Any Geto Boys fan and Houston rap aficionado will tell you, Willie D is a bad dude. But there’s six professional boxers and a certain Hip-Hop legend who got “The Message” first hand. That’s because Willie Dennis brought the same energy he’s brought to the mic for the last 17 years, into a short, but celebrated stint in the boxing ring.

With a major weekend ahead for fight fans and enthusiasts, AllHipHop.com thought we’d get the opinion from one of Hip-Hop’s experienced boxing analysts. This feature chronicles the golden-gloved career of Willie, his former regiment, and the reason why he left it all behind. As a friend of both Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather, you’ll get an unbiased preview of the fight, and some Geto Boy boxing history. Lace up the shoes and gloves, but one love!

AllHipHop.com: If I were interviewing Master P right now, I’d ask him who likes in the NBA. But with your boxing career, I gotta ask who you’re feeling right now?

Willie D: I look at consistency, and I’m a fan of heart, passion, and catalog. Meaning, I’m looking at the body of work – not, “Oh, this cat is hot today.” ‘Cause you can be hot today and not tomorrow. I like ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Mayweather. The boy got heart – and he got nuts too. Meaning, he’s a f**kin’ man! You can have heart and no nuts. He got [both]. He knows his history too. If you sit down and talk to that mothaf**ka about boxing, he gone’ dig up s**t like Mike Tyson do.

AllHipHip.com: People sleep on Floyd too. They think he’s flashy, and they try to lump him with a lot of the dudes who talk.

Willie D: Everybody they own man. See, with boxing, people don’t like s**t-talkers. Boxing, especially boxing experts, they like, “Mothaf**ka, don’t talk, just get your ass in there and fight!” I remember, I was whoopin’ on this mothaf**ka in Austin, [Texas]. I’m like, “Yeah motherf**ka, you want some more? BAM!” Every time I talked to him, I’d hit him. I’m fightin’ this dude. First of all, I was fighting the flu when I took the fight. So I go in, the first two rounds, I hear my boys screaming, “Stop playin’ with him. Knock that mothaf**ka out!” I got it under control. I’m dancin’ around. [Willie dances around the room and spars]. By the third round, all this s**t [in my lungs] started cavin’ in from that flu. My s**t started slowin’ down, and that mothaf**ka started hittin’ me – I could see the punches comin’, I just couldn’t get out the way. That’s a bad feeling! I was f**ked all up.

I lost the fight. I threw away the fight basically though, because I was talkin’ s**t to the mothaf**ka, and the judges don’t like that s**t. They basically called it a draw just to teach me a lesson. I got on his ass. The fourth round was a draw. The third round, he got me. The first two rounds, I shut his ass out. I should’ve won the fight, but they took the fight from me to teach me a lesson. That’s how it is, man. That’s how life is too. If you gonna do somethin’, do it. You ain’t gotta talk that s**t. Still, having said all that, Ali was a s**t-talker, and now they look at him as the greatest to ever do it.

AllHipHop.com: What do you think of Muhammad Ali?

Willie D: I ain’t like Ali. When he fought [Leon] Spinx, I was so happy Spinx whooped his ass. “Whoop that mothaf**ka’s ass!” I was happy when [Larry] Holmes whooped Ali’s ass. [laughing] S**t-talking takes a lot of energy out of you too. Just imagine what Floyd [Mayweather] would do to them boys if he didn’t talk all that s**t. But he don’t talk s**t in the ring – he handles his business in the ring.

AllHipHop.com: Prediction on Mayweather vs. Judah?

Willie D: Let me tell you somethin’ – I like Judah. Me and Judah cool. But, I think Floyd is just too much of a ringer. He just handles that g######### ring. You not gonna distract Floyd Mayweather! He ain’t gonna bring all that bulls**t in the ring. Having said that, either one of them winnin’ would be fine with me, ‘cause I’m cool with both of them.

AllHipHop.com: You had a lyric on “Put The Gun Away” off your first album, “I love to talk blow for blow / Against any hoe / They don’t make my kind anymo’, so put the gun away.’” What’s that lyric mean?

Willie D: S**t, that’s where it all started with me, man. I came up in an era where people were still fighting with their hands. Once in a while, somebody might get shot. But for the most part, people still f**ked with their hands. That’s what that’s about. I feel like people would talk less s**t if they had to fight with their hands. Like a gun, “I’m gonna talk this s**t. If a mothaf**ka run up on me, I’mma shoot ‘em.” Anybody can shoot a gun. There’s five-year-old killers out there right now. Women shoot people. It ain’t hard. But them hands is a mothaf**ka. These rappers talkin’ s**t today, they might not say it if they knew they’d have to see a mothaf**ka.

