As Rap-A-Lot Records turns 20 years old, a lot of the people who made the label what it is aren’t there to blow out the candles. Most would concur that there’s none bigger than Brad Jordan, better known as Mr. Scarface. Since 1988’s Making Trouble, the Geto Boys did just that, for anybody who was comfortable keeping southern Hip-Hop out. While juggling the group duties, ‘Face also reigned as King of the South with a grip of successful solos.

Today, Scarface has reportedly retired from making albums. Without a label, ‘Face sticks to features and his always constant, rarely celebrated production duties. With work logged for Nas, Chamillionaire, and U.G.K., the future seems as bright as the past. Get Scarface’s thoughts on religion, baseball, and his paperwork. Scarface never molded to the conventions people expected him to fit, and this exclusive interview is no different.

AllHipHop.com: What got you interested in Islam?

Scarface: I think the views of this religion are a lot different from the views of Christianity.

AllHipHop.com: Was there anything in particular that attracted you?

Scarface: It’s just that they see things the way you do. I don’t really want to go into it right now, it’s a long story.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that Islam provides with you more freedom than Christianity?

Scarface: We’ll see. [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: How long have you been interested?

Scarface: I just started. Right now, I’m not rolling with anyone. You know me; that’s like a gang to me. When you put a stipulation on a boundary or a color or a religion, that sounds like gang talk to me. I want to be somewhere where it’s not illegal to me what I am. Right now it is illegal for me to be in church, because my heart ain’t pure. Everyone’s sick, that’s what church is, it’s a big ass hospital. I would expect the person to lead me, to me a little different from me. I’m a hoe monger. I would hope the person that leads me to where I need to be isn’t a homosexual, or a hoe monger, or a pimp or any of that s**t we’re dealing with. I don’t need any helicopters, I don’t need two churches, I don’t need any of that s**t to serve my Lord. I need some pots and some pans, I need some stuff that can help us get income together. I don’t think we should be sitting here trying to outdo each other. And that’s just my own personal.

AllHipHop.com: Recently you made a shift to production completely.

Scarface: I’m just making music right now. I’m probably one of the best that did it. A lot of my credit is being taken by other people. But the stuff that I have my name on and the stuff they have their name on, my stuff sounds totally different, because they just can’t do it. You can’t teach this, what I know about music. This is by blood. There are generations after generation after generation of musicians.

AllHipHop.com: What projects are you currently working on?

Scarface: I’m really proud of the UGK project. I’m not just chucking them beats; I’m a fan.

AllHipHop.com: Do you sit in the studio with them and mold the beat around them? What is the process like?

Scarface: No, I don’t need to do that, I’m a fan. I have the blueprint in my head already. For me to listen to anything else, it’s a waste of our time, I know where I want them to be as a fan.

AllHipHop.com: People like you and UGK have had longevity, how did that come about for you guys?

Scarface: I don’t know, it’s by God, that’s all I know to do is jam. I make music.

AllHipHop.com: Is music also a way for you to give back to you community?

Scarface: It’s a way to let my community to reflect, reflect on what it did for me.

AllHipHop.com: What kind of programs or initiatives have you started?

Scarface: It will be so that we can have something to do in our neighborhood. There ain’t nothing to do.

AllHipHop.com: Are you a baseball fan?

Scarface: I know that more Black people need to get into it, I wouldn’t be surprised if only nine percent of the Black people out there know how to play baseball.

AllHipHop.com: Is it just a matter of giving people opportunities?

Scarface: If you gave them the chance they may appreciate it.

AllHipHop.com: Tell us about some of the production work you do and what you do to put together a beat.

Scarface: It’s not a process at all. I just hear it in my head.

AllHipHop.com: Do most of your ideas come randomly or are you inspired?

Scarface: It’s all random. I need to start carrying a tape recorder.

AllHipHop.com: Do you lose a lot of ideas?

Scarface: Yeah, but they come so frequently.

AllHipHop.com: What kind of samples do you find yourself attracted to more?

Scarface: It doesn’t matter, if it works it works, if it jams it jams. If you need beats holla at me.

AllHipHop.com: How do you stay on top of your business?

Scarface: It’s a long story, [laughs] just make sure you stay on top all the time. I do admit at the early phase of my career I wasn’t on top of it. I have songs on people’s albums that I haven’t collected on, and I have songs out right now that I haven’t collected on. I’m about to start collecting.

AllHipHop.com: Why were you so passive about it?

Scarface: Because I loved it that much. I don’t mind using my voice to help you on a track. But if you don’t look out for me, that’s just not right. If you’re using my talent to get paid, it’s only right for me to get chipped off. I got the lawyer and the whole package. It’s illegal for someone else to hold your money. I have tracks on a whole bunch of albums, like the Biggie Duets album, the old Nas album, and the Chamillionaire album I haven’t collected on it. I didn’t do any contracts on them, it was love, love is love.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have a few million left to collect on?

