Having already garnered an extensive fan base worldwide, an impressive catalog of recordings, and amassed individual album sales far beyond the 500,000 mark, Kansas City, Missouri’s own reigning rap champ, Tech N9ne, unbelievably, is still not quite a household name yet. Although He has continually toured around the globe, been featured on platinum soundtracks, and worked extensively with Sway & Tech on “The Anthem,” Tech’s sales for his latest, Universal-distributed Everready: The Religion remain under the 50,000 mark, the artist who never quits doing spot dates makes a convincing case for just how real he keeps it. With a Quincy Jones cosign, Tech N9ne is fully loaded and quick to jam.

AllHipHop.com: How does Everready measure up to some of your previous efforts?

Tech N9ne: I know, and this is a big statement, this is my best album. Now every artist might say that, and you listen to it like, “Naw, it ain’t better than Absolute Power [or] Anghellic!” I’m gonna tell you this, this music is a perfect blend of the personal stuff from Anghellic, and the party-feel from Absolute Power, and then more. I just write my life as I go. I ain’t one of those artists that do, like 50 songs, and then choose, like, 12 from that. If I record 20 songs, we’re gonna use those 20 ‘cause I’m talking about what I’m going through. Even when I’m partying with b***hes or whatever I’m doing, I’m gonna tell ya how I’m kicking it with b***hes. If I’m trying to go over to Hawaii with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and all them, and then the promoters call back from Hawaii and say, “We can’t have Tech N9ne because the Samoans are so unruly, (and) that he has riot music, and we can’t do that,” I’m gonna write [about] that. [Tech starts reciting, in his rapid-fire delivery, that exact rhyme from “Riot Maker”] I write my life, no matter what it is – [it’s] wonderful.

AllHipHop.com: What do you feel is the driving force behind your intense lyricism?

Tech N9ne: Everyday life experiences. Quincy Jones told me in ’97, Quincy Jones, and when he talks, you listen, he said, “Tech, rap what you know [‘cause] if you do that, people will forever feel you.” And, he was right ‘cause I don’t know nothing better. Nobody knows me better than me, so why not rap, and why not tell you about me? I don’t want to tell you a fabricated me. I don’t want to tell you a false-hood me. I ain’t got that. I don’t know that, ‘cause that s**t can be found in the future. [Like,] “You said this, but you don’t really do this.” And, soon as they find out about you, nobody wants to f**k with you no more. That will never happen [with me]. One thing, I was raised a Christian, my mama married a Muslim when I was 12, from 12 to 17, Islam taught me always be able to back up stuff that you say ‘cause people will bring it back and say, “You said this.” You gotta be able to back it up, and that’s one thing I do in my rhymes.

AllHipHop.com: Although you’ve managed to maintain your relevancy as an MC amongst your friends, fans and peers in the business, for some odd reason you haven’t technically garnered that crossover appeal -– What do you feel has really been the key to your ongoing success?

Tech N9ne: That’s crazy that you asked me that right after what we just said, because that is the very thing that is the key to my longevity: it’s to be you, at all costs. We are all in the same realm. We all watch the same movies. How many n***as you know that ain’t got Scarface? How many n***as you know ain’t seen Friday and Friday After Next, and all that. We all watch the same s**t and we all go do the same things. We all eat, drink, s**t the same, so if you keep that as real as possible, you’ll have millions of people that feel you, ‘cause they can relate. If I do a song called “Psycho B***h” [from Anghellic], you know how many dudes can relate to that? Or, if I do a song called “This Ring” [from Anghellic], talking about trying to balance being a star, with being a faithful husband, and how I can’t do that. [Laughs] You know how many married dudes that can relate to that? Or, if I do a song on Everready called “F**k ‘Em Girl,” you’re like, “Put on your f**k ‘em girl dress, f*ck ‘em girl, f*ck ‘em,” They’re gonna resort back to Martin Lawrence where I got it. You know how many women can relate to that? Like, “F**k that n***a, I’m gonna go out, I’m gonna party, and I’m gonna f**k somebody else.” That’s what it’s all about. You write that, man, and that’s the key to longevity –- being you, being true.

