Four
years ago, I spoke to Rosco P. Coldchain on a rushed Arista Records
press day. Advance copies of the album were mailed, The Clipse/N.E.R.D.
buzz was still white-hot, and the North Philadelphia MC appeared that
he was a walk-on starter with Star Trak, having only a few short months
barring him from stardom. Those months proved devastatingly
crucial. Arista folded, while Rosco caught two gun charges after
reportedly laying somebody out on a Las Vegas casino floor. With the
resulting conviction, it’s only now that Rosco can catch his breath,
again a free man, with a re-spelled name and an album ready.
On a muggy West Philadelphia afternoon, Rosco, covered in non-descript
Ice Cream apparel, welcomes AllHipHop.com to a pre-production studio
overlooking a busy block. There, the rapper plays over a dozen records,
deeming most of them “cute” or “okay.” Sarcastically humble,
Coldchain’s makings of his Hazardous Life
debut are much deeper, textured, and soulful than what was presented in
2003. With over 135 such songs, perhaps jail can chisel an artist in
the way it caught 2Pac with All Eyez on Me. This might be the
very thing a label wants. On the other hand, with a limited dialogue
with Interscope Records, despite potentially brilliant records, is
Rosco even acknowledged – or worse, exploited? Amin Porter is
a funny, likable man to spend an afternoon with. He’s personable,
spirited and curious. However, when the record button is pushed down,
Porter swivels his chair, leans forward, and transforms into Rosco P.
Coldchain. He’s cold, he’s isolated, and he’s hard to read. Admittedly,
this MC writes what he sees. After all he’s seen in recent years,
Hip-Hop ought to revisit Rosco P., as his music and his attitude might
very well mirror the times.
AllHipHop.com: We can’t look at the future without looking at the past.
My first question is what did the prison experience due to your spirit
as an artist?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Wow… It didn’t damper it, I’ll say that much. It
gave me a more realistic vision on life. I’m the type of realistic
rapper that writes everything I see, so it enhanced everything. It gave
me more drive.
AllHipHop.com: It was four years ago that you and I last spoke; you
were talking to a lot of people. Arista had mailed out promo CDs.
Looking at Hip-Hop history, there are so many albums that have been so
close to coming out, yet didn’t. What explanation did you get?
Rosco P. Coldchain: We were with Arista. At that time, it was all new
money; it was a whole new relationship with me and Star Trak as
[Arista] artists. Once money gets involved, you’re being looked at as
an artist. It switched up. Nothing changed. Arista [folded], and that’s
what f**ked everything up.
AllHipHop.com: For The Clipse and for you…
Rosco P. Coldchain: For everybody. Just me catchin’ a case was a
double-whammy. [The labels] stuffed some of that paper. A lot of my
paper was comin’ from…that whole situation was crazy, man. I just feel
blessed to have another deal, man. I knew I’d be signed to Star Trak,
but I didn’t know if I’d get another deal or not – especially with what
The Clipse was going through, since they opened a lot of doors for me.
AllHipHop.com: We had to interview them in 2005 to find out what was
good with you. Nowadays, a rapper going to jail is a publicity machine.
Your entire incarceration was hardly covered. Why? What really happened?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Cases: when you catch one, you catch a bunch of
them. I went on the road. I caught an attempted murder [charge] out in
Las Vegas, and I caught two gun cases after that in Philadelphia. I’m
not gonna really get into it, ‘cause my thing about it is don’t let the
public know. You don’t want to tarnish your reputation. You can know me
as being this real street dude, but I’m not gonna be the
run-of-the-mill that’s gonna sit there and brag about X, Y, and Z. It’s
bad enough that [Black people] are already being looked at as we are by
certain individuals; I don’t want to promote that whole situation with
me. Yeah, s**t happens, we went through it.
AllHipHop.com: We live in the Tony Yayo era, where unheard rappers
leave jail famous. When you came out and were shopping, was it hard?
Rosco P. Coldchain: I already had the deal before I went in.
AllHipHop.com: Arista folded.
