LET'S TALK ABOUT YOU AND DOING A PROJECT W/ DMX
Me and X is doin a record together now.. (whats
that about) its hot.. its crazy.. I dont
want to blow it up before it comes out
Impact
LET'S TALK ABOUT MIXTAPE 101
You know youre album is gonna come out 2 weeks
before it come out.. no way to get around the bootlegs..
mixtapes is entry level hip hop.. as soon as you go
in the studio and you make your record you gotta test
it... its important.. its the largest form
of promotion. Your poster boy dont mean nothing
w/out music.. aint nothin gonna sell music w/out
music .. its like the strip.. the fiends need
a sample.. how do they know who they gonna cop from?
Or they gonna cop from he same people they already been
coppin from
trust me
"WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET INTO THE GAME
OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DO?"
After I got shot I didnt have money to
go to mixshow at radio with a record Wanksta I made
that record a year before it came out.. so I had it
sittin there.. I couldve pressed it up, put it
on vinyl and sent it out to mixshows at radio and went
on my own. I had all these records recorded and couldve
tried to put the record out on my own.. the finances
I couldve did it
look when I got shot
I was in the hospital for 13 days and I did a publishing
deal in the hospital...so I got 125K advance... I was
supposed to get another 125K after the album came out..
the company figured I got shot 9 times and I got in
the face so they figured I couldnt perform so
they dropped the deal, I owned my publishing again and
I just got a free 125K
so as soon as I healed
up I couldve put the record out myself but I fell
back and kept working the mixed tapes until I got the
right deal..I had deals on the table with Universal,
Jive, J Records
Capitol
but Capitol
that
wouldve been like
you cashin out.. you might
as well buy guns with that and go back to the hood
hard
cuz its not going down over there for
real
. Ha ha ha
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW
ARE YOU AVAILABLE?
Available
Im a bachelor baby...huh huh
YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU RECORDED WANKSTA A YEAR BEFORE
IT DROPPED? WHO PRODUCED IT? JAM MASTER JAY?
No
he didnt produce it
thats
what the newspaper said
the newspaper always be
sayin that
they put Jay all in the middle
mix us all up
like I had something to that situation..[JMJ
being shot] I aint got nothing to do with that
we definitely had a relationship.. he taught me about
song format
I didnt even know how to count
bars til I got around Jam Master Jay
HOW LONG DID Y'ALL KNOW EACH OTHER?
We met in 98
Like I could rap but I didnt
know how to put it in song format and the melodies and
cadences
I got used to it with Jay
WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DID IT HAVE ON YOU WHEN YOU HEARD
THE NEWS ABOUT JMJ GETTING SHOT
Its crazy
but I know anything could happen
You know I seen Biggie go
seen Tupac go
nobodys an exception
BUT YOU SEEN THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE...
Jays a little different cuz its personal
I know him
but I know its not impossible..
nobodys impossible.. you seen Aaliyah
plane
fall
its crazy anything could happen.. and
Left Eye
-SORROW OR GRIEF WHICH DO YOU FEEL..DO YOU MISS HIM?
Yeah
Hes a good dude
but where Im
from people get killed
things happen
where
he got killed
people get killed there
I got
shot not far from there in the same precinct
Thats
how I got tied up in that scenario... cuz they go when
you got a body and you have no answers you go
who
his friends and ask whos this guy's enemies
cuz
the answers to who killed him is in there
you
see what Im saying? so
and if they cant
find him[the killer] by whos your friends and
whose your enemies
trust me between those two lines
youll find out what just happened..
so when they say whos his enemies and Jay doesnt
have a bad aura around him
so they dont see
anything much.. and then when they say whos
his friends and they go through it and you in
the precinct where I grew up
you know .. they
[the police] go 50 Cent.. oh shit well hes
not an angel.. hes in the middle of some drama,
you know? like they got me down.. they put me down in
the newspaper next to Cat Pappy Preme and Tony Montona
like Im notorious.. cmon Im not the
hardest.. you know homie.. Im not
that hard.. I mean theyre really mixing me up
like Im somebody else like I mean and if I was
a superhero
then I wouldnt mind it
THAT'S HOW YOU PRESENT YOURSELF IN YOUR LYRICS...
