With Rick Ross being the one to “blow” up Miami as of late, a certain label colleague probably left some wondering if he indeed slipped into obscurity. Trick Daddy fans need not worry though, because Trick hasn’t been sitting idle – even though he won’t say he’s been busy either. Perhaps that’s just thug code, though.

Staying true to musical form is what Trick’s about, and suffice it to say, his upcoming album won’t be too surprising to people that know the Miami-Dade County’s grimiest rapper’s antics. What else can you call an album titled Back by Thug Demand? In between taking credit for putting Young Jeezy on first, Trick Daddy talks about his favorite childhood television shows, and why he’s regulating what his kids do on the computer. One thing’s for sure, they better be up on AllHipHop. After all, like Trick, we are kid-friendly.

AllHipHop.com: What’s going on, man?

Trick Daddy: Ain’t nothing man, doing my thug thizzle.

AllHipHop.com: So take me to your new album that you got dropping right around the corner in time for Christmas…

Trick Daddy: Well, it’s all Trick Daddy, all street, all gutta, all hood s**t. Ain’t none of that pretty s**t from last year, from last album. And I liked my last album.

AllHipHop.com: How’s this one going to be different?

Trick Daddy: ‘Cuz I’m an ugly ass n***a.

AllHipHop.com: Damn, man, I am over here in L.A. We got pretty things going on over here – it is got to be that way in Miami.

Trick Daddy: Pretty s**t ain’t gonna sell out there in L.A. I like that ugly s**t, that E-40 s**t. That’s what I ride to. I’m tired of that pretty laid back s**t, I’m tired of n***as trying get radio play, to crossover, ‘cause it’s hurting Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop.com: How would you compare a thug in ’96 to a thug in ’06?

Trick Daddy: Thug in ’96, a n***a was still facing enough time to still be locked up in ’06.

AllHipHop.com: What about another coincidence, ’96 was the year that ‘Pac died. Here we are in 2006, how are things different?

Trick Daddy: Any kind of n***as ended up on videos, on radio. Any kind of record gets played on the radio. Even my s**t, if my s**t’s not good, I don’t think they should play it.

AllHipHop.com: Have you been traveling much?

Trick Daddy: Nah, I ain’t really been doing s**t. I’ve just been doing my thug thizzle. I’m a Dade-for-Dade n***a, man, I get paid every two weeks. Between all my problems and my past, my friends and the environment that I surround myself in – which is the same environment that still got me here that made me what I am – I don’t regret none of the s**t I do. But between that, my bills, my troubles, I’m a Dade-for-Dade, chick-for-chick ass n***a. So when I’m gone, ain’t going to be nothing split up. I want you to check out whatever wills they put up on the screen, you make sure they put aside two or three dollars so they can put me away, ‘cause I’m spending all mines now.

AllHipHop.com: Damn, you sound like Young Buck right now, when I interviewed him, you guys are like the same person in many ways man. What do you think about that dude?

Trick Daddy: Yeah, I love that n***a, man. That n***a got a song on my album that you gonna love, whenever you listen to it. [It’s] called “Straight Up” too. The hook is “I’ve been thuggin’ all my life trying to live right/ you ain’t even gotta ask/ I got this Hen in my cup, smoke in my lungs, n***a what you know about that?”

AllHipHop.com: What about other artists down there? Rick Ross blowing up Def Jam-style, Dre’s got “Be Somebody” killing it…

Trick Daddy: Miami is getting internationally known now. We’re getting the respect, the love that we’re supposed to get. I don’t know what it is, but I know one thing: there’s a lot of high-rises that’s worth millions and hundreds of millions of dollars and there’s a lot of nice cars, a lot of big body Benzes and Phantoms down there for sale and they ain’t bringing that s**t down there for nothing. There is money to be made, and Miami n***as want in. I know nobody think they are coming to my city trying to get nothing. If you don’t give – we will take.

AllHipHop.com: Like that, huh? So there’s no middle class?

Trick Daddy: There ain’t no middle class, you know how that s**t go, man. We be the most expensive city in the state of Florida, and probably in the top five in the world place to live. You’re dealing with city, county, and state taxes, and it gets very high.

