Dwight "Beanie

Sigel" Grant stands at the crossroads – and perhaps the most pivotal point

in his young life. He’s been delivered his share of strife but The Philadelphia-reared

rapper is definitely facing the most turmoil of his entire rap career.

Currently, Beans

is facing federal assault and weapons charges, attempted murder charges and

drug possession charges that, if found guilty, could land him in prison for

over 20 years. Terrence Speller claims Sigel is the man who pumped two bullets in his stomach and foot outside a Philadelphia bar. Sigel denies these claims, expressing profound innocence.

In an exclusive interview, AllHipHop caught the Broad Street Bully and found, despite legal constraints, he still has a lot to say.

AllHipHop.com:

How are you doing, as a man going through some tribulation?

Beanie Sigel: Probably

like how a man would go through it. I’m good man.

AllHipHop: You

aren’t stressing it too much?

BEANIE SIGEL: Nah.

AllHipHop: How

are you doing as an artist? Is it affecting you as an artist?

BEANIE SIGEL: Same

sh*t. Ain’t nothing really changed.

AllHipHop: What

are you doing now music-wise?

BEANIE SIGEL: Right

now I got this house arrest sh*t, this monitor on my leg so its like hard to

come up here [to Roc-A-Fella Records]. I’m building a studio right now in the

crib so I’ll be back at it probably in another week. It’ll probably be a 2 week

process to get everything I need.

AllHipHop: So you haven’t done any recording since your case opened?

BEANIE SIGEL: No.

AllHipHop: Does the legal stuff get in the way? You are supposed to stay in

the Philly area?

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah,

so I don’t belong here [in New York]. Don’t tell nobody.

AllHipHop: You have to get a judges approval to leave?

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah.

AllHipHop: You aiight? This is pretty serious.

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah,

its serious, but you know, life is serious.

AllHipHop: You had a short stay in jail. How was that? Were you good?

BEANIE SIGEL: I

was cool.

AllHipHop: Nobody was messing with you?

BEANIE SIGEL: [stares]

AllHipHop: [laughs]

BEANIE SIGEL: Ain’t

nobody f*ckin’ with me, man.

AllHipHop: Alright, dumb question. Have you been writing about the case?

BEANIE SIGEL: Nah. I ain’t putting that out t there. I’ll wind up saying something

reckless.

AllHipHop: When Jay had his situation when he was accused of stabbing "Un"

Rivera, he got R. Kelly and even did a video about it.

BEANIE SIGEL: You know, his case isn’t as extreme as my case.

AllHipHop: You took some anger management, right?

BEANIE SIGEL: No, they wanted me to take that sh*t, but I’m cool. I didn’t do

it.

AllHipHop: Why, not?

BEANIE SIGEL: I didn’t need it.

AllHipHop: The State wanted you to do that?

BEANIE SIGEL: The Federal people.

AllHipHop: So, what did you do?

BEANIE SIGEL: It was in Minnesota…It was rehabilitation sh*t.

AllHipHop: What kind of rehab? Drug?

BEANIE SIGEL: Man, you know what it was! [laughs] You funny. If you know to

ask me that, you know what it was about.

AllHipHop: Seriously, I thought it was anger management, but it said something

about drugs.

BEANIE SIGEL: It was all that sh*t.

AllHipHop: Ya mom is like supportive?

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah, that’s my homey.

AllHipHop: You seem good man.

BEANIE SIGEL: I’m cool.

AllHipHop: We all had our little issues and many dudes crumbled under less weight

than what you have now.

BEANIE SIGEL: I’m good, man, I’m good!

AllHipHop: When you get the studio together, you plan to do a lot of material

Pac-style thinking the outcome may not come out the way you want it to?

BEANIE SIGEL: No. I’s going to go how I want it to go. That’s my outlook on

it. How I want it, that’s how it’s going to go. Prepare for the worst, pray

for the best. That’s it.

AllHipHop: What are your thoughts on how the Philly media treated you?

BEANIE SIGEL: Assassinating me. It was expected. That’s what they do, exploit

people for the negative. You don’t sell no papers talking about positive and

things like that that I do. I ain’t even going to speak on it now. Like, "I

am in the situation that I am, but I do this and I do that." I’m going

to do that regardless. The people know who I do things for and what I do and

as long as they still getting the benefits of that, helping them out I’m good

with it.

AllHipHop: What about the streets of Philly, how are they treating you?

