No matter what you think of Cilvaringz, two things are clear. He loves his Wu-Tang brethren and he takes full advantage of his skills as an MC and producer to make a an impact. So much so that his determination and persistence paid off with a membership into one of the most lyrical and revered crews in hip-hop.

After six years of being affiliated with the Wu, Cilvaringz unleashes his long-awaited debut album “I”. The Babygrande Records release, which includes appearance from Wu-Tang members as well as a more than 60 minute DVD, marks the Arabic lyricist’s official entry into the rap game upon earning his stripes sharing mic time with and producing various songs for his partners in rhyme.

Cilvaringz recently took a minute to chat with us about his new album, expressing his feelings and views through music, leading the effort to legitimize Arabic hip-hop in the eyes of naysayers and whether or not Wu-Tang is still relevant in the current hip-hop landscape.

HipHopSite.com: This album took six years to complete. Why did it take so long to finish this project?

Cilvaringz: It was basically because by the time I had finished the first version of the album in early 2001, the content of the album was empty. Then when 9-11 happened, obviously a lot about my heritage became known to me. And while researching what could’ve possibly driven those hijackers to do what they did, I started reading loads of material, and so many things became clear to me. And from that point it lead to more knowledge about religions, world politics, socio-economy, etc. Being with Wu-Tang, it also allowed me to speak to a huge public, and I didn’t want that message to be empty. So I started re-writing my album. At the same time, I was also experiencing a lot of stuff with the Wu and also touring the world. So time just got stretched between rewriting, touring and finishing up college.

HHS: How does it feel to finally have the album come out after all this time?

Cilvaringz: Feels great, a load off my shoulders. Especially having put so much effort into making it a real nice package with the album, 60 minute DVD, the extensive DVD Rom. I’m happy fans are appreciating the effort and the nostalgic Wu sound I bragged about bringing back for years.

HHS: Patience seems to be your strongest characteristic, in light of how long it took for you to finally get an audience with RZA after that Amsterdam concert in ’97. Were you ever frustrated or discouraged from having to wait so long to see RZA?

Cilvaringz: Yes. The last time I went to NYC to meet up with him I didn’t even care about whether we were gonna work together or not. All I cared about was clarity. Was I ever good enough to have a chance at working with the brother under his flag, or not? All I wanted was to have that question answered; a single yes or no would’ve been fine to me. Because ever since ’97 I was walking around with that thought. Luckily it was yes.

HHS: What kept you going?

Cilvaringz: God, always God.

HHS: As a longtime Wu-Tang fan, how did it feel when you officially became part of the Wu-Tang family?

Cilvaringz: Somewhat surreal. I was in extreme positive vibes. Don’t get me wrong, but it was only the start of a long journey. At that time, all I cared about was having RZA’s mobile. Cause no way I was going to go through his people again. Once that was in the pocket I was happy.

HHS: It seems like everyone in Wu-Tang has a chamber to call their own. Describe your chamber and how it’s different from the chambers of the other Wu-Tang family members?

Cilvaringz: Well, being an Arab and a Muslim, especially in these times, it just shows a different chamber to all of us because you’re getting the views and thoughts of someone actually living in Africa and spending time in the Middle East. I don’t just rap about the pyramids. I’ve been there. I wrote my music at their foot. I don’t just say “bomb like Beirut.” I’ve actually been there. I know the people. I hear their real thoughts, what they think, how they feel, etc.

Furthermore, I don’t live the 5% ideology; I’m actually against that way of thinking, which separates me from my Wu brothers a lot. Plus every song on my album is something unique. You’ll have a song like “Death To America” showcasing the thoughts of many Arabs and Muslims worldwide because I want my listeners to understand them, and then there’s a song called “Forever Michael” in which I defend Michael Jackson from all the bullshit written and spoken about him.

HHS: Going back to the album, “Brothers Ain’t Brothers” seems to go at certain members of the Wu family. For a crew that’s supposed to be tight knit and down for each other, what was it like to have members of your favorite crew dislike you? Do you know why these members don’t like you? Why air it out for people on your album?

Cilvaringz: Well, it was never the Clan, the nine (9) brothers I was always down with. And some of them, like Ghostface, RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Meth , they’re like brothers of mine beyond the music. We get along fine.

However, the Wu-Tang Killa Beez, they are some of the ones who don’t get along with me, either because of my views, my success in touring, my relationship with RZA and the rest of the Clan, whatever it may be. And I air it out on my album because as a Wu-fan I was disappointed to learn of this animosity among some of the Wu people, not just with me. And so I felt it was only right to tell the fans about this for I was one of them. And RZA spoke on it as well on the DVD. And as an artist, we express our feelings and thoughts through our art. So it’s only right that when a song like “Brothers Ain’t Brothers” writes itself in one take, it must be released to the public.

HHS: The US government also takes a lashing on your album in the song “Death to America.” In an age where entertainers are scrutinized for criticizing America and its government (i.e. the Dixie Chicks), are you worried about alienating some fans who may be turned off by your opinion of the US and its policies?

Cilvaringz: Fans that have no ear for an opinion based on independent research should not be supporting my album whatsoever. I don’t care if that costs me one million listeners. I’m not doing this for the money. I’m alright really. And I never say I speak the truth, but you better consider “Death To America” to be the truth because these are the thoughts of many Arabs from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco collected on paper and recorded in spoken word. And therefore the song title is written between parentheses, because it’s a quoted title, not one based on my opinion. But so many people judged me by just looking at the title, not even listening to it. Ever since 2003 when I did that song live in Budapest, Hungary and it leaked to the net, they’ve been talking about that song.

HHS: Add to this the fact that you’re Arab and Muslim, do anticipate a lot of flack over this track by so called patriotic hip-hoppers?

Cilvaringz: Anticipate it, yes. But I don’t really care about their opinion on it. My job is to say it as it is. This is hip-hop, and hip-hop’s most used slogan is “keep it real.” It doesn’t get more real than this album about my side of the world. And it’s not all politics; it’s all kinds of stuff on the album. But this just sticks out because of its content. This song, along with “Brothers Ain’t Brothers,” was literally written in one take. It felt as if the pen was writing itself. That’s how real it felt.

HHS: You’ve carved a pretty good niche for yourself as a producer as well as a rapper. With that in mind, which do you enjoy more, rhyming or crafting beats?

Cilvaringz: Crafting beats. I’m not sure if I’ll do another album rhyming. I’m thinking of doing an all- produced album with my Wu-brothers and might feature here and there.

HHS: I understand that you’ve got your hand in a lot jars, including contributions to projects from Arabic hip-hop artists. What are you doing exactly to help bring elevation and success to Arabic hip hop? What separates it from American hip-hop?

Cilvaringz: I bring my experience and network to these countries that are in their Public Enemy stages. Hip-hop is fresh in the MENA region (Middle East/ North Africa). It’s just coming up and so I bring my management to the projects and artists in which I see much potential.

For instance, I have Salah Edin who rhymes in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. He just finished a whole album in Dutch with Focus from Aftermath, Dr. Dre’s right hand man at the Math for six years now and a very close friend of mine. I also took Salah on tour with me, which was the biggest tour ever done in the history of Hip Hop, 41 countries, 101 cities, five continents. But his main focus is on Arabic hip-hop. So by doing this, his name is now well respected in Morocco and considered professional. It makes everything go much easier, cause they accept us as pro’s who know big people in high places. It’s stupid, but that’s what it is.

And I’m doing that for Middle Eastern hip-hop as well, with artists such as Syrian/Lebanese rap artist Eslam Jawaad who appeared on Danger Mouse / Damon Albarn’s “The Good, The Bad and The Queen” project and is constantly touring with them. And with two Palestinian artists. Palestine and Shadia Mansour, who’s the illest female from the whole MENA region. And one of my latest projects is the Moroccan rap group Fnaire. I brought them hip-hop video director Ivan Herrera and MTV Video award-winning DOP Pedro Castro to shoot a 35MM video for their new single “Yed El Henna,” which would usually be unthinkable in Morocco because of the costs. But since they’re great friends of mine, we’re able to do it And this is how we slowly but surely bring Arabic hip-hop to the front. Because in the Arab world, it’s still widely considered to be noisy music with lots of monotone talking over it and record labels don’t want to touch it.

HHS: You’ve got RZA, Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface on your album. You have either rhymed alongside or produced for various Wu family members. Is there someone in the Wu that you haven’t formally worked with that you would love to collaborate with in the studio?

Cilvaringz: ODB. I got a song with him called “Winter Windz,” but am not allowed to release it due to the whole fiasco with Roc-A-Fella. But I got my hands on some of his unreleased vocals and the track is banging, some real rugged Wu shit. Maybe I’ll leak it. ODB and I spent good time together in my beginning years with Wu, but after he went to jail all communication went down.

HHS: Being a fan that’s now affiliated with the crew, you’ve pretty much got the inside scoop on Wu-Tang. What was the most surprising thing you learned from being a Wu family member?

Cilvaringz: How unorganized Hip Hop companies can be!

HHS: What’s the biggest misconception about the Wu?

Cilvaringz: You’d have to split it up between the Clan and the Killa Beez. Regarding the Clan, can nobody speak on that but the Clan itself. But regarding the Killa Beez, being one of them, I think the misconception was quite clearly spoken about on my album.

