Killer Mike
By Matt Sonzala
From Murder Dog Vol. 10 #2
Bun B said to me recently that when you go to Atlanta you hear a lot of Atlanta artists on the radio, and they really support their local artists. And I said to him that here in Houston all you hear are Atlanta artists on the radio too. Is the scene really that strong out there now?
Naw it isn't. It could be stronger. Like what you hearing now is, I'm gonna be honest man. Hot 107.9 here, the Program Director and Coco, and even Emporer Searcy and the Emergency Room Unit, the DJ's Sermen, Trauma and them, are working very hard to make sure that happens.
That
wasn't going on in Atlanta four or five years ago. And the artists here in Atlanta
are getting more aggressive. Me, T.I., the Attic Crew. We get more aggressive
about getting play and we get more aggressive about getting in peoples faces.
Unfortunately, you starting to hear more songs on the radio now, but you go to
the clubs and you hear almost totally New York shit. And that's not saying anything
against New York, but I don't believe you should go into any city in America
and not hear at least 30% of local artists. Like in Houston, even though they
not getting the radio spins they deserve, Swishahouse, Slim Thug, Paul Wall & Chamillion,
they got a strong following. People know who they are. But like, just as niggas
getting radio play over here, that shit ain't translating into sales. It should
be to the point where niggas don't expect or even care about getting record deals
here. So that's kind of like the trade off. Even though your shit is getting
played on the radio, and in some clubs that are really totally Atlanta clubs,
our underground isn't structured here so that people are trying to sell. People
are still trying to get record deals. And I want to see an underground following
where people don't have to get record deals in order to feed themselves.
Why did you sign your deal with Columbia?
I signed my deal because I was already selling tapes and shit on the street. I signed my deal cause I was like fuck it, I can stop selling dope and use this record deal money to fucking fund what the fuck I'm doing. Now of course some things changed like I realized how difficult it is, but that hasn't stopped my focus. I want to do the type of art that I believe is valid, invaluable. Get out there and get its fair day.
A lot of folks been putting out underground mix tapes in Atlanta these days. T.I.'s been putting some out.
Yeah, T.I., Jelly's been putting some out. I'm about to go do his mix tape when we finish this interview.
I feel like a lot of the artists on your level currently, they take it as such a business sort of thing and are either over the top with the hip hop shit, or they don't respect it at all. It seems like you have a great respect for the music and keep a good balance within your career.
I do. I have a great respect for the music and my philosophy is one that's maturing and learning how to peddle my art instead of selling it. Because once you get into the habit of selling what you do, that's when you get comfortable with selling out. Like I was talking to Bun B just this morning and I was really just thanking him for sharing a lot of his life experience and mentoring me and shit so I don't make a lot of the same mistakes that were made by his generation of rappers. Now that's not a criticism. That's just saying like Bun told me, he was like to some degree they didn't reach back. And that was like to some degree because a lot of the rappers before them didn't reach out. So I reach back because Bun reaches out. It's a shame that my 15 year old cousin doesn't know the Niggaz 4 Life album. His rap history starts at The Chronic. Now The Chronic is good, it's one of the best albums ever. But as a fan speaking now, the best album Dr. Dre has ever done is Niggaz 4 Life. Because Niggaz 4 Life, nothing was smooth about it. Nothing was comfortable. It wasn't about what Ren, Dre, or Eazy looked like. And with The Chronic, even though it was a great album, all of that kind of came into play. Like Snoop was a sex symbol. The beats were easily recognizable, Parliament, that type of stuff. But Niggaz 4 Life was like a whole new living, breathing creature. And it's a shame that Niggaz 4 Life isn't known. People think the first time "Pocket Full of Stones" came out was the Menace II Society soundtrack. I'm like naw fuck that, the first album, and even the album before that. "Ain't no pussy like pregnant pussy." It's a legacy that's getting forgotten that I don't want to see go. 8Ball & MJG's first work, the underground work. Skinny Pimp. Mac Mall. Spice 1. I tell people all the time, as great as 2Pac was, he, Biggie, that whole generation of rappers, when you start talking about the introduction of death and spiritualism in rap, you cannot only focus on Pac. If you forget to talk about Scarface you doing an injustice. I tell cats in the streets if your biggest influence is Outkast, Biggie, Pac, if those are the dudes that really made you start rappin' then you really don't stand a chance against me. Because they influences are who I listen to. I'm listening to Eric B. & Rakim, I'm listening to Run DMC, I'm listening to Spice 1, I'm listening to the Geto Boys first 2 albums. UGK, 8Ball & MJG. Skinny Pimp. I'm listening to the music they pull from to inspire them. You'd be crazy if you don't think Scarface inspired Pac to some degree. You literally in pain if you don't hear that. You'd be crazy if you think Snoop wasn't inspired by NWA. I want to make sure that that rich history is preserved and held in the light it should be.
