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.

M

ajor labels are looking at the Bay Area the same way that baseball scouts are eyeing up the Dominican Republic. Just as he did 14 years ago, Earl “E-40” Stevens spearheaded a movement that attracted major attention out West. The one-time Gold Rush is replaced with a Hyphy train.

On the heels of his smash album, My Ghetto Report Card, E-40 tells his story on the darkest years of the Northwest. AllHipHop.com listens as 40 discusses collaborating with his son, early influences, and even the history behind the similarities between his “Things’ll Never Change” and 2Pac’s “Changes.” E-40 allegedly earned his name for draining beers, but here, he fills up your mind.

"Listen to the “Tell Me When To Go Remix” with The Game, Kanye West, and Ice Cube."

AllHipHop.com: Is there a difference within Vallejo of “Crestside” and “Westside” within the rap community?

E-40: No, I don’t think so. You know, we all from Vallejo. Everybody’s parents went to school with each other. We all laced and grown from floor terrace, and that’s really where the roots is at. In Vallejo, you got Con-Funk-Shun from way back in the day, Sly Stone and them used to be out here – we all cut from the same cloth. We all laced the same. It’s a small town. If you blink, you might miss it. It’s game involved with all Vallejo rappers.

AllHipHop.com: When you were comin’ up, who moved you? There’s people I’ve heard of, such as The Mack from Vallejo, but who was it that put the battery in your back?

E-40: Too Short, Freddy B up out of Oakland. Some cats out of Richmond by the name of Calvin T and Magic Mike, which I feel was some of the coldest rappers ever. Ice-T, KRS-One, Blowfly, UTFO, you smell me? [laughs] You put all of that together, that’s who E-40 was wastin’ groom up off of, you smell me? You mix that with my character and my street experiences and you got you an E-40, man.

AllHipHop.com: Aside from just the music, what did it mean as a father, to work with your son, Droop-E, on this project?

E-40: It made me feel good just to have a son that’s involved himself in this music. I didn’t force him to do this. I didn’t force him to get into the rap game. It just gradually happened. It’s embroidered into him. It’s in bloodstream. I had him on my album Federal in 1992, he was three years old. He had skit on there called “Questions.” Then I put him on my platinum album, In A Major Way. The song was called “It’s All Bad.” He was rappin’ on there, as a six year old dude. At the time, his name was Lil’ E. He just recently changed it to Droop-E just three, four years ago. So when he got nine years old, I had him on my album, Hall of Game on the song, “Growin’ Up.” That album went gold. This dude was on gold and platinum albums before he made it to age ten. He just recently turned 18 a few weeks ago. It made me feel good, ‘cause I went and bought him Pro Tools and a full-fledged studio on Christmas Eve when he was 15. So he been at it, man.

AllHipHop.com: If he’s had three years of practice, he’s had a lot more than plenty of these chumps out here calling themselves producers.

E-40: Yeah, man. His momma put him in piano for five years. He didn’t wanna play. But he knows the notes and keys though. That’s all you need to get ahead. If you can play the piano, you can play any instrument.

AllHipHop.com: Throughout Hip-Hop, we’ve seen a lot of fathers and sons. But Droop-E seems to be carrying a name independent of yours, that’s respected in adult Hip-Hop circles. What similarities do you see in your son?

E-40: The motivation and the creativity – the test of fortitude. With me, I like to do what they don’t. I think when you do what they don’t, it makes you an innovator. That’s what I always tell him. But he don’t need me tellin’ it, ‘cause he’s a natural. Dude is natural like an afro. His beats is – he don’t wanna sound like everybody. He wanna carve his own signature sound. He tryin’ to do somethin’ that people gonna sample in the future. That’s what’s cookin’ for him. He on deck like a sailor.

AllHipHop.com: So Bobby and Barry Bonds aren’t the only legendary tandem from the Bay?

E-40: Right, exactly. [laughs] We tryin’ to make game unfold. That’s not just my son, that’s my partna. I do be on his head, on his line. He is my son, so I gotta give it to him straight, I can’t give it to him late. But that’s what a daddy do. Overall, this dude is a humble and hungry dude. I’m tryin’ to make sure he finish up his last year in school. As a daddy, I gotta make sure he stay focused. There’s so much money bein’ thrown at him and opportunities that he just can’t wait till June.

