Interview: Slim The Mobster - Alternative Hip Hop - RESPECT.

Slim The Mobster is probably best known, right now, as Dr. Dre’s protege, which isn’t necessarily a good thing considering the number of times Detox has ‘almost’ come out. But after listening to Slim’s latest offering, “Fuck You”, from his upcoming street album, War Music, I don’t believe Slim is all too concerned. In fact, life is good for Slim (I’d assume). He lives in a million dollar mansion somewhere out there in sunny California, he makes music for a living (I’d assume), and he’s already accomplished the hardest task in Hip Hop, which is creating your own lane. All N.W.A. comparisons aside, Slim The Mobster is his own artist, a talented one at that, and quite frankly, the dude scares me. Good thing I got this MacBook to hide behind.

Read the complete interview after the jump.

War Music, what can you tell us about it?

It’s my first street album. It’s featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Prodigy of Mobb Deep. I think it’s going to be something that people should really like, because it’s not what’s going on in music right now.

Is it going to be different from your mixtape?

What you mean by that?

Will it be the same sound?

No, it’s totally different.

Why did you decide on black and white for the videos?

I wanted it to have a certain element to it. I wanted to make it more ‘street’. It’s more of my vision, versus it being colored. I’m saving those things for my album.

“Gunplay” reminds me of old N.W.A., like “Natural Born Killaz”. Are the Dre comparisons getting old?

Naw, I love it. He’s rich. As long as they compare me to rich people, then that means I’ve got a chance at being rich.

But you live in a million dollar mansion… or did the internet exaggerate that?

Ugh, no. I do.

That’s cool.

[laughs]

A lot of Hip Hop artists coming up look like they’re still in high school, but you look like you’ve been through some shit, jail, etc. Where does that put you exactly, industry-wise?

I never really thought about it like that, because I’m not a role model. I’m an entertainer. My job is to give you things that allows for your entertainment. So I’m going to say some shit that’s not expected. That’s the essence of it.

Did N.W.A. influence you?

Oh yeah, of course. When I was a young kid, I had the pleasure of meeting Tupac. I had the pleasure of meeting Eazy. These people are my influences. These are the people I really had a chance to look up to, deeper than just the music. Most people don’t even understand where Tupac was coming from, or why he talked about what he talked about, or why he did what he did. It’s because those were the elements of his life.

Is there anything like an N.W.A. lane these days?

Naw, I mean, I don’t want to say I’m in a lane, because I got my own establishment. I feel like I’ve got my own genre of music. I call it ‘Alternative Hip Hop’.

“Work For It (Price On Ya Head)” is a great record. Who exactly has a price on your head. I hope not Suge Knight.

Ah, man. [laughs] If you notice what I said, “somebody needs to come for it [my head]”.

You want them to back up their words.

In that aspect, not necessarily. I’m not saying somebody wants to kill me, but ‘haters is haters’, and nobody wants to see you win. And if you want to see me lose, then you’ve got a price on my head.

Jealousy.

Right.

Back to Suge Knight. I was under the impression he killed Tupac, but Glasses Malone informed me the other day that that’s preposterous. What do you think?

I don’t know. I’m not a murder investigator. I can’t tell you anything about shit I don’t know about.

Have you ever been to this place Umami Burger?

Naw, I missed that one.

Where’s your spot?

The Watts Coffee House.

I know of it. What makes it so special?

It’s in the hood. It’s like a neutral ground. Everybody knows about it in Watts. You can go there and get you some good food.

I read the real Rick Ross, Freeway Rick Ross, is your uncle. Considering you named yourself after a pimp, what do you think of the Ross lawsuit?

Well, I didn’t name myself after a pimp, like my name was already Slim. It was more like me being crowned a ‘Slim’. It wasn’t like he just gave me my name. And the Rick Ross thing, I’ve known him [Freeway Rick Ross] for years, since I was a little kid. I really know him. When I say he’s my uncle, I say that because he knows my family, you know what I mean. He’s not actually my uncle, but he is one of the dudes that I looked up to. The thing with Rick Ross, that’s something the courts have to deal with. I feel like, if I use anything remotely close, like if my name was Fillmore Slim, it would be different than me saying my name is Slim The Mobster. That’s not Slim The Pimp. Those are two different things. But when you use someone’s name, and you don’t feel like you owe anything to that person, that doesn’t make any sense to me. I actually like Rick Ross’s music. The nigga’s hard. I just don’t like it, you know, you call yourself a real nigga, then you know there’s supposed to be some kind of compensation, straight up. Not on a bully level, but like, “nigga, you used my name, nigga,” you know?

Yes. Like a copyright.

Right, pretty much.

You mentioned Prodigy before. How’d you hook that up?

My manager’s from Queens, he’s from Queens. They were in L.A., and shit, we got it in.

When’s War Music dropping? I forgot to ask.

10/25/11, War Music.

That’s soon. Um, I know Dre’s a legend and all, but is there anything, anything at all, you’re better than him at?

Umm, nothing.

Nothing?

I never try to put myself in a competition with him.

I don’t mean just musically.

Yeah, and I mean that in every aspect. I got a different mentality. I never want to outshine the master. I don’t want to be that good. I know how good I am, me just being myself. Dre and I never had any arm wrestling match, no ‘I can run faster than you’, none of those things. We never had a competition.

Like you said, you have your own genre, you do you.

Right, aha, you’re a fast learner.

Yeah. [laughs] Thanks.

You can follow Slim The Mobster on Twitter @Slimthemobster, Youtube at SlimTheMobsterTv, and Facebook at SlimTheMobster.