AllHipHop.com: On a more serious, are you still harboring ill feelings towards the music industry in general?

Tech N9ne: Totally! I still feel like the industry is punks!! F.T.I. –- F**k The Industry for life! And, the reason why I say that, why I still stand on it strong, is because the people who are driving this machine, this music, they don’t want to take chances with new music, and make music go to another level to inspire the next man to do something even greater. They’d rather…When Young Jeezy came out, they’d rather make 10 more Young Jeezys and keep us right there. Young Jeezy’s supposed to keep us right there and Young Jeezy supposed to take it to another level on his next album. Then, Yung Joc comes, and he’s supposed to take it to another level. And, then Young Dro comes out, and he’s supposed to take it to another level. You ain’t supposed to just keep it down here. Rick Ross, he’s supposed to take it to another level right there. See, but they’ll try to make 10 more of those artists, and you almost gotta feel ‘em because they want their money right now. They want what’s hot right now. When you think about the major labels, you almost gotta feel ‘em like, “Okay, they just doing that because they want to do what’s hot right now, and then when that’s over, they’re done with that.” They won’t take chances with new music, man, and that’s why I feel like the industry is punks still to this day.

AllHipHop.com: Because you spend so much time on the road, what do you enjoy doing when you come back home?

Tech N9ne: What I always wanted to do is to be able to take my children to an island, somewhere, like, Hawaii or something, or Fiji, and show them other places, man. That’s what I wanted to do this for. I wanted to make my music to travel, and to show my kids that there’s something more than just Kansas City, or something more than just L.A., there’s something more than just New York. There are other places where we can go, and kick it like donkeys. So, if I’m not doing music, if I ever get a break, and I doubt it [laughs] but if I ever get a break, you’ll find me on a muthaf**kin’ island somewhere, kickin’ it with my family, baby, or kickin’ it with my friends, enjoying the fruits of my labor. And, I love the fans, man, and that’s why I show ‘em so much love. I never understood how a muthaf**ker can have a fan come up to ‘em, and ask ‘em for their g###### John Hancock, or ask ‘em for an autograph, and these muthaf**kers say “no.” I don’t give a f**k what you doing, n***a, these people are the reason why you could do everything. These people are the reason why you can have these muthaf**kin’ shoes on your feet, and your kids can be spoiled brats. Your fans do that! So, don’t turn down s**t but your collar, punk!

AllHipHop.com: Predicting ahead, where do you see yourself in five to 10 years?

Tech N9ne: Five to 10 years from now, man…an executive, mayn, in this music – executive, and rich ass muthaf**ker. I feel like God put me here for a reason to do this. I was put here to do music. I was put here to soothe the savage beast. They say music soothes the savage beast, so I was put here to soothe the savage beast. And, guess what? In the midst of it, I’m becoming the savage beast — which is bad. But, I’m a little piece of love in a pit full of demons, which means I’m a worldly angel. Meaning an angel, a big hearted cat that has adapted to the ways of the world because you gotta adapt to the ways of the world in order to survive. So, how could I not pick up demon-like traits? But, [I’m] more angel than anything. So, I was put here to soothe the savage beast, and I love that. I do music, and I soothe the savage beast. That’s why these b***hes be coming out these clothes because they love what I do, and I don’t think that that’s groupie s**t either. I think that’s overwhelming to a woman. Some of these n***as though you gotta be careful ‘cause they’ll say, “Tech, man, we love you, man, and my wife really wants to sleep with you!” You gotta tell ‘em, “Hey, don’t ever auction your wife off like that ‘cause she won’t come back!” And, it’s, like, I’m becoming the savage beast. I done lost my wife two years ago on Christmas Eve. She said she wanted to separate because a woman needs love, a woman needs time, and that ain’t nothing I can do when I’m married to my fans, ya dig? But, my fans are the reason why I can take care of them [my family], so I’m gridlocked!! So, I’m put here to soothe the savage beast, but I’m becoming the savage beast, and you know what? I like it.

