This song by Indeep in 1982 summed up how Hip-Hop saw its beloved DJ – as a superhero. In the beginning, the DJ was the main attraction. People came out to parties just to see their favorite DJ rock the house. The “rapper” at that time was just a guy who carried the vinyl, introduced the DJ and hyped up the crowd. Almost all rap groups had a DJ as a prominent member. Run-DMC dedicated an entire song to Jam Master Jay on their first album. Erick B had four solo songs on the classic album, “Paid In Full”. Today, it seems that it’s all about the rapper and the DJ has faded to the background. Although they aren’t worshiped like they once were, DJ’s are just as successful today if not more.

First of all, the technology may have gotten better (no need to carry crates of records), but you still need a human being on the 1’s and 2’s to rock a party. And with all the “club bangers” being produced, a good DJ is still in high demand. The best ones have become celebrities in their own right and are paid quite handsomely. The late DJ AM had a million dollar contract with a club in Las Vegas and has flown around the world to spin at events. The Heavy Hitters are a band of DJ’s that get gigs all over the country. They’re a “union” of sorts where they look out for each other and add zeros to their bank accounts. As long as people continue to hit the clubs every weekend, a DJ will be waiting with Serato in hand.

In the late 90’s, mixtapes blew up giving DJ’s another outlet to shine. They took their craft out of the club and created their own mixes of songs using a cappellas and adding them to different beats. DJ Clue and Funkmaster Flex took it a step further by actually getting exclusive material from rappers. They were so successful that they became two of the first DJ’s ever to get major record deals. Some of the biggest rap acts today got discovered on a mixtape. DJ Drama literally partners with a rapper to create an entire album worth of original material. Many feel that these “street albums” are better than the rapper’s major label releases. Today, you’re not hot if Drama, Khaled or another top DJ doesn’t work with you. The mixtape has literally made an artist out of the DJ.

Lastly, DJ’s have simply morphed into the super producers that we hear on every hit track. Before they got behind the MPC, many of today’s producers started out on the turntables at local parties. They may not have the “DJ” in their name anymore but they serve the same purpose. They are in groups (Kidz in the Hall, Mobb Deep, Little Brother), their instrumentals are heard on cell phones and some are scoring movies and television shows. Although the more “self-promoting” rapper gets most of the media attention, the DJ never went anywhere. They’ve been right in the center of things providing us with the bass lines that our Hip-Hop hearts beat to. The equipment that they use is different but don’t get it twisted, Kanye, Pharell, Danja and Polow the Don are all DJ’s. And with the classic music that they are creating, they probably saved your life too.

57.

According to OHHLA.com, 57 rappers have used or currently use the prefix Lil’, Little or Young (including all of the ridiculous spellings of this word) in their rap names. Keep in mind the site only tracks rappers who have actually released a real album. So the seemingly endless amount of mixtape and Myspace rappers aren’t even part of this tally.

So to you, the rapper who is thinking of what to call himself, why would you want to give yourself a name that at least 57 other people have?

Assumingly we passed this stage back in day during the plague of the “Word + Initial” (c. Easy-E, Busy-B, etc.) and the “group name + number of members in the group” combinations. (c. Treacherous Three, Furious Five, etc.) We went a long time without having to deal with an assembly line of copycats until the last few years. But the Lil’s and Young’s are taking over and nobody knows why or how we got here.

If a rapper is under 16 years of age or shorter than 5’ 7” when you begin your rap career then it’s understandable why one would go with one of those particular prefixes. It’s relevant to who he is and its probably one of the first things that people notice about them.

But think about it; is either of these names conducive to a long-term career in the game? If you are “young” you will eventually get older and if you are “lil’”, you will grow and your name will become an unnecessary oxymoron. Your name will become an ironic indicator of your downfall. Think I’m joking? Of the 57 names guess how many have had a relevant career that lasted 5 years or more…

6.

So for all you stat nerds out there, if you decide to call yourself Lil’ or Young, you have a 10.5% chance of seeing your career last longer than 5 years. So I guess if you’re 15 years old when you drop, you won’t be around long enough for your name to be a contradiction. Put that your pipe and smoke it.

In a time where established artists have difficulty selling records, it is more important than ever to separate yourself from the pack. Record companies are looking for sure shots and if you seem like everyone else, you don’t have a chance in hell. You have to be more original than throwing a Lil’ or Young in front of your name. No one will take you seriously.

So be as creative with your name as you plan to be with your rhymes. You never get a chance to make a first impression. For an example of what not to do, let me direct you to the gentleman in the picture accompanying this post. He really should have read this post before choosing his name.

His name you ask?

Lil Young (I can’t make this stuff up)

Take a good look though… You’ll never see him again.

What’s the hardest thing to do in rap? A hit record? Please, it seems that anyone with a cute gimmick can get one of those. Get a platinum album? Nope. Even with the decline in album sales, every year someone is bound to sell a million records. Get 5 Mics or win a Grammy? No and no. This thing is so hard to do that it’s only been attempted a handful of times and most have failed. When the Wu-Tang Clan and Jay-Z both failed to accomplish this feat in their respective primes, it tells you how tough this really is. It’s so rare that it falls below many people’s radar…

I’m talking about the Double Album.

Making a great double album has for some reason, proven to be a low point for many artists’ catalogues. Even those who’ve created classic albums dropped the ball when they’ve attempted to put two discs together at one time. Every time that a double album is announced, the buzz is almost instantaneous. Months of anticipation builds until you finally get the album and 60 to 90 minutes later – disappointment. This disappointment usually falls into one of two categories, bad songs and boredom.

How many times have you said, “man, if dude would have just took these 5 songs of disc 1 and these 7 off disc 2, this album would be a classic.” How many people created their own personal playlist for Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 2: The Gift and The Curse”? Hindsight was definitely 20/20 as you secretly wished that Nas would have just picked the best 12 songs for “Street’s Disciple” and scrapped the rest. It’s still a mystery why such great artists can make several great albums but when they attempt to fill two discs at one time, horrible songs always seem to end up on the list.

Additionally, a lot of these double albums feel long. Too many mediocre songs cause boredom and you’ll have trouble finishing the album. The entire second disc on Wu-Tang’s “Forever” is a complete blur after “Triumph”. The sheer monotony just puts you to sleep and you end up skipping over songs. I recently listened to Bone Thugs’ “The Art of War” and I realized that there were actually some pretty decent songs that I completely blanked on. It was like I was hearing them for the first time. Listeners have a short attention span and trying to keep them consistently bumping over a span of 20-plus songs is very difficult.