Im not a gangster, Im not a thug.. Im
just me
and if I feel like someone is trying to
hurt me.. yeah Im gonna hurt em.. if you
come and you aint coming right
Im gonna
blow your head off. The State of New York City says
in defense you can use as much force as you feel like
the person that is coming for you with .. so
so
OK if Im wrong than the law is wrong you know
what Im sayin
thats really the way
I felt
you know.
YOU AND YOUR PARTNER (Forgive me for forgetting his
name) PERFORMED SOME TRACKS TODAY
Oh.. his name is Lloyd Banks
Tony (?) my other
partner hes still in the joint
man he had
an own warrant
I gotta work on that
straighten
it out
they locked us up for a gun charge
YOU AIN'T GOTTA TALK ABOUT THAT...
thats alright.. Im gonna beat that one
The police
I dont think they really like
me
cuz I say what I wanna say
movin around..
they dont think its cool for you to do what
you do
.and now they got CRASH in LA .. their gang
division.. like our CRASH out here is like Hip Hop Police
so they wanna follow hip hop artists figurin cuz they
got entourages, finances and most of us look like this
you
know what I mean.. so they target it specifically..
you know what I mean
I probably got a bullseye
on my forehead.. Im the biggest one they wanna
get up out of here
so I get the pressure fast
like you know the cars not even movin and they
come take us out of the car to search
TELL US ABOUT THE TRACKS YOU PERFORMED FOR US TODAY..LET'S
START WITH WANKSTA
Wanksta.. thats my joint right there
thats
the first one that broke for me off the 8 mile joint..
Im happy with that.. like for me and sales on
the soundtrack
WHAT PROMPTED Y'ALL TO PUT IT ON THE 8 MILE SOUNDTRACK
It took off by itself
we was gonna do Places
To Go at first and then the record
I had
gave it to um.. we started on the mixtape with it and
then Funkmaster Flex got it and he liked the record
and they just went crazy on it .. you know
so it
worked out for me Im blessed with that.
ME I CALL THE SHOTS ROUND HERE
Me I Call The Shots Round Here that was
off the 8 Mile Soundtrack too
actually
Rakim wrote to that record and I did it over you know?
YOU'RE ON PRODUCTION
Thats a Dre joint and I took the beat .. cuz
thats what I do
like I take the beat.. heh
heh.. I did it over cuz I thought the beat was hot and
I put my own song together on it.. and I be runnin around
performing
Right now my whole show is somebody elses show
and Im runnin around probably getting more they
they getting to perform right now
thats crazy..
it feels good
my momentum is like.. right
its
worth all of the other stuff that happenin
it
feels so good like when I go out in the club
&
its five thousand, 3500 people there and they
know every word to the song.. thats why Im
not mad at the bootlegger.. cuz when they know it I
mean at least they got it as long as Im reaching
the people.. even if they dont buy this record..
theyll buy the next one
theyll feel
like.. you know what Im gonna get that and
its worth me spending my 15 or 16 dollars.. so
it dont even matter to me.. they gonna get it
.. eventually theyll catch up catch onto it and
buy it
you cant stop it anyway
IN DA CLUB
In Da Club I just wanted to have some fun on
this record.. I know when the intro come on and people
be like you said Go Shorty, Its your birthday..
like thats really.. NYC they dont like dance
much they dont really get out there and go
like I think The Benjamins was the last time I seen
a record really like rock the crowd..
you know
like crazy and Bustas joint Put your Hands
where my eyes can see.. that was like bananas
in the club
when I see the response Im getting
from this record like when they go in the club and when
they playin it 4 or 5 times back to back.. Im
like Yo.. that joint worked
WHATS YOUR DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN?
Of a Real Man? thats a difficult question.. I
think it's someone who handles his responsibilities..
take care of all of his responsibilities. I mean no
matter how by any means take care of your situations..
I mean thats a general question.. for a real man..
thats a hard question to answer.. I know I take
care of my responsibilities by any means.. thats
why I said that
so it might be considered the
wrong thing.. what I would do.. I really feel like the
only excuse for you being broke is being in jail.. I
said that on Hide the Law" If youre
not doing something.. like hustle.. do something.. get
rich or die tryin
I mean if youre
not doin anything and you got
like you dont
have goals and you got nothing to do.. thetn you might
as well go jump off something
you know you just
wastin the air.. you know what I mean?