AllHipHop.com: Your first album, Based on a True Story. Can you talk about that for a sec, because I didn’t see it anywhere else?

Trick Daddy: That was the album we did initially with Warlock [Records].

AllHipHop.com: How long ago was that?

Trick Daddy: S**t, that was ’96, that was the year that ‘Pac died.

AllHipHop.com: Are you a changed man since then?

Trick Daddy: I don’t masturbate as much, let’s see, I gained a little weight. Other than that, I am the same n***a right here. You just can’t call me an inmate. [Today,] I’m a free man, I don’t owe anybody nothing.

AllHipHop.com: What do you keep your eyes and ears to?

Trick Daddy: I’m being straight up, I ain’t seen that R. Kelly tape yet, man. A lot of time that s**t’ll f**k your life up. That’s what’s wrong with our kids, that why if you got kids and I don’t know if you do, but I know with my kids when they come back from school, they go do their homework. They going to get that on that computer but I don’t want them playing, doing all them cheers and playing grade games. You going to give me 15 to 20 minutes on that computer, you’re going to learn something because reality shows, bulls**t music, and lot of s**t that goes on TV and radio is f**king up the kids’ lives. When me and you were younger, we could go back to our favorite TV show or our favorite person. These kids think that Paris Hilton is somebody important. Paris Hilton ain’t nothing but born filthy rich, and can barely stand up because she’s barely eating.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of favorite shows, mine was Family Matters. What’s yours?

Trick Daddy: My favorite show had to be Sanford and Son, even though that was an old show too, but it was new to me. If I watched it right now in my house, my kids, nieces, and nephews would walk right out the room, there ain’t no interest to ‘em. Nobody getting killed, nobody is f**king, that’s what they want to see. They love American Idol but they don’t know that all of those people barely make money. I liked The Jeffersons. You probably won’t believe this, but Laverne and Shirley was my s**t, Mary Tyler Moore [Show], that’s my s**t.

AllHipHop.com: Who’s on the album?

Trick Daddy: I got Young Buck, Baby, Lil Weezie, I got my group Dunk Ryders. Gold Rush produces. I got Jaheim on there, Trey Songz, Lloyd, [and] Webbie.

AllHipHop.com: Last time you had a bunch of unknown and a few big names …

Trick Daddy: I’m the first n***a to put [Young] Jeezy on the record, tell them n***as about that. You probably didn’t even know about that. Make sure to tell all my real, true Trick Daddy fans that I’m Back by Thug Demand, get that s**t, get that s**t for someone else for Christmas, you will love it. Also, for the haters, I would very much appreciate if they would take time to kiss my whole family’s ass.

Duece Poppi isn’t your average newcomer to the realms of rap music. In fact, he isn’t new at all. Cutting his teeth on high school chum, Trick Daddy’s 2001 release, Book of Thugs: AK Verses 47, and more notably, the single, “Shut Up”, the Atlanta-born rapper went on to work with South Florida rap elites Cool & Dre and write numerous tracks for Trina albums, 2000’s Da Baddest B***h and 2002’s Diamond Princess.

With a grocery list of credits to his name, why Duece Poppi hasn’t released any personal material in the past comes into question. While learning that knowledge of the music business was essential, now toughly educated; the confident Duece Poppi claims that his soon to be released, God, Guns and P***y, is the soundtrack to the streets; getting club goers loose on the dance floor with its euphoric “psychedelic gangsta” sound. Whether or not you chose to drop tabs, keep Deuce Poppi on your radar for early ’07.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve written for a lot of people: Trick Daddy, Cool and Dre, Kanye West, and multiple tracks for Trina. Why did it take so long for you to finally come out with material of your own?