Nas and Jay-Z both said that having a double album on your resume is required if you want to be considered one of the best. Unfortunately, those albums were low points in their respective careers. They were right about one thing; the Double Album is Hip-Hop’s secret litmus test for a rapper’s greatness. The Double Album shows a rapper’s ability to be versatile, consistent, creative and show a strong control over his craft. You have to have all of these things to not only to keep your audience awake, but to make them hit the repeat button. With such a daunting task, it should be no surprise that the only two artists to come up with classic double albums are Biggie and 2Pac.

So to current stars such as Eminem, 50 Cent, Kanye, and Weezy, the challenge is in front of you. Are you up for it?

Hip-Hop has always been a “boy’s club” where female emcees are seen as welcomed guests rather than active participants. But it was never this bad. It never got to the point where award shows had to literally discontinue its best female artist category because there was no one to give it to. There used to be a meritocracy for females where if you could spit, you would get a chance to make music. In 1995, a certain girl from Brooklyn picked up the mic and changed the game forever. When Lil’ Kim came on the scene she forced all of Hip-Hop to address the female rapper differently. Looking back 15 years later, was her influence a good or bad thing for women in Hip-Hop?

Prior to 1995, female rappers came in all shapes and sizes. From to MC Lyte to the Lady of Rage, females had a visible and diverse presence in Hip-Hop. Groups like Salt-N-Pepa were even topping the charts. They spoke about a wide range of topics and garnished respect from their male counterparts and true Hip-Hop fans. These female rhymesters did not have to fit into the small pigeonhole of “sex object”. Sex was more of a topic of discussion rather than the focal point of their image. This is not to say that they weren’t up against sexism. It was hard to avoid seeing raunchy videos or having rappers explain how a woman should lick something. Despite the obstacles, there was at least an outlet for people if they wanted a more positive viewpoint on women.

In 1995 everything we knew about gender politics in Hip-Hop was turned on its head. Lil’ Kim burst onto the scene as a hyper-sexual vixen that was in control of her body and sexuality. It was like a revolution of sorts where men were no longer allowed to determine how a female is viewed. She literally knocked people on their asses with her hardcore lyrics. The men in her raps were just toys whose only purpose was to please her and finance her lavish lifestyle. Never having seen this before, Lil’ Kim became one of the biggest and most controversial stars in Hip-Hop. Her unapologetic rhymes and demeanor gave females in rap another voice and perhaps another avenue to express their sexuality.

Unfortunately, Kim’s impact might have been too powerful. Her debut album’s first week sales set the record for a female rapper. This had the music business salivating. This new breed of female that executives could make a killing off of replaced the multi-faceted female emcee. A woman couldn’t get a deal unless she was wearing a thong or talked about how she performed in the bedroom. This sexual empowerment that Kim started completely disappeared. The female rapper became a one-dimensional object whose role was to satisfy the fantasies of their male listeners. In many circles, Lil’ Kim was no longer being viewed as a symbol of strength but rather the embodiment of every negative stereotype. With an emphasis on the “porn star” image, having actual lyrical talent became expendable. What remained were these inept women with ghost writers being paraded around as actual artists and it completely destroyed what was left of the true female emcee.

Years went by as women who at one point would have been welcomed into Hip-Hop, found themselves on the outside looking in. The result is what we have today – nothing. No prominent, successful female rappers worth mentioning, just frustration and nostalgia. It’s probably unfair to place the entire blame on Lil’ Kim but we’re responsible for our actions even if we cannot predict the outcomes that our actions will have. Most likely she didn’t intend to have a negative impact. She was probably just being Kimberly Jones, a girl from BK trying to make it. But as artists like Nicki Minaj and Jean Grae fight tooth and nail to undo what the Queen Bee did to their image and respectability, they might have asked her back in 1995…

“Friend or Foe yo, state your biz?”

     Let’s face it, the majority of Kurupt’s reputation as a lyricist came pre-1995 and since then, it has been hit or miss.  In the last few years there have been many misses with his over the top “profanity-gangster-b**ches-laced” verses.  While cursing has been in Hip-Hop for decades there’s a fine line between creative license and your listeners having to question if you have anything real to talk about.  It’s also difficult to listen to a rapper talk about the same things, the exact same way for the past decade and a half, and not want to tune him out completely.   Unfortunately, Kurupt makes no lyrical breakthroughs (“Never gave f**k about a b**ch or a h*e, now watch us roll, Kurupt in this b**ch wit’ an ounce of dro”) on this album.  This is bad considering he’s the premier rapper on this album.  J. Wells, the latest in the producer-turned-rapper category shows with his simplistic rhyme patterns that his best talents are behind the boards and not behind the mic.  Outside of a good performance by Tha Liks on “Let Em Know”, there isn’t a guest appearance worthy of being mentioned.

    Although J. Wells’ strongest attribute happens to be producing, it doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily that good at it.  He produced every song on the album so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that almost all of the beats sound alike. (Only the cream of the crop are able to alter their sound just enough that it feels different but still identifiable).  In addition to that, J. Wells’ work is indistinguishable in terms of era either.  You would think that in 2007, a new producer would be able to put his own touch on the West Coast Sound but his beats sound like carbon copies of those done in 1993.

    All in all, Digital Smoke leaves you with, well, nothing.  You’re not really looking to play it again but you’re not exactly ready to, as Jadakiss puts it, “break weed up on it” either.  This album will be end up being that album that sits in your collection and will always make you question why you haven’t either listened to it or gotten rid of it for all of these years.

    There’s a difference between two guys rapping on the same song and two guys doing a song together.  Without question these two artists have chemistry – Rasco’s raspy voice effortlessly compliments Planet Asia’s smooth delivery.  They trade off each others words and flow on “Something New” and provide each other’s ad-libs on the title track. Many of the hooks are spit simultaneously for a more harmonious sound.  Their rhymes are very punchline driven and are built for battles and ciphers anywhere in the country.  “You need 100 years to hop in these Nike Airs/ to fight fair is a nightmare/ straight up eliminate you in your square”, Planet Asia raps on “Something New”.

    The real eye openers however, are the beats.  Soul Professa, who is responsible for all but three tracks, brilliantly blends drums and heavy metal guitar rifts with traditional basslines and scratching. Soul Professa captures that “live show” feeling when he spontaneously adjusts the tempo, pattern and volume to fit Asia and Rasco’s rhymes.  Even the intro and interludes have an infectious rhythm that maintains the pace and intensity of the album.  His style definitely gives the album an energy level that turns your iPod headphones into a 60 minute concert.