AllHipHop.com: Well come June or July, if he stays on – he’s got an AllHipHop.com feature coming. I think that’d be fitting.

E-40: That would be fitting, bruh bruh.

AllHipHop.com: So many artists reach a plateau and become inaccessible to their peers. You’ve worked with Lyrics Born and Murs, two stars of the “underground” Hip-Hop world. So much Hip-Hop comes out, but tell me about your commitment to that realm within the genre…

E-40: I like Lyrics Born, I like Murs, I like [Talib] Kweli, I like Mos Def, I like the Hieroglyphics. I like all that, man. It’s Hip-Hop, man. Music is music. Lyrically, them dudes spit it – punchlines and metaphors. They’re creative. Like, there ain’t no cap to who I really like.

AllHipHop.com: “Tell Me To Go” the original and remix have been fire out East. I also heard that as a result of the record, Interscope is courting Keak Da Sneak into a deal. Any comment?

E-40: Everybody tryin’ to get Keak. He’s a real talented, humble dude. I recognized Keak because his voice is distinctive, he can spit game, and he ain’t scared to do what they don’t. I had him on my album in 1996-1997 on Hall of Game. The album sold 800,000 units, and the name of the song was called “Bring It.” It was me, [Keak], and Spice-1. Keak opened up the verse. This dude been around, and I’m here to see him shine like a diamond. Dude deserves everything that comes to him. I’m happy for him. We all kickin’ in the doors with this song right here. It’s the baterram. It’s gonna make it easy for the rest of the Bay Area to eat.

AllHipHop.com: Even though Scarface was a legend before Screw music, he helped introduce many of us to the culture. You’ve been doing this for 15 years, but I see a large correlation with that and your championing of Hyphy. Plus, you’re both veterans at the top of your game…

E-40: I got the Bay on my back like a backpack. They got me too. It’s a trip though. We kinda got off the scene like in ’96, ’97. They started checkin’ for other regions. During that whole time, 40 Water been holdin’ on like a hubcap in the fast lane – consistently puttin’ out music. I been carryin’ the Bay on my back since then. I was around when me and The Click and the Sik-Wid-It organization got the attention of all the major labels to come on out here. I was in a biddin’ war just like Keak is now, in 1993. In ’94, I signed with Jive Records. It was the spot – a baby Atlanta. In ’96 and ’97, [Master] P kinda took the rug from up under our feet. He stayed in the Bay. And this ain’t no disrespect for him. This is what he did. He brought the attention to the South. Don’t get it twisted though, there were already rappers in the South eatin’, like Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Outkast, 8Ball & MJG, the whole Rap-A-Lot organization, Luke Skywalker and all them. But P opened the doors for the South to get they gouda. That’s when the region went. Even though the West and the South always been cool. I’m probably the most South-friendly West Coast rapper. I been workin’ the South. To get back on the subject though, I been carryin’ the Bay like that all these years. When you think of the Bay, you think of E-40. Now, here we is again. I’m here to see it again. Longevity is everything. The more we all eat, the better we all eat in the Bay.

AllHipHop.com: My last question, man. You’ve mentioned The Hall of Game a couple times. On it, you had “Things’ll Never Change,” which came out in 1996. You retained a wonderful, storied relationship with Tupac. But were you ever bothered that they released an award-winning rehash as “Changes” of other songs, using that same concept two years later? Was it supposed to be a collaboration?