Duece Poppi: I was growing, learning the buisness. I’m glad that I didn’t come out right when I started. I didn’t have too much to offer back then. I had great time writing. Writing is not a bad thing, it’s very profitable. I feel like when I first started being known for making music and getting on records… If you don’t grow or get better, you stay the same, or get worse. An artists needs to get better and better. I always had the talent, but now I know more about the business. I’ve been performing all over the country and the world. I’ve been doing a lot. A lot of people don’t know because I don’t really toot my own horn. But I’ve been working with Trick for years. Now I’m ready. His first album [Book of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47] was my first true album. I’m glad that it took a while. I’ve been doing this for five years. It takes longer for most people. My first song was, “Shut Up.” That was my first official song in 2000, when I first got signed. I’m ready now.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve stated that Marvin Gaye was a large influence on you musically…

Duece Poppi: He’s just one of those people that I look up to, amongst a lot of people. He was right on with what was happening at his time. He kept it gutter. He could go a lot of ways. He had the fame and everything that you could want. Regardless, he kept pushing it, trying to take it to another level. I feel that I’m an artist like that. I can rap, but rap for me is real cookie cutter. As people are going to do Southern rap or what ever you want to call it, it should have a theme just like my man Marvin Gaye did. If the theme for this album don’t work out, I’m not going to stay with it. I’m gonna do another theme. I’m gonna trust the fans. Marvin was classy and ghetto at the same time. I remember when I was a little boy and he died. My mother came home from work crying. I was a little shorty. That’s when I really started listening to all of his music. He was real and aware of what was going on during his time. That’s how I want to be because I want to push the envelope like Marvin did.

AllHipHop.com: Quoting from Ghostface, would call yourself a Soul baby?

Duece Poppi: Most definitely. Love to Sly and the Family Stone, and all the pimp culture. I love everything gutter, so it’s like my musical taste is with the pimp underground, ‘70s and ‘80s. If I were to have come out a while ago, you wouldn’t have heard me. I wouldn’t have been able to put my “28” on it. See right now, you’re gonna’ hear me. The label, Capitol Records, really gave me a chance to express the gutter side and what’s really going on. I appreciate all the labels giving me a chance. When the album comes out, you’re gonna really be able to feel the soul. You see, we’re from the South. We’re supposed to control the soul, but right now, we control the clubs. I wan to put some soul into it.

AllHipHop.com: So if you’re trying to evolve Southern music, what’s going on in it right now?

Duece Poppi: Here’s what’s going on with Southern music, you have cats doing the same thing, or keeping it crunk. I’m trying to evolve that. I’m not trying to get away from mySsouthern roots, but I think that with my aura and the way that it’s gonna be marketed to the actual music, I feel like it’s gonna all be self-explanatory.

AllHipHop.com: What can people expect from this, “psychedelic-gangster” style?

Duece Poppi: Just from my album’s title, God, Guns, and P***y, it encapsulates what a real n***a on the street really knows. I’m gonna show me, but every producer is encouraged to take it there. We want musical s**t. We want club and all kinds of s**t. “Did I Do That,” is my first single because it was my emergence. I came in this b***h a worm, and now I’m coming out a caterpillar. That’s me producing and all. I made that beat, the gangster hood. The aura and all that is one thing, but when you get into records like Cool & Dre’s “Money in Bags”, where me and Rick Ross recorded the hook, everybody can get on that psychedelic-gangster s**t. When I say, psychedelic, I mean drug induced. Right now, the world is in a state of shock. The world is trying to put itself in a coma because of all of the s**t going on. Americans, we’re out here selling work and getting f**ked up. We’re trying to forget about the things impending in the future. We’re getting f**ked up and keeping it gangster. My future is what ever people like in an impaired state. People are gonna feel it. I mean everyone can enjoy it. That’s why I call it, psychedelic-gangster s**t.

AllHipHop.com: So you’re a rapper that isn’t big, but has a lot of fans. You obviously have a lot of loyalty. What about rappers that get big and forget about their fans?

Duece Poppi: Hey man, that’s just the kind of n***as they was. That’s the thing, money makes you be yourself. There’s a lot of different reasons why they act like that. A lot of cats just want to be good for the money. A lot want to be good for the fame. And a lot just do it for the b***hes. There’s some n***as that sell bricks to get money and take care of the generations under them. A lot of n***as just do it to rhyme good and f**k b***hes, but don’t learn. See you can be good at something, but what are you doing it for? Some weren’t really doing it at all. They ain’t the kinds of cats that love their people. It shows when you get money because they’re the types to not really be around anybody. They’re the kind of n***as that you say, “Oh, they don’t f**k with nobody!” That’s them.

