E

ven in its rawest form, Hip-Hop has always been able to touch lives. Though some may not comprehend why middle-class suburbia has an affection for it, it is what it is. Anyone connected to Hip-Hop has wanted to use one of its elements to express their loyalty to it, by any means necessary. Case in point: Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone from MTV’s Jamie Kennedy’s Blowin’ Up.

Viewers recognize Jamie Kennedy and partner, Stu Stone’s share personalities that kick in the doors with kindness, goofiness, and old fashioned fun. The show offers a bird’s eye view of the journey and all the work – with a little bit of celebrity – it takes to put JKSS records on the map. Though giggles may be the goal, Jamie and Stu take their work seriously. One of their album’s tracks, "Mattress Mack"

, a collaboration with Paul Wall, shows the level that the duo is aiming for. In his teens, Kennedy loved a Hip-Hop that celebrated the comedic flavor Flava Flav and Humpty Hump. Today, the 36 year-old Philly native wants to bring that back.

Though he’s humble, don’t mistake Jamie’s silliness for weakness. The veteran entertainer speaks to the critics, shows Lil’ Kim some love, and talks about the rappers he’s rolling with. To those who want to see him and his boy Stu Blow Up, he says, “Stay tuned.”

AllHipHop.com: How are you doing?

Jamie Kennedy: I’m good. Tell your people at AllHipHop.com good looking out on the love they are showing me.

AllHipHop.com: I will, but you just did. How long have you been in comedy?

Jamie Kennedy: I have been in comedy around ten years doing acting and stand-up.

AllHipHop.com: Do you really have affection for Hip-Hop or as a comedian do you see it as just another thing in our culture that can be made a mockery of?

Jamie Kennedy: No. I have a true affection for Hip-Hop, I love rap. I love Hip-Hop, I love the culture. To me, Hip-Hip is dancing, rap, DJing and spray-painting. That is what I was raised on, so I love it. The reason people don’t know what to make of me is the fact of me getting involved in that world is funny to people. I’m a fish out of water but what me and Stu [Stone] want to do with it is our version of Hip-Hop because we love it and it’s how we want to express ourselves. We aren’t trying to be anything we’re not, but we love it.

AllHipHop.com: Hip-Hop is still one thing that African Americans really covet. How do you respond to the people who are critical of the things you do?

Jamie Kennedy: Are there a lot of people who are critical?

AllHipHop.com: I’ve read some reviews that weren’t kind to [The Jamie Kennedy Experiment].

Jamie Kennedy: Are they from black or white journalists?

AllHipHop.com: Both sides seem to have accused the show of buffoonery.

Jamie Kennedy: In my experience, it’s been more white people who step to us not black people. I have a theory on it and I’ll try to explain it very clearly. White people are the same people that criticized Malibu’s Most Wanted and said they didn’t get it, but black people from Atlanta to Compton come up to us and tell us our show is hilarious. I can’t walk down the streets in the trap in Atlanta without getting so much love. The white people who write those reviews only say that because they’re scared of what black people are going to think. So before they hear a black person’s opinion, they put it out there that we’re stupid.

You know one of the best reviews I got for Malibu’s Most Wanted came from Howard University, so I think it’s funny when they say that! I didn’t mean to get all… but I’m real passionate about that. The last thing I want to say to the white people is, tell them to go to the trap, tell them to go to where the Pool Palace is, ask them have they been up to the Bay where E-40 is, or to Brazilm because me and Stu do travel, and I guarantee you we know our history. We’ve been down with the Dogg Pound we know, we meet, we talk to everybody and these people who say this stuff don’t. Ask any of them if they know who the Treacherous Three are, ask them do they know who Kool Moe Dee’s first group was. They don’t know and that is what p##### me off about critics because we know our history.

AllHipHop.com: That said, what was the purpose for you to show up looking like you guys were black on the episode with Three-6-Mafia?

Jamie Kennedy: We’re you laughing when you were watching it?

AllHipHop.com: Yes, but I did go back and forth within myself because I don’t know the real premise of the show; maybe you should clear all that up.

