Jay Z Interview
By Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol. 6 #1
Your first record took everybody by surprise. It was so tight and it was independent.
That was the ill thing about it, to have that type of success--a new dude on a new label. That proved that people really wanted to hear it and the strength of Jay-Z--how much strength was in me that I could come with a new label, a new artist, an independent label at that, and still go gold.
Your second didn't get much attention, but this new Jay-Z album really blew up...
The second album was successful, but when you're Jay-Z you could sell a million records and not be successful. My first album went gold, second album went platinum.
Were you surprised when Hard Knock Life, was number 1 on Billboard for 5 weeks?
Definitely, I was definitely surprised. It thought it'd be one week and out like all the other Rap albums. We get a week and that's it. But it kept sellin. Any time you in front of people's faces and you constantly deliver good shit, they gonna pick it up. It was like a buildin process. Along with the movie that we put out, the Streets Is Watching, which gave everybody a visual of what I was like, what I was talkin about--it was just perfect.
What were you doing before your, first record came out?
We had just started this record company, Roc-A-Fella Records. We was like takin records to the stores ourselves, sellin 'em out the trunk of our cars, real small shit, really grassroots. We did 100 then 150 then 200, just build it up. This was all singles. Then we got that money together and we was puttin together the album, Reasonable Doubt. I didn't know nothing about the music business, nothing, so it was a real raw street album. I didn't know about makin songs for radio or anything. I just knew how to express myself on wax.
In the West Coast and the South most artists start off releasing records on their own little independent label, but it's different in New York--a lot of people get signed. I wonder what inspired you to do it on your own?
It started out like I was gonna get a deal and everything, but the A & R was lame, they didn't know what the hell was goin on, they didn't know nothing about no street shit or how I was comin at it. They didn't understand none of that. Instead of givin up and turnin away from it, we was like, "Fuck it, we'll make our own shit, we strong enough."
Did you promote heavily in the streets or was it word of mouth?
That's it, it was word of mouth. It was a tight album, people started talkin about it. "Ain't No Nigga" was so popular and people wanted to know what's this guy all about. When they picked up the album and it was tight, then they was like "Yeah, I can fuck with home, he talkin that shit that I know about." That's what I do, I feel like I'm an ambassador for the people, I talk that shit that they can't normally say because they don't have the platform or maybe they can't rap. But they want to say it and they have these emotions and feelings, and I just capture what they wanna say.
Your lyrical style is different from most New York MC's, it's more street, more Reality/Gangsta. What makes you different?
My albums are based on real life. You got Reasonable Doubt, then you got In My Lifetime Vol. 1 and Hard Knock Life. Instead of just rappin, my albums are based on what's happenin out on the streets, what's happenin in the ghettos and what's happenin in the world. My shit, it deals with life.
What was the connection you had with Biggie Smalls?
Me and Biggie, we went to the same high school together, but we wasn't like best of friends or anything. We'd see each other and be like "Whus up? Whus up?". You know, passin. Then when he was about to get into the music business, Mr. C, Big Daddy Kane's DJ, I seen him at a party, he was with B.I.G. one time, he was like "You remember B.I.G. from high school?" We just started kickin it from there. We always was like, "We gotta do something together. It don't matter if it's on your album or mine, we gotta do something." Then when I was doin my album I reached out, "Yo B.I.G. what's up? You wanna get on this song 'Brooklyn's Finest'?" We just went in there and did that song We from basically the same neighborhood, we lived the same kinda life, we had a lotta shit in common. We just started kickin it from there.
What's it like where you grew up in Brooklyn? It's apartments?
It's called the projects. Just to describe it for you: it's 6 floors and it's 4 families on each floor, and maybe 100 buildings in one place. You got somebody on top of you, bottom of you, to the left of you and right of you at all times. It's all these different personalities, it's hard to manage every day. People get into a lotta conflicts cause everybody can't get along in such a little place. Everybody's on top each other. You could have a bad day and come home and somebody's right there in your face--there's tension almost every day in the projects.
Biggie lived in the same area as you?
He lived about 10 minutes away from me, but it was pretty much the same thing. He didn't grow up in the projects, he grew up in the South a lot, but it was the same thing.
