One of the most interesting and intense interviews, I’ve ever conducted was with Tupac Shakur.. He had just hit it big with the movie Juice and and everyone wondering was he just acting or putting forth his real life persona in the movie.. Although I had known him for a couple of years it was hard for me to tell.. cause he had a loaded gun on him as we spoke…If I recall it was a 38….Pac explains in this interview his then recent encounter with the Oakland Police Department which resulted in him getting beat. I had run excerpts from this interview in a newsletter I used to publish back in the early 90s. I had completely forgotten about this interview and had misplaced the tape.

A couple of months ago while working on liner notes for Digital Underground’s Greatest Hits which recently came out on Rhino records, I came across a tape that had an old interview I did with Shock G. I flipped to the b-side and to my surprise I discovered the missing 2Pac interview from 1991.So today in celebration of his birthday we are sending off the transcript of the entire interview. We are also going to be playing the entire interview on our Hard Knock radio show. If you happen to be located in the San Francisco Bay Area or anywhere throughout Northern and Central california tune into KPFA 94.1 FM… If you happen to be listening to us up in Seattle where we are also heard tune into Radio X. Everyone else peep us out on line at KPFA.org or radio-x.org.

We will be putting excerpts of the interview up on the site tomorrow. Enjoy the interview.Tupac Shakur considers himself the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ [Digital Underground] and for good reason. He stirs things up and does the unexpected. Such a person is bound to generate excitement because they have impact on both the people and situations around them.

2Pac in 1992 promises to have major impact in the world of hip hop. He’s kicking things off with a sensational acting debut in the movie ‘Juice‘ where he stars as the character Roland Bishop. His debut lp ‘2Pacalypse Now‘ is beginning to cause a bit of a stir on retail shelves around the country. And if that’s not enough Tupac is branching out and signing new acts to his production company including his older brother Moecedes who raps in the Toni Tony Tone song ‘Feels Good. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing this out spoken and very animated individual at his apartment where he told his tale.

 Davey D: Give a little bit of background on yourself. What got you into hip hop? 

2Pac: I’m from the Bronx, NY. I moved to Baltimore where I spent some high school years and then I came to Oaktown. As for hip hop…all my travels through these cities seemed to be the common denominator.

Davey D: 2Pac… Is that your given name or is that your rap name?

 Davey D: You lived In Marin City for a little while. How was your connection with hip hop able to be maintained while living there? Was there a thriving hip hop scene in Marin City?

2Pac: Not really..You were just given truth to the music. Being in Marin City was like a small town so it taught me to be more straight forward with my style. Instead of of being so metaphorical with the rhyme where i might say something like…

I’m the hysterical, lyrical miracle

I’m the hypothetical, incredible…

I was encouraged to go straight at it and hit it dead on and not waste time trying to cover things…

Davey D:Why was that?

2Pac In Marin City it seemed like things were real country. Everything was straight forward. Poverty was straight forward. There was no way to say I’m poor, but to say ‘I’m po’…we had no money and that’s what influenced my style.

Davey D: How did you hook up with Digital Underground?

 2Pac: I caught the ‘D-Flow Shuttle’ while I was in Marin City. It was the way out of here. Shock G was the conductor.

Davey D: What’s the D-Flow Shuttle?

2Pac:The D-Flow Shuttle is from the album ‘Sons of the P‘ It was the way to escape out of the ghetto. It was the way to success. I haven’t gotten off since…

Davey D: Now let’s put all that in laymen’s terms

2Pac: Basically I bumped into this kid named Greg Jacobs aka Shock G and he hooked me up with Digital Underground and from there I hooked up with Money B… and from there Money B hooked me up with his step mamma… and from there me and his step mamma started making beats…[laughter] Me and his step mamma got a little thing jumping off. We had a cool sound, but Shock asked me if I wanted a group. I said ‘Yeah but I don’t wanna group with Money B’s step momma ’cause she’s gonna try and take all the profits… She wants to go out there and be like the group ‘Hoes with Attitude’, but I was like ‘Naw I wanna be more serious and represent the young black male’.

