Big business is the cornerstone of Master P’s success, but it’s been his artistry that’s made him the legend he is. But, while P acknowledges haters that pray for his downfall, he also recognizes the New No Limit Tank must roll on. Here, one Percy Miller discusses business, love & hate, his “bankruptcy” and his 10th solo CD Good Side Bad Side, which comes with a full movie DVD. [In the second half of the story P talks about his rap dynasty, the No Limit defectors and politics.]
AllHipHop.com: You working this album like crazy right now, huh?
Master P (Click For Exclusive Audio): Oh yea we are on a roll. It’s the biggest record we put out. The buzz on the street is crazy. The album is already gold. It got that real on this record. Nothing out there is real. It’s gonna be around a real long time. It ain’t nothing out there solid like this. The same way we started the old No Limit, with the Ice Cream man and it caught on from there, there’s nothing harder than this on that level. I am keeping it real with my people. I can go from hangin’ with my son to hangin’ in the hood. The biggest thing with this record is letting people know not to be afraid. You cant be number one all the time. Real hustlers might lose it but get it back easy. After 10 years and 75 million records sold and still able to put out this type of gutter music, I couldn’t do it until my son got his self straight because he wanted the TV show. I consider my son a role model. I consider myself an inspiration because I’m not perfect. I come from the ghetto, showing these kids don’t be afraid to make it out. Most people glorify that they gotta stay in the hood to keep it real. But I’m like you can keep it real and make it out. People still gonna respect you. It’s about getting the money and having something that you are willing to love.
AllHipHop.com: We reported the album was gold in one week, but it shipped gold, right? It hasn’t sold gold, correct? We been going back and forth on this and we are confused about what the numbers are.
MP: The album is gold. When you put out a record [like this], you got a double CD and a movie. The album is certified gold.
AllHipHop.com: Other reports said it sold about 70,000. I’m just saying because we started getting emails from people about it.
MP: You gotta double CD and a movie and the album is gold. It’s certified gold. You will see it on Billboard certified.
AllHipHop.com: OK, so we got that out of the way. You have a lot of businesses going on and what advice do you give to others that are trying to expand their business?
MP: Follow you dreams. Like with me. Look at the money everyone spends on their money to sell a record. They got program directors in their offices trying to play doctor. “this record is good, this record is bad.” You cant get into that. You gotta get into what the streets like. Then they will be forced to play it. I been the king of the mountain so long and people want you to fall off and the underdog they want them to come up. That’s why every year, someone else gets an opportunity. Long as I can put out platinum music, I will put it out to the streets. They will dictate if you still got it or not. The economy is so bad, I aint gonna put the same kind of money Usher and them are putting behind their records. They not gonna make money off selling records. They will make it off trying to tour, cause they spent so many marketing dollars. You gotta spend millions to a radio station to get those kind of spins. We not about to do that. Stay focused and believe in yourself.
AllHipHop.com: How do you deal with the hate that comes along with being in your position?
MP: I just keep at it and do what I love to do. If someone sits around hating because your success, they are just wasting time. I don’t entertain controversy or hate. I reach towards my goals. That hating sh*t don’t phase me. I deal with haters when I see them. It makes you less than a man talking about someone hating on you. Why the knock me, I am still moving, ten years at the same pace. I’m on TV, the radio, I’m being bumped in their cars.
AllHipHop.com: A lot of the songs I like, Like the Lil Jon joint and the other one, “Who wants some.” It sounds like P is back in form.
MP: That’s good. It’s more real people than fake people. You keep moving. After a motherf*cker gets the bullsh*t and the hype, they gonna come back to the real sh*t. This sh*t here is the real sh*t. It takes a real man or woman to accept reality. N*ggas that keep it real can sleep good at night. N*ggas might be tossin and turning because they living a f*cked up life. If your right your right and if your wrong your wrong. Ain’t nobody making these kinds of songs right now. They are rowdy songs but they got meaning. I come from the hood, it’s all real.
AllHipHop.com: What’s the movie included with the album about?
MP: It’s a full movie included with the album. It’s history. I call it a 3-for-1. It’s the first album with a double CD and a full movie. The movie is about making decisions. Romeo and my other son is in the movie. I play a character on house arrest. My mom smokes crack and I am trying to survive. Probation officers checking on me. If I make the right decisions I get the ankle bracelets off. I am a mechanic, but I end up shooting the guy selling crack to my mother. Romeo ends up telling the story to his school, about how everyone’s decisions affected each other. It’s a great hood movie.
AllHipHop.com: Did you do that to add value because the industry is doing so bad?
MP: I wanted to give people something more for their money because I can do that. I’m a trendsetter too. The standards are going to be higher. We can definitely do a bunch of digital movies but it has to look good.
AllHipHop.com: We heard you went bankrupt. Is that true?
MP: That don’t make sense. You look at Donald Trump. The man owns a bunch of buildings all kinds of businesses. If one business doesn’t work, for whatever reason, you shut it down and change the name. Even Bill Gates did it. You don’t run around saying Bill Gates is broke. You understand it’s just business. You don’t get sued for something that don’t exist. When people say P filed for bankruptcy, nah, P didn’t file for bankruptcy. No Limit shut down and I started a new called New No Limit. Everyone knows that. To me that aint nothing but black people stereotyping each other. Most ignorant people are only going to see what comes across their computer. They don’t read into it that No Limit shut down seven years ago. People been suing No Limit for nothing. Why should P pay for it when there’s no money being made at No Limit because the new company is New No Limit? Everyone knows that but I guess it sells papers and magazines. The real business people know. You gotta shut down a corporation when there are no share holders in it. No Limit has no shareholders, so it had to be shutdown. Everybody and all the real corporate people know this. It don’t say Master P, Percy Miller or New No Limit. It says No Limit. I go back to four or five mansions in different cities. I got Maybach Benz’ and Bentley’s.
AllHipHop.com: One thing I’ve never known about you – why do you call yourself Master P?
MP: I look at where we come from. We come from slaves, us calling them master. I look at my grandparents. I said that Master thing Ima take it too a whole new level. I wanna Master what ever I do. Instead of us calling them that, they will call us that. I coulda called my company Bangin in the Hood Records, but their aint No Limit to how we can overcome things. Like me playing basketball, or that it’s for publicity, but I averaged 23 points a game in the ABA and I’m about to sign a 10-day contract with the Denver Nuggets real soon.