     A few blemishes hold this album back.  Some songs simply fall short of the bar.  “Baby Girl” is an attempt to rap to the ladies but they approach it with the same tone as if they were battling her.  There are also some rhymes that should have been reconsidered… “We keep feet to the street like Fred and Barney.”  Rasco and Planet Asia are talented emcees, but they aren’t good enough to set them apart from the pack.  However, when you combine their skills with Soul Professa’s beats, you’ve got yourself a solid album that provides you with a “G-Funk” alternative when you want to take a trip to the West.

   Only one word is necessary to describe Joell’s skills on this album – rewind.  At least once on every song you ask yourself, “what did he just say?”  It’s also an album where you could be on your 5th listen and still catch new lines or metaphors.  His incredible multi-layered and complex rhymes leave you replaying them over and over.  On 125 Part 2, Ortiz lets off, “My flow liquid, too much H2O in it/ my system I ain’t drownin’, but became a wave and rolled with it/ I make it hard for y’all to swim on a track/ After I rap, I’m the current that be pushin’ you back.”  From telling stories on “A Night in My P’s” to the slow methodical flow on “Brooklyn Bull***t”, he brings out the full lyrical arsenal and holds nothing back.

    Unlike many emcees, Joell uses his gift to talk about more than hustlin’ and gun busting.  He draws parallels between institutionalized racism and slavery on “Modern Day Slavery” and rides with Akon on “Keep On Callin’” to paint a vivid picture of what he’s had to overcome in his life and inspires others not to give up in the face of adversity.  Throughout the album, Joell goes toe to toe with everyone from the legendary Big Daddy Kane to Styles P.  He even holds his own after a show stealing verse from Ras Kass on “125 Part 3″.  These guest appearances show not only his respect for history, but that he raps with people because they’re “nice” and not because they can help sell records.

     The production is also on point.  Ortiz recruited the likes of Alchemist, MoSS and others to re-ignite that classic boom-bap sound.  Hard-hitting baselines and creative and timely sample use give the album a diverse yet consistent feel.  Furthermore, techniques like dropping the beat to accentuate punchlines help take these tracks to the next level.

   A few missteps keep this album from achieving classic status.  He goes to the “rep yo hood” well one too many times with “BQE” and a few songs, including “Block Royal” have lackluster hooks.  However, what keeps these songs from being labeled album fillers that you skip is that you don’t want to miss any of Joell’s rhymes.  His ability to make an average song good is a testament to his skill.

    The first three letters in “Rapper” are R-A-P and you should know how to rap in order to be considered a good one.  Ortiz reminds us that creative rhymes are the still the most important characteristic when measuring a rapper’s greatness.  By combining humor, wit, a brash delivery and versatile flows, Joell has the ability to bring it in any situation.  His love for the music, as described in the lead single “Hip-Hop”, shows that his efforts are truly genuine and it makes you want to root for him.  The sky is truly the limit for this emcee and if he can put out a product like this on his own, just imagine what he’ll be able to do with Dr. Dre on the boards.

   First off, there are some duds.  “Chick On Da Side” is a failed attempt to make a club record.  The corny hook and cheesy “I’ll blow your back out” lines makes it very difficult to envision anyone enjoying it at a party.  It’s evident that Chris had no one help him because there is no variation of creative input.  Too many of the choruses have the same repetitive formula.  The aforementioned “Chick On Da Side”, “Back to Back” and “Wild Thing” are prime examples of this.

   There is no question that his rhyme patterns are more suited for 1987 than 2007.  The problem is that he sounds more “old” than “classic”.  He reminds you of that old guy at the YMCA wanting to play ball with the young guys.  At first he’ll hit a few jump hooks and set shots, but after a few times up and down the court, he’ll be trying to catch his breath and eventually end up on the side watching.  Bottom line, Chris Lowe isn’t a strong lyricist and trying to make the producer/rapper crossover is difficult.  His rhymes are way too simple and lack versatility (he says the same thing, the same way).   It’s truly a case of someone not knowing is artistic limitations.

   This album’s strongest attribute is its beats; not surprising since Chris Lowe is an accomplished producer.  And while his skill on the mic doesn’t quite blow you away, his content has much more depth than today’s artists and thankfully he doesn’t bother to bust guns or push weight for an entire album.

   Black Life II: The Next Thing Smokin’ is worth a listen.  Songs like “You In Love” and “Golden Era Great” will definitely have your head nodding.  After that, the album is quite forgettable and probably won’t replace anything in your deck right now.  And on those days when you’ll want to bring ’87 back, you would probably reach for your Paid In Full record and leave this one on the shelf.

    If nothing else, Redman is consistent.  If you were a fan of his previous efforts, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll get those hilarious skits (“WKYA Radio” and “The Stick-Up”) that you’ve grown accustomed to hearing, there’s another installment in the “Soopaman Luva” series and there’s the traditional Def Squad posse cut (“Walk In Gutta”).  Red Gone Wild is what you would call a complete album; an album that holds you all the way through and keeps you entertained until the final track.

     Lyrically, Reggie Noble hasn’t lost a step.  His witty and comical punchlines will still have you nodding your head and rolling on the floor in laughter.  On “Wutchoogonnado” he spits, “I’m in your college campus corridor/ you should call me ‘UNO’ the way I draw the four.”  His voice inflections and ability to change the speed of his flow give his rhymes that extra spark.  Songs like “Suicide” and “Freestyle, Freestyle” fully display Red’s skills and shows that he is still worthy of praise and props.
 
    This album does have a few shortcomings. In attempt to give artists on his new label some shine, he lets them rap on several tracks.  However this effort backfires as their sub par performances take away from the quality of those songs. On “Blow Trees”, Ready Roc’s lackluster verse ruins an otherwise stellar tag team effort from Red and Meth.  There is a thin line between emitting feelings of nostalgia and sounding dated.  Certain rhymes, while still good, sound like they could have been on previous albums. Lines like, “Roll up to the jam/ and party like Little Penny” make you wonder when they were written.  “How U Like Dat” and “Rite Now” are solid songs but the beats makes you feel like you’ve heard them already.

    At the end of the day, Redman definitely delivers a solid album.  He knows how to cater to his core audience and there might be enough good material to attract new fans.  With today’s music scene, it’s hard to ask for more when an artist provides both banging beats and creative rhymes.  Although you might get “deja vu” once too often, it’s more of an observation than a complaint because a ’98 Redman is still better than 90% of what’s on the radio.