Scarface: I’m sure it’s out there.

AllHipHop.com: Are you shifting any of your attention away from music to get your business straight?

Scarface: No I’m all about work, I’m not handling the business, I got people that do that. My whole thing is about the work.

AllHipHop.com: So are you doing contracts from now on?

Scarface: No, I’ll let people who deal with that deal with that. When you put your voice on a track, that’s contract enough.

AllHipHop.com: What is your situation right now?

Scarface: I don’t have anything in terms of that, I’m just making music.

AllHipHop.com: What kind of set up do you have in your studio?

Scarface: I have an MPC 3000, some old analog keyboards, and old Korgs.

When keeping it real goes right, there was Willie D. The most outspoken Geto Boy, Willie spoke bluntly about race, class, sex, and money. The Houston rapper suffered for this. His “loved by few, hated by many” attitude spent years in the shadows of GB brother, Scarface. But 20 years later, Willie has never bit his tongue.

In a Midtown Manhattan hotel room, Willie D returns to New York armed with a passionate mission to rebuild his career. In between meetings with distribution companies and record labels, Willie plays new material, reveals his plans, and reflects on the state of Hip-Hop and America. Though Willie D laughs far more than he raises his voice, he shoots from the hip, and frequently criticizes from the phonies. In age of saturated carbon-copy characters in Hip-Hop, Willie D is one-of-a-kind, with music that still packs the punch that his enemies have come to fear.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve got a new group of White rappers, Huntzville. They’ve made some songs, including “Uncle Sam”, about The War in Iraq. How do you think opinions on the war vary over the color lines in the South?

Willie D: There’s a major f**kin’ difference. When I presented the idea to the group, my stance is I’m against the war. Each [member of the group] was like, “Why? I just think it’s the right thing to do.” Typically, that’s how White people feel. I feel like they’ll defend [this country] at any cost. Black people, they are less eager to go f**k with somebody that ain’t did s**t to ‘em. Black people are more willing to give people the benefit of the doubt because we have been abused and oppressed for so long. We can relate to somebody to bein’ f**ked with, without justification. That’s the major difference right there.

Having said that, you really have to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. The reason I can’t get mad at [pro-war] White people, because, let me tell y’all something, if I had the motherf**kin’ privileges y’all had around this mothaf**ka, I’d say, “F**k that s**t, let’s defend this motherf**ka; I don’t give a good g####### what happens. If you don’t like it you Anti-American, go the f**k back to Africa!” That’s honestly speaking. It’s like Chris Rock said, “There ain’t a White person in this mothaf**kin’ room who’d trade places with me. I’m rich.” I like to do the role-reversal thing, as long as it’s distinctly heterosexual. [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: A few years ago, you felt differently though, right?

Willie D: I was. I was pro-war in terms of goin’ after Afghanistan. Those mothaf**kas deserved everything they got. But now, the Iraqi situation was different. I still feel like something should’ve been done to remove Saddam Hussein out of office from the injustices he’s done. I feel like the U.N. should’ve handled that. [Because] the United States put the future of my children at risk – and their children at risk, ‘cause these are some retaliating motherf**kas. We went over there under false pretenses. We’re still over there. Motherf**kas are getting killed. It’s cool to kick some ass, but it’s a whole other thing when you f**kin’ with somebody and they sendin’ your kids head home in a box. Had we just went over there, kicked some ass, laid mothaf**kas out, and come on back, everything would’ve been cool. Now, people are, “I want to go home.” I got friends in Iraq that work and are in the military, and just the s**t they say, man, it ain’t no joke.

AllHipHop.com: 2005 was a monumental year for Texas rap. Going into a new record on your own the hard way now, how did you react to all that last year? Do you get your respect?

Willie D: Listen, I resent the overt celebration of some of the new acts [when] mothaf**kas act like these mothaf**kas invented rap and all that s**t. However, I’m not bitter. The reason I’m not bitter is ‘cause I understand human nature. It’s human nature to celebrate the times. Although I don’t wish any bad luck on any of the guys that’s got it goin’ on right now, I do know that everything has a season. I know that the time now is not forever. It’s like [Ice] Cube said, “They’ll have a new n***a next year.” My thing though, is that overall, I can appreciate anybody that shines out of Houston. All that does is make people look at Houston more, and it’s bringing attention to the city and the state. When those executives visit Chamillionaire or Paul Wall, and I see ‘em hangin’ out in the clubs or Cheesecake Factory, it ain’t nothin’ for me to run and get my CD and say, “Check it out.” That’s the major advantage. That’s why I’m in New York right now. Y’all have that. Y’all can be walking to the post office and [run into] Clive Davis.