So you just bought a Cadillac… what are you going to do? Throw some D’s on it, of course! Alabama native Rich Boy is making some noise with his hood anthem, but don’t let the subject matter fool you – there’s a lot more to him than what meets the eye. After a stint at the prestigious Tuskegee University, Rich Boy elevated his budding production skills into a full blown music career. From Roy Jones Jr. acknowledging his talent, to vet Polow Da Don cosigning and helping him develop his sound, Rich Boy is determined to make his mark.

While being a new artist in the oversaturated Southern market may seem to be a challenge, Rich Boy has been strategically laying the foundation for his debut album with quiet confidence. We chopped it up with Rich Boy at the Vibe Yardfest during FAMU’s Homecoming, one of the many stops on a tireless promotional campaign trail.

AllHipHop.com: You were originally in engineering in college…

Rich Boy: Yeah, I [was studying mechanical engineering] at Tuskegee. Just because you come from the streets doesn’t mean you’re a dummy. Have common sense and street sense, you mix both of ‘em and you can survive anywhere.

AllHipHop.com: What inspired you originally to go into engineering?

Rich Boy: I wanted to design cars and s**t like that. I always been like that, I ain’t never wanted to do what the average person do. I would have been the first out of my generation in my family to graduate college.

AllHipHop.com: How did that transition happen? What is the one thing that happened that made you say, “I’m gonna do this”?

Rich Boy: When Roy Jones Jr. bought four tracks from me, I knew it was possible for me to do something as far as the music industry. So I just pursued it after that day.

AllHipHop.com: That’s right, you actually started out producing and making your own beats, and then you decided to go ahead and rap over them.

Rich Boy: Yeah, I said I’m a rap over one, so when they play it on the radio station people could call and be like “Who did that beat?” – but it went the other way around and they was like, “Who that is on the song?” Then Polow Da Don heard it through my boy Nick at Night. Nick at Night gave Polow Da Don my CD, and then me and Polow just kept in touch. I flew out to Atlanta, me Polow and Booga hooked up, they started coaching me on how to rap better. Then it just happened, we put a demo together, shopped it and got a deal.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the best advice that Polow has given you in your career?

Rich Boy: The best advice was to work hard, as much as you can – period. Also paperwork is everything. This whole game is paperwork, because that’s where you know who’s getting paid what. At the end of the day your paperwork can have you workin’ for nothing, and your paperwork can have you workin’ for the right amount of what you deserve. Paperwork and work hard, that’s what he tells me.

AllHipHop.com: You signed with Interscope now. Some people would be like, “Wow you made it,” but watching Polow and the veterans around him work and knowing the history that they’ve had, what do you take from that personally on the way to monitor how you treat your career?

Rich Boy: I watch everybody, I watch Polow and how he works. It just teaches you a whole different work ethic. At the end of the day you ain’t even gotta be that talented, it could be a guy out there working harder than you, and you got the same amount of talent, but he’ll make it before you just because he’s working harder. He took every opportunity and chance he got.

AllHipHop.com: Right now “Throw Some D’s” is picking up steam. What are people going to know about you other than this particular song with the album?

Rich Boy: They’re gonna realize that I’m all original. The way my story came about, it’s just meant for me to do it. That’s how I feel. It’s crazy how I went from trying to make beats to people saying, “Naw, you oughta rap.” It wasn’t like something I was chasing, it came to me. They’ll find originality and find that I represent for the people that’s in the struggle. Not just for the dope boys with the cars and the jewelry – I know about that side – but also we can’t forget about the people that’s locked up or the kids that’s getting abused and stuff like that. It’s time to bring rap back to reality where people can really have a connection with you, because they’re going through the same things that you rappin’ about. Everybody’s not a drug dealer, and everybody doesn’t have money, so you have to rap about stuff on a different level and page sometimes.

AllHipHop.com: That’s what a lot of people would say about you. You had your mom and dad, you went to Tuskegee University. They might question how hard your life was, not realizing the poverty levels in Alabama.