Would you say that the average MC doesn't have respect for the art behind the music? Because there was a while when even UGK said "fuck hip-hop, we don't make hip-hop. We make country rap tunes."
I think what happens is frustration. I say on one of my songs. "This is rap-n-roll, fuck your hip-hop." I think what people are saying is not like fuck the fundamentals of hip-hop. We're not saying fuck what Bambattaa, what Kool Herc, what Grandmaster Flash done, and what those poor kids in the Bronx River Projects started. We're saying fuck the corporate co-opting entity that you're trying to force us into. Fuck becoming a commercial for a corporation. If what you're trying to do is make us walking, talking, breathing commercials, then fuck that. That's what we're saying. It's not that I don't think rappers have the respect for it. I think that people have not been educating themselves about what we do. Like we aren't becoming smart artists. When people start talking about underground rap it's a shame that all they think they are talking about is guns and violence. I remember when Public Enemy was underground rap. Dead Prez should be sitting next to any gun toting gangsta group in any of these publications cause the shit that they say man is just as revolutionary and just as important as what Public Enemy was saying and what NWA was saying. I tell people all the time "Black Cop" and "Fuck the Police" are just as important to hip-hop as when Chuck D first said "I got a letter from the government the other day." Like you listen to "Dirty Money" and what Bun and Pimp were saying on that song that's probably the most politicized song that's ever been written. People don't understand the intelligence that goes into this music. When we demoralize it ourself, what do we expect other people to do with it? At the end of the day, whether we gangstas or whether we revolutionaries, it all leads to the same place. Death or jail. So as gangstas, why don't we politicize our minds? And muthafuckas who claim to be politicized, why don't you associate with the people most in need? And those are the people who are gangstas, are thugs, at the bottom of the barrel.
I agree with that 100%. I do a radio show on a community station that is run by activists, and it's a pretty radical station. But I've gotten some criticism from some of the people in the activist community who say I don't play enough conscious stuff. And I say man, everything I play is conscious.
Yeah man like niggas kill me in two ways. Niggas kill me. What the fuck you mean conscious? I'm gonna tell you something man, I don't listen to a lot of Common. And it's not because I'm not a fan of Common, it's just that Common was most conscious to me when he said "I'm somewhere between alcoholism and afrocentricity." Because that's a conscious thought. To admit that I'm in a place where I'm weak. That's the book Soul on Ice, paraphrased in one line. That's Eldridge Cleaver nigga. That's Huey P. Newton. What you have to understand is conscious music is only as good as the collective consciousness of the people. So if your people in dire straits and they saying they want to be better, something fucked up, something wrong, if you not starting your conversation right there, iyou starting your conversation above them, your consciousness ain't shit. It don't mean nothing.
Sometimes when you hear a song that you feel is over the top, like they say "bitch" or whatever, there's something conscious about that too. It should make you think about why they say that, or where that came from. df
Exactly. Man the best thing about the Dead Prez movement and the best thing about the God-body movement that the Wu Tang re-introduced to rap is the fact that they said "nigga." And I'm not saying nigga is a pretty word, but what I'm saying is nigga is the word of the day and nigga grabs your attention quick. Cause we ain't got to the point where we see each other as brothers yet. We ain't got to the point where we see each other as comrads yet. We don't even understand the concept man. Dead Prez understand that. And that's why they can say nigga. Cause they realize that once they say nigga and they got your attention, they can give you something you can understand, and I'm gonna give it to you in simple words. Rap has never been about being better than the people. It's always been about people bettering themselves and finding people exactly where they are and starting with that point.
Are you mad at "Pass the Courvasier?"
