You’ve been out of the picture for a minute. What motivated you to want to fully get back in the game?
Being around [G-Unit] to be honest. I wouldn’t participate in a lot of the things I do, as fast as I do, without them. At the end of the day, I enjoy being around the members and putting music together. I’m able to be ignorant when I’m with G-Unit. And I got older; I’m 32-years-old. The things that I said earlier, the shock value type of lines, now it’s moreso like I’m saying shyt that you can hold onto. [Things] that you can tattoo on your skin.
I’m seeing that the response is crazy. There’s people everyday that listen to music to get through something and then you got that music that you just enjoy. I want to do both. I want to do that shyt that you’ll go back because it had subject matter opposed to just hot line after hot line. When I’m with the group, there’s eight bar cadences, it’s not too much time, so it keeps me writing more. Just on my toes and it helps me be able to go out there and get the visuals that people want to see. There’s a method to my madness. I would rather drop my video without you seeing behind the scenes.
While you were away from the group you put out some mixtapes. What was going through your head? Were you thinking about leaving the Unit for good?
Nah, my mind wasn’t on the music [business] for a point. I always make music, so I can’t be like I was zoned out because I never got out the zone. It was more about the game. When you think about the issues people have with me, they’re like, “He doesn’t shoot music videos enough,” or do this and that, but there’s been periods that I put out five mixtapes in one year. I didn’t get praised five times. It was just like, that was a productive year for him and it’s whatever.
So I just realized after a while, and then watching the comments, that music is changing. This is not what made me fall in love with music. So if I’m watching all the pieces that made me fall in love with it not be relevant anymore… Like it don’t matter what’s being said but [it matters] who did the beat. Status, or anything like that. I didn’t fall in love with that. I’ve been watching hip-hop since graffiti and breakdancing. Even the artists that influenced me are lyrical and I always watched them. Snoop made me know that I didn’t have to be no jump off the table-type of nikka. That’s not my character. Artists like Nas, he’s cool as a fan. He let me know that I can be who I am as opposed to being animated if I’m not.
With that being said, they don’t even do the interviews that everybody do. If I want to talk, it’s to the point where I want to talk about what I enjoy about the craft, how much I put into it, or how this felt when you made this record with this person. [As] opposed to just shyt that doesn’t have to do with anything. So I became just frustrated with the business.
There’s a lot more political relationships, as opposed to just saying, “I like this person, he’s dope.” That shyt frustrated me. It frustrated me that if I don’t do step-by-step what [they] want me to do, then I don’t get the praise. Does that also mean that the people that get the praise don’t actually deserve it? How do you gauge that? If you’re an artist that’s successful—like look at Kendrick Lamar. He dropped a body of work and it was so good that people live with that until the next one. They don’t need a bunch of in-between shyt. He don’t got to go and do 10 remixes. He can literally just say, I’m going to go off into the cut and make this classic. And I didn’t work my whole career or go through a bunch of different record deals to be rushing.
I don’t want to be lucky. When “Beamer, Benz, Or Bentley” came out, I was lucky. Not lucky that I made the record; I made the record in 30 minutes. But I released the record and it immediately made a demand for my album to be made. So then I had to go back in and make the album. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to have an album already made so I have my first, second, third and fourth single. That’s why most of the time they have the sophomore jinx; it’s not a jinx. Most of the time the artists just aren’t ready yet. They might need a year and a half in between until the next album.
Speaking of albums, is the solo thought in your head? Are you working on your own material?
I never stopped working on my own material. Like I said, 50 was the one that told me to be a solo artist. First. So from that point on I understood that ain’t nobody going to go out and give you anything. You have to take it. I’m definitely working on my own stuff. I write every day, whether it’s mixtape stuff or whatever. That’s probably why they get a lot more audio than video, ’cause that’s the part that I’m in love with. I’m in love with you creating the music and me hearing it. That’s where it’s at for me. You can go on WorldStar or something and your video that you spent hours at, the whole day shooting, and it’s next to two monkeys fukking. It’s like, where do I go to find the straight hip-hop? If that’s the platform then I don’t know if I’m into that.