Quarter Water: n. A drink made up of sugar, water and food coloring that only costs 25¢ and can be found at any corner store or “bodega” in the country.  Quarter Waters are a symbol of the hood and the hunger and hustle that’s apart of it.  Joell Ortiz embodies that hunger and hustle.  Although he has a fresh new deal with Aftermath Records and his debut, The Brick (The Bodega Chronicles) is dropping on Koch in a month, don’t get it twisted, Joell is just like you and me.  He’s a Hip-Hop head from Brooklyn that happens to have an incredible gift on the mic.  Read about his struggle to make a name for himself, how it felt to meet Dr. Dre and why you’re more likely to see him on your block with a Quarter Water than a bottle at the club.

HipHopSite: What’s going on?  What’s the latest with you?

Joell Ortiz: My day to day is crazy.  From waking up, to writing, to going to studios to lay it down, and getting producers to bring in more beats.  I’m doing radio drops and phone calls.  It’s just real busy, but this is what I signed up for.

HHS: How does it feel to be a wanted man?

JO: [Laughs] You gotta be happy that you wanted dude and that people are actually caring about what’s going on in your life.  At the same time, when you look at it, it’s really flattering.

HHS: My introduction to Joell Ortiz came from an unexpected spot.  I was playing NBA Live and heard your song.  Come to find out that you won a battle and was offered a spot on the soundtrack.  What was that experience like?

JO: Aww man, that was huge.  You’re talking about 20 million people that buy this game and many of them are hood and underground people.  And for me, I’m an NBA Live fan myself so it was crazy.  I ain’t gonna lie, I put my song up against the other songs on the game and I was like, “man, I got one of the best songs on here.” [laughs]

HHS: Like many of today’s artists, you use the internet to help build your fan base.  Why do you feel the internet is so important to your career?

JO: The internet gives you one-on-one with the fans that you can’t get otherwise.  It helps put a face to the name for people who can’t get access to me.  That s**t is real instrumental in my career and I see a lot of artists who didn’t do it before [take advantage of the internet] doing it now.  But remember that Joell Ortiz was one of the first to know that it’s important to get that one-on-one with the fans.  I only put out one mixtape, so I had to use the internet to keep my name out there.

HHS: You have definitely made your mark with your mixtape and for many rappers, it has been difficult to make the transition to a full-length LP.  How is your album going to compare to your mixtape?

JO: If I can sum up my album in one word, it’ll be real.  Nothing changes.  From the mixtape to the album, same kid, same Joell Ortiz.  It’s gonna be like that with all my records because you never fix anything that ain’t broke.  It won’t be a big difference.  Obviously bigger production with bigger producers because of who I’m signed to, but it’s the same feeling.  Every album that I make is going to be another mixtape that’s just called an album.

HHS: Talk to me about your debut album, “The Brick (The Bodega Chronicles)”. What can we expect to hear on it? Who’s doing the beats?  Who’d you get in the booth?

JO: You got Showbiz, Premier and Alchemist on the beat.  Rass Kass, Akon, Big Noyd on the joint.  I was just so happy to be doing an album that I wanted everyone that I thought was real to be apart of it.

HHS: Why name it “The Bodega Chronicles”?

JO: I named it that because you’re getting that Puerto Rican kid that’s been in front of the store and has seen everything.  The kid that did some things that he isn’t proud of, the kid that seen the hustlers, murderers and the everyday Joe.  Basically my album is a picture of the front of the corner store.

HHS: I have to ask. If you’ve got $5 at the bodega, what are you leaving with?

JO: [Laughs] It depends on what time of day.  If I’m hungry, probably a beef patty.  If I’m thirsty, probably a Snapple.  If I want a snack, then definitely a Slim Jim beef jerky.  And if I run out of money then I’m stealin’ something [Laughs]

HHS. Last year you hooked up with Dr. Dre and signed to Aftermath?  How did all of this come about?

JO: My management got in touch with Dre’s assistant and she called back and said “Dre really loves this kid.”  We were like okay cool.  Then she said, “No, no.  You don’t understand.  Dre wants to fly this kid out A.S.A.P.”  So we were on a plane and in two days, I walk in the studio with Dre and I’m just crazy excited.  He told me that he liked my music and just wanted to make sure I wasn’t a knucklehead and wasn’t involved in any beefs or things like that.  I just told him that I’m a good kid that’s lookin’ for an opportunity and he said, “Welcome to Aftermath.”  I couldn’t believe it.  It took 10 years to get to this point.

HHS: Your first album isn’t coming out on Aftermath though.  It’s coming out on Koch. Who made the decision to go independent first before the major release?

JO: We did.  Myself and my management.  By going independent you build a fan base and you also build leverage if you do well that you can use to get a major deal.  That’s how we planned it, but Dre showed so much interest that he signed me on the spot and said that we could do whatever we wanted with the Koch release.  I was gonna do The Brick first then approach the labels with this fan base but Dre really wanted me to be on Aftermath.  So it worked out nice for me.

HHS: A lot of fans think that people get famous overnight, talk about the grind that it takes to become successful in this business?

JO: I wish people know how hard it was…. but when they hear The Brick, they’ll get some of it.  They’ll get some of that grind, some of that blood sweat and tears that got me here.  Cuz anybody that got anything going in this music business worked for it and probably shed a few tears like I did.  Feeling like, “I can’t believe it hasn’t happened yet.”  I’ve been around the block and back, I’ve been co-signed by pioneers and I want people to know that I didn’t just hand in a CD and got signed.  I did a lot of groundwork that put me in a position to be signed.

HHS: Was there ever a time that you wanted to quit?

JO: Man, I’ve come out of meetings where they would love my music but would say things like “he’s too chubby.”  And I’m like, “are we listening to the same music?”  “You mean to tell me I’m not gonna get on because of marketing?”   There were times where I was like, “maybe this s**t ain’t meant for me.”  I even told myself, I won’t give up on music, maybe I’m just a writer.  Even just saying that makes my hairs stand up.  To know how close I was to just saying I’m gonna write for other people.  I started thinking about my moms and all of the people that I would be letting down and it would be selfish for me to just throw it away so I just stuck with it and I got two deals when people didn’t think I deserved one.

HHS: Being a very lyrical artist, how do you plan to get commercial success in an industry where dope lines come second to catchy hooks and dance moves?

JO: I’m not going to even try.  The commercial thing is gonna come get me.  Even the dudes doing the commercial thing ain’t happy.  I’ve met all of them and they talk about their music in a down way.  The reason it’s this way is because there’s so much more money involved.  The jewels, cars, MTV Cribs are involved so dudes are making flashier songs trying to get paid.  And if dudes want to do that then fine, let them do it.  But what I do is tell great producers to bring up a beat and I rip it.  I don’t point songs in any direction.  That’s the mistake that a lot of artists are making.  They are pointing songs in a certain direction.  It was never like that before.  Songs were just laid down and that was it.  What happened with them happened.  Now when producers ask rappers what they want, they say, “I’m lookin’ for that club joint.”  That’s not Hip-Hop.  The songs that you hear from me in the club are songs that just happened to get there, not because I told you to “Put your drinks down and put your hands up” or “Shorty got a fatty like a model with a bottle.”  You’ll like Joell Ortiz if you like emcees, period.