What kind of memories do you have from your childhood?
It was so many people, you gotta manage yourself every day. One day could change the rest of your life. Something could happen for you or you could do something to somebody and your whole life can take a drastic change. So you always had to be careful and you had to manage people. You had to be like a psychologist, it was real crazy. The first time I seen a person get shot I was 9 years old. And the cops was comin to my house every day tryin to get me to say who did it. You learn to be thorough from a young age. I was like, "I ain't seen nothing, I ain't got nothing to do with nothing..." Nine years old. I grew up fast
Would you say it was hard times or was it happy times?
It was a balance. It was just how life is, you know. You have happy days, you have sad days. It was a balance. But I wouldn't trade all that in for nothing in the world because it shaped me as a person. It grounded me so I could have success and not go to my head, because I know what it is to have $2 for dinner. I know what it is to have to eat chicken 4 days out the week, cause chicken is cheaper than beef. I know what it is to eat franks inside spaghetti, tryin to make up a meal outta whatever you got. I know what it is.
Did you grow up in a big family?
I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. My mom and my pops separated when I was about 12 years old.
Did any of the other members of your family do music?
No, I'm the only one.
If you weren't doing rap, what would you be doing? What made you get on this track doing music?
I was hustlin in the streets. When you hustlin it's like rollin the dice. Soon or later one day your luck is gonna give out. Ain't no two ways about it, you can't do it the rest of your life. I used to wake up mornings like, "Damn, what am I gonna do when I'm 30 and 40? What the fuck am I gonna do?" I had the talent, I knew how to rap, I was like "I gotta do something with it."
When you first started who did your beats?
My man Clark Kent, I used to make all types of demos at his house. He had a little studio set up and he was a DJ. He was one of the guys who was instrumental in bringin me back. He was like, "You gotta do it, man!" He used to be on me all the time, so I used to go over there and make demos all the time.
On your new album you worked with a lot of different producers than on your previous albums. What made you change?
I was feelin like I was in a zone. The best way I could describe that is it was like how Jordan was when he played Portland, that time when he hit those nine 3's and he just kept hittin the 3's, then he looked over at the crowd and he just shrugged his shoulders--that's how I was feeling. I was feelin like I was in a groove for recording and I needed to get as many songs done as I could, so I couldn't get with all the producers I wanted to cause they was busy, they had schedules, they couldn't drop everything and just run in the studio for me. So I was like "Fuck it, let's get anybody, just get me somebody with a hot beat.!" That's how the new guy, Swizz, came along. He came through with 3 hot tracks and I wanted all of them. Swizz Beats, he's outta the Ruff Ryders camp. I got with him and we did 3 songs together right back to back. I was just lookin for beats anywhere I could get 'em, I was in a groove so I was like "Fuck it, let's just get it done."
How would you describe the groove that you were in?
It was just a zone, I'd never felt that way before recording. In my other albums I just didn't have so many different things on my mind. I was dealin with bein an artist now. Like when I did the first album I was in the streets still. When I came on this new album I was totally separated from the streets. I was like dealin with the music and all the little intricacies of the music business. It wasn't like I was just makin music, I was makin an album. It wasn't like it was just comin out, it's like I was doin it.
You have worked with a lot of different producers. Which producers did you really enjoy working with?
Everybody was cool, but when I went in and worked with Timbaland, his vibe was crazy. He was doin like I was rappin. I was makin the raps right there on the spot and he was doin different shit to the beat. It was a real cool session. With Rap it's not usually like a jam session, usually with Rap your beat is there, your rap is there, you put it down and go home. But with him it was like a jam, he'd change the beat around, he'd add another sound--it was like we was playin instruments.
You listen to all different kinds of music. How did that come about?
I'm open to all types of music. I believe there's 2 musics--good music and bad music. I don't believe in Pop music and all the different categories, I just believe there's good music and bad music. Anything that anybody put together is from your soul; something you put together from your soul--how could it be labeled? I just like all types of music.
It doesn't matter if you even understand what they're saying, if the vibe is right you feel it, right?
Right, I feel it. I got all types of shit in my collection.