So Shock says we gotta get rid of Money B’s step mamma. So we went to San Quentin [prison] and ditched her in the ‘Scared Straight’ program…[laughter. After that Shock put me in the studio and it was on..This is a true story so don’t say anything.. It’s a true story. And to Mon’s step mamma I just wanna say ‘I’m sorry, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. I’m sorry but it was Shock’s idea-Bertha.. but don’t worry she can get her half of the profits from the first cut after she finishes doing her jail time. [laughter]

Davey D: What’s the concept behind your album 2Pacalypse Now’?

 2Pac: The concept is the young Black male. Everybody’s been talkin’ about it but now it’s not important. It’s like we just skipped over it.. It’s no longer a fad to be down for the young Black male. Everybody wants to go past. Like the gangster stuff, it just got exploited. This was just like back in the days with the movies. Everybody did their little gun shots and their hand grenades and blew up stuff and moved on. Now everybody’s doing rap songs with the singing in it.. I’m still down for the young Black male. I’m gonna stay until things get better. So it’s all about addressing the problems that we face in everyday society.

Davey D: What are those problems?

2Pac: Police brutality, poverty, unemployment, insufficient education, disunity and violence, black on black crime, teenage pregnancy, crack addiction. Do you want me to go on?

 Davey D: How do you address these problems? Are you pointing them out or are you offering solutions?

2Pac: I do both. In some situations I show us having the power and in some situations I show how it’s more apt to happen with the police or power structure having the ultimate power. I show both ways. I show how it really happens and I show how I wish it would happen .

Davey D: You refer to yourself as the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ Why so?

2Pac: Cause, as if Digital Underground wasn’t diverse enough with enough crazy things in it, I’m even that crazier. I’m the rebel totally going against the grain…I’m the lunatic that everyone refers to. I always want to do the extreme. I want to get as many people looking as possible. For example I would’ve never done the song ‘Kiss U Back’ that way.I would’ve never done a song like that-That’s why I’m the rebel.

Davey D: Can talk about your recent encounter with police brutality at the hands of the Oakland PD?

 2Pac:We’re letting the law do its job. It’s making its way through the court system.. We filed a claim…

Davey D:  Recount the incident for those who don’t know.

2Pac:For everyone who doesn’t know, I, an innocent young black male was walking down the streets of Oakland minding my own business and the police department saw fit for me to be trained or snapped back into my place. So they asked for my I-D and sweated me about my name because my name is ‘Tupac’. My final words to them was ‘f— y’all’ . Next thing I know I was in a choke hold passing out with cuffs on headed for jail for resisting arrest. Yes.. you heard right-I was arrested for resisting arrest.

Davey D:Where is all this now?

2Pac: We’re in the midst of having a ten million dollar law suit against the Oakland Police Department. If I win and get the money, then the Oakland Police department is going to buy a boys home, me a house, my family a house and a ‘Stop Police Brutality Center’ and other little odd things like that..

Davey D:In the video for the song ‘Trapped‘ do you think that would’ve had the police want to treat you aggressively? After all, the video is very telling especially in the un-edited version where you have a cop get shot.

2Pac: Well the ironic thing is the cops I came across in that incident didn’t know about that video. The second thing is that everything I said in that video happened to me. The video happened before the incident. In the video I show how the cops sweat me and ask for my ID and how I can’t go anywhere…

Davey D:Let’s talk about the movie ‘Juice’. How did you get involved? Where’s it at? and what’s it about? 

2Pac: MMM what led me? Well, we have the Freaky Deaky Money B and Sleuth [raod manager for DU]. Money B had an audition for the movie Sleuth [road manager] suggested I also come along so I went. Money B read the script and said to me’ this sounds like you- a rebel. he was talking about this character named Bishop. I went in cold turkey, read, God was with me…

Davey D:Have you ever had acting experience before?

