall, it’s all on me. When my crew, when my clique out with me, it’s all on me--keep your money in your pockets, it’s on me. In the clubs we ball out, there’s no limit to what we gonna spend that night.
How is your new album different from your last three albums?
It’s gonna be basically the same but the lyrics is better now. I put more of a style to it now instead of just laid back. I feel real good about this album. It’s like I’m growin as a rapper--the music is more tight and more put together. Anybody could relate to it--the West Coast and the South, Midwest. It’s a universal style.
Who was doing the production on your early albums?
KNS and Cents The Weedhead, a guy by the name of Chris. On this album I got some top of the line producers--Jeff and Chris.
You were signed to Ruthless at one time. What happened with the Ruthless deal?
When Eazy E died it’s like there wasn’t any more connection. Everything got twisted up. It was basically a good time for me to get out of my contract. Street Flavor was the independent I was on that was signed with Ruthless. After I got released from Ruthless I got my own label, Toppa Da Line, me and D-Moe.
In Nashville Pistol is one of the pioneers of Rap--
When I started there wasn’t that much Rap going on. Nashville is the second biggest music city in the country. We got all the studios down here, we got all the record companies, but there wasn’t no Rap label down here. Everybody kinda gave up cause they felt like ain’t nobody hearin them, then when I got the deal with Ruthless and I kinda blew up it kinda gave everybody faith. They’d see me on MTV, The Box and all that shit, it pumped everybody up a lot. When I first started I was doin more of the New York typa Rap, like Run DMC. Then when N.W.A. and Geto Boys started comin out they showed me an image comin from where they at, they were livin the same kinda life that I’m livin. They showed me that anywhere you live on the globe the same kinda shit is goin on. I could relate to all that--that was the shit I wanted to rap about and the shit I wanted to hear. What they were doin felt more real, you could feel exactly where they were comin from. It was more street.
How did you start selling so many records?
I was just goin through the streets. You had people comin out tryin to do the New York style, I was the only one with the Gangsta Rap. It’s like if there’s only one sellin the dope he’s gonna make all the money because there’s nowhere else to get it but from him. Down here at that time there was nobody doin the Gangsta style except me. You had all your different styles around, but where are you gonna buy your Gangsta stuff from? I was doin it like Master P doin it now--he’s doin something that everybody else is afraid to do right now. Biggie got killed, Pac got killed, they kinda banned Gangsta music, everybody started goin to the mainstream--that left Master P wide open. While everybody else started switchin up and gettin scared to do the Gangsta shit, Master P saw a wide open hole. That's the key to his success. He’s the only dope man in town. Everybody stopped dealin the drugs, but you still got the junkies out there. You quit doin Gangsta Rap, we still got Gangsta Rap junkies out there. You’re gonna make all the money if you’re the only one doin it.
I wonder what made you go in a different direction from everyone else in Nashville?
That Hip Hop shit was cool because I was raised up on it and I learned, but when I heard N.W.A. it just felt more real. The shit they was talkin about, I was livin it and I had people around me who was livin it to the fullest.
Who influenced you musically?
A gang of them. Slick Rick back in the early eighties. Then in the late eighties it was mainly the West Coast rappers--King Tee, Ice Cube, N.W.A., you had the Geto Boys and Scarface Down South, Too Short--a lotta them influenced me. I like C-Bo too. Then up into the nineties you started gettin people like Biggie and Jay Z--they from New York, but they got the Down South lyrics over New York beats. They talkin about the same stuff we talkin about down here, but we got the beefy Bass beats down here.
I could never understand why New York rappers always claim to have better lyrics than rappers from other parts of the county.
What they mean is you got people who’re sayin some things, but in New York they could be sayin it the same way but puttin it so difficult you couldn’t even repeat it almost. You don't even understand what they rap. They’re more complex with it, they use bigger words, they act like more educated.
They’re more intellectual. Most people just can’t get into it.
That’s why my Rap be so rugged and simple because the people that’s buyin my music is simple minded. I ain’t tyin to down ‘em or nothing, but most of these niggaz in the streets ain’t graduated. You gotta talk the language people you’re talkin to can understand. When you hear Master P or my shit, you can understand every word.
You’ve been rapping for a long time now, have you ever just wanted to give it up?