Who influenced you musically when you were starting out?
When I was comin up Sugar Hill Gang was just gettin on Soul Train. I was lookin at them sayin, "Oh shit, they let rappers on fuckin Soul Train!" I never seen that before. Kane and Rakim was really big. That was the big thing, and Slick Rick had underground tapes goin around the hood.
I heard that you don't write down your lyrics. Why is that?
I don't write that shit. When I was young I used to write all the time. Every day I would write. But then when I started hustlin and runnin the street I didn't have time to sit down and write, I was always gone. But since I had been writin every day, all these thoughts would come to me every day and I didn't have no way to write 'em. Sometimes I'd run into a store, write it on a paper bag or something, "Give me a paper bag," then I'd have to hold it until I got back to the house, put it in the book. Sometimes I wouldn't get in the house till 5 o'clock in the mornin. With any exercise that you do--if you memorize 10 lines for 8 hours, next day you'll be able to memorize 16 for 20. I kept doin it, I kept memorizing these lyrics till I got in the house. Pretty soon, just like any exercise, it became like second nature. It was ill to me, I didn't even have to write it anymore.
Do you still have those books where you used to write your lyrics?
No, I don't even know where my green notebook is. I don't know where it's at.
Do you have some of the early recordings that you did?
I think Clark Kent might have it, but I don't have it.
Do you have many extra songs you never put out?
That's the thing about not writing the lyrics, I don't really trust myself to just keep holdin 'em, so when I get a song I get a beat and put it down. Usually I make exactly how many songs I need for the album.
Which of your albums do you think is your best?
I gotta go with the first one always. That one, it was just a time just caught on wax. I don't think there'll ever be one better than that one.
Which of your songs are your favorites?
"Ain't No Nigga", that was like the first one that came through, that was the best. I love "Can I Live" from the first album too. "Brooklyn's Finest" with B.I.G. From the second album "Imaginary Player".
Where did you get the idea to use the chorus from the play Annie on your song "Hard Knock Life"?
To me it was a ghetto anthem. When I first heard the song, it was like "Oh that shit crazy." Then when I started listening to it, "...instead of treaty we get trick, instead of kisses we get kick..." That's how everybody feel in the hood, it's us against everybody. Everybody kickin us, everybody treatin us bad, and we gotta come up outta that, we gotta do something about it.
Who do you think is one of the greatest producers doing Rap music?
I think DJ Premiere, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, guys like that, it's a lot of 'em. I've worked with Premier and Timbaland, but I haven't worked with Dre. I would love to do something with Dre, Dre's hot.
Rap has gone through many changes through the years. Do you think this is a good period for Rap or are people just going through the motions?
Right now I think Rap is at its strongest state. As far as sales are concerned, it's dominating the Pop charts. Ain't no rapper ever spent 5 weeks number one in the country. It's like amazing.
What made you decide to make the film?
We needed something. Like with the last album it was a lotta songs we wanted to make videos for, but the video shows are so sensitive they wouldn't let us really do it. So we just said, fuck it we're gonna go under the radar.
Did you spend a lot of money making the film?
Naw, we did it in a week and we spent $350,000 on the entire project. 350. Got it distributed, it went platinum.
Since this album dropped did a lot of new doors open up for you?
Yeah, a whole different world. I was on a show called "David Letterman", a very uppity real tight show. They've featured only 3 rappers in their history, the show's been runnin like 15 years. They had myself, Missy and Puff. Nobody else ever been on it, no rapper.
Did you rap on the show?
No, they didn't go that far, they just let me sit on their couch and talk.
Do you have plans to tour?
Yeah, beginning of next year we're gonna tour around, touch every city.
Are you planning to sign other artists to your label, Roc-A-Fella?
