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f a man named Donald Campbell called to speak to your sister, you might not object. But if the man known better as Bishop Don Magic Juan rang, things would be different. That’s because through the mid 1970’s to 1985, Don was the self-proclaimed king of pimping. From the North Side of Chicago, to the curbs of Las Vegas, Don has been booted and suited, as the prostitutes were recruited.

Hip-Hop culture today knows the Bishop differently. He’s seen as the flamboyant advisor in Snoop’s entourage and obligatory pimp on records from DaBrat, Twista, and 50 Cent. But not so long ago, the lights and cameras were off, but the action certainly wasn’t.

The pimp-turned-pastor recently released a compilation, Green is for the Money, Gold is for the Honies. The Avatar Records project captures 11 crooning classics great for the Caddy or the Continental, as it circles the block.

AllHipHop.com circled the past in a blunt, two-part conversation with Bishop Don Magic Juan. Powerful truth comes out on both sides of the pimp game, Don’s evolution, Snoop’s pimp cred, and some real talk from Don on the Oscar Awards. Preach!

AllHipHop.com: Chuuch. How’s it going playa?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: Chuuch. Hey man it’s going down right now, you know? Right now, we cracking that Gold Is For The Honey, Green Is For The Money Volume 1, ya dig? It’s just to calm the nerves down, to bring people back to reality, and give them a chance to think again. The songs are very inspiring and I’m skinning game between each track. You know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: How did you get into pimping?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I come from what we consider the ghetto. It’s all started by money. People don’t get into it just because [of the] girls, it’s really because of money. I lived next door to dope dealers and pimps, so my role model was looking at a dope dealer or a pimp come out every day getting in a flashy car or wearing flashy suits, having diamonds and girls. That’s what I wanted to be. If I was living next door to a doctor or a lawyer, maybe that’s what I would have been. But unfortunately, I wasn’t. So I patterned myself like that. I asked the girl would she do it, and she said, “Yeah,” and I was off and running.

AllHipHop.com: What did you say to her to get on her on the track?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I said, “If you want to be down for me, I’m trying to get up with this pimp game.” I just wanted to get in the game and have one girl, a flashy Cadillac, a ring and a slick suit. I didn’t know I would be able to rewrite this thing. Even today, by the pimp game being strong everyone wants to pimp. A pimp song done won an Oscar [Academy Award]! So pimping is really what’s happening. One time it was really being persecuted. Now people are glorifying it.

AllHipHop.com: How did you get your name?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: My original name is Donald, so the girls started calling me Don. When I got in my teens, the girls started calling me ‘Don Juan.’ [The original] Don Juan was known to be a lover. At the time, I was a player. I kept on playing the game. The Pimpgod named me ‘Magic.’ He said, “Man, you playing the game so live, everybody else falling off and you still bringing magic to the game, they ought to call you magic.” The ‘Bishop’ came on as I got into the church in 1985, when God saved me and made me realized that he does exist. I started [preaching] at the church, and that’s how the bishop came in at. And the ‘Arch’ comes from Dolemite. The legendary Dolemite [Rudy Ray Moore] called me the ‘Arch Bishop.’ He said that’s the highest bishop there can be.

AllHipHop.com: Was there an actual Pimpgod?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: Yeah. His name was at the time was King Barrell. They started calling him the Godfather. He was like the number one pimp in Chicago before I came up in it. He’s about ten years older than me. As a little boy, I used to run behind his car and I used to look up to him and as I got in the game he was more like my mentor. He became the pimp god over the pimps.

