Truth Enola has waited a long time for his chance to shine.  In 1996 he stormed onto the scene, appearing on De La Soul’s classic cut “Pony Ride”.  But since then Truth has wallowed in Hip Hop limbo.  Even though he continued to release various 12 inches over the years, Truth eventually fell into obscurity.  Now eight years since his introduction, Truth Enola is finally back to drop his long awaited debut album “6 O’clock Straight”.  With guest appearances from De La Soul & Phife Dawg, along with production from DJ Spinna & Da Beatminerz, “6 O’clock Straight” is the album Hip Hop heads have longed for.  Truth Enola took some time out to speak with HipHopSite.com about his long awaited album as well what he has up to for the past eight years.

HipHopSite: What was your childhood like growing up in Long Island?

Truth:  I had a set family, but it was really just my mom, sister and grandmother.  I was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, then we moved out to Long Beach, Long Island.  From there we moved to Freeport, and since then I have spent most of my time in Freeport.  I had a lot of situations that you would have with any childhood, such as fights and things like that. But I also had to witness my uncles and people around me being on drugs, so a lot of crazy stuff.  But like anybody that has a good foundation, you persevere.  So that is basically how my childhood went.  To me it was a normal childhood, being that everybody in the community had a dysfunctional family.

HipHopSite:  How did you start getting into music?

I started listening to James Brown, and that music just started to make me move and dance.  So I started doing the dances, little house parties, talent shows and things like that.  That is when the DJ and everything really started to pop off, around that time.  So I would go up into the parties when I was about 15 or 16 and would grab the microphone while my man was DJing.  I would just going off on the mic, and do my thing.  But as I got older I started doing some things I shouldn’t have been doing.  So that got me caught up in a little garbage, but eventually I focused my mind and got some money and put a little demo together.  I gathered all the money I made and started going out to Trung King studios in Brooklyn.  So I created this little demo, I had brought a bunch of beats from records, and took the beat and looped it, all of that stuff.  I then took it to the studio and I’m chilling and all of that, and that is when I met my man Row.  He heard it and liked it and said that he knew De La Soul.  So he took it over to De La, actually he took it to Mase, and Mase was just like, “Yo, this is garbage”.  But Dave heard it and he was like, “It has potential”.  So Dave gave me a beat, which was titled “Mayday”.  And when Dave heard that, he called up everyone else and we all met up in the studio for the first time.  That was about 1993, and from that moment on Dave kept giving me more beats and every song I did they loved.

So eventually they were like, “You gotta come on tour with us”.  So we went on tour and that is how everything really started with me getting my hands and my feet wet with this music scene.  But I think there was always a mutual respect between me and De La, which made the whole thing possible to happen in the first place.  I learned a lot from De La!  I think people need to be more opened minded about situations, because I had to tell a lot of people about De La Soul back in the day.  I was always telling people we got a nice show, its hot and what have you.  And they would be like, “Ehhh, I’m not feeling De La like that”.  But then I would get them to come to the show and after that they would be like, “Yo, that was hot!”.  So these are the things you have to be more open minded about.  But that’s how the whole thing popped off, but after awhile I wanted to make an album because I had been on the road for so long.  I was doing a lot of songs, but it wasn’t the atom.  You have to set the foundation and build off of that.  So I destroyed a couple of things and started building.  One of my things I started building was “6 O’clock Straight”, and here were are today.

HipHopSite: What are some of your first memories of Hip Hop?

Truth:  Ultramagnetic, I remember them dudes.  Public Enemy, being that they were from my town and area.  My ’98 Oldsmobile, because we had a lot of them in the hood.  I also remember the beef between Juice Crew and BDP, which made me notice that there is different ways to go about this music.  Honestly, De La and Tribe, they put everything in the truest perspective for me.  Because you didn’t have to speak about one set thing, you could speak about many things.  They showed that there is more than one part of a person.  Because to me back then, my fondest memory was that music was balanced.  No disrespect to the music that is popping off now, but it’s not balanced enough.  I think there is a lot of artists that are trying to balance it out though, like myself, Dead Prez and Talib Kweli.

HipHopSite:  After “Stakes Is High” dropped and you got a name for yourself, what happened next?   What have you been up to since then?

Truth:  After “Stakes Is High” I started doing singles for Up Above Records and Blindside Records.  I started jumping off with my people the Jigmasters, with my man DJ Spinna.  I did a joint with my man Rubix called “Imagine”.  I did a bunch of different type of songs with Geology, Dabo, who was off of Def Jam Japan.  So I have been trying to stay in the mix somehow, someway, so that people are still hearing me.

HipHopSite:  How frustrating has it been for you to have to wait all this time to drop your debut album?

Truth:  You know what it’s been, it has been a learning experience.  So I didn’t get really too frustrated with it because in the process I learned a lot more and I was able to get more material.  I was also able to make my material alot tighter.  With this album right now, “6 O’clock Straight”, we have a lot of joints, but we also have like three other albums.  We got three other albums and I’m already starting another album right now.  But I really didn’t get too frustrated because I take life in stride.  It takes a lot to really get me stressed.

HipHopSite:  What would you say has been the biggest headache you have had to deal with in this Hip Hop game?

Truth:  I guess it reverts back to the last question about not getting out sooner.  Another headache would be to see where music went, and what level it went to.  When it started it went hard and just to see where it is now and to know that I wasn’t there at the moment of time enough to fight for it bothers me.

