DX: In one of the scenes a cop approached you in a corner store, and you hid some drugs in a tub of peanut butter. Could that be considered a legitimate manner of disguising crack from an officer?
Hell Rell: That’s what you call “quick thinking.” [Laughs]

DX: Which brand of peanut butter would you suggest best?
Hell Rell: if you had to use peanut butter like Ruga Rell did in the movie, I would suggest you use Jif [Laughs]. It’s easy to smooth it back over, and it’d look like you never touched it, because it’s already creamy. No homo.

DX: Not the chunky one? Strictly the original?
Hell Rell: The straight creamy one. No homo.

DX: There was also another scene in the movie where drug mules would defecate out the drugs. Is that something you’ve seen in person? I can’t imagine that being a pleasant experience.
Hell Rell: Usually in real life you have guys that are specifically for that shit, so if I’m a kingpin or I have any type of cartel-like organization, I would pretty much have people do that for me, because I really wouldn’t. But that process actually does happen if you have smugglers that are going into other countries and bringing it back over to the States. Everybody’s familiar with the process: they swallow it, then shit it back out when they return.

DX: On the cover of your debut album, you were depicted smiling, yet your teeth were replaced with bullets. Were you worried about any form of backlash, considering today’s watchdog-sensitive consumer?
Hell Rell: Not really. Actually it was pretty conceptual, and it was a good promotional tool. When you want to sell records - you want the product to move – you sometimes have to do things that will get attention. I sold 30,000 records in stores just by it being on the shelves. I didn’t do any promotion for the project, but a person would walk in there, see the cover and cop the album off the strength of it. Even if someone didn’t buy the album, that guy would still know who I am. I went to a lot of stores, and a lot of people were telling me, “We’re getting a lot of good responses off the cover.” So it was definitely a hot promotional tool.

DX: You know you’ve gained a cult following over the Internet with this thing called “Hell Rell Facts.” Are you aware of those?
Hell Rell: [Pauses] “Hell Rell Facts?” What’s that?

DX: They’re a list of fictional facts created by fans used to describe your toughness. Would like to hear a few of them?
Hell Rell: Yeah.

DX: One is, “The cure for AIDS was found almost 30 years ago, but Hell Rell didn’t let them release it because he’d rather ‘watch homos die slow’.”
Hell Rell: Wow. [Laughs]

DX: Another one is, “Hell Rell watches prison executions for entertainment.”
Hell Rell: Aw, man [Laughs].

DX: How do you feel about people doing things like this? You’ve become a cult sensation of sorts.
Hell Rell: That’s crazy! Who’s making this stuff?

DX: It’s from random people from all across the globe. It’s been going on for about a year or so now.
Hell Rell: I take it as a compliment. If anybody’s gonna spend that much time on me… [Laughs]

DX: What is a “Red Café” to you?
Hell Rell: I don’t know. At the end of the day I’m big on names, and that shit just sounds silly. “Red Café?” Come on man. This is what I’ve been saying about New York Hip Hop: we need more originality. Let’s come up with hotter names; let’s swag this shit out. It’s like me: you can expect great, quality music from me. And at the end of the day people love it, that’s what I’m known for and that’s what I do. It’s an evolutionary process, like from a caterpillar to a butterfly.