We have a bunch of new artists. There's DJ Clue, he's been makin underground tapes up hear for like 7 years. He's the top sellin mix tape seller out here. He's won the award for best mix tape for the last 3 years. He's producin now, kinda like a Funkmaster Flex or a Kid Capri type album, but a little different. He produced all of the tracks and he just about every artist in the music business on there, and they got all new songs, no freestyles but songs with hooks and shit like that. He's comin out December 15 on my label. Then at the beginnin of the year we got the young guy who starts my album off, his name is Memphis Bleek, he's comin out probably February. Then we got a new artist outta South Philly, his name is Beanie Siegel--he did the song with me and The Lox called "Reservoir Dogs"--he's comin out after that. Then after that we got the girl who's on the song "Can I Get A..." Amil, she's comin up after that.
Is Memphis Bleek from Memphis?
No, he's just a young dude and he liked the way they were doin it down in Memphis, the laid back drawl. He just liked how they was pimpin and shit. He says that his name stands for "Makin Easy Money Pimpin Hoes In Style". He's from Brooklyn where I'm grew up.
Who would you say your fans are, and what type of response have you been getting?
First it was the hustlers, I think it was people that really experienced the life, like people who been pushed up against the wall and had to do something like hustle to improve their situation. That was my first audience. Then as it grew, people was curious about the life, like people in the suburbs would listen so they could experience without actually bein there. Now I think it's a broad audience, it's everybody. By the time this article hits we'll be definitely at 3 million by then. We might be at 3.5, cause we're at 2.7 right now.
The way I see it, New York Rap has a certain sound, but people like you and DMX and Biggie Smalls, you have more of a street universal sound.
I know exactly what you're sayin. What I'm doin is based on the life, people anywhere could relate to it. Cause you got live niggaz everywhere, you got lame niggaz everywhere. Everybody everywhere could relate to it when you're talkin about life rather than just rappin.
What really inspires you to make music and write lyrics?
I get inspired by the streets and what's goin on. If something happens in the streets and it's dramatic, I'm really inspired by that.
When you travel to different parts of the country do you feel it's different there?
Yeah, like in New York everybody's in a rush to go nowhere. Like everybody's runnin somewhere, but they're not goin nowhere. In the Midwest and South and West it seems like everybody's more laid back. You get a chance to think better like that. Here everything is so congested and so hectic that I can't see how you could release your thoughts. That's why I do most my creatin when I be drivin in the car, I can think better like that. It seems like out there you get more of a chance to relax and think.
When it comes to the beats, how much input do you have in creating the music?
Sometimes I have an idea and I have a track in mind I wanna hear, but a lotta times the producer brings in a track and I just make it fit my idea. I'll add to it and make it work.
What are your parents like?
My mother, she was so cool. She wasn't a mother that was overbearin, she would say, "Don't do that, something could happen to you." She wouldn't like hold you back, she let you do it, and then she'd be there for you like "I told you, now you fucked up." She was so cool like that and she really let me go and experience life on my own, and that was the best thing that could happen to me. My pop was there until I was 12, and after that I didn't connect with him too much.
He must know what you're doing now?
He gotta know. He on the rock, there's no way he couldn't know. But I haven't seen him in a while.
Did you feel like you wanted to prove to him that you could do it?
Yeah, that's how all the little boys is, they wanna show their pops that they can do some shit.
How does your mom feel about your success? Did she ever imagine you would be 5 weeks #1 in the Billboard?
There's no way she could imagine that. She seen me sittin at the table bangin on it back when I was a kid, she seen me puttin in all that work. Now when she sees me she just so proud.
Does the radio and TV influence you much?
Hell no, the radio and tv don't influence me. I have my own mind. Hell no, I don't wanna be like nobody.
What tapes are in your personal rotation right now?
Right now I got the Aerosmith, cause I like that song "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing". I got Sarah McLachlan, I got UGK's first album, Scarface. Like just now I went to London and took 5 Cd's with me, I took Lauryn Hill's new album, I took Nas Illmatic, I took Dr, Dre The Chronic, I took N.W.A.'s A Hundred Miles An Runnin', and I took R Kelly's new album cause I wanted to listen to it.
What were you doing in London? Promoting?
Yeah, I was there for a week.
What kind of response were you getting when you were there?
It's crazy out there. It's strange when you go overseas cause it's like y'all can't speak the same language, but the music is universal for real. When you go overseas and see how the kids accept you and how they go crazy and how everybody is into your music, it'll give a whole new meaning on how your music is universal.