HHS: What rappers do you check for and who inspired you to start rapping?

JO: Well I’m a little bit younger so dudes like Biggie, Nas and Jay[-Z].  I’m not afraid to give props to people still doing it because I’m a fan first.  Even when Canibus came around, I was like “damn!”  Talk about someone who just lets off when the beat dropped.  I’ve always liked how Nas was so conceptual and he had that you can’t f**k with me attitude.  That’s the competitive feeling that I miss.  Dudes would rather say meet me on the street on some beef s**t than try to be beat people on the mic.  Beef for me is meet me in front of S.O.B’s [Underground Hip-Hop spot in NYC] and bring your tightest 16.

HHS: For the people who’ve never heard of Joell Ortiz, what’s the one thing that they need to know that makes you different from everyone else out there?

JO: That Joell Ortiz is one of you.  And I take pride in that. When you read about Joell Ortiz, you reading about the kid that probably sat next to you in class.  The same dude that went out and bought albums like you guys do, the kid that looks on the internet for what’s hot.  The kid that ain’t excited about the state of anything in Hip-Hop.  I tell this to people all the time, I’m nothing more than a fan with a deal.  Once you start feelin’ like you’re better than people, you lose yourself man.  I’m just a fan.

HHS: Leave one.

JO: Yo, April 24th, Joell Ortiz The Brick (The Bodega Chronicles).  Go get that.  Hip-Hop ain’t never dead…. it just took a little nap. [Laughs]

   One of the biggest flaws is the sheer lack of creativity.  Rather than make a complete album, MIMS attempts to make a collection of singles formulated to have the same type of pop appeal as his lead single.  He even refers to “This Is Why I’m Hot” on three other songs, not to mention actually sampling it on “They Don’t Wanna Play”.  Lyrically, MIMS leaves much to be desired.  His flow and word play are very elementary (think Young Jeezy) and often come off as predictable and corny. (“I travel the globe/ but no I’m not a trotter.”  Ahem.) The hooks also share the same simplistic characteristics.  On “Girlfriend’s Fav MC”, singer J Holiday belts out, “She’s all into me, like a wrist in a bracelet.”  Often using the same words to end punchlines and at times not even rhyming them, it’s clear that his lyrics were a secondary focus. 

   There really isn’t anything that a listener can hang his hat on.  The production on the album is average at best.  Other than the lead single, most of the beats are mainly interchangeable and that gives the album a monotonous feel.  Nearly all of the tracks are regurgitated Hip-Hop clichés and without a strong lyrical performance to support his swagger, MIMS’ braggadocios attitude is annoying and overbearing.

   This album is the result of an artist chasing album sales rather than creating quality music.  You have to wait until the 15th track, “Don’t Cry (Outro)”, to get an idea of who MIMS actually is.  On this song he illustrates his humble beginnings and inspires others not to give up when times are tough.  The other beacon of light is the soulful, “Where I Belong”, where he describes his view of a perfect world a la Nas in “If I Ruled the World”.  These are the only two songs on the album where the content has any depth. 

   For an emcee to say that he plans to “bring New York back”, you’d expect to leave with more than how fly MIMS feels he is.  The first few lines of “This Is Why I’m Hot” pretty much sum it up, “This is why I’m hot/ I ain’t gotta rap/ I could sell a mill/ sayin’ nothing on the track.”  This album is great if you are looking to add a ringtone, but expecting more than that will leave you disappointed.

   In a time when a premium is put on pop beats and catchy hooks, this album’s true lyricism is a breath of fresh air.  Sean shows how hard he works on his craft with his use of alliteration on “P-Body”, “N***a rap Prime Minister pa, presently P/ Poppin’ my pistol, partially parched, pass the Tea.”  He is also very skilled at rhyming numerous words rather than just the final word of each bar.  “Line for line, rhyme for rhyme/ 10 paces turnaround, shoot nine for nine/ You can tell by the rhyme, It’s my time to shine/ Let’s eat mother****er, I don’t dine on swine.”  These lyrics from “Like You” are just one of many examples of this complicated technique.

   Jesus Price Supastar also has some notable guest appearances. “Let It Be Known” which paired Sean P with Little Brother’s Phonte, is an example of wordplay at its finest.  Literally spinning of each others words, the two rappers went line for line as if it were a game of tennis.  Rock’s contributions on “Church” and “P-Body” are both incredible and continue to stir up more anticipation for the upcoming Heltah Skeltah project.  Rappers Chaundon, Steele and Buckshot also deliver strong 16′s on their respective songs.

  While you can pluck any verse individually and find a gem, this album lacks cohesiveness and direction that makes a complete album.  The production on this album is too similar in style and pace and it gives the album a monotonous feel.   There are some shining moments – 9th Wonder provides the soul on several tracks with his trademark samples and bass lines.  “Mess You Made”, an autobiographical song about Sean’s trials since “falling out of the limelight” in the late 1990′s, is well made but is unfortunately the exception to the rule in terms of content.  Many of the songs do not have a clear topic and sound too much like a collection of creative punchlines.
 
    At the end of the day, this album is 48 minutes of raw, in your face, battle your mother Hip-Hop music.  It’s unapologetic and at times gives you that nostalgic feeling when you listened for those great rhymes that made you hold the rewind button.  While there are some shortcomings when it comes to great artistry and versatility (it’s what separates Canibus from Ludacris), Jesus Price Supastar is exactly what the rating indicates…. dope.

    When you heard this, you knew you were about to hear something exclusive.  Back in the late 90′s in Queens, a Clue tape was like Christmas coming early.  He knew how to introduce a song and unlike other DJ’s who screamed over everything, Clue sprinkled a few “Ha Ha’s” that added character to the mixtape.  Then in ’98 The Question Mark Man decided to take his show nationally with the release of The Professional and became the first DJ to go platinum.  Make no mistake about it, DJ Drama, Khaled, and Whoo Kid would not be where they are if it were not for the success of DJ Clue.  So during the crowded 4th quarter of 2006, Clue decided to drop The Professional Pt. 3 and remind folks where these DJ’s “got they whole style from.”