Rich Boy: Yeah, Mobile [Alabama] is not rich, we ain’t got skyscrapers and stuff like that. Just about every neighborhood is ghetto in Mobile. I got robbed, shot at, all kind of stuff. You can grow up in a nice neighborhood and something [will] still happen to you. People get killed everyday, the people you least expect to get killed. So everybody’s going through something, it’s not just certain neighborhoods. I went through a struggle most definitely, but some other people’s struggles were harder than mine, so I can’t complain.

AllHipHop.com: You worked with some of the biggest hitmaking producers right now, starting with with Polow Da Don…

Rich Boy: Most definitely. I got three tracks from Needlz on the album. Brian Kidd, Aqua, JR [Jonathan Rotem], Mannie Fresh, Timbaland. All the producers I worked with, we all sat in the studio together and just did it.

AllHipHop.com: How did you come about working with all the producers? Did you have a wish list?

Rich Boy: No I never had a wish list. My A&R would just bring me some CDs with no names on ‘em. I run through ‘em, pick which beats I like and put the song down. That’s just how simple we kept it – we weren’t searching for certain people.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that’s a benefit for you to take the names off?

Rich Boy: Yeah it’s a benefit, that gives real credit to the track I pick because it’s hot, and it’s not hot because somebody’s name is on it.

AllHipHop.com: Right now in the market the south is the thing, and it seems to be getting convoluted because so many people are coming out with records. What are you going to do to set yourself apart?

Rich Boy: I’m gonna connect with people. Like I said, I’m gonna rap about stuff that they can relate to. I might rap about a Bentley in one song, but I’m also gonna rap about when I rode in an old raggedy car with my daddy when we ain’t have enough money like that. I’m a rap about stuff that you can relate to, which a lot of rappers ain’t doing no more. Everybody wanna be a trapper and the man of the hour or whatever. It’s not about that with me, it’s about sending a message across. If you can send a message across and people connect with you, that’s when people really will always go buy your CD.

Wu-Tang made a connection with their people, Jay-Z and all the people that you see in the game so long. LL Cool J, UGK will always have a fanbase. The Roots… just people that be theyself and be original. They’re really gonna find out that I’m just myself on it, and don’t no song sound alike. I rap different on every track, that’s what’s gonna distinguish me from other rappers.

AllHipHop.com: Looking down the road 10 years from now, do you envision yourself doing anything outside of rap that people may not expect?

Rich Boy: I’ma be like a real estate king, and I’m a start a clothing line – you ain’t even gonna know it’s my clothing line. Every rapper starts a clothing line and puts their name on it. I’m a just do a real quality like clothing line. Besides that, producing, real estate, clothing – and I might do a couple of movies if we get to that.

AllHipHop.com: So you’re interested in acting too?

Rich Boy: Yeah, most definitely I wanna try it.

AllHipHop.com: If you could pick any movie in history and cast yourself in a role, what would it be?

Rich Boy: I know a lot of people would say it but I would say Scarface because he had so much drive just to get to the top. It wasn’t that he was the bad guy or a drug dealer, it was just the drive he had to get to the top.

AllHipHop.com: Hip-Hop artists are starting foundations to go back and help their neighborhoods. Do you have anything specific in mind yet you want to get involved with?

Rich Boy: I do. I wanna send a couple of people off to college and start a fund for that. I want to help people get jobs. When I started the whole real estate thing, I hired a lot of people out the hood to work for me and help me out, just to create jobs for people. It’s real important to create jobs – you just don’t wanna give people stuff. That ain’t helpin’ ‘em out, you wanna give ‘em somethin’ to do to get ‘em off the streets. That’s why I wanna give jobs.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have a release date for your album at this point?

Rich Boy: The top of next year. We’ll get the official date some time soon. First quarter.

AllHipHop.com: What kind of guest appearances do you have featured?

Rich Boy: I got Snoop Dogg, Akon, David Banner, Gangsta Boo out of Three 6 Mafia, Attitude out of Birmingham, 8-Ball and Mannie Fresh. It’s a real album.

AllHipHop.com: Have you done any features on other people’s albums?