BEANIE SIGEL: Even before the situation, you know how it goes. Even B.I.G. said,

"There ain’t no guarantee they are going to love you tomorrow." So,

it went from "Yeah, that’s whats up, Philly’s on the map to "F*ck

that n####, He ain’t doing nothing for me." That’s just Philly.

AllHipHop: That’s a lot of weight. Ya whole team is from Philly. It’s not like

you pulling people from all over.

BEANIE SIGEL: That’s what I do. That’s where I’m from. I’m pro-Philly all the

way regardless. I been through a lot of sh*t. If I can help anybody come up

out of that, anyway I can, they got it.

AllHipHop: How is the State Property crew holding up?

BEANIE SIGEL: Everybody is good.

AllHipHop: They had to promote the album without you.

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah that was kinda f*cked up. That was the only thing that was

a lil’ frustrating for me. We had one of the biggest songs in the country [Can’t

Stop, Won’t Stop] and it ain’t get promoted how I feel it would have gotten

promoted if I was here. You know? So, that was the most frustrating part about

being down for a minute. Just not being able to be there for my team.

AllHipHop: Would you have done things differently?

BEANIE SIGEL: Oh yeah! A lot of people would have been doing their jobs. Believe

that. It was just that from the business point of view from me not being there.

Telling people to "do this" and "do that." I wish it was

pushed and promoted like it should have been. You got one of the biggest songs

in the country but when you look at the SoundScan, you can’t tell. I don’t know

what happened.

AllHipHop: You

got a lot of properties under your belt now. The label. You have State Property

clothing.

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah, I am still doing my thing with that, the business. With

the clothing line, I got a good team so, we good. My man Goldfish, Charles Southerland.

Everything is going to run itself.

AllHipHop: State Property has the illest logo out. I been wanting to steal the

logo.

BEANIE SIGEL: I

stole my logo. I ain’t gonna tell y’all from where, but I peeped something and

I said,"There it goes right there."

AllHipHop: What’s

next for the label?

BEANIE SIGEL: Putting out the music, man. Getting everybody’s situations tight.

It’s a process. We did Freeway. Young Gunz is next. Peedi Crakk. Oschino and

Sparks. Just making sure everybody is where they are supposed to be at. That’s

why we do the State Property albums. I’s a group thing, but its meant to break

one of the artists off.

AllHipHop: By the way,

Beans, what kind of kicks you got on?

BEANIE SIGEL: These are the State Property joints [sneakers] through Pro Keds.

They’ll be out in February. This is what we are doing. All sneakers are going

to match all gear. Pro Keds wasn’t selling in the United States for like 15-16

years. Two stores in Philly used to sell them and I used to buy them up. So,

I went to Magic [fashion convention in Las Vegas] about a year and a half ago.

I ran into them there and I bought about 40 sneaks and they said "Yo, you

the one that be ordering all the sneaks in Philly." We got to talking.

Now, I get 50% of these Pro Keds proceeds, all sneakers with the State Prop

logo. Holla atcha boy. The State Prop joints is crazy. All different kinds of

flavors .

AllHipHop: You had a cartoon at one point. What’s up with that?

BEANIE SIGEL: Its called "The Playpen." It’s like South Park, The

Rugrats, and Fat Albert and The Gang all mixed. Its gonna be crazy. It’s not

going to be a cartoon for coming on Saturday mornings. It’s basically about

the whole State Property squad and we do to this day care center everday. None

of us like it there. It’s like jail for us. The whole language is from the inside

[of jail]. We don’t gotta take naps, we gotta take it down. We don’t eat lunch,

we gotta go to chow. We don’t go to yard to play, we gotta go to rec. It’s gonna

be a funny cartoon.

AllHipHop: Is State Property doing the voices too?

BEANIE SIGEL: I don’t know if everybody is going to be doing their voice-overs

but I am going to be doing a couple of them.

AllHipHop: So when is it coming out or is it still in production?

BEANIE SIGEL: Right now we are still in production putting everything together.

Hopefully it will be done by the end of this year.

AllHipHop: Jay brought you in. What’s

your views on him retiring?

BEANIE SIGEL: Its like, its going to be a little damper on everything as far

as I am concerned. That’s who give me my will to do. Its not a competition thing,

but I am used to rubbing shoulders with him. That’s who gives me my inspiration

to do what I do.

AllHipHop: So, you won’t have him to bounce off creatively?

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah, you could say that. Right now, the music is mediocre. Ain’t

nobody getting into like lyrisc no more. They are looking for that beat to talk

over. The music is selling the music.

