AllHipHop: What’s the name of your label?
Lil Flip: Clover G Records
AllHipHop: Do you have any artists yet?
Lil Flip: I got one dude, his name is Willing.
He’s coming out. Basically it’s just me. I’ve been helping a lot of people over
the years putting them on my album, trying to start peoples careers, everybody
doesn’t have the work ethic. If you come around and I meet you and we are working,
we are grinding in the studio when I meet you and you get a little fame, you
are going to have to still grind in the studio like you did because that’s what
I’m doing. I don’t want to see people sitting around. I’m a star now, know you
got to stay doing what you did, because you don’t know how long it’s going to
last. You got to milk it. Milk it until you can’t milk it anymore.
AllHipHop: Do you feel like maybe some of the
people you may have worked with in the past took for granted the success?
Lil Flip: That’s what it was. I’m feeding a whole
family and you got to feed yourself but what’s going to happen when I’m not
at the table? I want everybody to think like that. Everybody was getting caught
up in the women and the clothes and all that. Clothes and women, that’s going
to change,. New styles, new woman all that. You got to get with what’s real.
That’s money, paying bills and making sure your business is straight. That’s
what I’m about. Everybody knows that.
AllHipHop: I heard your dad recently got out
of jail and he’s working with you in the business?
Lil Flip: Yeah my dad, he works with me.
AllHipHop: What does he do?
Lil Flip: He’s standing as the manager. Making
sure the business is straight and I know he isn’t finna mess up with me.
AllHipHop: Before you got into rapping, what
was life like for Lil Flip? A lot of people know you as a rapper, but don’t
know a whole about you as a person.
Lil Flip: I use to play ball. I played basketball.
I played sports all that in high school. Basically the way I am now that’s how
I was. It would be the person with the Jordan’s three months before they come
out. I’m the same person. I played sports though. Basketball, baseball, football.
AllHipHop: One thing I noticed about you and
David Banner, y’all always got the illest jerseys. I know he’s doing jerseys
as a business. Do you just get them custom made somewhere?
Lil Flip: He has his he’s coming out with. I
have mines I’m coming out with. We get all our stuff custom made though. We
don’t go to the stores and shop and all that.
AllHipHop: Tell me about your line of jerseys
Lil Flip: Its going to be called 713, Different
area codes, whatever town it is, everybody got different area codes. I’ma have
something like 703. His is like 601 pimps. Mines going to be like 703 pimps.
We just using our brains to make it happen.
AllHipHop: You’ve been doing this thing for a
while. Go into a little of your history for people that might not be up on it
yet.
Lil Flip: I did mixtapes with DJ Screw, rest
in peace. I did the "Like a Pimp" with David Banner, "Riding
Spinners," "Rock and Roll" with Fam-lay. I’m on Ludacris’ album.
Me and Cam did a mixtape for the Superbowl. I got like twenty mixtapes out.
So I’ve been grinding a minute, and my first independent album was the Leprechaun.
It did a 150,000, so that’s how I got my deal with Sony. The Way We Ball came
out and went platinum. March 30th, Game Over.
AllHipHop: A lot of cats from up here at least
see y’all sipping syrup (liquor and cough medicine). What’s that all about?
Do you still sip?
Lil Flip: Nah, that’s something we use to do.
After Screw passed (from sippin) people kind of chilled on that. We aren’t with
that taking pills and all that sh*t down there. Actually the old folks started
it, they drink it straight. Cats in Philly do that now.
AllHipHop: Yeah cats say Beanie, not to call
him out.
Lil Flip: Actually him and me was going to do
a track together called ‘Purple Rain’ on his album, but some kind of way I didn’t
get to go to New York and do it.
AllHipHop: Last Year you had got shot coming
out of the studio. How has your life changed since then? Have you adjusted?
Lil Flip: I realized how big I am. At that point
I was just still going everywhere. You make the transition to knowing that you
cant do all the stuff that you use to do. That’s why I surround myself around
people that have the same vision as me. I had to change all that. Now I surround
myself around positive people and I got rid of the negative vibes and all that.
AllHipHop: Where are you headed generally with
your career and what do you hope to do with this new album?
Lil Flip: I have more visions of taking it. When
you travel you get to take your music different places and different people
and different cultures. I just see me doing bigger and better things and directing
videos in the future because people tired of videos that just take them to the
club with women. Basically everything is going to get better.