Rosco P. Coldchain: Okay, I was at Interscope. Me and a few other
artists went over to Interscope. Star Trak has a situation there. To
make a long story short, Kelis and The Clipse went to Jive; we went to
Interscope. They’re f**ked, I’m f**ked, we f**ked. [Jive] promoted [The
Clipse and Kelis].
AllHipHop.com: What’s your situation now?
Rosco P. Coldchain: I’m with Star Trak. The realization is business is business. We’re workin’.
AllHipHop.com: The music you just played me was bananas. Are you still tied into Interscope?
Rosco P. Coldchain: I’m still with Interscope. It’s comin’. S**t. The album’s comin’. Really, that’s it.
AllHipHop.com: Do you have a lot of dialogue with Interscope?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Nah. We got our inside tracks with ‘em. Interscope,
they got a large roster; you’ve got to make your imprint. Do we have an
imprint? Yeah, we definitely made our noise to where there’s certain
individuals of importance that know us. But…it’s 50 [Cent] mania now.
AllHipHop.com: When you were locked up, how did your writing – quantity and quality differ from now that you’re out?
Rosco P. Coldchain: When you go to jail, you think deep. Your thought process is so deep, ‘cause that’s all you have
to do. They sit your ass to think about what you’ve done. As a result,
you think about a lot of s**t. It enhances your thinking process. A lot
of the times, it’s kinda crazy… all the material from ’03, was written
in jail from before. So it’s like… it’s crazy… but every time I go to
jail for a nice amount of time, I get a good amount of the album of the
done.
AllHipHop.com: Listening to your recent tracks, the verses are dense with similes, images, metaphors… do you read a lot?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Yeah. When I’m reading now at this particular moment is Robert Greene’s 33 Strategies of War. I read James Patterson, all that crazy s**t. I read a lot of s**t – anything I can get my hands on, I read it.
AllHipHop.com: Looking back at 2003, your album got me excited. You had
Kanye, Premier, Alchemist, so on. Can you listen to that material
today? How does it feel?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Yeah. A lot of that s**t, I’m gonna put on this
album. It’s the same situation [DMX] had, Lupe Fiasco. It’s still
fresh; people haven’t heard it. Would I lead with a single from ’03?
No. But a lot of that s**t I still feel good about.
AllHipHop.com: How has the prison situation affected your day-to-day
life and your relationships? You played me some songs touching on that…
Rosco P. Coldchain: I’m just cold, man. I’m cold.
AllHipHop.com: In what way?
Rosco P. Coldchain: You grow numb to a lot of s**t that’s done to you.
A lot of times, when you’re younger, you do things repetitiously, even
though you know it’s wrong. I was stuck in that situation – being nice,
kind-hearted, doing things well, spending well. Hustlin’, guns, getting
locked up over and over again, I’m trying to slow down. Habits.
The older you get, the number you get. When you’re young, you’re
oblivious. You say a lot of dumb s**t. I’m a grown ass f**kin’ man now,
there’s no time to be laughin’ anymore. Yeah, a joke here, a joke
there, but s**t is really serious out there. The world is serious out
there. Really, there’s no more games.
AllHipHop.com: There’s a lot of people that would say a cold heart is
better, so you’re not setting yourself up for hurt or disappointment.
Still, is there a part of you that yearns for that naivety or whatever
again and wants to go back?
Rosco P. Coldchain: There’s parts of me that goes back. F**k “want it,”
I went. I’m still learnin’. That’s my goal: to be a cold motherf**ker.
I’m good. [Laughs] I’m trying to learn how to not let certain s**t get
to me. Only emotional n***as… that’s the only motherf**kas that’s in
jail or in bad situations, not thinking. When you think with your heart
instead of your mind, a lot of times, you think wrong. You do dumb
s**t, impulsive s**t.