From Murder Dog Vol. 6 #1
Your first record took everybody by surprise. It was so tight and it was independent.
That was the ill thing about it, to have that type of success--a new dude on a new label. That proved that people really wanted to hear it and the strength of Jay-Z--how much strength was in me that I could come with a new label, a new artist, an independent label at that, and still go gold.
Your second didn't get much attention, but this new Jay-Z album really blew up...
The second album was successful, but when you're Jay-Z you could sell a million records and not be successful. My first album went gold, second album went platinum.
Were you surprised when Hard Knock Life, was number 1 on Billboard for 5 weeks?
Definitely, I was definitely surprised. It thought it'd be one week and out like all the other Rap albums. We get a week and that's it. But it kept sellin. Any time you in front of people's faces and you constantly deliver good shit, they gonna pick it up. It was like a buildin process. Along with the movie that we put out, the Streets Is Watching, which gave everybody a visual of what I was like, what I was talkin about--it was just perfect.
What were you doing before your, first record came out?
We had just started this record company, Roc-A-Fella Records. We was like takin records to the stores ourselves, sellin 'em out the trunk of our cars, real small shit, really grassroots. We did 100 then 150 then 200, just build it up. This was all singles. Then we got that money together and we was puttin together the album, Reasonable Doubt. I didn't know nothing about the music business, nothing, so it was a real raw street album. I didn't know about makin songs for radio or anything. I just knew how to express myself on wax.
In the West Coast and the South most artists start off releasing records on their own little independent label, but it's different in New York--a lot of people get signed. I wonder what inspired you to do it on your own?
It started out like I was gonna get a deal and everything, but the A & R was lame, they didn't know what the hell was goin on, they didn't know nothing about no street shit or how I was comin at it. They didn't understand none of that. Instead of givin up and turnin away from it, we was like, "Fuck it, we'll make our own shit, we strong enough."
Did you promote heavily in the streets or was it word of mouth?
That's it, it was word of mouth. It was a tight album, people started talkin about it. "Ain't No Nigga" was so popular and people wanted to know what's this guy all about. When they picked up the album and it was tight, then they was like "Yeah, I can fuck with home, he talkin that shit that I know about." That's what I do, I feel like I'm an ambassador for the people, I talk that shit that they can't normally say because they don't have the platform or maybe they can't rap. But they want to say it and they have these emotions and feelings, and I just capture what they wanna say.
Your lyrical style is different from most New York MC's, it's more street, more Reality/Gangsta. What makes you different?
My albums are based on real life. You got Reasonable Doubt, then you got In My Lifetime Vol. 1 and Hard Knock Life. Instead of just rappin, my albums are based on what's happenin out on the streets, what's happenin in the ghettos and what's happenin in the world. My shit, it deals with life.
What was the connection you had with Biggie Smalls?
Me and Biggie, we went to the same high school together, but we wasn't like best of friends or anything. We'd see each other and be like "Whus up? Whus up?". You know, passin. Then when he was about to get into the music business, Mr. C, Big Daddy Kane's DJ, I seen him at a party, he was with B.I.G. one time, he was like "You remember B.I.G. from high school?" We just started kickin it from there. We always was like, "We gotta do something together. It don't matter if it's on your album or mine, we gotta do something." Then when I was doin my album I reached out, "Yo B.I.G. what's up? You wanna get on this song 'Brooklyn's Finest'?" We just went in there and did that song We from basically the same neighborhood, we lived the same kinda life, we had a lotta shit in common. We just started kickin it from there.
What's it like where you grew up in Brooklyn? It's apartments?
It's called the projects. Just to describe it for you: it's 6 floors and it's 4 families on each floor, and maybe 100 buildings in one place. You got somebody on top of you, bottom of you, to the left of you and right of you at all times. It's all these different personalities, it's hard to manage every day. People get into a lotta conflicts cause everybody can't get along in such a little place. Everybody's on top each other. You could have a bad day and come home and somebody's right there in your face--there's tension almost every day in the projects.
Biggie lived in the same area as you?
He lived about 10 minutes away from me, but it was pretty much the same thing. He didn't grow up in the projects, he grew up in the South a lot, but it was the same thing.