E-40: As a matter of fact, I’m just trippin’, ‘cause the last time I seen ‘Pac was at my “Hall of Game” video. He was playin’ some of the Makavelli album for me. We were in the trailer, perkin’, doin’ our thing. I said, “You know my new handle is 40 Fonzerelli, right?” He was like, “Yeah, that’s a trip ‘cause mine is Makavelli.” He got to breakin’ down who [Machiavelli] was and all that, and this dude was way ahead of his time and all that. He was playin’ the album, but it didn’t have “Changes” on there. He never heard [“Things’ll Never Change”]. I never got around to playin’ my album for him ‘cause I had cats in the camper who was tryin’ to play they album. I wasn’t tryin’ to goal-tend. ‘Pac already knew what I was about. [I didn’t want] “40 hatin’, he don’t want ‘Pac to hear my music.” He was already on Hall of Game album, but he never got to hear it. “Things’ll Never Change” made it on MTV – in fact, it’s a trip ‘cause I haven’t had a record on regular MTV since 1996 with [“Things’ll Never Change”] till “Tell Me When To Go.” That just goes to show you that if you keep throwin’ s**t at the wall, eventually, it’ll stick. Stay on your grind. That shows you right there – me and ‘Pac, with the song “Changes” was on the same page. That Bruce Hornsby thing, man! Things’ll never change.

A

s Mobb Deep gears up for their smashing comeback, one of the members of their entourage may look familiar to West Coast Hip-Hop fans. 40 Glocc has taken a personal investment in P and Havoc, and parlayed his own career to the G-Unit label.

Unlike your usual rapper support-system, 40 Glocc is hardly waiting for his turn. Instead, the Inland Empire native released his debut, The Jakal in 2003. While the release was hardly in mainstream conversation, it did feature production from Dr. Dre and appearances from Ras Kass, Kurupt, and Suga Free.

On the verge of another edition of “Outspokens” with DJ Whoo Kid, AllHipHop.com and 40 discuss his hometown, and its native daughters – J.J. Fad. The rapper revisits his debut, and looks at the catalysts to his future with G-Unit.

AllHipHop.com: Recently, you were involved in the G-Unit Golf Tournament in Arizona. Now, I did hear that you didn’t participate. Why?

40 Glocc: Uh, well, you know…I was runnin’ around. I stole me a Scion car. It was rainin’. So I made the driver get in the passenger seat, and I was drivin’ around.

AllHipHop.com: How does the Scion handle?

40 Glocc: They tight. I like ‘em. It was like a lil’ golf cart with a [Scion] shell over it. It was rainin’ like hell. I liked that s**t.

AllHipHop.com: So who came in the lead at the golf outing?

40 Glocc: To tell you the truth, I don’t really know. Nobody came in the lead, ‘cause it started rainin’. Everybody was freelancin’. [Prodigy] and Spider [Loc], they was partners. It was crazy, man. They was just throwin’ the golf balls into the holes. It was cool.

AllHipHop.com: We all know what a 40 Glocc is. But how did you earn the name?

40 Glocc: Basically, people put it on me. It was a metaphor for myself. My name was already 40, but I been spittin’ like [mimics a round fired]. I put the ‘Glocc’ on it – ‘cause that’s what I always carry too.

AllHipHop.com: Not much is known about the Inland Empire in California, where you’re from. What sets that apart from what outsiders perceive as just “greater Los Angeles”?

40 Glocc: I’m from Colton City in San Bernadino County. It’s right on the side of LA. We’re right by Pomona, where Kokane, Above The Law, Suga Free came outta Pomona. They right here by us. The Inland Empire is makin’ noise though. Sly Boogie came out, he had his lil’ s**t.

AllHipHop.com: Were these the people you looked up to, coming up?

40 Glocc: The people that influenced was me seein’ Dr. Dre. Matter of fact, J.J. Fad is from my hood. All my big homies used to f**k with them b*tches. When I was a kid walkin’ around, them b*tches used to be around, rehearsin’ they parts, in the hood. Dre and Eazy used to come through and pick ‘em up in limousines. I’d be like, “Whoa!” I was really lookin’ at Dre and them – Snoop. They was the s**t. This is what I want I want to do.

AllHipHop.com: What’s good with J.J. Fad now?

40 Glocc: S**t. I don’t know. B*tches runnin’ around with babies and s**t.

AllHipHop.com: They’re not back around the way anymore? They had the crazy cameo in Coming To America.

40 Glocc: Um, yeah, they still around. I see Dania [Baby D]. She’s doin’ her thing. I see her around. The rest of ‘em, who knows, they around somewhere, knocked up.

AllHipHop.com: From Yo-Yo to Spider, a lot of artists claim to be getting into the studio with Dre. You achieved that on your debut album with “Papa Lil’ Soldier.” Everybody approaches Dre. Why do you think he decided to work with you?