Really man I'm not mad at music at all. What I'm mad at is that the fans feel as though they have to choose either or. See, I went and bought Public Enemy, Too Short, NWA, Tribe Called Quest, I could buy all that shit on the same day and listen to it. And I never thought that I had to choose Chuck D or Too Short. I don't have to not like the Neptunes to like Lil Flip. I don't have to not like Nas to like Jay-Z. I'm gonna buy Nas and Jay-Z. I'ma buy Common and muthafuckin' Slim Thug. I'ma buy Paul Wall and I'm gonna buy Grand Daddy Souf. I think what's happening is the industry and the corporate structure, and even to some degree rappers themselves, have allowed the pie to get split into so many pieces that it's literally destroying the market. It made all these small markets. I heard Russell Simmons say a long time ago when people asked him if he was mad that certain people selling more records than Run DMC and he said "why?" It's expanding the market. I want to do work with Slim Thug. I want to work with Nas. I've worked with Jay-Z and Outkast. I worked with Reese & Bigalow. I'm gonna work with David Banner. I want to work with E-40. I want as a artist to be able to explore whatever I want to explore. I remember the first time I heard Ice Cube pop up on a Mr. Mike album. That shit was real to me. The first time Ice Cube popped up on a Korn album. When Chuck D popped up on an Ice Cube album. They opened a door. It was almost like a link on a website. You know what's a shame, it's a shame that people don't understand how similar…
Many people don't travel…
Yeah, but what I'm saying is, the music used to be our fuckin' airplane. I had never been to New York, but the first time I went to New York, I knew certain shit about it. I never been to California, but I knew what Slausson and what Crenshaw was supposed to look like. Some of my imagination got dispelled, some of it got confirmed once I went. Cause California rappers, Compton’s Most Wanted told me what to expect. DJ Quik told me what to expect when I went there. MOP, UGK, 8Ball & MJG, are like some of the most unheralded groups on earth because their audiences don't understand their importance. MOP audience should be buying UGK. But because they audiences never get introduced to the other things, it never happens.
Do you see it changing?
If the artists push it cause right now what's happened is we've given up control. With the civil rights movement, it was about civilians fighting for rights. Citizens fighting for rights. And it turned into politicians pushing an agenda for us. With rap it used to be the people of the streets choosing what they liked. Now it's the people of the street letting radio decide what they should like. The most beautiful thing about Houston is they have an alternative. People buy Swishahouse. They buy Lil Flip. They are the reason, the kids in Houston and the Midwest are the reason the world knows Lil Flip. They should be proud of that and they shouldn't abandon Lil Flip now that they put him out there. They ought to hold Lil Flip down the whole way through. That's they pride, they created that man. And don't feel like just cause he got a deal…Flip will still fuck with anybody man. And he's given niggas advice. He's given me advice. That's the type of dude you want to have a major deal. You want Flip to have a major deal because he comes from Houston.
I was listening to your cut "Rap Is Dead." And that's a deep cut. My first question about that is do you really listen to Bad Brains?
Yeah Dre introduced me to them. I do listen to 'em. I'm surprised you caught that. A lot of people missed that line. I got into them a little late but I love them. Dre bought a book on the history of punk and they weren't even mentioned in it. It was one that was put out by Time or Rolling Stone or some shit. You see how we get written out of history? Think about it. If it wasn't for Murder Dog, Spice 1, UGK, 8Ball & MJG, Mac Mall, E-40, all these people could be written out of history. Seriously. If it wasn't for a publication like Murder Dog.
I know from experience that most of these magazines don't give a shit.
But I'm glad that somebody got fed up enough to create Murder Dog cause that's what hip hop is about. If you don't like it, destroy it and create your own thing.
Where'd the Kurt Cobain reference come from on your song "Rap Is Dead?"
Really man, first of all I know the hook fucks people up. It all comes out of my frustration. Cause I like rock n roll too. I like hard rock. Rock has become a real place for pussies. Like if you lived anything similar to what Blacks and Latinos have been living for the past 100 or so years then that's supposed to give you like the right to whine and complain for a whole album? Fuck that. Really, fuck that. That's not what attracted me to rock. That's not what attracted me to rap. What attracted me was that in spite of insurmountable odds, man you supposed to stand and fight like a fuckin' warrior. Now that's not saying that you don't have a right to be down, you don't have a right to be weak at times, but I don't need to hear you cry for 15 fuckin' songs. And I think that a lot of dudes in rock kind of took only what Kurt did in terms of heshing out some of his pain and ran with that. And it becomes something soft and sick.