HHS: With the current state of hip-hop, it seems as though the vibe of the Wu-Tang has gotten lost in the shuffle. Do you think the Wu’s forthcoming album 8 Diagrams will make an impact in today’s hip-hop scene?

Cilvaringz: Look, this is a very complex question because I’m wondering whether Wu-Tang Clan is actually obliged to make an impact in today’s hip-hop scene. Fuck the current state; let’s look at what they dropped. If you look at it, you’ll see Wu dropped at least three classics! It was “36 Chambers,” “Cuban Linx” and “Liquid Swords.” To me, “Wu-Tang Forever,” “Iron Man,” “Return To The 36 Chambers,” “Supreme Clientele” and “Heavy Mental” can all be added on as classics. Many Wu fans would agree with me.

But let’s take the average hip-hop head who would say Wu dropped at least those three classics. You’d have to ask yourself, when did a group or artist produce three strong classics with at least five very solid albums in the runners up? I can only think of Dr. Dre with “Niggaz4Life,” “Doggystyle” and “The Chronic.” And he’d only have “Chronic 2001″ in the possible classic / runners up.

So to me, Wu-Tang has already set its seal on today’s hip-hop scene. Cause Lil’ Wayne can’t fuck with their status, nor can any of these Dirty South dudes or small time “one hit wonder” rappers. I’ve seen the coming and going of many groups. Roc-A-Fella, Murder Inc., No Limit, G-Unit and so on. But I went around the world and I’m telling you, that W logo is more famous than any of the aforementioned
movements except for maybe G-Unit which is I would say equally known. But I’m telling you that five years down the line you’d still see W logos on walls and places, but the G-Unit logo would be long
forgotten. Wu has achieved that legendary status, like Pac, Biggie, Bob Marley, Cypress Hill. They’re like a cult. You can’t take that away from them.

HHS: What do you hope fans take away from “I”?

Cilvaringz: The urge to research facts, truths, lies and history as it is given to them now from a variety of media sources. I want to stimulate them to do their own research and draw opinions on their personal findings, not on what the media tells them, because it should be considered tampered with at times. And then hopefully become more open-minded people. Whether it’s because I chose to do a song about my wife, or about Michael Jackson, or about why my people scream “Death To America.”

Since making his rap debut on Diplomatic Immunity II, 40 Cal has provided a strong fix for battle rap addicts who crave punchlines, metaphors and similes to keep you in a constant mode of rewind. And with his latest mixtape, Broken Safety 2, the Harlem rhyme spitter is setting the stage for his first official album while continuing to his trademark swagger. The project feaures appearances from the entire Dipset family as well as R&B crooner Akon.

40 Cal recently sat down with HipHopSite.com to discuss his new mixtape, Dipset Unity, the art of freestyling and who he would love to go at in a rhyme contest.

HipHopSite.com: A lot of people have seen the video of you battling yourself. So what?s the difference between 40 Cal and Calvin Alan Byrd?

40 Cal: Honestly, it was 40 vs. Cal. I was thinking about that earlier. I was watching 106 [and Park on BET]. I seen TI vs. T.I.P. I’m just showing versatility. I’m showing creativity. That’s what I’m big on. My new album Broken Safety, I got a song on called “40 Cal” which is the intro. And basically I just say the word “Cal” or words like the prefix from the words “Cal” like 40 times. Or other shit like that…I’m a creative n***a. I feel the game is lacking that.

HHS: If you look at who’s out now as opposed to who hasn’t come out, there’s a big difference. Just watching the videos and listening to the music, you definitely have a lot of lyrical ability. What frame of mind do you get into to play with words on that level?

40 Cal: Right now, we at a level where I don’t write it anymore. So like now, it might take longer on a song, but I really believe I can write the whole verse in my head and try to memorize it and go straight to the booth. I just do it in my head. It’s almost like a game. You do one line, then you make the next line and stuff in the beginning. Right now I’m tellin’ too much.[laughs]

HHS: Is it pretty much a thing of just vibing off the beat or do you come in with the concept already in your head and ready to build on that, upon listening to the beat?

40 Cal: That’s the beauty of it because when you’re making the rhyme right there in your head, you are actually vibing off the beat as opposed to writing it down where you feel your thoughts are premeditated. Everything runs freely, you know what I’m sayin. So it’s real.

HHS: When was it when you decided to say “I’m not gonna write anymore. I’m gonna do it from the head.”

40 Cal: About a few years ago. I say 2002, 2003. First of all, I get so many beats that I didn’t have enough rhymes written down to fill the beats. So I said I will try something new. I went in the studio and I was like “Fuck it I’m just going to go off [the top of] my head and see how it go. And I like how it came out. It actually came out better than the stuff I had written down. I don’t know. It’s still better. It’s a better look because I ain’t write shit down.

HHS: We’ve all heard about the alleged beef inside the Diplomats camp between Jim Jones and Cam’ron. How unified is the crew in light of this, if there is such a beef?

40 Cal: You can’t believe everything you hear. The whole thing is based mainly on rumors and shit. What I will say is that we’re more than a label. We’re like a family. Sometimes family business do get leaked in the street. You gotta deal with it from there. Ain’t no changes been made. Everything is still the same.

HHS: So there wasn’t any feeling of walking on eggshells around certain cats or just being mindful of the atmosphere? It was just business as usual?

40 Cal: I mean, At one point the thought do cross your mind. I mean honestly…you gotta call and hear it from the person’s mouth to know what it is and feel more at ease. The whole game is designed to be based on rumors and all this. The rumors is the juicy shit that keep the Internet and all the magazines powerful. And a lot of it is true, but there’s so much, you gotta make your own assumption.

We do have real issues like anybody, you know what I’m sayin. How we deal with it and how we manage it shows you what type of people we are.

HHS: You have a couple of cats in Dipset whose projects are coming out sooner than you. I know you guys are family, but do you ever get frustrated at not being able to come out as quickly as some of the other Diplomats members?

40 Cal: Well truthfully, I was because me being a new artist, everybody wants to shine. Everybody wants to be the man at one time. I had to realize that it is what it is. I have the brand, but it’s whatever you do with it. Once you open the doors, it’s how you work it.

I just started doing my own thing. Instead of wishing for my own turn, I started doing my own thing. I just started making moves, like with these mixtape deals and all the side projects I got. I’m doing the Fight Klub and stuff like that. So that’s what’s making me more different and that’s what bangs a lot of doors open I can run through, you know what I mean.

I’m glad you asked that question. What makes Dipset so different from other people in a good aspect is we’re all family as a brand and we all got different labels. We all signed to different labels. And the good part about that is that if we was all on the same label, then it would be a problem. Like who’s dropping next. You gotta wait for his album and his shit came out. We ain’t drop him next.

Being that we on labels, we ain’t got that same problem that most groups have. They have the mixtapes dropping next year or six months later or nothing like that. We drop it when we feel like it. JR [Writer] and Cam at Asylum. They gonna drop whenever they feel like at it. I’m at Babygrande. We gonna do whatever we do. Juelz [Santana] at Def Jam. They not gonna stop whenever they release date. So we throwin them out like that. If we was all on the same label, it wouldn’t be like that. I’d probably be promoting an album that was gonna come out next January.

HHS: You got the new album coming out, Broken Safety 2.

40 Cal: It is actually a mixtape out.

HHS: It’s a mixtape, not an official album?

40 Cal: Yeah. I mean it’s a mixtape, but it’s handled like an album. It’s a mixtape deal. Everybody rates it as an album in the magazines and stuff…That?s just me going hard with whatever I do. But trust me, it sounds like an album and it’s guaranteed to be better than most of a lot of people’s albums that’s out right now.

Yes, it’s a mixtape. My official album will be out later this year.

HHS: What can fans expect from Broken Safety 2?

40 Cal: The first Broken Safety, which is mainly me, I ain’t really have features. I just wanted to show people what I can do. The second one is not without the features and I’m just more in to making songs you can party to. Songs for when you’re in your car. And all around for fans that appreciate the sport of rhyming. I got a lot of fans that just…they hit me on my Myspace or whatever, where they quote my lines and say “That’s brilliant. I like that a lot.” I write songs and stuff for people like that.

HHS: What’s up with the Scheme Team?

40 Cal: The Scheme Team, those are dudes I grew up with from my block before I was with Dipset. They just doing they thing. I figured I could set up a situation while I was doing my situation before we start another movement.

HHS: So are we gonna be hearing more from them this year or are you just getting yourselves prepped for a full scale assault?

40 Cal: You will definitely hear more from them. I always feature them on all my projects. I don’t want to be just one of them dudes, just shouting it out to be shouting it out. You’ll definitely see something. Shout out to my Scheme unit.

HHS: What’s your take on the scrutiny surrounding mixtapes. I know a couple of guys from Dipset said that it wouldn’t effect the crew as a whole, but how do you feel about it since you’ve built your rep and buzz off mixtapes?

40 Cal: Truthfully, I ain’t really disappointed with that whole mixtape thing. I know that we do shows to sell the mixtapes, stuff I put out, the Internet stuff. So I feel like they stepped on my paper a little, but truthfully there’s always a way around the grind. Everybody is gonna find another way.

It really hasn’t stagnated a little bit. They just putting bar codes on the mixtapes now and a little more. It’s like these mixtape deals. Before, we used to do our mixtapes out free all the time. Like all these mixtapes…look at all the mixtapes I don threw out for free and gave to the people. But now, this whole mixtape shit is like ‘Now I gotta get a deal for it.’ Which I’m not sad because now it becomes a classic. It can open up more doors.