Rich Boy: I did the Jibbs “Chain Hang Low” remix, and that was it because I was just focused on my album. I worked so hard to get the product right, and it is called The Product Of The Hustle.

AllHipHop.com: If you could work with anyone in music that you can’t touch right now, who would it be?

Rich Boy: It would be Dr. Dre.

AllHipHop.com: How does it make you feel now that you’re facing true fame? Does it scare you at all?

Rich Boy: Nah, it doesn’t scare me exactly. My job is to entertain people, but actually they entertain me, just the way they act is entertainment. You’ll see some people do some crazy things.

AllHipHop.com: Have you had the classic stories of the girls in high school that wouldn’t give you play that now want you?

Rich Boy: [smiles] Oh yeah, I got a couple of girls out of high school calling me now – well trying to call me now, but they ain’t got my number. You know, they lookin’ for me. [laughs]

UGK is one of the most long-standing, well-respected groups in Hip-Hop history. After years of being tucked away Port Arthur, Texas, these southern secrets have maintained a catalog of hits that have inspired the dope boy magic and trap rap from most of today’s stars. Even when Pimp C was locked up the last few years, Bun B was an Underground King delegate, rapping on records from Jay-Z, Scarface, Young Jeezy, Slim Thug, and T.I. Now, after Pimp has been home for a year, the UGK clique is just a month away from releasing a self-titled album, where the underground mainstays collect the mainstream love that they’ve been owed for years.

Holed up in Manhattan’s Sony Studios, Pimp C fiddles with a “Pocket Full of Stones” remix while Bun B tackles questions on keeping it trill, The Juice Crew, and the women in his life. Bun B has been known for spitting hard lyrics dating back to 1988, but he deserves just as much respect for his hard answers and modesty, despite legendary status.

AllHipHop.com: On the upcoming UGK album, you’ve got a track called “Up Next” with Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, and production from Marley Marl. To get those three together is a feat in of itself, but tell me the significance of that collaboration for you?

Bun B: I, myself, in the last couple years, during [Pimp C’s] incarceration, I had a tough go in this rap game, trying to keep this name alive. A big help to me was the younger generation’s acceptance of us, and acknowledgement of UGK as an influence on their music. Chamillionaire, Slim [Thug], Paul [Wall], [Lil’] Flip, Mike [Jones], T.I., Jeezy, Rick Ross – a lot of people doing real good, when asked about influences, were kind enough to say us. Even beyond that, some of these cats, in the middle of their fame, would allow me to come rock on stage, do cameos in videos, do guest verses on songs. It was really youngsters reaching out to they O.G.s. So by due process, when Pimp came home, we started doing good, we had the opportunity to do the same, and felt as though we should do it. We reached out to the people who directly influenced us.

Big Daddy Kane is pretty much who Pimp wanted to be, if you look at the style and the swagger – the fly, pimp, playa type n***a that would still whoop your ass – that’s Kane. I represent the real hard, lyrical, on the corner, street, thug n***a in the hoodie, jeans, sneakers, whateva – that’s G Rap. That’s people we indemnify, comin’ up. Pimp had been talkin’ to Marley, they have a relationship. Marley was talkin’ us about doin’ another “Symphony.” We said, “You know what? We could do that, but that’s almost too easy. Let’s take it to the next [level]. How further can we take it?”

AllHipHop.com: This is the first UGK album in a minute. There were also a lot of rappers who cite The Geto Boys as influences, but last year The Foundation didn’t seem to have even the rappers supporting it. Given your legacy, is that a fear that you have coming into this project?

Bun B: No, not with us. Like I said, I’ve spent the last couple years trying to make sure the connection was there. Since Pimp’s come home, we’ve been tryin’ to keep it to the street. UGK has never really been [into] commercial albums, we’ve always been for the streets. So it’s not like we’ve crossed the threshold of people sayin’, “Nah, they didn’t really do what they needed to,” or “Nah, they ain’t all that.” We never made it to the point to where we can even think that we’re all that. So, even though we may be doin’ better than other cats, we still got some room to grow. We still trying to be some eight-figure cats in this game. We still wanna get that real strong label, and make a true outlet for cats in the game, true leadership. We’re just tryin’ to keep our nose to the grind.