I wish that I got my equal share of the pie, and all that stuff. But the bottom line is people don’t give a f**k. They don’t give a f**k what you did, what you created, all that s**t. You look at people like Oscar Robinson and Wilt Chamberlain – these guys’ names very seldom come up when you talkin’ ‘bout great basketball players. The main reason is they’re Black, and it’s Black peoples’ job to preserve their own history. It’s not White people’s jobs. It’s human nature to look out for your own. White people will never let you forget Babe Ruth, John Wayne, Elvis Presley, because they say, “These are our icons. We’re gonna name a street after ‘em.” Black people traditionally haven’t honored their own. We like to talk that s**t in magazines and on TV, but if you open up a magazine, the only time you’ll see something from a legend is the back page, where it says “Props.” People don’t give a f**k. I’m not bitter, that s**t fuels my fire, ‘cause I’m finna make the biggest comeback in Hip-Hop history.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think Scarface gets more acknowledgment than yourself because he talked more about drug raps?

Willie D: Nahhhh. He get looked at more than myself because he sold more records as a solo artist. He sold the records, and he stuck to the script. You see, I don’t just talk about drugs when I make the music. I talk about a lot of socially conscious s**t. Yeah, I can talk about rollin’ on somebody. We can do that all day. But my music really is a reflection of what goes through my mind everyday. I think about p***y every day, I think about family every day, I think about makin’ money every day, I think about my health every day, I think about the under-privileged every day, I think about world conditions every day. My thoughts run the gambit. When I write, my writing is indicative of my mind on a daily basis. [Scarface] gets a lot more attention ‘cause he stuck to the script, and no matter what he’s thinking, he [shows] he’s thinking of drugs, murder, and s**t. I don’t know what’s goin’ on [inside] his head, but I know he stuck to the script. That’s the script that we wrote back in ’89. Mothaf**kas stuck with him.

AllHipHop.com: I read a recent interview that said he’s done with that…

Willie D: I read the same interview. But actions speak louder than words. I’m the kind of mothaf**ka, if I’m sayin’ some s**t, I’ll act on it. I been hearing a lot of s**t people been talkin’, but actions speak louder than words. I don’t know where dude’s mind is. But I do this: I know that Geto Boys, although we one of the most respected groups in the industry, our compensation ain’t a reflection of that. I do know that the main reason is ‘Face’s lack of cooperation. To me, fans deserve to see you in concert. “We want to make money,” all that is fine. But to me, the fans deserve more than a record. To me, fans deserve to see you award shows. Even the label deserves more than that. He wouldn’t tour. He wouldn’t do interviews. You can’t put yourself in a position to compete [that way]. It defeats the whole purpose of making a record. Even the Rolling Stones tour, to this day, and they one of the biggest groups in history – Public Enemy too.

We’re supposed to start on our new album. This was [several months] ago. ‘Face came to the studio [a total of] one day. It didn’t make sense. [Scarface and I are] the writers. If we don’t get the s**t done, it ain’t gonna get done.

AllHipHop.com: On the Geto Boys DVD that came with Greatest Hits, you were performing solo in Cleveland, Ohio. You welcomed a guy on stage to battle another audience member. He started battling you, and you laid into him. What keeps you sharp like that?

Willie D: [Laughs] You know what, I think the main thing that keeps me sharp is the lack of respect. I don’t getting embarrassed, and I don’t like being disrespected. I’ll find a way to get a motherf**ka back if he embarrasses me. I feel like I been disrespected by the industry. I’ve given a lot to Hip-Hop. I feel like I’ve been disrespected by media personalities. How you gonna let “Let a Hoe Be a Hoe”, “Gangsta of Love”, “My Mind’s Playin’ Tricks on Me”, … how you gonna list that on your [top lists], and then, when it comes to rappers, not mention Willie D? I wrote those mothaf**kas. How can I not be that? I ain’t nowhere on nobody’s paper. No mothaf**kin’ where! Cats said I rapped too loud, or I screamed, and then they turned around and praised Onyx, Ja Rule, Busta Rhymes, and DMX. What is it about Willie D? It’s a mothaf**kin’ double-standard. All that s**t gonna change as soon as I pop off. Mothaf**kas know they can’t out-work me, and they can’t out-think me. All they got on me is that mothaf**kin’ machine. When you got that, it’s hard to lose.

AllHipHop.com: Controversy is worth over a hundred dollars on CD today. How do you approach your early solo stuff?

Willie D: I really don’t put a lot of stock in it, unless I’m at a show and I hear people screaming for a song. Then, I’ll go grab it and I’ll perform it. But peoples’ memories are so short. It’s not me, it’s the fans. Every five years, you got a whole new legion of fans. It’s 2006, and if you perform something from 1992, you gonna lose fans – unless it was something that you couldn’t miss, like “My Mind’s Playin’ Tricks on Me”.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve got a new record, “Nobody Cares About Me”. You’ve always promoted hopeless on records. At this stage, you’re a family man, you’re successful, how often do you still feel alone like that?