Jamie Kennedy: The show is a comedy and is set up in a way to make people laugh. In that episode, Tracy Morgan set us up and basically saying this is what you gotta do to break into Hip-Hop. He said I gotta get a girl pregnant; I didn’t want to do that, I gotta get a gun; I didn’t want to do that. I was testing out for that movie and he was like won’t you go with that. Also we were in prosthetic make-up, and the thought of someone thinking we were in black face scares me and we would never do that. It’s no different from when Eddie Murphy was in prosthetic make-up for Coming to America. I’ve been doing this my whole career when I would have to go into to make-up based on a character. If people really watch the show, they would get the premise and know we are never trying to be offensive.

AllHipHop.com: Give me the whole theory behind Jamie Kennedy Blowin Up. Are you and Stu really trying to be rap artists or is this another comedy show?

Jamie Kennedy: Me and Stu trying to break into the music business to get a record deal was so amusing and was so crazy we said, “Man, we gotta film this,” so that’s how we started. I don’t know if you know who Tenacious D [Rock group led by comedian Jack Black] is, we want to be that in Hip-Hop. We want to do our version of funny songs, rap and keep the beat so we can keep people laughing. Are we trying to be hardcore MCs or be something I’m not? No. Do I want to be a fun MC that plays the party record to keep the party going, reminiscent of early Kid N Play or young Will Smith who talked about fun themes? Yes. I’m not going to talk about the “struggle;” the struggle of what? Living in Hollywood and having a nice life, I can’t front! Ice-T said, “If I front, I’m dead,” and he’s right. Boy, you are getting a lot of passionate answers from me today.

AllHipHop.com: I have to ask you the questions the people want the answers to.

Jamie Kennedy: No, I like it.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel like the idea of Punk’d was bitten from the Experience?

Jamie Kennedy: Everyone asks me that; [jokingly] he stole my lady too, I was with Demi before. No really, I can’t really say. I stole the idea from Candid Camera, but I will say this: I hate that it came out the exact same time I was doing my thing. What can you say, great minds think alike. Even with the similarities there are differences; he [Ashton Kutcher] play jokes on celebrities, and I played all the characters. Yeah, I was crooked.

AllHipHop.com: Your MTV series is doing really well, so other than the album, what do you have going on?

Jamie Kennedy: I just did a movie about break-dancing, about a kid who goes into a coma in 1986 and wakes up in 2006 and tries to break again. So I’m keeping the Hip-Hop theme going again in that. Other than that, we are really focusing on our album that dropped July 11th on JKSS Records. We’ll try to go out on tour in the middle of August and that’s pretty much all we’re working on.

AllHipHop.com: Do you just sit up and smoke ‘dro and come up with this stuff?

Jamie Kennedy: No, that’s Stu’s department with the greenery. My brain is just crazy from the get-go; although we did have some good kush the other night.

AllHipHop.com: You were rumored to be linked up with Lil’ Kim. She’s home now, are you going to check on her?

Jamie Kennedy: I know, crazy, huh? That is my boo. I love Lil’ Kim, we met in Miami, and she is the best, I love her— I got my lighter up right now. You know she is going to drop a jewel; she’s going to have mad stories and rhymes. She should’ve never went in, but she’d don’t eat cheese and that’s why she went in there.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the name of the album?

Jamie Kennedy: Blowin’ Up, we’re just keeping it simple.

AllHipHop.com: Who is distributing the album?

Jamie Kennedy: JKSS we are doing it independently, but we are getting some help from Warner Brothers on the distributing and market it.

AllHipHop.com: Who’s on the album?

Jamie Kennedy: E-40, Paul Wall, Bob Saget [from Full House]

AllHipHop.com: Bob Saget, what?

Jamie Kennedy: Yeah, we did a song along with Bob Saget.

AllHipHop.com: How effective has Myspace been for you and Stu promoting yourselves as artists?