AllHipHop.com: Like you said, you’ve always been the go-to guy for guest verses and whatnot. That was the case even before Pimp went away. When you go to do your solo or group projects, have those same people that needed you ever shunned you?

Bun B: That’s a legitimate question. I may have had it happen two or three times, my whole career. Like usually, when I do something for a cat, I’m not necessarily lookin’ for that. If I do something, that’s a decision I make for me, out of the kindness of my heart. I don’t expect nothin’ from nobody, you know what I’m sayin’? I done got f**ked over in the rap industry, by management, labels, whatever, so artists ain’t s**t. I’m not really tryin’ to make too many friends with these cats anyway. I reach out to a young kid, give him a lil’ game, I’m not even lookin’ for a verse back. That’s just on some ‘you do something right in the game.’ I had a few instances where, yeah, I’m gonna do somethin’ for you, you do somethin’ for me, and I might’ve had a lil’ trouble gettin’ that gift back – but they weren’t the people you’d think. It’s never the big dogs. If you ask Jay to come, Jay came and dropped for me. I asked ‘Face to come, ‘Face came and dropped for me. Legendary cats are the more humble cats, with respect. Sometimes, it’s the young upstarts. But you know, I don’t hold that s**t against ‘em – ‘cause some of these mothaf**kas gettin’ thrown in the game right now, got a lot of s**t goin’ on. When I came in, all I had to worry about was makin’ a record and maybe shooting a video. These cats now, got clothing lines, sneaker deals, fitted hats – it’s a lotta s**t that these mothaf**kas gotta deal with. S**t, sometimes a n***a be under pressure, sometimes it might be a lil’ big-headedness too. Like I said, I been around a while, so I know that type of s**t can happen.

AllHipHop.com: You guys branded “trill” really well. Truly real, and I’ve heard from people on all sides, that you and Pimp really walk it like you talk it. All that said, do you ever feel that that’s dangerous in this day and age? I mean, we all remember what happened to C-Bo…

Bun B: Don’t think just ‘cause n***as respect me as an artist that n***as in the streets ain’t try me. N***as tried to follow me home about three, four weeks ago. I did my thing. We do what we do to get haters up off us, you know what I’m sayin’, but…yeah, don’t ever sit around and think ‘cause you have a nice record and because the majority of people come up to you and shake your hand, and like what you do…most n***as that don’t like you, and want to harm you, they don’t come up to you and say nice s**t to you, they in the background, lurkin’.

Karma and all that, all that s**t is cool, but you gotta be a realest in this world. I believe in karma, but that don’t mean the next mothaf**ka believe in karma. So I gotta be real in the world I leave in. Amongst my peers and other artists, yeah, I get respect and I appreciate that – and from the regular cats on the street, that’s cool. But I’m eatin’, and there’s a lot of n***as that ain’t eatin’ right now. N***a thought I may’ve been slippin’ that night. He found different, but, I’m sayin’. N***as’ll try they luck. N***as down, baby mama might be sick, mama might be dyin’, you don’t what kinda s**t they be goin’ through. At that moment, at that time, I might’ve looked like a meal for them – but he ain’t eat what he thought he was gonna eat.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve got this song, “Real Women” with Talib Kweli, another surprising collaboration to some. After years of rhyming hard about pimping, sex, and speaking to the male ego —

Bun B: — We spoke on b***hes and hoes, let’s say what it is! We tend to talk about b***hes and hoes a lot, and will continue to talk about b***hes and hoes on records, because that’s real s**t – there’s b***hes and hoes in this world, b***h ass n***as [too]. At the same time, there’s women in this world too, and that’s something that we haven’t spoken on before. We gettin’ older; we started rappin’ when was 16, 17 years old. N***as start to get older, and we start to see s**t differently. You get one perspective of women as a bachelor. You get a different perspective of women as a father or husband. As we go through these different life changes, [you change perspectives]. Let me say this too, all our fans ain’t hood people. We got respectable people that f**k with UGK, and they deserve a record made for them just the same as the cats in the hood, the b***hes and hoes, and all that s**t. “Real Women” was something that I wanted to give back, like my mom, and most of the s**t I make, my mama can’t listen to. I wanted to make a record that, if she wanted to ride around and listen to me rappin’, she’s got one.