HipHopSite:  Let’s get into the album a little bit, can you tell us the meaning behind the title, “6 O’clock Straight”.

Truth:  Straight up and down, we don’t kiss no ass, we don’t bend over.  What you see is what you get, it is how it is.  So if you close the door, we are going to break through it.  We are not stopping now, and we are going to bring it.

HipHopSite:  For those who haven’t heard the album, what can they expect out of it?

Truth:  They can expect a versatile album with many different sides.  One thing I learned over the years is that you are not one dimensional.  You can be, but you have many different sides to you.  You know about family, about being persecuted against, you know about the hustling, females, life problems, etc.  There are so many different things, and being that knowledge is infinite, I think people limit themselves with knowledge.  So you can expect an album with many different things in it, and I think there is something on it for everyone.  Whether its for my man’s playing chess in the park, or my man hustling on the corner, I got something for everybody.

HipHopSite: Who do you have on the album as far as producers and guest appearances go?

Truth:  I got a lot of my Mad Man Moss family on the album, like Dragon.  But I also got Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, DJ Spinna, Da Beatminerz, Geology, The Are, T The Beat Specialist and Celph Titled.  So those are some of the producers on the album as well as some of the guests.  One thing that I found is that there are a lot of producers out there that have a good niche on things and have good music, but they are not getting heard.  So as long as me and a producer blend, I’ll go with it.

HipHopSite:  I gotta say, I’m feeling the album.  I think you did a good job on it.

Truth:  Thank you!  You are one of the people that are coming with us to kick down that door, you know what I’m saying?  And that is what’s going to happen, we are going to start kicking down these doors.  Because my thing is, there is so much music out there to listen to, and people don’t get a chance to listen to it because you are being blacklisted.  And that is the real deal, a lot of producers and artists are getting blacklisted.  Because other people and forces are sitting up there with the door closed.  But within numbers is strength, and I’m bringing a team with me.

HipHopSite: Like you said, it is real hard to get fans to hear something new, so what do you and Solid Records have to do to get people to hear this album?

Truth:  You have to stay hard on it. Like I said, you have to go to that door and knock it in.  You have to promote it as much as possible, and you have to go in the streets and tell people, “Look, this is what’s going on, and this is what’s happening”.  You have to tell people that because otherwise they aren’t getting to hear it or see it.  So you have to get on these radio stations and do all of these things, and people have to stand together.  Don’t get side tracked by anything, don’t get sidetracked by the money.  One thing that I have learned from being on tour and getting some money from it is that I know I didn’t change.  From me having a little bit of money in my pockets and me having grands in my pockets, I know it didn’t change me but with a lot of other people it does.  So that didn’t change me or my team.  And that made it even easier and better for us to work with each other and make it strong.  Because if you have one bad link in the chain, it is hard to peddle that bike.

HipHopSite:  You have a knack for making insanely catching hooks, which has drawn a lot of comparison to 50 Cent.  So what do you think about the comparison?

Truth:  It’s crazy!  I take it as a compliment though.  I take it as a compliment from the people who are ultimately listening to it and liking it.  But for the people who don’t understand the history of it all, I have been doing these types of hooks since 1987!  I was on De La’s “Stakes Is High”, the song “Pony Ride”, doing it just like that!  With that voice and that tone, going just that hard.  I did “Ill Love” in 1994, so I have been doing this for a very very long time.  And no disrespect to 50 Cent, but he’s a little younger than me.  So I’m not gonna stop doing what I’m doing because this is who I am, I create hooks, that’s what I love to do.  I love the hooks, I love the lyrics and I love the music.  When I hear the music, it paints a picture for me, and when I put that vision down, that is what I ultimately love.  See the big difference between me and other people is, they are out there to get what they want by any means necessary.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m out to get what I want by any means necessary, but I’m gonna do that without selling myself out or selling my soul.  But as far as the hooks go, I have been doing this for a very long time, before I even heard of a 50 Cent.  But I do like 50′s music, I like all types of music, from Jazz to Blues to Rock.  I listen to it all.

HipHopSite:  Overall, what do you want to accomplish with this album?

Truth:  A stairway to step up.  A stairway to step up to the next level and put my group on, the Mad Man Moss.  To get some new blood out there and to introduce something new.  You gotta a lot of people sounding the same, and I’m not trying to play anyone, but its true.  You got people dressing the same and wearing their clothes too.  I just believe in being an individual.  You being an individual makes you unique and you need to take that part of yourself and be real about it.  Be honest about who you are.  Because in the long run if you are carbon copying somebody, you are gonna be a paranoid motherfucker.  You are going to be looking over your shoulder and wondering, “Who am I?”.

HipHopSite:  Besides the album, what else do you have going on in the future?

Truth:  Right now I have Red Diamond Entertainment, which is me and a couple of other people, and what we do is we throw theme parties.  Whether it be you coming dressed up like you are back in the ’70′s, a toga party, or whatever.  It is always a theme party and there are gifts given away and shows are performed by local artists.  So I am doing that as well as finishing up the next album for myself.  Also we got the Mad Man Moss album, which is called “The Links Of Time”.  And besides that just trying to get out on some tours.

HipHopSite: Any time period for the new albums?

Truth:  No, not yet, right now we are just trying to perfect the material.  But two of the albums will be released on the website, www.TruthEnola.com.  They will be sold there for a two for one type of thing.

HipHopSite: Any last words?

Truth:  Stay strong, hold your head and get prepared.