KRS-One:The 4-Part Interview

By Clayton Perry

Whenever a listing of Hip-Hop’s “greatest” emcees is created, one name consistently ranks in the top tier: KRS-One.  As a solo artist and founding member of Boogie Down Productions, Lawrence “Kris” Parker has maintained unprecedented levels of notoriety and respect throughout his quarter-century reign as “The Teacha.”

Within the past few years, KRS One has received countless “Lifetime Achievement” Awards – honoring his impact on Hip-Hop culture, as well as his philanthropic efforts revolving around the Stop the Violence Movement.  On October 6, 2009, his first book, The Gospel of Hip-Hop: The First Instrument, was published under the powerHouse imprint.

In the midst of a promotional tour for the Gospel of Hip-Hop, KRS One managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry—reflecting on the philosophical teachings of Edgar Cayce, the prophetic wisdom drawn from Louis Farrakhan, and the burden of responsibility Hip-Hop’s emcees must bear.AllHipHop.com:  A couple days ago, I watched one of my favorite films, Brown Sugar, so I thought it appropriate to start this interview with the following question: “When did you first fall in love with Hip-Hop?”

KRS-One:  Wow! When did I first fall in love with Hip-Hop? To be honest with you, and I don’t mean to say this in a cliché kind of way, when I was born.  The park jams, graffiti writing, B-Boys, gangs, kung-fu – all of this was always in the background of my life. I’ve never known a time where that didn’t really exist. See, I never met Hip-Hop. I always was it, so it’s difficult to answer the question accurately. So, wow, when do you first fall in love with something? If there was ever a time that I met Hip-Hop, it would be with Scott La Rock. ’69, ’70, ’71: I’m there at Cedar Park with Kool Herc. In 1973, I’m living at 1600 Sedgwick Avenue. I’m there at the park jams. Everything’s going on and you kind of just grow up with Hip-Hop in your life. Then you realize at some point in your life that this is what you’re going to do. This is what’s going to define you. And I think that moment came with Scott La Rock. I always wanted to be part of Hip-Hop or to live in the culture.

AllHipHop.com:  What do you think makes Hip-Hop culture so unique?

  KRS-One:  A funny thing about Hip-Hop —  it’s different from every other music genre, because the audience is Hip-Hop. We have this great crowd response thing that the MC and the audience, or the DJ and the audience, are all one event. Your first stage in the culture is that you’re just the culture itself. You can create anything with the awareness you have of yourself at this point. You are just Hip-Hop, and that’s what I was growing up. I’m just Hip-Hop. I’m down by law. I’m a graffiti writer, b-boy, MC, DJ, beat boxer. I’ve got my own fashion. I’m part of my own community. And that’s what we are, Hip-Hoppers. Then you need a guy like Scott La Rock who is actually DJing in a club. It’s a controlled environment. And yes, you might have been Hip-Hop all along. You know everybody and you know the culture and you know the mythology, the traditions, and all of that comes along with it. But now, someone puts a mic in your hand and puts a break on and tells you: “Produce Hip-Hop. Produce the feeling that you grew up with.” And that’s when you meet Hip-Hop. And it was like this. Broadway International brought what was called Broadway RT – Broadway Repertory Theatre – where Scott La Rock used to DJ on 145th and Broadway, upper Manhattan. And he would be DJing right there, and that’s when I first met Hip-Hop, because he invited me to the club. I was homeless. My social worker invited me down to a club to see him spin, and I was completely blown away – straight up! And so, here you’re inspiring me to answer, to go back a little bit, because when you say, “When did you meet Hip-Hop? When did you first fall in love with Hip-Hop?” As I think about it, I think we might fall in love with Hip-Hop several times.

AllHipHop.com:  Oh, yes! [laughing] What a relationship! Falling in and out of love. [laughing continues]

KRS-One:  Yeah. Falling in and out of love. [laughing] That’s a brilliant way to put it. Very poetic. Yeah, falling in and out of love with Hip-Hop. Any real love is going through that, too.

AllHipHop.com:  Throughout the course of your career, you have been recognized as one of the greatest MCs in Hip-Hop, and you have also received several lifetime achievement awards, where you have been honored for the influence you have had on the music and the culture. What do you consider to be your greatest contribution? What do you think people are pinpointing exactly when they bestow you with a “lifetime achievement” award?