2Pac: Actually I went to the school of Performing arts in Baltimore and that’s where I got my acting skills.

Davey D:Ok so you weren’t a novice when you went up there… So what’s the movie about?

2Pac:The movie is about 4 kids and their coming of age.

Davey D:Is it a Hip Hop movie?

2Pac:No, it’s not a hip hop movie. It’s a real good movie that happens to have hip hop in it. If it was made in the 60s it would’ve depicted whatever was ‘down’ in the 60s…My character is Roland Bishop, a psychotic, insecure very violent, very short tempered individual.

Davey D:What’s the message you hope is gotten out of the movie? 

2Pac: You never know what’s going on in somebody’s mind. There are a lot of things that add up. There’s a lot of pressure on someone growing up. You have to watch it if it goes unchecked. This movie was an example of what can happen…

Davey D:Can you explain what you mean by this?

 2Pac:In the movie my character’s, father was a prison w#### and that was something that drove him through the whole movie…

Davey D: This was something that wasn’t shown in the movie?

2Pac: Yes, they deleted this from the film. Anyway this just wrecked his [Bishop’s] mind. You can see through everybody else’s personality, Bishop just wanted to get respect. He wanted the respect that his father didn’t get. Everthing he did, he did just to get a rep. So from those problems never being dealt with led to him ending four people’s lives.

Davey D:Do you intend on continuing making movies?

2Pac: It depends on whether or not there are any good parts. I want to challenge myself.

Davey D:What is your philosophy on hip hop? I’ve heard you say you don’t to see it diluted?

2Pac: Well when I said that, it made me think. It brought me to myself. Now I have a different philosophy. Hip Hop when it started it was supposed to be this new thing that had no boundaries and was so different to everyday music. Now it seems like I was starting to get caught up in the mode of what made hip hop come about. I would walk around and hear something and start saying ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. If someone started singing, I would walk around and say ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. Well, now I’ve changed my mind. That could be Hip Hop.As long as the music has the true to the heart soul it can be hip hop. As long it has soul to it, hip hop can live on.

Davey D:I guess my question would be, how do you determine what’s soul and what isn’t?

2Pac: Well you can tell. The difference between a hit like ‘Make You Dance’ [C&C Music Factory] and ‘My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me’ [Geto Boys]. You have to ask yourself, ‘Which song moves you’.

Davey D: Well actually both. Both songs move me

2Pac: Really? well… ok there you go

Davey D:So they both would be Hip Hop, right?

2Pac:I guess so, at least in your opinion. ‘The Make You Dance’ song didn’t move me. But the Geto Boys song did move me

Davey D:Well for the record Bambaataa says both of them are Hip Hop. I asked him what he thought about groups like C&C Music Factory. He said they were part of the Hip Hop family…But that’s his philosophy on things. So what’s your plans for the next year or so?

2Pac: To strengthen the Underground Railroad. I have a crew called the Underground Railroad and a program called the Underground Railroad…I wanna build all this up, so that by next year you will know the name Underground Railroad…

Davey D:So what’s the concept behind The Underground Railroad?

2Pac:The concept behind this is the same concept behind Harriet Tubman, to get my brothers who might be into drug dealing or whatever it is thats illegal or who are disenfranchised by today’s society-I want to get them back into by turning them onto music. It could be R&B, hip hop or pop, as long as I can get them involved. While I’m doing that, I’m teaching them to find a love for themselves so they can love others and do the same thing we did for them to others. Davey D: How many people in the Underground Railroad? Is it a group that intends to keep constantly evolving? Also where are the people who are a part of Underground Railroad coming from?

2Pac: Right now we’re twenty strong. The group is going to be one that constantly evolves. The people that are in the UR are coming from all over, Baltimore, Marin City, Oakland, New York, Richmond-all over. Davey D: What do you think of the Bay Area rap scene compared to other parts of the country?