Like Creed?
Fuckin' exactly. Not that the shit don't sound good but how good is it for me? My thing is, if you not going to do a "Rape Me," don't try to do Kurt. If you not going to get on MTV and play the first two bars of "Rape Me," scare the shit out of everybody, don't try to be Kurt. If you're not gonna politicize your message, if you're not going to try and be overtly political in your intent on certain songs and saying that blacks, browns, Latinos in this country are shitted on don't put on a handkerchief and try to be Pac. If you are not willing to align yourself with the philosophy of Huey P. Newton, Assatta Shakur, Afeni Shakur, do not disgrace his memory by doing it. If you not going to say like Biggie said, "I am keeping it real by talking about this expensive shit, cause this is what all rappers do. Even conscious niggas go to the strip clubs with us after the concert." If you not gonna do like Biggie and shout out Ron G., Brucie B, Luvbug Starski, if you not gonna give niggas a history lesson, don't try to be Biggie. Don't do it man. Don't disgrace niggas’ names if you not willing to suffer under the same cross they suffered from to push they message forward. If you not willing to embrace the West Coast, people don't understand, they just heard him say "I'm goin' back to Cali." Biggie’s demo was over Snoop beats. So he was already a New York nigga that was listening to what was going on in the West. He listened to Outkast, it was obvious. Cause niggas in New York wasn't talking that playa shit. It's obvious that Biggie listened with an objective ear to all kind of music. He respected Detroit when he went there. "Big gators on my Detroit playas." Biggie respected niggas when he went places man. He respected that gangsta. And if you not gonna do that, if you gonna be the stereotypical arrogant east coast nigga man don't try to be Biggie man cause it's obvious that that wasn't what he was. Cause he showed niggas love, respect, and admiration for what they brought to the game in his rhymes. And bigger than that, in rap, if you not trying to outdo a nigga what the fuck is you doing it for?
By Matt Sonzala
From Murder Dog Vol. 10 #2
Bun B said to me recently that when you go to Atlanta you hear a lot of Atlanta artists on the radio, and they really support their local artists. And I said to him that here in Houston all you hear are Atlanta artists on the radio too. Is the scene really that strong out there now?
Naw it isn't. It could be stronger. Like what you hearing now is, I'm gonna be honest man. Hot 107.9 here, the Program Director and Coco, and even Emporer Searcy and the Emergency Room Unit, the DJ's Sermen, Trauma and them, are working very hard to make sure that happens.
That
wasn't going on in Atlanta four or five years ago. And the artists here in Atlanta
are getting more aggressive. Me, T.I., the Attic Crew. We get more aggressive
about getting play and we get more aggressive about getting in peoples faces.
Unfortunately, you starting to hear more songs on the radio now, but you go to
the clubs and you hear almost totally New York shit. And that's not saying anything
against New York, but I don't believe you should go into any city in America
and not hear at least 30% of local artists. Like in Houston, even though they
not getting the radio spins they deserve, Swishahouse, Slim Thug, Paul Wall & Chamillion,
they got a strong following. People know who they are. But like, just as niggas
getting radio play over here, that shit ain't translating into sales. It should
be to the point where niggas don't expect or even care about getting record deals
here. So that's kind of like the trade off. Even though your shit is getting
played on the radio, and in some clubs that are really totally Atlanta clubs,
our underground isn't structured here so that people are trying to sell. People
are still trying to get record deals. And I want to see an underground following
where people don't have to get record deals in order to feed themselves.Why did you sign your deal with Columbia?
I signed my deal because I was already selling tapes and shit on the street. I signed my deal cause I was like fuck it, I can stop selling dope and use this record deal money to fucking fund what the fuck I'm doing. Now of course some things changed like I realized how difficult it is, but that hasn't stopped my focus. I want to do the type of art that I believe is valid, invaluable. Get out there and get its fair day.
A lot of folks been putting out underground mix tapes in Atlanta these days. T.I.'s been putting some out.