AllHipHop.com: When did you know you were a good pimp?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: When the chick came back and gave me the money! I knew then it was going to be a lasting thing. [Or,] when one day, a female came home with the handcuffs on. I actually got a bobby pin, stuck it in there and [freed her]. When I did that it, I proved to the chick that I was a qualified to be a pimp, and it let me know that this was my game. From there on, I played it. When I was in the pimp game I was the number one pimp in the country thirteen years in a row.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the difference between a pimp and a mack?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: One thing about it is a pimp is superior; he is number one over all the macks, the players, the hustlers, the dope dealers. [Out of] All the people in the night life, the pimp is superior. The difference between a pimp and a mack is about convo. [The mack] don’t have to have a girl on the street. In order to be a pimp, you got to have a prostitute on the street. That’s the difference between the pimp and the mack. A pimp is going to have a prostitute getting him money. A mack might not even have a girl; he just got good convo, where he can con people.

AllHipHop.com: What was your most glamorous moment of your pimp career?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: [In 1983] That was the tenth anniversary party of the pimp game. Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes were performing; Mr. T was there body guarding me and my mother. Dolemite was there, [Blues player,] Albert King was there too. That was one of the greatest heights and moments of my life in the pimp game.

AllHipHop.com: How did the pimp game change from the 70’s going into the 80’s?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: One thing about it is drugs invaded the pimp game. More-so than anything else, a lot of the pimps thought they could profit more if they involved the drugs in their game. A lot of pimps thought they could hold their girls by putting them on drugs. When the drugs came in, the pimps started looking like drug dealers and the dealers started to look like pimps.

AllHipHop.com: Were you careful about your girls abusing drugs?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I was definitely against that. I didn’t do it myself; I never sold drugs. I never used cocaine, heroine. I used to smoke a little PCP and mix it with marijuana, but that was as far as I went. I never shot the needle, never snorted cocaine; I never wanted my girls on it or anything like that. They knew I was strictly against it. I had no problem [with the girls] smoking marijuana. But I was strictly against hard drugs.

AllHipHop.com: Get into your upcoming show Holding Court.

Bishop Don Magic Juan: It will be a highly rated show like Judge Judy, People’s Court, or Mills Lane’s show. I’ll be settling cases and beefs between rappers or marriage problems. Whatever problems they have in court, they bring them to me, and they definitely going to get properly solved. I mean this show is going to be off the hook. I’ll be bringing in some of my celebrity friends to get their opinion. I’ll bring in expert advice to get their opinion from attorneys. I’ll be bringing my flavor to the courtroom. During deliberation, I would be having entertainment going on to the audience while in trying to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong.

AllHipHop.com: How would you feel if one of your daughters wanted to become a prostitute?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I don’t encourage it; I do have a son who’s involved in the pimp game. I didn’t encourage it, like anybody else. If they come to me for advice, I’m going to give them the best advice I can considering the matter.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the difference between a prostitute and a hoe?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: The difference between a prostitute and a hoe is that the hoe gives it away and the prostitute sells it.

AllHipHop.com: Where do you buy your clothes?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I get my stuff made. I spend seven to eight hours in the garment district whether I’m in LA, New York, or Chicago, looking for specific materials different than anyone else. Then I take it to my tailor and have the shoes made, the suit made, the hat made. My stuff be custom. I’m suited and booted from head to toe. So when I show up I don’t have to worry about nobody up in the club looking like me or whatever the activity maybe.

AllHipHop.com: How did you get your column in Elemental Magazine?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: I got game man! A lot of people been asking me about giving them some game and I got this thing on my website called “Ask the Bishop.” And so I do that out of love for Elemental, where people call in the Archbishop Don Magic Juan. I’ve been the spiritual advisor to Snoop, Mike Tyson, P. Diddy, Lil’ Kim, and Mariah Carey.

AllHipHop.com: Can a square with no natural game in them become a good pimp?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: For sure, they got to get around someone that has the game to give them the game. It definitely can be taught to a square. Like I always tell them, I got game for the lames.

AllHipHop.com: How did you go about choosing which songs made it to the CD?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: People are so interested in seeing what makes me tick. What do I listen to? That’s how I broke them down. Like track number four, “Be Thankful,” people got to be thankful for what they got. It brings joy to your home.

