Creemore huh?

Yeah, yeah, I’m sippin muthafuckin Creemore. Sippin Creemore all year.

Is that Canadian?

[pointing to the label on his beer] Ontario to be exact.

Really?

Creemore, Ontario.

Have you ever had it before?

Naw, I told the brother to give me his best Canadian beer and this is what he came up with.

Is it you who had the different beers on your Twitter?

No, but I am somewhat of a beer connoisseur. I wouldn’t call myself an alcoholic but I would call myself a beer connoisseur.

What do you like?

I like Blue Moon, Modelo, I like Shock Top which is kind of like Blue Moon.

Blue Moon’s crazy. I went to school in Wisconsin and they drink a lot of it there.

Blue Moon’s my favorite probably. Red Stripe. Now I pretty much sound like an alcoholic.

[laughs]

Pretty much, man.

What’s your Canadian experience been like?

It’s been amazing. I know the first Canadian thing I ever experienced was Feist. That was my first taste of Canada, her music. And then like Drake and k-os, or maybe k-os was first. I don’t know, even further back, what’s that dude’s name? Kardinal Offishall.

He’s still around.

Yeah, he’s still doing his thing. But overall I’ve been everywhere, Saskatoon, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton. Yeah, I’ve been to a couple places out here and they’ve just embraced me. I was here with Brother Ali and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever done, back in 2010, in Toronto I believe.

Oh, well, we appreciate the love.

And I get to go back tomorrow [to Toronto]. I couldn’t be more excited.

The laws are pretty relaxed too. Toronto’s like a mini Amsterdam these days.

Awesome, well hopefully I get to stay out there longer than planned.

If you go around the SkyDome, which is the baseball stadium, you just get wafts-

Word up.

It’s strange.

That’s not strange to me. I admire that kind of smell. I admire places like that.

What’s happening with your new album?

My new albums-

The Champagne one, what’s it called?

Champagne & Styrofoam Cups.

It didn’t come out yet, did it?

Naw, just a couple videos off of that project came out, but the full project as a whole hasn’t come out yet. We dropped “Skating Down The Block” and then we dropped another record by the name of “Generation F”. We dropped those two, and those are just a glimpse of what Champagne & Styrofoam Cups is. It’s really just a juxtaposition of street life and the luxury life, champagne sippin and celebratory shit. The styrofoam cups represent the struggle in me, and what we know just standing on the corner all day and hustling and stacking and living that life. For my life, personally, transitioning from Fresno, an economically deprived place like Fresno, to a place like Los Angeles, that’s what it is to me. That’s the difference between the two, and if you drive from L.A. to Fresno you’ll notice the difference fast. It’s evident.

That’s crazy. I’ve been to Carson, California.

Carson is a place… in Southern California.

The Home Depot Center is there.

Yeah, I’ve never been there.

I actually played tennis there.

That’s awesome. I’ve played tennis before, in middle school, for no reason.

But you were a XXL Freshman right? Was that last year?

Ah, that was 2010, the same year I got to come out to Canada. I was crowned with Most Artistic of all the classes. Because every year they give each freshman their own little title, like Freddie Gibbs was Most Hood.

Who else was with you?

It was me, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Freddie Gibbs, OJ da Juiceman, Big Sean, Donnis from Atlanta, Pill who’s on Maybach Music, and I think that’s it.

What do you think made the difference between then and now? There are guys like Wiz Khalifa, who’s got a major label release, there’s J. Cole who is a little different, and then there’s you-

Who is a little different. I think it’s exactly where it should be. Everybody took their own path, creatively and business-wise, and I think we are all exactly where we want to be. I always wanted to keep my foundation as the MC or the artist who never sold out, never got too mainstream or mainstream period. I always wanted to keep my core foundation, and still to this day people come up to me and are like, “Man, you’re my favorite underground MC.” That shit makes me happy. [laughs] Because at home I’m like the most famous rapper, then I come out here and go to New York and people will come up to me like, “You spit that underground shit. You spit that raw shit.”

That must be the rewarding part.

Yeah, of course, man, and on top of that I get to support my family financially and all that stuff, and travel the world. I just got my second passport like yesterday and I’m already using it.

What do you mean your second passport?

Well, I got the first one stamped up, stamped out, and then I lost it traveling, as a result of traveling too much. Or as a result of being irresponsible. [laughs]

You been to some crazy places?

Yeah, I’ve been to some amazing places. One of the craziest places I’ve been is Moscow, Russia. That was crazy. I got to do graffiti on the trains. It was snowing just like this, maybe worse. I just remember the fucking hotel lobby smelling like sex and drugs. [laughs]

What were the fans like?

They were great. I actually DJ’ed that night too. I took the turntables and started DJ’ing and you would have thought I was rapping the way I was controlling the crowd. It was crazy.

They speak English there?

Yeah, they speak hip-hop. That’s all they need to know. All I have to say is, “Yo!” or “Wassup?” Those are the key words in hip-hop. [laughs]

I listened to Higher Learning 2 on the way up here, man. It was sick.

I’ll probably play some records off that tonight.

The first track is incredible.

“Manny Pacquiao”, yeah it was like 80 bars or something. That only came about because I didn’t know how to write a chorus to that song. It was so repetitive but still impactful. It was that same mood the whole time but I didn’t know where to stop rhyming at. I just kept going.

You turned it into something amazing.

Yeah, it’s making a strength out of your weakness, I guess. I never was a big chorus rapper, like big hooks and shit. That’s why I don’t have the number one song on the charts, but I don’t care.

You got the love when you travel to different cities.

I can go anywhere I want and blend in, man. It’s cool.

How old are you?

I’ll be 24 this October.

Is your family from Fresno too?

Yeah, born and raised. Well, technically not. My mom’s from Los Angeles. My dad’s from Hawaii. My brother is from Inglewood.

Inglewood?

Inglewood is always up to no good. It’s in L.A. Tupac had that on a song, “Inglewood always up to no good,” on “California Love”. At the end of the song he was like, “Even Hollywood tryin to get a piece baby.” He was talking about all the California cities, like Oakland, “Inglewood always up to no good.”

Have you ever been to Big Sur?

Yeah, I went there. It was the most beautiful place ever. I wasn’t working. It was the most beautiful thing ever. I got to just relax. It was chill. I’ve got a picture of me and my family there, it looks like I’m standing in front of a painting. It’s beautiful. It’s like my favorite beach in California. It’s nothing like Venice Beach. It’s nothing like Newport Beach. It’s just got its own feel, Carmel Beach, Big Sur.

I read a book about it. It said the highway is crazy when you pull in there, with the cliffs.

Yeah, it’s scary. One time we got stuck, I was coming back from a show with Wiz Khalifa in Santa Cruz. The car was already foggy if you can imagine. We were just smoking and riding. It was the winter time and it was foggy, and then we took the wrong road and we ended up on the Big Sur cliffs. It’s a huge mountain. You just keep going up and up and up, and you’re like, “Where the fuck are we going?” It was foggy and just like the most intense thing ever.

There were a lot of amazing artists who did great stuff there.

There’s got to be.

Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Baez, Henry Miller, there should be some rappers going up there. [laughs]

You know what? My friend was like, “We should go out there and just write music and go try it out.” And I’m like, “I should.”

You think that would make a difference, what comes out?

Yeah, because of the environment. It’s the calm of it. Sometimes it’s nice not to see walls with graffiti on them or sand with glass and urine in it, sometimes just to see what that brings out of artists, it’s necessary. It’s always necessary.

And you live in L.A. now?

Yeah.

You ever seen the show Californication?

No, I don’t watch TV. I just work a lot.

Yeah, you haven’t stopped rapping since you’ve been here. You always like that?

Yeah, I’m always like that.

24/7, every day of the year…

I basically live this shit, man. I wake up to it, go to sleep to it, and eat it for breakfast and dinner. This is my life, man. I love it. Before I was here in Canada I was in my studio in my living room and before that I was in The Alchemist’s studio or chilling with De La Soul or some shit. That’s regular. The other day I woke up and Maseo from De La Soul was in my living room. The next day Murs was there. The next day Planet Asia comes. That’s my life, man. I live a duel life though. My life in Fresno is way different.

You go back there?

Yeah, that’s where my family is. That’s where all my foundations are.

You have a girlfriend, wife?

I’ve got a mother of a beautiful daughter. She’s two years old going on three.

What’s her name?

Her name’s Hannah.

Oh, that’s a nice name. Why’d you pick that name?

Because it means grace, and I feel like her birth saved me, so I was saved by grace basically. Her birth put my life on the right track. As soon as I planted that seed I got my first record deal, coincidentally, and I had my first album. She was born a few days before my album came out. It was a beautiful era in every way possible. I had just turned 21. It was like a culmination of everything. It was pretty cool.

Yeah, it’s a beautiful name. I have good associations with it.

Yeah?

I know a lot of good Hannah’s.

It’s a powerful name. It’s a strong name.

What do your tattoos say?

‘Cen Cal’ is what separates my area from Too $hort’s area or Eazy E’s area. This is Fresno. This is the foundation.

You ever been down this street, Rosecrans?

I know about Rosecrans.

The dry cleaners?

Ah…

DJ Quik told me when he got famous he bought the whole Guess Store out and took the clothes to the dry cleaners on Rosecrans and when he went to go pick them up the next day they were all gone, stolen.

[laughs] I can imagine that. Rosecrans, that’s the hood, man, as far as the Rosecrans I know. Pac shouted out Rosecrans on “California Love” too, “Let em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans, bumpin and grindin like a slow jam-” Rosecrans is a famous block. “It’s west side so you know the row won’t bow down to no man.”

– By @petermarrack

photography by Loni Schick @elle_aye

Special thanks to Tim Fundament Stuart, Notes to Self, DJ Frank, and of course, Fash.

The post Exclusive Interview: Fashawn appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

I was just listening to your rant about ‘89 babies. I was enjoying it thoroughly. My birthday’s February 5th, 1989.

Word?

Yeah.

Sweet, man. You understand what I’m saying, man?

You pay any attention to horoscopes?

Naw, I really don’t, man. These girls be trying to tell me shit about it, like, “Ah, you’re an Aries so that means-” But sometimes they be on point.

Yeah, I don’t know how they get that stuff right. But you’re not an Aquarius, you’re an Aries?

Yeah, I’m an Aries.

Oh, that’s right.

Yeah, March 23rd.

What’s the significance of ‘89, as opposed to ’90?

Man, I don’t even really know. Maybe I just started early. Maybe I started early on a lot of shit. I have a couple homies who were born in the 90’s, and shit, I got homies who were born in ‘89, and I don’t know, it just seems like they’re different. Everybody be like, “You’re only one year older than me.” I’m like, “It just don’t seem like it though.”

The 90’s babies grew up on different cartoons.

[laughs] Word, they grew up on different cartoons, different music. They don’t like certain shit. I don’t know how to explain it, man. I fuck with the ‘90 babies, the ‘91 babies, all of them, man. It’s crazy. But Est. In 1989 (Last Of A Dying Breed) was a little deeper than that. That’s why I had the baby picture, because if you see me right now I’ve got on a Jordan t-shirt, a snapback, and these new Jordan Timbs that just came out. I got that shit on right now. This shit really ain’t changed, and I was just at my mom’s crib and I was going through the pictures and I saw that picture, and I’m like, “Shit, this is crazy. I was fly when I was just a young nigga.”

Yeah, I was wondering if that photo had been photoshopped-

Naw, that’s real. I have a whole bunch of photos where I’m fresh. I had older sisters and shit.

You predicted the trends, man. You were wearing snapbacks when you were like three.

Exactly, man. I was looking for them probably four, five years ago. I was like, “Bruh, I want a snapback. You can’t find snapbacks anywhere.” Matter-of-fact five years ago I was wearing this Charlotte Hornets snapback, and then I was looking for more snapbacks. My homies used to be like, “Yo, why the hell do you want to wear a snapback. Are you crazy, dawg?” I’m like, “Naw, my nigga, I’m telling you, bruh, that’s the shit.” I fucked around and found a Sacramento Kings snapback in the mall one time, and I used to rock that shit. That was four years ago, then I lost that one, and I couldn’t find any more snapbacks. Then they started going crazy and ended up being the new trend.

That’s funny.

Yeah, and with Est. In 1989 I’m saying that’s basically where it started. When I was in elementary school, like 4th grade, I told this one girl, “I’m going to have my own label. I’m going to have my own music company one day.”

How old were you?

I was in like 4th grade. But you know what the craziest thing was, I wasn’t even doing music back then. I don’t know who the fuck I thought I was. I was playing basketball back then, and baseball, and football, and I just told this girl in 4th grade that I was going to do music. I drew out this label and shit and was like, “This is going to be my logo. I’m going to be poppin one day.” And she kind of laughed and was like, “Oh yeah?” I’m like, “Yeah,” dead serious. It’s crazy because when I see this girl today she tells me like, “Man, I remember you told me this in 4th grade, that you were going to pop off on the music shit.” So that’s where I get the Est. In 1989.

Yeah, I was wondering what sports you played, because you said your dad was shocked when you quit the sports and started doing music.

Yeah, I started off playing tee ball. I was playing basketball too. I had a basketball net in front of my house. We used to hoop from sun-up to sundown, through the rain and all that shit. I played football for about three years, then I kept playing basketball. I never got cut from any basketball team but then I fucked around and got cut in high school. So I was just like, “Fuck this, man.” The music stuff was coming natural. But my pops was like, “Hold on, you quit baseball, you quit football, now you’re talking about quitting basketball. You’re talking about picking up music. Naw, man. I can’t let you become a quitter, man. You got to keep going with the basketball.” I was like, “Naw, this music is it.” He was like, “Man, I haven’t heard it before-”

But wasn’t it his brother, your Uncle Al- or was it your mother’s brother, who was big into music?

Naw, it was my Auntie’s husband. He always did the music. I used to go over there, and he could play the guitar right then and there. This man could lay the drums from the keyboard, he could play it all the way live. He’d play the drums for three minutes. He didn’t do no looping. He’d come right back and play the guitar over the drums.