Willie D: All the time. It comes and it goes. Right now, I’m alone. I’m in New York City all by myself. My family is in Baku. Sometimes I call my kids, “Hey Daddy, when you comin’ home? I miss you. I love you.” Sometimes I call my son, “Love you, bye.” I might just be callin’ to hear a friendly voice. Sometimes they’d rather be watchin’ TV than f**kin’ with me. I love them so much that I don’t think they’ll ever know how my heart beats for them. I blush when I think about it. I was there when my boy was born, and I was there when my girl was born. Each one was a different set of emotions. I really believe that if I die today, they’ll obviously miss me, but I don’t think they’ll be ripped. I got friends who only call me when they want something. It’s like that. Human beings are so f**kin’ fickle. I just don’t know how to be fickle.

You’re fresh from your local Tower Records, you pop in the latest CD from your favorite rapper or singer and from the very first listen of the album you find yourself saying one of two things, “Damn this is a hot CD!” or “What in the world was he/she thinking when they recorded this crap?” Meet Damon Eden an Artist and Repertoire (A&R) representative of Atlantic Records, he and persons in his position are your point of reference when you want the answer to the aforementioned question or the one you want to give a pound to when your favorite artist hits you off with another hot album.

Damon Eden’s beginnings mirror most who are in the music business, getting their feet wet as an intern but that’s where it ends. At the end of his internship at Bad Boy records he joined the elite few who were able to parlay their free work into a paid gig. During his tenure at Bad Boy he worked as management and in a publishing coordinator position. After four years at Bad Boy, Damon Eden settled in two years ago at Atlantic Records as an A&R representative. Upon accepting his new responsibilities at Atlantic Records he used a dollar and a dream coupled it with his ear for talent and introduced us to a young man with a classic set of R&B pipes named Trey Songz. Add Trick Daddy, Pretty Ricky and Twista’s platinum album Kamikaze to Damon Eden’s repertoire and its safe to say we can blame some of the other A&Rs in the business for the music you’re not checking for.

Unable to speak about some of those burning questions regarding Lil Kim’s severing ties with Atlantic, Damon was able to dispel the rumor that Atlantic Records found itself in a panic when tracks from Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor album wound up on the internet. “People ask about Lupe more than they ask about any other artist. At the time some of the tracks were leaked things around the company were fine, not all the tracks were leaked and new tracks were added. We are expecting big things from Lupe he is a great artist.” While speaking with Damon Eden about his effort to raise his visibility in the business, he shared some words of wisdom for up and coming artists and what fans can expect from Atlantic Records in the near future.

AllHipHop.com: Would you say that T.I. was the artist that turned things around for Atlantic Records?

Damon Eden: You can’t put that on one artist because some would say Twista was the turn around artist for the company. We can’t say specifically who it was; you know we’ve been very successful here lately but yes T.I. was a great monster look for us this year. He was absolutely a turn around for the company and from a street perspective. People are starting to look at the company differently; we are hitting on all cylinders and from all sides not just the urban side. Look at Danity Kane, Gnarls Barkley, Panic at the Disco we are making it happen all across the board, the Pop side, the urban side and the Rock side.

AllHipHop.com: As a consumer and a person who makes a living writing or speaking about popular culture it would appear what we know as “the machine” is not put behind the Black music division at Atlantic, why is that?

Damon Eden: Why would you say that?

AllHipHop.com: I have two examples, Trey Songz, came out and it was like a breath of fresh air Atlantic was taking a risk with a young artist that had a classic R&B sound. Out of all the artists we hear a million times an hour on the radio who too are getting exposure from all angles he wasn’t out there. My second would be Lil’ Kim; follow me on this as observation not agreement about marketing tactics. Naked Truth was her best album to date, she took risks at being an MC rather than a raptress and where criminal activity/tragedy are used all the time for sells and marketing why not her?

Damon Eden: With Trey this what I can say, he is held as a priority here at the label and with his next album I can promise you we are going hard for him. His album was one of the first I worked. He got a great push at radio and two remixes for his singles but for whatever reason it didn’t connect with the people the way everyone here thought it would. He will be getting that same push again, Trey is a great artist and we will be focusing more on making sure his timing is right. With Lil’ Kim, she wasn’t my artist and at the end of the day you need the body to promote the album and unfortunately she was not here to do that.

AllHipHop.com: There’s no denying the Southern Exposure we’re under, and it appears that cats in New York are scrambling for position. Lupe Fiasco aside, why are the people in your position following trends and not setting them anymore?

Damon Eden: At the end of the day, it’s a bottom line situation and people are going with the records and the content they think they can sell. I don’t think New York is counted out, I am dying for the right guy to come out of New York, I’m dying for the next 50 or a guy who can come out doing major numbers. It’s got to be the right situation, it’s got to be somebody who has the right magic and star power with the ability to have people in and outside of New York relate to him. Maybe it is a trend, the South is hot right now and the fact of the matter is there are a lot more people that are country than they are city. Whether you’re from Alabama, North Carolina or Atlanta you’re still country. All the things that a prevalent in country Hip-Hop are prevalent all throughout the South it’s not just contained in one place.