AllHipHop.com: How will listeners from the North respond to your music versus those of the South, or even worldwide?

Duece Poppi: I think that it’s gonna do better in other places because down here, there’s a lot of cats that know and love me. When I walk around, they’re like, “Duece Poppi, what up?” But up there, they haven’t had the opportunity and chance to sit down and kick their feet up. They ain’t had Duece in their lives like that. The purpose of the deal that I just took was to go national. I feel like the South…it’s not really big, just America cut up into little pieces. What we do here, is incredible, this music. I think that the way that people are feeling the South; they’re ready for that next level. They’re ready for some more. What I do is colorful. It ain’t even regionable, it’s global. If ya f**k with the club, then I f**k with ya. I love to go places. I got music that the West Coast is gonna love. I go straight to the club to study my sociology. Everywhere I go with Trina and Trick, we’ve been on the road our whole careers. I’m talking about music. I’m a growthful artist. It’s just a beautiful thing right now to be me because I’m gonna win. The music that I do is for your life. It’s supposed to make you feel better.

Rhyme pays, but TV pays better. In 2006, Ice-T has little to no reason to still be making records. Between a leading role Law & Order: SVU and hosting Hip-Hop Honors, the original gangsta is a well-paid household name, who never lost one bit of his outspoken, street image. But for the love of the Hip-Hop he helped advance, Ice-T has returned with his eleventh album, Gangsta Rap.

The Ice opinion leaves nothing unturned as Tracy Marrows touches on why he chooses to work with rap veterans, why today’s youth can’t relate to him, and why Flavor of Love has him shook. Ice-T says he’s never portrayed himself with a woman that wasn’t his, or rhymed about a car he didn’t drive. When it comes to questions on the state of Hip-Hop, the 48 year-old icon keeps it just as real.

AllHipHop.com: On the cover of Gangsta Rap you guys are in bed, naked. Is that a play off of a John Lennon, Yoko Ono album cover from back in the day, where they did something similar?

Ice-T: I wasn’t dealing with them. Somebody told me about it. I never saw that cover but mine was just [the film] Superfly. I just knew Superfly, when he went to lay back, he had the White girl on his chest, he was in the bed kicked back, talking s**t, and The Mack too.

AllHipHop.com: Hasn’t the cover alone been creating controversy?

Ice-T: You know, controversy, it’s marketing. Point blank. Somebody like me, I’m not gonna do a two million dollar video. I’m not gonna come out here and spend all my money promoting on a record. I’m like we’ll just put out something that people will talk about, that will create a buzz. Hopefully people will come to the website and listen to it.

AllHipHop.com: You and your wife are naked on the cover.

Ice-T: Yeah, it’s real. One thing about me, I’ve never taken a picture with a girl that wasn’t my girl. I’ve never done a video with no cars that weren’t my cars. That s**t is wack. “Real” is really an important word to me. If I don’t have no Maybach, I’m not gonna be posing near one. I come from a different code where the cats I mess with come from the penitentiary or the streets and if I say a word on my record that ain’t true, n***as will get at me like “Ice that ain’t real, n**ga, you didn’t do that.” I don’t really fabricate s**t, that’s corny. But that’s how we look every morning in the bed [laughs], just that sexy. And, I put a pistol on the mantle piece because it’s kind of like, although this looks so sexy and fly, it’s gangsta. This is the lifestyle.

AllHipHop.com: On the topic of being an OG, I know you have production from Grand Daddy I.U., and appearances from Smoothe Da Hustler and Trigga Da Gambler. Why did you choose to work with these artists?

Ice-T: Because I only work with cats I know. I only deal with people I know. Me and Trig and Smooth have been friends since “Broken Language”. I was in New York one time doing an interview and I was at one of the radio stations and they asked me who was I feeling right now and I said, “This guy named Smoothe Da Hustla.” I mean, I had just heard it, the record is so bananas, and before we got out of the radio station, they were downstairs. They were so happy because I was the first person to say they name on the radio. They were so real, you could sell it. And I’ve been dealing with them for years. They’re the truth. So of course when I’m doing my record, I’m not gonna have my manager say, “Who’s hot on the charts? Call Nelly.” That s**t is corny. Rap with the n***as you f**k with. To me, Hip-Hop is supposed to have some realness to it. It’s not pop music. When you start hunting down the hottest producers and all that, now it’s very pretentious and fabricated, that’s corny. It’s not necessary. The producers I got are all unknown producers, and the tracks are dope.