He was like a wizard.

Yeah, he’d come right back and put the keyboard on top of what he did with the guitar. I was like, “This shit is crazy. How the hell does this man do this for four minutes?” And then when I started making beats he used to try and teach me the old school notes, like, “If you hit this key, this is the key Motown used to be in. This is the key da da da used to be in.”

When your dad was put off by the music how did you move past that, that your parents didn’t support it? Were you just like, “Fuck it, I’m going to do it anyway.” Or was it an ongoing struggle?

It was really, “Fuck it, I’m going to do it anyway.” When I started doing the music the homeboys and I had a crazy buzz on our side of town. I was only 14. I wasn’t doing too much rapping. I was facilitating, getting our shit to the DJs, setting up our little shows, and then I was making the beats. I used to be on the phone with the homies and they would tell me to switch around stuff, but I was like, “Naw.” Then all of a sudden we had this crazy buzz and started performing with niggaz like Dem Franchize Boyz and Shawty Lo, when they used to come on our side of town.

Dem Franchize Boyz did “Lean Wit It Rock Wit It”, right?

Yeah, “Lean Wit It Rock Wit It” and they had that “In My White Tee” song back in them days. They used to come on our side of town, and one of my homeboys did production and he started popping off, so I started getting tunnel vision, like, “This shit could work.” We were already the shit on our side of town. I started spending all my time on the beats, and then I met Gucci.

That was when you were 17 right?

Yep, I met Gucci. We linked, but then I fell out of contact. Then Waka and I linked back up when I was about 16 or 17 and he was trying to link Gucci and I back up. We finally got in the studio and we knocked them joints out. When I was 18 the joints started coming out, No Pad No Pencil, Guapaholics with Shawty Lo, shit like that.

The movement back then was pretty underground, but could you tell at that time like, “Damn, this is going to explode at any second,” or were there times when you were skeptical?

To tell you the truth, when Gucci did those with me, the 15 or 16 songs to my beats, I didn’t know what the hell he was going to do. I didn’t know if he was just warming up on my beats, but we had a couple classics. I loved the records because they were on my tracks. I used to ride around to them. Gucci always used to tell me like, “Bro, we’re going to do a mixtape. We’re going to do a mixtape, my nigga.” So I was like, “Let’s get it.” We used to ride around and Gucci would love the songs. Everybody fucked with the songs, because I brought a whole different sound, different than Zaytoven and them.

Were you still going to school at this point?

Hell yeah. I was going to high school. Really though when I was going to the studio with Gucci, I wasn’t in high school. But when those songs got done, it was the year I graduated. That was ‘07. That summer we knocked the tracks out and then in the winter I started going to college.

Which college?

I went to this one school, Chattahoochee Tech, and then I transferred and went to Georgia State. I was going to Georgia State and then it was just like, “Man, I don’t even understand what I’m doing.” At the same time I liked the fact that I went to college. College helped me out and got me thinking how I’m thinking now, because I was taking marketing classes. I was taking introduction to the music industry classes.

Business stuff.

Yeah, understanding the business. I took accounting classes, understanding assets and liabilities. I try to keep liabilities away from me at all costs. I learned a lot going to college, but at this one point my pops was like, “You got to graduate, just put the music shit on hold and focus on the school. When you get out of school you can go back to the music.”

Did you graduate?

No, I didn’t graduate. I was just like, “Hell naw.” I kept telling him that I couldn’t do both. There was no way.

So that was two times you defied him.

Yeah, if that’s what you want to call it. I just couldn’t do both. I was messing with all these artists, all these artists were messing with me, boom, I’m going to these clubs, I’m waking up and trying to go to school. But I still had good grades. I had real good grades and shit. I had a 3.1 or something like that. This one semester I told my pops, I was like, “Yo, I’ve got tunnel vision right now and I’ve got my plan together. I’ve got my sound together. I’m not going to school next semester.” He was like, “Naw, you got to go to school next semester.” I’m like, “Well, shit, I’m not.”

Were you paying for it?

Yeah, I took loans out. But I was like, “Naw, I’m not going.” And he was like, “You got to register,” and I never registered. He was like, “Have you been going to school?” I was like, “Naw.” He was hot about that, and at that same time when I didn’t go, boom, I landed “Tupac Back”.

So this was all pretty recent?

Yeah, at the end of 2010 I was going to school.

What’s your dad saying now?

He was like, “Shit. I’m happy you had a plan together.” His whole thing wasn’t that he wanted to knock me, he just didn’t want me out here with no plan and just being another cat chasing the dream.

Well yeah, he wanted the best for you.

Exactly, because I’ve got family and I’ve got close friends that went hard on the music. It’s not easy to make it in the music industry. I’ve got family and close friends that went hard on the music, and shit, they didn’t make it. I just needed to get in the room with the right people. Back then I was working with 2 Chainz, and I was telling people, “2 Chainz and Future are about to be the hottest shit.” They were like, “Who the hell is Future, and why you think 2 Chainz?” I’m like, “Man, look, I’m about to be the hottest shit. 2 Chainz is about to be the hottest shit, and Future’s about to be the hottest shit.” Boom, I locked in with Future, locked in with 2 Chainz. First, at the beginning of 2011 Dirty Sprite came out. I heard the Dirty Sprite intro with Future, and Dirty Sprite started picking up in the streets. Then 2 Chainz, his mixtape came out, Codeine Cowboy, and I did that “La La” track with him and Busta Rhymes. That hit the streets and was doing numbers. Then “Tupac Back” came out. Bong. That put me on the map.

That was the big one, yeah.

Yeah.

Even my mom loves that song. My mom goes running every day and she listens to that song.

[laughs] She’s getting her energy, man. That’s what’s up. So then 2 Chainz, after Codeine Cowboy, he had “Spend It”. “Spend It” put him on the map.

The Drumma Boy song.

Exactly. Then Future had a couple joints off Dirty Sprite that were hot in the streets. He had “Watch This”.

Future has such a unique voice. Is he from an island or something, or is he just from a part of Atlanta I’m not familiar with?

That’s just his voice. He’s from Atlanta though. When you hear the joints we have on his album you’re going to be like, “This nigga’s got to be from the islands.” Word up. Because we did this one joint, and the way his voice sounds on the record-

Is that a new one that hasn’t come out yet?

Yeah, it’s going to be on his album.

What’s it called? Can you say?

It’s called “Turn On The Lights”.

I’m looking forward to that. I actually just heard “Way Too Gone” for the first time yesterday. I was going through Jeezy’s album. It’s an incredible record, man.

You like it?

Yeah, well, I really like that one with Boosie-

“Mama Know Love”?

Yeah, “Mama Know Love”, that one’s sick.

Yeah, that shit is crazy, man. I was happy I got a chance to work with Boosie before he got locked up. And we had done a couple more records too. I haven’t had a chance to hear those, but he hit me and said he had four or five joints. But that “Mama Know Love” came out-

It has like half a million views on Youtube on some random guy’s account.

Exactly. And I felt like “Mama Know Love” was a new-age “Dear Mama”. It was like the Down South, new-age “Dear Mama”.

Tupac.