AllHipHop.com: Not only do you work Hip-Hop you work R&B when you are looking for new talent aren’t you looking for direct competitors? It appears to be a climate of one at a time case in point Beyonce.

Damon Eden: Take Beyonce, Chris Brown, Usher and Ciara bottom line they all have smashes, can dance their a#### off and just have star quality. Everybody is signing a bunch of artists in that vain hoping to get their version of that; I personally am not going there. I love and appreciate what those artists do but I respect them enough to not jack what they are doing. I am trying to be innovative and bring out an artist that doesn’t have to compete with them but has their own s**t. I’m working with an artist by the name of Cristal out of Miami and instead of going out and hooking her up with a bunch of hot producers to duplicate a sound already out there we putting her in position to be in a lane all her own. It’s the same thing Atlantic did with Aaliyah and Brandy they both had a sound that was signature to them. That is what I am doing with Cristal putting her in position where Atlantic has their own Cristal.

AllHipHop.com: Name the one project that was your biggest success and one that left you disappointed.

Damon Eden: I think the record I was most proud of and most disappointed about sales wise was Twista. Twista came off a huge album, Kamikaze I wasn’t the lead A&R at the beginning I came in on the project as training apprentice or the support A&R bringing in “Girl Tonight”. It was a big hit at urban and it went number one at radio and record, a lot of people loved it, but it didn’t sell. That was a pretty big heartbreaking situation for me so it was probably the same thing at once, while it was a success and one of the things that helped me get my weight up in the company it was a big disappointment for me. I thought we would’ve been able to match what we did before.

AllHipHop.com: Over the past few years the reputation of an A&R was tainted, artists were fighting with the label because the A&R had their own agenda and we’re allowing artists to be creative, how has that changed if at all?

Damon Eden: There are always going to be artists who hate their A&R, there is no way around that. When it comes down to it there is time that needs to be spent with the artist to overcome the drama and disagreement. As far as A&Rs having their own agenda in some cases yes, that’s very true. One thing that is stressed more than anything is artist relations, the level of respect has to be maintained because we are all here to win.

AllHipHop.com: How often do you have to turn an artist away, when you run into that “please listen to my demo” situation though you may see the hunger in their eyes they just don’t have what it takes?

Damon Eden: All the time, I’m going to quote another A&R here named Sickamore who said it best “The demo is dead.” Rappers aren’t getting signed from demos anymore they are getting signed because of the attention they garner, the buzz they create for themselves and the anticipation the make in the marketplace they set up. When I meet an artist who is hungry and has a hot demo but he don’t have nothing poppin in the street I have to question his hunger.

AllHipHop.com: What are the differences and similarities between what you and Sickamore do?

Damon Eden: We have the same job just different acts that’s pretty much it. Outside of being an A&R, he’s very successful mixtape DJ, he’s a very personable and talented guy I’m glad he’s here.

AllHipHop.com: Other than the R&B/Pop artist Cristal you’re working with is there anyone else we should be looking out for?

Damon Eden: There’s a couple, a young guy out of Atlanta named DG Yola he’s got a song “Ain’t Gonna Let Up” that’s blowing up in the clubs out there he’s definitely someone to look out for. There’s a guy named Al Fats from Cleveland we just signed he’s got a record called “Came Down”; that’s my project I think he’s someone that can be a real success story for us in the next year. Then there are R&B pop acts Cristal and Bayje; Cristal is Latin and will be huge for the scene in Miami and Bayje who is from Syracuse she’s more edgy but she is an all around great performer.

AllHipHop.com: No one gets into this business to work for or under someone they get in to learn and one day establish their own. Where do you see your experience in the music business taking you?

Damon Eden: That’s a good question, I would like to own a label one day but of course that’s a little ways away; I have to get some stripes and I’ve still got more to learn. As an A&R you work along side the other departments in the company because when you sign an artist it is your job to press upon them the importance of getting this person out and seeing your vision with this artist. As I grow in this business, I hope to master some other things and grow with and in the company.

Note: Artists, producers, engineers, songwriters Damon Eden says you can hit him up @ [email protected]. He checks his emails all day.

If New York Hip-Hop is dead, L.A. rap has decomposed. The Game not withstanding, most fans are likely to draw blanks if asked to name one of the new MCs to hail from the left coast. But as the year winds down—and new blood like Saigon and Papoose look to put New York back on top, an icon-in-the-wings by the name of Glasses Malone seeks the same by aligning himself with Mannie Fresh, Cool and Dre and slew of other super producers.

