Ok first of all, just to confirm, your next album is now titled 'The Massacre', right?
Yes, the release date is March 8th
Are you disappointed not being able to drop it under its original title, 'the
Valentine's Day Massacre' on the 15th?
Not disappointed because I'll still be able to use a lot of things I had planned
for it but I really did want a release on February 15th. I had to move it back
because of my Game record.
Ok, is it 100% finished or are you still recording?
I'm still recording; I got a deadline like the end of this week.
Have you picked a cover for it yet?
Yeah.
Can you give us some info about what it will look like?
It's a continuation from Get Rich or Die Trying; I took a photograph and added
illustrations to it. It got a flip-off cover and then there's a whole other
artwork. It's exciting cause what I did for my album insert is I picked photographs
to go inside with the lyrical content of some of the songs to give you a visual
of what I'm saying. You know, I listen to the music when I buy a CD and I stare
at the pictures so what I do is I make the pictures actually feel like they're
tied to the songs.
Is it gonna come with a DVD?
Shortly after the album is out, probably like a month down the line, we're gonna
re-release a DVD audio visual.
Now you know we gotta talk about the song Piggybank, it seems like the DJs don't want to
play it are you mad at them?
Oh no no no, cause they don't have it.
But they've heard it, right?
Well... yeah... So it's like, they don't have it to actually
it but they'll play it when it comes out, trust me.
Do you know when you're gonna leak it?
Well it should be like a week before the album goes on sale but right now it
hasn't been decided
And is it gonna be on the album?
There's a strong possibility that it will be on the album.
Jadakiss responded saying he was on Ja Rule's 'New York' purely for business, what do you have to say about that?
I mean, some people listen to me when I say things and they're like 'he's a
bully', see what I'm saying? They assume I'm just bullying around but their
actions is what made me write, I use my real life experiences to create my music
so after watching them do the things they was doing, I just responded and I
wrote the record. I write about what's goin' on with me.
Do you still think that D-Block is a dope crew, like you've said in past interviews?
Yeah they're good... but not better than me!
Fat Joe said you've gone crazy and that he never wanted to have beef with you...
His actions say something different... Of course you don't want the actual
problem when you're trying to sell a CD. You know, behind the scenes he says
things that just don't coincide with what you just said.
Ok now let's talk about the album, how different do you want it to be from Get Rich or Die Trying?
Oh man, there's some major differences between these records. I went back, I
put the things that I missed on Get Rich Or Die Trying and I added a lot of
details. I feel like this record is better than Get Rich Or Die Trying. I can't
wait to see how the general public embraces it
Can you tell us about the guests and producers you have?
Oh man, producers: Eminem, Dr Dre, Scott Storch, Hi-Tek, Needlz, Buckwild, 4 or 5 new producers cause when I listen to the beats, I have [people] take off
the names of where the music came from, so when I listen to it, I'm just listening
to it for the music, not for who made it.
Do you already have a favorite track?
Oh, one of my favorite songs is A Baltimore Love Thing
Can you give us a few details about this song?
Well, A Baltimore Love Thing is, it's titled that because in Baltimore the heroin
addiction rate is really high. So the song is about the relationship between
an addict and the drug. I give this drug a motion, feelings and at some point
in the song, the drug actually becomes mad at the addict for trying to leave.
It's like a real vivid description of what it would be like if it was human.
So it's a really clever song then...
Yeah, you hear people make references to drugs-talking and people who are addicted
to it. So what I did is I created a song where I'm actually the drug talking
to the person
Kind of like what Nas did on 'I Gave You Power' with a gun?
It's different cause Nas was just being a gun, like how often have people made
a reference to the drug talking to a person, right? They say it's not them,
it's the drug making them do it. You know when someone's high and does something,
they have a sickness, they have a problem. That situation is a little more deeper
than just pretending you're a gun.
How many tracks can you record in one day?
You know what I did? I recorded 11 records in 3 days, I really did! And then
I kept 4 of 'em cause I felt they were a good representation of me, from Get
Rich Or Die Trying till now. But the records are great so in the future you'll
probably hear some of those records.
Is Game really like Lloyd Banks or Tony Yayo in G-Unit or is it more business?