Yeah. Anyway, that’s how the music shit went, man. I was getting pulled a couple different ways. When I was at Georgia State I wasn’t in the ‘in’ crowd or anything. I was going to class and then heading straight to the studio to work with all these kids’ favorite rappers. They didn’t even know. That shit ended up working out. I learned a lot.

I’m assuming you’ve paid those student loans then.

Yeah, I had to pay those off, man. I had to get those off my back.

You think you got anything on God Forgives, I Don’t?

Ah shit, I hope so.

It seems like that would be a honor, just with the way Ross has been traveling around the country to work with all the producers. Did he get in the studio with you?

We haven’t got in yet. Hopefully we will. Actually the joint “King Of Diamonds”, that was on his mixtape-

Yeah, I heard that. It’s good.

Actually that joint was a track that was supposed to be on God Forgives, I Don’t but it ended up landing on that mixtape. The streets are fucking with it. He did that “King Of Diamonds” joint the same time he did “Tupac Back”. That song was like a year old, but it came out and people were like, “Yo, the beat is crazy. This song is crazy, da da da.” I’m just like, “Man, that shit is a year old, my nigga.” That just shows me and Ross, we make timeless music.

You said once that it’s your pet peeve for artists to remove the tag from your beats, but did you feel that way about “Tupac Back”, because they took it off for that one?

Where did you read that?

In some interview for a producer’s website.

Well, I used to be like that when I first started, but now sometimes it’s cool. I look at it like I mess with whoever messes with me. And if a person isn’t really too familiar with my sound, and they’re not too familiar with Mike WiLL Made It the brand, or sometimes the tag might just not fit in the record. If my tag gets taken off it’s no problem because at the end of the day if the beat is hard then somebody’s going to open up the booklet and be like, “Yo, who did this beat? Oh shit, Mike WiLL Made It. Who the hell is that?” Google, boom. Follow on Twitter, and then they see I did all this other shit. With Jeezy I didn’t even ask him to keep the tag on, and he kept the tag on. Gucci keeps my tags on. Future keeps my tags on. Ludacris kept my tag on.

Did you put that Tupac sample on the beginning though?

Naw, that was Ross. Yeah, Ross told me when he heard the beat he instantly came with the hook and after that he grabbed the sample and put that on. But man, when Mike WiLL Made It was taken off of “Tupac Back” there wasn’t any love lost at all. It’s out there with my tag on it and it’s out there without my tag on it. On the album my tag is off of it, but in Atlanta- or I’ve been to a couple other cities where the song is on radio and my tag is still on it. It’s not a big deal. Shit still hit the Billboard charts. It was one of the hottest songs on the streets. It popped Meek Mill off. It popped me off. We got a lot of recognition from the record, so it’s definitely not an issue.

Have you ever gotten the feedback that some of your beats have this retro video game sound to them, like when you play the old Pac-Man or Space Fighter games?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, most definitely. The new record with me, Gucci, and 2 Chainz, we sampled Tetris.

So I’m right on.

Yeah, yep. Did you hear that record yet? Gucci and 2 Chainz, it’s called “Get It Back”.

No, I don’t think so. You guys have so much material. It’s hard to listen to it all.

Exactly, man, it’s all over the place. It’s going to be on Gucci’s next project though, called Trap Back.

Lastly, is there a better combination than Chick-fil-A and Gold Peak Tea or is that as good as it gets?

Yo, you’ve been paying attention, man.

[laughs] I love Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A is the greatest, man. I’m there every day, man. I’ve gotta get my 8-count. Gotta get my 8-count and my 12-count, man, with the honey mustard, or I gotta go to the breakfast, man.

Oh, the breakfast biscuits, yeah.

Oh my gosh, man. The Chick-fil-A biscuits, and you add the 8 onto it, it’s crazy, man. You already know, but this is RESPECT. Mag so I just want everyone to know that I’m 22 and up to this point I’ve been doing everything on my own, no management, nothing like that. I’ve just been out here moving, grinding, hustling and bustling, and I’ve got my own production company called EarDrummers Entertainment. I just dropped my first mixtape Est. In 1989 (Last Of A Dying Breed), got artists like Big Boi, Ludacris, Jeezy, Gucci, 2 Chainz, and Future, on there. I’ve also got a writer, Sean Garret, that’s my brother. I want everyone to pay attention because this is just the beginning. I’m about to come out with Part 2 of my mixtape and it’s going to have different people like 50 Cent, Jeremih, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, Gucci, Future of course-

What about that thing you did with Dr. Dre?

Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. [laughs]

I saw pictures- [laughs]

I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. [laughs] But yeah, all I know is we’re working and Part 2 of that mixtape is coming out and I want everyone to pay attention to that. Gucci’s working on an album and a mixtape. I’m all over both of those. Ludacris is working on his album. I’m all over that. I’m really just working. And for all the young kids who are looking up to me, y’all go to school and finish. Y’all go to school and finish, man. Even if you don’t finish just make sure you have a plan. Don’t let anybody tell you what you can and can’t do. Straight up.

– Special thanks to Dan Friedman

The post Exclusive Interview: Mike WiLL Talks Tupac Back, Youth, 2 Chainz and Future appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

On stands next Tuesday, November 29. Happy Thanksgiving!

The post RESPECT. Issue 9 – J. Cole appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Once upon a time, Pharrell Williams had a mustache.  He was a half of the Neptunes and a third of N.E.R.D., the funk master behind damn near every song you liked in the 2000s.  Along with Chad Hugo, he formed Star Trak Entertainment in 2001, a spaced-out subsidiary of Interscope best known for its classic Clipse and Kelis releases (as well as albums by Snoop, Robin Thicke, Slim Thug, and Pharrell himself).

But Star Trak was more notorious for what it didn’t put out.  Artists like Natasha Ramos, Fam-Lay, and Teyana Taylor have all bubbled and fizzed under the label’s watch; even the most hardcore Neptunes groupies came to expect push backs and shelvings whenever an artist signed.  These days, some of the ex-Trakkies are on to bigger and better things (i.e. Pusha T), while some have all but disappeared (i.e. Chester French).  Pharrell and Chad, too, share production credits less and less.

Meanwhile, Pharrell has become a man of extracurriculars, an eccentric entrepreneur in his own right.  Just this year, he designed a glass sculpture of a skeletal angel, spoke on behalf of an eco-friendly textile company, and has been touring the country promoting a new milky liqueur called Qream.  Quietly, he’s launched a new music venture called I Am Other.  It’s described rather nebulously as “a content-driven property that spotlights new musicians, filmmakers, designers, artists and innovators through online, mobile and retail channels, TV shows and films.”  Supposedly, YouTube stars Alyssa Bernal, Maxine Ashley, and Cris Cab are signed — an unexpected repertoire considering Pharrell’s hip-hop legacy.

That’s where Buddy comes in.  The heavy-hitting “Awesome Awesome” recently popped up on a promo mixtape for HBO’s “How to Make It in America,” backed by a Neptunes beat that sounds like a leftover from Already Platinum.  “Jordan Twelve’s my shoes / BBC’s my clothes” — he bounds onto the track like the excited 18-year-old that he is.  “The way he thinks, and his ability to articulate that is just — I  hadn’t seen anything like it,” quipped Skateboard P to XXL. “I was like, man, this guy, he is I Am Other. He’s not some ordinary child. He’s a kid that thinks outside of the box. He’s on his way to being one of those super special artists.”