2Pac: Right now the Bay Area is how the Bronx was in 1981. Everybody is hot. They caught the bug. Everybody is trying to be creative and make their own claim. New York just got to a point where you could no longer out due the next guy. So now you have this place where there isn’t that many people to out due. Here you can do something and if it’s good enough people will remember you. So that’s what’s happening. here in the Bay Area, it’s like a renaissance.

Davey D: In New York the renaissance era got stopped for a number of reasons in my opinion. What do you think will prevent that from happening in the Bay Area?

2Pac: Well at the risk of sounding biased, I say Digital Underground. They are like any other group. I’ll give that to Shock G. He made it so that everything Digital Underground does it helps the Bay Area music scene. It grows and goes to New York and hits people from all over the country. That helps the Bay Area. Our scene is starting to rub off on people. We want everyone to know about Oakland. When other groups come down, like Organized Konfusion or Live Squad and they kick it with Digital Underground, they get to see another side of the Bay Area music scene.It’s a different side then if they kicked it with that guy… I don’t wanna say his name, but you know who he is he dropped the ‘MC’ from his name [MC Hammer].

Davey D: So you think Digital Underground will be more strength to the Bay Area rap scene because they help bring national attention. What do you think other groups will have to do?

2Pac: What we have to do is not concentrate so much on one group. We have to focus more on the area. It’s not about just building up Too Short, Digital Underground and Tony Toni Tone and say; ‘That’s it. They’re the only groups that can come from the Bay Area’. We have to let the new groups come out. Nobody wants to give the new acts a chance. Everybody wants to only talk about Too Short and Digital Underground…We have to start talking about these other groups that are trying to come in that are coming up from the bottom.

Davey D: When you say ‘come up’ what do you mean by that?

2Pac: It’s like this. Instead of letting them do interviews where nobody ever reads them, let a good newspaper interview them. Instead of putting them on the radio when nobody is ever going to hear them or where nobody is going to hear them, have them where people can hear them and get at them where they had a better chance, just like if they were Mariah Carey.

Davey D: Do you find the Bay Area sound is being respected? Do you find that people are starting to accept it around the country?

 2Pac: I feel that the Bay Area sound hasn’t even finished coming out. It’s starting to get respected more and more everyday.

Davey D: Your brother Moecedes is a rapper for the group Tony Toni Tone. What’s the story with him? Are you guys gonna team up?

2Pac: He’s in the Underground Railroad. He’s also about to come out with another guy named Dana.

 Davey D: Who produced your album and are you into producing

2Pac: I co-produced it with the members of the Underground Railroad which is Shock G, Money B, Raw Fusion, Pee Wee, Jay-Z from Richmond, Stretch from the Live Squad. It’s really like a life thing-this Underground Railroad. It effects everything we do.

Davey D:Is there anything else we should know about Tupac? 

2Pac: Yeah, the group Nothing Gold is coming. My kids are coming out with a serious message…NG is a group coming out that I produce.. All the stuff I say in my rhymes I say because of how I grew up. So to handle that, instead of going to a pyschiatrist, I got a kids group that deals with the problems a younger generation is going through. They put them into rhymes so it’s like a pyschology session set to music. It’ll make you come to grips with what you actually do..

Davey D: What do you mean by that? Are they preaching?

 2Pac: No they’re just telling you straight up like Ice Cube or Scarface. They’re being blunt and it comes out of a kid’s mouth. If you’re a black man, you’re going to really trip out cause they really call you out and have you deal with them…NG will make us have responsibility again. Kids are telling you to have responsibility…

 Davey D: What do you think of the current trends in Hip Hop like the gangsta rap, Afrocentric Rap, raggamuffin and the fusion of the singing and rap? Some people call it ‘pop rap’.

2Pac: I think all the real s### is gonna stay. It’s gonna go through some changes. It’s going through a metaphorphis so it will blow up sometimes and get real nasty and gritty, then the leeches will fall off and Hip Hop will be fit and healthy. Hip Hop has to go through all of that, but no one can make judgments until it’s over.

Davey D: What do you think the biggest enemies to Hip Hop are right now?

