AllHipHop: Eastern Conference represents for the past with Tame-One and RA the
Rugged Man. How’d they approach you to actually put this record out?
Akinyele: J-Zone put me up on them. He said they
were a good label. At the same token, I knew [DJ Mighty-Mi] from a while ago.
They were the only label who could understand what Akinyele once was. At first
I was gonna do it with another label called Day By Day, but at the last minute,
these guys they get scared. I wanted to do it on the independent side. I had
to give this album to someone who knows Hip-Hop. If I didn’t, they wouldn’t
know how to work it. This isn’t an album that’s gonna sell two million albums
off the gate. But this album is a guaranteed album that we will make a dent
in Rap history. Like, "Wow, and he came back with another V##### Diner
classic." This album is called, Music Killz. The reason I [chose
that], is when I listen to these old songs, they’re timeless. When you hear
it, you won’t know. I hear a lot of voices in the record from people who were
in the studio with me from around that time. And the sad thing is, me and a
lot of those people don’t have relationships no more. That’s because the music
killed the relationship. f*ck crack, music kills. You’ll die from music physically,
mentally, or emotionally. Example – Dianna Ross was a Supreme. But she always
tries to live being the person she once was. That kills a star emotionally and
mentally. Or you go out like Biggie and Pac and the music kills you physically
and literally. When Elvis was older, nobody was giving a f*ck about Elvis. Luckily
he died and that kept his legacy alive. If If Q-Tip would have died years ago,
he would have gone out as the Abstract Prince. But now, it’s killing him that
the crowd is not feeling him anymore as much as they once was. Like the Jungle
Brothers. If Tupac and Biggie was alive, they might not have been as popular
as they are now. Look at Jay-Z. As high as he is, he’s still fizzling out. It’s
in with the new right now. I don’t think Jay is retiring because he’s tired.
I think he’s retiring because you’ve got the new 50 Cent’s and new mothaf*ckas
getting a whole lot of notoriety, and he’s not number one no more. This album
takes me back to the Rob Swift days, the Large Professor days, the Barbeque
days, when me and Nas would take the train just hoping that people would actually
feel what we did. It was just for the happiness, then all that joy is gone.
Music killed it.
AllHipHop: Speaking of Large Professor and Rob
Swift, is there still that family bond?
Akinyele: Me and Large Professor talk. Me and
Rob Swift talk. Me and Dr. Butcher talk. We’re all pretty great friends. What
it was when we first started, we were young kids having fun, making music, and
all of us were the best at what we were doing. When we were doing albums, we
didn’t know if we were the sh*t, or it was great, when we were doing albums,
it was fun making it. I’m in the studio watching Large Professor make Breaking
Atoms. We didn’t know it was gonna be a Hip-Hop classic. We went on tour
with Large Professor. I remember, me and Nas, our per-diem was ten dollars a
day. That was the world to us! To this day, me and Nas, we’re very close friends.
I listen to the guys making this sh*t now, I like it. I don’t think it’s creative.
But I like it. Yeah, I can say why the people like this sh*t. It’s nothing like
when you hear "Ante Up" that makes you [shiver].
AllHipHop: A couple weeks ago, I write an editorial
about collaborations. I cited "Live at the BBQ" as one of the last
good ones. I know even recently you did a collaboration with Noreaga. In your
opinion, what happened to the lost art of collaboration?
Akinyele: I don’t really do collaborations with
no one, really. Only reason I did one with Noreaga ’cause I had him growing
up. Like I actually kinda damn near put him on. I used to have him and Capone
in my van taking ’em from town to town. Noreaga was a younger guy. We both came
out of Queens. I knew Nore when he was ten. A lot of people call me all over
the world for collaborations, but I don’t even touch it. Because it’s not genuine.
They like, "Drop sixteen and a hook, then eight and a hook." No, we
gonna do it til’ it’s right. When we did, "Live At the BBQ", it was
people just rhyming from their soul. Go til’ you tired. Nowadays it’s funny
because back then you’d only do collaborations with people you knew and was
on your caliber – and took the music as serious as you did. That’s what made
it a friendship. Today the collabo’s are based on status. The money’s so different
now.
AllHipHop: definitely.
Akinyele: You look at mothaf*ckin’ Melle-Mel,
Kurtis Blow, and all these mothaf*ckas right now, and it’s like, no one gives
a f*ck about them. My whole thing right now is I want to start a damn near Hip-Hop
Union. We’ll start a union to the old rockers where everybody gives some money
back off what they make. And if you don’t donate at least ten percent of your
budget, Ak is coming after you. Start the revolution for a cause. Do I feel
that I’m better than any f*ckin’ rapper out there? f*ck yeah! Do I feel like
I can do metaphors around they ass all day? Yeah.
AllHipHop: "Save that broke sh*t for an
orthopedic cast."
Akinyele: Exactly! That was my forte. When I
watch Fabulous and Jadakiss do metaphors, it’s like, "Ha Ha. I like it.
That’s cute." I listen to it, and I then I want to start a union right
now almost. Let’s give back. If you don’t, I’ll come and shut you down.
AllHipHop: Speaking of the metaphorics, you got
"Panic, like b*tches that Eazy-E done f*cked" on the new one. Ouch,
Ak! Do you have a career favorite?
Akinyele: I would say in "Dear Diary",
back in 1992, I was like, "I’m doper than heroin, so just take my name
in vein." Everyday you come up with a different one.
AllHipHop: I got into a debate recently over
who was better, you or Finesse.
Akinyele: I’ll tell you that, straight up. I’ll
give it to Lord Finesse, hands down. Just ‘cuz with him. I used to listen to
him hard, and grew up with him rocking it. Until today, he’s one of my best
friends. Me and him, we used to just call each other up. Me and Finesse used
to run around together and I don’t care who you was. If you were the biggest
artist, we would come to your show, and we would just rock for free, at your
show, just to shut you down. Like for instance, he’d call up and say, "Yo
Ak, I saw MC blah blah, and he gave me a pound, and I didn’t like how he gave
me a pound. Like he was better than me." And we’ll find where he’s performing
at and we’ll go to the promoter and be like, "We just want to rock an accapella
for ten minutes." The guy would have to deal with it and come on.
AllHipHop: Do you think V##### Diner will
ever be repressed?
Akinyele: I don’t know. The one thing I want
to say is when they took that album off the shelves, it was because [of], at
the time, Ted Fields and Jimmy Iovine. I had a song called "Break a b*tch
Neck" with me and Kool G Rap [which is available on Music Killz],
It didn’t make it back then. They didn’t like the song called, "I Love
Hoes" [either]. I got into a whole bunch of trouble. So they kinda pulled
it from the shelves. And [three] years later, they sign f*ckin’ Eminem sayin’
the same sh*t I was saying [three] years [before]. Do I think it’ll be repressed?
I don’t know. But in this computer era, you can go online and buy that album.
The computer killed the music but it also opened the gates for it.
Music Killz is available now!