He hails from California (Compton, to be specific), which is ostensibly the nucleus of hip-hop nowadays.  Pharrell was “mad as shit” about missing out on signing the West Coast’s Tyler, the Creator; could Buddy be the next best thing?  With such powerful backing, we’re expecting nothing less.

How did you get into rapping?

Entertainment in general has always been a passion of mine.  I’ve always liked to entertain, be in front of people, and have them laughing, smiling, whatever. Just acting out pretty much.  I started getting heavy into the music around sixth grade.  I really wanted a laptop.  I was begging my mom for a laptop.  She didn’t think I was ready so instead she got me a little mini Mac.  I hooked it up to a computer screen and got on Garage Band and just let my fingers do the talking.  Started fiddling with it, had a little mike set up, record, and it was kind of raw, unedited, but I got my point across.  I realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

You sing, you dance, you act.  Why do we know you for rapping right now?

I can’t be hitting everybody with everything all at once.  We try to just sprinkle a little bit of things here and there so they can get the gist of it, and then we’ll hit ’em with all the rest of it later.

How did you start putting your music out there?

Back when MySpace was hip, I had a MySpace page with photos on there, and then just showing them to my friends and them telling their friends that they liked it.  Just showing my friends, pretty much.

By the way, you’re 18, right?

Yes.

So are you still in high school?

No, I graduated in July.  I’m in college, actually, right now. I go to the College of Santa Monica.

How are you balancing your school and your bubbling rap career right now?

We definitely work around it.  I got all morning classes, so I try to get to sleep as early as I can and then just go to school, finish my classes, and then just get straight to the music after that.

Any idea what you wanna study?

Not at the moment.  I’m still kinda doing my general ed, but I’m kinda leaning towards business ’cause rapping is gonna be my business from now on, and I just wanna get to know it a little bit better.

How did you link up with Pharrell?

My manager, Andrew Shack, actually is my main manager.  He brought Scott [Vener] along to the team and he thought it would be a great fit. They both came aboard as my manager, so I got the best of both worlds.  Shack, he was from Priority Records, back with N.W.A. and all that, so I’m well-rounded right now.

How did you link up with them in the first place?

Just friends of friends, just word of mouth pretty much.  He got a hold to it, he liked it, and we started working.  Scott and Pharrell are friends.  They were hanging out one day, just played him some of my songs and some of my old videos.  We used to shoot some videos back in those days.  I’d have my dad on the camera and I would just edit it on iMovie.  He saw those and he liked it.  Next thing I know, I’m shaking Pharrell’s hand.  Next thing I know, I’m signing a contract to I Am Other.  Next thing I know, I’m in Miami in the studio, putting down “Awesome Awesome.”

There were pictures that came out of you in the studio with Snoop and Kendrick Lamar.  What was that all about?

We been working for a while.  I think it’s been almost two years now.  In the course of the two years, I’ve worked with Snoop Dogg and Kendrick so far.

So you’ve been working with Pharrell for two years?

Yeah, just about.  Roughly two years.

What has your relationship been with him in the past two years?  Have you been making music together the whole time, or laying low?

We’ve definitely been working, but under the table.  We don’t wanna hit ’em with everything all at once.  We dropped the “Awesome Awesome” song, we just dropped “Bell Ring” last night.  We’re just kinda letting people get the feel of who I am.

When did you record “Awesome Awesome”?  How did that track come together?

That’s the first song that I dropped.  That’s actually the first song that me and Pharrell did together.  Right after the contract was signed, he flew me out to Miami.  When I got there, to the studio, he already had that beat.  He was finishing up that beat, he already had the whole idea planned out.  He had a melody, he already had the flow that he wanted me to use, and I just put the words to it and it came together like magic.  We decided that since it was the first song that we did together, it would be even better to be the first song that the world gets to hear.

When did that all go down?  When did you sign with I Am Other and go out to Miami?

2009.

So “Awesome Awesome” is two years old?

No, that’s when I signed the contract.  “Awesome Awesome,” probably like six months ago.

We just started hearing about I Am Other.  Before that, Pharrell was all about Star Trak.  What is the difference between I Am Other and Star Trak?

I Am Other is Pharrell’s own label.  That guy has amazing plans.  He’s pretty much just creating a platform for his artists to build their own music.  He was telling me that back when he was doing it, he had a lot of ideas but nobody was really helping him out.  He had to get there on his own.  Now that he’s there, he’s setting up a platform so kids like me can build.

You have a mixtape coming up — is it done?  Is it a wrap?

It’s not done, we’re still working.  I’m a perfectionist; that’s one thing you need to know about me.  I’m picky.  We’re still working on the mixtape, and once it’s perfect, we’ll release it.  Until then we’re just gonna drop songs just to make sure people get a feel of who I am.

How many other records do you have that are produced by Pharrell or produced by the Neptunes on there?

On the mixtape?  This is my own personal mixtape, so I don’t know if I’m gonna have any from Pharrell on there.  Save all the good ones for the album.

Any idea when the album will drop?

No idea at the moment.  Right now we’re pretty focused on “Awesome Awesome.”  I just don’t feel like the world knows me good enough for me to drop an album.  I just want people to get a feel of who I am before I drop a big project like that.

What is the sound that you’re aiming for?  Is it something similar to “Awesome Awesome,” or are you still finding yourself as an artist, exploring?

I’m building.  Right now I’m perfecting my craft, so we’re working towards finding the sound.  I just gotta work on it, just getting these songs out.  I’m just taking the beats and seeing what my mind does to it.

There’s a lot of artists from California right now.  They talk about the “New West Coast;” what is the feel in the hip-hop scene in Cali right now?

The West side is definitely coming back.  It’s a lot of good things happening on this side.  Kendrick, I’ve actually worked with Kendrick.  That’s the homie.  Everything is just going good for the West side right now.

You’ve got the skateboard scene with the whole Odd Future movement, then you’ve got Dom Kennedy, Kendrick Lamar…  How do you plan to find your niche among this wide array of artists that we got?

It’s gonna take some time and some hard work, but I’m willing to put in the work, and hopefully we’ll find it.  I don’t really wanna force it.  I kinda just want it to come on its own, and then once it’s here, I feel like I’ll know, for sure.

Who are your influences?  Who would you say you look up to in the industry and are inspired by?

A lot of West Coast artists.  I grew up listening to a lot of Snoop Dogg, N.W.A.  I was also real mainstream as a child, like a lot of radio songs.  Like Chris Brown — just more mainstream.  I didn’t get too into underground music until around my teen years.

Could you see yourself becoming like a mainstream Chris Brown type artist, especially since you already sing, dance, and act?

We’re definitely working towards that, but I’m still gon’ keep it as Compton as I can.

So no singing on records for now.

No, I totally don’t have a problem singing on a record, but I just need a couple voice lessons, if you know what I’m talking about.

One last question: your real name is Simmie Sims.  When did you get the moniker Buddy?