Jaime Kennedy: Myspace is huge. Stu got me on it; he’s been on for awhile like when there was only like 600,000 people on it. It’s the spot, it’s like making your own radio station and at first people didn’t think it was really me but now they know really hit me up. It’s been a great way for me to reach out to my fans; I love it. Tell my fans if they need anything, just [check] www.myspace.com/jamiekennedy. They can buy the album there too.

C

rews, posses, clans, and cliques; the Hip-Hop landscape is littered with “supergroups” whose dreams of collective success became the CDs we now use as coasters. As the co-founder of Brooklyn’s own Boot Camp Clik, Buckshot is one of the few people to avoid such a fate. With over three million units sold independently, a loyal international fan-base, and enough successful business ventures to make Russell Simmons respectfully tip his Phat Farm fitted, you would think Buck would be satisfied with his position in the game. Not so. The man Tupac Shakur affectionately dubbed the “BDI Thug” is intent upon further solidifying his position in the game and gaining the recognition of all who tried to take the trademark BCC sound-by any means necessary.

To hear him tell it, former peers who have failed to acknowledge his contributions to their careers and media types who he feels have disrespected him have Buckshot ready to “George Bush the button,” and declare all out warfare. A nationwide summer tour and the release of Boot Camp’s The Last Stand, will serve as the initial salvo, but should things turn ugly Buck and the rest of the Duck Down staff have enough ammunition to last well into the better part of 2007. That’s just one of the benefits of being in the rap game, in some capacity, for over 15 years.

AllHipHop.com: You got your start interning for Hank Shocklee and Eric Sadler at Soul Records. Do you remember how that contributes to your current situation or any demanding tasks?

Buckshot: Just watching everybody and watching what they do. Most of the s**t that I know is based on ambition, intuitive knowledge, focus, and dedication. All of these things are common intuitive tools that you need. I didn’t go to college, I didn’t finish high-school, so I had no choice but to be successful at what I do. I had to learn and be good at what I do because there was nothing else for me. That’s not just rap, I knew that I couldn’t rap for the rest of my life, so I did that first. I knew that the records could stop tomorrow, the people could be like, “Nah, we’re not feeling your whole s**t,” tomorrow. So I gotta make sure that I’ve got a foundation today. So I did the record thing simultaneously, if not before, I got the deal as an artist ‘cause I knew what was more important. And I’m not saying that every artist should do that because some people are just not built to own labels.

AllHipHop.com: It really seems like everyone wants to play CEO these days…

Buckshot: That’s cool, because they’re all recognizing that they are where they are and there’s a respect that goes along with that. No one can sit there and tell them that they’re not going to be nothing, but man, if I could tell so many of them to stop what they’re doing and just do something else. I would never want to tell anyone to stop. A motherf**ker could be in the street doing something totally assed backwards style wise, label and all that and I still wouldn’t be like, “Man you need to quit,” because who am I to tell you what to do as far as quitting?

AllHipHop.com: So it’s more of a guidance thing?

Buckshot: A lot of times I just keep my opinion to myself. Honestly, some people do not belong in this music industry. I can’t tell that person not to be making records. That just goes to show you that all the people that say rap is wack they’re supporting a lot of the bulls**t that’s out. It’s crazy, ‘cause it’s a lot of snitch issues; I’ve got a lot of snitch issues. Rap is a full time sport, this is a game, this is a hustle. Get your grind on, don’t complain, just do what you gotta do. For one thing people are like, “Yo where’s Boot Camp at?” Let’s deal with those issues.

AllHipHop.com: It seems hard to believe that you have to deal with those issues considering the types of moves you guys have made.

Buckshot: That’s what makes you work harder, I don’t ever want to be that dude that’s always complaining. But, sometimes you can’t avoid certain conversations when you’re on the other side of the fence. Everybody’s doing what they do, everybody’s making moves and you’re at the crib on the grind, so you’re not trying to sit back and be quiet when it’s your time to say s**t. Like, [BBC Radio One’s] Tim Westwood.

AllHipHop.com: What happened with Tim Westwood?