AllHipHop.com: You start off the CD with The Isley Brothers’ “Between The Sheets.” This song is held dearly by the Hip-Hop culture because of B.I.G’ version on “I Love it When You Call Me ‘Big Poppa’”…

Bishop Don Magic Juan: Well, the Isley’s are very powerful, and I know Ronny. It just goes to show you everybody is familiar with a classic. It helped B.I.G. step up his game because he recognized it definitely was a classic, and he used it.

AllHipHop.com: Then again, not too many people are up on Peabo Bryson.

Bishop Don Magic Juan: Now that one is really a sleeper. I dedicated it to the house. It’s a love song and not only that I’m going wake up some people to some of these artist’s catalog.

AllHipHop.com: How did you hook up with Snoop?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: Snoop came to Chicago to perform in the 90’s. [He saw me in the crowd,] and he told security he wanted to meet me. He and I talked and had fellowship; we had a little pow-wow during a small chronic break. From there on, we have become friends. He told me if I’m ever in California to hook up with him. I bumped into him at the airport. He gave me his number and I started giving him hat game. Showing him the right way to maneuver.

AllHipHop.com: I need you to keep it 100% funky with me. Does Snoop really have girls on the track?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: That’s really for TV. He is a married man. His game is much bigger than the pimp game, theatrical wise. [It’s] doing movies and rapping. No sense in dropping that for pimping.

AllHipHop.com: Do you consider yourself a role model?

Bishop Don Magic Juan: [It] depends on who wants to follow me. Different strokes for different folks. I’m a role model for all famous players around the world, because they seem to take my advice. Because one thing is, if you take it, it’s definitely going to work for you. I give advice that works.

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an a New York female MC with a pretty face be taken seriously for her art? This is the struggle that Nina B faces. The Crown Heights Brooklyn spitter explains her lyrical passion to AllHipHop.com.

Having quietly crept through the industry on The Game’s West Coast Resurrection album last year, Nina has recently released her 4th installment of her “Live & Learn” mixtape series. The artist turned down reported major label deals, Nina opted for unknown New York label, Ravenel Records to release her forthcoming debut. Kay Slay has not only added the artist to recent volumes “Street Sweepers” mixtape, he broke her record, “Characters” for the Hot 97 audiences as well. With national nods coming from East and West, Nina B is one “New Jacqueline” to watch.

AllHipHop.com: When did your interest in music begin?

Nina B: I think most of us are born with a love for music. To each his own, but it’s in us. From my childhood, I would watch my mom sing her Soul songs, and bop her head harmoniously, while she was working the mop across the

floors. You see, in my household, clean-up days meant loud music, so I guess I was taught unintentionally that music moves you. It began there right at home.

AllHipHop.com: How did it become a passion though?

Nina B: I’m not gonna front, I have been writing rhymes since [age] 13, but I was not taking it serious. I used it as an outlet for some of the stress I was dealing with, [and] also as a pastime. I would write to tracks like I was

featured on them. In my mind, I could see myself doing it. I felt like, “Why not me? I’m good.” But I struggled with the reality of, “I can be better.” I was offered a deal when I was 16 or 17 on some, “You got the look” s**t, but they was tryna’ do me dirty. They wanted me to have a

ghostwriter. My moms told me to go for it. I said to myself, “If I don’t get a [fair] deal by the time I’m 18, I quit.” I thought it was gonna be that easy. I wasn’t even trying. I was 18, retired, and I hadn’t even ever recorded one of my songs. When I decided to come back, that was when I was very ambitious about what I wanted, and how I was gonna get it accomplished.

AllHipHop.com: So how does all of this play into your music? What sets you apart from anybody else?

Nina B: I realized, at a very early age, that I’m not like everybody else. Not to say I’m special, but I am different, my music reflects that. I speak from a place in me, not just my heart, but a place in me, a place I visit when I’m in deep thought. I don’t just say what sounds hot, or what

I think you wanna hear. I know who I am, and what I’m capable of. My style is scrambled — a lil bit of this and a whole lot of that. It’s hood, but it’s not ignorant. It’s powerful, ’cause it’s real. It’s creative, it’s innovative, and it’s portaits on a page. My style is all that.

