| That's basically what the album encompasses. As you said, it's called "The Lost Freestyle Files". And it is the first installment of many records that I have coming this year. It will be a very productive year for me. And that's why we kicked it off with this one first, to
kinda let everybody know: 'okay, here's the album, here's something you guys can hold on to until the next one comes out.' |
| Have some of these freestyles been available before? Because I think the battle with you and Juice, was on a Wake Up Show Live CD. Although I don't know if that was a bootleg or not. |
| Do you mean one at the radio station? |
| No, it was at a show venue. But was there another one? |
| Yeah, there was one the day after at the radio show. |
| And was there a price involved too? |
| No, but the other battle had a price money of five thousand dollars. It was sponsored by Virgin Records. It was held at the Recita Country Club in Los Angeles California. And basically, it was a battle (laughs). And I won. |
| The other tracks on the album, have they been on other records before? |
| No. All the live recorded tracks are tracks I recorded. |
| As being so known as being a freestyler, with this album containing actual freestyles, along with studio tracks, do you think the album does even represent you as an artist better, than a purely studio album could? |
| Of course it represents me. I'm a freestyle artist at heart. But I can go to the studio and do the same thing as well. It represents both aspects, studio and freestyling, the written composition and the off the dome. |
| Do any of the studio tracks originate from a freestyle? |
| Uhm, I try to think. Naw. I mean, I freestyled on the track with Jurassic 5. But that was an idea that we had when we went into the studio. But overall, most of the tracks were just concepts and ideas that I had. Like "Cosmic Slop" is a concept song. "Suckers" is
like a diss record. It's by me and Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks. He did a verse on somebody in his own group and I did a verse about somebody in my own group. Just to set the record straight. So as I said before, the album encompasses both aspects: written and freestyle. Because that's what I am: both. |
| We now have Celebrity Boxing on television. Why not Celebrity Battling? |
| I mean, we do that anyway (laughs). That's a part of hip hop that's never going to change. I was just having a discussion with my girlfriend about it. 'Celebrity Battling', it'd be dope. But I don't think anybody would do it. A battle should be on a stage, live, so people can see what's
going on. But a lot of cats are not going to do that, because a lot of cats have things to loose. And that's the important thing about battling. A lot of cats aren't real like that. They are not willing to put their crown on the line, in front of somebody and be humiliated in front of an audience. Especially
if you are going to hurt 'em. And you can't put yourself in a situation where just someone will take your title away. You have to pick and choose your battle and know when to engage in it. So it would be cool, but I don't see how it would work. A lot of people wouldn't do it. |
| Have you seen the 'Blaze Battle' that was aired on HBO? And would you attend it if you'd be invited to a part two? |
Yeah, I've seen it. I would attend it as a judge. But not as a contestant. Because I feel like I laid my ground in the game, and I really don't have anything to prove in the battle arena anymore. The Blaze Battle would not be beneficial to me. If it'd be for an Averex jacket and a watch,
then I can buy that myself. If I get into a battle, then there has to be something that I can get out of it.
A lot of the people that were in the Blaze Battle, they were not even skilled rappers, not even dope emcees to me. I watched it and was actually laughing. The kid Eyedea was good, I think he's alright. But overall I'm not really into that. Because a lot of these kids base battling on punchlines. And that's
not just what battling is though. Talking about my mom and all of that. Show me skills. It's not just about the punchline. It's also about presentation. It's about capturing the crowd, it's about having the eye of the tiger, when you step into the battle, besides just trying to be funny and witty. Because
to me, that crosses a certain line sometimes. And certain lines in life are not meant to be crossed. |
| But you're not saying that you retired from battling? |
No, I'm not saying I retired. But as I said: if I am going to get into a battle, it has to be worth my time. I hold a serious crown in the rap game. I'm not afraid to say it. I bit, I fart, I scratched to get to where I am at right now. Just throw my life in the street for fun, is not
worth it for me. I have to have an understanding of what my value is. If you don't understand your value, nobody will. So before I just jump into any particular battle, you have to be somebody. You have to have some type of stripe to even wanna battle me. Be ranked. Don't just come up to me and be like:
'I think I can take Supernatural and catch a stripe.' It's not going down like that.
