A few years back Carson, CA native Bishop Lamont took the music world by surprise when Dr. Dre announced on L.A.’s Power 106 FM that he had his eye on possibly signing the young star to his label. Quite a few artists have signed to Dre’s Aftermath label over the years but never before had the good doctor been very vocal about bringing aboard a new and basically unheard of talent. Bishop Lamont ended up signing to Aftermath and since then has been preparing his debut release The Reformation. In addition to his own album, Bishop is playing a huge role in writing and helping out with his mentor’s long awaited release that we all hope to see one day, Detox. Both projects have taken their time in being released and some fans have even given up on seeing Dre’s Detox album. The West Coast rap scene is counting on Bishop Lamont to help revitalize the sluggish region and the music world itself is looking for Dr. Dre’s album to help turn the tide against downward spiraling CD sales. AllHipHop.com caught up with Bishop Lamont to talk about his recent well known controversy’s involving a former producer and a DJ who he claims bootlegged his music, the new Confessional mixtape and of course the Reformation and Detox albums. AllHipHop.com: It was reported here on AllHipHop about a falling out and a slight altercation between yourself and producer J. Wells. What’s going on with you two?Bishop Lamont: At the end of the day there is nothing going on with us, and that’s where that all stems from because I don’t work with the dude anymore. That hurt his feelings. I hate to even bring it up anymore because it’s a closed chapter for him as it has been for me. He got out of pocket and kept talking and it just ended up in a way that it didn’t have to end up. AllHipHop.com: Is there a chance of you two ever working this out?Bishop Lamont: There is nothing to work out. From how it was presented on the Internet and in interviews with this dude, he makes it sound like we were the best of friends and that we grew up together – and that wasn’t the case. AllHipHop.com: So then what was the real connection between you two?Bishop Lamont: I can’t remember how we met but it was through mutual friends. They wanted to see us do some stuff together and indeed it was magic, but at the same time there were a lot of faulty things there that my spirit and persona didn’t want to keep dealing with. It could have been something great but it wasn’t meant to be. When you go on the Internet and create all kinds of bulls**t, saying all kinds of left things and make wack diss songs about me – I am not going to make diss songs back to you. I am going to talk to you right to your face, especially if it’s personal and you’re people, I am going to come holler at you. We are going to squab or talk it out and that’s going to be the end of it. It was just some negative energy by somebody wanting to get famous, and they did get famous but not in the way that they wanted. Outside people were like, “Wasn’t Bishop with this dude?” The answer is no. I stepped away from this dude long before I got my record deal. AllHipHop.com: Do you regret that situation at all?Bishop Lamont: I don’t regret it all brother, because it had to happen. It’s not the way that I wanted it to happen but I had no choice. I’m a grown man. I’m 29 and I’ll be 30 this year. I don’t deal with the bulls**t, the slick little tricks or the he say/she say at this point in my life. It’s done and over now.
“Let’s call him who he is, DJ Thong. DJ Thong is a low down dirty bastard.”
AllHipHop.com: The other night I received a Youtube clip of you confronting a DJ here on the West Coast by the name of DJ Strong. What’s the story?Bishop Lamont: Let’s call him who he is, DJ Thong [Bishop starts singing part the Thong Song by Sisqo]. DJ Thong is a low down dirty bastard. He’s also a b**ch and might be a hermaphrodite. Actually, I think he’s a transvestite because you saw who the man was between him and his girl in that video. Sarah his girl is the man and he’s the female. The dude took my master recordings. AllHipHop.com: How did he get the masters in the first place?Bishop Lamont: He went to DJ Whoo Kid and made it seem like we were down. Whoo Kid is my family beyond rap. Before I was signed, he was blessing me and we were moving. We met at Red Spyda’s studio a few years ago and he’s been looking out for me ever since. So here comes DJ Thong and he’s all like, “I’ll help you do this West Coast mixtape” to Whoo Kid. This guy’s name never comes up between me and Whoo Kid. He never reaches out to me to tell me that he’s a part of it. All I have is my word and my reputation and I have a good relationship with the West Coast DJ’s. So when it comes time for the Confessional project, a lot of them wanted to be a part of the project. I respectfully told all of them that I am doing this project with Whoo Kid. So here comes DJ Thong with a fake version. He puts my face over the body of Mack 10 on the cover and calls it Confessions – like Usher! Before all of this s**t popped up, I spoke to Whoo Kid and said, “I don’t know Strong! Who the f**k is this?” So I got Strong’s number and called him. I told him respectfully, “It’s nothing against you. A lot of other West Coast DJ’s would be in your place because I don’t know you like that. That would be disrespect to the other DJ’s that I work with. You can’t be a part of this project.” He was like, “No. Come on man. I can make it big for you.” I told him that the project was big enough already but if he wanted to support and spread the word that it was appreciated – then we got off the phone. Next thing you know, the fake Confessions cover pops up with me on Mack 10’s body with Low-Low’s in the background and Palm Trees. The dude puts out a bogus-a** mixtape with some of my album records on there. That right there cost me and got Dr. Dre and Aftermath hot! AllHipHop.com: Were those album tracks given to be a part of the official mixtape? Bishop Lamont: Naw. Those were just given to Whoo Kid to let him hear stuff. But Strong got a few of those songs and started running around crazy with stuff. He sold them to people and pressed up 5,000 copies. So he’s trying to f**k me on purpose. I called him up and told him, “You done f**ked up.” He starts lying to me on the phone. Then the truth about this dude comes to me through his former business partner DJ Warrior. He sold it to bootleggers just to f**k me and spite me. Initially I came to this dude as a man and gave him nothing but blessed energy and he went devil on me. So how do you deal with the devil? You’ve got to exercise the demon. So