    The album starts off strong with the incredible track, “War” by Nas who is undoubtedly still on his “seek and destroy all that is wack” mission.  DJ Clue seems to bring the best out of the rappers that he works with (We remember what DMX did on the first album) and Nas definitely saves some classic bars for Clue joints.  Fabolous, who appears on three songs, brings his trademark swagger, none more evident than on “Da Boss”.  Even Mobb Deep’s “The Gold” is better than many of the songs that appeared on the dud they dropped last year.

   Clue is also known for his collaborations.  Putting some of today’s hottest emcees on the same track is always eventful.  The South shows up big on “Clear Da Scene”.  Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross and Ransom definitely don’t disappoint all of the trappers and hustlers out there.  Paul Wall, Bun B and Mike Jones bring that Candy paint, grill wearing H-Town flavor on “Grill & Woman”. Not to ignore the ladies, Jagged Edge and Fabolous do a solid job covering the Jodeci classic, “Come and Talk to Me” with “I Really Wanna Know” and Mario Winans and The Game give us two tales of heartache and betrayal.

    While the rappers for the most part brought their “A” game lyrically, the quality of the production was not up to par.  “Like This” which had Fab and Kanye West going line for line was difficult to listen to as many of their punchlines were engulfed by irritating maracas.  The beat for Snoop’s raunchy “Almost F**ked” sounds like it got stuck in the 80′s next to an old Shalamar song.  Even the rare M.O.P. sighting (“Giantz of NYC”) is disappointing as the lackluster drums and piercing sample fail to match the intensity that the Brownsville brawlers bring.  Verses by Styles P and Consequence almost feel wasted as the producers dropped the ball on “The Animal” and “Uptown” respectively.

    Whenever you bring together so many different rappers and styles, it’s nearly impossible to please everyone.  If you don’t like that Down South sound, then you’ll hate a few songs on this album.  Conversely, if you can’t stand the way Philly and NY dudes rap then you’ll dislike some joints too.  So while compilations usually don’t get classic ratings, they aren’t considered terrible either.  DJ Clue always has his ear to the street and did a great job capturing the landscape of today’s Hip-Hop scene.  Every region is represented and new rappers are given the same stage as accomplished veterans.  Although he puts together a nice collection of songs, this album lacks a timeless classic like “Fantastic Four”, which can be talked about for years to come.  At the end of the day, Clue showed us that he’s still got it, but he left a little to be desired.

HipHopSite: Before Monkey Bars dropped, you talked a lot about your struggles – driving cabs and hustling just to make ends meet.  What are Sean Price’s days looking like now?

Sean Price: Hip-Hop.  Hip-Hop all day in the studio.  I’m doing features for bread and working with my own artists.  I’m working hard man.

HHS:  You were in the news a month ago where the police used You Tube footage from one of your shows to catch a murder suspect?  How crazy was that?

Sean Price:  I did a show in Hamilton (Canada) and some people got stabbed after the show.  The two that got stabbed actually got kicked out of the club, one of them died and the other is still alive.  And the guy caught them on You Tube, it was crazy.  The police came to my hotel room and spoke to me and Rusty [Juxx] but we ain’t have nothing to tell them cuz we were on stage.  But my condolences go out to them and their family.  I don’t wish death on nobody, even though they were acting up at the show, I don’t wish death on nobody.

HHS:  Your new album, Jesus Price Superstar is set to drop on January 30th.  With Monkey Bars getting such critical acclaim, what are you expecting out of this one?

SP:  Hopefully better than the first one.  You always expect it to be better than the first one.  But that’s for the people to decide.  I know I enjoyed making it.  I felt confident putting it out and I had good material and hopefully y’all feel the same.

HHS:  What many people liked about the first album was how personal your lyrics are.  While many rappers refuse to put themselves out there because they are afraid to be criticized, you don’t really care.  You show us the real Sean.

SP:  Yeah I don’t care man. I’m comfortable in my own skin, I am what I am.  I don’t feel like I gotta lie to people.  People say you wait your whole life to do your first album.  So what I was going through at the time was a reflection on what’s on Monkey Bars.  The finances weren’t right, I wasn’t the best father in the world and I wasn’t the best man.  I improved as a man so you not gonna hear too many sad tales on this album.

I’m just here to let y’all know that the first one [album] wasn’t a fluke.  I’m a real solo artist.  I’m not a temporary artist until me Rock get our s**t together.  I’m solo forever whether there’s another Heltah Skeltah album or not.  So that’s what I wanna do with this album – solidify myself.  No sophomore jinx here B.

HHS:  You tend to keep all of your features in-house.  Who can we expect to hear this time around?

SP:  Same thing. Kept it in-house.  Except I got my man Phonte and Chaundon from the Justice League.  But they family too so I kept it within the family.

HHS:  Okay, Phonte from Little Brother.  Wouldn’t have seen that coming.

SP: Yeah he’s an incredible lyricist.  That was the only song that had me under pressure man.  I had to go back in the hotel that night and re-write my rhymes and bring it back in the morning.  He wasn’t playing man.  If you really listen to his rhymes, I mean really listen… he’s going in.  I was under pressure. [laughs]  Phonte definitely brought his A game.  I was like, “Oh s**t, I’m not saying this.”  I just went back and wrote line for line.

HHS:  Who’s handling the production?

SP:  This time I got 9th Wonder and Krysis doing the bulk of the album.  I went down south first and worked with them.  Then I came back to New York and grabbed PF Cuttin’, Moss, and Ill Mind.

HHS:  You are definitely a rapper that pride’s himself on his lyrics.  What is your thought process when you write your rhymes?

SP:  I don’t know.  I know that might sound crazy but I don’t know.  The beat tells me what to do.  I hear the beat and I’m like, “okay, okay”.   I don’t know what I’m gonna say, I just start writing.  I don’t write just for the hell of it but my s**t isn’t full of messages either.  My s**t just be hard body, nah mean.  I want people to be like, “Oh my God, did you hear what he said?  He is not playing around.”  That’s what I write my rhymes for – for n***as to turn they face up like they just sucked on a lemon.

HHS:  What rappers out there inspired you and are there any rappers today that keep you on your toes?

SP:  [Kool] G Rap all day.  Big Pun for sure – Pun definitely left too soon man.  Jay-Z – sometimes he’ll say some s**t that makes you say “wow, this dude is slick.”  I always liked n***as with the slick lines with the word play and hard body n***as.  Beanie Sigel, he brings it hard body.  Then again, I like Ludacris cuz he slick, he hard body and he funny.  That’s the whole package, nah mean?  That’s what I’m trying to master right there.  Cuz that’s me in a nutshell.  I’m a cool n***a but you don’t wanna see the ugly side of the god.  I don’t walk around with a frown all the time, I crack jokes all day.  So that’s what I feel about Ludacris.  Ask anybody, that’s one of my favorite emcees right there.