When Slum Village needed a post-Jay Dee sound, they found comfort in two fledging Detroit producers, Young RJ and Black Milk. Known as BR Gunna, the duo not only produced slept-on gems like 2005’s self-titled Slum album, but they also released Dirty District compilations that keep that D’s name alive on the underground. Through all of this, Black Milk had a hand in more records than most 30-something producers by his 21st birthday.

Few knew he could spit just as well though. Now, since BR Gunna broke up, Black Milk has been busily producing for everybody from Pharoahe Monch and Lloyd Banks to Phat Kat and Slum. While he was placing beats, Black also gained a solo deal through Fat Beats Records, who recently released his Broken Wax EP just a few months before they intend to drop a full-length on the Detroit area-code, 3-13. Now just coming into his own, Black Milk tells AllHipHop why he’ll never sour.

AllHipHop.com: You were supposed to have a joint on Lloyd Banks’ album. What happened with that?

Black Milk: That was a crazy situation that happened with his s**t. The Lloyd Banks thing was like…I got him the beat, and they said he was using it. He cut a song to the track. Then they called me back a few weeks later saying, “The content of the song, the s**t he’s talking about, we’re not trying to start that up again…” if you can read between the lines…[Interscope] asked him to cut a whole new song, so…

AllHipHop.com: Do you think it’ll appear on a mixtape? I know you won’t get paid for it if it does…

Black Milk: I hope it does leak. That’s better for me. I wouldn’t care. It was a thing where I was lookin’ forward to it, but whatever, s**t happens. I still send [G-Unit] beats. It ain’t a big deal to me.

AllHipHop.com: With BR Gunna and Slum Village, we’re used to seeing you on Barak Records. What motivated you to go to New York and take your EP to Fat Beats Records?

Black Milk: It wasn’t nothing against [Barak] beefwise, the business wasn’t right over there. I was never signed to Barak, I just worked with ‘em for Slum Village. That’s what that was. It was a situation where we were about to have a BR Gunna album come out, and a lot stuff just kept getting pushed to the side. The business wasn’t right, the money [wasn’t coming]. I had to step out of a situation that was holding me back. Plus, when the BR Gunna didn’t come out, s**t was done. I was like, “What am I gonna do now?” That’s when I put out my own lil’ solo compilation, Sound of the City last year, and it made a nice lil’ buzz on the underground level. That’s how Fat Beats came along and hollered at me. There were other labels, but Fat Beats was pushin’ a lil’ harder than everybody else. F**k it, let me roll with them.

AllHipHop.com: Your partner, Young RJ, is the son of Barak Records’ owner. Because of those differences, what’s the state of BR Gunna?

Black Milk: Uhhh…I’m not gonna say we’re not ever gonna make a BR Gunna album [again]. For one, BR Gunna was three people: Me, RJ, and Phat Ray – he was the rapper of the group. I still work with Phat Ray, tryin’ to get him in a situation. But the whole BR Gunna situation, ever since I stepped out, I’ve just been blessed with a lot of s**t comin’ to me, opportunities. Once I said, “Let me do my own thing,” stuff just started comin’ to me to easy. That let me know then that I could do this s**t on my own. That’s not to say I don’t ever wanna work with them cats again, like I said, Slum Village will always be my n***as, whatever label they on. Young RJ, it’s no beef between me and him. N***as just grow apart. Hopefully we can get back together and do some s**t, I ain’t countin’ nothin’ out.

AllHipHop.com: They were recently interviewed in Elemental Magazine, and they create custom marketing and promotion strategies for each release. Given that Broken Wax is an EP, what’s its specific approach?