myself and my boy Taje’ went over to his HipHopWest store to holler at him. I wasn’t going to do anything to him. This wasn’t on the Youtube but I told him, “Come outside. I don’t want to beat your a** and break s**t in your store in front of your wife, because I respect your wife.” Sarah’s loveable but you can see on the clip that she knows that he’s a b**ch too. That’s how much she loves him. She doesn’t care that he’s a b**ch. Then of course you see what takes place on that video. The dude is just a f**ked up, wicked and crafty dude. His name is DJ Thong and he knows what he did. You can tell people what you want but the truth is seen on tape. Then he called the Police on me! AllHipHop.com: What did the police tell you?Bishop Lamont: I got away before the police came. I had to walk out cool. You can see I closed the gate on the footage because I knew the police was coming. They were like four cars deep too. I was walking by like I was on a lunch break because it’s a business section. They asked me, “Do you know about any fights or disturbances?” I was like, “Naw. I work around here. I don’t know. I saw some dudes down the street though.” Them n****s drove off and we all skated. AllHipHop.com: How bad did the leaked album tracks set you back?Bishop Lamont: It set me back because those are my relationships with the producers LT Mo and Dreddy Beats. Dreddy is out in London and I’ve recorded with him there and here in the States. I met him through Busta Rhymes. So how does my word look when your record leaks and it’s supposed to be for my album? And of course I still want to bless my dudes with bread for their work. AllHipHop.com: How bad was the heat from the label over that?Bishop Lamont: They’ve been calling me all day [laughs]. I ain’t answered yet. Those the things that wicked people do though. I am not trying to f**k with people, it’s just that people are trying to f**k with me. Whenever you see or hear of me going crazy, it’s because motherf**kers push me to that. I don’t ever want it to be twisted that I’m some savage-a** bully-a** n***a. Don’t f**k with the spirit though. Don’t think that God won’t smash you. If I am right, then I am really going to ride on your a**. If I am wrong then I am not going to say nothing. But if I am right, then I am going to make you know that I am right and make you say that I am right. That’s how it is with that b####-a** DJ Thong.AllHipHop.com: This seems like the 2nd or 3rd incident between the MC and the DJ in just a short period of time. Bishop Lamont: If he’s a real DJ then there aren’t going to be any issues. Its guys that masquerade as DJ’s because real DJ’s don’t do s### like that. Have you seen him [Strong] scratch? No. Have you seen him rock parties? No. This dude even wanted to be a cop. No wonder he called the police on me. It’s just b**ch a** people doing b**ch a** things. This guy is thinking, “I’m going to leak some s**t and f**k someone else off too because it’s fun.” Download The Confessional [Sendspace link]AllHipHop.com: Ok. Let’s talk about the center of all of this controversy, The Confessional mixtape. Bishop Lamont: There are two versions of it, one that I did with Whoo Kid and the untagged version. There are more records on the untagged version than the Whoo Kid mixtape. You’ll see though. I really don’t want to let nothing out of the bag. Whoo Kid did a magnificent job with his because there are a lot of movie pieces on there. It moves great and it’s fun. The untagged lets you groove to it however you want to groove to them. I just leave it to y’all to feel it and that’s how it was intended – not what b**ch a** Thong did out of spite like a little girl because he had sand in his v#####. This project is for you fans. All of you out there make it possible for me to do what I do, and that’s why I do what I do for you all. It’s never about the money and that’s why this mixtape is for free. It’s about blessing you all. The bottom line is keeping it positive. It’s so big being in the midst of finishing Detox, my album The Reformation which is near 99% done. AllHipHop.com: The Reformation is that much near completion already?Bishop Lamont: Yeah! I also finally got DJ Quik in here within the last hour to bless me. I’ve got so many surprises for you all. In the midst of all the bulls**t, God keeps me above it and it stays positive. You are always going to have distractions. When you are on the right path, it’s a hard path to walk, and there are going to be many demons sent your way to try to distract you and push you off that path – but stay on that path! I almost went off of that path just in the J. Wells and Strong situations. That’s just the recipe of the devil trying to stop me from doing the Chuuuch-ness. Focus [an Aftermath producer] calls me Cobra Commander at times because I get so riled, but I am learning. At this altitude and what’s at stake, I can’t f**k it off. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to be at Dr. Dre’s side and for him to be at mine. It’s just ho-a** n****s like DJ Thong that are instruments of the devil – because the devil is a b*tch a** n***a – of course he would have a DJ named DJ Thong do b**ch a** things. AllHipHop.com: This is your 4th epic street album. Is this going to be the last one before your actual album drops?Bishop Lamont: See, you already know what time it is. That’s why I wanted to come out so big with The Confessional. I wanted to do it one more time before the real jump off comes. AllHipHop.com: You probably hate this question already, but do you have a real idea when The Reformation is going to drop?Bishop Lamont: Me and Dre were talking about that last week. I don’t hate answering that question. AllHipHop.com: You must hear it a million times though. Bishop Lamont: [Laughs] You just know how Aftermath works as far as Interscope’s side and release dates. Me and Dre were in the studio last week working on some stuff for Detox. The first thing that came out of his mouth was, “It’s really big in the streets. I’m hearing all of the stuff that’s going on. I think that we need to re-think Detox coming before you because you are ready to go and I am moving like a super snail because I want everything to be perfect. I’m thinking that we need to re-think this and make you happen first.” I just told him that I’m not trippin’. I’m ready, one in the chamber and extra clips. Now the way that we are looking my friend is October or November. I’ve written so much of Detox and I am all on Detox, so I’ve got two albums coming. Either way that one first or mine, it doesn’t matter because it’s a win-win situation.