Bootlegging ain’t gonna stop. People are still gonna do their thing. Shout out to DJ Drama, you know what I mean. That’s just a messed up situation.

HHS: Does that make your job a lot more complicated now, now that there’s a lot more eyes on the scene than it was?

40 Cal: Nah. Me personally, no it doesn’t. It doesn’t. I’m a rapper. I?mma put out songs regardless. I mean if I was a DJ, I see where it might affect me more. I know DJs that really stopped. They don’t really go out like that anymore….they only do it from like once a week to once a month, once every two months.

HHS: You did your thing with your appearance in Killa Season 2. Are there any more acting opportunities down the road?

40 Cal: Yeah, I’m doing pornos. I’m not in a porno, like jumping with the girls. It’s like… you ever seen one of them Lil’ Jon joints where he be on the cover and they sell em in the little stores for like $9.99 and it deals with one of them porno dudes? It’s called Dipsex. It’s like a Dipset porno. You can say I’m hosting it. [Laughs]. Just cop that. It’s just another little project.

HHS: You’ve garnered a solid reputation as a freestyle/battle emcee. In your opinion, can you be an MC (not a rapper) and not be able to freestyle?

40 Cal: I think you can because not every MC knows how to freestyle. I always compare rap to ball. I make a lot of comparisons.

Let’s just say rapping is just basic, just knowing how to play the game. Going into the NBA, you nice or whatever. Freestylin’ would be like a three-point offense. You can be in the NBA or you could be a rapper or MC and not know and not be the dude that know how to shoot the threes good, but you can still do your thing. Freestyle would be like the dunk offense or whatever.

That’s the comparison I make with it because it’s all a game to me. That’s what I think about the whole thing. You can come off the top off your head. That’s just another plus for you.

HHS: What made you decide to become a rapper?

40 Cal: Truthfully, you know, just growing up in my neighborhood. And the dude that I was looking up to was Big L from around our way at 140th and Lennox, 139th. I could see that he was a cool dude to me. I see him one time rapping to a whole crowd. I was amazed by it. I ain’t really have nobody like that to really look up to, that I really wanted to be. I mean, like an attainable dream. Everybody wanted to play basketball and be a doctor. It seemed like that wasn’t too attainable like rapping was. So I started that.

HHS: You’ve battled a bunch of worthy opponents who’ve given you a good run ( Cardi, Sam Scarfo, Nas, Jay-Z, Tru Life). Out of all the people you’ve battled, who was the toughest?

40 Cal: Cardi. Cardi was the toughest. He was the first person I had to battle. He had…I don’t know. He said some shit to me. When I go back to the tape and I really look, I think he was the toughest. The rhymes he was saying had the crowd also. So I had to go a little harder to win the crowd over.

HHS: If you could pick anyone to go toe to toe with that you haven’t battled, who would it be and why?

40 Cal: That’s a good one man. That?s a real good one. First of all, it’d have to be time. Second of all, anybody that say that they the best at this whole shit.

That’s who I want to go at, anybody that say they the best. There’s some dudes that say they’re the best and they do they moves to prove it. Those are the dudes I’m talkin’ about.

To me, it’s too many to name right now. I mean it’s some dudes that are worthy opponents. I just want somebody that’s a worthy opponent. I’ve had to eliminate people that I gave a shot to. I feel like they ain’t had much to lose.

I want to battle somebody that I can bang em out with. The dude Lil’ Wayne. The dude Kanye [West], I could say. I don?t really want to say, but yeah I could say….but I don’t see him [Kanye] running like that.

HHS: What can we expect from 40 Cal down the road?

40 Cal: Well, I don’t want to let too much of the cat out the bag, but believe more creativity. Believe more stuff like how you seen in the 40 vs. Cal and stuff like that.

Believe stuff like the Fight Klub battles and all that. Believe more creativity is about to emerge. Like I said from the beginning of the interview, the game is lacking that. And I feel like I?m one of them dudes to bring that to the game. Ain’t too many people you see that you can say like “Damn, you see what he just did. Like that’s crazy, You know he nice.”  Shit like my Trigger Happy mixtape. I feel like that was slept on a little bit. I had like classics on that shit. Songs like “Computer Love,” “For tha Love of Money.”

I really think that right now the fan base that likes my kind of music is not ones that really buy albums no more. They either download or just not really on it like that no more. I think that’s really the problem.

If I had a fan base like a Robin Thicke or Ciara, people [like] that, you’d see a whole different other artist. You’d have a different interview, you know what I’m sayin [laughs]. But being that I’m from Harlem USA, being one of them rappers that’s just a punchline makes me seem almost like an underdog. My whole theory is the game we’re going with. It’s gonna come back to that.

HHS: Do you see yourself collaborating with any non-Dipset artists down the road?

40 Cal: I did a joint with Akon. He’s some other type of dude right now. We did that a long time ago. I’m open to all different features and stuff. I’m one of them creative dudes. I’m here to show people the different dimensions to this shit. So everything I jump on, I conquer it all.

Featuring the lead single “Be Easy,” Young Hot Rod’s forthcoming debut album, Fast Lane, includes production from Eminem, Dre, Jake One, Dangerous LLC, M. Rell and Lab Ox. And with features from Mary J. Blige, his G-Unit family and fellow home state artists Willie Norris, Carnegie and Cinque, it seems like Hot Rod is moving forward without forgetting where he came from.

So why would 50 take an interest in someone who prefers to rap about girls, partying and drinking? The answer may surprise you as we chatted with Hot Rod about his new album Fast Lane, 50′s offer to join G-Unit, his production past and future and putting the AZ on his back

HipHopSite.com: You started out as a producer inspired by Swizz Beats and the Neptunes. What motivated you to give it up and start rapping?

Young Hot Rod: I mean how I really started I was making the beats. Really, I was just making the beats. It was fun. When I was younger listening to music, I would hear music different. Like, I would hear it with I guess what they would call a producer’s ear. Like you hear the music and you appreciate what’s going on with the actual beat and the lyrics would kind of come second. Like, you would actually have to listen harder, you know what I’m sayin’, to the lyrics.

So I would always have that certain ear and I was making the beats and I was having people I thought that could rap over em, but they weren’t doing the beats any justice, you know what I’m sayin’. So eventually, what happened was I knew I always had like a vision for what my songs wanted to sound like so I just started rapping over em a certain way..I was getting more compliments on my rapping, more than the actual beats. So I kind of just leaned more towards the rapping.

I’m still gonna get into producing still. After this album and everything is all set. People just had a lot of confidence in me to be able to be successful rapping, you know. More over the producing side of it.

HHS: I understand you were kind of doing the indie thing a little bit. What made you decide to go with a major label like G-Unit and not continue to do the independent thing?

Young Hot Rod: I was in the beginning stages of doing the independent thing and I was working hard on my album and I finally completed it and I was getting my posters made. I had my album cover done and had it pressed up and I sold a few online and in the streets. But at the same time, I was always having my music shopped, you know what I’m sayin’.

So I didn’t just say I wanted to do it independently. I just wanted a deal. I was doing both. And then it actually just happened to be G-Unit that was the label that came at me. And that was the hugest label ever. So I felt like I would be kind of stupid to turn that down… So if it was like another label, maybe like a smaller label or something like that, I probably would’ve been like….”Aaaah, you know. Let’s hold off” But I’ve always had dreams of working with 50 Cent. So I had to take that opportunity.

HHS: I heard that 50 called you personally and asked you to join G-Unit. And at the time you were a mortage broker?

Young Hot Rod: Naw. To clear that up (laughs), like I was working in a mortgage office. I was there probably for like four days. Like the fourth day I was there, I was still in training. A more accurate word for it would probably be like a telemarketer. A mortgage broker is like a big boss of….That’s not the appropriate term for it. I don’t really know where that term came from. I was working for a office and it was like my fourth day and I don’t have no idea of anything about the mortgage business.

I think it’s kind of funny because a lot of people that look at me and they’re like “Aw man, you were like in a successful office job” and this and that. I was like “naw, naw naw naw.” It wasn’t even like that. I just got into it because my brother’s into it. He flips real estate and he does loan stuff. So he was encouraging me to get into it because he was making so much money.

So I was like “OK. Cool. I’m still young. I might as well do that.” It was better than being on the street hustling or doing side jobs. So I was getting into it just to kind of learn the business. But on the fourth day being there, I get the call from 50 Cent.

HHS: What was your reaction to having 50 call and invite you to join his crew?

Young Hot Rod: Man, you know it was crazy man. It was probably the same reaction man that I would have if I was looking at the TV and I had a lottery ticket and I had all seven numbers. I was sitting there and what had actually happened was one of the A&R’s contacted me, like “What’s up man? We heard your music and it’s hot. Actually, I?m going to give you a call back you on the three way.”

I’m like “Alright. Cool.” So I hang up. He calls me back.. He’s like “Rod you there?” I’m like “Yeah.” And he was like “I got 50 on the line.”

Man, my stomach like dropped, you know what I’m sayin’. It was crazy. Just imagine. I had no idea. Basically, I sent in my demo last December. ’05. So two months go by and this is the first week of February. Two months go by and I pretty much forgot about it, you know what I’m sayin’? I sent it out and the dude I sent it out to, he contacted me and said it was hot. But he was like “I’mma see what I can do.” Whatever, you know what I’m sayin. The communication just kind of died so I’m not even expecting it.