40 Glocc: It’s funny that said Yo-Yo, ‘cause I just got off the phone with her. But with Dre, it was crazy, ‘cause I always used to run with Snoop. Dre heard me, he felt me, and he said, “I’m f**kin’ with you 40,” and I’m like, “For real?” He was callin’ me everybody, it was amazing. S**t, that n***a like the Abraham Lincoln of rap. It was really like a blessing. It was a pleasure.

AllHipHop.com: Coming from the Inland, how did you become part of the click or entourage of people from other parts, like Snoop?

40 Glocc: That started to take shape like around the ‘Pac days. I was runnin’ with my homie, Bad Azz. It transitioned so much. I done been through so much since then that it’s hard to remember. Snoop was just a good homie. He laced me with a lot of game. Him, Big Tray Dee, all them.

AllHipHop.com: When’s Tray coming out?

40 Glocc: He got a few more years, man. It’s all bad. But I keep my “Free Tray Dee” campaign goin’ on.

AllHipHop.com: So many artists refuse to put out an album if it doesn’t succeed. The Jackal probably didn’t do what you wanted. But what did it mean to you as an artist to get that album out there?

40 Glocc: I felt like it was a blessing, man. It was my first time. The [label] gave me $250,000. I had never seen that s**t. I was just open. I was happy, because since we’ve been f**ked up on the West Coast so long, it felt good. I did what I could to help it sell and make it do good. The label didn’t really step up to bat and do the s**t that they was supposed to do. Being that I’m a hustler and a gangsta, seein’ them not step up to bat, I ended up spendin’ the money that they gave me to push my album further. I couldn’t just sit and watch my s**t fail. [At] least I can say that the numbers that it did do, I made it do that.

AllHipHop.com: But on an artistically?

40 Glocc: I thought it was hella good. I was thankful to everybody that participated on it with me. It was a no-brainer. It helped me in my career too, because looking back, my work ethic now is way crazier. It made me want to work harder, and achieve more.

AllHipHop.com: How are things different since you’re now with G-Unit and I’m guessing, have more resources around you?

40 Glocc: Ah, hell yeah! It’s way easier. Everybody at the Unit is workaholics. Being nice, we stay in the studio. We eat, s**t, breathe, sleep in the mothaf**ka. When we come out, it’s to handle business. 50’s the same way. The whole Unit’s like that. Say, like if you can’t go to a certain studio, you can go to another studio and get crackin’ over there, or go to 50’s crib, and do music over there. It’s way better. Plus, you workin’ with people of that stature, you get the best of the best.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned 50’s crib. Do you spend more time out East or in the West?

40 Glocc: I’m not gonna lie, man. Since we’ve been with the Unit, we’ve been spendin’ most of our time on the f**kin’ road – just movin’. I do be in New York morely now, but I do fly home and be here for two, three days, s**t like that.

AllHipHop.com: Does the travel wear on you?

40 Glocc: It does. But it’s something I gotta deal with, bein’ this is what I wanna do.

AllHipHop.com: Being on the road, what’s one spot that particularly moved you?

40 Glocc: Man, when we was in that motherf**kin’ spot… what was its name? This n***a, 50 takin’ n***as to spots they can’t even name. I can’t even pronounce the s**t. I be accidentally callin’ it Morocco, but it’s Monaco or Monte Carlo. It’s one of the richest places in the world. Crazy!

AllHipHop.com: What did you like about it?

40 Glocc: It was the fact that I was somewhere that a lot of these n***as and sucka ass artists that I don’t like, act like they been, but they can’t even get in some of these spots around the world. To get inside Monaco, you gotta get approval. You can’t just walk up in there. It’s a whole gated city.

AllHipHop.com: There’s a belief that people are a product of their environment. What do you think it’d do to a kid from Inland Empire to get to experience that? Would it impress them, or disgust them at the wasted wealth?

40 Glocc: Man, I think it’d better. They’ll see that s**t and be like, “Man, I’m tryin’ to get this.” It gives the n***as somethin’ to look forward to.