2Pac: Egotistical rappers. They don’t wanna open up their brain. Its foul when people are walking around saying things like; ‘Oakland is the only place where the real rappers come out. New York is the only place where the real rappers come out. They booty out there or they booty over there…’ All of that just needs to die or Hip Hop is gonna have problems. Its gonna be so immature. Thats just conflict in words. We can’t be immature we gotta grow.

 Davey D: Cool I think we got enough out of you 2Pac.

2Pac: yes I think you got enough

Davey D: Peace.

Right now, Willie Dennis sits in a jail someplace in Texas, accused of sales fraud for collecting money for iPhones, but now shipping the merchandise. Well, Willie Dee is still one of the pioneering artists in the Hip-Hop and there needs to be a movement for his release. The “Free Willie Dee” movement starts here. Its not a matter of guilt or innocent, but more of the community saying, “We Care.” And at AllHipHop.com, we definitely care about Willie Dee.

Last year, when there was chaos surrounding the Ozone Awards in Houston, Willie Dee helped the entire AllHipHop.com crew get inside using his hometown juice. In fact, I’m a huge fan of the man. He rapped with a bellowing accent when a lot of Southern artists were trying to sound closer to their New York counterparts. Now, he’s in a bit of trouble, facing 20 years, but Will’s a good dude with a big heart. Furthermore, other rap acts get a slap on the wrist for violent offenses with their fancy inside corporate connects and lawyers. Hopefully, things work out and everybody can move on.

Below are some of the greatest (and sometimes humorous) moments of the great Willie Dee, both solo and with the Geto Boys.

“F**K The KKK”

When I was growing up, the KKK didn’t live too far from where I was reared. So, menacing, my father would sleep in his car with a gun to make sure there were no issues as we built out first home. Well, Willie Dee, to my knowledge, is the only rapper to address the terrorist organization. “How can you say you’re a Christian mother f**ker? When you don’t even love your own brother.” The rest of the song addresses the educational system, crooked cops, television and other societal enemies that Willie says “goes back to the slave days.” You just have to love when he says, “every racist in America can suck my d**k and while you’re doing it, listen to this: “F**k You B***h!”

“F**k Rodney King”

When Rodney King was beaten on video camera by the Los Angeles Police Department, he was a sympathetic figure of all that was wrong with our justice system. But then when the cops got off and he decided to cry for peace, he became an object of disgust to Willie Dee. In 1991, he crafted the record, “F**k Rodney King,” a scathing diss song. “Rodney King, you damn sellout/you gonna cry for a cop/ the same mother f**ker that beat the hell outcha/ now, I wish they woulda shot ya!” Raw as sushi, but much of this song is about empowerment and opposition to pacifist forms of Civil Disobidience. He even goes so far as decrying welfare.

“Bald Head Hoes”

“Bald Head Hoes” would not bode well with Kanye West’s ex, Amber Rose.

But, the song is eternally funny even though it seems like The Geto Boy was

dead serious.

“Actions Speak Louder Than Words”

People really don’t remember this one, but its one of the hardest posse cuts from the Rap-A-Lot crew. The song is from Ganksta Nip’s Southpark Psycho and featured Scarface, Point Black and even Lil’ J (J. Prince). Willie’s verse came the hardest on here – pause – and defiles just about every thing sacred. He spews, “Think its a game when it ain’t/I’m letting you talk, but b***h I’ll knock your lips off/ And get ready for ya kinfolk/ ya lil’ sister be the first one to get smoked/then I’ll grab ya grand ma by her weave hair and whulp her old ass with that wooden leg she wear.” Too much!

“Read Theses Nikes”

Willie Dee often rapped about guns, but any real fan know Willie liked to fight. This title is an ode to stomping somebody out in a fight. It is a well known fact, Willie Dee knocked out Melle Mel in a celebrity boxing match back and the day. We didn’t forget! Willie dared opponents to fall when he was scrapping so he could plant that logo on your body in a few places.