I’m just sittin’ at work chillin’. So 50 was like “What’s goin on Rod?” And I’m like “Are you serious?!,” I’m like “Heeey. What’s up man?”

He starts to ask questions. He’s telling me how he heard the CD. The demo was in one of his beat packages. He was on a flight from LA to New York listening to beats and my CD was in the middle of the beats. So he pops my CD in thinking it’s a beat CD. It’s actually my music and his first thought was he thought it was something he had did a long time ago that he didn’t use because our styles are similar. But he heard it. But then he heard the differences in it and he’s looking and the CD says, you know, “Young Rod demo.” He’s like “What?” So he just listened to it the whole way and that’s when he gave me a call. He said “I was listening to your demo the whole way. I think you’re hot.” He’s like “Are you working?”

I was like “Yeah. You know, I just started the little job, you know what I’m sayin. I’m still in training right now just trying to make ends meet.” And then he was like “Quit.” I was like “What?!” (laughs) he said quit. I was like “Come on man.” It was like a dream man. I thought I was going to wake up.

So he was like “Quit. I wanna work with you. I wanna fly you out” and he said “I want to see what you about, you know. And let’s try to make it happen. Can you fly out tomorrow?” I’m like “Hell yeah, you know what I’m sayin.” He was like “Don’t bring any bags. I’ll take you shopping.” Yeah man, he was like “Don’t bring nothin”. He was like “Just come out here. You might want to bring a toothbrush or something. (Laughs) Come out here and I’ll take care of you.”

And I come out there and the rest is history. I stayed at his house, stayed at the mansion and we just got straight to recording and everything just worked out. Yeah. It’s crazy.

HHS: You mention that 50′s style and your style is similar. How would you classify your rap style?

Young Hot Rod: My style is similar to 50′s style vocally. You know how you got those rappers that they have notebooks full of raps that they just write. Like say, they’re just sitting in class and they’re just writing. They write raps to no beat and then they just plan to put it over some beat that they hear in the future. I never did that. I always had to hear the beat because I felt that the rap comes out to actually match the beat. It’s more like a puzzle. Like a certain flow goes to a certain beat. You can’t force a certain type a flow over a beat. So we both work the same. That’s why when we got in the studio, we knocked the album out in like three weeks to a month, three to four weeks.

What you hear on “Be Easy,” that’s just one style, you know what I’m sayin. That’s how I felt I should rap on that beat. It’s more laid back. That’s how I felt like I should rap on that beat. Then you have another beat that comes on, you’re gonna hear me spitting another way. So there’s so many different flows that I have. I guess that’s really how I would have to describe my style. It’s real versatile and it depends on the beat.

Now what makes me different from 50 Cent is the actual content. I didn’t grow up in Southside Jamaica Queens, you know what I’m sayin’. I grew up cool. I had a mom, pops left. Yeah, whatever, but mom was holding me down. We wasn’t in the hood. I wasn’t poppin’ off guns. I didn’t have to live that lifestyle. I was just kind of like the cool kid at school. Had the girls, you know. Just wanted to have fun. It was kind of like the popular guy at school so that’s what I reflect in my music, you know what I’m sayin. It’s just kind of like real fun. I’m trying to bring that back to the game, bring that back to hip-hop. A lot of people feel like you have to be tough to be a rapper, you know what I’m sayin’. They associate tough with being cool. Like “Oh naw. I ain’t never been beat up” or “this cat don’t want to see me because you know I’ll beat him up in a fight.” Everybody has this chip on their shoulder or that they got to be muggin. I’m just trying to bring it like “Hey man. I’m just a cool cat, man. I’m just out here chillin’ you know, looking for some girls. Trying to party. I don’t want no problems. I just come to hang out.” So I think people can relate to that rather than the whole tough thing.

HHS: Would you say that the fun is missing from some of today’s hip-hop? And if so, when did it quit being “fun”?

Young Hot Rod: Yeah. And it’s funny because I think when 50 Cent came into the game that’s when all the fun left (laughs) you know what I’m sayin. Because everybody, they’re trying to follow suit, like that’s when everybody started to get tough and aggressive and grimy on tracks you know. They’re talking about how many people they shot and this and that because they saw the success of G-Unit…Everyone looks at 50 Cent. You know he comes out and shows that very man that he’s America’s bad guy.

Now you got all these rappers out there. Now everybody wants to shoot somebody’s head off, you know what I’m sayin. You got little 14-,15-year-old boys running around here rapping. Freestyle talking about “I’ll put the 45 to your dome.” I’m looking at these little niggas, like “Come on man.” you know what I’m sayin’. And you know why they’re doing it. Because they’ve been influenced by 50. See, me myself, I was influenced by 50 Cent’s style. Not his lifestyle, but his actual, the way he creates his music. But I put myself, my actual experiences in the content. So it’s still me. You get me. You’re not getting 50 Cent. You’re not getting Jadakiss or some other rapper that people are trying to emulate in their raps.

HHS: With G-Unit, you definitely stick out with your style and your vibe. Were you worried that you wouldn’t quite gel with the rest of the crew or fans of the click?

Young Hot Rod: Yeah. I mean I was worried at first man when I first got into it because I never even considered, I didn’t even think it was possible that I would be looked at to be signed to G-Unit. I didn’t look at it like that because you look at the G, you know G, of course, it means guerilla unit. But you look at the G and a lot of people think it stands for gangsta. And I felt like they would only sign gangsta rappers, you know what I’m sayin’. Like cats that have lived a hard life and have aggressive content so I never even looked at that. So when they were actually interested in my music and wanted to fly me out, I was worried because I thought that they were going to try and change my style.

But what calmed me down was he brought that up when we were talking. He was like “Man, what attracted me to you was the fact that you’re being yourself. You’re not trying to be somebody who you’re not. Cause generally people don’t believe every rapper out there that’s sayin’ they’re moving a thousand bricks and they’re killing people in their spare time. People don’t believe that. People are more likely to believe an artist like me who’s down to earth and sayin’ I’m just a regular cat chilling, just want to have a good time. That’s the majority of the world.

So yeah, I had some worries until we had that talk. He was like “I want you to be you. Do your style, man.. You don’t have to be jumping into no beefs and all this. That’s not what you’re here for. You’re here to make good music, do your thing and sell some records.” So it was cool, man. I definitely gelled with the group and everything is wonderful.

HHS: With the track record that G-Unit has as a group and as individual artists, did you feel pressure to come correct with your album?

Young Hot Rod: Oh yeah. Of course man. Especially finding out that I was gonna come out before a lot of the other artists… Like when I got there, we recorded the tracks so fast they wanted to put me out in the summertime before everybody. Before Banks and Buck, everybody else. We reevaluated the situation and realized that it’s going to take more branding and more marketing for them to put me out. But just that right there just created pressure. Like “Ok I’m coming out before everybody.” You know, I have to perform. I have to put up the numbers, you know what I’m sayin’. And so if I don’t, people are looking at that like “what was that for? Where’d he come from? Why did they put him out and he flop?”

But still there is a little pressure. I’m coming out before some of the artists on the label that’s been there for a while. So it’s still a little bit of pressure, but I’m definitely handling it and there’s no bad blood. And everybody supports everybody and it’s just a real good family. That if the label is being run so smooth it’s because everybody cooperates. And I can definitely see why G-Unit is so successful because we?re hard workers and everything is just so organized and the work ethic is crazy.

HHS: That segues into the next question. What would you say to those people who may criticize you for being the next person up to come out rather than other members in the G-Unit stable like M.O.P., who’ve been there for a minute?

Young Hot Rod: What people need to realize is you don’t come out in the order that you sign. You come out when it’s actually your time to come out. When everything is right. When you have hit songs. When you’re able to be marketed at a certain time. Let’s say physical appearance. Let’s say if MC such and such gets signed three years ago but he weighs like 10,000 pounds. The stipulation for him to come out is “we can’t market you like this. We want to market you slimmed down. So you got to lose some weight”, you know what I’m saying and you got to stop doing this.

So then MC B just gets signed and comes in and he’s already ready. The music coming out, coming out good and he’s already ready to come out so as a label, you would put that person out, you see what I’m saying. Not the person that you signed two years ago if he’s not ready. So it’s just all about timing you know… I just think it’s my time to come, you know.

HHS: Did you produce any tracks on your album?

Young Hot Rod: No. I didn’t do any tracks. I focused on being an artist. I didn’t want to try to be that whole Kanye, rapping/producing thing yet. But I’m definitely gonna, on my next project I’mma definitely get in to that.

HHS: You said you got a few artists on your album from Arizona. How’s the rap scene down there?

Young Hot Rod: The scene is real underground. You know how in the South or in St. Louis or look at New York or LA their music has like a certain sound. You know that?s a dirty south song or this cats probably from New York. But see out here in Arizona, it’s like a melting pot. There’s people from all those different regions that make up the population out here in AZ, you know what I’m sayin’. So, it is no sound, you know. So kind of like my job is to help create and identify that AZ sound so we can actually be on the map and be looked at like as “OK that’s like an AZ sound right there.” There is a scene out here. I know when you hear the word AZ, Arizona, what comes to your head is desert and cactus and tumbleweeds going through the desert. But those are certain parts of Arizona that really aren’t relevant to the whole situation.