AllHipHop.com: The same way you were when you saw J.J. Fad’s limos…

40 Glocc: Exactly, man! Real talk. You see that s**t, you get that adrenaline – especially if you a hustler. You can’t just be a nothin’ ass mothaf**ka though. You gotta be somebody that’s gonna already try to get yours anyway though. You gotta have big expectations anyway.

AllHipHop.com: You were a part of The Rifleman with Prodigy, Kurupt, and Jayo Felony. It was monumental to see Kurupt and Prodigy come full-circle to collaborating anyway. But that was several years back. What’s the status of the group now?

40 Glocc: Everybody doin’ they thing. Kurupt, that’s my homie. We all f**ked with each other [before that]. You can’t forget Ras Kass either. We just all came together – just some cool mothaf**kas. Now, Kurupt and P and Hav talk. We all still f**k with each other, it’s just different situations.

AllHipHop.com: There are skeptics out there who believe that we’ll never see an album from M.O.P., never see an album from Ma$e. There are people who believe that G-Unit just signs artists for political reasons. Being on that totem pole, how do you answer that?

40 Glocc: M.O.P.’s doin’ they thing. They recordin’ like a mothaf**ka. They workin’ and livin’ good. Ma$e, I mean, there ain’t too much they can say about Ma$e. Ma$e rich as a mothaf**ka – he’s runnin’ around in Maybachs, Phantoms, and Lamborghinis. He doin’ his thing. G-Unit, what they doin’, people just can’t understand. When you get to a certain level and achievin’ s**t, n***as gonna hate. 50, being successful with a lot of s**t he do – if something does a little bad, they tryin’ to make it sound real, real bad. So if [G-Unit] puts out a record and it don’t go platinum, they act like that’s a bad thing. Meanwhile, they made like 20 mill off it! These mothaf**kas gonna hate you when you get something. I’m sure there’s websites out there that hate the f**k out of AllHipHop.com, ‘cause y’all doin’ y’all thing. [laughs] That comes with the territory.

W

arren G may not be signed to a major anymore, he may no longer have the best selling album in the country; but his presence never falters in the booth or behind the boards.

The independently released, In the Mid-Nite Hour encouraged a different direction in production to what is generally expected from the G-Child. But while kicking back in a New York Hotel on a promo tour, Warren ignored his cell phone and the knocks on the door to discuss forms of technology, his new messages, and driving in the ‘Rotten Apple’.

One of Long Beach’s leaders comes forth to promote his album and reflect on his past with AllHipHop.com. This feature shows the newly found fire within Warren G, who considered hanging it up with the last release. It’s very clear that 13 years after he threw made a fuzzy hand gesture in the “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” video, Warren G points ahead.

AllHipHop.com: Do you ever get writers block?

Warren G: All the time – writers block, producer block. But when I get like that, I just stop and kick it for a while, you know, smoke me a joint and then get my drink on and try to open up, you know start digging through some records, and listen to some music that will give me an idea or a song that will give me an idea as far as producing and once I do that it is on.

AllHipHop.com: You have released In The Mid-Nite Hour through Hawino Records. A lot of big names nowadays are putting out projects independently, why did you opt to do that?

Warren G: I mean, a lot of the major companies, I was trying to let them know I got hot records. Warren G ain’t go nowhere, its just we don’t have an outlet on the West Coast to let people hear our music. The only outlet we got is Dre, and he got a full roster. But I was trying to get at a few companies and stuff and they were shooting me down so I was like, “Damn, it’s like that?” And a lot of these people in these companies, I helped them get in those positions. I was just on the strength of being Warren G, I make hit records that’s what I do and I ain’t never going to get to a point where that’s wack, that’s wack, I just cant do it. I make hit records, as far as I am rapping, I might not make a fast, fast club song but the mid-tempo is going to be tight. When I do a fast song I am going to kill it but now when you listen to “Get U Down,” I am rapping fast.

AllHipHop.com: We just saw DMX return to his original home at Sony, if the deal was right would you go back to Def Jam?