I thought about givin it up, but then Master P opened my eyes up. He showed me that no matter how long you stay independent good things can come your way. Everybody’s sayin he’s the man right now and how he’s doin it, but they don’t realize how many albums he did before he made it. Like Too Short, E-40 same story. A lotta these cats do a record and blow up on these shiny major labels, then they get caught up in the crossfire. I figure you keep doin it and eventually you’re gonna make it. It’s about surviving and takin care of your peoples right now, the fame come later on. That’s mainly all you get when you sign to a major--it’s a lotta fame, but financially you won’t be straight. That’s like with a lot of these New York rappers, you see them on TV every goddamn day, but they’re broke. But then you got groups like Three-6 Mafia who you don’t hear on the radio or see on TV, but they’re livin good as hell. Them boys is doin it. They stayed independent for a while--they was rollin and livin good, better than some of these major artists. Like me, I’m straight right now, I ain’t broke or nothing. So many people sell Gold and Platinum, but they’re broke. The record label got all their money. I got my own studio built and shit. I sell about 100,000 records every time I put out.
Interview by Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog vol 5 #4
In these last two years the South has come to the forefront in Rap.
Everybody’s talkin about the South. It’s time for the South. People are lookin for different thangs now. The listeners are ready for something different.
When people talk about the West Coast they’re talking about California, but when you talk about the South it’s a lot of different states.
You got Texas, Tennessee, Atlanta, New Orleans--so many states to mess with, so many cities to mess with. You can’t get no better.
And every spot has a different style.
That’s why I’m lookin out for Nashville, cause Nashville got a gang of talent. Nashville is growin as a city. Bizzy Bones is recording his album here in Nashville. That’s a tight album too, I checked his album out. Bushwick is doin some songs in a studio up the street where I'm recording. There’s a gang of studios in Nashville. I got a group called the Billionare Boys, I got a group called the Young Millionaires, got a group called P.J.N. comin out, guy by the name of Hitman, got Boogie comin out. All them comin soon from Toppa Da Line. We’re gonna be hittin back to back with ‘em, they all slammin. We're gonna take over cause my new album, Ballaholic, it's so tight--I ain't braggin, but I ain't nothing that could mess with it--I ain't tryin to sound cocky or big headed, but I feel like I come to an advanced level with this album. Usually, a guy who's got to much money wouldn't put so much into his project. You gotta stay hungry, I'm hungry cause I still got something to prove. Lotta these guys ain't got nothing to prove--they got the money, they get in the studio, close the shit down and straight out. I'm doin the homework. I'm listening to what's sellin, what's not sellin, I'm studyin all that and then I'm lockin it all in and comin with some shit that's gonna be the bomb.
In a way it's good you when can put out a few albums before you blow up. Your style develops, but you're still hungry.
You're gonna keep comin with it. and you keep gettin better and better. Each of album sounds so much better than the last one. This album I'm puttin out got more and more power. This album Ballaholic is so tight muthafucka's is like, what you smokin when you did that muthafucka? Gangsta Pat did a couple tracks on there with me.
Are your old albums still available in stores?
Yeah, you can get 'em. But we sold so many of the last one, The Money And The Power, that we stopped pressin them. We got distributors callin us up tryin to get more stock.
What was the name of your first album?
The very first album was called Young Gangsta. It's like a real real low budget album. Then my second, the one most people think of as my first, was Hittin' Like A Bullet. That's the one when I had signed with Street Flavor, then Ruthless had picked it up and rereleased. Then I had one, They Shoulda Killed Me, that I did with Street Flavor. Then I got Money And The Power, which came out on my own label, Toppa Da Line Records. Now I'm comin out with Ballaholic. due to release late August. We got such a big demand for it, it's crazy. It's been about two years since I came out.
You're the biggest selling Rap artist in Nashville.
People give me props for havin it in lockdown, but I don't get big headed cause I know it's a lotta Nashville rappers who made it easy for me. I listened to a lotta Nashville rappers when I was gettin started. When they was doin it I was the little cat that never got noticed, I was always doin talent shows up under them. I just kept on it, kept on. Like Blow Pop, I used to look up to him. He was with the Blow Pop Crew, they did something with Luke. I got him doin something on my album. Then Kool Daddy Fresh, he's one of the first local celebrities, I got him on there. Boogie's another one, he's doin a lot of production for me. Boogie did 4 or 5 beats on my new album--he's tight as hell. He was on Street Flavor too.
What's behind the name of your new album, Ballaholic?
You got a alcoholic--people who are addicted to alcohol--me, I'm addicted to ballin. It's a sickness, I can't stop ballin. Everywhere I go I ball.
What’s your definition of ballin?
My ballin is like no limit. Like in the clubs I’m gonna ball, in the strip joints, if I go to the mall, it’s all on me. When my crew, when my clique out with me, it’s all on me--keep your money in your pockets, it’s on me. In the clubs we ball out, there’s no limit to what we gonna spend that night.
How is your new album different from your last three albums?
It’s gonna be basically the same but the lyrics is better now. I put more of a style to it now instead of just laid back. I feel real good about this album. It’s like I’m growin as a rapper--the music is more tight and more put together. Anybody could relate to it--the West Coast and the South, Midwest. It’s a universal style.
Who was doing the production on your early albums?