“Homie Don’t Play That”

This song was Willie Dee at his screaming best! The song title was taken from the clown from “In Living Color.” “Don’t say I didn’t warn you about playing them hoe games,” he yells. To a funky Parlament beat, Willie is telling people not to play with him -quite literally. “See we aint that cool, that you can play with my girl and try to get a free feel, fool.” How can you not love that.

“I’m Not A Gentleman”

Question: Why did Queen Latifah record “Ladies First?” Answer: So, Willie Dee could diss it.

“F**k Em”

This isn’t a really a Willie Dee song, but since he wrote much of Bushwick’s material, it a majority Willie Dee joint. This is one of the hardest songs I’ve ever heard in my life.

This is another Geto Boys song where Willie Dee stands out. “J. Edgar Hoover, I wish you wasn’t dead so I could put a bullet in you’re head…we know you put the hit out on Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton, Malcolm and the others.” Scarface and Willie Dee back to back? Classic!

Good Luck, Will!

Watts, CA rapper Jay Rock, a product of the Nickerson Gardens projects which is home to one of the largest Blood sets in Los Angeles, has become one of the top new West Coast faces on today’s rap scene. With the help of superstars Lil Wayne and Will.I.Am, Jay Rock’s “All My Life” single received a good amount of radio play not just in Los Angeles but in cities around the nation. The huge co-sign from the superstars opened up the doors but it was up to Jay’s own skills to ensure that he stood out on his own as an artist and not get lost to the features on his own song. With a style that some say is similar to Compton superstar The Game, Jay Rock uses a rough gritty flow in raps that details life growing up in the ever-dangerous city of Watts. Signed to Warner Brothers, Jay Rock is preparing his debut album and is out to make his presence known as one of rap’s new faces. The young artist recently sat down with AllHipHop to talk about his budding career, his radio hit “All My Life” and his surprising alliance with rival gang-member and fellow upcoming West Coast artist Nipsey Hussle.

AllHipHop.com: You grew up in the notorious Watts Nickerson Gardens projects. Tell us how you went from gang-banging to rapping.

Jay Rock: I started rapping at about 13 or 14 years old with the homies around the hood but I didn’t really get serious about it until about 4 to 5 years ago. That’s when I really started to get more serious and began doing mixtapes. People started telling me that I was hard. I was just a young dude out there trying to hold his own by gangbanging and slangin’ a little bit – trying to bring some food to the table for the family. I was running around the mean streets being raised by the big homies. I used to listen to the homies O.F.T.B. who were from the neighborhood and were signed to Death Row. I also listened to N.W.A., Snoop Dogg and of course 2Pac was my favorite. By 16 I started to develop my own style and tried to say some sh*t that really meant something. I started to put all of the stuff that was going on in my neighborhood in to my raps and that’s when I started to get serious.

AllHipHop.com: How did you go from someone doing underground mixtapes to being signed to Warner Brothers?

Jay Rock: I had done a few mixtapes that got in to the hands of one of my big homies named Dude Dawg. He grew up in the projects and made it out but I didn’t know that he was involved in the music business. He started looking for me and I thought he was coming to discipline me for some stuff I did in the neighborhood, because he used to always come back and try to holler at the young homies in the hood. I started ducking and dodging this n***a, but he was trying to come at me on some other stuff. One day I was sitting on my porch getting a haircut and he pulled up on me in his truck and I was like, “Aw sh*t!” Then he was like, “I heard you on some mixtapes and I want to put you in the studio.” That sh*t threw me off! I finished up my haircut and hopped in the truck with him. He locked me in the studio and told me he wasn’t going to let me out until I come out with 3 good songs. I go in there and I’m thinking about my money in the streets so I hurry and put some bullsh*t together. He listened to it and told me to get my a** back in the studio. He had me locked up for 3 days and I worked. He took the 3 songs that he really liked and took them to the labels. A few the labels put their bids in and he chose to go with Warner Brothers.