Black Milk: At Fat Beats, they’re a label that really specializes in still putting out vinyl. It was a thing…all the music that I ever came out with, not the Slum s**t, but my personal s**t from Sound of the City, I never had nothin’ on vinyl. Everything was on CD or on the Internet. I was gettin’ a lot of hits from DJs saying, “We like your s**t, but we can’t play it, ‘cause you ain’t got no vinyl.” That was one reason I put together the EP. Plus, since my album was not dropping this year, I gotta come out with somethin’ to hold the people over. So I came out with five new tracks, took a few from Sound of the City, threw it all together, and putting it out on wax.

AllHipHop.com: Detroit rappers have always been able to speak to the streets and underground Hip-Hop purists at the same time. We’ve seen that in Phat Kat, Baatin, and even Royce Da 5’9. When you’re writing your lyrics, which audience do you have in mind?

Black Milk: We have a problem with that. With me, it’s a lil’ different. I do try to keep that balance there. The beats might sound so-called “underground”, “backpack”, or whatever you might call it – they not commercial beats. But most of my lyrical content be on some regular s**t, everyday s**t that you would hear from Jay-Z or any n***a on the radio. I talk about chicks and havin’ nice s**t and stuff like that. It’s just that them the type of beats I like to make. But the raps, they regular. I’m not a really a so-called “conscious” or “political” type rapper, that’s cool, but that’s not really me. Detroit, we the type of city where there’s a lot of street s**t goin’ on, a lot of negativity. I’mma rap about a lot of the s**t that go on here in the D, which is not no pretty type city. [Laughs] It’s a lot of f**ked up s**t goin’ on…like anywhere else.

AllHipHop.com: Ten years ago, Los Angeles was the Hip-Hop Mecca. Then, ‘Pac died, Snoop went to New Orleans, Suge went to jail, Dre hibernated, and Cube made movies. Your city saw two of its icons die this year in Proof and Dilla. Eminem has all-but retired, and Royce is on his was to jail. With all that going down, how can you and the next generation hold the mainstream attention?

Black Milk: Like you said, when Dilla and Proof passed, it was a real blow to the city. The city was already kinda in a slump, ‘cause n***as was really tryin’ to make a Detroit movement happen. You had all the other [regions], but we was really tryin’ to pull it together. When Dilla passed, it was “Damn. What the f**k now?” When Proof passed, it really f**ked up the city. N***as started leavin’ the city. It got real gray, real depressing. It threw me off too. It threw me off of focus. But I looked at it like it should give me even more drive to do my thing and hold the torch for these cats – not just me, but other artists too. But I’m up and coming, I’m a new face, I’m young, new name, I’ma really try to do my thing and push hard – not to put Detroit on the map, if it happens, it happens, but just to be that next artist and put out good music.

AllHipHop.com: When Slum Village got “EZ Up” onto the Chevrolet commercial, that was your music. Did it benefit you much?

Black Milk: It did, and it didn’t. [Sighs] That’s another thing. I really didn’t have too much to do with it, that was really a label thing. It helped Slum a lil’ bit for they [self-titled] album, and got ‘em some tour s**t. The album didn’t do as well as it should have, ‘cause of the label s**t. We didn’t have no video. What the f**k? It was a great album, one of Slum’s best. Lucky enough, Chevy hollered at us, ‘cause we really would’ve been f**ked up. It shined a little light on us, but it wasn’t like major labels was comin’ out [saying], “Who produced the track?”

AllHipHop.com: On Dirty District Volume 2 you were able to work with MC Breed on “Dat’s Fa Sho”. That’s somebody who we’ll never see on Hip-Hop Honors, but tell me, as a Michigan dude, what he means to the region and what it was like working with him…

Black Milk: It was shocking, but at the same time, he was so cool, that it was just like another regular dude to come in and record with us. I thought about it while he was in the booth, “This is MC Breed!” It kinda did hit me. We workin’ with a n***a, he told us some s**t about the industry, just puttin’ us up on game. At that time, we was really just doin’ s**t, we didn’t know nothin’. He was puttin’ me, and Young RJ onto the ropes. It was real dope workin’ with that dude. Unfortunately, he gotta go through the s**t he goin’ through now, because we was gonna produce his solo album. Hopefully in the future, there will be some time.