What kind of memories do you have from your childhood?
It was so many people, you gotta manage yourself every day. One day could change the rest of your life. Something could happen for you or you could do something to somebody and your whole life can take a drastic change. So you always had to be careful and you had to manage people. You had to be like a psychologist, it was real crazy. The first time I seen a person get shot I was 9 years old. And the cops was comin to my house every day tryin to get me to say who did it. You learn to be thorough from a young age. I was like, "I ain't seen nothing, I ain't got nothing to do with nothing..." Nine years old. I grew up fast
Would you say it was hard times or was it happy times?
It was a balance. It was just how life is, you know. You have happy days, you have sad days. It was a balance. But I wouldn't trade all that in for nothing in the world because it shaped me as a person. It grounded me so I could have success and not go to my head, because I know what it is to have $2 for dinner. I know what it is to have to eat chicken 4 days out the week, cause chicken is cheaper than beef. I know what it is to eat franks inside spaghetti, tryin to make up a meal outta whatever you got. I know what it is.
Did you grow up in a big family?
I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. My mom and my pops separated when I was about 12 years old.
Did any of the other members of your family do music?
No, I'm the only one.
If you weren't doing rap, what would you be doing? What made you get on this track doing music?
I was hustlin in the streets. When you hustlin it's like rollin the dice. Soon or later one day your luck is gonna give out. Ain't no two ways about it, you can't do it the rest of your life. I used to wake up mornings like, "Damn, what am I gonna do when I'm 30 and 40? What the fuck am I gonna do?" I had the talent, I knew how to rap, I was like "I gotta do something with it."
When you first started who did your beats?
My man Clark Kent, I used to make all types of demos at his house. He had a little studio set up and he was a DJ. He was one of the guys who was instrumental in bringin me back. He was like, "You gotta do it, man!" He used to be on me all the time, so I used to go over there and make demos all the time.
On your new album you worked with a lot of different producers than on your previous albums. What made you change?
I was feelin like I was in a zone. The best way I could describe that is it was like how Jordan was when he played Portland, that time when he hit those nine 3's and he just kept hittin the 3's, then he looked over at the crowd and he just shrugged his shoulders--that's how I was feeling. I was feelin like I was in a groove for recording and I needed to get as many songs done as I could, so I couldn't get with all the producers I wanted to cause they was busy, they had schedules, they couldn't drop everything and just run in the studio for me. So I was like "Fuck it, let's get anybody, just get me somebody with a hot beat.!" That's how the new guy, Swizz, came along. He came through with 3 hot tracks and I wanted all of them. Swizz Beats, he's outta the Ruff Ryders camp. I got with him and we did 3 songs together right back to back. I was just lookin for beats anywhere I could get 'em, I was in a groove so I was like "Fuck it, let's just get it done."
How would you describe the groove that you were in?
It was just a zone, I'd never felt that way before recording. In my other albums I just didn't have so many different things on my mind. I was dealin with bein an artist now. Like when I did the first album I was in the streets still. When I came on this new album I was totally separated from the streets. I was like dealin with the music and all the little intricacies of the music business. It wasn't like I was just makin music, I was makin an album. It wasn't like it was just comin out, it's like I was doin it.
You have worked with a lot of different producers. Which producers did you really enjoy working with?
Everybody was cool, but when I went in and worked with Timbaland, his vibe was crazy. He was doin like I was rappin. I was makin the raps right there on the spot and he was doin different shit to the beat. It was a real cool session. With Rap it's not usually like a jam session, usually with Rap your beat is there, your rap is there, you put it down and go home. But with him it was like a jam, he'd change the beat around, he'd add another sound--it was like we was playin instruments.
You listen to all different kinds of music. How did that come about?
I'm open to all types of music. I believe there's 2 musics--good music and bad music. I don't believe in Pop music and all the different categories, I just believe there's good music and bad music. Anything that anybody put together is from your soul; something you put together from your soul--how could it be labeled? I just like all types of music.
It doesn't matter if you even understand what they're saying, if the vibe is right you feel it, right?
Right, I feel it. I got all types of shit in my collection.