KRS-One:  Everybody’s got their own opinion. Look at BET, for instance. 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award. That was very political in a lot of ways. People didn’t really see it because it was personal, but during that time, I was an abject critic against BET’s programming, and its depictions of Hip-Hop at that time. And BET is fair in one thing: they do try to go along with what the people say they want. They don’t lie about that. I can criticize their polling methods and all of that kind of stuff, but really BET tries to keep its particular audience enthused in its programming. And they went out to their audience and they said, “Who is the lifetime achiever this year?” A couple names were thrown out and my name was up. Everybody said, “KRS.” Now what’s interesting is that, number one, BET wasn’t playing my music. Steven Hill totally ignored me, absolutely. Ten years of my career, Steven had nothing to do with KRS. So I was like, “I ain’t messin’ with him, he ain’t messin’ with me.” But then, the people say, “Yo, KRS, lifetime achievement.”

AllHipHop.com:  When BET approached you with this recognition, how surprised were you?

KRS-One:  Here’s the irony of it all. This is called the “I Am Hip-Hop Lifetime Achievement Award.” The ironic part of it all is that BET represents a group of intellectuals that don’t believe Hip-Hop can even be a culture, that Hip-Hop is even a community. They’re saying or preaching too much, and people just want to dance and chill, and that’s it. “Why are you making us think about Hip-Hop?” They’re from that line of thought, and I can’t fight it. A lot of their thinking influenced mine. People like Jeff Chang, for instance. He and I had a nice discussion over whether Hip-Hop should be institutionalized, by trying to create a Hip-Hop institution, or should Hip-Hop be left alone to be free in the world? And all of this influence led us to create what is now the Gospel of Hip-Hop. Now, going back to your question. When you look back on what the greatest contribution is from me, it would be the teaching of Hip-Hop. One thing I’m noticing is when I first said, “I am Hip-Hop,” in 1994, a lot of people had questions with that, and reservations about that, as well. It was a debate. I threw my perspective out, and everybody tried to eat it up. We openly debated. It was great. Michael Eric Dyson, a good friend of mine, Dr. Dyson, wrote a scathing piece in Blaze Magazine saying to me, “It’s impossible to be Hip-Hop. You can’t be Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is not a culture.” And I wrote a piece back in the same magazine saying, “Of course we are Hip-Hop. This is the birth of a new culture, and here we go.” And we went back and forth. Now, in 2004, I’m a VH1 Hip-Hop artist, and in walks Michael Eric Dyson. He just says, “I am Hip-Hop.” Same thing with BET. Now I was thinking: “You don’t play my records, but you create a Hip-Hop award show, and want to bestow me with an ‘I Am Hip-Hop’ Lifetime Achievement Award?!?” [laughing] So me and Steven Hill sit down, talk this up, and I do eventually accept the award. I told him that I’ll accept the award if afterwards you have a meeting with me about the state of Hip-Hop and Rap City and BET and all of that.  And there I discovered that they were going to take Rap City off the air. Therefore we had no argument. But he did take the meeting with me and we did discuss it. I found out that he was a really cool guy. He found out, I guess, that I’m a diplomatic gentleman, whatever that says. But at the end of the day, he’s corporate and I’m culture. We’re never really going to see eye-to-eye.

AllHipHop.com:  One thing I have learned over the years: sometimes you just have to agree to disagree! [laughing]

KRS-One:  Right! [laughing] I was at Red Bull BC [Breakdance Championship] One …had a great time over there. I’m hosting. I turn to the kids – do I have to say kids? They’re all sixteen. Nobody’s probably over twenty-one in the building. They’re all b-boys. And I turn to them and I say, “Rap is something we do.” They go, “Hip-Hop is something we live.” I remember when I said that in ’95, it was like, “What? Huh? What?” Now I can’t even get it out. I can’t even finish the sentence without young people going, “Hip-Hop is something we live. I am Hip-Hop. I belong to the Hip-Hop culture. I’m part of Hip-Hop nation. I’m repping my culture.” That way of thinking took fifteen years for Hip-Hop to get comfortable with. And so, the greatest contribution as I look at it is to have assisted in Hip-Hop’s maturity, to have assisted in its nation-building, in that sense. Let’s say when 2100 looks back on us, because now that Hip-Hop exists, it will never not exist. In 2100, when people try to keep the tradition alive, the pioneers of Hip-Hop will look just like Abraham or George Washington, or anybody who starts nations. So far, at least, my greatest contribution right there is the Gospel of Hip-Hop because that makes Hip-Hop not only a repeatable science, but a nation, an actual community. And it inspires others to write their gospels.