Of course, we got hoods. We got rich areas. We got cities. We got downtowns. Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the world. It’s a lot of people. But it really doesn’t help when you see that DMX reality show, that show where he’s out in the desert. That even makes it more worse. So it?s going to be my job to actually show the true scene of Arizona.

HHS: If the cards were different and G-Unit wasn’t in the picture, what label or crew would you have seen yourself with?

Young Hot Rod: DTP. Yep. I saw myself for like, their style of music. I would be able to fit in with them. If I wasn’t with G-Unit, I could definitely see myself working with Ludacris and DTP.

HHS: Final Words?

Young Hot Rod: The album Fast Lane will come out at the top of the year, January 2007. Official website is younghotrod.com. And myspace site is myspace.com/rodt. And I am actually the one who checks it. So it’s not no 16-year-old intern in there writing messages, acting like me. Yeah man. Just shouts out to my label 150 Ent. 150 Entertainment. Shout out to Mana Squad, AZ and Sacramento, Cali. Shout to my sis, my sister. Shouts to J-Treez and Mr. Meez.

With production on forthcoming albums from Hall of Justus, Darien Brockington, Sean Price, and his group the Away Team, Khyrsis chatted with HipHopSite about the new additions to his producing arsenal, the easiest and most challenging League members to construct beats for, the rock group he’d love to work with and why fans should forget everything they’ve heard from him.

HipHopSite: How did you get down with the Justus League?

Khrysis: I met Chaundon at (North Carolina) Central (University) when I was like 16. I had an internship or something like that at Central’s radio station while I was in high school. And he basically just introduced me to the crew and I kept in touch with everybody throughout the years. We all met doing music pretty much. After a while after time went on we became friends and whatnot…I started engineering sessions for them and then the next thing I know they voted me in. The first cut of the Away Team album was done before I was even voted in.

HHS: You and 9th Wonder are the most well known producers in the Justus League. Are there any other producers in the crew? If so, how many total?

Khrysis: There was a point in time where there was four of us. It was me, 9th, Eccentric and Yorel. As far as Eccentric and Yorel, by the time I came in, I hadn’t seen them around as much as everybody else had. They started doing their own thing. I think Yorel went to a school or something and so did Eccentric. Eccentric ended up going to law school, doing entertainment law and whatnot. So as far as they go, we haven?t really heard much from them.

I think just recently I think you’ll hear a producer on the HOJ album and on Darien?s album. His name is E. Jones. So that’s pretty much that’s all the in-house that’s going on right now. It’s me, 9th and E. Jones.

HHS: In a recent interview you said that every song is a stepping stone. Is it a challenge to continuously come up with beats that provide that stepping stone to what it is your trying to obtain?

Khrysis: Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not, you know. Sometimes it can be a real roll of the dice. Like a lot of times, I just come right up like ‘Alright. Boom boom bang,’ you know what I’m sayin’. ‘Boom, we got a song.’ Then other times, it’s like “No that’s not it. No, that’s not what we’re looking for. No, that’s not where we’re trying to go with it, whatever have you.’ It’s a gradual step for everything that I’m trying to achieve as a producer and also try to achieve as a member of Hall of Justus and the Away Team, whatever what have you. That’s why I pretty much call every song a stepping stone because it’s like another achievement. It’s another look that I’m trying to build up.

HHS: That stepping stone, is it more like a trial and error type thing?

Khrysis: Yeah. I got beats I consider fuck ups. Like an accident, for real. Like ‘Oh damn. I didn’t mean for that shit to happen.’ And then niggas will be like “Oh, that shit is dope. Fuck it. Let’s run it anyway.’ Or even I will be like – Well, I didn’t mean for that to happen, but it’s dope so I’mma keep it.’

HHS: Are there any beats we would know of that was initially just an accident but just came out a hit?

Khrysis: There are some out there, but none I can name off the top of my head. Ones that would be easy for me for me to remember would be beats that I don’t even like that just end up being dope…I’d have to say, if people want to know, I’ll give an example, “Doin Me” by Little Brother. I didn’t really like that beat. I almost threw it out. That and “Door to My Life” by Joe Scudda. I almost threw that beat out, but Joe stopped me.

I had one person tell me that never throw beats out, even if you don’t like ‘em and then play them anyway for somebody. The worse thing anybody can ever say to you is ‘No,’ you know. Just go somewhere and come back. Make it right. Work with people, you know what I’m sayin.

HHS:  Who’s the most challenging Justus League member to make beats for?

Khrysis: Honestly, (Sean) Boog. That’s why I like working with him so much because it’s like a real challenge as far as coming up with song ideas and concepts. Him and Chaundon, too. Me and Sean used to argue a lot. Chaundon especially because he has a particular taste that he likes. Or they get a beat and we might sit on it or whatever what have you.

With Boog, Boog is a challenge because it’s a whole new song we trying to come up with concepts period. We try to come with concepts that either: (A) We haven’t covered yet or (B) Nobody’s covered yet. And that’s a challenge within itself and it’s fun. I have a blast doing that.

HHS: Who is the easiest Justus League member to make beats for?

Khrysis: Pooh. Pooh is the easiest. He comes in. He has his shit already written. Basically, he just wants to develop something bouncy that he can rock to. He’s real crazy with his flow and his progress now…I think he’s real slept on for that too, as well. Either that or he might get caught up in the shadow. Which I’m feelin’ that because I get caught up in the shadow of 9th… that means me and him have that much in common. With that said, I also vote him as one of the most slept on League members as well.

HHS: You use Fruity Loops and Cool Edit to construct a lot of your beats. Those are pretty reliable systems. Why stick with them and not use something better?

Khrysis: Actually, I’m glad you asked me that question. I have added the MPC 1000 and M-Audio Axiom 49 to the equation right now. So basically, yeah I sat up for 12 hours and learned how to use the MPC 1000 one night. E. Jones let me hold his mini keyboard because he uses Reason. So he let me hold his audio keyboard and as you know it runs through USB, so I midied the MPC to the keyboard and midied the keyboard to Fruity Loops. So I’m using the MPC, the M- Audio the fuckin’ Cool Edit and Fruity Loops now.

The reason why I stuck with Fruity Loops through the years… I mean pretty much 1. The main reason is because it’s all I know. It’s all I’ve known since I’ve started making beats. 2. The possibilities with Fruity Loops is endless. You get infinite sample time. I love all the effects and presets and all that shit that comes with Fruity Loops. It’s got some great sounds in it too. I’ve been experimenting nowadays with using keys now. I got a keyboard. I might as well fuck around and play keys a little bit.

You’re going to hear some sample-free beats come out of there in a short amount time. Matter of fact one of them, I did this song strictly off Fruity Loops. This was before the M Audio and the MP, but I have a song on The Shield where I didn’t use any samples at all. It’s me and Joe Scudda and Pooh on this episode that Joe Scudda was on. There is a song on there playing in one of the scenes called Behind the Shield. That’s my no sample debut. It was on the show already. The episode already aired. When the DVD drops check for it.

HHS: Is it frustrating that 9th Wonder is the League producer everybody knows and not you?

Khrysis: Nah. Not at this point because since over the years, I’ve had a lot of room to grow and just kind of do my own thing and experiment with different sounds. Not to mention, as I’ve said in previous interviews, it’s like he’s kickin’ in the front door and I’m sneaking in the back window. It ain’t a role that I chose, but it’s the role I play. I just went ahead played it like “I’mma just play the back until it’s time.”

Now, I don’t know what position I’m in right now, because it’s like I got eight joints on the HOJ album right now. 9th got two. I got eight joints on Sean Price’s album, 9th got four. So it’s kind of been shaping into what it’s going to be. Things are meant to happen when they happen. So rather than me trying to force it upon the masses I might as well do what I do until it’s time for me to break out.

HHS:  Who inspired you to make beats?

Khrysis: Just the regular producers, the same ole. Premo, Pete, Dilla, Nottz. Aw man, the list goes on. RZA. RZA had a huge influence, man. When I was in middle school I was a Wu-Tang head. You couldn’t tell me shit. If you dig a little bit deeper, you’ll find Beatminerz and Diamond D. My influences are pretty much the usual suspects. And of course the newer folks. I’m digging the Neptunes, Scott Storch, Timbaland, you know.

HHS: There have been cases of producers making beats that don’t match up to the intensity of the artist’s lyrical stylings. As a producer, how important is it to be on point with the artists as far as matching beats up to their flow?

Khrysis: I’ll go as far as fuck around… I’ll change a beat quick. If I don’t like where something is going, I’ll change beats or if I have to sit on it and ride on it for a while and be like “Naw, this ain’t it.” Yeah, I think it’s very important that the beat and lyrics have to make a marriage. If it don’t work, it don’t work. If it works, great.

And it doesn’t even have to be the dopest beat in the world. Like I said, there have been beats that I’ve hated and then niggas were called to them and it turns into a hit. That goes back to “Doin Me.” I didn’t like that beat. I really didn’t. I thought it was soft and I thought it was pussy. And I called it everything but a child of God. (laughs) Yeah, the marriage with the beat and raps is very important.

HHS: If you had the opportunity to pick any artist (past and present), no matter what musical genre is there a dream list of artists that you’d like to work with?