Yeah, T.I., Jelly's been putting some out. I'm about to go do his mix tape when we finish this interview.
I feel like a lot of the artists on your level currently, they take it as such a business sort of thing and are either over the top with the hip hop shit, or they don't respect it at all. It seems like you have a great respect for the music and keep a good balance within your career.
I do. I have a great respect for the music and my philosophy is one that's maturing and learning how to peddle my art instead of selling it. Because once you get into the habit of selling what you do, that's when you get comfortable with selling out. Like I was talking to Bun B just this morning and I was really just thanking him for sharing a lot of his life experience and mentoring me and shit so I don't make a lot of the same mistakes that were made by his generation of rappers. Now that's not a criticism. That's just saying like Bun told me, he was like to some degree they didn't reach back. And that was like to some degree because a lot of the rappers before them didn't reach out. So I reach back because Bun reaches out. It's a shame that my 15 year old cousin doesn't know the Niggaz 4 Life album. His rap history starts at The Chronic. Now The Chronic is good, it's one of the best albums ever. But as a fan speaking now, the best album Dr. Dre has ever done is Niggaz 4 Life. Because Niggaz 4 Life, nothing was smooth about it. Nothing was comfortable. It wasn't about what Ren, Dre, or Eazy looked like. And with The Chronic, even though it was a great album, all of that kind of came into play. Like Snoop was a sex symbol. The beats were easily recognizable, Parliament, that type of stuff. But Niggaz 4 Life was like a whole new living, breathing creature. And it's a shame that Niggaz 4 Life isn't known. People think the first time "Pocket Full of Stones" came out was the Menace II Society soundtrack. I'm like naw fuck that, the first album, and even the album before that. "Ain't no pussy like pregnant pussy." It's a legacy that's getting forgotten that I don't want to see go. 8Ball & MJG's first work, the underground work. Skinny Pimp. Mac Mall. Spice 1. I tell people all the time, as great as 2Pac was, he, Biggie, that whole generation of rappers, when you start talking about the introduction of death and spiritualism in rap, you cannot only focus on Pac. If you forget to talk about Scarface you doing an injustice. I tell cats in the streets if your biggest influence is Outkast, Biggie, Pac, if those are the dudes that really made you start rappin' then you really don't stand a chance against me. Because they influences are who I listen to. I'm listening to Eric B. & Rakim, I'm listening to Run DMC, I'm listening to Spice 1, I'm listening to the Geto Boys first 2 albums. UGK, 8Ball & MJG. Skinny Pimp. I'm listening to the music they pull from to inspire them. You'd be crazy if you don't think Scarface inspired Pac to some degree. You literally in pain if you don't hear that. You'd be crazy if you think Snoop wasn't inspired by NWA. I want to make sure that that rich history is preserved and held in the light it should be.
Would you say that the average MC doesn't have respect for the art behind the music? Because there was a while when even UGK said "fuck hip-hop, we don't make hip-hop. We make country rap tunes."
I think what happens is frustration. I say on one of my songs. "This is rap-n-roll, fuck your hip-hop." I think what people are saying is not like fuck the fundamentals of hip-hop. We're not saying fuck what Bambattaa, what Kool Herc, what Grandmaster Flash done, and what those poor kids in the Bronx River Projects started. We're saying fuck the corporate co-opting entity that you're trying to force us into. Fuck becoming a commercial for a corporation. If what you're trying to do is make us walking, talking, breathing commercials, then fuck that. That's what we're saying. It's not that I don't think rappers have the respect for it. I think that people have not been educating themselves about what we do. Like we aren't becoming smart artists. When people start talking about underground rap it's a shame that all they think they are talking about is guns and violence. I remember when Public Enemy was underground rap. Dead Prez should be sitting next to any gun toting gangsta group in any of these publications cause the shit that they say man is just as revolutionary and just as important as what Public Enemy was saying and what NWA was saying. I tell people all the time "Black Cop" and "Fuck the Police" are just as important to hip-hop as when Chuck D first said "I got a letter from the government the other day." Like you listen to "Dirty Money" and what Bun and Pimp were saying on that song that's probably the most politicized song that's ever been written. People don't understand the intelligence that goes into this music. When we demoralize it ourself, what do we expect other people to do with it? At the end of the day, whether we gangstas or whether we revolutionaries, it all leads to the same place. Death or jail. So as gangstas, why don't we politicize our minds? And muthafuckas who claim to be politicized, why don't you associate with the people most in need? And those are the people who are gangstas, are thugs, at the bottom of the barrel.