Also known simply as G. Malone, the Watts-native made a name for himself by pushing 30,000 units on the independent circuit. A bidding war ensued, and offers from Interscope, Black Wall Street—and even Jay-Z—were considered before he signed with Sony for $1.7 Million. Fittingly, some have labeled the one-time Crip “The West Coast Papoose.” Is he worthy of the title? Is he capable of becoming the biggest Crip in Hip-Hop since Snoop and Tha Dogg Pound? Should it matter? These are the questions. G has the answers.

AllHipHop.com: The multi-million dollar value of your record deal has been promoted fairly well in the media, and will continue to do so as your fame increases. With such exposure, do you ever feel like a marked man sometimes?

Glasses Malone: Little crazy n***as might feel different, but not me. It’s hard out here when you have n***as slinging who don’t got what you got, so I don’t even wear jewelry. I don’t like flashing on the homies; you might have them thinking you’re a dumb millionaire. When I’m in the hood, I keep it real simple. I might wear my big watch in one of them Hollywood clubs where other n***as are wearing big watches.

AllHipHop.com: How’s the album going?

Glasses Malone: It’s coming dumb fly, man. I’m working hard on every track. I really painted a perfect picture on every song and gave you me. I got all kinds of moods and tempos for the day. It’s challenging, but it’s fun.

AllHipHop.com: What kind of production can we expect to hear on it?

Glasses Malone: Everyday, I go to see n***as. I got Cool and Dre, some s**t with Mannie Fresh, DJ Toomp…Toomp is a beast. I’m finna to go finish some s**t with Just Blaze.

AllHipHop.com: It sounds like the label’s setting you to blow up big.

Glasses Malone: Absolutely. They’re setting me up to go hard because people are looking at me as a new face. Being that I didn’t come up [with an established act], I had to come up swinging right for it. [Sony’s] definitely working, they’re not playing around.

AllHipHop.com: Would you say that was the reason why you went with Sony? Would you say they would have supported you better than, say, a different label would have supported you at this point?

Glasses Malone: Besides that, it was a better deal and they really respected the fact that I wanted to do my own thing. A lot of labels were nervous because the West Coast ain’t really ever had a successful artist since the Dre regime began. [They never had] an artist hit without messing with Dre or getting beats from Dre. A lot of people were like, “You sure you don’t want to do the deal with Game?” or “Dre says good things about you, you sure you don’t want to get a beat from him on your first record?” I’m like, “No. I just want to do me.” Sony is just more supportive. They got a real bad rap on them and stuff, but if you sell 800,000 records on Sony, that’s like selling two or three million records on Interscope. You sell a punk-ass platinum plaque on Interscope, it’s like, whatever.

AllHipHop.com: What’s up with that animosity towards Interscope? I heard that you were linked with Black Wall Street at one point, and—I’m guessing—it didn’t work out the way you wanted. Is that right?

Glasses Malone: Nah. Interscope is my family. They’re the reason why I am the way I am today. That’s where I picked up a lot about the Game too. The only thing with Interscope is, if you’re not in Eminem, 50 or Dre’s lane, you’re kinda just there. Eventually, they’re gonna start breaking artists without all that stuff; I just didn’t want to be the first one to try.

The Black Wall Street deal was a little different. It just wasn’t financially set. It just wasn’t for me. It was for a real base-rate artist and it kind of had nothing going for itself. At that time, I had a seven-label bidding war so financially, it wasn’t even right. I got a family; I got a mom that got 20 years in prison. I’m trying to keep my little brother out of trouble…[With Game,] it was always blessings to do what I did.

AllHipHop.com: Do you see yourself collaborating with Game at some point?

Glasses Malone: I mean, eventually. We talk sometimes, like once a month. He done gave me advice since I went my own way. There ain’t no hate with dude. I think a lot of that s**t had to do with “Press and Pause.” People were just assuming [there was beef between us] and they weren’t trying to figure out what’s real.

AllHipHop.com: But what was with the “120 Bars” Freestyle? [ “But Glasses Malone is not signed to Black Wall Street/N***a don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t believe the hype…And Don’t be Alarmed, this is not a diss/But using my logo Kinda got me P#####.” ]

Glasses Malone: If you listen to what he said in the rap, he said it like people was trying to f**k with me off of his name. The Black Wall Street logo that I put on my CD played a part to opening up a lot of doors. I can’t really get mad at “120 Bars” because it wasn’t a diss. Chuck’ll be going through s**t. I don’t know what the f**k he was thinking when he made that s**t. I don’t know what the f**k that was. It was just lashing out. That s**t ain’t nothing, man.

AllHipHop.com: How do you think he’ll do on his second album? Will he sell five million?

Glasses Malone: Nah. He’ll never top what he did last time. But he’ll still have a big first week. He can genuinely rap, but I don’t think he’ll sell as much as last time because the market’s different.