AllHipHop.com: Its good have someone like that to push you and drive you.

Jay Rock: Real talk. The big homies that know better should always come back and grab the younger homies and try to help them out. He told me that’s why he came and got me and for me to do the same thing one day for some of the other n****s to pull them out of the bullsh*t.

“I don’t give a f**k what anybody says about [Lil’] Wayne. People call him fake

or whatever, but he’s a real n***a to me. A lot of people that I’ve

spoken to in this industry have told me one thing and done another, so

I respect Wayne for what he did.“

AllHipHop.com: I see that’s already started with you. Last Thanksgiving I saw you on Fox 11 News giving out Turkeys to residents of the Nickerson Gardens projects.

Jay Rock: Growing up, there were times that we didn’t have food on the table. Sometimes Thanksgiving was a struggle for us. Growing up in those projects, I know who’s doing ok and who needs help. That prompted me to go back to my hood and take some Turkeys for me to give out and to look out for those that don’t much. I haven’t made it big yet but I’m doing somewhat better than I was. I need to start making a difference now. I wanted to try to bring some hope. I’d like to do things on a bigger scale. This Thanksgiving coming up, I’m planning on doing something even bigger.

AllHipHop.com: Are you going to do this in your neighborhood only or spread it out to more areas in the city?

Jay Rock: This was my first time doing that and it was cool. I want to do it on a bigger scale in my neighborhood first and then I want to branch out to different projects and help out people from projects all over the world. If I were to go to a project in Atlanta, I’d want to team with some of their local artists and do it together. I don’t want to do it for my own shine. I want to do this out of love. I want to hand this off to other artists and show them what I’ve done in my hood so they can do the same in their hoods.

AllHipHop.com: You hooked up with Lil Wayne and Will.I.Am for your single “All My Life.” How did you make that happen?

Jay Rock: I met Lil Wayne when he did a show out here in L.A. Me and my people were backstage and I was there trying to make my presence felt so people can know who I am. I introduced myself to him as “the next n***a from my city to blow up” and I told him that I wanted to work with him. He gave me his math and he was a real n***a. He gave me the real hook-up on him and told me that if I needed something to hit him up. Cool & Dre gave me a record and I got down on it and I figured that this was the record that I wanted Wayne to get on. I hit him up and told him that I needed him on the record and he told me to send it to him. I wanted to do it in a real way so I offered to meet him wherever he was and bring it to him myself. He was in Washington D.C. at the time so I bought some tickets and met him at his tour bus. He was asleep on the bus and I showed up banging on the door. I told him that I had the song and he told me that he couldn’t do it then because he had to go to South Carolina. So me and my boys jumped in our rental car and drove with the tour bus to South Carolina. From there we went to Pharrell’s studio in Virginia and the rest is history. We were in the studio for like 12 hours and the dude was like a machine. We knocked out 15 verses that night and he blessed me with a hell of a verse for the “All My Life” song.

I don’t give a f**k what anybody says about Wayne. People call him fake or whatever, but he’s a real n***a to me. A lot of people that I’ve spoken to in this industry have told me one thing and done another, so I respect Wayne for what he did. I don’t care what anybody says. He’s a real n***a to me.

“It’s time for the Black on Black [crime] to get cut off. Me and Nipsey are going to be the two to get that [money] because nobody is expecting us to get together like that. We’ve

got a new President that’s Black and it doesn’t make any sense for

Crips and Bloods to continue fighting and killing each other.“

AllHipHop.com: The original version of “All My Life” had your homie K-Dot doing the hook but then you released another version with Will.I.Am from The Black Eyed Peas. What was the reason for that?

Jay Rock: My camp and I loved the version with K-Dot but when we took the song to the radio, they didn’t like the hook. They told us that the hook needed to be better. So we had to go back and re-do the hook. I ran in to Will.I.Am while we were both working at The Record Plant studio and I got at him there. He’s from the projects too – not the same one as mine but he’s a project boy also. I asked him to bless the song with a hook and he agreed. He added that “ghetto, ghetto” on there and we took it back to the radio and they thought it was a cool hook. So we ran with that version.