AllHipHop.com: How connected do you feel to other veterans in the game?

Ice-T: I’m very connected. I talk to all the people. By doing Hip-Hop Honors, that was really a reunion. And I’m friends with Big Daddy Kane, I talk to KRS-One, Melle Mel, Chuck D, Ice Cube, Dre. I got a good rep.

AllHipHop.com: Do you see that show as a vehicle for gaining new fans? Not just for you, but for all the artists involved?

Ice-T: Not really. I just think it’s a good vibe. You guys are on the Internet, but you gotta know man, live Hip-Hop performance on TV is rare. There are no more Arsenio Halls. Every once and a while somebody performs but you don’t get to see them live. You got kids today that are really Hip-Hop fans that have never seen Ice Cube live, they’ve never seen MC Lyte, they’ve never seen The Beastie Boys; they think Eminem is the first White rapper, and The Beastie Boys sold 11 million records. After I did my show, I got people emailing me talking about I look like 50 Cent.

AllHipHop.com: 50 Cent? Huh?

Ice-T: Like I was trying to be him. But how can I be him when I was out 10 years before him? You gotta track the movement of who’s copying who. And I’m not saying he’s copying me, I’m just saying their image of what it is; they only can date it from a certain person. Like when I did Rap School, I asked the kids who was the first rapper they had ever heard of and they said Nelly so, we’re dealing with that. That’s why it’s good for people to see Afrika Bambaataa and breakdancers, and Salt N Pepa, and Wu-Tang Clan, you know? It’s a good vibe. It’s a good show. The vibe of it and the intent of it is good.

AllHipHop.com: Is your original fan base is still loyal?

Ice-T: I wouldn’t know who’s loyal anymore. I don’t really know what’s up. We’re gonna just wait and see. To me, music is music. The first word in Hip-Hop is “hip.” It’s not really easy for a 17-year-old or an 18-year-old kid to listen to me because I’m a little bit older than them, and the girls can’t really like me. But I also believe there’s an adult Hip-Hop audience, a Hip-Hop audience over 25 who really can’t listen to an 18-year-old rapper tell them what’s up. If you’re a woman and you’re 30, and you’re listening to rappers who are 19 telling you they want to take you to bed, I don’t know if that’s child abuse. So I think you do need a Big Daddy Kane, you do need an LL, you need somebody who is talking something you understand. Basically, my fans are people that like me.

AllHipHop.com: Being that you’ve obviously grown and evolved since you first came out, how do you look at your older music?

Ice-T: I think the difference between old Ice-T and the new Ice-T is old Ice-T is [shouting] “I’ll kill everybody,” and the new Ice-T is like [smoothly] “By the way, you know I’ll kill you, right?” So I think that’s the way the music is. The music was just really aggressive and ag because of the youth and the energy. As you get older, you get more focused. I learned that it’s not really about being mad at everything, it’s just being mad at the right s**t. Focus your energy. Everybody is not your enemy, pick ‘em and get ‘em.

AllHipHop.com: Going back to you being a veteran, is veteran synonymous with old school? Method Man was recently had on a T-shirt, I believe it was at Hip-Hop Honors, that read that he was not an old school artist. How do you feel about that?

Ice-T: Today, old school is two years old, the way [the fans] got it. I heard a n***a tell me Nas was old school. So, Jay-Z is old school. It’s like if you’re not out in the last two years, if you’re not Jeezy or a Yung Joc, or basically a new artist, you old school. It’s like, somebody like Ludacris is getting close to old school. That’s how quick they turn it over. But the beauty of Hip-Hop is if Hip-Hop embraces brothers like Ice Cube, Too Short, E-40. They let them make a record today, which they are doing and they’re hot but, what hat that does for the rap artist is say you can have a 20 year career. So it’s kind of like the kid sitting in the audience hating on the old school rapper, really is creating a situation that won’t allow him to exist for more than two years.

