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.

E

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.

It is said that each year in the music industry is equivalent to three normal years. If that’s the case, then Rick Ross is way beyond a new artist – he’s a veteran. Most of the time, when neophytes drop records, the fans and the industry are typically interested in one thing: “is that person hot?” No one is really interested in their opinions or even their story until they produce a hit. Folks may not have been listening before, but now that his single “Hustlin’” is impacting radio stations across the nation, the masses have now begun to care about Rick Ross. On his music hustle for ten years, he’s been patient with his creep up out of Miami.

From being a consumer, to an MC with a hit single, the journey to the top has been a wild ride where he’s gained a wealth of knowledge and experience. Now that he’s got the people’s attention, Rick Ross has got a lot to say. The rapper even offers a few gems to drop on hustling, expectations from his album, Port of Miami, why the city of Miami is so dope, and not only what makes a man real, but also why he’s one of the realest.

AllHipHop.com: It’s safe to say you’ve been hustling before turning your focus to rhyming?

Rick Ross: Most definitely.

AllHipHop.com: How long would you say you’ve been committed to making your rap career pop off?

Rick Ross: I would say like 12 years. But seriously committed, I would say the last five.

AllHipHop.com: What made you make that decision?

Rick Ross: For me, once I really started seeing the reaction and the participation of the streets and their involvement is when I really saw how far this music could go. At first, when you’re writing those songs, you’re doing it for you homies in your class or the n***a you finna smoke a joint with. Then you may go to the studio, but you only playing it for a hand full of cats, ‘cause you know your s**t ain’t really all that – you just tryin’ to see what you could do. But it got to a point when n***as was comin’ up to me sayin, “What’s up boy. I heard that record you did. Damn boy. Where I could get that?” And I’m like, ‘Damn. Okay.’

AllHipHop.com: So you felt like the streets wanted you?

Rick Ross: I started seeing that the potential for growth was there. ‘Cause after you’ve been in the business-I was in the business for ten years and ain’t make a dime. When you spending money all that time [in the streets], that’s what I mean, when you in this [music] game it’s a real business. When you get in it you hustling. You doin’ whatever you gotta do to get your studio, your lil’ s**t, your CD’s, your t-shirts. You’re tryin’ to go and to the events and the clubs. You buyin’ the DJ a drink to get you a spin or two, and I did that over a decade. So you gotta understand the s**t I endured. You going to work everyday and making no money. The crowd ain’t rappin’ your songs but you gotta be a real n***a to keep going.

AllHipHop.com: So what do you think you bring to this game that isn’t here? Especially coming from the South there are a high number of artists coming out.

Rick Ross: I bring a little more class to the game [and] a little more game to the game.

AllHipHop.com: What exactly does that mean?

Rick Ross: You gotta be a little more detailed about [your hustle] sometimes, and that’s why I’m gonna be real detailed and personal with the project and the records I’m doing. I’m a put a little twist on that South thing.

AllHipHop.com: So you say you’re being a little more detailed? Do you feel like it’s your responsibility as an artist to tailor your lyrics or is it just whatever comes out comes out? If you like it, you like it, if you don’t, you don’t.

Rick Ross: I know for me it really represents communication from hood to hood. When I was consumer, I was just buying music. When I bought your record, your cassette, your CD or whatever, I bought it really to get an understanding of where you was from and what you were representing. That’s why it’s like once I got a bite of NWA and Eazy-E that opened up the markets for the other smaller groups like MC Eiht and Comptons Most Wanted and all those other kinds of artists. Because once you hear the lifestyle and intrigues and entertains you, you dig in deeper and for me and my homeboys, that’s what music was. It wasn’t just about he rapper. It was the fact that now about the culture in LA and never been there. I may never go there, but I know what’s happening. I know they got Bloods. I know they got Crips. I know they got the Slauson Swap Meet. I know they got Crenshaw. When Bone Thugs came out [it was] Cleveland, Ohio. You know what I’m saying? It’s like you recognizing the map and you’re kind of understanding what they expect. So when I make my music that’s what I do for Miami. I kinda of want them to know what to expect. I want them to know the lingo and the attitude.

AllHipHop.com: I did a panel on the radio and the topic was “Does all the references to hustling and drugs in music have an affect on folks choosing to involve themselves in that lifestyle” and they used your song “Hustlin” as an example. Do you think this music has enough of an influence to push people to do that? It influences people to buy sneakers, cars, etc. Can it influence folks in a negative way as well?