Buckshot: That’s a big dude; he’s a huge name. Tim Westwood is the n***a who basically runs London. That n***a got on some f*ggot s**t! Now, I never was the dude in the music industry to be like, “F**k this n***a,” I swear to God, if you hear an interview from me, that s**t would go everywhere else but talking down on some other dude.

AllHipHop.com: How did he disrespect you?

Buckshot: He played himself and he played us. Here’s this dude that I’ve known for over 13 years, we helped build his career! And he’s acknowledging this over the air. So we come up to his station, we from America-we not even from London, and we’re coming all the way up to your station to promote the fact that we’re on tour and we’re doing things now. We got s**t jumping, it’s not like we’re sitting back and collecting dust. And he sat back and s**tted on us for some nobody [artist] that doesn’t even have anything jumping right now, when he had all eight of us in the studio. We were in the booth and he’s like, “Yeah I’ve got blah-blah-blah here,” or whatever. Then at the last ten minutes he gives us our acknowledgement like, “Oh yeah, we got Boot Camp up in here.” This n***a gets on some bulls**t like, “Oh man, my fault I don’t have any of your records with me. I know it’s the last minute but I don’t have any of your records.” We have ten minutes before the show ends and he doesn’t have any of our records so we’re talking over other peoples s**t on top of the fact that it took him another ten minutes to acknowledge us after we walked in. So, I’m just saying all of these things that go down, that’s when I turn into the beast. I’m a ‘Pac breed, so you’ve really got to watch your step because you don’t want me to cross that line. That’s why my n***a came and got us, that’s why we were the only n****s he f**ked with. We them n****s that are ultimately righteous, but if you make us flip one time and get us hot, it’s a wrap.

AllHipHop.com: By all accounts, Brooklyn is not an easy place to make it out of. How much of that mentality do you take in the boardroom as a businessman?

Buckshot: I’m just one type of individual, and there was always my type of individual. I’m a conscious person and I’m proud of it, I come from a school or a breed of n****s that are the same way-conscious but will kill your ass. That s**t is dangerous, no one wants to be that way, but we’re f**king warriors man. Shaka Zulu was that way, he had mad love, he didn’t want to kill people, he had another reason why he did what he did.

AllHipHop.com: In line with that, can you take us through the progression from Buckshot Shorty to B.D.I. Emcee to where you are today?

Buckshot: As Buckshot Shorty, I was a teenager, very young, and I was relentless about getting my business done and reaching for the stars. Buckshot became an older version of that. People think Buckshot Shorty was less conscious, but I was more conscious as Buckshot Shorty than I was as Buckshot. I was more in to my Deen, I was more into Islam, more into my Arabic, more into the Quran, more into the Bible than I was as Buckshot. I definitely wasn’t on some ignorant, smokin’ weed, “Yo b***hes, n****s, what, what,” type s**t and then I became Buckshot like, “Hey I’m this intelligent man and I’m going to try and find myself because that’s not the way anymore.” Get outta here, I been conscious. I was conscious at 11-years-old in the mosque making Salat.

AllHipHop.com: The game has changed a lot, what do you think is the ideal situation for you?

Buckshot: The system that I’ve got over here gets me paid, all I gotta do is sell the records. The one thing that I didn’t want to do was to start babbling off like, “Yo Navarre is straight, it’s love over there. I’m getting guap, and this, that and the third.” I’m not about to start spreading none of that because I was there when Koch first came up and nobody was f**kin’ with them. Quiet as kept we were promoting them, and then the next thing you know everybody’s at Koch. People would call me up like, “Yo Buck, how’s Koch treating you?” And now they’re doing the same thing with Navarre like, “How are they treating you?” They’re treating me the motherf**king way they’re treating me, get on, do you and go find out yourself. I’m done with that.