AllHipHop.com: Ah, I see.

Ice-T: Exactly. In other words, it’s more beneficial to have rappers rap for long distances because it lets you believe your career can last longer. When radio starts playing those records, like if radio throws an Ice-T record on, that means everybody between me and now could possibly have a hit if they just put the right record together. If they won’t play my record, that’s to say if they ain’t within the last two years then they won’t play you, they wouldn’t play Method Man’s s**t [because he’s considered old school]. He wasn’t getting no main radio rotation because they’re only looking for the flavor of the month. I think I have a reason for that, do you want to know why?

AllHipHop.com: School me.

Ice-T: The reason is, radio phone lines are only hit by kids below 20 years old. Nobody over 20 got time to be calling no g####### radio station.

AllHipHop.com: [Laughing] I saw where you were going with that. That’s an excellent point.

Ice-T: A Chris Brown or somebody like that would get a lot more hits or requests than somebody a little older, so that young age bracket is really, really important because that’s where all the little girls will blow up. Now if you go to the Law & Order website, where I take a million hits, those are all adults who will email and write in. Some of them don’t even know I rap, so you got a whole ‘nother bracket. But the thing is with radio, anybody who’s ever called radio knows that they put you on hold and the only person who has time to hold for a request is a child. There is it, the science of young hype.

AllHipHop.com: How are you transcending young hype?

Ice-T: I don’t care about it. The beauty of where I’m at in Hip-Hop right now is another platinum record, or gold record is not gonna change anything. It’s really just another statement from Ice-T. Hip-Hop has just been waiting, wondering if I’m done and I’m like, “Hell no, I ain’t done.” I would quit, but these n***as just don’t rap that good. It’s not like I can’t out rap a lot of these cats. If everybody rapped like Twista then I’d quit.

AllHipHop.com: How many more albums do you think you have in you?

Ice-T: They’re easy to me now. I don’t know. We’ll see what this Gangsta Rap album does. The results of it will let me know. But Chuck D told me, “You shouldn’t do it if you ain’t having fun,” I’m like this s**t is fun. But n***as is hearing me, I just got a call from Lil’ Wayne to do something on his joint, and I’m on Snoop’s s**t [Blue Carpet Treatment].

AllHipHop.com: Who is the scariest person in Hip-Hop right now?

Ice-T: I think Flavor Flav right now. I mean scary in the best way because we don’t know what Flav is gonna do next. That Flavor of Love show is just f***king bananas. Wait, I think the scariest person in Hip-Hop is New York, f **k the rappers. As a matter of fact, let’s put New York’s mother down. The scariest person in Hip-Hop is New York’s mother.

Above The Law once rapped about a “Black Superman,” and with all due respect to Hip-Hop’s favorite nine-man super-group from Staten Island, no MC seems to fit the profile better than Nashville’s Count Bass D. The average rapper would have you believe they really are living in the lap of luxury; in reality their powers are sapped when the rented jewelry is given back and the million dollar whips are returned to the Dupont Registry. Count Bass D, on the other hand, is quite content to drop eccentric sixteens over his own critically acclaimed beats by night while still holding down a real life nine-to-five day job. In addition to housing exclusive tracks and an exhaustive discography, his website is home to his blog where he openly admits to pawning his equipment, being two months late with rent, and wearing his work uniform on an album cover.

With these facts in mind it would be relatively easy to slap a “conscious” or “backpacker” label on Count Bass D and place him right next to the broke “real heads” from the ‘90’s who were forced to go the independent route. Then you remember he’s a self-proclaimed addict of the drive in fast food chain Sonic, and lists G-Unit capo 50 Cent among his Hip-Hop heroes. What gives? After a concert in Athens, Georgia—with his whole family in tow—Count broke down the dichotomy of pulling double duty as a husband and father of five and a Hip-Hop hustler.

AllHipHop.com: Dwight Spitz had a concept behind it as far as it being your first foray into using beat machines. When you started playing around on the MPC, did you see any similarities between finding out new tricks and the improvisational techniques you use with a live instrument?