I’m actually Simmie Sims the third.  My dad’s junior, and my grandpa is senior, so as a child, when I was young, my family members always called me Buddy because I was very friendly, it was easy for me to make friends, very outgoing.  It just stuck since a child, and they’ve been calling me that ever since.  But a lot of people don’t even know — people at the schools, they know me as Simmie because roll call, they would call Simmie, that’s my real name, but anybody who knows me personally calls me Buddy.

Visit Buddy’s website, like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter.

The post <em>He Is Other</em> – Pharrell’s New Artist Buddy, & Why He’s “Awesome Awesome” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Spitter du jour ASAP Rocky’s hotly anticipated LiveLoveA$AP has finally hit the e-streets and, after an evening of hasty listening, it’s mostly excellent. Rocky flexes a bit more rapping muscle than he has on past tracks (particularly on dazzling Clams Casino-assisted opener “Palace,” which sees Rocky running down his influences, bouncing from his usual languid cool to an almost Bone Thugs-esque flow all the while discussing his love for Houston and Master P) and generally sounds like a star in the making, or, at very least, a rapper who can reach some level of sustained appeal with a bit more grooming.

You’ll probably be reading a lot about Rocky’s personality and rapping on other blogs, and you’ll be reading more still about his recent deal and what this tape means for his future as a major label artist.

I’m not here for that though. I do want to discuss a skill that bodes well for Rocky’s future.

Whether you, dear reader, want to admit it or not, one of the most talented and important beat selectors in the industry today is neither a producer, an A & R (though in a past era he would have been a masterful A & R), nor an executive, but a rapper: Rick Ross. Though he’s not always great at choosing productions for his underlings (Pill raps far too densely for a lot of Ross’ lush soul epics, and Wale is…Wale…I’m not really sure what kind of beat he’s supposed to be spitting on yet), he has an uncanny knack for populating his albums with productions both tasteful and timely, from the extravagant 70s stylings of the Justice L.E.A.G.U.E. to Lex Luger’s now pervasive hard hitting southern apocalypses (which, let’s not forget, were not pervasive until “B.M.F.”). Throughout his career, in spite of technical inadequacies as a rapper and constant assailment of his character and authenticity, Ross has thrived. His larger than life personality no doubt has much to do with his success, but it is his ability to select beats that are undeniable and subsequently get in where he fits in over them that has extended his life far beyond the expected one hit wonderdom of “Hustlin.”

To get to the point: ASAP Rocky has an exquisite ear for beats. Not only does Rocky assemble a cohesive sound for LLA from a diverse set of producers (including monster contributions from the aforementioned Clams as well as names you should be looking out: DJ Burn One, Spaceghost Purrp, and Beautiful Lou), he also manages to choose incredibly of the moment beats without sounding the least bit derivative or uncomfortable. On highlights “Kissin Pink” “Keep It G,” “Roll One Up,” and “Demons,” Rocky brings listeners sounds from the south as well as the cloud-hop popularized on the internet by Clams in conjunction with Lil B, Soulja Boy (trust me), and Main Attrakionz, sounding at home on each beat he chooses.

(Of course missing from the tape is ANYTHING that sounds remotely like it came from anyone’s conception of New York Hip-Hop…but maybe this means it’s time to update what New York Hip-Hop sounds like, especially when I sit on the N train and hear a Luger or Southside beat blaring out of every other pair of headphones)

So I don’t know how ASAP Rocky’s career will turn out. Apparently they’re playing “Peso” on Hot 97 here in NY, but I haven’t listened to the radio in years, so what the hell do I know anyway? If Rocky’s able to continue choosing beats that highlight his qualities as a rapper–his voice and a flow both sharp and languid, alternating as Rocky sees fit–he’ll at very least maintain his core audience. He still has room to grow as a rapper and, just as in Ross’ case, this continued change will hopefully be accompanied by a sharpened and ever-evolving ear for beats. If his record deal is half as good as it sounds (or anywhere near as good as what Odd Future got), Rocky may actually get the chance to progress and make some hits in the process. We’ll check back in after this little tour with some dude named Aubrey.

Photography by Far Fetched Future. Catch more flicks of Team ASAP here

The post Thoughts on ASAP Rocky & Hanging Around in the Rap Game appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

“As a lyricist, you got to know how to command the crowd and entertain.” Jus Allah’s words speak on one half of a duo who for 15-plus years poured sweat into crafting high-energy, unadulterated music. The other half, Vinnie Paz, adds his ear for production that can span from urban to sample-driven to aggressive. “We influenced a generation of kids and now they are making music.” Together, Allah and Paz form Jedi Mind Tricks, a Philly underground (or “good fucking music” as Jus prefers) act heralded by hardcore rap purists for its intelligent lyrics, complex flows and the atmospheric production of Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind.

For Jedi Mind Tricks, this is something like the old saying: “The show must go on.” HipHopDX has published Paz’s thoughts on the whole matter, which has garnered some mix reactions by fans. They believe new material from Jedi Mind Tricks will not bring the same aggressiveness present in their earlier works. Regardless of Stoupe’s absence from the producer’s chair, the duo’s seventh album, Violence Begets Violence, is set to drop on October 25.

Although this marks the first project with a new crop of producers, Jus and Paz are loyal to a brotherhood dating back to their teenage years, believing in one day a true reunion of Jedi Mind Tricks will come into fruition. At the same time, these upstart producers have connected with them in a way that has embodied a version of their younger selves. You add harder rhymes, wittier punchlines, and a familiar soundscape to the Jedi Mind Tricks formula and many hip-hop heads will be surely reminded of their lyrical prowess. Things change, but eventually do get better with time.

Read the interview after the jump.

Let’s talk about your appeal, which sort of mirrors Wu-Tang Clan by mixing urban beats and intelligent raps.  JMT has a history of having some significant titles. What does Violence Begets Violence mean?

Vinnie – Jus came up with it, so he can build on that.

Jus – Violence Begets Violence in relationship to us, it’s more of just we stuck with the violent titles. I’m on all the violent albums. That [is] pretty much how it correlates with us. But Violence Begets Violence it’s like do one to others. It’s like one of those cliché sayings. If you want to get busy, we can get busy too.

Vinnie – Yeah, like Jus said. There was sort of this significance of me and Jus having worked on in the title and the theme of the word violence. It is sort of representative of the music. When he told me I was like this is something natural. We are never over analytical about our process. I was like, “Alright that sounds perfect.”

One of your singles, “Target Practice”, has recently gotten a remix by Shuko.

Vinnie – Yeah, Shuko from Germany.

How does he help your appeal overseas?

Vinnie – Overseas is great to us anyway. They’re so diehard over there.

Jus – We get more love. I wouldn’t say necessary more but if we hit the Midwest here, they may not be receptive. New York, LA, we get mad love. And I would say every city in Europe is like that to us.

And you guys are from Philly.  I am sure you get a lot of love there too.

Vinnie – There’s nothing like being home. It’s where we did everything. It’s where we were rhyming cyphers, battling, made all our demos and where we used to hang out when we were kids. That’s our life.

You guys also have an Australian Tour booked. On an international level, who connects with JMT the most?