You know what it is? We have a different relationship, I've known Lloyd Banks
and Tony Yayo all my life, Young Buck isn't so closely into the camp, he's spent
the last 2 years around me. So it will take time for me and Game to develop
the same relationship that me and the rest of the crew have but he's a part
of the crew like everybody else and I want to add it to you that his first week
sales just came and he sold 586,933 records.
What would be your reaction if your second album sold less than that in its first week?
Anything less than 11 million records would be a failure, I'm talking about
the end of the record. With the first album I felt like I failed because anything
I was doing, I was doing for the first time. I know what I'm doing this time,
last time I was like 'ok, what am I supposed to do?' and I didn't really know.
But to go back to Game's first week, it's exciting for me to have an artist
come out and go gold the first week, especially when Ja Rule's record is out
there and he's at 538,000 records right now, Game's sold more than Ja Rule in
his first week after his album's been on sale for 10 weeks.
Game also said that he sold more than Joe Budden's album in one day
Yeah!
Have you already started working on Tony Yayo's album?
Yeah (getting excited), with Tony Yayo's album, I saved the best for last, ha
ha.
How would you compare it to the albums released by Lloyd Banks, Young Buck or yourself?
Totally different! I mean, we're similar because of what we say when we rhyme,
to an extent but the perception of it and the way he writes it is so different
from Banks and myself that I'm so excited about this record. Following my album,
I feel like I'm gonna have the biggest year in my career possibly this year.
Having this music, having Tony Yayo on deck and ready to go, following my album,
after having Game sell 586,933 his first week, I'm anticipating selling even
more than that my first week and then Yayo could possibly make more than that
too, we're going uphill right now
What do you think about the state of the hip hop press right now? I mean your album
comes out in March and I doubt that you'll have the Source cover...
You know, I think the state of the Hip-Hop press is good outside of the
Source magazine (laughing). You know what, that sounds crazy, it's awkward they've
altered, they're not even a publication anymore, they're a tabloid. They've
stopped reporting news and they report what they wanna report.
What was the latest album you thought was dope outside of the G-Unit/aftermath camp?
Outside of the G-Unit? It's the Snoop album. I listen to it. I think this record
got a real old school feel. He's one of the most talented artists out there
right now.
Speaking of talented artists, Saigon has been compared to you many times, have you ever
checked his music?
Nah, I don't know the dude.
Do you consider hip hop like a religion, a girl or a way to make money?
I don't know if I could pick one, probably closer to a religion than a girl.
I wouldn't call it my religion but I would say something close to that, cause
that's the most important.
When do you think will be a good time for you to retire?
Retire? I'm not even gonna retire. I'm only dropping my second album, I'm so
early in my career. Because my first album was such a big success, people start
asking 'when you're gonna retire?' But I'm not even thinking about that, I'm
more in the mind frame 'when do I come out again.' (Laughing)
Now most major record companies aren't owned by people coming from the hip hop scene, why don't
we see people like you start a major record company on their own, do you really
need a huge machine behind you today?
You know, it's difficult enough to have the proper staffing, it's not easy to
have knowledgeable people and it's expensive. And you need to have connections
so you gotta come with the money. So, independently, when you come out, you
can't just jump into that seat and then become a major. Look at majors as National
Saving Banks. They got the money in order to allow you to create new projects.
And the more success you have with them, the more finance they'll give you.
When you do a subsidiary they kinda give you a 50 percent profit split and what
that is is they'll give you the money to make the project, cover the expenses
to actually create the product and after they get their money back and you split
the profits. So if you took yourself away from that, you have to have all the
money upfront to make the record, to market it, all the money to transport the
artists-flying, hotels, cabs, limousines and you need to pay your staff at the
same time. I mean, I'll be a major, I think G-Unit ain't Interscope records,
it's just 2 years old, and Interscope is 13 years old.
What can we expect from your camp in 2005?
2005, Game's released, you can look forward to me, my new album The Massacre,
scheduled March 8th, shortly after you'll see the first female solo artist of
G-Unit, Olivia. After that you can look forward to Tony Yayo and when he comes
out, I think a lot of the creativity is gonna shift, the same way the album
Get Rich Or Die Trying came out and artists changed their lyrical content. They
started getting aggressive again because they thought it was okay, seeing someone
being aggressive and having the success I had.
So Tony Yayo is gonna change the game then?
Yeah.
Any last words?
I'm really excited; I can't wait to see how the general public embraces my album. I'm just ready now; I've sat already long enough, almost 2 years.