“Yeah, I call this the fast-food rap era… I’m giving you a real home cooked meal. It’s Iron Chef with the world’s top chefs in the kitchen. Bon Bon Appét##!”
AllHipHop.com: 2008, we are finally going to see a Bishop album! Bishop Lamont: [Laughs] Praise God, man! I’m glad that it took the time that it took because I just love being a student of the game. It helped me to compose the album that I wanted The Reformation to truly be and to get the features that I needed. People’s time schedules are crazy – getting all of these rock stars to come in. It had to be cohesive. AllHipHop.com: More fans need to learn that some things do take time to cook. Bishop Lamont: Yeah, I call this the fast-food rap era. You get in line, order and then get it. If you don’t eat it within the first few minutes, the fries get hard and the tacos ain’t no good. But when you go to a real restaurant or there’s some real cooking going on at your mom’s house – it’s going to take a while. Stuff has to be cleaned, seasoned right, and meat has to be prepared. That’s what this situation is. I’m giving you a real home cooked meal. It’s Iron Chef with the world’s top chefs in the kitchen. Bon Appét##! AllHipHop.com: Do you have a single for The Reformation album dropping soon?Bishop Lamont: I would look for it in July. AllHipHop.com: Is the one for the video that you shot in the Bahamas? The song called “I Dominate” with Dr. Dre?Bishop Lamont: No. We didn’t shoot that video. We went out there but changed our minds at the last minute. Thank God we did that because this one is even a greater record than “I Dominate.” That song was an ill record but it’s like a 3rd or 4th single type of song. It was kind of like a “Big Pimpin” poppy-type record with me and Dre. We’re both buff so we wanted to get on some yachts. This new single though is a record called “Growed Up”, produced by Dr. Dre, that is so f**kin’ ridiculous. That’s the first single. You’ll hear him rap on something later also.
“Detox is his Return of The Jedi – his last hoo-rah. It’s big budget, THX, Death Star, Yoda, Darth Vader – everything and more.”
AllHipHop.com: So Detox is moving at a snails pace?Bishop Lamont: Super snail – but the records are crazy. Dre is real meticulous and he’s going to have to put the super super scrutiny on himself because we haven’t heard from him in nearly 10 years. He’s really getting those records together. We were in there last week working for just a intro on a record. He’s going for monumental so there will be no questions, doubts or disappointments because people have been waiting for a ridiculously f**king time for this album. If it’s taken 10 years for him to deliver it then it’s definitely taken time to make it. AllHipHop.com: 2008 is out of the picture. Can we cross out 2009 too?Bishop Lamont: Naw, not at all. We are about 60% done. It’s just getting the records right and the new installment of Dre and where he’s at in this point in his life correct and in line with everything he’s done over the years. He’s been doing this for over 20 something years. He just can’t jump back in a Compton hat with Low-Low’s and ride around. Everything has to be relevant to the times that we are living in and to how he’s living. He’ll still give you that ill-a** gangsta s**t that you are used to – but when you are almost a billionaire – c’mon. AllHipHop.com: It’s a different element of Hip-Hop now. That has to be a difficult situation as an artist to be in. Bishop Lamont: He doesn’t even think about that. He just thinks about how he wants to move the world. That s**t isn’t even on his radar. He doesn’t perceive time – that’s why it’s taken almost 10 years [laughs]. He lives in his own world and goes by his own set of rules – and that’s how he’s always won each time. He’s been doing this for 22 years and he knows what he’s doing. Detox is his Return of The Jedi – his last hoo-rah. It’s big budget, THX, Death Star, Yoda, Darth Vader – everything and more. That’s what people expect but he’s trying to go beyond what you expect. That’s a tall glass of water to drink.