AllHipHop.com:  What other gospels would you like to see come to light?

KRS-One:  I was talking to Freddie Foxxx and I said, “Yeah, we need a Book of Bumpy. The Book of Bumpy Knuckles.” Each of us has a story, a spiritual story, and Hip-Hop has been joining in on the front of America hiding its spirituality. I mean Hip-Hoppers pray and don’t go to church. No synagogue, mosque, nothing. But they believe in God, and try to follow a moral life. Try at least. A lot of us are like that. I think this is not only my greatest contribution so far, but I think Hip-Hop’s zenith: we are declaring the fact that not only are we a specific group of people in the world, but we have direct access to God. We’re connected to the universe individually, here we are, right here. What a great jump-off for our children’s children’s children’s children.

AllHipHop.com:  Your new book is branded as “a spiritual manual for citizens of Hip-Hop Kulture.”  When you look out at the contemporary musical landscape, what do you think is the greatest spiritual battle that we, as “Hip-hoppas,” have to overcome?

KRS-One:  A belief in ourselves. The greatest battle is to believe that we exist. If we could just believe we exist, half our battle is over. If we knew we existed, like, we knew we were Hip-Hop, and we knew that we were different from everybody else, that we are the b-boys of the word, we are the graffiti writers, we are the MCs, we are the DJs, we have our own fashion, we have a uniqueness about us, in the world: when we realize that, we also realize our sovereignty. And this is also the second stage in the Civil Rights Movement. This is the second stage. This is what the children of the Civil Rights Movement, us, are supposed to be doing. First we wanted civil rights, and we got it. Now we need civilization rights, and we’re going to get that, too. The right to build your own community, to govern yourself, in that sense.

Motown Philly is back again-only this time with two fresh princes doing a lil alternative Hip-Hop swing. They’re not too hard, and certainly not too soft, but they are here to bring the life back MC rhymes backed up by the scratches and energy of the DJ. Chiddy Bang, composed of MC Chiddy and producer/DJ Xaphoon, presents a story on how freshmen years at Philadelphia’s Drexel University were not concentrated on women, but mostly dedicated to sneaking into the school’s studio for some musical play on the equipment. With their mind on beats and raps, all the neighborhood house parties paid off and the duo finally inked a deal with British record label EMI. Now the boys can be seen on tubes everywhere rocking slick metaphoric raps over electro sampled beats with hit singles “Opposite of Adults” and “Truth.”

With so many labels on today’s various branches of Hip-Hop, Chiddy Bang simply wants to make good music without being bound to the “hipser” box. Enjoy the retrospective of the duo’s success as well as a look into influences and past time college years. Enjoy the electric feel… we present to you: Chiddy Bang.

AllHipHop.com: Explain how you Philly boys landed a record deal in London?

Xaphoon: When we first started putting out our songs a lot of American labels were not interested but they were interested in our sampling concept. It took a British label- Parlophone to really come to us and be like “Yo, do you mind clearing the sample. We want to put out one single!” It sold really well and it let to the record deal we have now. That lead to the record deal that we have right now.

AllHiphop.com: Were there originally four members of the group?

Xaphoon: Well, yeah we had a lot of bands and since the beginning of Chiddy Bang down to the very first song, the formula has always been the same it is always been Chiddy rapping and me making the beats. But, we did have a bunch of kids in a lot of bands and when it came time to sign the deal they just were no apart of it because they have not written any of the stuff. It is cool. We are still cool with all of them.

Chiddy: Yeah we still cool with all those guys, but it was just that type of thing where music was always me and Xaphoon in the creative process in terms of being in the studio. When it came down to sign the deal it made sense to retain what was the core of our creative process anyway.

AllHipHop.com: If you guys were still in school you would be sophomores right?

Chiddy: Yup. 

AllHipHop.com: Is there anything in school you guys miss?

Chiddy: I miss the social life, like the partying and all that stuff.

Xaphoon: I miss the community. The community aspect is really what I miss the most you know because now we are really in a new lifestyle where we work all nights and weekends and kind of free during the day – which is kind of the opposite of every working human on the planet – but definitely your dream job has its upsides. The downside is you miss the brother hood of college.

Chiddy: Also miss sneaking into the studio at Drexel making tracks. That was dope.

AllHiphop.com: Let’s talk about the music. You two have a style suitable to be put in the “hipster” box. I’m sure you guys don’t want to fall victim to the stamp, so how would you describe Chiddy Band’s style?