Yes, the release date is March 8th
Are you disappointed not being able to drop it under its original title, 'the
Valentine's Day Massacre' on the 15th?
Not disappointed because I'll still be able to use a lot of things I had planned
for it but I really did want a release on February 15th. I had to move it back
because of my Game record.
Ok, is it 100% finished or are you still recording?
I'm still recording; I got a deadline like the end of this week.
Have you picked a cover for it yet?
Yeah.
Can you give us some info about what it will look like?
It's a continuation from Get Rich or Die Trying; I took a photograph and added
illustrations to it. It got a flip-off cover and then there's a whole other
artwork. It's exciting cause what I did for my album insert is I picked photographs
to go inside with the lyrical content of some of the songs to give you a visual
of what I'm saying. You know, I listen to the music when I buy a CD and I stare
at the pictures so what I do is I make the pictures actually feel like they're
tied to the songs.
Is it gonna come with a DVD?
Shortly after the album is out, probably like a month down the line, we're gonna
re-release a DVD audio visual.
Now you know we gotta talk about the song Piggybank, it seems like the DJs don't want to
play it are you mad at them?
Oh no no no, cause they don't have it.
But they've heard it, right?
Well... yeah... So it's like, they don't have it to actually
it but they'll play it when it comes out, trust me.
Do you know when you're gonna leak it?
Well it should be like a week before the album goes on sale but right now it
hasn't been decided
And is it gonna be on the album?
There's a strong possibility that it will be on the album.
Jadakiss responded saying he was on Ja Rule's 'New York' purely for business, what do you have to say about that?
I mean, some people listen to me when I say things and they're like 'he's a
bully', see what I'm saying? They assume I'm just bullying around but their
actions is what made me write, I use my real life experiences to create my music
so after watching them do the things they was doing, I just responded and I
wrote the record. I write about what's goin' on with me.
Do you still think that D-Block is a dope crew, like you've said in past interviews?
Yeah they're good... but not better than me!
Fat Joe said you've gone crazy and that he never wanted to have beef with you...
His actions say something different... Of course you don't want the actual
problem when you're trying to sell a CD. You know, behind the scenes he says
things that just don't coincide with what you just said.
Ok now let's talk about the album, how different do you want it to be from Get Rich or Die Trying?
Oh man, there's some major differences between these records. I went back, I
put the things that I missed on Get Rich Or Die Trying and I added a lot of
details. I feel like this record is better than Get Rich Or Die Trying. I can't
wait to see how the general public embraces it
Can you tell us about the guests and producers you have?
Oh man, producers: Eminem, Dr Dre, Scott Storch, Hi-Tek, Needlz, Buckwild, 4 or 5 new producers cause when I listen to the beats, I have [people] take off
the names of where the music came from, so when I listen to it, I'm just listening
to it for the music, not for who made it.
Do you already have a favorite track?
Oh, one of my favorite songs is A Baltimore Love Thing
Can you give us a few details about this song?
Well, A Baltimore Love Thing is, it's titled that because in Baltimore the heroin
addiction rate is really high. So the song is about the relationship between
an addict and the drug. I give this drug a motion, feelings and at some point
in the song, the drug actually becomes mad at the addict for trying to leave.
It's like a real vivid description of what it would be like if it was human.
So it's a really clever song then...
Yeah, you hear people make references to drugs-talking and people who are addicted
to it. So what I did is I created a song where I'm actually the drug talking
to the person
Kind of like what Nas did on 'I Gave You Power' with a gun?
It's different cause Nas was just being a gun, like how often have people made
a reference to the drug talking to a person, right? They say it's not them,
it's the drug making them do it. You know when someone's high and does something,
they have a sickness, they have a problem. That situation is a little more deeper
than just pretending you're a gun.
How many tracks can you record in one day?
You know what I did? I recorded 11 records in 3 days, I really did! And then
I kept 4 of 'em cause I felt they were a good representation of me, from Get
Rich Or Die Trying till now. But the records are great so in the future you'll
probably hear some of those records.
Is Game really like Lloyd Banks or Tony Yayo in G-Unit or is it more business?
You know what it is? We have a different relationship, I've known Lloyd Banks
and Tony Yayo all my life, Young Buck isn't so closely into the camp, he's spent
the last 2 years around me. So it will take time for me and Game to develop
the same relationship that me and the rest of the crew have but he's a part
of the crew like everybody else and I want to add it to you that his first week
sales just came and he sold 586,933 records.