HHS:  Creatively, the game seems to be kind of lacking. Rappers are switching up their styles trying to go multi-platinum and they end up making bad music.  It seems that you don’t care and you never compromised your craft.  What made you turn your back on trying to sell a bunch of records and just make your kind of music?

SP:  You know what?  I don’t care, but I do care.  I want to make a record that’s all over the radio all day.  If somebody tell you they don’t, they lying to you.  But this is how I rhyme, I am what I am.  And I know that the s**t that I do, isn’t the s**t that be on the radio all day.  It is what it is and I accept it.  I got one song called, “The Mess You Made” and it’s actually getting on the radio.  But I didn’t make it for the radio; I made it cuz that’s how I was feeling at the time.  It wasn’t a conscious effort.

HHS:  Back in the day, your music was on the radio.  But today, even though your music hasn’t changed, the airplay isn’t the same.  How does this change make you feel?

SP:  I ain’t discouraged.  I’m gonna stick to my guns and y’all are gonna catch on again.  You gotta remember there was a time gap between Magnum Force and Monkey Bars so I gotta catch up too.  I’m not mad.  I just got my first ever feature in The Source and I got one in XXL.  All of the websites, I’m just trying to get my name out there from the biggest to the smallest.  So I’m just tellin’ people to spread the word, spread the gospel.  “Tell a phone, Tell a friend, Telemundo.” [laughing]

HHS:  Talk a little bit about the resurgence that Boot Camp Click has had going the independent route.

SP:  Yeah we independent but we got a good backing.  Dru [Ha] said this is the plan and got everyone on board.  We seeing money and we’re putting out good music.  This is what we do, rappers rap.  I like where I’m at but if a major offered me a good deal, I’d take it.  I’m just keepin’ it real.  I feel no one in the majors is doing what I’m doing.  So it’ll be good, they need a Sean Price on a major.  That’ll give hope to the game.

HHS:  You briefly mentioned it earlier, and I couldn’t let you leave without asking you about Heltah Skeltah.  When are you and Rock going to give us another album?

SP:  We working on it right now.  We’re trying to get it right.  It’ll be out when it’s done.  I’m not gonna give you any date; it’ll be out when it’s done right.  I don’t want to tell people it’ll be out in the spring and then it gets pushed back because it ain’t right.  Trust me, it’ll be out when it’s done right.  There’s probably more pressure doing a new Heltah Skeltah album than my own joint.

HHS: Why do you feel that there is more pressure doing this one than your solo album?

SP:  Number one, people miss us rhyming together.  Number two, the last Heltah Skeltah album wasn’t that bangin’.  It’s a lot of pressure.  But doing a new Sean Price album is nothing cuz it’s just me.

HHS:  Are you doing anything outside of music?

SP:  You know what?  I tried to do the movie thing.  I guess I’m just a bad actor man. [laughs]  I auditioned for OZ (HBO series about life in prison) three times.  They said I wasn’t right.  I was offended cuz I been in jail before I had a record deal.  So you saying I can’t act like a jailbird?  Maybe I was too real for them.  They wasn’t feelin’ the kid.  It’s all good.  Every rapper shouldn’t act and maybe I’m one of them.  But I’ll give it another shot with the movies.

HHS:  Leave one.

SP:  You know, Jesus Price Superstar, January 30th.  The new Heltah Skeltah coming out.  Smif N Wessun working on they new album.  Buck[shot] and 9th [Wonder] are back in the studio.  A new BCC album, a lot of stuff.  Get ready.

HHS: Your music has always been full of life. But since the last album, y’all seem to have taken a more spiritual direction with this one. What was the cause?

Romye: Just you know, dealing with the everyday. Just getting older, I mean when we first got on Bizarre Ride, we wasn’t really in the music industry. It was just our thoughts free from whatever. But once we stepped in the game, it just became a whole real different trip. Basically, we write from our lives. It’s not like I write from another man’s life, or I’m writin’ a story or some other stuff. Its basically from our life. That’s just what I write, what’s been goin’ on. Other members, I’m pretty sure, they feel the same, you know?

HHS: Speaking of other members, did you maybe gain more creative freedom since other members stepped out, and your dealing with indie labels now?

Romye: As far as Fat Lip, he likes the record label, as far as how people are, just being in the record business in general. Just you know, being an artist on a record label, getting your budget, go through your album, and that’s how he wanted to do it. I just felt totally different. There was just different feelings as far as how to do things. You know? Just as far as on coming out, and then as far as music, and then actually making a song, that’s a whole another thing. It was just like a lot of differences on just where he saw how he wanted the group to go, and how we saw how we wanted the group to go. Bizarre Ride was one album…but it was tampered with, you know what I’m sayin ? Basically Bizarre Ride was tampered with, due to we didn’t have enough time, and people saying, “This is cool, this isn’t cool, this isn’t cool.” Even though people heard Bizarre Ride, it lacked, just starting out the gate because of a lot of things we had to just compromise and give up. You know?

HHS: It seems you have more control over this CD…

Romye: We didn’t have more control, but it was just the songs, I mean, at the time, we just making the songs how we wanted to make the songs. How can someone tell you how to make a song, if their not really putting into the album to try to make it. We was basically doing songs, because that’s what we do. We’re artists, besides if things are good, or things are bad, we came into this thing like, we just gotta stay in it and keep making songs. Because the people don’t really understand it. All they see is that this group has been gone, and as far as behind the curtain or what’s going on in the industry. I mean people don’t really see, and people don’t really care too much, I really believe. You know?

HHS: It seems like you guys took a real simple approach, you just concentrated on your music more than anything…

Romye: Yeah definitely. Bizarre Ride, when we came in, a lot of people got lost. A lot of people was like, “What the fuck is this? What are we supposed call this? What is this? These fools are yellin’ and screamin’ …”. Even though some people liked it, it lost a lot of people. I think like a lot of people couldn’t catch on to it. So not necessarily I want to give in to the masses. But if you want people to buy it, you kinda got to make music for the people to understand. It’s kinda hard, I just say that simplicity is the hardest thing to do. To make something simple, but get your point across, that’s like hella-hard to do. If you can get across in two words what it takes somebody a whole sentence to do, then that’s hella-dope. Cuz that take whole lot of thinking to say, “Okay, how am I gonna get this person to react.” Like to a one word title, like how we did…I wanted to leave it open for the mind to think a little more, but also keep it simple so people can be like, “This song is ‘Trust’ , so it’s about trust, or this song is “Frontline”, so its about the front-line.” But then, actually take it a little more deeper than that, because basically you have so many definitions for the one word, you can just take it all sorts of different places.