Chiddy: Chiddy Bang style is Xaphoon Jones taking some crazy samples, chopping them up, dope beats and dope rhymes. Here is the thing with beats with me, me laying the rhymes down over them, him telling me maybe I should say this and me saying maybe he should add this into the beat. It is us collaborating back and forth with our music.

Xaphoon: We really trying to take it back a little bit to the kind of producer rapper era like Rob Base and EZ Rock or like Guru and [DJ] Premier. Just kind of like a old school mentality but with new school samples define lots of pop and club influences on our Hip-Hop.

Chiddy: It’s like Hip-Hop and a rack of other stuff. What’s the genre we came up with Xaph?

Xaphoon: Oh yeah I to call it Rapelectronicaafrobeatclubprop. That’s kind of a mouth full.

AllHipHop.com: So when it comes to be being automatically put under the hipster label, how do you guys feel about how it? Are you with it or against it?

Xaphoon: I know Chiddy is going to have his own opinion but my opinion on this is like people are always going to label something whatever they want because people can feel more attached to something or detached from it if they can call it something I never really thought about it. I do not think I’m a hipster. I don’t really… I am a pretty normal dude.

Chiddy: I still do not know what a hipster really is. We’re just two kids making music.

Xaphoon: At our Philly shows it is kind of nice mix. We do get some of the hipster crowd but we also get some of the hood crowds like from my neighborhood. I did not know any hipsters growing up just because I did not live in those neighborhoods. It’s strange because a hipster on one hand can like us but on another they can be to hip for us and sometimes do not like us.

Chiddy: Essentially, we just do our own thing and just make what we feel is dope. If they’re attached to it that’s what’s up and if they think it is dope that is cool. Pretty much we do not care who likes our music. We just want people to like what we do.

Xaphoon: Yeah, pretty much.

AllHipHop.com: When people first listen to any of your records, I’m pretty sure they’re most likely to take to the beat before the lyrics. Xaphoon, with your production, the average Hip-Hop head may overlook Chiddy’s lyrical ability because of non-traditional Hip-Hop beat. How do guys feel about possible being over looked by a mass Hip-Hop crowd due to the different selection and the way you guys do select beats?

Xaphoon: Hip-Hop was born out of doing something different. The fact that were doing something different should not be a reason to overlook us that is my opinion. Hip-Hop was born out of people bringing something new to the party and toasting and chatting over funk records. At the time it was unlike anything that sounded like it before. So if were bringing something to the table that does not sound traditional, that is the tradition of Hip- Hop. Young conventional music. That’s what I will say. Call it whatever you want I am a Hip-Hop kid. I was raised a Hip-Hop kid. As a producer [J] Dilla and Premier was my hero’s and I could sit around and make beats like them all day if I wanted to, but I want to bring something new to the table. Something you would not hear everyday.

Chiddy: Yup. Something different.

AllHipHop.com: In a recent interview, I read Xaphoon you said about making a million samples a year, but that’s not what Chiddy Bang is about. Then you mentioned J Dilla and Premier and how you really look up to them. What is it about these artists that you admire so much.

Xaphoon: First of all their sample choices. I mean I’m a huge sample head. I go back and dig up all those old funk records they picked whether it is [J] Dilla, digging up a old Filthy Paul record, [DJ] Premier or busting out a Marc Anthony record for that track he produced for Royce Da 5’9. The choice of samples are always brilliant. Second of all [J] Dilla can bop like nobody- have you heard his drums? His drums are crazy! Nobody can bop like him it was unbelievable. Not just them, I have tons of producers I look up to. I’m a huge Neptunes fan- the drum sounds are amazing. I’m a hug fan of the Dream. I like lots of producers but [J] Dilla and [DJ] Premier they got to me because that is what I was raised on.

AllHipHop.com: Now Chiddy, when you’re talking about political issue or just using metaphors, who influenced your overall sound and delivery?

Chiddy: I’m a Jay-Z fan, like a Blueprint, Black Album, Reasonable Doubt Jay-Z, those three albums right there. I think that probably had an influence on me a little bit in how I inflect my words and the way I emphasize my words and stuff like that. Kanye West  with College Dropout- which is one of my favorite albums of all time probably is my favorite album.

Xaphoon: Also as a producer Kanye [West] is a huge influence.

Chiddy: These artist definitely influence me and the way deliver my music and deliver my lyrics. From the political standpoint, I just talk about what is relevant to me. “Sooner or Later” I was talking about Nigeria. I was talking about things going on in Nigeria and how there is a light crisis its not like electricity and it is not 24 hour electricity over there. I just talk about real issues that are relevant to my life no matter what. So everything is like an update of what is going on right now. We just came out of a meeting with our label EMI and I just freestyled over there and that might end up in a song.

