Talks about Jaz-O, Jigga, honesty among other rappers, lack of talent, fans, producing, and his intimidating presence.
When I talked to Jaz-O, he said Jay-Z has a lot of yes-men around him. Who do you keep around you for feedback and support?
I got guys around me. Some of these guys, I grew up with. I got guys like my man Kap. Me and Kap were in pre-kindergarten together. He's still around me. He knows every rhyme I ever wrote. Sometimes before I go on stage, I forget my song order. He's like my human computer. He knows every rhyme I ever wrote in my life. My man Rocky is still with me. We were running around in the streets doing all crazy things. These are true friends. They don't hang out with me because they feel they can make a few dollars. All that stuff will happen regardless. I try to minimize my people because a man can't get rich with an army. You have to make sure your soldiers are strong and honest with you. Imagine if the President of the United States rolled around with a lot of yes-men. It would be a disaster.
Is everyone scared to be honest today?
Yes. I think that's a big part of the problem. There's no unity, I speak for New York, but there's no unity between rappers up here. There's smiling in your face and tight handshakes and Blackberry's and T-Mobile's and all that bullshit, but at the end of the day, no one gives a fuck about the next man. It's always drama. The only time they want to latch on to you is to make them richer or to feel more important. Half of these guys don't even have the courage to kick it to a woman, but now that they're in the music business, they can. You can put the make-up on and do the grinning and the skinning, but when you stand in the face of a real motherfucker, they're seen as the three-dollar bills they are. They're not honest. You have to be honest and be a real motherfucking man or women. A lot of the stuff they do, they can do on their own if they would just man up.
Hip-hop is about culture and doing something in your own way. There's no way in hell that New York rappers should be hopping on dirty south music. I think dirty south music is hot when dirty south guys do it, but to hear a New York rapper does it with no ability and he's slanging his words like southern rappers, they have everybody hopping on their dick because the dirty south is popping now. That's the same thing that happened when Dr. Dre was hot out west. That's the biggest detriment to the game today. The hardest thing in the world is for these clown-ass motherfuckers to be themselves, man. It's disgusting.
Is it a lack of talent, bad advice, or are they just after the dollar?
You know what it is? Hip-hop became a hustle. The labels started giving bigger rewards for less talent. When people started getting all these different awards and Grammy's for people who have less talent, the people who come up behind the less-talented, they're going to think that level of talent is the max. Singers aren't real singers anymore and MC's aren't real MC's anymore. One thing I've never been is a hater. There are quality singers out here. But you have to do things under the right pretenses. Everybody wants to entertain the children. You have a guy like Brian McKnight who doesn't know what the fuck to say to the young girls, so he doesn't have a record out on the radio because he doesn't have a record for who the record labels are targeting. The whole rap audience is not between 16 and 21. You have people who grew up in hip-hop who are 35 and have real jobs and they buy records. If these guys were smart, they would cater to their audience. You have guys busting their ass and a 16 year-old or some college graduate straight out of Harvard who has never understood the concept of groundbreaking hip-hop or R&B telling you something's not hot. That's not real to me.
Do you want the new generation as fans?
I never turn down people as fans. I think having any types of fans is good. I'm not knocking the youth. I think they're keeping things fresh and new. My thing is just because it's not new, don't isolate it. You have cats like Big Daddy Kane and guys like that who still have a level of talent. It's not the fans that's the problem. It's the hypnotizers of the fans who's the problem. I have a lot of 15 or 16 year-olds as fans. If you have one rebellious bone in your body, you would like me. There are people who don't like it and that's fine, as long as they stay respectful. You always get people who don't know, and if somebody doesn't know, they just don't know. Reintroducing myself or getting in a situation where I can do a song how I want to and put it out how I want to on my own pretenses, that's the glory of being independent. I learned that from Showbiz and Lord Finesse. I can't disrespect what I've been taught by my peers. It's just about making good music. If fans want to come and rap with Bumpy, they're more than welcome.
Have you ever been told you're too intimidating and to tone it down?
I've been told that by a lot of people. A lot of people tell me I'm scary and that they're scared of me. My question is how can you be scared of somebody you don't know? They say I look scary. I think they're so used to fucking people over and if they try that with this guy, they'll end up in a trunk somewhere. That's a good fear. That means they're not going to fuck with me because they know I'll deal with them. Some of these people get their deals and before they realize that it doesn't last forever, they've already spent their money and they can't get into the building. There will never be another Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Rakim, or Bumpy Knuckles. There will never be another Common. These guys last forever because they found their own identity and they never tried to rhyme like anybody else. I am who I am, and I'm a big guy. If people feel they have a problem with me, then fuck them. Ain't nobody whopping my ass. And any record label that feels that way, I don't have to change, so fuck them too.
You've had some of the best producers work with you, from Pete Rock to DJ Premier, throughout your career. How did you get these guys to work with you?
I've been blessed to be able to come up in a time where people wanted to make music with who they liked. I met Premier crossing the street outside of Sony after they did "Step in the Arena. He was like, "Oh shit, you're Freddie Foxxx." "Oh shit, you're DJ Premier." We just shook hands and on some real shit, he said he wanted to work with me. That's the same way Treach was when we did "Hot Potato." All these relationships are based off respect, regardless of what people think, it's not intimidation. I was with Premier and Showbiz yesterday and we were talking about my album and how the game is today. Pete Rock and the Alchemist are my real friends. They'll tell you the same thing. It's not any fake love because when we really need each other outside of music, we show up. You have best friends splitting up over money now, and that's because they weren't established on a respect basis. I can go knock on Premier's door at 2 am and wake him up.