Who influenced you musically when you were starting out?
When I was comin up Sugar Hill Gang was just gettin on Soul Train. I was lookin at them sayin, "Oh shit, they let rappers on fuckin Soul Train!" I never seen that before. Kane and Rakim was really big. That was the big thing, and Slick Rick had underground tapes goin around the hood.
I heard that you don't write down your lyrics. Why is that?
I don't write that shit. When I was young I used to write all the time. Every day I would write. But then when I started hustlin and runnin the street I didn't have time to sit down and write, I was always gone. But since I had been writin every day, all these thoughts would come to me every day and I didn't have no way to write 'em. Sometimes I'd run into a store, write it on a paper bag or something, "Give me a paper bag," then I'd have to hold it until I got back to the house, put it in the book. Sometimes I wouldn't get in the house till 5 o'clock in the mornin. With any exercise that you do--if you memorize 10 lines for 8 hours, next day you'll be able to memorize 16 for 20. I kept doin it, I kept memorizing these lyrics till I got in the house. Pretty soon, just like any exercise, it became like second nature. It was ill to me, I didn't even have to write it anymore.
Do you still have those books where you used to write your lyrics?
No, I don't even know where my green notebook is. I don't know where it's at.
Do you have some of the early recordings that you did?
I think Clark Kent might have it, but I don't have it.
Do you have many extra songs you never put out?
That's the thing about not writing the lyrics, I don't really trust myself to just keep holdin 'em, so when I get a song I get a beat and put it down. Usually I make exactly how many songs I need for the album.
Which of your albums do you think is your best?
I gotta go with the first one always. That one, it was just a time just caught on wax. I don't think there'll ever be one better than that one.
Which of your songs are your favorites?
"Ain't No Nigga", that was like the first one that came through, that was the best. I love "Can I Live" from the first album too. "Brooklyn's Finest" with B.I.G. From the second album "Imaginary Player".
Where did you get the idea to use the chorus from the play Annie on your song "Hard Knock Life"?
To me it was a ghetto anthem. When I first heard the song, it was like "Oh that shit crazy." Then when I started listening to it, "...instead of treaty we get trick, instead of kisses we get kick..." That's how everybody feel in the hood, it's us against everybody. Everybody kickin us, everybody treatin us bad, and we gotta come up outta that, we gotta do something about it.
Who do you think is one of the greatest producers doing Rap music?
I think DJ Premiere, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, guys like that, it's a lot of 'em. I've worked with Premier and Timbaland, but I haven't worked with Dre. I would love to do something with Dre, Dre's hot.
Rap has gone through many changes through the years. Do you think this is a good period for Rap or are people just going through the motions?
Right now I think Rap is at its strongest state. As far as sales are concerned, it's dominating the Pop charts. Ain't no rapper ever spent 5 weeks number one in the country. It's like amazing.
What made you decide to make the film?
We needed something. Like with the last album it was a lotta songs we wanted to make videos for, but the video shows are so sensitive they wouldn't let us really do it. So we just said, fuck it we're gonna go under the radar.
Did you spend a lot of money making the film?
Naw, we did it in a week and we spent $350,000 on the entire project. 350. Got it distributed, it went platinum.
Since this album dropped did a lot of new doors open up for you?
Yeah, a whole different world. I was on a show called "David Letterman", a very uppity real tight show. They've featured only 3 rappers in their history, the show's been runnin like 15 years. They had myself, Missy and Puff. Nobody else ever been on it, no rapper.
Did you rap on the show?
No, they didn't go that far, they just let me sit on their couch and talk.
Do you have plans to tour?
Yeah, beginning of next year we're gonna tour around, touch every city.
Are you planning to sign other artists to your label, Roc-A-Fella?
We have a bunch of new artists. There's DJ Clue, he's been makin underground tapes up hear for like 7 years. He's the top sellin mix tape seller out here. He's won the award for best mix tape for the last 3 years. He's producin now, kinda like a Funkmaster Flex or a Kid Capri type album, but a little different. He produced all of the tracks and he just about every artist in the music business on there, and they got all new songs, no freestyles but songs with hooks and shit like that. He's comin out December 15 on my label. Then at the beginnin of the year we got the young guy who starts my album off, his name is Memphis Bleek, he's comin out probably February. Then we got a new artist outta South Philly, his name is Beanie Siegel--he did the song with me and The Lox called "Reservoir Dogs"--he's comin out after that. Then after that we got the girl who's on the song "Can I Get A..." Amil, she's comin up after that.