I agree with that 100%. I do a radio show on a community station that is run by activists, and it's a pretty radical station. But I've gotten some criticism from some of the people in the activist community who say I don't play enough conscious stuff. And I say man, everything I play is conscious.
Yeah man like niggas kill me in two ways. Niggas kill me. What the fuck you mean conscious? I'm gonna tell you something man, I don't listen to a lot of Common. And it's not because I'm not a fan of Common, it's just that Common was most conscious to me when he said "I'm somewhere between alcoholism and afrocentricity." Because that's a conscious thought. To admit that I'm in a place where I'm weak. That's the book Soul on Ice, paraphrased in one line. That's Eldridge Cleaver nigga. That's Huey P. Newton. What you have to understand is conscious music is only as good as the collective consciousness of the people. So if your people in dire straits and they saying they want to be better, something fucked up, something wrong, if you not starting your conversation right there, iyou starting your conversation above them, your consciousness ain't shit. It don't mean nothing.
Sometimes when you hear a song that you feel is over the top, like they say "bitch" or whatever, there's something conscious about that too. It should make you think about why they say that, or where that came from. df
Exactly. Man the best thing about the Dead Prez movement and the best thing about the God-body movement that the Wu Tang re-introduced to rap is the fact that they said "nigga." And I'm not saying nigga is a pretty word, but what I'm saying is nigga is the word of the day and nigga grabs your attention quick. Cause we ain't got to the point where we see each other as brothers yet. We ain't got to the point where we see each other as comrads yet. We don't even understand the concept man. Dead Prez understand that. And that's why they can say nigga. Cause they realize that once they say nigga and they got your attention, they can give you something you can understand, and I'm gonna give it to you in simple words. Rap has never been about being better than the people. It's always been about people bettering themselves and finding people exactly where they are and starting with that point.
Are you mad at "Pass the Courvasier?"
Really man I'm not mad at music at all. What I'm mad at is that the fans feel as though they have to choose either or. See, I went and bought Public Enemy, Too Short, NWA, Tribe Called Quest, I could buy all that shit on the same day and listen to it. And I never thought that I had to choose Chuck D or Too Short. I don't have to not like the Neptunes to like Lil Flip. I don't have to not like Nas to like Jay-Z. I'm gonna buy Nas and Jay-Z. I'ma buy Common and muthafuckin' Slim Thug. I'ma buy Paul Wall and I'm gonna buy Grand Daddy Souf. I think what's happening is the industry and the corporate structure, and even to some degree rappers themselves, have allowed the pie to get split into so many pieces that it's literally destroying the market. It made all these small markets. I heard Russell Simmons say a long time ago when people asked him if he was mad that certain people selling more records than Run DMC and he said "why?" It's expanding the market. I want to do work with Slim Thug. I want to work with Nas. I've worked with Jay-Z and Outkast. I worked with Reese & Bigalow. I'm gonna work with David Banner. I want to work with E-40. I want as a artist to be able to explore whatever I want to explore. I remember the first time I heard Ice Cube pop up on a Mr. Mike album. That shit was real to me. The first time Ice Cube popped up on a Korn album. When Chuck D popped up on an Ice Cube album. They opened a door. It was almost like a link on a website. You know what's a shame, it's a shame that people don't understand how similar…
Many people don't travel…
Yeah, but what I'm saying is, the music used to be our fuckin' airplane. I had never been to New York, but the first time I went to New York, I knew certain shit about it. I never been to California, but I knew what Slausson and what Crenshaw was supposed to look like. Some of my imagination got dispelled, some of it got confirmed once I went. Cause California rappers, Compton’s Most Wanted told me what to expect. DJ Quik told me what to expect when I went there. MOP, UGK, 8Ball & MJG, are like some of the most unheralded groups on earth because their audiences don't understand their importance. MOP audience should be buying UGK. But because they audiences never get introduced to the other things, it never happens.
Do you see it changing?