AllHipHop.com: You just released the 4th edition of your “Live & Learn” series. Saying all you’ve said, why hasn’t there been an album yet?

Nina B: I ended the “Live & Learn” compilation series at volume four. The name was significant to me ’cause that’s what it’s all about, living and learning, living and growing. So with my album, I have to top that. I’m constantly trying to outdo myself. I don’t even worry about other people. Maybe that’s why I’m taking my sweet time with this album, I’m teasing you all with the mixtapes like appetizers. But, that main course is gonna sit in you for a minute. I’m starting fresh with a much more insightful approach. I’m hooking up with everything and everybody.

I can’t even speak on it.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s discuss your longevity in this business of music — What do you feel has been, and will continue to be, the key to your success?

Nina B: I pride myself on my ambition, which has carried me this far. I work hard and diligently. I’m not afraid to do the footwork. I’m not afraid to re-invent. Besides,

all that, there is a natural love — a love for what I do that people can sense. I relate to them [my fans], and as long as I don’t lose touch, they can relate to me. You gotta respect somebody who doesn’t give you any other choice, somebody like me.

AllHipHop.com: The market is saturated with artists right now. As your debut awaits, would it be safe to say that you are happy with the current state of Hip-Hop music?

Nina B: Not exactly. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. So, I’m gonna roll with the punches. When I really want something, anything, I will go all out.

I will fight for it. I think now is the time for the ones who really want it show how much we really want it. I can’t say I’m happy, but then again I can’t say I’m mad.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the biggest endorsement you’ve gotten so far?

Nina B: I would have to say Kay Slay playing my song [“Characters”] on the radio for the first time on Hot 97. That feeling is so powerful. And, to have people around you who feel it to, ’cause they know how hard you work, it’s priceless.

AllHipHop.com: Looking ahead, say, five or even ten years from now, where do you see yourself?

Nina B: Well, I really can’t call it, but I’ll give it a shot. I’ll probably still be doing it, but on a whole ‘nother level. If I keep pushing, like I’m pushing, I know that I am going to have all the respect and success I deserve. Right now, I’m just going with the flow. Hopefully by then, I’ll be an icon, and I’m taking my team with me to the top.

AllHipHop.com: As for the immediate future, what’s next for you?

Nina B: Right now, we throwing a lot of buzz records out there. I’m jumping all over mixtapes; we doing a lot of videos. My director, Worst Case Scenario, does his thing. I’m getting a lot of feedback about the quality of my videos. They play on Uncle Ralph’s Video Music Box, and all your favorite public access shows. [They] got me in heavy rotation. Aside from that, I done hosted joints for DJ G####, DJ L Gee, DJ Spree, DJ Knuckles, DJ Ism, DJ Don Juan, these are all out and about. But, I’m just keeping the people entertained while I’m sitting on the album – it’s all about timing. I want you to want it, get it, and say, “Damn, that’s just what I needed.”

After signing Outkast nearly twelve years ago, Antonio “L.A.” Reid predicted that Atlanta would become the Motown of the South. It seemed like a bold prediction considering that Jermaine Dupri was the only person moving big Soundscan units at the time. No one doubts that prediction now, as artists like Outkast, Ludacris, Lil’ Jon and T.I. dominate the charts. While the ATL has given us Snap, Trap, Crunk Music and everything in between, newcomer Yung Joc is determined to play the role of Barry Gordy in the new Motown.

Despite being falsely labeled as a snap artist, Yung Joc chooses to align himself with ATL veteran rappers. Should he have his way New Joc City won’t just be the title of his debut album, it will serve as another Atlanta prophecy come true. He may have gotten his nickname due to his baby-face and lack of facial hair, but the current owner of Billboard’s #13 single is a businessman and an MC. Diddy’s newest Bad Boy recruit relays his thoughts on everything from his creative process to the nuances of African American hair care-it’s goin’ down indeed.