Warren G: Damn, I would love to go back to Def Jam. I wouldn’t mind working with Jay-Z, I mean it would be just as big as any of the other stuff going on over there, just the two names period, he a legend, I am a legend. I am a producer and an artist. And what I bring to the table as far as the people I work with, you know: Dre, Snoop the whole pound, it’s easy. That is two million in press alone, sold. [laughing]

AllHipHop.com: “I Want it All” was a platinum selling single; with iTunes nowadays, do you think we will ever see the return of CD vinyl sales?

Warren G: Vinyl will always be here. You got that new thing that is kind of taking over, which lets you get into your records faster, that computer program with the turntables, but it is still like you are on wax, but it is inside the computer but you can switch to your songs so fast and you haven’t got to dig down and go through your records. But I don’t think wax is going anywhere.

AllHipHop.com: Have you found it easy to move along with technology? I mean we have seen some real serious changes in the last five years alone.

Warren G: Yeah. Protools is the best change ever. Now I have my power book with me and I have a plug in in my power book that is equivalent to the SSL board. I don’t have to spend $2500 a session for the studio, because I got it already on my computer, all I need is a good bathroom, a nice cover, a good mic and I got everything right there, my drum machine and my turntable and I got my studio right there.

AllHipHop.com: You have been heavily promoted on the internet, has that been an important tool for you?

Warren G: Yeah, the internet is cool as a lot of people are on there 24/7 and that is kind of where I think a lot of promotion is going to go to, the internet. Actually it is there, just like you guys, I mean I subscribe to AllHipHop.com, I get the alerts as you all give it up and it be real. Trust me, everyone I know, they on AllHipHop.com. I know I am, and everyone I know, “Did you see that interview on AllHipHop.com?” I got all the stuff that came in yesterday and I check it out.

AllHipHop.com: The late 90’s, or the “Puff Daddy era” is laughed at in retrospect. In your two mixes of “I shot the Sheriff,” you duped Bob Marley and EPMD. As a producer, how do you look back at this era in time?

Warren G: I mean it was in my sort of my salad days, my early days, but the records was dope, they are still dope. I did that “I shot the Sheriff,” that was one of my big European songs. I also did a song called “What’s Love Got to Do With it?” with Adina Howard. Those tracks weren’t big here, but they were huge in Europe.

AllHipHop.com: Last year, we saw “Warren G Week” in Long Beach for all the things you have done in the community. Do you think it is important to be nationally recognized for this, or it doesn’t matter if you are recognized or not?

Warren G: It is something I do. I didn’t even ask for the publicity. The mayor heard about it, and she just wanted to do something for me, and I was like “Aight,” I wasn’t tripping. She made it “Warren G Week,” and I went down there and talked to the Boys and Girls Club and went to events and schools every day. I [told] them that you can do whatever you want to do in life, you just have to stay focused and keep your head on right and hopefully a lot of them listened. Some of the Boys and Girls Clubs were kind of rowdy. I had to stop and tell them to hold up, stop y’all, stop the talking, stop the bulls**t, I am trying to tell you something real here, because if not you are going to end up like people you are seeing, you know that I grew up with, some of them might be your parents, you don’t want to get caught up in drugs and going to jail.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that a lot of rappers don’t utilize that talent of reaching kids, as kids look up to rappers, sometimes more so than teachers?

Warren G: I think that we can still do our club thing and get our party on, but I think that every MC should take that time out and do that one song that is reaching out to these kids and really breaking it down. You know like Tupac, he would do a gang hard song, but then he would do songs that he was sending messages. I do that too, send messages in my songs like “I need a Light,” that was about stuff that I have been going through. I lost my Mother, and that s**t hurts. I am a grown man, and I basically saying I ain’t from no gangs and out here in these streets, [but] if you come messing with me, and I pull my heat, I am going to kill you and I mean that. I mean I don’t mean me going out on the street and killing people, but if people come at me violating me and to that point that they hurt my family or threaten my life, if I have to pull out a weapon I am going to use it. I have been hitting the clubs like crazy and people have been coming and giving me hugs and showing me a lot of love, and I ain’t got fifteen bodyguards or a gang of people. Every now and then, you have to take one or two guys depending on the situation you are going into, and I ain’t done nothing to nobody out here. Like yesterday, I drove to the South Bronx, I drove all through Harlem, I know people on 145th Street and I drove all through there. I went to Sammy’s, the clothes store.