Khrysis: Busta, Ghostface, Lil Wayne. Um boy that’s a long ass list. Anybody from G-Unit. Dr. Dre, of course. I’d work with a couple of rock groups, too. I’d do something with My Chemical Romance man. I’d fuck with them pretty hard. Anybody. There’s a lot of people I’d love to work with. Busta being number one.

HHS: Much has been mentioned about hip-hop being dead. Has hip-hop run out of original beats, become too dependable on samples?

Khrysis: No. Hell no. No way man because there is so many different ways that you could flip a sample. It’s like two different producers could hear the same record and get something completely different out of it….It’s so many things that can be done in so many different ways that I don’t think there’s anyway possible that it can run out.

Then you got producers that sample and play keys at the same time and will do both on the same track. I don’t think there’s really a possible way for samples to run out for us to rely on samples too much or for samples to even run out for that matter. The possibilities are endless.

HHS: What’s the status of the Away Team? Is another album on the way?

Khrysis: We started on the second project already. We’re probably like four songs deep. We just started out. The name of the album is Stars and Stripes. We’re shooting for it to drop on ABB, Hall of Justus. So far we have one guest appearance right now and that’s from Evidence of Dilated Peoples.

HHS: When can people see the new album in stores?

Khrysis: Probably be late summer of next year. We’re also be reaching out for outside production. We got a joint from Evidence right now. We got a joint from Jake One right now and then there’s a couple of other people that we’ll add too. I’ll still be doing the bulk of the album.

HHS: Any reason why you’re branching out to outside producers?

Khrysis: Basically, just to see what happens. It’s more like ‘Let’s try it and see what happens’ kind of thing. If it doesn’t work out, then you probably won’t hear it (laughs). For the most part, this was kind of a thing that it was a decision we made together. You know like ‘Aright, let’s go for it.’

HHS: In recent years, producers have become as recognizable as the artists they craft beats for. Does that add pressure to you to create something worthwhile in light of people knowing you by name and your production style?

Khrysis: Naw because I started making beats because it’s something that I love to do. Whether everybody recognize me or not or I’m trying to be superstar status, it doesn’t really matter. Just as long as I’m able to make a living at what I’m doing I’m pretty much satisfied. As long as I’m able to pay my bills (and) I got some place to live, I don’t feel a whole lot of pressure, you know what I’m sayin’. Actually, that’s where most of the pressure comes from. When money gets real tight, that’s when I’m like “OK, it’s time to turn the heat on.” That’s it pretty much.

HHS: What can we expect from Khyrsis in the future?

Khrysis: Basically, when the HOJ album drops, I’m gonna need everybody to forget everything that they’ve heard from me before. Like I said, I’ve been in the cut. I’ve had a chance at a lot of times to explore and experiment with all kinds of different sounds.

A lot of people are going to hear stuff that they wouldn’t expect to hear from me. That and the Darien album. I got two songs on Darien’s album as well. Darien’s album is called Somebody to Love and the Hall of Justus album, Soldiers of Fortune will both be dropping on Oct. 3, 2006. We’re calling it HOJ Tuesday, for those that don’t know. Also, I have Jesus Price from Sean Price which will be dropping on Duck Down on Oct. 31.

HHS: Can you give us a hint of the new sound?

Khrysis: Well first of all, like I said I’ve been experimenting with a whole lot of different sounds ranging from samples to drums to me playing over top of samples. Shit like that, 808′s. I been fucking with those a lot recently…I might piss a whole lot of people off, but fuck ‘em

HHS: Final words?

Khrysis: HOJ Tuesday, Oct.3, 2006. Hall of Justus Soldiers of Fortune. Darien Brockington Somebody to Love. HOJ Tuesday. Big shout to everybody out there reading or listening or whatever the fuck they doing.

HipHopSite: For a group of guys, what was the motivation of naming the group after a woman?

Donwill: Pretty much for me, I would say it was just doing something different. I mean, like in terms of just trying not to limit ourselves by a name. I mean because the name is kind of limiting. It didn’t sound like a rap group. And plus, it was just kind of like, for real, just some inside joke shit like between…it was like a side project, so we kind of wanted to give it a name that wouldn’t detract from the Von Pea/IlWil franchise.

HHS: Is Tanya a real person or a fictional representation of everybody’s personalities?

Donwill: I met a Tanya Morgan through Myspace actually. She hit me up and was like “Yo, people keep asking me when did I do an album and people keep asking me do I have an album out. And I just want to say that you guys have made my life a living hell.” (Laughter)

But then she turned around and listened to the shit and she was just like “On second thought after hearing it, I’m like this shit is crazy. I guess it’s just kind of like another funny story to add to my life because it’s like some really really dumb, critically-acclaimed hip-hop named after me.’ It was kinda quirky, but outside of her the only other Tanya Morgan I heard about was some B-movie actress who died or something.

HHS: In a recent interview, Ilyas mentioned that he wasn’t worried about Moonlighting going platinum so much as people respecting and appreciating the music.

Ilyas: That was probably all of us. So we pretty much all agree on that same feeling about the album. We just want it to be received well, pretty much. I think when the time is right, it will potentially be appreciated on a large mainstream level. As artists, we just want to have fun with it because as soon as we start worrying about how much our album sells, that’s when Tanya Morgan (quits) being Tanya Morgan anymore.

Donwill: I just had a conversation with Von Pea the other day and he was just saying. We were talking about the upcoming projects we  working on and what not, and he was saying like— I feel like this sums up everything— he?s like ‘We?re making music that I want people to grow to.’ I want people to be like ‘Yo, I remember back in the day…’ Like shit that you like sticks with you, when you reference Midnight Marauders or how you reference early Gang Starr. It’s almost like we want it to be like a reference point as opposed to some momentary satisfaction like some shit you not going to play next year.

HHS: Is the artistry what’s missing in today’s hip-hop?

Von Pea: As far as that goes, as far as what’s missing, I don’t really want to say anything is missing because then I would be another underground rapper complaining about stuff. I don’t want to say anything is missing, but I just want to say that I just think that everybody just has to be themselves and a lot of people are not being themselves. And when you’re yourself, if you’re a true artist, you already have your artistry within you as opposed to trying to compromise who you are and trying to hold back and dumb down and blah blah. You know, you can just be yourself. But a lot of people say “Oh the people won’t be ready for that if you do that” and that could have took you to that next level.

Like somebody like Common, for example. I love Common. He’s my favorite artist, but I can’t help but think sometimes he’s holding back. If you feel where he was with Electric Circus, I think it’s kind of like he came back, you know. So I think a lot of people is just holding back.

Donwill: For me, I would say the one thing missing in hip-hop is point of reference. I don’t want to sound like a purists, but it’s a purist’s stance. Like the whole aesthetic is kind of gone. It’s almost like all day long, the regulations that affect society, it kind of affects the art form. It’s not really so much rebel music as it was. It’s not really a platform to kind of buck the system anymore as it is a platform to buffer the system. Whereas people now are really embracing hip-hop. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I’m just saying we need a whole new point of reference so that we can develop the ethics of the culture again and reaestheticize

HHS: Much has been said about hip-hop being dead. Do you believe that the music is on its way to becoming deceased or is it already there?

Brickbeats: I don’t think it’s going to be dead. It’s hard to say. I mean I know they’re trying to make a change with a lot of things now in the industry, but it’s just hard for me right now. It’s hard to see what’s going to happen.

Donwill: I say it’s alive. I think that some people have more of a stake in its well being and livelihood but I would say even the people who are helping to kill it, so to speak, have a little bit of a stake in it. I feel like it’s not dead. I feel like it’s just kind of tired of itself.

Von Pea: As far as that go, it’s not what it was. But that ain’t a negative thing. It’s something different now. What it was is dead, but it’s not dead. It’s almost like if you went to high school with somebody. They was one way in high school and then you see them 10 years later and they’re completely different. They’re still alive. They’re just not what you remember them to be. So I can’t say it’s dead. What was it when we were younger? Us having fun and listening to music. So how is that dead, you know. It’s just not what we know it to be, but it’s still here. It’s just different. And to be honest…We try to preserve it, no matter what it was. So I can’t say we trying to bring it back. We just trying to preserve what it was while it’s still here as what it is right now.

If that person you knew in high school was nerdy in high school, but now they in rock band and wild now. You still have the photo book of when you was nerdy and you look at it everyday. You might embrace how who they are now, but you prefer how they were. But they?re still alive. And I think its still alive. It’s just different

HHS: Throughout the album are skits where this album is given away to people who think it?s going to be one thing but it’s really another. Are you worried that some rap fans won?t get what Tanya Morgan is all about?

Donwill: I would say it’s happening on a smaller scale. I think that we kind of created a monster. It?s almost like the cassette tape just happens every time somebody hears the name of our group, sees the album cover and plays the tape.

We kind of just made that Groundhog Day scenario for ourselves. I mean it’s just odd. I wouldn’t say that it’s happening like where people are just like extremely turned off by the fact that we’re named Tanya Morgan and there’s a woman on our album cover. But I wouldn’t say that it turns people off. But I think that it is, in a sense, a situation where artists of our caliber and artists in general are preaching to the choir when they’re trying to reach a different platform. Because I’m pretty sure that people would enjoy our music that aren’t exposed to it, but they aren’t exposed.