If the artists push it cause right now what's happened is we've given up control. With the civil rights movement, it was about civilians fighting for rights. Citizens fighting for rights. And it turned into politicians pushing an agenda for us. With rap it used to be the people of the streets choosing what they liked. Now it's the people of the street letting radio decide what they should like. The most beautiful thing about Houston is they have an alternative. People buy Swishahouse. They buy Lil Flip. They are the reason, the kids in Houston and the Midwest are the reason the world knows Lil Flip. They should be proud of that and they shouldn't abandon Lil Flip now that they put him out there. They ought to hold Lil Flip down the whole way through. That's they pride, they created that man. And don't feel like just cause he got a deal…Flip will still fuck with anybody man. And he's given niggas advice. He's given me advice. That's the type of dude you want to have a major deal. You want Flip to have a major deal because he comes from Houston.
I was listening to your cut "Rap Is Dead." And that's a deep cut. My first question about that is do you really listen to Bad Brains?
Yeah Dre introduced me to them. I do listen to 'em. I'm surprised you caught that. A lot of people missed that line. I got into them a little late but I love them. Dre bought a book on the history of punk and they weren't even mentioned in it. It was one that was put out by Time or Rolling Stone or some shit. You see how we get written out of history? Think about it. If it wasn't for Murder Dog, Spice 1, UGK, 8Ball & MJG, Mac Mall, E-40, all these people could be written out of history. Seriously. If it wasn't for a publication like Murder Dog.
I know from experience that most of these magazines don't give a shit.
But I'm glad that somebody got fed up enough to create Murder Dog cause that's what hip hop is about. If you don't like it, destroy it and create your own thing.
Where'd the Kurt Cobain reference come from on your song "Rap Is Dead?"
Really man, first of all I know the hook fucks people up. It all comes out of my frustration. Cause I like rock n roll too. I like hard rock. Rock has become a real place for pussies. Like if you lived anything similar to what Blacks and Latinos have been living for the past 100 or so years then that's supposed to give you like the right to whine and complain for a whole album? Fuck that. Really, fuck that. That's not what attracted me to rock. That's not what attracted me to rap. What attracted me was that in spite of insurmountable odds, man you supposed to stand and fight like a fuckin' warrior. Now that's not saying that you don't have a right to be down, you don't have a right to be weak at times, but I don't need to hear you cry for 15 fuckin' songs. And I think that a lot of dudes in rock kind of took only what Kurt did in terms of heshing out some of his pain and ran with that. And it becomes something soft and sick.
Like Creed?
Fuckin' exactly. Not that the shit don't sound good but how good is it for me? My thing is, if you not going to do a "Rape Me," don't try to do Kurt. If you not going to get on MTV and play the first two bars of "Rape Me," scare the shit out of everybody, don't try to be Kurt. If you're not gonna politicize your message, if you're not going to try and be overtly political in your intent on certain songs and saying that blacks, browns, Latinos in this country are shitted on don't put on a handkerchief and try to be Pac. If you are not willing to align yourself with the philosophy of Huey P. Newton, Assatta Shakur, Afeni Shakur, do not disgrace his memory by doing it. If you not going to say like Biggie said, "I am keeping it real by talking about this expensive shit, cause this is what all rappers do. Even conscious niggas go to the strip clubs with us after the concert." If you not gonna do like Biggie and shout out Ron G., Brucie B, Luvbug Starski, if you not gonna give niggas a history lesson, don't try to be Biggie. Don't do it man. Don't disgrace niggas’ names if you not willing to suffer under the same cross they suffered from to push they message forward. If you not willing to embrace the West Coast, people don't understand, they just heard him say "I'm goin' back to Cali." Biggie’s demo was over Snoop beats. So he was already a New York nigga that was listening to what was going on in the West. He listened to Outkast, it was obvious. Cause niggas in New York wasn't talking that playa shit. It's obvious that Biggie listened with an objective ear to all kind of music. He respected Detroit when he went there. "Big gators on my Detroit playas." Biggie respected niggas when he went places man. He respected that gangsta. And if you not gonna do that, if you gonna be the stereotypical arrogant east coast nigga man don't try to be Biggie man cause it's obvious that that wasn't what he was. Cause he showed niggas love, respect, and admiration for what they brought to the game in his rhymes. And bigger than that, in rap, if you not trying to outdo a nigga what the fuck is you doing it for?