Rick Ross: I think the people that go out and buy sneakers and cars [because of this music] would do that with R&B too. But at the same time, you gotta understand how the hustling impacted our generation. All we’re doing is giving back what we received. It’s just an output of the early 80’s. There was a lot of hustling going on before this music. There’s always been hustling before rap.

AllHipHop.com: I mean the drug hustle specifically.

Rick Ross: Well drugs you know…who’s getting the drugs here? That’s who we need to be talking to. They say they have cameras that can see the date of a penny in Time Square, why can’t you stop the narcotics? That’s who we need to ask. There’s always gonna be hustling. As long as there’s poor kids living two blocks away from rich kids, there’s always gonna be hustling. You have the “haves” and the “have-nots”. There’s n***as with s**t and there’s dead broke n***as. You decide what you want to do. You decide where you wanna go and how you wanna do things.

AllHipHop.com: You’re a very intelligent, brother. What was the highest level of education you completed?

Rick Ross: Twelfth grade. I excelled.

AllHipHop.com: You know there’s a lot of folks out here sending the message “Why go to school when you get money being a rapper or a hustler?”

Rick Ross: Nah, you go to college and be a hustler, pimp. The best hustlers are college graduates. The people who run the world are hustlers. You always want to hustle. I don’t care what you’re doing. You always gotta have a hustle about yourself. You need that extra little support some time, pimp.

AllHipHop.com: So let’s talk about the South. You know people have the nerve to say Florida is not the South?

Rick Ross: Then what is it?

AllHipHop.com: They say its Disney and South Beach.

Rick Ross: That’s funny. I wouldn’t even address somebody that says that. But you know, Miami is a beautiful place. I mean if somebody wanted to look at it statistically of course Miami is more culturally diverse with the Hatians, the Cubans, the Dominicans…It’s a melting pot of all that, but it’s most definitely South.

AllHipHop.com: Tell me about the album. Is there any dream collaboration that you want to do?

Rick Ross: Well, I’m about to do a record with R. Kelly and that was a dream record that I really wanted to do. So that was a big one for me. We finna get ready to knock that out ASAP.

AllHipHop.com: So, what do you think is the biggest difference to being a part of a big machine like Def Jam as opposed to a smaller venture like Slip-N-Slide?

Rick Ross: Well you know, of course by Def Jam being a bigger machine, there are more outlets. There’s more resources [i.e.] the budgets, the funds, the vision, and everything is there so the biggest difference is having all the access to what I really need. For instance this is my first time being a part of a DVD for AllHipHop.com I ain’t get to do that with the other-you understand? So, you know, s**t gets better the higher you go and the further you go. It gets easier for you as an artist. When I was by myself I had to do a million and one things to cover [a small piece of] ground. Now with the machine I’m with, you make a phone call and it’s done.

AllHipHop.com: So you do like it better?

Rick Ross: Of course.

AllHipHop.com: Because a lot of artists that come up independent, once they become a part of the big machine they kind of feel like they’re a slave to a bigger entity where as before they were the ones callin the shots.

Rick Ross: Nah, you should always remain in charge of your music and your product but you just gotta let them do what they do. When you get the deal you gotta understand what kind of deal you’re closing, and what’s gonna be everybody’s responsibility. Once you know that and accept that once you sign that deal, you should just do what you need to do. You know what I’m sayin’? If you feel like if it ain’t for you, you should consider all of that before you get the deal.

AllHipHop.com: So now that you’ve got the machine behind you, what do fans need to know about Rick Ross?

Rick Ross: I’m gonna sell a lot of records. I’m set up to sell a lot of records.

AllHipHop.com: How?

Rick Ross: I just happen to be Rick Ross one of the realest n***as doing this s**t. I’m the crème de la crème of this new music s**t you know what I’m sayin? You finna see a lot of me.

AllHipHop.com: You said you’re one of the “realest” n***as. What makes a real n***a?

Rick Ross: There’s a lot of phony mothaf**kas, but you know I done been in the game man, for over 12 years, and I done survived a lot of the bulls**t. I’ve lost a lot of my homies and I’m still here persevering, representing for the cause and that’s till the casket rock. A lot of started out screamin’, “Carol City Cartel!” where I’m from, but I’m one of the last ones and by me taking it this far, you already know and we still here. S**t don’t change. That’s being real. [I’m] Still f**kin’ with the n***as [I] started with.