AllHipHop.com: A fellow Atlanta artist, Young Jeezy, caught a lot of heat for the whole ‘Snowman’ thing, are you worried about catching similar heat with tracks like “Dopeboy Magic”?

Yung Joc: Nah, I might catch some heat because I said this one line in this song, “First things first, I like all kind of hoes / Some go to Spellman, some dance with no clothes.” I know that Nelly caught a lot of flack for sliding a credit card down that girl’s booty [in the “Tip Drill” video], so I might catch some similar heat over some silly s**t like that, but I ain’t really trippin’.

AllHipHop.com: Your father owns a hair care line, Claudio St. James, so were you financially cool prior to getting in the game?

Yung Joc: With a company, you have to take all of your own capital and reinvest in yourself. I won’t say I was cool financially, because my dad had his own thing. Anything I needed, I could get it, but I was always taught to do without. That’s not because of my pride, it’s because of my hustle-I tried to not ask for s**t unless I really needed it.

AllHipHop.com: The Dungeon Family gave the Hip-Hop world a vision of Atlanta about ten years ago, how would you say it’s changed since then?

Yung Joc: Outkast crossed that threshold of just being South and Hip-Hop. The threshold was that either, ‘you were South or you had Northern exposure to make it Hip-Hop.’ They blended the two, which gave credibility to the South and Hip-Hop itself. It allowed people to say, “Damn cats in the South can actually rap too, they actually have other s**t to say than just some booty shake s**t or just hollering.” They are definitely pioneers in their own right, so I respectfully give them a big shout out and take my hat off because they paved the way. They broke down a lot of barriers, without them there would be no Jeezy’s and no T.I.’s. People wouldn’t have given a f**k about what we had to say.

AllHipHop.com: “It’s Goin’ Down” is getting a lot of love from radio and the mixtape circuit, didn’t you originally construct that song by making the hook and building around it?

Yung Joc: Nah, what happened was Nitty said that we needed to give the people something new that was catchy. Remember how back in the day when people would be in your business and you would answer “Nunna,” like, “None of your business?” It was a little call-and-response melody, “Who you came with-nunna! Who you hang with-nunna! Nunna, nunna, nunna, nunna yo’ g###### business!” That’s how he came up with the melody (sings) da-da-da-duh-duh. After he began to produce the track, that s**t outgrew the hook, so then we figured since we had this great beat we should drop some verses.

AllHipHop.com: So the hook actually turned out to be the last thing, right?

Yung Joc: Exactly, and that’s why I tell people, there’s no protocol in making a record. It could go either way, you could’ve written a hit song before ever hearing the track, you never know. I had to go home and sleep on “It’s Goin’ Down” for two days, then I came back and dropped the hook. Matter of fact, we were getting ready for some big party and I’m at the studio trying to come up with a hook or something to make the song right. It was just me and Miss B [of So So Def fame], Diddy, and Chino Dolla were in the studio Everyone left to go get some outfits for the party, except me and Miss B. When they left I made up the hook and I got her to record me, so by the time they got back the song was finished.

AllHipHop.com: There’s no protocol but you’ve obviously got an ear for what will hit in the streets, where does that come from?

Yung Joc: That comes from understanding your target market. It’s like if I walk in the club and there’s a wall full of women. If there’s some sididdy chicks in one corner and some freaks in another corner, I can’t come at the sididdy broads with that “cut something” s**t. I’m going to have to be talking some real classy s**t like, “Yo, you look like the type of chick a cat could rendezvous with from time to time, how can we make this happen?” You know, you’ve got to put your sexy on. Now if I go over there to them freaks, I already know what it is, I’m coming at them like, “What y’all drinking?”

AllHipHop.com: So how do you balance the concepts that you’re personally feeling with what your target audience might want?

