Juelz Santana: Young Machine Gun

Juelz Santana was introduced to the rap game in a major way. Featured on Cam’Ron’s hits "Oh Boy," and "Hey Ma," Juelz has seen some interesting things in his life. Now, the upcoming artist is ready to pick up where the gold selling album, Diplomatic Immunity left off. AllHipHop.com: You coming under the umbrella of […]

Juelz Santana was introduced to the rap game

in a major way. Featured on Cam’Ron’s hits "Oh Boy," and "Hey

Ma," Juelz has seen some interesting things in his life.

Now, the upcoming artist is ready to pick up

where the gold selling album, Diplomatic Immunity left off.

AllHipHop.com: You coming under the umbrella

of Cam, a lot of artists that have come under others, haven’t done as good as

the original or their mentor.

Juelz Santana: I’m just trying to do me. Cam’s

promoting me, I’m promoting me. That’s another reason why Cam tries, when I

go do my shows, he lets me do me. Like a lot of artists, when they coming up,

they use their mentors like right next to them. It’s good to do that too, but

it’s like Cam wants me to go do me. Cam says "I want the people to see

that you are Juelz Santana, you can stand-alone, you could do what you do by

yourself." We family, like I can walk out and he’s right there. It’s always

gonna be that, but it’s just like yo "now it’s your time, if you gotta

stand alone, you gotta stand alone."

AllHipHop.com: What’s going to be featured to

the people?

JS: The album is called Juelz Santana, From

Me To You. Its crazy, super crazy. I put my all in to it. Its like a real long

journey. I take you straight through my own life, I put together an album, not

just something for the people to go buy

AllHipHop.com: Who’s on it?

JS: Really the family and me cause I know my

album would be promoted by hype and all that. This dude on it, this dude on

it. I f*ck with a lot of dudes; I’m about to start working with everybody now.

I just wanted to do my album by myself and have people just really f*ck with

me. I want people to say that Juelz Santana came out and did his thing

AllHipHop.com: What about production wise?

JS: I f*cked a lot with the Heat Majors, like

ya know they got in house producers, I got a couple of beats from Charlotte

Man. I got beats from D.R. Period on my album. I got beats from Jimmy Hendricks;

he worked on Jay’s album. He did the My Way on Jay’s album. I worked with these

dudes from Philly they are like Peddi and them’s in house producers, like Freeway

and them. They do a lot of beats for them, so we reached out and touched bases

with them. I’m saying, who else I go on there? Self which did the Santana sound

joint. I worked with a couple of producers. Just Blaze got a track on there.

AllHipHop.com: So what kind of topics are you

touching on?

JS: I touch everything. Like I said I got a

song about like who am I and like my grandmother she got cancer. I got like

the intro to the album, just talking about everything, all the people who passed

away, Big, recollecting, Big L to Aaliyah, everybody. Just how The Diplomats

was nothing to something to getting out there with Def Jam to Dame having first

rights to the whole sh*t. I got a song called "Jealousy." It’s a song

that I deal with my girl. We had a little fight and I hit her. I brought that

up, ya know where a lot of people don’t like to hear that. I have another song

called "Squally" its about the police. I got a couple of joints that

I touch bases with. I got a song called "Why," its basically why I’m

rapping the beat just keeps saying "why." I’m telling you why everything

is happening in my life, like why this, why that.

AllHipHop.com: Do you put your real life in the

song?

JS: Eight-five percent its me all the way and

I try to bring as much as me as possible. I don’t know how to bring the bull

sh*t in too much., so when I throw it in it ‘s not even me anyway. I try to

stay away from it anyway.

AllHipHop.com: You had said Cam took over the

rock and it caused a lot of controversy. People are talking about that line.

What did you mean when you said that?

JS: I mean like I said, I speak eighty five

percent truth and fifteen percent bullsh*t. What part did that sound like to

you? That’s part is the eighty-five percent right there, know what I’m saying?

Who’s rockin right now. We came over here and we rockin right now, its not like

we took it over in a sense like nobody ain’t come out, but right now we poppin.

Don’t deny what’s hot, if you hot your hot. Its not like anybody went anywhere.

Cam came over and he does what he wants. It’s not like he took it over, but

we get to do what we want, we got our own label. We don’t answer to no one.

AllHipHop.com: Beanie apparently sent out a little

diss to Cam. Have you heard that song yet?

JS: I don’t think that’s possible and anyway,

that was all cleared up. Beanie had stepped to Cam like "you know that

sh*t wasn’t nothing." Cam ain’t even hear that sh*t, but what was it, do

you even no what it was? People was stressing it.