GIMME THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT CODES OF THE STREET ACCORDING
TO 50 CENT?
1.)Stay to yourself
just listen
do more
listening than talking
the more you speak the
higher the chances you sayin the wrong thing
its
funny cuz they always place me in a position where I
gotta talk
2.)Be aware of your surroundings
be aware of
whos around you.. .you know?
3.)If you start hustling
then dont pay
a person what they deserve.. pay them what they accept
thats
good business
even if youre not hustlin
pay
them what they accept.. because you can capitalize off
of people.. In business theres people who have
talent and theres people whose talent is to take
advantage of people who have talent.. thats their
talent like Steve Stoutman.. the guys behind the scenes
get a lot of money
4.)Be prepared to do whatever you have to do
if you get put in a situation where your back is up
against the wall
let your gun go off
you
know.. I mean I think if that doesnt happen
if
thats missing from you that youll be a victim..
you know sometimes either or.. either you are a victim
or you victimize someone and in the hood its no
holds barred
theres no way around that..
the kid in the schoolyard that doesnt want to
fight always leaves with a black eye
you know
what I mean? you can believe that
.the situation
come you gotta response
.you have to prepare youself
cuz everyone is not a bad person.. when you walk in
your home you dont have to maintain the same attitude
that you had out in the street.. you can be different
with your people and your family than you are with a
person that you run into in the hood.. even them they
have to know to respond to you differently in the hood
cuz if people see something out of the character that
they portray you.. theyll try you.
5.)Concentrate on your money man.. try to hold your
paper
it takes money to make money so save your
money
opportunites come .. if you dont have
finances to jump on them or at least room to support
yourself while youre tryin to move into new situations
then you cant even evolve
like you may see
someone in your neighborhood that makes music or do
whatever else.. & I would say to the hood.. get
into the music business.. this is the business that
you have absolutely no requirements
you listen
to music.. you need no college degree
you dont
need no.. matter of fact you couldve been whoopin
some heads.. and people seen you and they afraid so
they need you around for support
you know..some
artists wanna portray that they gangsters
they
need gangsters around em to support them to make them
feel that .. its ok to say that or portray what
they are portraying because you co-signin it.. you know..
WHY DONT 50 LIKE JA RULE?
Me?, I dont really dislike Ja Rule
I dislike
what happened to Ja Rule
It's like hes not
strong enough to stand on his own in any situation
right now hes probably terrified
without
the support of people he would have around
hes
gonna be lost. See Ive been on my own so Im
comfortable
you know what I mean? in situations
and he aint gonna be comfortable in that situation..
you still gotta move forward.. you know so well
see what he is
now is mood changed.. things he
said he stopped sayin them
now theres certain
people not around to help him
SO YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT HE'S BECOME? ..
Yeah
when you get in a point when you generate
finances for people like you generate finances in a
circle of people
they gonna treat you different..
they gonna treat you like as if youre gonna bring
the money.. youre the cash cow.. so they aint
gonna disrespect you
they gonna treat you like
you one of the crew.. youre a member of whats
goin on.. But in all actuality.. you havent been
in the trenches .. you havent done any of the
things that these guys did.. you need them around in
order for people to go Naw dont do that
to him
cuz homeboy be holdin him down
cuz
this guy is cool with them.. but its never
because of you
you see what Im sayin? I
think he kinda got pushed over into that situation
SO HE'S A PRODUCT OF THAT
yeah
like what I was sayin about the gangsters
getting involved with the music business
I think
that happened to him.. you know what I was sayin
I
try to be general when I speak about these situations
since because they try to make like.. people try to
make like Im responsible for situations that go
on.. like Murder Inc just had some issues with the Feds
and theyll say .. 50 cent be sayin this and that
like they dont see these idiots they
supposed to be gangsters
jumpin around in videos
like rappers.. you see what Im sayin.. like ME..
like I made the police look and say Oh
thats this guy.. Everybody and your mama
see you on TV fool.. if youre a gangster.. what
you doin on TV? You see what Im sayin? it dont
take me to tell you.. Youre John Gotti boy..
you like fancy suits.. you want people to notice you
when you go to the clubs you want to do everything else
and you go down like John Gotti go down when you do
that..