Is Memphis Bleek from Memphis?
No, he's just a young dude and he liked the way they were doin it down in Memphis, the laid back drawl. He just liked how they was pimpin and shit. He says that his name stands for "Makin Easy Money Pimpin Hoes In Style". He's from Brooklyn where I'm grew up.
Who would you say your fans are, and what type of response have you been getting?
First it was the hustlers, I think it was people that really experienced the life, like people who been pushed up against the wall and had to do something like hustle to improve their situation. That was my first audience. Then as it grew, people was curious about the life, like people in the suburbs would listen so they could experience without actually bein there. Now I think it's a broad audience, it's everybody. By the time this article hits we'll be definitely at 3 million by then. We might be at 3.5, cause we're at 2.7 right now.
The way I see it, New York Rap has a certain sound, but people like you and DMX and Biggie Smalls, you have more of a street universal sound.
I know exactly what you're sayin. What I'm doin is based on the life, people anywhere could relate to it. Cause you got live niggaz everywhere, you got lame niggaz everywhere. Everybody everywhere could relate to it when you're talkin about life rather than just rappin.
What really inspires you to make music and write lyrics?
I get inspired by the streets and what's goin on. If something happens in the streets and it's dramatic, I'm really inspired by that.
When you travel to different parts of the country do you feel it's different there?
Yeah, like in New York everybody's in a rush to go nowhere. Like everybody's runnin somewhere, but they're not goin nowhere. In the Midwest and South and West it seems like everybody's more laid back. You get a chance to think better like that. Here everything is so congested and so hectic that I can't see how you could release your thoughts. That's why I do most my creatin when I be drivin in the car, I can think better like that. It seems like out there you get more of a chance to relax and think.
When it comes to the beats, how much input do you have in creating the music?
Sometimes I have an idea and I have a track in mind I wanna hear, but a lotta times the producer brings in a track and I just make it fit my idea. I'll add to it and make it work.
What are your parents like?
My mother, she was so cool. She wasn't a mother that was overbearin, she would say, "Don't do that, something could happen to you." She wouldn't like hold you back, she let you do it, and then she'd be there for you like "I told you, now you fucked up." She was so cool like that and she really let me go and experience life on my own, and that was the best thing that could happen to me. My pop was there until I was 12, and after that I didn't connect with him too much.
He must know what you're doing now?
He gotta know. He on the rock, there's no way he couldn't know. But I haven't seen him in a while.
Did you feel like you wanted to prove to him that you could do it?
Yeah, that's how all the little boys is, they wanna show their pops that they can do some shit.
How does your mom feel about your success? Did she ever imagine you would be 5 weeks #1 in the Billboard?
There's no way she could imagine that. She seen me sittin at the table bangin on it back when I was a kid, she seen me puttin in all that work. Now when she sees me she just so proud.
Does the radio and TV influence you much?
Hell no, the radio and tv don't influence me. I have my own mind. Hell no, I don't wanna be like nobody.
What tapes are in your personal rotation right now?
Right now I got the Aerosmith, cause I like that song "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing". I got Sarah McLachlan, I got UGK's first album, Scarface. Like just now I went to London and took 5 Cd's with me, I took Lauryn Hill's new album, I took Nas Illmatic, I took Dr, Dre The Chronic, I took N.W.A.'s A Hundred Miles An Runnin', and I took R Kelly's new album cause I wanted to listen to it.
What were you doing in London? Promoting?
Yeah, I was there for a week.
What kind of response were you getting when you were there?
It's crazy out there. It's strange when you go overseas cause it's like y'all can't speak the same language, but the music is universal for real. When you go overseas and see how the kids accept you and how they go crazy and how everybody is into your music, it'll give a whole new meaning on how your music is universal.