I got guys around me. Some of these guys, I grew up with. I got guys like my man Kap. Me and Kap were in pre-kindergarten together. He's still around me. He knows every rhyme I ever wrote. Sometimes before I go on stage, I forget my song order. He's like my human computer. He knows every rhyme I ever wrote in my life. My man Rocky is still with me. We were running around in the streets doing all crazy things. These are true friends. They don't hang out with me because they feel they can make a few dollars. All that stuff will happen regardless. I try to minimize my people because a man can't get rich with an army. You have to make sure your soldiers are strong and honest with you. Imagine if the President of the United States rolled around with a lot of yes-men. It would be a disaster.
Is everyone scared to be honest today?
Yes. I think that's a big part of the problem. There's no unity, I speak for New York, but there's no unity between rappers up here. There's smiling in your face and tight handshakes and Blackberry's and T-Mobile's and all that bullshit, but at the end of the day, no one gives a fuck about the next man. It's always drama. The only time they want to latch on to you is to make them richer or to feel more important. Half of these guys don't even have the courage to kick it to a woman, but now that they're in the music business, they can. You can put the make-up on and do the grinning and the skinning, but when you stand in the face of a real motherfucker, they're seen as the three-dollar bills they are. They're not honest. You have to be honest and be a real motherfucking man or women. A lot of the stuff they do, they can do on their own if they would just man up.
Hip-hop is about culture and doing something in your own way. There's no way in hell that New York rappers should be hopping on dirty south music. I think dirty south music is hot when dirty south guys do it, but to hear a New York rapper does it with no ability and he's slanging his words like southern rappers, they have everybody hopping on their dick because the dirty south is popping now. That's the same thing that happened when Dr. Dre was hot out west. That's the biggest detriment to the game today. The hardest thing in the world is for these clown-ass motherfuckers to be themselves, man. It's disgusting.
Is it a lack of talent, bad advice, or are they just after the dollar?
You know what it is? Hip-hop became a hustle. The labels started giving bigger rewards for less talent. When people started getting all these different awards and Grammy's for people who have less talent, the people who come up behind the less-talented, they're going to think that level of talent is the max. Singers aren't real singers anymore and MC's aren't real MC's anymore. One thing I've never been is a hater. There are quality singers out here. But you have to do things under the right pretenses. Everybody wants to entertain the children. You have a guy like Brian McKnight who doesn't know what the fuck to say to the young girls, so he doesn't have a record out on the radio because he doesn't have a record for who the record labels are targeting. The whole rap audience is not between 16 and 21. You have people who grew up in hip-hop who are 35 and have real jobs and they buy records. If these guys were smart, they would cater to their audience. You have guys busting their ass and a 16 year-old or some college graduate straight out of Harvard who has never understood the concept of groundbreaking hip-hop or R&B telling you something's not hot. That's not real to me.
Do you want the new generation as fans?
I never turn down people as fans. I think having any types of fans is good. I'm not knocking the youth. I think they're keeping things fresh and new. My thing is just because it's not new, don't isolate it. You have cats like Big Daddy Kane and guys like that who still have a level of talent. It's not the fans that's the problem. It's the hypnotizers of the fans who's the problem. I have a lot of 15 or 16 year-olds as fans. If you have one rebellious bone in your body, you would like me. There are people who don't like it and that's fine, as long as they stay respectful. You always get people who don't know, and if somebody doesn't know, they just don't know. Reintroducing myself or getting in a situation where I can do a song how I want to and put it out how I want to on my own pretenses, that's the glory of being independent. I learned that from Showbiz and Lord Finesse. I can't disrespect what I've been taught by my peers. It's just about making good music. If fans want to come and rap with Bumpy, they're more than welcome.
Have you ever been told you're too intimidating and to tone it down?
I've been told that by a lot of people. A lot of people tell me I'm scary and that they're scared of me. My question is how can you be scared of somebody you don't know? They say I look scary. I think they're so used to fucking people over and if they try that with this guy, they'll end up in a trunk somewhere. That's a good fear. That means they're not going to fuck with me because they know I'll deal with them. Some of these people get their deals and before they realize that it doesn't last forever, they've already spent their money and they can't get into the building. There will never be another Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Rakim, or Bumpy Knuckles. There will never be another Common. These guys last forever because they found their own identity and they never tried to rhyme like anybody else. I am who I am, and I'm a big guy. If people feel they have a problem with me, then fuck them. Ain't nobody whopping my ass. And any record label that feels that way, I don't have to change, so fuck them too.
You've had some of the best producers work with you, from Pete Rock to DJ Premier, throughout your career. How did you get these guys to work with you?
I've been blessed to be able to come up in a time where people wanted to make music with who they liked. I met Premier crossing the street outside of Sony after they did "Step in the Arena. He was like, "Oh shit, you're Freddie Foxxx." "Oh shit, you're DJ Premier." We just shook hands and on some real shit, he said he wanted to work with me. That's the same way Treach was when we did "Hot Potato." All these relationships are based off respect, regardless of what people think, it's not intimidation. I was with Premier and Showbiz yesterday and we were talking about my album and how the game is today. Pete Rock and the Alchemist are my real friends. They'll tell you the same thing. It's not any fake love because when we really need each other outside of music, we show up. You have best friends splitting up over money now, and that's because they weren't established on a respect basis. I can go knock on Premier's door at 2 am and wake him up.
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