AllHipHop: True. You come from that era just before it lamed out. You’d get

on stage and spit 100 bars acapella. Cats don’t do that now. What’s up with

your album?

BEANIE SIGEL: The album was done but we were proud of a song with Chris and

Neef on an underground mixtape, "Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop," and it took

off. That’s what really made us push and put out that State Property album.

So, I took four songs off my album and put it with State Property so we could

capitalize off of that. So, the album is really wrapped up, but I’m feeling

as though I want to record a couple more songs. Its called the B-Coming.

AllHipHop: How are the labels supporting you, The Roc and Def Jam?

BEANIE SIGEL: I don’t deal with Def Jam. The Roc definitely has been supportive.

AllHipHop: Is your album still coming out fourth quarter of this year?

BEANIE SIGEL: Nah,

I ain’t gonna come out fourth quarter. I’m going to drop Chris and Neef because

they so hot. I wouldn’t do that, take from they buzz. I’ma let them get they

shine and I’ll come out right after them.

AllHipHop: So, we gonna have to wait a minute? Aw, man!

BEANIE SIGEL: I can’t do that to my boys. They on fire right now. I wouldn’t

do that. I’ma be droppin’ some sh*t though, but not my album.

AllHipHop: Some mixtape sh*t?

BEANIE SIGEL: Yeah. I might put out an EP too.

AllHipHop: Any idea what it might be called?

BEANIE SIGEL: I don’t want to spoil it, but a couple mixtapes are about to drop.

AllHipHop: Save the best stuff for the album, man. A lot of these dudes, put

their best rhymes on the mixtapes and the album is wack.

BEANIE SIGEL: See, you can’t judge the album off the mixtape. The album is for

everybody. The album is for the masses. The mixtape is for the underground.

That’s for us. So, I’ma hit y’all with that.

AllHipHop: There is a rumor that you had a dis record for Cam’ron? On a Cosmic

Kev mixtape.

BEANIE SIGEL: That’s crazy. Everybody asks me that and can’t play the record.

Why would I do that? Cam wears a Roc chain just like me. Ain’t no probs with

me and Cam.

AllHipHop: What are we going to see next?

BEANIE SIGEL: Everything as far as the business. Putting my artists out. Gettting

Chris and Neef their album, Youngest In Charge. Trying to get things

back to where they belong. Now, with Jay-Z retiring a lotta people think, what’s

going to happen? We good money. State Property is State Property. We just trying

to shake all that off. It’s a win/lose situation with us. Its like, "Damn,

that’s Jay." Everybody looks up to Jay. It’s going to be different without

Jay around. But at the same time, we get to really do us. People can see us

and what we do.

AllHipHop: Jay even said that some of the pressure would come off the artists

if he left because of all the comparisons to him.

BEANIE SIGEL: That’s why I said it’s like a win/lose situation. We used to Jay

coming in critiquing little stuff. We have full creative control over everything

we do, but its just like that advice. He deserves that sh*t. He can fall back

and enjoy his girl. [laughs] I don’t know if I was supposed to have said that,

but enjoy ya chick man! I know that’s what I’d be doing.

AllHipHop: You always talked about retiring yourself. You still thinking like

that or you going to stick around a little bit?

BEANIE SIGEL: I’m going to always be around as far as State Property and all

that, but as far as Beanie Sigel albums, I don’t gotta do that now. I got so

much other stuff to do. I’m a hustler. I’m in it for the money. Putting out

a record, it ain’t going to make enough money for me. I got my team so I am

going to do it for them, the State Property albums. But, I don’t know, after

my contract is up with The Roc, I don’t know.

The Source Magazine

and the U.S. Army have teamed up together to create “The Source Campus

Combat – Ultimate MC Battle Tour 2003.” This tour, featuring headlining

performance artists such as Memphis Bleek, Nappy Roots and Black Moon, is both

a usual and unusual event.

It is usual in

the sense that it allows college students the opportunity to come out and watch

their favorite artists perform, as well as compete in an “ultimate MC battle”

to be featured as The Source Magazine’s next “Unsigned Hype.”

However, what makes

this tour “unusual” is that it also gives students the opportunity

to do something you would not normally do at a Hip Hop event – register for

the U.S. Army.

You must be asking

yourself, “Why would the U.S. Army and The Source Magazine team up?”

Well, here’s the deal. U.S. Army representatives say that the number of

African-Americans enlisted in the U.S. Army is decreasing. This lack of African-American

representation appears to be a major concern. Therefore, the U.S. Army is looking

to recruit more African-Americans into its service.