A lot of people are just whoremongers; they’ll come around and eat off of your information and won’t even acknowledge you. I can’t even get a phone call from certain people, or acknowledgement. I may not be as hot as I was, but always acknowledge me. You may not want to give me the bonus package that I had when I was hot, but acknowledge me when I call you. If we were doing business before, and you really want to say to my face, “Yo Buck, I’m saying you not hot like before,” then say that. Don’t disrespect me and try to play me by not even acknowledging me or not even taking my phone calls because I’m going to see you again.

AllHipHop.com: Buckshot and the BCC in general seem to have a strange connection with Tupac Shakur, how do you explain that?

Buckshot: It’s f**ked up because ‘Pac basically said, “Oh s**t, I really f**ks with them n****s from New York.” And we lived with ‘Pac, so that’s what’s real about it. We broke bread, shared the same bed, me and ‘Pac f**ked the same b**ch. It’s way beyond rap. It’s because we share a certain soul, it’s like being soulmates of a friend. When you meet a n***a and you just know that you were meant to be friends-you feel it. So when ‘Pac passed, the s**t was a killer. Yeah, more of the world would’ve knew about us off the strength of that relationship, but a lot of those people are major d**k riders. Part of the people genuinely have it in their heart. Everybody else wasn’t even riding with ‘Pac until he got major, and he got major when he flipped out. He got major when he was like, “F**k y’all. I’ma give you n****s real speak. This is what y’all want-fast cars, money and hoes? Then f**k y’all n****s then! Take it-fast cars, money and hoes! What’s crackin’?” The f**ked up thing is that people still grab on to that like little kids. They still pay attention to the money, cars and hoes part and just say, “Aww f**k all that other s**t ‘Pac was talking about.” But that’s the ways of the world man, 85 percent of the population will always be deaf, dumb and blind. They’ll always be led like sheep to the slaughter.

AllHipHop.com: So do you take the same approach as Prodigy from Mobb Deep, he said every once in a while you have to sneak some medicine into the peoples food?

Buckshot: That is true, man…it’s funny because Mobb Deep’s record came out and their first week they did 100,000. The second week they did 28,000 and the third week they did 18,000 copies so what does that say? Does that mean that Mobb Deep is over? Are you saying they should try to be negative to get people’s attention? Prodigy did it, but I think he spazzed out a little too much.

R

ockness Monstah can be a hard man to keep tabs on. You would probably have an easier time locating your long lost Yo! MTV Raps trading cards or those exclusive Dunks you’ve been lusting over on eBay. Since the release of Heltah Skeltah’s sophomore effort, Magnum Force, Rock has been linked with DJ Lethal, Scott Storch, and a host of other people, except his fellow Boot Camp Clik brethren. Fans of Rock’s independent singles “Let’s Rock” and “Like a G,” who’ve been clamoring for his return to the BCC will undoubtedly want to circle July 18th on their calendars, as it marks the first new collaborative effort from all eight members since 1997’s For The People.

Fickle listeners may have been quick to throw Rock on the back of a milk carton, but his time away from the limelight has apparently been well spent. Rock’s contributions have critics calling The Last Stand some of the BCC’s best work yet. It’s been ten years since he dropped verses on Nocturnal, but the center for the “Fab Five” still maintains his mix of humor and raw honesty, whether he’s airing out his former grievances with crew members or admitting to being the one who “hit your b*tch” in his man’s van.

AllHipHop.com: The last time we profiled you, you mentioned that things were kind of tense between Duck Down, Dru Ha, and yourself. What changed in order to make this project happen?

Rockness Monstah: Things weren’t good with me and Duck Down at the time. The long and short of it is that Priority Records played us against each other. I was trapped in a bad situation and I didn’t agree with the way it was handled, so I jetted. That was all a bunch of sucka, paperwork s**t and Priority. I was in a position where I had to make a move, I’m a man, everybody’s a man, n****s gotta make moves that are good for their lives. But, with Duck Down, understand that Dru Ha is also Boot Camp, and never on any record or any mixtape did I ever say, “F**k Boot Camp.” I probably said some things that I shouldn’t have said because I was angry, but I could never play myself and say, “F**k Boot Camp,” I’m one of the fathers of Boot Camp. I never got down with Boot Camp, I’m one of the n****s who started this s**t. That would be like me saying, “F**k my kid.”