AllHipHop.com: So New York City doesn’t make you nervous?

Warren G: I ain’t nervous, as it is just like everywhere else. I love it out here. I ain’t going to lie, there are some beautiful women out here, you know we got fine women in LA, but y’all got thick fine women, thick beautiful Puerto Ricans and Dominicans and Jamaicans and Haitians, black, oh my God it is incredible, Moroccans.

AllHipHop.com: Did you go to Brooklyn?

Warren G: No, I ain’t been to Brooklyn but I am going to go, I am going to go to Red Hook as I know they get down out there. It was cool though, I just wanted to learn my way as far as driving, and a place that might be hard for me to get to might be Queens because everything else is pretty straight.

AllHipHop.com: Was this your first time driving here?

Warren G: I drove before, but I was only down in the city, I used to drive to 145th Street. But then [I] came back to the city, because I didn’t know how to get nowhere else. But yesterday, I was like, “How do I get to such and such?” “Take that street right there and that’s going to take you to that bridge.”

I

t’s often the strongest that move the quietest. So while ultimate hustler wannabees and your favorite superstar’s weed carriers party their lives away, the cats who actually create this music we diddy-bop to are pulling long hours in the studio, away from all the hooplah, doling out the hits that keep this machine going.

Jonathan “JR” Rotem, who you may or may not have heard of, definitely knows a thing or two about pumping out hits. With three songs- 50 Cent’s “Best Friend,” Rhianna’s “SOS,” and Lil’ Kim’s “Whoa,” JR has been behind three simultaneous hits that people all know.

What most don’t know is that over the past two years, the classically-trained pianist, who attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, has produced a record for damn near every chart-topping rapper you can think of. From crafting thematic street operas for 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, to creating sinewy pop backdrops for JoJo and even Britney Spears, the industry’s elite are all clamoring to get a session in with the cat who’s got the multiplatinum fingertips right now. AllHipHop.com managed to get JR to break free from his feverish recording schedule to discuss everything from Brit to Detox.

AllHipHop.com: I know that you’re kind of transitioning into doing work with people like Britney Spears. How did that come about and how do you feel about working with her?

JR: I was always just trying to work with talented dope artists in any genre. We just really made an effort to really get out there and work with all these people; I’m working with Mya, Jojo, Britney Spears, all that kind of stuff. Working with Britney specifically is great, I mean, she’s very talented and she’s just like a veteran, even though she’s young, she’s been performing and doing things for like 20 years. When you get in the studio with her, she’s focused; she knows how her voice is. Even writing, we wrote a song and I was really impressed by her creativity and how well she knows herself. She’s just dope, she’s a veteran.

AllHipHop.com: The stuff that you’ve done for her is it more Hip-Hop flavored, or is it really going in the pop direction?

JR: To be honest with you, it’s kind of a combination. I love Hip-Hop, and people tell me even when I’m doing Pop and R&B, I think they come to me because I have a certain edge in the music and the Hip-Hop is there. Definitely that feeling is in there, that groove is in there. But you know, it’s still Pop music, it’s still very her, it’s just next level Britney. We’re working on a few different songs, some are just, it’s hard to explain, like dark and dramatic, others are more dance and still others are just straight club, Hip-Hop people can feel it, and Pop.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve done a lot of work with artists on Interscope; you’ve done a lot of work period, but a lot of G-Unit, a lot of Aftermath stuff. What do you think it is about your stuff in particular that makes them really gravitate towards your sound?

JR: I have a song deal with G-Unit, so I definitely do a lot of stuff with that whole camp. It’s musical, when I’m doing stuff thinking of them, there’s a musicality but there’s also a griminess to it, the way the drums hit, there’s a deepness, and a sadness, almost a struggle to it that I think that they like in my music. They’re a very musical crew. 50, he’s obviously a rapper, but he’s really melodic, you can hear that in his hooks, he really understands melodies. He’s not a singer, but he’s a true musician that understands music and melodies and that’s a good part of my music since my roots are Classical and Jazz music.