AllHipHop.com: It definitely is. As a new West Coast artist, how do you feel your role will be to fit into the niche of the national market?

Glasses Malone: New n***as is poppin. If a new n***a got a record to bump, the n***a is selling. Yeah, they ain’t selling no 50 Cent numbers, but new artists are coming out the box with a 100,000 [sales] because new stuff is in.

AllHipHop.com: That’s true. The deal you have is actually bigger than Papoose’s deal. In New York, he’s the $1.5 Million Dollar Man and here you are with a $1.7 Million Dollar deal. The nature of the game is definitely changing. Would you agree?

Glasses Malone: These ain’t even big deals like people imagine they are. That’s like only 170,000 records sold to recoup. That ain’t nothing. I mean, back then, they was giving motherf**kers $20 Million and $80 Million Dollar deals; you don’t hear people getting deals like that because iTunes and all that other s**t came out stop motherf**kers from selling records like they used to. But at the same time, these record labels aren’t dumb. They look at a n***a like Pap or a n***a like me—and I’ve been to New York, I seen how n***as love that n***a—but that’s how it is for me on the west. I’m the only n***a doing shows and getting 700 Bloods, 600 Crips and 400 [Latinos]. A lot of n***as want to get put on but don’t have the proper foundation, like Pap has with Kay Slay. I’m gonna put it like this: If you build your foundation on toothpicks, I don’t give a f**k how big your house is, you’re gonna collapse. These labels are lazy nowadays. The don’t want to develop artists no more. They don’t want to spend that money. If you ain’t buzzing from where you’re from, f**k it, there ain’t nothing they could do for you.

AllHipHop.com Do you think being a Crip had something to do with creating that buzz where you were from?

Glasses Malone: I hope it had nothing to do with it, honestly. I mean, naturally being from L.A,, people are gonna affiliate you with being from a gang. But if all the gangbangers want to relate to me, naturally they’re going to feel how I fell.

AllHipHop.com: So, are you going to promote that in your album?

Glasses Malone: Of course not. No. I mean, everybody knows that I’m a Crip already; that goes without saying. I don’t gotta tell nobody anything. They know where I’m from with no questions asked.

AllHipHop.com: Let me play Devil’s Advocate. A lot of people tend to buy into the whole Crip thing—including, perhaps, your own promotion team. What would you say to that?

Glasses Malone: I don’t have to say I’m a Crip. People bought my record because it was a grown-man thing, not because it was a Crip thing. Just listen to my music. It’s always soulful. It’s always meaningful. It’s not a bunch of hoopla talking about gangbanging and s**t. I got some songs that talk about gangbanging because I did it, but at the same time, I really went into my heart and into soul to make a lot of these records.

AllHipHop.com: What’s on the horizon? Is there anything you’re working on now exactly?

Glasses Malone: I got an EP that’s coming out in December. I done retired the mixtape game. I’ll leave that to these other n***as. From now on, I’m going back to the Cube days of dropping EPs with six or seven songs of fire. My album is so thick and rich in content that it’s 85 percent done and it should be finished next month. It’s dropping February 20th and the next single is either going to be “Malone” or “Certified” with Akon on it.

I’m really not a rapper dog. I’m just a regular dude who just figured out that he could do it so he went and did it. It’s really just me being me.

AllHipHop.com: That’s what’s up. You a baseball fan? The World Series is going down soon.

Glasses Malone: I f**k with The Dodgers a little bit, but I’m about The Lakers and basketball. Baseball’s kinda boring.

AllHipHop.com: Rappers hate baseball, why is that?

G. Malone: [Laughs] Because [the] kinda person who would like baseball would like Opera and sh*t. But you know what? When they was hitting all them home runs and s**t, I was like, “Damn, these motherf**kers is crazy.”

For more info, check www.myspace.com/vote4gmalone.

When you’re driving in a cold highway, you never see Black Ice coming. It can throw you from the road, and it can shake your consciousness just enough to provoke a reformation. Black Ice is a fitting title for Philadelphia poet and artist. For the last five years, he’s been shocking fans with blunt artistry on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam stage. Now, through a Koch record deal, Black Ice has that surprise to go.

The Death of Willie Lynch is a dense title for anybody’s album. Black Ice, proud of who he is, kills the theories of Black inferiority in title and in deed. Fresh off touring with Mary J. Blige, Black Ice reflects on his rise in the rap-poetry ranks, and the city that never saw him coming.

AllHipHop.com: What’s it been like going on a nationwide tour with Mary J. Blige, the Queen of Hip-Hop R&B?

Black Ice: Crazy. It’s been fun. The crew out on tour is really cool and down to earth. It’s a great experience and I couldn’t imagine anything better.

AllHipHop.com: How have you been received by her audience?

Black Ice: The word is what it is. People were pretty receptive and once it started coming out everyone was taking it in, digesting and appreciating it. The feedback’s been good. What I have to say is relevant.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the hardest part about touring?