Yung Joc: Music is only an expression of the emotion. At the time when that emotion comes across, I don’t fight it, I go with it. If that emotion tells me to say, “Hey hallelujah / Who’s smokin’ buddah,” then I’m gonna say that s**t and I ain’t gonna think twice about it. If it sounds like bulls**t or not, I’m gonna do it. And from there, you move on. You can’t think too hard about it. If you think too hard, you fall behind. That’s why you see cats go in the studio and do two or three songs a night while you’re doing one song a week. Don’t think too hard, it’s emotional. If a motherf**ker run up on you and slaps you, it won’t take you a week to think about how you feel. You’re going to be p##### off right then and there. It’s gut instinct dog.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve had practice on that too though; word on streets is that you recorded a commercial jingle for Revlon as a teenager. Is that true?

Yung Joc: Yeah, man. Revlon was doing The Bronner Brother’s Hair Show. The Bronner Brother’s is a black owned hair care line and every year they have this big event in Atlanta. Revlon has so much money, but when they come to this venue, nobody’s f**king with them, because they’re not making any products for ‘locks or braids and natural hair. You know how it is, our hair is naturally different. So they came up with this product line called Lotta’ Body and they tried to make it hip. They’re thinking, “What better way to get to the black audience than through their music?” So they had some s**t that was like different colored mousses, like bumpin’ brown and boomin’ black. I knew a young lady named Shayla Simpson, who had ties with Revlon. She did makeup for a lot of the stars like Denzel Washington and [Evander] Holyfield, so she got me on and plugged me and my group. We did the jingle, and Revlon loved it so much that they purchased it from us. They also paid us to perform it at the hair show, so we used to get cake off of that s**t.

AllHipHop.com: That’s a good look as a teenager, or at any other age.

Yung Joc: Yeah, that s**t paid some bills pimp. My momma was happy than a motherf***er, she was like, “You need to go do something for McDonalds now.”

AllHipHop.com: Fast-forwarding to now, is your solo mixtape with DJ Drama out yet?

Yung Joc: As far as the “It’s Goin’ Down” mixtape, we decided that since I’m the first artist from the label, why not go ahead and make it “Welcome To My Block” so we can reintroduce the people affiliated with the situation. So this mix has me, Block, Nitty, Boyz N The Hood, and different people tied in to our situation. We’re about to drop that in a few days so I’m waiting on that and I think it’ll get a good response. We leaked a record called “A Hundred Grand” where I stole a beat. I did a verse to it and then I jacked a beat from D4L, or I should say I “jocked” the beat.

AllHipHop.com: You admittedly have a shoe fetish, so would you rather rock some Bapes or Air Forces?

Yung Joc: I’d do the Forces over the Bapes. Only for the simple fact that when you get a pair of Bapes, they’re supposed to already be exclusive. They’re supposed to already be in that upper echelon. I feel like if I get some Bapes I shouldn’t have to do nothing to them, but if I get some Ones, I can do whatever I want to do with them and nobody can say anything. I feel that there’s room to grow in Forces, if I pay $50 for some Ones and I have to pay to upgrade them, that’s cool. I don’t want to pay $250 for a shoe and then still have to do some extra s**t to it. If I pay that much money for it, that b*tch better be all the way upgraded when I get it.

AllHipHop.com: So does that apply to the whip game too? Do you roll with the old school big body or something new like that 600 Benz?

Yung Joc: I’d take an old school. When I drive off the lot with that Benz, that b*tch is going to drop in value by $10,000 right off the rip. It’s probably going to take you some time to pay it all the way off, and to get it like you want it. If you spend all that money on a whip and you’ve still got to do upgrades to it, shoot yourself! Politely go call Dr. Kevorkian, and go kill yourself. I’d rather get that old school and turn it from nothing into something. I can always resell that old school, but that Benz is going to be hard as hell to sell. You could probably sell the accessories off of a Benz easier than you can sell the car itself. That Benz is bragging rites, but the old school is street cred. I could ride through the hood in that Benz and everyone would say, “Oooh that thing is clean.” If I’m rolling that old school everybody’s going to say, “Boy, he’s for real!” I bet you’ll see which one they’d rather ride in.