AllHipHop.com: We know you guys are young and the track was originally named after the MGMT sample, “Kids.” What’s the reason for the name change for “Opposite of Adults?”

Xaphoon: Legally we were not allowed to call it “Kids” and that’s what we called it on our mixtape.  All of our American fans have it on their computers as “Kids.” When I found out we could not call it that I was like “Aww Man.” I went back to the studio and just kept working on stuff. We had a deadline and we had to submit it because of the American side of  things and we had to submit it to get it clear and all kinds of stuff. So it was super last minute decision and we was like “Opposite of Adults.” We were just stuck with it.

AllHipHop.com: Did MGMT hear the song yet?

Chiddy: Yes, they did hear the song. We actually ran into them when we were in the UK.

Xaphoon: Yeah in London.

Chiddy: We ran into Andrew and it was dope. I was like “Yo we’re big fans! We sampled you guys on our record “Kids,” we sampled “Kids.” He was “Yeah we heard the song. We like it, it was dope.”

Xaphoon: And their people dig it because on their new record, they are trying to be a little bit more experimental.

AllHipHop.com: The video to “Opposite of Adults” is rather entertaining. What was the inspiration for the video when it comes to the over sized heads?

Xaphoon: We knew we were going to have to put kids in it and we kind of wanted to mess with the green screen and also go back to like Nintendo 64 and the bobble heads stuff. We just really sat down with some directors that we liked.

Chiddy: Amazing, amazing directors.

Xaphoon: Yeah we wanted the silliest and funniest thing. We were just trying to show in our first video like it is important to not always take yourself not so serious. I feel like that is the thing with a lot of new Hip-Hop acts, like that is the thing like everything is so serious all the time. Not saying that we are huge jokesters or we are a big joke, but just inject some likeness, some humor and some fun back into the media. If you listen to late 70s’ and 80s’ Hip-Hop it’s all like “We’re going out to the party! We want to go boogie down!” Nobody’s cursing. Not that is what I want to bring Hip-Hop back to, but that is definitely an element that is being left out.

AllHipHop.com: When you guys have a day off, what do you do with your spare time?Especially since you guys are “kids.”

Chiddy: Man I’ll probably just chill in my crib, play some basketball, shoot some hoops, chill with my boys, listen to beats that Xaphoon sent me.

Xaphoon: I’ll probably wonder around Philly because I never get to be home. I live in this beautiful house in south Philly you know I probably wonder around the entire market seeing friends I do not get to see. That is pretty much what I do on my days off.

AllHipHop.com:The first mixtape The Swelly Express received over 100,000 downloads in a month. Now while at Drexel, Chiddy you were a business major and Xaphoon you did something with music management. were a music major. What did type of things did you guys do in school to promote this project?

Xaphoon: We had the best strategy ever. We would make songs on the weekends and then on Monday and Tuesday we would just send them out to everybody that we knew threw parties. By Wednesday and Thursday it would be on their iPods. Then when we roll around to the parties on Saturdays, it would be playing on the party. That was one thing we did. We also sent stuff to a lot of blogs. We were always in the studio working. That was pretty much out freshmen year.

Chiddy: It was more studio than actual school. If we weren’t in the studios we were doing the shows, it was crazy. 

AllHipHop.com: Talk about the upcoming album?

Xaphoon: Our album is going to be unlike anything anyone has ever heard. I think a lot of people are going to make predictions on how were going to sound like based on “Opposite of Adults” and some of our other songs, but this album we are bringing out sounds that nobody has ever heard. With “Opposite of Adults,” “Truth” and the songs like that, we already going in a kind of direction. Now that we have resources that are in use and we can get studio time we are just taking to the next level it has been the most fun ever.   

Chiddy: Yup, we made all those songs with no budget.

AllHipHop.com: Chiddy, on the “Sooner or Later” track you mention situations with your family in Nigeria. If you haven’t notice, African artists have slowly rising in today’s Hip-Hop. For instance K’Naan, Wale and Nipsey Hussel. How do you feel about the rise of African artists in today’s Hip-Hop?