AllHipHop.com: A friend of mine said that during your boxing career, you always sported a black-eye. Is that true?

Willie D: Hell mothaf**kin’ no. I ain’t never had no black-eye from fightin’. I used to have a black-ass birth-mark under my eye, but I had it removed. That’s what he’s talkin’ ‘bout.

AllHipHop.com: What about Bushwick Bill? Did you two ever fight?

Willie D: We ain’t never fought. I had to [kicks at the floor] a few times, but there wasn’t no fightin’ – no s**t like that.

AllHipHop.com: What was your record in boxing?

Willie D: 6-1.

AllHipHop.com: So you didn’t do it professionally that long?

Willie D: Nah. I really did have my eye set on the title when I first got into it, but I realized quickly on, that my heart was there, but my dedication wasn’t. I couldn’t be dedicated to it. I had already carved out my livelihood – and boxing wasn’t it. I already had big houses and s**t, big ole’ ass cars that drink up gas like they got a hole in the tank, and family and s**t when I started boxin’. My first fight, I promoted it myself, so I made a good bit off that – six figures. Everything else was being promoted by other promoters – motherf**kas was tryin’ to give you a thousand dollars a fight. F**k it. I understand that’s the nature of the beast, but I wasn’t tryin’ to do it. That was a major reason I stopped. It couldn’t sustain me financially. With boxing, if you try to do too many things, you’ll get knocked the f**k out – you gotta be focused.

AllHipHop.com: What was your regiment?

Willie D: I was gettin’ up at 5:00. On the track by 5:30. Back at the house by 7:00. Eat by 8:00. Take a nap and get to the gym by 11:00. Out of the gym by 2:00. At the spa by 4:00. At the house by 7:00. Eat by 7:30. In bed by 9:00 – every f**kin’ day. No f**kin’ – none. None! No jackin’ off or nothin’. People don’t understand what that’s all about. A nut is equivalent to losin’ a pint of blood. You know what it’s like to lose a pint of blood at the doctor’s – you very, very weak. That s**t takes time to rebuild. You gotta rebuild that stamina. You do that before boxin’, you get knocked the f**k out. In rappin’, you can go to the studio, drink a 40 ounce, and write the best s**t in your life. Hell, you can write a song about the 40 ounce! Do that s**t in boxing and watch what happens. [laughing]

AllHipHop.com: This is old news, but can you recap the Hip-Hop boxing event that you, Freddie Foxxx, and Kurtis Blow and others were involved in. It’s often talked about, but we want an official recap. Did you knock out Melle-Mel?

Willie D: Yeah. That’s accurate, Mel! What happened was, the organizers called us in Houston and said they were throwing a celebrity boxing match and wanted us to be a part of it. I was a part of it, Dope E from the Terrorists – who got knocked the f**k out! Boy, Freddie Foxxx knocked Dope E the f**k out! That s**t was funny. He put his hands on him. Kurtis Blow put them hands on some mothaf**ka! LL [Cool J] was supposed to be in it. A lot of people was supposed to be there. Anyway, I remember bein’ backstage in the dressing-room. A reporter asked Mel how he thought the fight would go. Mel was tryin’ to be diplomatic and s**t, “You know, I’m gonna go out there, and try to have a good fight.” Then they came to me, and I was doing some sit-ups. I said, “First, he gonna come out and throw a couple jabs. Then, he gonna take off runnin’. I’mma hit him with a right, then hit him with a left. Hit him with a right, then a left. Hit him with a right, then hit him with a left. And he gonna get carried away.” [laughing] Mel [laughed it off playfully].