KNS and Cents The Weedhead, a guy by the name of Chris. On this album I got some top of the line producers--Jeff and Chris.
You were signed to Ruthless at one time. What happened with the Ruthless deal?
When Eazy E died it’s like there wasn’t any more connection. Everything got twisted up. It was basically a good time for me to get out of my contract. Street Flavor was the independent I was on that was signed with Ruthless. After I got released from Ruthless I got my own label, Toppa Da Line, me and D-Moe.
In Nashville Pistol is one of the pioneers of Rap--
When I started there wasn’t that much Rap going on. Nashville is the second biggest music city in the country. We got all the studios down here, we got all the record companies, but there wasn’t no Rap label down here. Everybody kinda gave up cause they felt like ain’t nobody hearin them, then when I got the deal with Ruthless and I kinda blew up it kinda gave everybody faith. They’d see me on MTV, The Box and all that shit, it pumped everybody up a lot. When I first started I was doin more of the New York typa Rap, like Run DMC. Then when N.W.A. and Geto Boys started comin out they showed me an image comin from where they at, they were livin the same kinda life that I’m livin. They showed me that anywhere you live on the globe the same kinda shit is goin on. I could relate to all that--that was the shit I wanted to rap about and the shit I wanted to hear. What they were doin felt more real, you could feel exactly where they were comin from. It was more street.
How did you start selling so many records?
I was just goin through the streets. You had people comin out tryin to do the New York style, I was the only one with the Gangsta Rap. It’s like if there’s only one sellin the dope he’s gonna make all the money because there’s nowhere else to get it but from him. Down here at that time there was nobody doin the Gangsta style except me. You had all your different styles around, but where are you gonna buy your Gangsta stuff from? I was doin it like Master P doin it now--he’s doin something that everybody else is afraid to do right now. Biggie got killed, Pac got killed, they kinda banned Gangsta music, everybody started goin to the mainstream--that left Master P wide open. While everybody else started switchin up and gettin scared to do the Gangsta shit, Master P saw a wide open hole. That's the key to his success. He’s the only dope man in town. Everybody stopped dealin the drugs, but you still got the junkies out there. You quit doin Gangsta Rap, we still got Gangsta Rap junkies out there. You’re gonna make all the money if you’re the only one doin it.
I wonder what made you go in a different direction from everyone else in Nashville?
That Hip Hop shit was cool because I was raised up on it and I learned, but when I heard N.W.A. it just felt more real. The shit they was talkin about, I was livin it and I had people around me who was livin it to the fullest.
Who influenced you musically?
A gang of them. Slick Rick back in the early eighties. Then in the late eighties it was mainly the West Coast rappers--King Tee, Ice Cube, N.W.A., you had the Geto Boys and Scarface Down South, Too Short--a lotta them influenced me. I like C-Bo too. Then up into the nineties you started gettin people like Biggie and Jay Z--they from New York, but they got the Down South lyrics over New York beats. They talkin about the same stuff we talkin about down here, but we got the beefy Bass beats down here.
I could never understand why New York rappers always claim to have better lyrics than rappers from other parts of the county.
What they mean is you got people who’re sayin some things, but in New York they could be sayin it the same way but puttin it so difficult you couldn’t even repeat it almost. You don't even understand what they rap. They’re more complex with it, they use bigger words, they act like more educated.
They’re more intellectual. Most people just can’t get into it.
That’s why my Rap be so rugged and simple because the people that’s buyin my music is simple minded. I ain’t tyin to down ‘em or nothing, but most of these niggaz in the streets ain’t graduated. You gotta talk the language people you’re talkin to can understand. When you hear Master P or my shit, you can understand every word.
You’ve been rapping for a long time now, have you ever just wanted to give it up?
I thought about givin it up, but then Master P opened my eyes up. He showed me that no matter how long you stay independent good things can come your way. Everybody’s sayin he’s the man right now and how he’s doin it, but they don’t realize how many albums he did before he made it. Like Too Short, E-40 same story. A lotta these cats do a record and blow up on these shiny major labels, then they get caught up in the crossfire. I figure you keep doin it and eventually you’re gonna make it. It’s about surviving and takin care of your peoples right now, the fame come later on. That’s mainly all you get when you sign to a major--it’s a lotta fame, but financially you won’t be straight. That’s like with a lot of these New York rappers, you see them on TV every goddamn day, but they’re broke. But then you got groups like Three-6 Mafia who you don’t hear on the radio or see on TV, but they’re livin good as hell. Them boys is doin it. They stayed independent for a while--they was rollin and livin good, better than some of these major artists. Like me, I’m straight right now, I ain’t broke or nothing. So many people sell Gold and Platinum, but they’re broke. The record label got all their money. I got my own studio built and shit. I sell about 100,000 records every time I put out.