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very so often in Hip-Hop, an individual comes who speaks to the hearts of the people. There comes an MC whose lyrics strike a chord within an audience, spewing lyrical bars over heavy funk, all the while dispersing knowledge on issues common folk beef about at work, on the block or at the dinner table. The Coup, comprised of Boots Riley and DJ Funkstress, has made its mark around the globe by maintaining a simple, yet functional approach to music inside of a complex industry.

Five albums later, the group seeks newfound levels of success, which are long overdue. Unlike most acts signed to the seminal Wild Pitch Records, The Coup has expanded their influence over the past decade. In 2006, they’ve unloaded a new clip of songs, Pick A Bigger Weapon, and those that attempt to stifle their voice. This time, The Coup enlists Talib Kweli and Black Thought in their 15th year of recording. It is now time to get reacquainted with Boots and Pam – The Coup.

AllHipHop.com: Party Music had such critical acclaim. How do you follow up such a critically acclaimed album?

Boots Riley: Well Party Music was so critically acclaimed because the media was looking at us more. We had the controversy of the album cover [ a pre-September 11th opus that depicted Boots detonating bombs on the World Trade Center].Since we weren’t on a major label, when the CD came across people’s desks, they would throw it in the stack with everything else, but because of the controversy they actually picked it up and listened to it.

AllHipHop.com: Double-edged sword…

Boots Riley: That’s why we got the critical acclaim…so all I do is keep doin’ what we do. Matter of fact, the album is called Pick a Bigger Weapon, ‘cause we upped the ante, and we’re taking it to the next level. I think about my lyrics long enough so that they meet my quality-control test. I’m not worried about critical acclaim at all; I’m worried about getting the album out there and people hearing it.

AllHipHop.com: So now there are expectations and you’re being looked at to say something on these current issues.

Boots Riley: Yeah. And really, that’s not how I’ve ever written a song, its all been through my own personal perspective. Meaning, on a day-to-day basis, [I write about] what’s going on in my life, not just what I see on CNN, or what I hear about going on in the world. It’s about the small things in life and how that relates to the bigger things, Ya know, so on this album, I talk about getting up for work everyday and dealing with that same daily drudge.

AllHipHop.com: I heard you worked with Tom Morello [of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave] on this album, what was that like?

Boots Riley: Tom Morello does a solo on this album. He’s cool people. He’s

always been supportive of the music and what we do. He’s tryin’ to push us out

there, so he brought us along on the Tell Us the Truth Tour that he did, and he’s also

bringing us along on the Audioslave tour later on. He’s really a lot more down to roll

up his sleeves and work in the community for somebody that has had as much success

as him.

AllHipHop.com: I read an article on a high school teacher in Seattle, WA that uses the lyrics to “Fat Cats, Bigger Fish” to teach a poetry workshop in his Language Arts class. What is it about that song that resonated to your fans, what inspired that song?

Boots Riley: A lot of my songs talk about that daily struggle, and connecting that daily struggle to the world outside and what it means in the world. My songs deal with people coming to a realization of their own power. That’s one of the themes in a lot of my music: realizing your own power. I think that’s one resonates with people.

AllHipHop.com: When Hip-Hop was at its prime there were a lot of MC/DJ tandems, and now with you and DJ Pam the Funkstress, what has it been like y’all in a male/female tandem having her on the turntables?

Boots Riley: At first, it was a shock. They thought it was a gimmick, but then she starts cuttin’ and she blows people away. She used to be in all these DJ battles, winnin’ ‘em and s**t like that. People got so threatened by her that they would be mean to her. And she wanted to get to know these DJs but once they were beaten by a girl, they’d stop being friends with her, other contestants would be screaming “F**k you, f**k you!” but the crowd was loving her and going crazy. I’ve witnessed it, some of the DJ’s out now talkin’ ‘bout “it’s all about the art” are the same ones hatin’ on her. So Funkstress stopped doing it.