Vinnie – We never been to Australia yet because I’ve always been petrified by the flight. But Jus loves tours, so Jus twisted my arm on this one, so we are going to do it.

Jus – [laughs] I don’t know what it is. I think its kids overseas, whether its Europe or Australia, they been asking us to go for 10-plus years.

Vinnie – I know someone who was just over there, who’s not in a hip-hop group. Are you familiar with the band Coheed and Cambria?

Yeah, I heard of them. They’re really nice.

Vinnie – Yeah, my man from that band was just over there. And he said everywhere that they toured; they were OD’ing on promo for us to be over there: Flyers, posters, everything. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know if Jus and I have ever talked about it, but there’s something with an oversea market that connects with us more than the watered down, fast food type of music that America puts sort of out there. Maybe they just represent the raw more.

Jus – They’re not brainwashed over there. They’re not bumped in the head with Lil’ Wayne. They really gravitate towards the real.

So we’ve all read the news about Stoupe’s absence from this album. He is one of the founding members of JMT, so how detrimental was he in creating the group’s sound?

Vinnie – We created it together, when we were kids. He was just as important to Jus. He was just as important to me. The sound took shape. It was a thing for a lot of years. 15-plus years, maybe pushing 20. You know, you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make him drink.  Me and Jus were tired of pulling teeth. The process was getting longer and longer. We’re sitting around waiting to get creative, waiting for beats, when we do get beats; it’s like one at a time. So what happens when you get one or two beats and you don’t love them? You have to wait another six weeks for another two beats? That’s basically what we were dealing with during this process.

I don’t know how many people know, we were working on this album as me, Jus and Stoupe. We got nine to eleven beats from Stoupe. There were two of them we really like, but they were really somber-type, conceptual-type beats. Even though we liked them, we wanted to get our feet wet with a new record. Give us that hardcore shit. Let’s start doing that Jedi shit and then we can go back and do a couple of concept joints.

Jus – He’s always been a standoffish dude too. He’s on none of the Stell’s records or any of Paz’s solos or the Heavy Metal Kings. He really never tried to be a part of anything outside of just Jedi Mind Tricks.

Vinnie – We came up in the game together. We are loyal guys. We always looked at it as some brotherhood type shit. Three brothers might not always get along at all times.  Me and Jus were doing what’s best for what we thought – the fans. In order to for us to of taken this LP that we just recorded on the chin, me and Jus would have gone through a couple more years of torture. We are grown ass man, taking care of ourselves and our families. At some point, you just have to draw a line in the sand.

That’s unfortunate.

Vinnie – It’s unfortunate that he is that way. It’s not unfortunate for me and Jus. I want that to be known very clearly. Me and Jus are the easiest guys to work with. Ask anyone who has worked with us. We don’t want to hear it anymore, if anybody else has a problem, go find him somewhere.

Will fans get the same hardcore and rugged sound on this release?

Vinnie – Yeah man! People have told us this is the most aggressive hard shit we’ve done. Go head Jus – I’m sorry – I’m just hyped. [laughs]

Jus – [laughs] Yeah man, like Paz was saying, we kind of dictate the sound anyways. Stoupe was part of the process, but it’s the rhymes that dictate what comes out. We don’t have to cater to the beat; the beat has to cater to what we are saying. The dudes that are capturing in the mood have been fans of the group the same amount of time we have been in a group. They know what to expect. They be giving us the heaters. These kids that are coming up giving us their best beats. And they want to be down. We are going to roll and continue with the process no matter what.

Vinnie – And that shit reinvigorated us. That’s why some people are like, “That’s their best work in 10- plus years.” Because we felt like these young boys were coming with shit and we had to step our shit up because they were stepping their shit up. Its very easy to get in this business … if you are successful – we are a very successful touring act – and its easy to get complacent. And be like, “we can just tour until we are 45 years old and just put out mediocre music to fuel the tours.” Me and Jus were never like that. He came so incredible on this album, Jus, that he put the battery pack on my back. And I can’t have my partner “sonning” me on every song. This guy is incredible.

Jus – Thanks Paz. Maybe the production is caught up, but none of these young boys are fucking with us on the mike.

You guys have an all new cast of producers like C-Lance, Nero and Hypnotist Beats. How did you guys connect with them?

Vinnie – Of every one of our guys, production-wise, C-Lance is the closest thing to being a member of the group. C-Lance, we met him a few years ago, and he is just this talented, hungry kid who makes fucking 100 beats a week. He is sending me and Jus stuff daily.

Yeah, he is grinding for you guys.

It such a worldwide album. One of the producers is from the west coast to Canada, Hypnotist. Nero Knockouts he’s from Italy. C-Lance is from Boston. We influenced a generation of kids and now they are making music. Some of them are terrible and some of them think they are our competition – and that’s laughable – and some of them are not delusional and they’re really talented. They decided to work with the dudes that birthed their style.

What are your thoughts Jus on the new cats on the album?

Jus – I think they’re killing it. C-Lance, he is the homie. We ride for that dude. As far as the vibe of the group, me and Paz we stay on the same page. We chill every week. That’s where the vocal part comes from. As for the music, these cats are in-tune to what we are doing. You can feel it. I’m loving the new cats.

So you guys are embracing these new producers. Is there beef between you guys and Stoupe?

Jus – Nah!

Vinnie – I mean it’s just 20 years of the marriage that slowly dissolves. Some people get divorce and hate each other. Some people stay friends.  Maybe it’s a misconception that things are changed now. Me and Jus didn’t even see the dude anyway. Since ’92, he’s probably done like ten things with us socially. What really is changing? But the dude who doesn’t leave his home, who is his own worst enemy, and who believes the world is against him? There’s nothing to beef over.

With this kind of behind you, will fans ever see a reunion of the original JMT?

Jus – I mean, we are down today!

Vinnie – [laughs] Yeah. Find his phone number. Tell him to give us 10-15 beats that we love and it will be the next record. To call it a breakup – Nah! Give us 13 good beats. If not, we are not here dwelling, dissing the guy. We have no intent on that, that’s stupid. We made music together for a long time, we grew up together. We are not like that. We also have an obligation to ourselves and our mothers, this is what we do.

Violence Begets Violence will be released by your independent label Enemy Soil Records. Why do you believe fans have continued supporting your underground movement?

Jus – Its always been like that. And it will continue to be like that. We can’t change at all. We are who we are. If the masses want to wake up and accept us and take note and that’s good. There’s not much I can do to my style to change up to appeal to certain amount of people. I wouldn’t even call our music “underground.” We make good fucking music. Save that underground label for dudes who try to be weird or whatever. You made the Wu-Tang comparison; I could probably see that in the style of beats. But we more like Kool G on Wu-Tang beats. They were more like out there, each one of them is different. Me and Paz keep it straight. I wouldn’t even make that comparison. We Jedi Mind Tricks.

Once Violence Begets Violence drops, both of you have solo albums. Vinnie has a collobo with Ill Bill called Heavy Metal Kings while Jus has the Meanest Man Alive (MMA) coming out, which are a testament to both your work ethics. How do you feel about Jedi Mind Tricks’ longevity in the current state of hip-hop?