By combining the

two entities, it gives each one the opportunity to attract its intended targeted

audience. U.S. Army Senior Project Manager Lincoln Parker states, “We are

organically integrating the U.S. Army message into Hip Hop culture, to effectively

communicate the benefits and values of an army experience to a targeted audience.”

Some of those “benefits

and values” Parker speaks of are education, lifestyle and health benefits,

career opportunities and enlistment incentives. According to Parker, “The

U.S. Army feels there goal is to assist African-Americans in developing productive

opportunities for better direction in their lives…As compared to a college

or trade school, the U.S. Army presents opportunities for development, education

and growth.”

Many of the artists

and participants in the event agreed to all the great benefits the U.S. Army

can provide its soldiers. As participants of “Project Salute 2003”

(i.e., a tour that paid tribute to the U.S. Coalition and Armed forces) Atlantic

recording artists Nappy Roots are definitely no strangers when it comes to supporting

the U.S. Troops. Having toured and visited such cities around the world like

Kuwait and Baghdad, Nappy Roots have a very universal outlook on the impact

Hip Hop culture has had on the U.S., its Army and the world.

When asked their

feelings about The Source/U.S. Army collaboration, Nappy Roots responded, “Music

is growing for all of us…the world is based around a beat/a tempo of situations…it

shows growth and development across the board about where we are going with

this Hip Hop culture.” Of course, there is always a flip side to this issue.

Although all of the artists mentioned shared their support for the troops, many

agreed that the down side to joining the U.S. Army is the possibility of a soldier

having to go to war.

When asked his

thoughts on the U.S. Army/Source Magazine collaboration, Roc-A-Fella recording

artist Memphis Bleek responded, “It’s a double edged sword here…Soldiers

get paid minimum wage…And they go out there and risk their lives on the

line. However, there’s a lot of kids who don’t have education in the

Hip Hop community, and if [the army] is going to take those kids and put them

through school to get an education, then yeah, I’m all for it.” Duckdown

recording artists Black Moon stated, “It was positive that [the U.S. Army]

put itself in a situation where they thought about Boot Camp (Black Moon’s

affiliation). The army participating in Hip Hop is a good thing, plus it gives

us the opportunity for exposure…As long as they are supportive of themselves

and of Hip Hop, then we give love to them.”

While the U.S.

Army was preoccupied with enlisting new recruits, The Source Magazine was busy

enlisting participants in its “Ultimate MC Battle.” Between artists’

performances, talented, yet unknown Hip Hop artists got the chance to battle

one another for 60 seconds, while the crowd and judges watched on to find out

and determine who would be the last emcee standing.

Laura Houser, the

participant otherwise known as “Emcee Miss Me” held it down as the

only female in the competition. Surprisingly, she said that this was the first

time she had ever rapped her lyrics “out loud to an audience.” When

asked if she was nervous, she replied, “Yeah, I’m just trying to keep

a free state of mind and let my work flow out.” She battled it out to the

final round against her male competitors “Seezmics,” “Poly Rock”

and “K – Cromozone.” However, the determined winner in the end was

none other than Cole Policy, known to his audience as Emcee “Seezmics,”

of the hip hop group “The Educated Consumers.” The crowd determined

his win as he pulled more “Oohs” and “Ahs” from the audience.

When asked how

he felt about his win, he said, “I’ve been rhyming for nine years,

and I’ve been in a couple hundred battles, so, I don’t get nervous.

I never think I’m gonna do poorly. So, if a person beats me, then it happens,

but that didn’t happen today.”

Overall, “The

Source Campus Combat – Ultimate MC Battle Tour 2003” held at University

of Maryland proved to be a positive event. All of the artists who performed

that night gave their fans a great show, and, of course, they each got the opportunity

to promote their latest and/or upcoming albums.

Memphis Bleek has

a new album coming out December 16th, entitled, “M.A.D.E.,” which

is an acronym that stands for “Money Attitude Direction Education.”

Black Moon’s new album “Total Eclipse” is out now. The final

performance of the evening, was given by Nappy Roots, whose latest album is

entitled “Wooden Leather.” The tour gives unknown talent the opportunity

to be featured in The Source Magazine’s legendary “Unsigned Hype”

column. It allows African-American/Urban youth the opportunity to learn about

the benefits and values the U.S. Army could possibly provide them with. Finally,

it provided college students with good entertainment and fun.