Troy Ave speaks with Bootleg Kev on possibly signing to Grand Hustle, meeting Nas, & being cocky.

Bootleg Kev tells us: “I got to sit down with B.o.B. after he shot a video in St. Petersburg, Fl. We speak on his new No Genre record label, the upcoming No Genre 2 Mixtape, not being able to see Outkast live yet, the struggle to get his first album released, the songs he is tired of performing, and whether or not he feels any pressure to drop a “classic” album.”

Kev tells us: “I got on the phone with the XXL boss lady Vanessa Statten! With the release of the XXL Freshman Class there were alot of questions I had about some folks who I felt might have got snubbed (Rittz, G-Eazy,IAMSU!, Etc.), and some of the reasoning behind those snubs. Plus of course we speak on the inclusion of 2 R&B artists on this years cover (Ty Dolla $ign & August Alsina).”

Kev writes: “The homie Dizzy Wright headlined the very first BKXSW showcase at SXSW and sat down w/ Bootleg Kev after the event went down. We speak on who Dizzy would put on the 2014 Freshman Cover (Snow The Product), his new EP State Of Mind, getting Bone Thugs on his debut album, collaborating w/ Big K.R.I.T., trying to step out of his box production wise, his favorite album of all time (Bone Thugs – Art of War), using skits the right way in hip hop, wanting to collaborate with Wiz Khalifa, the difference from this years SXSW compared to last years, getting a co-sign from Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, & Tech N9ne, and most importantly (for the FV fans) how he feels about Hopsin’s attitude towards doing music.”

In this brief interview with Bootleg Kev, Action Bronson speaks on collaborating with Eminem, looking up to Jadakiss & Kool G. Rap, and his friendship with Riff Raff.

Ab-Soul sits in with Bootleg Kev, and speaks on his new album, Joe Budden being underrated, growing up in a record shop, being independent, threatening to leave Black Hippy, his favorite albums, and more.

The first part of Kev’s Nipsey Hussle interview we speak to him the day before “Crenshaw” was released, and he reveals why he decided to charge 100 bucks for his album.

Looks like Rae’s been going in on the press tip lately. Here’s part two of his interview with the homie Bootleg Kev.

Kev writes:

I got to sit down w/ Schoolboy Q. We chop it up about his new album Oxymoron (he reveals the theme of the album is taking care of his daughter, and the history of Crips), he reveals Danny Brown, Pharrell, and J.Cole are doing work on the album (J. Cole doing a beat), witnessing Kendrick Lamar’s growth first-hand, his friendship with A$AP Rocky, he reveals that his daughter is narrating Oxymoron, relapsing off of lean, his take on Kendrick saying R.I.P. to Molly in his video and still using the drug.

Kev interviews Pusha T, with a little help from Fabolous.

1. Rittz “Walter White Boy Flow” (Produced By Lifted)
2. Vic Mensa “Orange Juice” (Produced By Cam)
3. Sean Rose “Filthy” (Produced by Hitmanbeatz)
4. Troy Ave f. Lito “Man In The Mirror”
5. Futuristic “Best In AZ (Interlude)”
6. Kris Kasanova f. Avatar Darko “Make It Happen” (Produced By Justin Rose)
7. Hannibal Leq f. Jazz Lazer “Go Get It” (Produced By Lifted)
8. Freddie Gibbs “Paper” (Produced By Lifted)
9. Interstate Fatz “Like This” (Produced By The Audibles)
10. Audio Push f. Kent Money “Red Wine Remedies”
11. 360 “For The Low”
12. Charlamagne The God Skit
13. Clyde Carson f. Freddie Gibbs & Mannish “Throw That Thang”
14. Jazz Lazer “Black Kings” (Produced By The Audibles)
15. 1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology “Situations”
16. Collins. f. Sam Bruno “Road To Riches” (Produced By Charlie Handsome)
17. Tito Lopez “Bars For Bootleg (Comedy Freestyle)” (Produced By Mr. Porter)
18. Azad Right “Long Way To Go”
19. Yelawolf “Can It Be”
20. Emilio Rojas f. .38 Spesh “I Need Some Sleep”
21. Dee-1 f. M-1 from Dead Prez “Would You Ride For Me?”
22. Cory Gunz “IDK My Limits” (Produced By Dot & Pro)
23. Kaliq “What They Yellin’”
24. Jon Connor “Epiphany II”
25. Vee “Tailgatin’”

Kev writes:

The 2nd leak off of my upcoming project Empire Business also serves as the first song and intro on the project. The song comes from a good friend and 1 of my favorite MC’s out right now Rittz (Who’s new album The Life & Times of Johnny Valiant drops April 30th..) He goes in over some production from my family Lifted (G.O.O.D. Music/”Mercy”). You can watch the in-studio visuals below, accompanied by a download/stream link for the joint!

Bootleg Kev tells us:

Here is the first official leak from my upcoming mixtape/street release Empire Business, which is dropping April 7th (Wrestlemania Sunday). The tape features the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Rittz, Yelawolf, Jon Connor, Emilio Rojas, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Clyde Carson, Tito Lopez and many more. This first leak comes from Inland Empire’s own Audio Push. This is a group who I have been supporting for a long time now. They are finally growing into their own as artists and the world is noticing! They are a part of Hit-Boy’s HS87 collective and are truly a talented and dope duo of MC’s. When putting this project together Audio Push was one of the first groups I reached out to. They quickly hit the lab and whipped this song up for Empire Business. The song came out incredible. Be on the look out for another leak and an actual visual from Empire Business tomorrow.

Dizzy and Bootleg Kev got to sit down and chop it up. They speak about him being the first artist to put Las Vegas on map, his progression from his Dizzy D. Flashy days, what it’s like being a part of Funk Volume, wether or not he will sign to a major, how he linked up with Joey Bada$$ for “Maintain”, what other Las Vegas MC’s that he co-signs, what he has learned from being apart of Funk Volume, he also reveals he is dropping new music with Ab-Soul soon and is working on a new tape, and much more.

Kev writes “In a semi-intoxicated interview from SXSW, I got to speak with Hit about repping the I.E., how the line up to “Cypher” came to be, his HS87 Label and being signed with Interscope, the new HS87 mixtape All I’ve Ever Dreamed Of, he speaks extensively about working with Kanye West and his process, using Fruity Loops to make beats, he reveals he has been in the lab working with M.I.A., he talks about the new Justin Bieber single being his favorite beat he ever made, the amount of material Kanye is sitting on, and his top 5 favorite producers of all time.”