Count Bass D: Yes indeed. That’s exactly the spirit that I took to the beat machine. I believe that the reason why is because I’ve got respect for the beat machine just like Bill Evans has for his Steinway or Wynton Marsalis has respect for a Bach Stradivarious. The beat machine is our instrument for this Hip-Hop thing. It’s evolved from when “Rapper’s Delight” was completely live, but once ’87 hit and that SP 1200 and the MPC 60 hit, that was the beginning of a new era. You had the combination of those beat machines and the Ultimate Breakbeats series. Once those two things combined you started getting stuff like [Rob Base & DJ EZ-Rock’s] “It Takes Two,” the whole [Eric B & Rakim] Paid In Full album, and Slick Rick’s album [The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.]

I took that spirit of musicianship that I learned and tried to learn about the breaks and the beat machines. When I was ready to hop on the machine, Dwight Spitz was there. A lot of people were like, “It’s cool, we feel he’s talented, but until he proves that he can play inside these changes then we can’t ride with him.” It’s kind of like Archie Shepp and the Free Jazz guys. It’s fine that you can have a good time and s**t, but can you sit down and just play me a ballad though? I felt like it was the same with me.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned one of the “golden eras,” from the mid-to-late 80’s and you also made your mark during the early 90’s. Do you have a memory that stands out?

Count Bass D: One of my biggest Hip-Hop memories that I think a lot of people don’t really talk about the importance of is Yo! MTV Raps. That showed us a visual. I saw Phase ‘N’ Rhythm’s “Swollen Pockets,” Hans Soul “Imagination,” and Divine Styler all on Yo! MTV Raps. That’s not something you can get anywhere today. Not only that, they were bringing it into the boarding school where I was. Me not being close to any metropolitan city, this is like ’87 to ’91, so I had no contact with the streets to get access to anything. Yo! MTV Raps was my lifeline and they were feeding me real good. Look at the last show and look what those dudes did. A lot of people don’t really talk about that, but MTV had a lot to do with all these dudes in the middle regions who have an affinity for Hip-Hop. I think the Internet and especially sites like AllHipHop.com are what’s handling that right now. That’s a beautiful thing, because MTV moved on to different things as rap became pop. But, at that time, they really represented it right where it was. You saw [Apache’s] “Gangsta B**ch,” Nikki D, everything was on there.

AllHipHop.com: Yours and M.F. Doom’s careers have taken similar paths as far as reinventing yourselves to a new audience. I don’t want to make it sound like his recent success is accidental …

Count Bass D: Nah, that’s completely calculated. The Honorable M.F. Doom, and that’s the only way I can refer to him, because, first of all, Doom doesn’t contact me unless he has a job for me. I might talk to Doom, like twice or maybe three times a year tops. It’s not a situation where he and I are going back and forth all of the time. It’s a need to know basis type of thing. If I don’t need to know then he doesn’t involve me in it. He’s my hero, because we’re similar. 50 Cent is my hero the same way. We’re the dudes that the major labels came through and grabbed, s**tted on and left for dead. Somehow n****s are able to come back and do it again because the label wasn’t making us, it was just in us. Look at 50 Cent, n***as left him for dead and he came back and did it. Now he’s got everybody completely rolling with him. That’s the reason why dudes like that are my heroes; that’s why Doom is my hero. Same thing with Count Bass—I came through with Pre-Life Crisis and n****s didn’t know what was gonna happen with me. You know what? That was 1995, and a lot of dudes that started with me are not here talking with you right now.

AllHipHop.com: Did you come in the game with that mentality, or was it a matter of not wanting to deal with the machine anymore after your experience with Pre-Life Crisis?

Count Bass D: I was in Paris, France when I got the vibe that I wasn’t going to be contacted back by my record label. At that point I made a decision that as soon as I got home I was going to get a job at a dry cleaners. I had enough money from equipment that I had bought already. I said, “I’m just going to use the equipment that I’ve got, make music for myself and archive it. I’m just gonna’ get me a job because I’m always gonna’ make the music, but I’m not trying to go through the music business.” Then what happened was I thought I could continue to start to raise a family. One child turned into two, three children. It was just like the dope life. I had to go back to the music business because that’s the only way I could make ten, 20 G’s in one shot. That’s the only reason I’m doing this right now. The music is the music. As far as the music business, I’m only in the music business for the money. I’m not in the music business for no fame or anything like that. I’m perfectly fine making my music at home if I have enough dough to feed my family.