AllHipHop.com: I’m gonna play devil’s advocate. I like what you’re
saying, but in terms of the music, emotion propels Hip-Hop. 2Pac was
emotional; he sold. A lot of this stuff on the radio lacks emotion,
it’s lifeless. What you played me had emotion…
Rosco P. Coldchain: My music is totally different! You’ve got to be a
character. The music is a reflection of you, but my rap name isn’t Amin
Porter; my name is Rosco P. Coldchain, ‘cause that’s what I want to
give you – I want to give you some
of Amin Porter. You can’t have all of Amin Porter, ‘cause some of Amin
Porter only belongs to Amin Porter. That’s what paparazzi and certain
people don’t understand – fanatics. I want some of me to be me.
Motherf**kers, the label – they’ve been tryin’ to get a whole heap of
s**t out of me. “Yo, you need to talk! You’ve got to tell ‘em your
life!” I’m not tellin’ you every f**kin’ thing in my life! There’s
certain s**t I don’t want out there. Who’s my [psychologist]? Who’s gonna help me?
AllHipHop.com: Do you know feel that the rap industry is designed to keep you cold or numb?
Rosco P. Coldchain: They don’t want a person…that’s a great question!
Damn. That’s a good one…You know what? Yeah. Yeah, because if you’re
the type of individual that writes everything you see – you’re gonna
have to go through certain s**t to say s**t. That’s the s**t that they
want, and that’s the s**t you’ve got to give ‘em. Damn right! Yeah.
They want you to stay there. It’s all about business. It’s not on no
White man/Black man thing, but they want you to stay down ‘cause that’s
what they promote to the masses; that’s what the masses like. You’ve
got to stay oppressed, f**ked up, so you can talk about what you see.
That’s what you do, ‘cause that’s what they like. If you don’t do that,
you’re a tax write-off.
AllHipHop.com: What can your fans do to expedite your process?
Rosco P. Coldchain: [Chuckles] S**t. Really, fans…hit my MySpace, get my s**t poppin’! That’s really that.
AllHipHop.com: I respect the fact that I don’t see a million Rosco P.
mixtapes out. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen one. Why? Especially
given your situation.
Rosco P. Coldchain: [Laughs] It’s corny! You’ll drain yourself out.
You’ve got to value and respect scarcity. I really play it low-key, so
when I come out, it’s a branded thing. Like, “Wow. Where you been? I
been waiting for this s**t” type thing. I’ve been recently talking to
see what’s going on…
AllHipHop.com: With a few exceptions, the only mixtapes worth having in
2005 and 2006 were the Re-Up Gang mixtapes. As a fellow Philly dude,
how did it feel to watch Ab Liva and Sandman get everybody talking in a
spot, that in 2003, was yours with a bullet?
Rosco P. Coldchain: I was cool. Of course, initially, you sit there and
you wonder…what are they thinking? Everybody is definitely on a cool,
family-oriented vibe. Those are two people that I genuinely love. They
got down with the crew. Their situation isn’t my situation; we’re all
in different situations. Go for it; I’m happy for you.
AllHipHop.com: What’s your relationship like with Pharrell, now?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Great question. Pharrell’s on his own planet. He’s
rich; he’s in his own zone. Is there long-distance love? Yeah. [Laughs]
The rich hang with the rich; the poor hang with the poor. Sometimes the
rich can hang with the poor, if that’s what they decide to do. In his
particular case, he’s workin’. At this particular moment, it’s boss and
employee; I’m the employee and he’s definitely the boss.
AllHipHop.com: To keep it funky, do you feel that your people at Star
Trak are working to push your project through at Interscope?
Rosco P. Coldchain: Certain people, yeah; certain people, no. It’s a 50/50 thing.
AllHipHop.com: Did it affect your buzz to appear on “Chinese New Year” on The Clipse album last year?
Rosco P. Coldchain: It was cool. They
were keeping my name alive. Is Star Trak keeping my name alive? Certain
people. Certain important people. Really, how I see it, it all boils
down to the boss, really. If he didn’t have love for me then I wouldn’t
be there, thinking, “Okay, we still need him as the marquis figurehead
for this whole thing.” Yeah. Certain people don’t f**k with me, certain
people do.