Chiddy: I mean it is beautiful thing. Everywhere I go I’m always in all forms of life I am always running into an African or an Nigerian. I really feel like we are spreading ourselves out in all forms of music. Especially Wale. We opened up for Wale a couple of times and he is cool. I am a fan of Nissey Hussle. The rise of Africa is something great because Africa has been brought down for years. It is good we are liberating ourselves through music. It’s really a dope thing.

AllHipHop.com: If you had a chance to be a notable African MC, what would you bring to the emerging class of artists?

Chiddy: My thing with Africa… I’m not gonna say I’m really in and those other people aren’t in it, but my parents come from Nigeria. I am a Nigeria citizen, I go there like every year. I was just there from December to January and I’m really in touch on what goes on there, I speak the language. Pretty much I am there I know what is going on there. I actually work with artist in Nigeria that are like straight home grown talent. I’m really in touch with that. I have an actual strong hold over there in Nigeria. As an artist, I look as it like go out there and do shows in Africa. Some of my boys in Nigeria do shows in front of like 6,000 people and get paid good money for it. I’m already connected to that world over there. What I’m doing here in America and what we’re doing in the UK… it’s like a global push.

AllHipHop.com: Being from Philly, Xaphoon you actually got a chance to meet Black Though and ?uestlove from The Roots. How was that how experience?

Xaphoon: That was amazing. We all went to similar high schools downtown, so I always seen them around. When we were coming back from a show early last year, we met [Black] Thought at 32 Station, which is like a train station in West Philly. It was amazing to finally meet them. But what was more amazing was [Black] Thought kind of placed himself in the role as our mentor and put us on shows. He also brought us to the studio when The Roots was doing their new album. They were really supportive and gave us lots of advice and we always talk to him about the music industry, for instance when The Roots’ single first came out in the UK before it came out here. So there were definitely some parallels there. He grew up in South Philly and attended elementary school kind right near my house. A lot of it just parallel and they’re the best guys. The Roots are just wonderful, wonderful people.

AllHipHop.com: Chiddy you’re from New Jersey. What are some of your memorable experiences?

Chiddy: My experiences growing up in [New] Jersey were cool, it had its ups and downs, but I think coming from [New] Jersey that is what homed my skills as a rapper. Growing up everybody I was around rapped and that is what we did and that is what was cool. I remember being in fifth grade, on the phone with my boys rapping over beats and stuff . It was on that level. I will forever show gratitude toward [New] Jersey homing my skills as a rapper because ever since then that is all I have been doing.

AllHipHop.com: Since you guys captured the essence of an alternative Hip-Hop sound, are you guys going to be bringing more soulful hip-hop samples to the next project?

Chiddy: There will be stuff going on. There will be stuff going on.

Xaphoon: It totally depends on if our work is cleared, but right now I can definitely say we got some soul samples in the mix.

Chiddy: We do, we definitely do. The only thing is you gotta deal with sample clearance and stuff. So dealing with the label, we have to clear them.

AllHipHop.com: How has your journey been with the sample clearance. Xaphoon we all know you like to sample a lot.

Xaphoon: The only hard part was in the beginning nobody really wanted to mess with us because of it, but now that there is a label that mess with us, the rule is just no rules. Just make dope beats and if it is a sample get clearance, not that we won’t. That is why we love EMI because we get the freedom to sample.

AllHipHop.com: As you guys continue to make your staple in the Hip-Hop game, who would you guys like to collab with?

Chiddy: I would like to work with Kanye [West]. Xaph what you think?

Xaphoon: If we can work with Kanye [West] and maybe take it back to College Dropout s**t and make some s**t with him that would be amazing. Also, Black Milk I think he is like one of the best producers around right now. I loved to work with him. 

AllHipHop: You would hear a Black Milk influence being thrown out there everyday. Why do you choose him?

Xaphoon: He did a track with Royce Da 5’9 called “Losing Out” and he sampled this Allen Parsons song from the ’80s and it’s like ’80s punk-rock stuff. In my mind that is the greatest sample and the greatest Hip-Hop track of the new era. It came out in ’07 and his record gets ultimate respect from me as a producer. I know people wouldn’t expect me to say that, but that’s who I’ll go with. No question.

Chiddy: Off the top of my head, I would have to say Black [Thought] again. We would have to work with Black [Thought].

AllHipHop.com: Any last words for Hip-Hop

Xaphoon: If people give you s**t for doing something different, you should just ignore it. Keep doing your thing.

Chiddy: Do it for the love, do it cause you love what you doing. Do not try to do it for any monetary purposes or nothing like that. We made The Swelley Express with a budget of zero. We made music that we genuinely appreciated and it got us really far.