spend money. All that Hollywood shit ain’t the real world so I don’t fool myself. This is a trap, this ain’t no place of enjoyment. The girls in the strip club are the same thing I am, grinders. Two hustlers can’t do nothing but respect each other.”
S
o what do you enjoy doing? I enjoy myself when I’m on stage and I rock 500 or 50,000 people. I been coming to strip clubs since I was 14 years old. The first time I got head was when I was in Montrey’s [now known as Queen City]. I ain’t never seen an ass that made me want to go broke. Before you see me throw 10 G’s in the air, I’ll buy a dilapidated house. This shit is cute, but I want to see these folks in 5 years when them pills got a hook on you, and the money ain’t coming in no more. All this “make it rain” shit is so frivolous, it’s so cute. I saw it in the 80s, this shit is so cute. All these niggas trying to compete with Jeezy doing that shit. Jeezy’s shit was beautiful though, he used that shit as a promotional tool. When he did that shit in the club they played his music for hours. These other niggas, they play their song once and they make it rain for three hours. But fuck it, I ain’t here to educate them, I’m here for the working class. Do you think that education through the music gets confusing at times? For instance, Jay-Z is saying that he wants to bring rap to a new level with the Kingdom Come album, and some are saying that he’s rapping like he’s too good for the average listener now. Jay has earned the right to say what he say. Jay-Z and Rocafella brought something that wasn’t there before. They brought a brand and a circle, a determination to dominate at all costs, and they suffered for what they accomplished. Take that times ten and say names like Lil J [Prince] and [Uncle] Luke. Those are the people that made Hip Hop possible where I’m from. The only people offering anything to the game are the kids, not the kids that rap, but the ones who made up the Bankhead Bounce, the term “holla.” No matter what D4L and Franchise say, it was probably just some kids that made up the snap dance. It’s the kids energy that keeps it going. We just report what we see. This shit is driven by spirit of young people. That’s what got the crunk and snap artists where they are, because they
ain’t afraid to be with their audience. A lot of rappers try to live above their audience. I want to live with my audience. Do you think rap is dumbing itself down when grown men try to appeal to the youth? It ain’t dumbing down because they young, it’s because they’re poorly educated. How could you appreciate lyricist when you don’t even read on grade level? Is Hip Hop ran by teenagers, no, but Fat Joe don’t own 1,000 Nikes because at age 30 he thinks it’s cool. At some point in his life he was denied that, so this is his compensation. The energy comes from the audience. We gotta stop seeing it the other way around. The stories come from the audience, your first album is your life to that point, after that it’s your life as a rapper. But doesn’t it seem odd how Hip Hop is 30 years old, and yet it still has the “it’s about the youth” mantra? What about the older listeners who are used to buying complete, impactful albums, not just youthful singles? Rap doesn’t sell catalog-wise, period. So that either means that we don’t have the disposable income that most people have when they’re 40, we don’t want to remember that time in our life or we just say fuck it and turn to old Soul music. People are just now getting comfortable with liking rap at 35 years old. So we gonna see what the next phase now. Right now a lot of records ain’t worth playing over three weeks, let alone three months. Niggaz4Life and Eazy-Duz-It, are better than eighty percent of the shit that’s out today. Niggas4Life is better than The Chronic. I don’t care what they say. No one is trying to make a perfect album anymore. People say that rap has changed, but I believe most rappers still want to entertain but the audience has to be comfortable again. Our audience has been trained to like singles. Ever since ‘Pac died it’s reverted to people chasing what makes them happy right now. You’ve expressed that you feel that I Pledge is a perfect album and you’re were slightly disappointed that it didn’t receive a 5 in OZONE. If Lupe Fiasco is a 5, then mine is a five too. My album is the best thing to bless that review section this year. You’re getting what you want in Game, Jay and The Clipse all in one. Plus it’s a double CD. If you feel OZONE is wrong, write in and say my shit is a five. I think artists that are to the left get graded on a curve. I’m not saying that they don’t deserve a fair shake because with the overabundance of bullshit that’s out right now, it can be refreshing. But sometimes people get too eager to get refreshed. See, the last album that was positive and jamming was dead prez’s. Nowadays its contrived, everything is a formula. If you’re a “positive” artist I know you’re gonna get Badu, Jill Scott or Common on your shit. I’m not hearing conscious music on par with Pharcyde, Hierogylphics or De La Soul. I’m not hearing Low End Theory. At least the conscious rappers back then just had sweaters on. Now, the conscious rappers are rocking $30, 000 watches, $800 jeans and $300 sneakers. At least the gangsta rappers got diamonds they can pawn. No one’s gonna re-buy another person’s shoes.
A
fter hitting three strip clubs, an industry party and a Waffle House, Mike has settled into Stankonia Studios. It’s 4:30 a.m. and the only other people awake in the building are his friends/producers The Beat Bullies. Scarface is playing on the big screen and Sosa is asking Tony to “take care of our little problem.” As of tonight, Mike’s problem is almost solved. He finally has control over his career. I Pledge is on pace to sell 20,000 after just one month of shelf time. Throughout his entire time in the music industry, Mike has had to work for time and money, but now it’s starting to go the other way around. “Everything I’m doing now has to win. I refuse to take any more losses,” he says. “My first record came in on the Billboard charts at number 10 and sold 80,000 the first week. But the label undershipped it; my team fucked up my career. This is my comeback moment. You don’t get too many of these. I got an HBO fight coming up, so I gotta be in tune. I’m one song away from dominating. I can feel it. It’s Grind Time.”
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