AllHipHop.com: Honestly, which version do you like better?

Jay Rock: I love the version that K-Dot did, that was my sh*t. To me that hook said more. Those are the politics of the game. I really needed that air-play. Some people were disappointed in me for changing the song and felt that I was selling out for the radio but they don’t understand the politics of it all. You really do need that radio exposure. If it was up to me and I had the choice, I would have ran with the K-Dot version.

AllHipHop.com: When I hear that, I really have to question the ears of the radio people that turned down the original version. It’s a much superior song. That’s no knock on Will.I.am though.

Jay Rock: That’s real talk. I don’t want to diss anybody in radio but it is difficult trying to please them. You make a song that you really love and you take it to them and they are like, “No. This isn’t it.” That song will never get the chance to really be out there because they feel that it’s not “it.”

AllHipHop.com: What is the status on the album? Has Warner Brothers given you a real release schedule?

Jay Rock: We were trying to get it out this summer but right now we are looking at having a September release. I’ve got to get that next record out there and get it moving. I’m not trying to rush it and have it do like 18,000 upon its release. I am trying to sell as many as I can when it comes out. I know there are people waiting and I appreciate their patience but I want to come out on top. When you are in a rush, sometimes you don’t do sh*t right.

Jay Rock – “DOA Freestyle”

AllHipHop.com: You announced via Twitter last week that you are teaming up with fellow rising West Coast artist Nipsey Hussle for a few projects. Can you tell us about that?

Jay Rock: Nipsey is my dude. We’ve got a lot of sh*t in the works. We want to shock the world and put the town on our backs – to push it the way Snoop & Dre did it back in the day. We are two young n***ga’s trying to make it.

AllHipHop.com: You’re a Watts Blood and he’s a South Central Crip. How does that all mix together?

Jay Rock: Red and Blue makes Green. We are on some other sh*t now. It’s time for the Black on Black bullsh*t to get cut off. We’ve got two big homies over us telling us both that it’s time for a change and for us to all stick together as one, instead of fighting. Instead of Red and Blue splattering Red blood all over the city, it’s time for us to make Green together. Me and Nipsey are going to be the two to get that going because nobody is expecting us to get together like that. We’ve got a new President that’s Black and it doesn’t make any sense for Crips and Bloods to continue fighting and killing each other. I’m young but I have seen how bad that sh*t is for us. I’ve got a baby now and I don’t want to walk out the door and have some n***a knock me off with my daughter in my arms. That sh*t is played out.

AllHipHop.com: Do you believe that you two can have a positive impact and have others follow your lead?

Jay Rock: I think it’s started already. We did the Green Lantern show on Sirius and everybody expected us to be on some bull-crap. People were shocked when they found out how tight we were. Some of my people may have had doubts about him and vice-versa but we showed them something different. I think we can make a big dent as long as were are out there grinding and showing that it can all be good.

AllHipHop.com: We’ve also heard that you are teaming up with DJ Drama for a new project. Is that correct?

Jay Rock: It’s coming! I’m 15 songs deep on it right now. I’ve got to at least do another 10 so he can pick the ones that he wants to use.

AllHipHop.com: I know that you are good friends with The Game. Do you two have anything coming out together?

Jay Rock: The Game is the homie. We do have some records in the works. He took me and Nipsey on tour. This is the second time that he’s taken me on tour with him. Game has helped open up the door for me and others, so I have nothing but appreciation for him. People compare us and say that we sound alike.

AllHipHop.com: I’ve seen people say that you sound like Game. Does that offend you?

Jay Rock: That doesn’t offend me. I don’t think I sound like Game – but at the same time he’s sold millions of records. If someone is going to buy my records because of that, then keep preaching it. I don’t think that we sound like though. Game is Game and I’m Jay Rock.

Jay Rock, Lil Wayne and Will.I.am – “All My Life”

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