We go out, they takin’ bets like in prison fightin’. Me and Mel was the main event. Me and Mel get to the ring. The fight was sanctioned, so we had a real referee. We get to the ring, and I come out, and to be honest, I didn’t go out to really knock anybody out. I was trying to put on an exhibition. We go out, and I throw a couple jabs. Mel come across my head with an overhead right and he raised me. The force that he did it with – he was tryin’ to tear my ass off. The crowd [responded]. Off the bat, I said to myself, “It’s over. Get him outta here.” The ref broke us up. I came back out again. I shot two jabs up to set it up. He fell for it. I caught him with an overhead right, and he went to sleep. I remember, they counted to ten, and Mel was still out. He was doing some Tweety-bird s**t. His eyes was crossed up. I forgot it was sanctioned, ‘cause I asked the ref, “Let him fight.” I wanted people to get their money’s worth, and the fight just started. “Get back over there!” So I returned to my corner. Ten more second passed, Mel still ain’t up. Finally, he comes to – eyes still crossed. One of his boys was like, “Mel, it’s over.” Mel said, “It’s over? Well, who got the belt?” [laughing] That’s what he said! Clear as day, I remember that s**t. I already had the belt wrapped around my waist. Since then, me and Mel talked on the phone a few times. He still wants a rematch.

AllHipHop.com: Still got the belt?

Willie D: It’s on the mantle.

Murs is a hustler. Sure, plenty of people make the claim these days, but few have his work ethic. As a full-time MC, A&R, and host on Current TV, the man is everywhere. He has released 11 solo projects in 10 years, and contributed to several more albums as a member of the groups Living Legends, 3MG, and Felt. When does Murs take a break? Never. The LA native spends at least 200 days on tour each year and passes through more cities than a presidential candidate.

Murs is set to start yet another campaign to promote Murray’s Revenge, the follow up to 2004’s highly-praised 3:16: The 9th Edition. 9th Wonder, the man responsible for 3:16’s soul-infused beats, returns to provide a platform for the blend of honesty and storytelling that made the album a success. AllHipHop.com spoke with Murs about Murray’s Revenge and the fights he has while working with 9th, and discovered that he is already plotting his next move. Murs is thinking two steps ahead – the true sign of a hustler.

AllHipHop.com: 3:16 was the most acclaimed album you’ve released. What did working with 9th Wonder bring out of you that wasn’t there before?

Murs: The beats were better. I’ve been telling the same stories my whole career, so I don’t think it’s that he brought anything out of me. I know I can write my ass off, and I think it was just that I finally found somebody who could produce as well as I can write.

AllHipHop.com: This is the first album in a minute to not need a Parental Advisory sticker. Why is there no profanity?

Murs: I’ve always been a huge fan of Will Smith, one of the greatest rappers of all-time, and he never had to curse all the time to get his point across. A lot of my friends have kids, and I felt guilty about having it in my records. I don’t want to roll up to a stop light and see that the car next to me has a little kid in it while I’m bumping 50 Cent or Suga Free, because he really doesn’t need to hear that. There was a time where you had to not curse in order to be on the radio but Ice Cube did it anyway and it became okay. With this album, I feel like I was able to be just as affective and aggressive as I was on 3:16 without needing to be vulgar.

AllHipHop.com: When you do a show and see white faces in the crowd, do you worry about if they get what you’re trying to say with “And This is For” or “Dark Skinned White Girls?”

Murs: I never started to think about that until now, because to do a song like “Dream Chasers” in front of an all-white crowd is like a Christian preaching to the Nation of Islam. It’s like an evangelist trying to talk to Minister Farrakhan, man. I know they can appreciate it as a dope song, but I wonder if they can relate. That’s also one of the reasons I tried to stop saying ‘n***a’ on record because those ain’t my n***as, you know? Some of my other friends that are artists like Jean [Grae] avoid saying it because it just doesn’t fit the situation. I know if I was a white person, I wouldn’t want to be referred to as n***a.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of race, do you think Crash accurately portrayed relations in LA?

Murs: Oh, yeah.

AllHipHop.com: Did you think about tackling that issue when you recorded “LA?”

Murs: I was just going off the sample saying, “No matter what.” We got a style out here where if any man or woman is from LA, you can just tell. If I had started talking about [race relations in LA], the song would be totally different. To do something like Crash did and do it justice musically, it would take up a whole album. Who knows? Maybe I might do something like that one day.

AllHipHop.com: Why did you switch from Def Jux to Record Collection?

Murs: As long as I’m not with my friends, I feel like whatever record label I’m on is like the toilet I choose to take a s**t on. I moved to another machine in order to get more records out and advance a little bit, but there’s as much significance to the label you release your music through as there is to the toilet you s**t on.

AllHipHop.com: It seems like you’re involved in every tour. Why hit the road so hard?