Black Ice: Being away from kids and family. Everything else I’m built for; the hustle and bustle, being in and out of hotels, I’m in love with that relationship of it. I just miss my kids and the regularity of everyday life. That’s the hardest part. But when you get off the road, it’s a beautiful thing. Like any job, at certain points you get tired. But I really can’t complain. It’s been a blast. It keeps you on swivel; you’re switching up [surroundings] daily, so it’s a physical reminder to stay present.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve come a very long way. At one point you were a barber in Philly…

Black Ice: In Germantown, yeah.

AllHipHop.com: What does the city of Philadelphia mean to you?

Black Ice: Everything. For the learning it put me through and the growth it gave me… The more I’m away, the more I appreciate it. I realize that when I go and meet other cats out of state, like my man Malik Yusef from Chicago, who reps his city so eloquently. Philly is a very dynamic city; socially and politically. It really shaped and molded a lot of my philosophical views. Talent-wise, it’s a zero tolerance city. You can’t get up on stage and be half-assed. So it’s molded me into being an above average artist. It’s trying because I feel my city as a whole embraces me. The artist-world of my city is a little stand-offish. I would love to do more work with my artistic community. I’m actually in love with every artist in my city. It’s a beautiful thing.

AllHipHop.com: What does Black Ice represent?

Black Ice: That surprise factor. Never let them see you coming. Because you look a certain way doesn’t mean you have to think a certain way. Let’s look frozen and bust ’em in they heads when they pull up! That was the description of Black Ice when I first started. You never have to be what they say you are because of the way you look. In some ways we can be better. You’ve just got to deny the ignorant s**t that they try to attach with it.

AllHipHop.com: From HBO to Broadway and a nationwide album release, did you ever imagine any of this?

Black Ice: I remember when I was doing poetry at the local cafes I always had the dream of being the first spoken word artist with a label deal. I felt the art form could be taken to another level where it would be marketable and still hold onto its integrity while being accepted by a mainstream audience. I put a lot of work into maintaining my passion for the art itself. It was a dream executed. When I got the Hip-Hop quotable for The Source a few years back, that was a dream. It was a dream to perform with Public Enemy. Working with Jazzy Jeff now is a dream because I remember seeing him introduce the transformer [scratch] to the world back when I was 13 years old. I’m still a big fan. This is where I’m supposed to be. I’ve put in the work that God needs for me to put in and this is just the fruition.

AllHipHop.com: Well, congratulations! How do you feel about your debut album being out?

Black Ice: The Death of Willie Lynch. It’s a lot. I feel gratified, satisfied, vindicated, hungry… It’s like that perfect balance of peace and anxiety. I’m relieved. This is the end of the incubation period and the birthing of something new. I went to Best Buy and was looking at it and that was crazy. The most meaningful congratulation I received was from my children. They called me up and congratulated me on it.

AllHipHop.com: How did The Death of Willie Lynch come about?

Black Ice: I always had that in the back of my head as the title of my album. For awhile, I had been reading that the Willie Lynch theory was a fact. A couple of college professors put me on to research to find out how questionable the thesis was. The majority of English language used, quoted as verbatim in the text, was inaccurate for that period in time. So it symbolizes the death of that myth. So it’s like “Hey, we’re not what this bulls**t says we are. We’re not genetically inferior; we’re not psycho-sociopaths.” That was just a myth, now let’s see our shine. We don’t have to be ignorant, street n***as or deadbeat dads. We don’t have to concede to that lower self. We can be way bigger than that. So the album represents the death of all those beliefs.

AllHipHop.com: Looking at the songs on the album, explain the “Ugly Show”…

Black Ice: It’s premised around the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. It’s really a song about the fleecing of America’s core by America. This government has f**ked over its own poor and this is a divine order. It’s almost like you have the drug dealer around the way that can’t be killed. He’s too smart for the n***as and too fast for the police but God is always gonna put that Karma on you so he might go out getting hooked on his own s**t or dying in a car crash. That’s the same thing with America; we’re the thug of the world, no one can stop us, so God steps in and smacks us in the face for all to see. The “Ugly Show” is basically telling us not to forget.

AllHipHop.com: You’re providing the insight and inspiration. It’s a powerful track.

Black Ice: There is a Hollywood mindset in place because they commercialize the biggest tragedy and now it’s forgotten about. A year later, Spike Lee comes out with a documentary, When the Levees Broke, in order for us to keep it in our heads. The song is the same reminder that all is not forgotten and we still are very concerned about the state of being for people in this country. There is a miracle in every truth. And last year was a very ugly truth. But the miracle is that the world sees that we’re not divine, we got our own bullsh*t. The government keeps in place a certain percentage of people in America that are not meant to succeed, dream or prosper. You need that underclass in order to keep this capitalist society from water. We are that underclass, we want better and we’ve had enough.