AllHipHop.com: With Hip-Hop production, being that its kind of loop based, like a four-bar, eight-bar loop, do you ever feel a little limited and just want to throw down a three minute piano solo or something?

JR: When I started, I probably had too much music in my tracks. But to be honest with you, right now, I’m really trying to study and get better at the art of making mainstream music. You can’t do that. You have a certain framework you have to work within, but I think I like the challenge of trying to make it as creative as possible within that framework. Obviously, there’s certain things- most songs are going to be between three and four minutes, you’ve got your verses, and the chorus, and the bridge, so there’s a certain structure that people come to expect in a song. I like the challenge of trying to find the holes in the song where you can try to put that musicality in there; it might not be in a three minute full on solo but it might be a little section, or a little sound or a melody that people will remember.

AllHipHop.com: Have you found yourself in the studio with a lot of people or is it a lot of beat CD type of stuff?

JR: To be honest with you, it’s a lot of both. I’m definitely getting in with artists one on one, with Britney it’s one on one, with Mya, and Jojo and all these people one on one. A lot of rappers too, but a lot of times rappers are on tour or moving around, they’re recording and it’s very hard to get in the studio with them. They prefer just getting beats and then rapping on it. But what I try to do in the cases where I send out beats, if they rap on it, I try to get the session back and then go and redo the track or customize it or add things to it to match what they did so it feels organic, so it doesn’t just feel like verses thrown on top of a beat.

AllHipHop.com: With two tracks in particular- Rihanna’s “SOS,” and Lil’ Kim’s “Whoa”- were those songs that you tailor-made for those people?

JR: It’s kind of in between. With Lil’ Kim, I had the track and I had the hook and I brought it to her. I thought that she would like it, I made it with her in mind, I didn’t know for sure if she would want it or not, but she just went crazy for it so I was happy about that. With “SOS,” that was actually a song that we did and again, we shopped it around. Rhianna was one of the people that we took it to- we took it to Def Jam- but it wasn’t made in the studio with her.

AllHipHop.com: That song is playing on a lot of Top 40 stations.

JR: Yeah, and it’s still rising.

AllHipHop.com: Did you envision it as being more of a pop record for her? You’re kind of reintroducing her.

JR: That track obviously I sampled [Softcell’s] “T###########.” I did that track a while ago. I just thought it was real catchy. I gave it to my writer, and he just wrote a crazy song to it. I just thought, “Man, this is just catchy,” I didn’t know who would get on it, but there was something just catchy about it and I was hoping it would do well.

AllHipHop.com: You did a track for Dre’s Detox album. How did that come about and how did you feel coming from your background to be working with him?

JR: Dre was the producer that really influenced me musically to even want to produce, for that it was just amazing. It was so unbelievable, I was so excited. I have a copy of the check framed, because I was actually so excited about it. He heard the track and he was like, “Dude, I need this track.” We didn’t know. I think it was going to somebody else or something like that and they were like, “Dude, we’re going to pay for it like right now, we need this track.” It was an honor for me to get it to him, for him to like that track that much. Obviously, Detox has been started and stopped a couple of times since then, so I don’t know what the status is, but just the fact that he bought it and he wanted it that bad for Detox was just amazing to me. I really respect him musically.

AllHipHop.com: What can we expect from the track you did for Game on his new album?

JR: That’s the title track on the CD. It’s just a deep, crazy song, and Game is obviously an unbelievable rapper, he’s really got a distinct style and voice. I’m just happy to be a part of the project.

AllHipHop.com: Does it bother you that some of the producers on the East Coast that don’t nearly have the same volume of work as you, get more of attention?

JR: No. To be honest with you, I don’t. I’m happy for everybody’s success. Everybody has a different path. I’m trying to do the best that I can do and want to get out there as much as possible but no, I wouldn’t say that I’m bothered by what’s going on with other people.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel like you have any real competition right now? Obviously, the person everybody would associate you with is Scott Storch.

JR: Right, because we have a similar background. No. I’m a big fan of his. He’s just been doing it longer. He’s been in the game earlier. To me, I look up to him as if he can do it then hopefully, I can too. But I don’t really look at it as a competition, there’s a lot of talent everywhere. You just have to do the best that you can do and see what happens.