Murs: I wish I had an answer for that ‘cause I don’t know myself. Labels feel like that’s the best way to promote, which I don’t really agree with cause whenever we go on tour, it seems like it’s the same kids coming out to the same shows. Don’t get me wrong, because we have great shows and it’s a lot of fun, but I feel like we’re just preaching to the choir now. The only reason I’m going on the tour that I’m about to go on now is that there’s a group we have signed called Supreme. The best way to promote them and help them build is through the tour. Bring them out on the road so they can see things and get their name out.

AllHipHop.com: How does all the touring affect your life at home?

Murs: Well, I thought I was going to have a van so I could bring my dog with me but I’m not, so it looks like I’m going to have to sell my dog or give him away, which sucks. You can’t keep a steady girlfriend, because you can’t maintain a relationship when you’re across the country. And I’m not the type to leave a show and want to go out and meet a new chick every single night, like where the ladies at? The road definitely strains things.

AllHipHop.com: How come Paid Dues was the first time Felt performed together?

Murs: Recording the first album was just fun and people liked it enough that we made another one. We’re both just so busy so it was never possible. He draws bigger crowds than me, but it’s not like either of us had to do it. It wasn’t really something we needed to do because of the crowds we draw [on our own] are good.

AllHipHop.com: You’re an A&R at Record Collection now. Do you see yourself as a full-time exec and no longer rapping in the near future?

Murs: I think I can be a great A&R cause I can take a group and tell them, “You’re at this label and this ain’t the end all be all for you.” I’m showing them what I’ve learned and what I think. But at the same time, I try not to look too far ahead into the future. Through hard work and the grace of God, I’ll get where I need to be, so right now I’m just focused on the things I’m currently doing.

AllHipHop.com: So I’m guessing you’re probably already working on your next project.

Murs: Yeah, I’m working on an album that’s going to be a little more traditional West Coast Hip-Hop, so it won’t be a 9th Wonder produced album. That’s going to be a Murs record since I’m going to be doing the beats myself. Again, I don’t like to predict the future of anything, but it’s going to have the feel of a gangsta album. Not that I’m trying to be gangsta by any means because I’m not, but I like the feel of that music. When I’m not playing Jack Johnson or some Rock music my friends put me on to, I’m most likely listening to West Coast stuff. E-40 is one of my favorite rappers.

AllHipHop.com: What were you listening to when you recorded Murray’s Revenge?

Murs: Curtis Mayfield. I love his music because he was able to tell it like it is with his stories. He made “Pusher Man” and that was not his life at all, but it didn’t matter because he made it seem like it was. Look at Johnny Cash when he made “Folsom Prison Blues” about being in jail and then people found out he’d never been to prison before. Nobody cared. I’m not trying to be anything that I’m not and I’m not trying to misrepresent myself in anyway, but like how Curtis Mayfield just told a story and told it like it is, that’s what I’m trying to do.

AllHipHop.com: I can see a connection with how you adopt another identity on certain songs on this album.

Murs: Up until this album, every song I’ve done was about me. The only thing that was changed was the names to protect the guilty and the innocent. But I’ve been around the country and the world and been exposed to a lot of people’s stories. Not everybody has the talent to rhyme, so I feel like sometimes, it’s dope to tell that story. I consider myself a good writer and I think that I make music well enough that somebody can hear my songs and just appreciate it.

AllHipHop.com: Is that why you call your music “sitcom rap”?

Murs: My music is situational comedy. Whether it’s “Bad Man” or “Silly Girl” or whatever, it’s just real situations that you could be in. Like I have friends tell me that I push my backpacker side way too hard and I have people tell me I push my street side too hard. If you think I’m a gangster, fine; think I’m a backpacker, fine. That’s who I am, so I really don’t mind that people think that way about me.

AllHipHop.com: But isn’t having two sides kind of what you’re known for?

Murs: In a way, it is kind of contradictory, but it’s real. I push my backpack side because it’s part of me and the street side is a part of me too. That’s just being human. If anything, I do kind of push my backpacker side more because I feel like that’s more positive, and not to down anything else as negative, but [the backpacker side] is what a lot more people can relate to and feel. That represents me, so why can’t I have different sides and show them day-to-day?

April 4th marks the release of MC Eiht’s 19th album – including his collaborative work with Comptons Most Wanted, Spice-1, and even an alias album under the “Tony Smallz” moniker. While that’s awe-inspiring in deed, what’s much more impressive is that MC Eiht can recall the lyrics to anything he’s recorded – and comes prepared at his live shows. Just ask him.