AllHipHop.com: How much does your personal direction differ from the material that you release as a member of Heltah Skeltah or BCC?

Rockness Monstah: On my own personal stuff, it’s just me. If you ask Ruck what it’s like doing an album without me, he’ll tell you that it was fun; he didn’t have to worry about hearing my mouth. You don’t have to worry about the approval of anyone else because it’s your s**t. Me and Ruck always took a little longer to make albums because we’re different. We complement each other perfect, but it’s hilarious—one day we need to catch it on tape. We need to catch it on film just to show the people the hilarity of us picking through beats. We go through so many beats, one will come on that he’ll like and I’ll be like, “Get that bulls**t outta here!” One will come on that I’ll like and he’ll be like, “Son, what the f**k is that,” and then take the whole CD out and throw it across the room.

AllHipHop.com: Some people like both albums, but your fan base is usually divided between Nocturnal and Magnum Force…

Rockness Monstah: We do have two different fan bases, but the funny s**t is we’ve always said that we were “understream” or “mainderground.” We were always on the borderline. We were underground because we wasn’t flossy with our raps, our s**t was hardcore. The sales will always have you labeled underground, especially when you couple that with the kind of music we make. But we just got that charisma, we’re a whole lot of fun to watch and we do have that mainstream appeal.

For whatever reason we didn’t go all the way over, but all of the mainstream rappers-we’re they’re favorite rappers, a lot of them n****s don’t admit it. That’s why I don’t talk about other rappers. N****s ask me, “Who’s your favorite rapper?” If it comes up in conversation, I’ll answer it – but not when no n***a asks me. F**k that, ‘cause I know I inspired a bunch of these motherf**kers running around here, and that’s all good. Them n****s don’t mention me, but it’s cool because I hear myself in there. When them n****s start to respectognize then I start showing a little bit of respectognization.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of Sean Price, rumor has it that you two were down in Virginia working on another Heltah Skeltah album.

Rockness Monstah: Actually that’s not true. We went down to North Carolina and we were finishing up his new project, it’s called Jesus Price: Hip-Hop Savior.

AllHipHop.com: I noticed that on The Last Stand you guys reworked classic lines from tracks like “Here We Come” and “Operation Lockdown.”

Rockness Monstah: That s**t all comes natural, it wasn’t even so much of a reworking. I heard that beat and it just gave me the vibe. We were working on one song and I was like, “What, we can’t use that beat? Cut this s**t off and put that beat on right there.” I asked Ruck if he was feeling it and once he told me yeah I said, “Let’s go.” I’m like, “Yo you got eight? Good ‘cause I got 16,” and from there we started the “Here We Come” s**t. It just sounded like it was supposed to be intro-ish.

AllHipHop.com: It makes sense to reintroduce yourselves- a lot of people were literally little kids when those original songs dropped.

Rockness Monstah: Yeah, no doubt, we know our fans. I know what a good memory does for a person. If I could give you a good memory-I always call it the flashback technique. That’s when a n***a be rhyming and he’ll just sneak in a bar from back in the days, n****s like that kind of s**t.

AllHipHop.com: You are the self-proclaimed A.W.O.L. soldier, what happened to all of the side projects you were involved in such as collaborating with DJ Lethal?

Rockness Monstah: That was a good situation at first, but in my opinion, that n***a Lethal is a DJ and not a CEO. He had a label because he could have a label, he was like, “Fred [Durst] had one, f**k it, I want one too.” He got one and it was a beautiful thing, they gave me a lot of money, and I made a couple of records. First I was on Priority and I took the Priority album with me, so it wasn’t like I had to make a whole album when I got there. I made a couple new songs and once the album was done nothing happened. Lethal’s label was small and I remember Lethal saying to me, “We need somebody to take control of this project,” and I’m like, “N***a that’s what I’m trying to do!” The problem was that the label didn’t believe in me, I didn’t sell a million records so they didn’t believe I knew how to sell a million records.