Just like Murs. How do you get away from your bread and butter crowd and try to expose yourself to a larger audience without initially subjecting your crowd to feeling a little bit of slight abandonment? Like how does Murs get away from a room crowded with 60,000 white boys and try to get to those black people that he so desperately wants to perform for? I feel like that’s the plight of any artist that does not have the backing of a major label machine is that they?re subject to preaching to a choir as opposed to preaching to the congregation.

HHS: You put this album together through the use of the Internet. With the next full length album that you’re going to do, are you guys going to utilize the same strategy as far as utilizing the Internet correspondence or are you guys going to hit the studio and do it?

Donwill: It’s more or less by any means necessary, really. But I will say this in regards to that. We want to achieve the best audio quality we can with this next recording. I mean, because the first one…I won’t say it was haphazard or we just kind of threw it together and didn?t really give a fuck as to how it sounded, but we literally were just having fun. We were literally having fun, just trying to impress each other with what we could do. Like listen to this beat or listen to this verse. That’s what I mean.

It’s time to up the ante on ourselves in terms of not creativity, but quality. I?m not saying that Moonlighting doesn’t have a quality sound, but we want to achieve a more uniform-like sound without losing that characteristic. I don’t want it to sound like Puffy came in and sprinkled the little keys all over the shit. (laughter) But I want it to sound like when somebody throw the shit on in the club, the bass hits hard, the highs are high, the meds are med. I want the shit to work like correct soundwise. That’s pretty much the only thing I’m really pushing for with Brooklinnati or any other project that follows is sound.

HHS: Going back to the skits, all the people that passed the tape around say that it’s not their type of hip-hop. So what is your (or rather Tanya Morgan’s) type of hip-hop?

Ilyas: Me personally, I listen to everything. I was listening to the old Mobb Deep. The new T.I. Some Tribe Called Quest. But as far as our music is concerned, if I were to categorize it, I would just say it’s like hip-hop being fun again. Like we’re not aiming to have a certain sound. It’s just that what you hear is our signature, like what happens in the studio.

Brickbeats: I feel pretty much the same way. I mean I think that’s why we come together so well because we all have the same type of music that we like and we like to make the same type of music. That’s why the album came out like it did… Last thing I listened to today was some stuff I made actually. (everyone laughs)

HHS: What’s next for Tanya Morgan?

Donwill: Tour. Tour. Yessir. We supposed to be going out with Kev Brown, El Da Sensei and Dave Ghetto. We still waiting to see what’s going on with that. And then we got a tour for the Fall with Tableek and Pseudo Slang. That starts Sept. 12. Just hitting the road. Just continuing to build our name and our family’s name, the Lessondary. We just found out that Brickbeats is on Cartoon Network. I had to throw his name out there.

HHS: Any final words for the people?

Donwill: I would say that upon listening, don’t analyze. Just enjoy it. It’s a thing about art where you listen, you feel you have to be critical and really analyze what this MC said or if this snare is turned up in the mix or if MC X said one thing on a song and is contradicting himself on another song. We take our craft seriously, but we didn’t take it so serious to the point where… there are faults on the album, but don’t listen to the faults, listen for the dope, youknowwhatimsayin.

Von Pea: Labminoritymusic.com, download Sunlighting if you haven’t already. Continue to look out for us. Tanya Morgan and the Lessondary. Just continue to look out for us.

HipHopSite.com: For those that don’t know, what label were you on previously and why did you swich over to Fat Beats?

Dizzy Dustin: The last album we did was on Emperor Norton. But now it’s Fat Beats.

HHS: How long have you been with Fat Beats?

Dizzy Dustin: Actually, we just finished the deal up a couple of months. So we’re looking forward to being on an hip-hop label. This is the first time we’ve actually been on an all hip-hop label. So that feels good for us.

HHS: So the reason you went to Fat Beats was because it was hip-hop oriented?

Dizzy Dustin: I think so because every label we’ve been on is like Dance, a Euro-type of sound that was coming out. With Fat Beats they came at us. They know we could sell. We’ve proven ourselves in the last few albums with our fan base as far as the underground scene.

Andy Cooper: They were really adamant about wanting to work with us and that’s our first priority, is finding people who just are excited about the project. You’d be surprised after so many years of doing this how important that is. Just pure enthusiasm.

And even sometimes you might get offered a deal that’s more lucrative, but the people there don’t understand the project and aren’t excited about it. And you might get offered something that’s not quite so fancy, but the people there understand the music or just have a real drive in them long term. That’s what’s most important, we found. Everybody with whom we do business now, what we do is make our records and license it out to different labels around the world and our first thing is looking for people who are enthusiastic about our music.

HHS: So obviously they supported you guys and decided to take you under their wing?

Andy Cooper: Yea. I mean one way to do business is just look at the bottom line and take what offers the most money. For example you might get offered two shows, one for 100 bucks, one for 1,000 bucks. But the $100 show is going to be right in the core of your audience. There’s going to be a big crowd there and there’s going to be other great hip-hop groups and it’s going to be a real event. And the $1000 thing is going to be very corporate and it’s maybe a rave and it’s not your fan base.

So, a lot of times it’s wise to opt for the lower paid one because in the long term, those are the people who are gonna support you and it’s better to be in touch with them and it will even be more profitable in the long term because you’ll have a relationship with those folks.

HHS: It definitely sounds like a good look for you.

Dizzy Dustin: We’ll see. It’s all up in the air man. My thing is the proof is in the pudding. Treat us right, we’ll treat you right. It seems like everybody at Fat Beats is really excited about the album and that’s something we haven’t really had. So that’s a good thing.

Andy Cooper: We’ll see how it goes. It’s always interesting when you start a new relationship.

HHS: What’s the difference between Taste the Secret, your last album, and your new album, Bang for the Buck?

Andy Cooper: Well, I think one’s a concept record. Honestly, I was kind of in charge of the last album and I wanted a real cinematic album, with themes and commercials and skits so you could sit down and picture the album in your mind, picture the characters like a giant Broadway review or something. Whereas, this album, we just wanted to do some great hip-hop songs. I mean, we thought we had some cool hip-hop songs on the last album, but we kind of blanketed them in between a bunch of skits and what not. Bang for the Buck is straightforward, straight up stuff.

Dizzy Dustin: It’s one of those things, like you just want to come out throwing punches. Ugly Ducking, we ain’t no hardcore gangsta group, but we’re gonna come out and have fun with it, clown around and, you know, pull out our water pistols and get rid of all these jiggy rappers. That was our whole idea…And you better have a waterproof jacket because we’re gonna wet you up (laughs). It’s one of those things. They bring out their guns, We’ll bring out the water guns. That’s as far it goes with us. No bulletproof vests, but just a waterproof jacket will work fine. That’s it man. We’re super soaking ‘em , man.

HHS: Your music has a fun vibe to it. Bottom line, you aren’t afraid to smile. When did it begin to get so serious in hip-hop?

Dizzy Dustin: It’s hard to say man.

It got serious to me when Public Enemy dropped the Nation. I mean ‘Hey, you know what. That’s a hot album,’ but at the same time it was hip-hop and it woke us up. It wasn’t negative. It was more positive. And nowadays, these groups are coming out on the negativity tip, but they’re not preaching something that really means anything. Public Enemy, they let you know. You came out with an album like ‘Shit is fucked up right now,’ you know. But it was a positive vibe and it was still serious. And there’s no one like that no more. Everybody’s like ‘Hey, I’m a negative dude. I’mma shoot everybody around me. I’mma run my block. I’m gonna run the neighborhood, blah, blah, blah,’ but no message. You can’t be serious without a message in hip-hop. It ain’t like that no more. No one’s spitting the truth.

Andy Cooper: Well I would say like around the mid-’90s…I blame a lot of things on The Chronic. Not that The Chronic is a bad album, the original Chronic, but what happened is they figured out a way to make gangster and violent rap commercial radio-friendly and commercial radio came around to rap. So all of a sudden, rap could be on the radio. And that made sales go up, I’m sure, for some of those groups. Fifty, 100 percent. So it just changed the whole artistic style of the music because before, even if you wanted to be on the radio, it just wasn’t a option so noone even bothered really trying that stuff. In fact, if you did, people kind of made fun of you and called you an R&B sellout and all that kind of thing. So I’d say with The Chronic. With Cypress Hill. With House of Pain. Those groups all started getting on the radio a little bit. So I think once the radio and mainstream MTV started playing rap videos, it just changed everything.

HHS: One of the songs I liked off the new CD liked was “Slow the Flow”, a song that basically says slow down and appreciate life. Do you feel that society nowadays has gotten too fast-paced?

Dizzy Dustin: I think so. I think everybody’s got their eye on the prize, which is a good thing. Everybody’s trying to hustle. Everybody’s trying to see what they have to do. But at the same time, sometimes you got to stop, stand back and smell the roses or take a deep, fresh breath and be able to be like ‘You know what. Life ain’t that bad.’ We’re only here for so long. Just enjoy life around you. I think that people need to really take a look at what’s important in their life and you’re job ain’t really that important. It’s just something to get by and at the same time there’s a lot more important things in the world than you sitting at your job or desk and busting your ass for eight hours a day. The world offers a lot more than that. Especially on the West Coast. That’s what we wanted with that song. To make sure everyone can relax a little bit.

HHS: How did the collaboration with People Under the Stairs come about for the track “Shoot Your Shot”?

