Planet Asia: Planet Asia

Sign a record label deal. Record album. Release album. Instant riches. If the life of a rapper were that easy, a lot more folk would be in Maybachs canoodling their R&B song stress wife-to-be. Planet Asia will tell you in an instant, success comes from hard work. And with an album that just recently released, […]

Sign a record label deal. Record album. Release

album. Instant riches. If the life of a rapper were that easy, a lot more folk

would be in Maybachs canoodling their R&B song stress wife-to-be.

Planet Asia will tell you in an instant, success

comes from hard work. And with an album that just recently released, Asia has

hit the streets in a major way. Allhiphop.com caught up with PA on the East

coast in the middle of his promo tour and got an update from the West Coast

rhyme-spitter.

AllHipHop.com: The Grand Opening was released

earlier this year. How is the album performing so far?

Planet Asia: Well you know, we trying to keep

these steady independent sales up you know what I’m saying? We have been

selling like 1000 pieces a week on a regular you feel me? So n*ggas is almost

like at 17,000 sold right now. You

know, it’ s been out for like 6 or 7 weeks you know. The first week I sold

like 2250 pieces, and that was only first week.

AllHipHop.com: So are you happy with how its

doing so far?

PA: Yeah I am happy with it on an independent

level man. I should be pretty cool by the time the whole run is over and we

ain’t even that deep into the second single yet. We selling kind of cool

and we don’t have that good of promotion you know? But if my fans is out

there, they know it’s out now. So n*ggaz is picking it up left and right.

Everybody telling me, "yo I bought that album homey."

AllHipHop.com: How was the transition from being

on the shelf at Interscope Records then coming right back to the Independent

scene?

PA: It was kind of discouraging for a little

bit, but you just got to go through that sh*t man. I was like f*ck it, sh*t

happens. It happens to the greatest man! It took Jigga and them hella years

to get to where they got. They went from Payday to all kind of other labels.

So it’s just like f*ck it. Right now I’m on the road man, so I’m

on my grind homey. Anything beats selling crack in the hood!

AllHipHop.com: What else do you have in the works

for the rest of the year?

PA: We got that Pro-Test Instrumentals coming

out later this year called Checks In The City. He did “16 Bars Of

Death” on my album. I checked the notes on my album and they didn’t

give em the credit for the beat. So we really

putting it down you know what I’m saying? Other than that ima just hit

the road and do shows.

AllHipHop.com: Tell me about your label Gold

Chain Music?

PA: Gold Chain Music is just representing that

real Hip-Hop you know what I am saying, but from the sh*t where we came from.

n*ggas ain’t really following what everybody else is doing, we just doing

our own sh*t right now and that’s

that. We 80’s babies so we represent that whole era.

AllHipHop.com: Who’s apart of Gold Chain

Music?

PA: Me, that producer Pro-Test, Jean Grea, Roc

Marciano (formerly of Flipmode), and my crew Yard Government.

AllHipHop.com: The other day I heard you say

Big Pun is your favorite MC. Explain why you

side with Pun?

PA: Cuz he repped the same era I rep. He’s

a gold chain artist, he was on that B-Boy sh*t, you know what I’m saying.

n*ggas couldn’t f*ck with Pun on the lyrics man. Till this day n*ggas can’t

f*ck with Pun you know what I’m

saying? He represented the embodiment of the Kool G Raps, the Rakims, and the

Kanes man.

AllHipHop.com: Hypothetically speaking of course,

in a battle between BIG vs. Pun, who would you put your money on?

PA: Damn, battlewise I don’t know, that

would be a strong battle. I can’t

front on BIG, cuz dude was nasty with his. But on the real like I said, I don’t

think n*ggas could of f*cked with Pun, feel me? Pun was just straight raw with

it.

AllHipHop.com: On the album, you often say for

other rappers to “get their bars up.” Why do you think most rappers

today don’t focus on their lyrics?

PA: Because right now it’s so easy to make

a sing along hooks. When you making easy hooks, you don’t really got to

rap no more. Everything is so hook oriented now-a-days that people focus more

on writing something catchy then going hard with the lyrics man.

AllHipHop.com: For the heads that don’t

know about West Coast Indy Hip-Hop, give us a brief description of what’s

going on in your hood?

PA: The movement is still going strong man. The

same cats that been putting down the last couple of years still going hard at

it man. You got your Phil Da Agony’s, Self-Scientific, Krondon. You got

the Yard Government, which is my crew. You got Encore also. He just dropped

something out of Hiero label (The Layover). That sh*t is off the f*cking meter

man! What else you got man…Yo you

know Dilated Peoples is doing there thing right now

man. I envision them doing gold with this new album man. Jurrasic 5 is most

definitely large. Even Black Eye Peas went gold this year, ya feel me? So it’s

like man, it’s really going down you know? Now I know my plaque gotta be

coming sooner or later feel me? (Laughs)

AllHipHop.com: Anything else you want to say?

PA: Sh*t…..Hit me up, hit my website up.

WWW.MCPLANETASIA.COM. Go cop The

Grand Opening and make sure to check out that Pro-Test Instrumentals Checks

In The City.