Then there was the stalemate of [the singles] “Let’s Rock” and “Like A G.” Interscope was on Nate [Dogg’s] nuts, they had a mouth full of Nate nuts. They wanted to put that song out first ‘cause they’re a West Coast label and it had Nate on it and all of this, that and the third. The song was mad west coast and they’re like, “Listen we’re trying to open you up to a bunch of new fans,” and I’m like, “Look, let’s go with ‘Let’s Rock,’ it’s a Rockwilder beat, it’s me, and the beat goes rock, rock. Everything fits, it’s a perfect song and it’ll work.” For what ever reason…I guess it’s like I said they was just on Nate’s nuts too bad and it was a Scott Storch beat. What they didn’t understand is that if you put that out first my fans are going to go, “Aww c’mon, Rock had to go get Nate?” Meanwhile, if you put “Let’s Rock” out first then when “Like A G” comes out they’ll think, “That n***a is really blowin’ up, he’s f**kin’ with Nate Dogg and all that!” You can’t go from point A to point C without going to point B first, in the fans eyes; they don’t believe that, they’re not that ignorant.

You can’t just go try to jump from world to world, you’ve got to solidify your own world and then everybody else will come to you. If everybody knows you for being a certain way you can’t just come back with a P. Diddy beat and expect the fans to think that’s just what’s poppin’. Nah, it don’t work like that, and I knew that, but I guess the f**kers at the label didn’t know that. They’re just trying to go off of Nate and Scott, and Scott wasn’t even that hot yet, [Dr.] Dre was still taking credit for his beats. He was still under Dre at the time, but Dre’s name wasn’t on my s**t. They were hoping they could get Dre’s name on my s**t, that was why. I just had that feeling, I knew. Now if you go on my myspace page [www.myspace.com/alvinkatraz] and you look, I’ve got both of the songs sitting on the page, you see which one gets the most hits.

AllHipHop.com: Any last words?

Rockness Monstah: Get that album, The Last Stand. We’re here to make a difference you motherf**kers; long before we’re done we’re gonna bridge the gap. Understream is going to be for real-mainderground. We’re gonna bridge the gap because we’ve got every kind of n***a in our crew, every kind of n***a you can find in the hood, one of us in Boot Camp represents that. We’ve got something for everybody, so that by the time we’re done the Black Panther n****s will be chilling at the same party with the Armani Exchange n****s and the n****s who sell crack and rob. One of us is talking to each and every one of y’all. Let’s get it to poppin’ and let’s get it to rockin’!

When an artist sees his face on a fictious “missing milk carton,” it can elicit either disdain or motivation for that MC. For Rampage, it was a sign that the game was missing him, prompting his return with Have You Seen? on his own Deep Freeze Records this summer. The milk hasn’t spoiled yet.

While a lot has changed in Hip-Hop since his 1994 scene-stealing cameo on Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix),” Rampage still remains on his New York ish, fond of the era when he rhymed alongside groundbreaking artists like Biggie and his cousin, Busta Rhymes.

Armed with plenty of industry lessons, Rampage aspires to be a strong CEO as well as an artist in 2006. While still representing the Flipmode Squad, Rampage sets the record straight on why he stayed away from the limelight and why it’s important for New York MCs to stay in their element to regain the throne.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of people only know you from your cameo on the 1994 classic “Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)” and as Busta’s cousin. Let the people know who Rampage is.

Rampage: Well, I’m Rampage, official lieutant of the Flipmode Squad. I was signed to Rowdy Records in ’92, where I released my first single, “Beware of the Rampsack.” I left Rowdy/Arista in ’94 when Craig Mack called me. At the time, he let me know he was a fan and asked me to be on the remix of “Flava in Ya Ear.” When I jumped on “Flava in Ya Ear” in ‘94, it changed my life. That whole “94 summer, I used to open up for Biggie whenever he went on the road. I just feel like I’m one of the last Mohicans as far as that street, authentic Hip-Hop s**t. Fast-forward to 1996: I was signed to Elektra Records for about seven years. Once that situation went under, I just chilled, moved to Philly, got into real estate and just took a break from the industry. In Philly, I hooked up with a producer named Felony Music while promoting parties in Philly through my own production company, which is how I started Deep Freeze Entertainment and the rest is history. But Flipmode is still the squad and we are still together! We all talk everyday and I’m with them 100%.