The Compton native celebrated the release of his new album, Affiliated with a discussion with AllHipHop.com. We consider what Koch distribution may offer the unstoppable underground veteran – and where his priorities lie. Eiht touches on whether Hip-Hop has exploited his hood, and reveals a possible CMW reunion and Big Snoop Dogg’s recognition of his 20 years of work. As a wise man once said, “We’re all from the hood, the difference is, we go back.” Peep game!

AllHipHop.com: You told me with the last album that although The Chill produced the bulk of the album, you had a heavy hand in production. You’ve got him, Battlecat, Prodeje, and others on Affiliated. Did you still retain your oversight?

MC Eiht: Every time I do a record, I’m always involved. I try to let other n***as get they shine on too, as far as production credits and all that. I don’t really be trippin’. I have the business side. Anything I do as far as music, I always got a hand in – throw a n***a a sample, or when I’m tryin’ to tell him which drum kick to use, or how I want the riff to go.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve been doing this since the late 80’s. Anytime there’s a magazine photo layout of you, it features you in Compton. From what I’ve heard, you don’t live there anymore. Do you take offense that you’re constantly associated with the ‘hood despite the fact that nobody’s asking Jay-Z to do his shoots in Marcy, or 50 Cent in Jamaica, Queens?

MC Eiht: I think, on a positive note, it’s just good to big up where you from. You can’t forget it. A lot of brothers talk about where they from, where they came up or whatever, but they’re forced to go to videos or studios or soundstages or Miami to do videos [and photo shoots]. I guess it’s because they’re afraid of what going back to the neighborhood might bring. But me stayin’ affiliated and stayin’ in touch with n***as who still in the hood, and me still dippin’ through Compton everyday, and Long Beach and LA and s**t like that, it just makes it easier for when I wanna go back to the hood and do somethin’ – or shoot an album cover or do some magazine shots. It’s because I’m still there. They don’t consider me an outsider.

AllHipHop.com: But at the same time, you’re doing executive production and been a part of so many projects. Do you think Hip-Hop would ever be comfortable to see MC Eiht sitting behind an oak desk, signing checks? Do you feel pigeonholed?

MC Eiht: Aw naw! They wouldn’t appreciate that with me. I’ve been hearin’ that from fans for decades. Even though people know I run my own label, and I’m the executive producer and all that, I’m negotiating deals from the block. I don’t have the fancy office with the oak desk and all that. You know what I’m sayin’? I’m conductin’ deals while sittin’ in the living room of the homie’s house, playin’ Playstation – or at the studio, or in the car, dippin’ through Compton, or at the swap meet. I don’t get down with the oak desk and all that. That ain’t my forte. My fans and my people don’t see me like that. They see me real everyday.

AllHipHop.com: My favorite track on the new album is “Respected.” I’m a huge Comptons Most Wanted fan. You’ve used The Chill and DJ Slip and other group personnel on your records throughout your solo career. But what told you to bring back the whole unit?

MC Eiht: We’ve been get back together the last couple years. Chill said, “We need to do a song, and we need to call it ‘Respected,’ ‘cause these young cats don’t respect the craft, and they’re doing what [CMW] do.” I figured, let’s just throw all the original members of CMW on it and get down like that.

AllHipHop.com: DJ Mike T gets a shout out on the track, but there’s no scratching on the record. Was he there?

MC Eiht: Mike T was in the studio with us. He did scratchin’ on two or three cuts on the album, but he didn’t get down on that record. Like I said, just shoutin’ out everybody and keepin’ that authentic CMW – we needed to put everybody on there.

AllHipHop.com: You had one album called Last Man Standing. A lot of people associate you with solitude. That said, does it mean anything inside to have the brethren back alongside you?

MC Eiht: It was real good to have Slip on there contributin’ on the beats – to have Chill there, and Bam, myself, and Mike T. It was a good vibe. We actually recordin’ on this Comptons Most Wanted album right now. People miss the Music To Driveby days and the Straight Check’n ‘Em days.

AllHipHop.com: I recently received a CD from a guy out of St. Louis, DJ Crucial. On his CD, he had produced a white-label 12” of a record with you called, “Life I Chose.” It’s my favorite record you’ve done in ten years. This is a cat who is known for working with MF Doom, Atmosphere, and so on. How’d you get down, and why?