Vinnie – I think it’s our ability to adapt. We sort of have this inherit ability to make timeless music. Am I the greatest rapper to have ever live? Of course not. Do I have the ability to pick beats and make timeless shit? Yeah. So that’s what I bring to the group.

What about you Jus? What do you bring to Jedi Mind Tricks?

Jus – I just come with the lyrics. I give my input as far as I can. That’s another thing I came across making my own album. Paz is the dude; he understands how to make good records. For me I consider myself an emcee, a lyricist. Not all emcees have that ability. I’m not the hook dude. I’m not Mr. Cheeks [laughs], or the Lost Boyz dudes. I’m the lyric dude. I give you a hot sixteen. Can I deliver a hot album? Yeah I can because I got Paz with me.

The post Masters of Lyricism – An Interview With Jedi Mind Tricks appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

When I finally got ahold of Watts-bred rapper, Glasses Malone, it was early, something like 9 a.m. on the West Coast, and he was on tour. Glasses’ voice came in extra gruff on the BlackBerry, as he sounded like he was in desperate need of some Tylenol 3s, and a large glass of water. Hell, it was the perfect opportunity to throw the guy a curveball or two… see if I couldn’t catch old Glasses snoozing. At least that’s what I figured at the time. Turns out Glasses is pretty sharp on his feet, in the mornings especially, probably why he’s released a debut album as banging as Beach Cruiser, after so many years of delay. The guy’s a real West Coast soldier.

Read the complete interview after the jump.

You just dropped your debut album, Beach Cruiser. It’s crazy this is your first album…

Man, it’s insane.

How’s the response been thus far?

The response has been really good, better than I anticipated. People really like the album. I’ve been on tour for a couple days now, and it’s amazing to see how the album impacted people off the first listen, when I’m performing. Eastsidin is doing really well. It’s crazy. It’s amazing to see how this is happening.

I like the Chopped & Screwed you got on Eastsidin. Why you think that sound’s becoming so popular again?

Everybody loves that DJ Screw stuff they recorded back in the day. I think it’s the simplicity of it all. It’s kind of complex, but it’s still very easy to deal with. I think that’s the natural attraction to it.

How’s your album differ from your mixtapes?

Really, they’re not different. Maybe the album’s a little longer. When I go in on those street albums, like Nightmare On Seventh Street, and Drive-By Muzik, they’re really like albums. Maybe this one has a little more balance to it than normal, but man, when I make music, I don’t care if it’s my future mixtape coming up called Cold As Ice, they all are projects. They are all complete worlds.

You dropped Certified with Akon back in 2007. Most artists probably would have scrapped an old record like that, but you included it on Beach Cruiser. Why?

One, I feel like everybody didn’t hear it. Two, it represented a time marker for me. It was the first step towards putting Beach Cruiser out. Not everybody knows that some things are worth fighting for, and this album was definitely worth fighting for.

You’re pretty straightforward on records like I Sell Dope. How would you address rumors that Ca$h Money Records is still involved in the dope game?

I think somebody would have to be insane to think that. A legendary label like that, the last thing they need to be involved with is something on the corner. They are by far the number one rap label in the music industry today, with multiple acts selling millions of records. Just with Lil Wayne they’re selling millions, and with Drake. Last thing they need to do is anything I might be doing.

You say you keep out of the headlines, and just make good music. Would you object to a DJ Quik comparison?

I definitely wouldn’t compare myself to him. That dude’s a legend, and he’s ten times more talented than me. Hopefully I do have his longevity, or people appreciate my music as much as they appreciate his. But I definitely would object to that comparison. I’m not nearly as talented as he is. That dude is crazy. He’s brilliant.

Quik recently did a video feature for L.A. Weekly, where he gave a tour of Compton in his car. If you were to do a similar ride, where would some of the stops be?

In Compton or in Watts?

Either.

I didn’t watch his so I don’t want to name a couple of his places, but if I actually did my own, I would definitely take people to the Watts Coffee House. I think people would love to be there. It’s like a staple in the city. Definitely to the Watts Towers. I think the Towers represent the city itself. They built these big towers out of scrap and junk and glass. It’s like the whole spirit of building something out of nothing. That’s what it represents, Watts. I would take people to Killer King, Martin Luther King Hospital. A lot of the stories you hear from N.W.A., Ice-T, they always talk about King Hospital, because King Hospital had one of the best trauma units, they had so many trauma cases where people got hurt or shot. They have a legendary trauma unit there that was really dope when I was growing up. But people always used to say, if you stub your toe you might die, because they were so understaffed.

I read your first show was at Normandie Casino on Rosecrans right?

Yeah.

You ever been to Eazy E’s old dry cleaners on Rosecrans?

Yep. I have. Yep. Yep. I’ve been there a few times.

I like the blue and white Jordans you have on in that one press shot. Are you a big sneakerhead?

I am. It’s actually weird, I just absolutely love Jordans. I’m crazy about Jordans, just insanely crazy about Jordans. I’ve got a hundred plus pairs, easily.

What’s your favorite pair?

My favorite pair would probably be the 11’s, the cool grey’s. I love the cool grey’s, and I actually love those blue and grey ones I’m wearing in the picture.

You’ve compared your rap style to the movie Friday, among other movies. Have you seen The Wash?

Yeah, I’ve seen that movie many times.

I thought maybe with the song, Car Wash…

Naw, in California right now, young gangbangers are getting killed. They actually have a car wash and sometimes they cook BBQ dinners and sell them, to raise money to bury a person. So I just took that whole idea of the car wash and really defined it. The car wash represents the end of a gangbanger. In the song I go over three different scenarios of how gangbanging works, and how it ends up being a car wash. In the first verse, I show how the more you gangbang the bigger the chance of there being a car wash for you. The second verse is how the OG’s raise you up into gangbanging, and if you don’t survive one of these missions, you’ll end up becoming a car wash, and the OG’s move on to the next person. And the third verse represents how you can be from a hood where a lot of people have money, and they still end up having a car wash for you. I think the car wash symbolizes gangbanging as a whole, at least in California right now.

You have a couple lines about Suge Knight in different songs. I was under the impression Suge Knight killed Tupac. You’re not afraid of him?

I definitely don’t think he killed Tupac. I definitely don’t think that, but I’m definitely not afraid of him either. I just think the whole Death Row era was so influential to me, you hear it in a lot in my music. I have a lot of respect for the dude and what he did. Death Row really represented a time in West Coast music, when we needed to be heard. But no, I don’t think Suge had anything to do with Tupac getting killed. Definitely think it was some guy in Compton. That’s the cycle of gangbanging, when you get more and more into it, it’s never complex. It’s always simple.

You talk about ‘rich fools’, but you’ve kept it strictly about the music over the years. How’d you manage to stay on track?

It’s not easy. I’ll tell you that much. I don’t know, man. I had Mack 10, I had Birdman, I got a lot of people who stayed with me, my A&R, his name is Tavon Alexander, everyone calls him the superstar A&R, and he was a lot of help, as far as making sure I was making music about the streets. Everybody believes that’s what my gift is.

Interview originally published in Yo! Raps Magazine.

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