AllHipHop.com: It was on a mixtape in Philly,

Cosmic Kev. The lyrics are out there, but nobody can back it up with audio for

some reason. It’s hard to find.

JS: Yea it was probably some indirect sh*t that

they took. We f*ck with everybody. Nothing is going on in Roc-A-Fella like people

think it is, just that everybody is different people. We come from different

places, different homes. State Property is still State Property, Diplomats is

still Diplomats. Why do they make it seem like Diplomats is not f*ckin’ wit

Roc-A-Fella? State Property is trying to do their own thing like everybody is

trying to do their own thing. The Philly dudes we f*ck wit them, Freeway, Chris,

Neef, Peedie Crack, Beanie, that’s a love thing right there. Those n*ggas is

some real n*ggas. They never cross our line, we never cross their line, so its

like all love between us and the Philly dudes.

AllHipHop.com: So what about your business endeavors?

Can you talk about this stuff?

JS: I got a little store uptown at 51st and

Amsterdam. It’s called Santana’s Town. I’m working it on to the Internet. These

girls are doing my whole clothing line making this Dip Set apparel pop off.

I’ma try to do some movies, but right now I’m focused on this album. That’s

what’s coming, that’s what I want, that’s what’s me.

AllHipHop.com: And you incorporate your mom in

your business too. Can you talk on that a little bit?

JS: My mom’s in my corner a 100 percent. I love

my moms to death. She’s all about Juelz Santana so it’s like I know ain’t nobody

going to get over me when she’s there, all about her baby. That’s my mother.

You ain’t getting over, you ain’t getting nowhere fast, she’s gonna get you.

AllHipHop.com: As far as the references to bloods,

is all that going to chill out?

JS: I don’t reference to bloods, What do you

mean reference to bloods?

AllHipHop.com: Gang signs and stuff.

JS: I’ma keep it funky, they don’t want me to

answer no blood questions. It’s some big sh*t going on. It’s the police and

sh*t.

AllHipHop.com: Where were you when Freeky got

shot?

JS: When Freeky got shot, I was uptown sleeping,

word. What happened that day, I think we went to Hot 97 that day. We was on

Hot 97 that day and I went home. I think they said we were going out to the

club. They called me at four o’clock in the morning. I got the word from some

miscellaneous people so you know the story was twisted. "Zeek got shot

eleven times, face, head, back, neck," so it was like aww damn! I’m like

word, it was four o’clock in the morning. Then I get the word he’s alright,

a little bit better.

AllHipHop.com: What did you think about that

when it happened?

JS: First of all I could’ve been there. Things

ain’t always what it seems. Don’t get caught slippin’, just pay attention to

your surroundings.

AllHipHop.com: Are happy they caught the dudes?

JS: They was gonna get caught.

AllHipHop.com: Ya’ll had another incident in

Boston. Do you get concerned with these things that’s going on?

JS: We never promote violence, we rap about

what we go through and who we are as people, but we never go to the club trying

to start incidents or nothing like that, we just do what we do. We ain’t do

nothing in Boston. Our bus was just pulled over for miscellaneous reasons, for

no reason, whatever the case may be. The more you try to avoid trouble, the

more trouble comes to you cause you’re trying to avoid it. It’s just like not

looking for a girlfriend. The more you start liking a girl or looking for a

girl you can’t find one. If you go in the club looking for trouble, nobody gonna

fight you, cause you in there jumping around, nobody wanna f*ck with you now,

your acting crazy. When your in there chilling’ smoking your weed, dealing with

the chicks, how you do, it’s a problem then, then he a p*ssy. It’s nothing though,

we just chilling. We’re in here to make this music and make this money; we ain’t

here to be beefing with nobody. We ain’t got time for that sh*t yo for real.

AllHipHop.com: What did ya’ll learn from that

David Stern situation (Cam not being allowed to perform during the All-Star

Game half-time show with Mariah Carey) if anything?

JS: You see how they still use us. We’re still

getting used. That’s why they keep saying hip-hop music is fading out. Hiphop

music is bigger than it’s ever been right now. You got people like Eminem in

the game being white, he’s opening up doors. You know Jin is coming in the game

opening doors for Chinese n*ggas.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have any final words for

people in general about you as a person?

JS: I’m me, there ain’t no change in me, I’m

always gonna be me, Juelz Santana, From Me To You. I’m going to be out August

19, get to know me.