MC Eiht: I was on a promo tour for Veterans Day. My main focus my whole career has been just to link up with anybody and everybody I can. It’s not even on a money tip, it was just my goal to hook up with everybody who wanted to hook up with me. When I went to St. Louis, my man hooked me up with him. We went to his little studio, and he was tellin’ me how he releases white-label 12”, that just blew me like, “Damn, most brothers don’t do that anymore.” I come from that era. It was authentic to me. I just wanted to write a song looking at all his vinyl and his respect for DJing and all that, and made me wanna take it back. That’s the life I chose. I’m tryin’ to be authentic with it. I ain’t tryin’ to switch and catch up to the new times – so these young cats can see how this Hip-Hop really started.

AllHipHop.com: Particularly at AllHipHop, we thought Veterans Day was one of your better albums in the last few years. You seemed distraught about the distribution of the record though. How confident are you with Koch in getting that reach again?

MC Eiht: I really don’t trip off the numbers and all that – even though that’s what you do as an executive. My first thing is rappin’ hard. My records gonna reach who they need to reach. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, we used to push records out the trunk every week on 12”s, on word of mouth. People used to call me from Virginia and Mississippi and Florida, tellin’ me about the records. I just big up on my longevity in the rap field and my presence. Koch do what they got to do – on the underground tip, ‘cause that’s where I see myself. I’m confident that this record will make a point and a stand at what my goal is. I know we ain’t gonna do a million copies – ‘cause we ain’t got the machine behind us, but we can do enough units to satisfy our fans and get back on the bicycle and come back with another one. As long as I can keep makin’ records man, that’s it for me.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve released over 18 of those records. I have to ask – are you ever scared that when you do promo tours, fans will request a song you’ve completely forgotten?

MC Eiht: I keep the iPod with every song I ever did. What I do is, I load the machine with all the stuff. If we get to a point where fans request a song, bingo – we just break it out. With me bein’ on deck with the iPod and keep listenin’ to my music before I perform, I do my homework. My show pattern might be me doin’ two songs off of each record off the line – but I might not get that song that somebody wants to hear. If people in the audience are yellin’ for it, I always got the back-up plan. That way, we please everybody. My thing is, I ain’t tryin’ to disappoint the fans – ‘cause they paid they money, and there’s certain things they want to hear. You gotta be prepared.

AllHipHop.com: I really respect that. I’m a big fan of Sway testing people on The Wake-Up Show.

MC Eiht: You got to know your stuff. I watch people like Cube, Too Short, and LL [Cool J], and they go from way back to up till now, to in the middle. You gotta be able to do it like that – when you got as much material. People request “Driveby Miss Daisy” or “Can I Kill It?” or “Another Victim.” You gotta have them instrumentals on deck.

AllHipHop.com: Do you still perform beef songs?

MC Eiht: If they love it, and the audience is requestin’ it, I’m gettin’ down with it. That’s how I do. Fans come first.

AllHipHop.com: April is Hip-Hop Appreciation Month. I ask this question respectfully. But do you think the media would treat you differently had it not been DJ Slip and Unknown DJ’s name on those credits, and had it been Dr. Dre?

MC Eiht: Definitely. If I would have worked with Dr. Dre and DJ Quik and Jay-Z…

AllHipHop.com: I mean on name alone, because the production you had is legendary…

MC Eiht: It’s all about the name. You can’t tell me that a Slip or a Chill or a Raw Steel can’t do a hot-ass track that would stand right next to a Dr. Dre or whoever. This world is corporate. Because Eiht ain’t been down with the Dr. Dre’s and the big name people, it’s hard for people to respect it. It’s hard for people to respect that I put out 19 albums. If you look for that s**t, then you’ll be upset by it. But I don’t look for American Music Awards, or the Grammy’s – I don’t look for s**t. I don’t even look for radio-play. I just look to do the music I do, and reach the masses of the people who respect it.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve been seen around LA with Snoop a lot lately. He’s a big part of Koch’s future right now. Is there something you two have brewing?

MC Eiht: Me and Snoop, we messin’ around for the last couple of weeks – tryin’ to get together the state of the West Coast as we know it. We’re lookin’ at radio-play and the records that people like me do. A brother like Snoop seein’ that, steps in with his power and ability to make m’f**kas get down – it definitely may be something goin’ down in the future. It’s there, we just keepin’ it under wraps right now.