There's a thing I always explain: you have warriors and you have soldiers. What's the difference between a warrior and a soldier? |
| I'd say that the soldier is fighting for someone other and the warrior is fighting for himself. |
I'm a warrior. And a lot of cats are soldiers. And the reason why I say this is, they are told when to fight. Nobody tells me when to get into a battle. Nobody can force me to get into a battle. It's on when I choose to take the battle on. That's what I always tell cats. I move with
the mentality of a warrior. If I feel like it's a worthy opponent, that is worth my while, and I can make some money, I do it. But if it's not beneficial to me, and it's just going to be another notch in my belt, it's not really worth it.
So to answer your question: No, I'm not retired. But I'm just not taking any battles, any challenges just with anyone. He could be a scrub. And that particular day could be my off day. I have a lot more to loose than him. |
| Is there still an anxiety when you step into a battle, or is it a routine? |
| There's nothing routine about battling. But you never know. The battle is the X. It's the Unknown. It's unpredictable. So when you step to a battle, there's always a certain type of anxiety. There's even a certain type of anxiety when I step to the stage to perform. And when I loose
that feeling, that's when I will quit. If I don't get those butterflies in my stomach, I don't get that strange feeling before I go on, then I'll quit. There will be no need for me to perform, because that means that I've lost the concept of having fun. That's what makes it fun, that excitement. The butterflies
that you feel in your stomach, right before you step on the stage or when you get ready to battle. It's thrilling. It doesn't matter without the excitement that comes with it. |
| I heard that you lived in Europe for a while. |
| I lived in Europe in 1994, in Stockholm Sweden. I was out there for almost eight months. |
| As you mentioned you worked with Joe Buddha for the album, and you did a 12" with him before. And you've also worked with the French group Assassins. How did these collaborations with these European artists come about? |
| The way the connection with me Assassins came about, I knew some people from Paris. They were affiliated with my brother. On that track, my brother was supposed to spit on it, but unfortunately he got locked up. So I did the track with them instead. As for me and Joe Buddha, we go back
really far. I started travelling England in 1998/99. I traveled back and forth, working with DJ Noize from Denmark, doing shows together. I got connected to Joe through that, and we've been cool ever since. That's a connection I have in Europe, plus I spent a lot of time just touring over there and travelling.
I've been travelling Europe pretty extensively. |
| How have you been experiencing Europe? |
| Europe is cool. The one thing that I like about Europe is: the fans always get into it. And they love it because you need to think, that living all the way over there, you don't get to see hip hop live, everyday, all in your face. So I always like the fans in Europe, because they are
always really nice. Some of 'em are a bit crazy and bug out. But for the most part, everybody is pretty cool. |
| Is your son still performing with you? |
| Yeah, he's still performing. He's working on his album right now, and has like two songs finished. And he gets down with me anytime he gets a chance to. |
| How old is he now? |
| He's twelve years old. Thirteen in December. |
| You've mentioned before that there's going to be more releases of you coming out this year. So what's going to drop after "The Lost Freestyle Files"? |
| We're working on my next album, now as we speak. That'll come after the Files. I will also be going on tour with Linkin' Park, Jurassic 5 soon, and things of that nature. It'll be cool. I'ma get introduced to a whole lot of people. And a lot of people will get introduced to me. And
once again I will be able to gain some knowledge of a different genre of music and see how that works on the road. I've never experienced being on the road with a rock band before. |
| Have you also been on Linkin' Parks hybrid project? |
| No. But I'm sure in the near future I'm going to be doing something with them. |
| Any tours in Europe planned? |
| I just been out there, I just didn't go to Switzerland. But I've been to Switzerland twice. But there's definitely something coming up this summer. |
| There's a single out off the album, ("Internationally Known"). Will there be another one? |
| We don't know yet. There's a song that I did with Madchild from Lootpack, that's called "Victory". That might be the next single. |
| And the next album will also be on Babygrande? |
| We're not sure. |
| But Babygrande is treating you better than Elektra did? |
Of course. Babygrande is treating me well. It's independent, so it's a little bit different to being on a major. It's an independent distributed through a major. We have the same power structure, but it's just ran on a smaller scale.
But Elektra didn't exactly treat me bad. I will not sit here and say Elektra was bad. Elektra was a learning experience for me. I came into the game not knowing anything, and I left out, learning a multitude of things, that I can share with people. So I don't like to say that Elektra was bad. I just say
that it was a learning experience in my career. And I'm glad that I had it. It kinda prepared me for what's to come. Because this year, and next year, I'm trying to do big, big things with my career on all levels of the game. |
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