DX: You write everything in the studio?
P: Yeah I write in the studio. Sometimes I’ll take a track home. But songs like “Redemption”, that was just there. “For Tomorrow”…

DX: I’m curious about a couple bars from the track “Vintage”. Verse 29 says "We will be exploited on our long voyage/ unemployment for their enjoyment/No longer called the anointed”/ But coons, niggas and spooks/ from Bojangles, Jigga to Snoop." Elaborate...
P: We went a long way from doing big things to being on unemployment for their enjoyment. That’s just like White America – as far as the government as stuff like that – they’ve been calling us “coons.” And performing for them, acting like clowns – and that goes from the smallest all the way to Jay-Z [click to read], all the way to Snoop [Dogg]. And if you look at [it], Bojangles had to perform and do all these things for their enjoyment. ‘Cause before they used to paint our faces; and now it’s exploiting either blood diamonds or we’re just pimping out our own people for their enjoyment. Before we were kings and queens; we didn’t start off as world’s biggest pimps. [Laughs]

DX:Are Snoop and Jay-Z are exploiting their own?
P: Exactly. Yeah. Snoop walked on the red carpet with chains around girls’ [necks] – I remember seeing that and I was like “Man, that’s crazy.” It’s the whole pimp movement but if you’re not giving back, cats are gonna start looking at that like, “chains?” And Jay-Z…look at the Roc now, it’s all divided. You got Damon Dash over here and Jay-Z doing his thing over here, that’s called “divide and conquer.” They were a black power movement together and look what they’re doing – they’re pushing themselves out there and exploiting and cursing out women. It’s fine to be an entrepreneur but when you’re just flashing it in front of people and you know they can’t get that, you’re not giving them a shot at doing that, then it becomes a problem; you were never cool.

DX: Then how supportive of exploitation is the Hip Hop community when it doesn’t speak out against it? That includes the artists, the fans, the journalists, editors and media-owners.
P: They’re being hypocrites also. It’s up to some of the conscious rappers to come together, or brothers that’ll make a change. Because that pattern is bafoonery, it’s coonery and it’s just stupid. You have some of the rappers that’s speaking out and that’s good. But the majority of these people…they’re just going with the flow of this whole government corporation movement. They got them out there worshipping what they believe is true – but they believe in a lie. That’s just a strong illusion that they believe in. When you go home, you don’t go home to a mansion. Most of those rappers when they go home, they don’t go home to…except for some that we know, Jay-Z - but you still don’t have it because someone’s writing your checks. Those are the people that are really getting paid, that really have the money; the ones who write checks for people like Jay-Z, like Michael Jackson, big stars like Madonna. They create the money and make you believe what a star is. A star used to be something up in the sky – you’re sky worshipping. You gotta be a star from the get-go, from the grain.

DX: You mentioned that the Hip Hop community should be backing quality Hip Hop and in another interview you stated that fans should support the Immortal Techniques, the dead prezs, the Priests. Why should those specific artists receive support?
P: Because they are kicking real, true, facts; and they’re about a strong movement. They ain’t no bafoonery, no clownery. They’re real about it. If you come up in a cipher with these brothers, you might get hurt. This ain’t no punk church movement. This ain’t no singing along, lighting up candles. When we talking about peace, we talking about peace for the people – ‘cause we the people’s army just like they said. And building with stic.man and M1 and Immortal Technique [click to read], those brothers are all standing up at the front line; they’re making revolutionary music. I like to call it “earlutionary music” because you hear it. [Laughs] Also it’s good music; it’s not just preaching. These brothers can rap first. These brothers got skills.

DX: In terms of the Priests and the dead prezs and Immortal Techniques, where do they stand against the 50s and the Lil Waynes, Young Jeezys, the Kanyes and The Games?
P: It’s like going back to the comic books. It’s the battle of the stars now. My son put me on some tracks from Lil Wayne [click to read], he’s actually spitting now. He’s actually emceeing.

DX: Did you hear Tha Carter III?
P: Nah. But Lil Weezy’s rhyming. I like that. He’s rhyming; he’s spitting some lyrics. He even got Jay-Z on ["Mr. Carter"]. He’s out there doing his own thing – that’s what it’s about, flooding the market. That’s what I’m gonna do. I got a lot of material in store. Continued on page 3 »