(AllHipHop Features) Roy Jones Jr. is not the type to pacify his passions for anybody. And, when it comes to boxing and Hip-Hop, he’s still all in. The former champion travels to Wilmington, Delaware for his next fight against bare-knuckle brawler Bobby Gunn on Friday. February 17th in at the Chase Center on the Riverfront. In this exclusive, AllHipHop finds out that RJJ also delves deep into his relationship with Hip-Hop too and why he’ll continue to put out music as well. He’s aging, but the fight remains strong is Roy Jones, even as critics look for the legendary pugilist to retire. Lastly, remember that tense moment with Fat Joe over “Lean Back” lyrics? If you don’t, RJJ gives up the update on that whole ordeal.
AllHipHop.com: How did this fight come together in Delaware?
Roy Jones Jr: Its just that, he offered the fight a long time ago and I told him if we ever got the right situation, I wouldn’t mind fighting him. He’s a legend in his own right. A bare knuckle fighter. 72-0 as a bare knuckle fighter. Why would I not take this opportunity, you know? If anybody deserves a chance, its him. Love going places where [boxing] doesn’t normally happen at. I saw Delaware as place that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention as far as boxing goes.
AllHipHop.com: In your prime, you were considered one of the best pound-for-pound. What do you still have to offer the sport of boxing?
Roy Jones Jr: I’m still one of the best ever. Still got the the fastest hands ever. At this age, you never know what day might be your last day. Also, I wanna go out with a bang. So, what I said [on my Facebook page] to keep me motivate and make me work harder, any move that somebody says that they want me to do, I’m going to deliver that move in this fight.
AllHipHop.com: Who has been your toughest opponent that you have ever faced.
Roy Jones Jr: The guy that is the toughest of all of them would have to be James Toney. He’s just so savvy, so slick in the ring. At that time, he was pound for pound, one of the best himself. They say, to be the man, you gotta beat the man. It was my time to be the man.
AllHipHop.com: Now, you used to rap a little bit. What are your thoughts on your career as an emcee?
Roy Jones Jr: I enjoyed it. I got that Body Head Bangerz: Volume Two that I’m working on. Should be out around May or June. I love music and I’n always gonna be a music connoisseur and I will have Body Head Bangerz: Volume Two coming out this summer.
AllHipHop.com: Oh wow! Are you going to rapping or will it be other people?
Roy Jones Jr: Its going to be me and other people. You know how we do. We got a whole Body Head stable, as always. We come as a group. We come as a team. We come as a force.
AllHipHop.com: In hindsight, “Ya’ll Musta Forgot.,” is still a phrase that we use – its almost an iconic statement.
Roy Jones Jr: Its a statement that everybody can relate to for the rest of their lives. That’s what I like about it. It something that people can never forget. How many people cannot say “y’all musta forgot?” Everybody knows an a-hole that seems to have forgotten about [something great you did]. Lyrics are a form of expression.
AllHipHop.com: I talked to Floyd Mayweather, Jr a couple weeks ago and he also goes back to music. What is it about music that keeps you going back?
Roy Jones Jr: Again, music is a form of expression. And boxing – the way that we express ourselves – music is the same thing. Music, you gotta think about it like this, especially in the old school days. If you wasn’t what you rapped about, then they didn’t want to hear you. If you ain’t a killer, don’t rap about it. Be who you are. Now, everybody can say everything. Back in the day, you couldn’t just do that. Rap is still a form of expression, still. Now, if you a killer, tell us about that. We’ll listen to that. But, if you not a killer, don’t rap about being a killer. You not.
AllHipHop.com: It has been a bit of time since your last album. What kind of music styles are we gonna hear from you this time?
Roy Jones Jr: My thing is, I try to stay in my lane. And my lane is: upbeat, uptempo, makes you wanna go knock somebody’s head off. That’s my lane. When I rap, that’s what Roy Jones stands for. that’s who Roy Jones is. My goal is stay in my lanes. I’m that guy that’s talking about knocking peoples heads off. That’s what I do for a living. I knock heads off. When I rap, I want you to feel like you gonna go buss somebody’s head.
AllHipHop.com: What gets you hyped up?
Roy Jones Jr: A lot of artists get me hyped up. But, I wanna give a shout out to an old friend of mine, Fat Joe. The song I’m gonna come out to this fight is “My Life,” one of my favorite Fat Joe songs. Because, me and him, we had issues, but we still cool to this day. To show my appreciation to who he is in Hip-Hop, I think that was my favorite Fat Joe song ever so I’m going to come out to it this time.
AllHipHop.com: I heard you stepped to Fat Joe back in the day [because of a line in the hit song “Lean Back”].
Roy Jones Jr: That’s old business. We beyond that. I love Fat Joe. I love the music. So, why not do something that’s like a tribute to him?
AllHipHop.com: We recently saw Bernard Hopkins get knocked out of the ring. We are big fans of him and you as well. Do you have any concerns…?
Roy Jones Jr: No, no…none whatsoever. Bernard got knocked out of the ring. Yes, he did. But guess what? Bernard went out the way Bernard wanted to do it. Now, nobody wants to lose, but Bernard knew that was a possibility when he made that choice. Bernard did what Bernard wanted to do. Not what somebody else wanted to do. I respect that more.
AllHipHop.com: I can respect that. Do you have an aspirations to retire? Or are you going to keep fighting until…
Roy Jones Jr: In this game, you take it day by day. You don’t know what tomorrow gonna hold. At our age, any day can be your last. What you have to do is, make the best of every day you have. You don’t know which one of those days is going to be your last day.
Part two of this interview comes tomorrow.
Roy Jones Jr meets Bobby Gunn in a clash for the WBF World Cruiserweight Championship.
Friday, February 17 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington, Delaware.
Get your tickets now at www.FirstStateFights.com