I couldn’t tweet ‘Pac, I couldn’t hit Biggie like, “Yo, why didn’t follow me back?” That shyt is not the era I grew up in. I grew up in the era where it was rap for real. With all that to the side, I’m just not that guy. I watch certain NFL players that don’t want to do interviews. They just want to show up and play. That’s kinda how I am.
I feel like with G-Unit, there’s a real brotherhood.
Exactly; we grew up together. That shyt is weird ’cause my family knows Yayo’s family. They sense it when they see less visits and shyt like that. It gets a little weird. The last thing I want to do is give the credit to the industry for fukking some shyt up that’s like this. They’re not supposed to have a say so or any kind of influence. That’s another reason why I don’t really fukk with the media. I’m just smart enough to know when people have me or the group in their best interests. If you don’t care about [us] or it didn’t touch you the way it touched other people, do you really want to see us get back together? Or is it fun for you to see drama, period? That’s why I kind of shied away from it, ’cause I see what it’s about. They build you up to break you down. I’m not gonna participate in that. I’m waiting until you want to say, “Good shyt,” and ask real questions.
I had to deal with all of this shyt in the media. I lost my grandmother, I lost my father, I lost my best friend. I grew up in the shyt. My whole 20s was sacrificed to my friend’s family and hip-hop. I don’t have no girlfriend, I don’t have no kids. I was completely locked in on it so much that it made me mad at the music. It made me mad that I put so much into this shyt, that I missed so much. I wasn’t there when my best friend got killed, I wasn’t there when my father was found. It makes you kind of resent the same shyt that you love. So my fans are going, “Where you at?” [But] I hated it. I love to make music but I hate what it did to me and what it did to my friends. So I fell back from it.
How did that not cause a bitterness to take over?
The littlest thing [can change that]. Like when Kendrick Lamar called everybody out on the “Control” verse. It took everybody from gimmicks [back] to rapping. Little shyt like that, just step-by-step, is changing. And the producers, too; if you’re a producer and you’re trying to get a beat off, then you’re going to make what’s out there. But if you’re a producer that’s already out there you’re going to make what you want to make. You control the wave. Like how Swizz can go away for a year and come back. But when you’re a new producer, you’re sending me beats that all sound like 808s. Then that puts me in a position as an artist. It’s like, do I compromise and blend in?
It gets confusing after a while because people get tired of looking at the same thing. They want to see you do different shyt. I’d rather stay in my lane all the way and count my losses. I’d rather be comfortable than be like, “I shouldn’t have tried that.” Little things like that are letting me know that I can stick to [my way]. Action Bronson and Joey Bada$$ are getting a chance to do it minus the bullshyt. I don’t think they care about the people that don’t know them. They got they core base and they figured out who they are early in their careers. That’s where I’m going with it now.
How does it feel now that the Unit is independent?
My last album was independent, so I kind of know how things change. My last album was like a sleeper and I feel it was underrated. People get so used to seeing you on one level that they don’t see the separation. A lot of people didn’t know my last album was independent. I had four records added to radio. So it’s like, how do you really judge? Fans get it more than they got it five years ago though. Being on a major, you’re on a time clock. When you’re on your own, you decide when you’re ready. It’s a lot of little shyt. It has its ups and down. But I think that’s what we work our whole career for, to be independent and to own our own music.
Were you ever trying to get on another label?
Nope, to be honest. I wasn’t thinking that far into it. I wanted to gear up and be ready. I didn’t want to put myself back into the position that I was in. I wanted to have a whole body of work done. I’m still touring off of my first album, so I know how important it is to get it right. I feel like my first album is a classic and this time I want to do better all around. I’m going to show people. When you’re dealing with somebody like Jimmy Iovine, [who] has high expectations for you, it make not be exactly what you’re thinking. If it doesn’t work, it was a reach. At this point in my career, I’m already a household name. Being independent lets me weed out the shyt that I didn’t want to do.
FULL INTERVIEW HERE