AllHipHop.com: You guys have bounced around a bit trying to find a label home, what’s your new situation like?

Boots Riley: We’re on Epitaph Records; it’s the most like a real label that we’ve ever been on. A few months ago was the first time I ever had a marketing meeting in our whole career. Usually, when our albums come out, people have to look all over to find them and this is the first time we’ll actually be in stores on the release date. We usually end up selling about 100,000 by the end of the day of each album with all these obstacles. This one, I think we’ll sell a lot more just off the fact that people will be able to find it.

AllHipHop.com: Being an independent artist, especially in Hip-Hop, what’s that grind been like? Have you ever gotten to a point where you almost gave up or times got rough and you had to take a nine-to-five or do other things?

Boots Riley: I actually quit [my job] after the Genocide and Juice album. The single “Fat Cats, Bigger Fish” got to a promoter named Mona Lisa, and with her help was getting a lot of radio play all over like on Power 106 in LA and Chicago and other stations. We were selling like 5,000 albums a week at that time, so that just shows you that we caused that reaction, we were climbing up the charts. During that time, EMI bought the album and a week later, they shelved it. Even though it was selling and climbing up the charts, they took it off the market.

AllHipHop.com: So things have been successful pretty much since?

Boots Riley: It’s been growing and growing, there’s people that still think Party Music was our first album. To me, that’s good, ‘cause that means we are gaining fans and its not just the same fans from back in the day. Some people think this is our first album, Pick A Bigger Weapon, but I like it. I’m like “Wow, this is great!” I love that at our shows the age range is like 17-20-something, and it’s not just the same older fans but it’s still new to a lot of them.

AllHipHop.com: You fit a certain role now in Hip-Hop as being one of the top figures in political activism and promoting social awareness in Hip-Hop. Do you feel that’s an overstatement to what your role really is? Do you feel you’re an artist first or an activist first?

Boots Riley: Well, if I’m doin’ what I’m doin’, then I have to see myself as an artist first. Otherwise, what I’m doin’ won’t work. It’s kinda like if you’re a revolutionary doctor and you’re helping people that don’t get medical care, you still have to be on top of your game as a doctor, you don’t wanna try and help somebody and do a f**ked up job. I have a certain opinion of the world that comes out into my songs. I also want my music to be used by organizers in whatever campaigns they do.

AllHipHop.com: Who were some of your inspirations coming up whether it is on the musical or political end?

Boots Riley: Paul Roberson, Gil Scott Heron, Amiri Baraka…and basically on the musical end Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Ice Cube, Rakim, Schoolly D…the list goes on.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that positive Hip-Hop will become the majority and commercial Hip-Hop will take a back seat and the tables will turn?

Boots Riley: Well, then that rap will be the commercial rap! Definitely, but what’s called underground right now will be called commercial and vice versa. What’s underground rap is making a lot of money right now. There are people that are “underground rappers” that have nice houses, nice cars and eat very well. It’s a marketing technique, that’s all it is, the word “underground”. What we thought ten years ago was underground was E-40. Now, [My Ghetto Report Card] probably gonna go platinum. All those words are just marketing techniques.

AllHipHop.com: Has it been a struggle taking that route in your music and not compromising what you do to gain more fans?

Boots Riley: In this business, if I didn’t have as many morals as I did, I probably would have gotten further. There’s times where like Interview Magazine, was like “Levis bought this editorial page, if you do this ad where The Coup is wearing Levis then we’ll do this editorial page for you”. Certain sponsors come up to me and we just won’t do it. You won’t see me on a Coke ad, that’s an avenue that other people will take that I won’t, there are things that I can do to increase my sales, but at the end of the day I have to sleep with myself. The other day we were talking about the Marvin Gaye ad for Hennessey. Now they don’t even have to put Hennessey on the ad, as soon as you see Marvin Gaye, you think Hennessey. I hope none of my descendants do that to me, where people see a picture of Boots Riley and think, Shavers.