What would be your reaction if your second album sold less than that in its first week?
Anything less than 11 million records would be a failure, I'm talking about
the end of the record. With the first album I felt like I failed because anything
I was doing, I was doing for the first time. I know what I'm doing this time,
last time I was like 'ok, what am I supposed to do?' and I didn't really know.
But to go back to Game's first week, it's exciting for me to have an artist
come out and go gold the first week, especially when Ja Rule's record is out
there and he's at 538,000 records right now, Game's sold more than Ja Rule in
his first week after his album's been on sale for 10 weeks.
Game also said that he sold more than Joe Budden's album in one day
Yeah!
Have you already started working on Tony Yayo's album?
Yeah (getting excited), with Tony Yayo's album, I saved the best for last, ha
ha.
How would you compare it to the albums released by Lloyd Banks, Young Buck or yourself?
Totally different! I mean, we're similar because of what we say when we rhyme,
to an extent but the perception of it and the way he writes it is so different
from Banks and myself that I'm so excited about this record. Following my album,
I feel like I'm gonna have the biggest year in my career possibly this year.
Having this music, having Tony Yayo on deck and ready to go, following my album,
after having Game sell 586,933 his first week, I'm anticipating selling even
more than that my first week and then Yayo could possibly make more than that
too, we're going uphill right now
What do you think about the state of the hip hop press right now? I mean your album
comes out in March and I doubt that you'll have the Source cover...
You know, I think the state of the Hip-Hop press is good outside of the
Source magazine (laughing). You know what, that sounds crazy, it's awkward they've
altered, they're not even a publication anymore, they're a tabloid. They've
stopped reporting news and they report what they wanna report.
What was the latest album you thought was dope outside of the G-Unit/aftermath camp?
Outside of the G-Unit? It's the Snoop album. I listen to it. I think this record
got a real old school feel. He's one of the most talented artists out there
right now.
Speaking of talented artists, Saigon has been compared to you many times, have you ever
checked his music?
Nah, I don't know the dude.
Do you consider hip hop like a religion, a girl or a way to make money?
I don't know if I could pick one, probably closer to a religion than a girl.
I wouldn't call it my religion but I would say something close to that, cause
that's the most important.
When do you think will be a good time for you to retire?
Retire? I'm not even gonna retire. I'm only dropping my second album, I'm so
early in my career. Because my first album was such a big success, people start
asking 'when you're gonna retire?' But I'm not even thinking about that, I'm
more in the mind frame 'when do I come out again.' (Laughing)
Now most major record companies aren't owned by people coming from the hip hop scene, why don't
we see people like you start a major record company on their own, do you really
need a huge machine behind you today?
You know, it's difficult enough to have the proper staffing, it's not easy to
have knowledgeable people and it's expensive. And you need to have connections
so you gotta come with the money. So, independently, when you come out, you
can't just jump into that seat and then become a major. Look at majors as National
Saving Banks. They got the money in order to allow you to create new projects.
And the more success you have with them, the more finance they'll give you.
When you do a subsidiary they kinda give you a 50 percent profit split and what
that is is they'll give you the money to make the project, cover the expenses
to actually create the product and after they get their money back and you split
the profits. So if you took yourself away from that, you have to have all the
money upfront to make the record, to market it, all the money to transport the
artists-flying, hotels, cabs, limousines and you need to pay your staff at the
same time. I mean, I'll be a major, I think G-Unit ain't Interscope records,
it's just 2 years old, and Interscope is 13 years old.
What can we expect from your camp in 2005?
2005, Game's released, you can look forward to me, my new album The Massacre,
scheduled March 8th, shortly after you'll see the first female solo artist of
G-Unit, Olivia. After that you can look forward to Tony Yayo and when he comes
out, I think a lot of the creativity is gonna shift, the same way the album
Get Rich Or Die Trying came out and artists changed their lyrical content. They
started getting aggressive again because they thought it was okay, seeing someone
being aggressive and having the success I had.
So Tony Yayo is gonna change the game then?
Yeah.
Any last words?
I'm really excited; I can't wait to see how the general public embraces my album. I'm just ready now; I've sat already long enough, almost 2 years.
