Unfortunately, some of Hip Hop’s most legendary figures have become irrelevant to the 21-and-under core of the Hip Hop community that is constantly shifting the music’s style and sound every few years. And so it’s not surprising that one of the most influential emcees in the history of this culture, Kool G Rap, would drop his long-delayed EP, Half A Klip, [click here to read review] last month and watch it sell a whopping 690 copies in its first week of release.

Shortly after that dismal chart debut G Rap spoke exclusively to HipHopDX. In addition to sharing his thoughts on just how lost he feels in the 2008 rap game, he gave us the lowdown on his forthcoming first full-length album in nearly six years [for more info click here], as well as the most definitive interview he’s given to any outlet in recent memory.

Covering a range of topics spanning the entirety of his over 20-year career, the man who’s rugged street narratives inspired the careers of damn near every East Coast emcee to emerge on the scene over the last two decades has blessed HipHopDX readers with never before revealed clarification on the long-rumored reasoning behind his mid-‘90s move from New York to Arizona, as well as rare gems of information regarding everything from his discovering Nas to rioting with Tupac. For the 690 (and hopefully thousands more that just didn’t cop Klip) G Rap loyalists, this interview’s for you. Enjoy.

HipHopDX: I don’t want to start our interview on a dour note, but we recently passed the 8th anniversary of Big Pun’s passing, and so I wanted you to tell our readers who’ve never heard this story of when you and Pun first met.
Kool G. Rap: Well, when me and Pun first met it was in one of [Fat] Joe’s clothing stores in the Bronx. And he basically got down on [one] knee and shit and kissed the ring.

DX: What was your response to that?
KGR: I mean, I was just…I can’t even describe it. That was ill that he displayed that much honor and respect. That’s why I always had a lot of love for Pun. He was a real thorough dude and he kept it that way.

DX: Not to stay on a dour note, but I wanted to get your thoughts on another one of Hip Hop’s fallen soldiers. You were featured on UGK’s last album and so I wanted to get any words you may wanna share about Pimp C.
KGR: I never really got to meet Pimp C face-to-face. Bun B, that’s my man, we stay in contact with each other. And when me and Bun started talking, Pimp C was still locked up. He just had came home around the time I did the recording [“Next Up”] for they album [Underground Kingz]. So I never got a chance to meet Pimp C face-to-face, or over the phone. Like, me and Bun had a relationship over the phone for a minute. And we’d be doing back and forth favors for each other, like he’ll jump on something of mine and I’ll feature on something of his. We just rock like that with each other. But I got a lot of respect for Pimp C. Number one, that’s my boy’s boy. That was his partner, so that’s automatic love right off the top. And, him being one of the pioneers of Hip Hop coming from out [of the south]. So mad respect to Pimp C. The game is gonna miss him terribly.

DX: Now, I wanna switch gears and go back to the beginning of your career and work our way up. So my first question is who were The Rapperteers
KGR: [Laughs] The Rapperteers, wow! That was me, my man Dog, and my man Prince. It was three of us and we formed a group called The Rapperteers.

DX: When was this?
KGR: Aww man, this had to be like ‘83/’84.

DX: So these were like cats that went to your same high school or something?
KGR: Nah, both of ‘em was just from me living in certain parts of Queens. Like, Dog was my man ‘cause he from the same hood that I’m from, which is Corona, Queens. And then I met my man Prince when I moved to LeFrak City. LeFrak was my hood too for a certain amount of years. Me and Prince actually linked up first and formed the group, and then I brought my man Dog in later. The group was actually formed when I was staying in LeFrak City.

DX: Were you guys really serious, like trying to make demos?
KGR: Oh, definitely! One of the things we did was hook up with Herbie Azor, the man behind Salt-n-Pepa and Kid-n-Play. It didn’t work out with him, as far as him putting us out. I think if we had stuck around [him] eventually something woulda popped off ‘cause he was starting to make a lot of big moves with Salt-n-Pepa. But we was impatient dudes. And it wasn’t like Herbie was managing us, we just built an aquaintanship with him and it developed into a relationship. But it wasn’t like we signed to him for management or nothing like that. Continued on page 2 »