AllHipHop.com: Does being affiliated with Busta hinder your career, as far as pressure from labels to sell?

Rampage: Hell no! My lights is still on! [laughs] Busta inspires me and taught me everything I know about this game. What he does can never hinder me; what he does inspires me.

AllHipHop.com: Why a solo album now, especially after a long absence?

Rampage: Because I’ve been away for so long and plus I always been a solo artist. I just got caught up in a lot of label stuff, which prolonged me from putting out a project. Plus, DJ Scratch; he motivated me as well. He put that vibe in me to “do me” and to get back to the music. Plus working with Felony Music, I just felt like it was time to get back in the studio. So everybody who loved me has just been blessing me with records. Scratch, The Neptunes, this dude from Israel named Prayon who’s crazy, just mad people who wanted me to return to the game.

AllHipHop.com: Describe your production and your rhyme style…

Rampage: A lot of fans listen to what they can dance to; that’s what I’m about. I make records that you can feel but I make records that’s universal that I can be big on, that’s gonna keep me rotating on the radio and in the club. When I hear a beat, I just want to get what I’m saying across. But I pick a lot of beats based on how I feel. My rhyme style is hard, direct, and just global.

AllHipHop.com: New York is in a slump but a lot of people are looking at Busta, based on Hot 97’s Summer Jam and his string of singles, to bring it back to the East. Do you think that means it’s Flipmode’s year?

Rampage: Yes. Him and Scratch is on the grind right now. I think that a lot of these MCs don’t pick good beats, a lot of them feel like they’d rather be a CEO than make music. I think a lot of these dudes need to stop settling for office jobs and get back to the music. In the South, they CEOs but they make good music. Now you got everybody getting back to the music. New York. We always been that official “Hip-Hop s**t,” but lately, everybody would rather go to a party or chill in Miami, rather than get back to the music. Plus, without the producer, an MC can’t stay fresh. A lot of these dudes ears ain’t fresh. Take Grandmaster Caz; his flow is ridiculous! You let him loose with some of these new producers and he’s back. You just have to stay focused on the music. A lot of these dudes got production deals and pieces on they neck but they not getting back to the music. So Bus, doing what he’s doing, is official. We make music, that’s what we about.

AllHipHop.com: You complained about other rappers becoming CEO’s but you’re a CEO—

Rampage: — I’m a CEO but I’m about the music. A lot of CEOs ain’t about the music.

AllHipHop.com: What that always the plan since you got in the rap game?

Rampage: It became the plan when I saw what Elektra was doing to us. They would make money off of us and charge it to our next record. I don’t like s**t like that. With a major, if you don’t sell a million or two million, you’re considered a flop nowadays. But independently, you sell 50,000 units, you make $800,000. Two days, I moved 7,000 CDs with no video. So I’m in the right business. [laughs] Plus, I do my own promo tour out of my pocket. I like this independent thing, I’m on the grind.

AllHipHop.com: What other projects do you have outside of Hip-Hop?

Rampage: I have real estate, a barber shop and a beauty salon both in North Philly. And I’m working on a screenplay called No Love in the Room.

AllHipHop.com: Who would you like to work with?

Rampage: Everybody. Anybody who wants to work with me. [Smiles] Kevin Federline’s brother came to my concert out in LA and gave me Kev’s number. His brother was like, “Kev’s a big fan of yours.” He said that they were big fans, so that’s a good look.

AllHipHop.com: They didn’t have the baby with them, did they?

Rampage: [Laughs] Nah.

AllHipHop.com: It might lead to a song with Britney.

Rampage: Whatever works. I never said I didn’t keep the number. [smiles]