HHS: Were you guys really worried about getting any radio play?

Romye: Naw, because we really never got that type of radio play. “Passin’ Me By” , kinda hit a little radio play, and “Runnin’” hit a little radio play…But we never really were that real radio, or that car-bumpin’ group. I think if you going on a hella-of a long trip, people wanna put on The Pharcyde, people wanna just listen the whole album and trip…But there never was like, that one song, as far as like a DMX, you got that one song you just hear everywhere. Its just bumpin’ , and radios just can’ t get enough of it, and you got people requesting it. We never really had that type of song. I mean sale-wise…I mean “Passin’ Me By” never went gold, and “Runnin’” sold more than “Passin’ Me By”. Its completely different as far as if I went by numbers, and if I went by what people say.

HHS: You guys broke ground for groups like Jurassic 5, and Dilated Peoples. Do you think those groups along with you guys will have more influence on hip-hop? Or do you think the spoon-fed, glossy, baby-thuggish raps will still be the influence?

Romye: Oh, I think that’s always gonna be the major influence. Sex and violence, that’s what’s selling. The industry is definitely gonna blow it up. It takes a lot to just blow up something positive…It takes time cuz, most people don’t want to hear that type of music… That’s why I say there’s a hell of a fine line, because you could be preaching to the people. They don’t wanna be preached to, they like, “Man, I don’t wanna hear that shit, I don’t wanna hear nobody telling me what I should do. I want to go the party, I want someone talkin’ about freakin’ on the girls..” whatever. I can’t even hate that though. As far as the industry, I don’t think they’ll ever have Mos Def with Jay-Z, or De La with like Cash Money…I don’t think it’ll ever be like that.

HHS: Nowadays everybody seems to work with everybody. Making their CD looking like a compilation album, and the discs seeming cluttered. It was refreshing to see you guys only work with only a few guests on this one…

Romye: We had worked with a lot of people, like with…Pharoahe Monche, De La, Mos, Cocoa Brovaz, and we worked with a lot of people on the album. After it was time for it to come out, we was like, we couldn’t do this, we’ve been gone so long. I just figured that if we done that, we’ll be kind of going out, cuz we’re not standing on our own coming back out. So I feel like now, if we did it after album came out, people won’t look at it like that. But as far as comin’ out the gate, I don’t want to be riding off of anybody else’s. I just want to stamp it into people’s head, Pharcyde first…

HHS: Naw, it was kinda nice for once to have someone come out original…

Romye: But than again, we had Black Thought, just to show that we do work with people, and we don’t have our head in our asses. And so people wont think we like, “We the shit, fuck everybody else.” You know what I’m sayin’” ?

HHS: Who was the girls singing on the hooks?

Romye: We had a girl named Deanna, she works with Tre. We had a girl named Dena Ray, she’s from Eminem’s camp…Oh, Dawn, she worked on some stuff. They was kind of like girls that we knew from back in the day. Dawn, was kind of like part of Jazzyfatnastees before they kind of went out to Philadelphia. Deanna, she used to like dance back in the day. Me and Imani used to be dance teachers, and she took the dance class, and now her whole thing is singing. So we was like, “Yo, let’s try to do something.” It just worked out, it was cool. We just did some things.

HHS: I personally liked this album more than the others…

Romye:…You’re gonna start some arguments with that! That’s cool that you liked it. Like a lot people feel like, “Yo, we want that Bizarre Ride.”. I just try to tell people that I’m just way older. For me to try to come out like that…it’d be played out to actually come out on that vibe, and do a hell of a lot of skits on your album, that whole vibe of doing stuff like that is kind of played to me…Its just gonna have to be different.

HHS: Well, Labcabincalifornia felt like you were in transition, with the new album, it finally felt like you got out of it…

Romye: We didn’t do too much production on Labcabin, not saying that was the fault, but sometimes when you go outta your camp and do other production, sometimes there’s an element missing out of your music. Basically, somebody else is bringing something else to the music. Not saying that I don’t like to work with other producers…I mean, its always good to work with other producers as far as just making an album. You can just get stuck in a rut, as far as one person doing your album. Just working with other people, it just keeps more spice in the album to me. This time we didn’t venture out too much. We worked with Showbiz, and we worked with couple other producers. A lot of stuff didn’t make the album as far as working with all the people that we had worked with. The music that you hear was from people that was within. People like Tre, me, his cousin, and J-Swift. So there wasn’t a lot of people.

HHS: With some members leaving, what made y’all stay together, instead of going for solo albums?

Romye: The whole plan was to follow formats to certain groups…Tre got soured in the whole thing as far as the process of waiting. Fat Lip, like I said, was never down with the whole independent thing. He kinda likes the label situation. You just don’ t have hands-on in everything. Someone’s gonna do this for you, someone’s gonna do that for you. I just didn’t want to go out like that…This album’s gonna be released, Tre’s already released his stuff. He changed his name to something like The Legend of Phoenix, he kind of sells his stuff over the Internet. Fat Lip is going to release his album supposedly like March. It was suppose to be like March of this year, but I guess its gonna be March of next year. Imani’s is gonna come after this one…Hopefully after everything is done, I’m gonna do an EP, maybe with all the guest appearances that we didn’t have on the album. I think I’m gonna let the company work with this album.

HHS: I’m sure your asked this all the time, but what is the possibility, if any, of a reunion with all the original members?

Romye: I would say if it would happen right now, it would have to be for a whooooole lot of paper! It’s just not that type of atmosphere right now, we just talk to each other like that. I think that just has to be established first, before we started working. Once we do that, you gotta be on tours, you live with these people once again. Right now, its been hell of a hard work just to get this far. For me to just to step back…It would be a hell of a back step for me right now…I can’t see that as a plus…Right now I think we all got something to prove ourselves. Fat Lip gotta prove to himself like, “Okay I can do this album.”

We all just gotta prove to ourselves like, “Okay, maybe The Pharcyde does good, maybe it doesn’t.” From there we’d be like, “Aw, man, we fucked up, we should of did this, we should of did that.” I don’t it’ll be too late for us to do that. For us to just real force it right now…It would just be a force. I’m not trying to force anything back together like that. It just makes it sooo difficult when you go in and try to just make the thing you’re supposed to do, which is songs, you know?

HHS: What do you think y’all have planned in the future?

Romye: Right now, I’d just say take it slow, I’m not trying to do a whole bunch. Actually, I’m still trying to master the record making business..