Gangsters behind the scene dont say nothing
they keep putting in work.. they gonna keep doin it..
you see what Im sayin.. theres a line thats
drawn
theres some gangsters in NYC
NYC is run differently.. Los Angeles
they got a
gang structure
they run LA from the pens.. cuz
the older dudes in the structure are already down doing
time for other things so they still call the shots in
the joints
so NYC is more like on a drug situation..
so if they not eatin out of a situation .. they dont
care.
I could buy 10 bricks break em up.. we got 20 different
spots
we got 5 people down on each ½ a
brick
next thing you know the city is G-Unit and
we shootin anything. Thats not my intentions..
thats not what I want to do.. thats not
what Im after. Now that I have the opportunity
to do something positive, I want to stay positive..
its hustling backwards in my eyes
when I
can earn money legitimately
this is what I want
to do anyway.. know what Im sayin? like I found
what Im supposed to do
you get shot 9 times
you feel like you here for a reason specially when the
guy shooting you is as close as you and I
you
gotta feel you here for a reason
besides the fool
being a professional leg shooter
you gotta feel
God made the shells land where they land
so I
look at all my situations and everything that I go through..
I know I kinda got off of Ja Rule
but I try to
not focus on Ja Rule cuz that boy is not makin me sell
records and now hes actually on the down spiral
hes goin down.. all that lollipop.. him and Ashanti
is damn near a group
this is the second duet they
did together
and when I look at her.. am I trippin
or is her sideburns thick like Eddie Munster
you
see what Im sayin
take us away and get her
groomed and get her a choreographer.. cuz all of this
the same flippin her hair.. . that aint gonna
work
how many videos you gonna do the same thing?
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT EMINEM?
I think Eminem is the best period.. the best
I think he raps.. he may not be my favorite person to
listen to all the time
but he does rap about his
real life issues.. if not you wouldnt know how
he feels about his mother.. who Hailey is, who Kim is
those
situations.. hes using his real life situations..
thats what I do. You see what Im sayin...
so I respect it when I listen to it. I enjoy it cuz
its really whats going on with him and how
he feels .. hes expressing it through his music.
I do the same thing
so I look at and go.. hes
one of the best to me like when I listen to him I go
.. dag.. and then I get to work beside him so I know
how much he puts into how his music comes out
like itll be 2 days hell be working on one
song.. hell stop and then after its done,
the actual making of the song process is not a long
process, but hell sit there and keep working on
it til hes like.. hes a perfectionist
think he get it from Dre but they really perfectionists
HOW ABOUT YOURSELF-IS THAT STARTING TO RUB OFF ON YOU?
Its starting to rub off cuz I start to make sure
before I send them a record.. cuz I would do a record
and send it to them to see what they think and now I
kinda put it together better because .. after Dre records
vocals with you .. you pick up things from him.. cuz
hes the best producer Ive ever worked with
and when you record with someone and they change your
process
means you learn something in that situation
so now when I go in the booth and record records on
my own.. they could be in LA, Em could be in Detroit
and Im working on a record here, I kind of record
it how I think Dre would do it
you see what Im
sayin
so I know that Im pickin up new things
from bein around them and they should expect my music
to be even better
YOU HAVE A CLOTHING LINE COMING OUT?
Yeah
G-Unit Guerilla Unit.. like in the
military
I couldve used Gorillas but the
Gorillaz came out I got sunshine a bag
and Im useless
ha ha ha
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF YOUR NICKNAME 50 CENT?
50 Cent is a metaphor for change But originally
it was a gangster from Fort Greene Projects named 50
Cent and I took the name when he passed
and because
hes not active, I thought itd be cool to
take it and now everytime they hear it, they go Yo
Remember.. and they remember him so through me youll
hear him and you wont forget him
even if
my situation is gonna make him remember it for a long
time.. I took somebody that I thought wouldnt
be remembered and made it into something else.. its
cool you know
Interview by Davey D. for Daveyd.com
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