If I had my way, I’d just be making music for myself at home. I don’t believe my music is for everybody anyway. But, when you make music like that, you can’t have that attitude in the music business. They’re trying to force music on people who really don’t want to hear it, and my music is an acquired taste. If I look at you and I can tell your vibe just by looking at certain records in your collection, man, I’m not even trying to let you know I even make music. I’m not one of those dudes trying to pass out flyers to everybody. If I don’t feel you’ll be able to understand my background and love music—man, I am not the artist for you. Don’t buy s**t of mine; don’t even look past my section. Go to Counting Crows and then jump pass Count Bass D and go straight to the next artist.

AllHipHop.com: It might not be for everyone, but you’ve got an interesting list of collaborations to say the least—everyone from The Beastie Boys to Me Phi Me and Vitamin C. What’s that process like, do you build with the other person first?

Count Bass D: That’s what I’m saying Omar, musicianship. I speak the language of musicianship. If you’re a real musician I’ll be able to work with you. You can see from my discography that that’s the truth. If you’re coming to me for a club joint, can’t f**k with you. If you need a joint for the ladies, can’t f**k with you. If coming to Count Bass for that new, hot joint—f**k that, I can’t f**k with you. I speak the language of musicianship. If you do too then we can always speak and collaborate on something that I feel that the people who came before us in the art world wouldn’t necessarily frown on. That’s the only attitude I have with musicians. I believe the people who see that in me want to work with me and ride with me that way. The bulls**t cuts itself out; I don’t even get those calls. Those people already know to stay away from Count Bass D. It’s a beautiful thing because I don’t have to sit here and lie to people and say, “Ahh, I’m not really feeling your rhymes.” My vibe is out there and they already know.

AllHipHop.com: That mentality shines through on Act Your Waist Size too. You refer to yourself as “the Hip-Hop Sam Cooke.” He was one of the first people to own his publishing and start a label too, so I imagine you try to pattern yourself after him in terms of that and the artistry too.

Count Bass D: Exactly. Those guys paved the way, because that’s how you’re supposed to do it. I understand that dudes fall on hard times and you may have to sign a record deal here and there, but Sam Cooke and those guys were like a civil rights movement. You talk about publishing and stuff like that, back then you could almost get killed for it. A lot of people believe that’s the reason he’s not here. My family is the size that it is, so I run my business the way it is right now, but best believe I still got the Sam Cooke mentality—do for self. I’ve got adopted children out there. Act Your Waist Size is adopted, Pre-Life Crisis is adopted, but my other albums are mine just like my [physical] children right here. I love my adopted children, and I’m the birth mother, but hopefully their adoptive homes will take care of them and raise them right. I don’t have any control of that now. I’ve just gotta’ let that go and let it ride. As far as the rest of my catalogue, that’s me and that’s what we handle out here. That’s what feeds my children and puts money in my pocket, not the game and bulls**t Soundscan numbers.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of children, you and your wife are both musicians. Do you worry about any of your children wanting to be musicians as they get older?

Count Bass D: What I just need to do is watch them, because I’m showing them the game right now. They’re going to be able to know the in’s and the out’s of this. I’m not showing them being on TV and being on stage. I’m showing them what it’s like to load your own s**t, break down your own equipment and check into your hotel. I show them all these bulls**t royalty statements that you never see when people owe you 30 grand and want to act like they haven’t sold any of your records. If it’s in them and they still have to do it, then they will do it. I just want to make sure that they know exactly what’s going on with it. Don’t just think it’s all roses and people coming up saying, “I like your music.” I’m showing them all sides of the game. Personally, I don’t think my children will want to do this because they’re seeing all aspects of it. I don’t think they would want to put their families through what I’m putting our family through. At the same time they’re appreciative that they’ve got daddy most of the time and I’m able to be there and give them instruction and whatnot.