Dizzy Dustin: We’ve been working with People Under the Stairs for a long time. Our first Cali tour that we did on the West Coast was with People Under the Stairs. We’ve known each other for a long time and we would always discuss on the road or on shows like ‘Yo, ‘Scenario’ was the joint. Remember Tribe Called Quest and Leaders did that, that was the joint.’ So we wanted to try to capture that with us. Like OK, People Under the Stairs, Ugly Duckling. Let’s do something we can collab on and just knock it out the box. And I think that song came out real well. People are lovin it. I’m lovin it. It was just one of those things. Like ‘Hey we’re all from LA. You produce like we produce. We have the same beliefs in hip-hop and the culture as far sampling, as far as digging as far as lyrics. It was due. And we ship the same fan base so the fans were like ‘Hey. That’s the joint. Thank God you guys finally did something together.’”

Andy Cooper: We’re not much of a collaboration group. We always want to stand on our own feet, produce it. Just have our own sound…We discussed it lightly with those guys a long time. And to be honest, Diz and I were working on a song for that track and it was really stupid. It was called “Buzz Off” and it was gonna be a song about people bothering you. Almost like “Bug-A-Boo” by Ed OG. People were bugs and they were all….and we kept working on it and working on it and one day we said ‘Man, this sucks’. And Diz was like ‘Yea this was really a bad idea. And it was getting late and really had to record our stuff pretty soon so it was like ‘let’s call People Under the Stairs. Let’s do a posse song.’ So we knew that would probably be easier to do. So a lot of it was the result of us coming up with a stupid idea and thankfully, it didn’t work out or else we would’ve had a really wack track on the album. We had a whole thing. We had a bug voice like he was going to be bugging you. It was really stupid. Really, really bad. Thank the Lord that that didn’t happen.

HHS: You two battle it out on the track, “Andy vs. Dizzy.” So who won?

Andy Cooper: Well, that’s the cool part. It depends on which style you like. For that track, I wanted to be like Kool G. Rap or Big Daddy Kane. Like real slashing and cutting and up tempo funk. And Diz is sometimes a little more laid back and almost like Dizzy Smalls. More like in the cut and a little bit slower and slicker. I would personally go with my style, but that’s because I like it more and that’s why I do it. But you know it depends on what you like. Some people don’t like all that up tempo, hype stuff. To me, rap is rhythm and poetry. And rhythm is a huge part of it. I like different rhythmic schemes and rhyme schemes and I sit around, put my verses together like a mathematician sometimes. I try to figure out a cool way to bounce a word here. I put some thought in to it. But some people would rather hear someone talking from their heart. It just depends. That’s what’s great about rap or any kind of art form. It’s like whatever suits you. But yea, I won, to put it into closing form.

Dizzy Dustin: We have no idea man. I feel like I won because I freestyled. Andy had his written. Andy can flow regardless. He’s a great writer. He can spit it, He can do what you gotta do with it. I’m nonchalant with it. If it’s homework, I’m not doing it. I don’t know.

Who won? Einstein won, that’s who won.

HHS: In closing, how would you some up Bang for the Buck?

Andy Cooper: Well, here in Southern California, we’ve got this cat named Cal Worthington and he’s maybe 70-years-old and he wears a cowboy hat and he sells used cars on TV. That’s kind of like the cover and the idea is like. We’re trying to go right for you. We’re not trying to pull punches. We’re trying to sell you a car, but not a used car, but some hip-hop. But, there is this little scheme that I slipped in there. I don’t think I told the other guys. The idea of especially the record cover, with the gun shooting out money. That sort of a laugh about gangster music and violence and how it’s all a ploy to make huge amounts of money and act like you’re some kind of gangster, anti-society rebel. But the fact of the matter is it’s just an image being used to profit. So there’s a little bit of double entendre in that. for what it’s worth.

HipHopSite:  What can fans expect from the new album?

The unveiling of truth in its most vigorous form. Basically, we’re exposing not just what happened in 911, but what is happening in the world today with religion and politics.

HHS: What is the meaning of the album’s title, The 911 Report: The Ultimate Conspiracy?

Basically, it’s equivalent to the 911 Commission, but in hip-hop form for our culture to better understand what took place. The meaning behind the 911 title is ultimately that the US government had prior knowledge of these events. We want to illuminate what a majority of people might not be aware of, specifically that the government did nothing to prevent the catastrophe from happening. These attacks were one element in a broader campaign: to begin a new war with the Middle East.

HHS: The album is described as “a somber reflection on the events of September 11th but no less of an indictment of the government’s actions in the wake of 911 as well as the ideological battle against the very principles of Islam under the guise of the “War On Terror.” What is your opinion concerning the recent controversy surrounding the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad?

Rasul Allah: First of all, if you really think about it, most Arabs have done this to themselves. The cartoons aren’t a depiction of the prophet Muhammad because the Sunni unorthodox Muslims claim they don’t know what he looked like, aside from brief descriptions of him in the quran and Hadiff. So if there’s no true image of Muhammad then there should be no problem. I think what they’re really mad about is feeling discriminated for their religion, which really is just an institutionalized form of slavery that binds people emotionally and psychologically.

HHS: This album looks to cause a lot of controversy. You pull no punches about Bush and the state of the government as well as the reasons for going to war. Has the government done more to insure a safe country since 9/11?

Rasul Allah- Not at all. The whole situation with the National Security Agency was concocted to make the American people feel unsafe after 911, in order to instill the Patriot Act, which is the same thing that happened at Pearl Harbor. The themes are universal throughout history in terms of the “Nazinisation” of a nation. You have to understand the Bush Family and their ties to the Illuminati, which originated in Germany.

The current new world order philosophy comes from Adolph Hitler’s, which was a vision of a single world order, where everyone lives under one leadership, under the rule of one dictating state. George Bush’s grandfather Prescott Bush was part owner of the Harriman Bank which was the main Wall Street connection for German companies during Hitler’s reign.

Historically, the ties are there. America is following the German “single world order” ideology but shrouding it as a global democratic “overhaul.” And Asia is next on the list. What people have to understand is that World Powers create conflicts for wars that are not real but at heart are aligned with business ambitions. In that way, the illuminati can gain more natural resources and control.

The great Sun Zu who wrote the art of war once said “a war is not meant to be won, but to be continuous.” The “war on terror” to provide for our security, and our supposed “best interest” in staying the course is a convenient rationalization for this perpetual state of war. And all authorities across the world are a part of this.

HHS: In “America’s Hallen Heroes,” Osama Bin Laden is labeled a freedom fighter, rather than a terrorist. Why?

Rasul Allah: I think what your stating is from the verse where rich raw says “Hey listen I’ve been bragging about the threat of Bin Laden /of Al- Queda/ A Terrorist?/ Not likely call him a freedom fighter/just think if the Black Panthers would’ve remained/ would the government view Huey P. as one in the same?”

What he is questioning is how American society would view Huey P. if he was alive right now. Would the government label him a terrorist? I think so. Another example is Fred Hampton, who was killed by Chicago Police. They basically go after anyone who exposes and revolts the illuminati and their new world order Agenda.

HHS: With the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the government has been criticized for their late response to the disaster as well as the whole recovery process. Any thoughts?

Rasul Allah- I think that Katrina was another example of using a tragedy to separate the rich from the poor. Nowhere was the economic and social divide more on display than in the aftermath of Katrina. I saw on CNN the other day that the government is starting to cut funding for Katrina victims, the majority of which are black people. Budgetary issues or racism in disguise?

HHS: Your group is a throwback to groups like Public Enemy and X-Clan as well as current artists Immortal Technique and dead prez, who voice their opinion about the government and current issues. With all the emphasis on money, girls and guns, do you feel hip-hop is lost right now?

Rasul Allah: Yes I do , and it won’t be the same until some revolutionary hip-hop comes along and brings back the essence to the culture, like Public Enemy in the 80′s, Wu-Tang in the 90′s Immortal Technique/Dead Prez currently. Similarly, we’re trying to bring back some global consciousness back into rap

HHS:  Although there seems to be a renewed emphasis on conscious rap (ie. Common, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, etc.), can hip-hop ever get back to being as Chuck D called it “the CNN of Black America?” Will the media and more importantly rap fans allow politically charged rap to come back to the forefront?

Rasul Allah: First of all Common, Kanye, and Kweli shouldn’t be labeled as the “faces” of conscious rap. Nas, Kool G Rap and others are as much as conscious if not more, but just express themselves in a different way. The word “conscious” means “TO KNOW” and basically is an awareness of your surroundings, political, economic, social and otherwise. If people are to support real hip-hop, there can be another golden era, but I don’t see that happening until people start supporting some real revolutionary hip-hop along the lines of The Lost Children of Babylon, Killah Priest, Immortal Technique and Dead Prez.

HHS:  In closing, can (or should) rappers pick up the torch left by MLK, Malcolm X and most recently Coretta Scott King?

Rasul Allah- I think that the examples set forth by Chuck D and KRS can be very influential if exposed properly. Unfortunately, aside from them there is no one in hip-hop I see that is endeavoring to pick up the torch. And the corporate culture does not help either. Record labels, TV and radio programmers control who and what gets played and heard. As a business, they are just looking to perpetuate what is working so that they can meet their quarterly numbers. They have no interest in effecting positive change, and the cycle of negativity continues.