Southern born and bred, the influences of the south remain fully intact with this recently relocated country hustler. Staying on your grind and having constant persistence will prevail through all. Charlamagne the God, current assistant to controversial radio personality Wendy Williams, proves that staying true to yourself will always be best regardless of the controversy.

Some say he's crass, insensitive and annoying when speaking his mind, he seems to think differently. In the end does it really matter what everyone thinks? With the hysterical stab he took at rapper Chingy, to the allegations made by assistant Nicole Spence against Wendy Williams' husband Kevin, Charlamagne still manages to stay on top of his game at the only black-owned radio station going. With many years deep in the game he's still pushing buttons of listeners and station directors alike and doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.

HipHopDX: Do you feel that you will be the next to take reign as a controversial force in the radio community as Wendy Williams is doing now?
Charlamagne the God: Definitely, I'm next. I am the future. I been saying I am the future since 2001 to 2002 ya know. Wendy [Williams] obviously saw something in me to say, "You know what I think that kid is big." That's why she got me out here from South Carolina. Me, side by side with her, ya know, she's teaching me the ropes on the next level, because I been doing this for years. I was doing radio in South Carolina. I've had my own show, Charlamagne the God: Concrete Jungle, in South Carolina. That's where she heard me. So I'm definitely next.

DX: Do you truly not care what others think about you, particularly the listeners to the show?
Charlamagne: Not at all. No, no, no…the reason is because I feel like maybe other people might feel different, but, I don't say things out of malice. I'm a very opinionated person, and I don't see anything wrong with having an opinion. We live in a world where everybody wants to be so "politically correct." I know I have politically incorrect views and potentially dangerous rhetoric, for the simple fact that I am honest, I stay true to myself. If I don't like something, what's wrong with me saying I don't like something? You would be surprised how many times you walk into these TV studios or radio studios and they tell you things like, "Don't have an opinion on this," or "Don't have an opinion on that." Me myself, I would rather not partake in any of these shows or be involved with any station that doesn't allow me to express myself. What's wrong with me having an opinion? The same way I can tell Rakim or Nas or Andre 3000 [click to read] and T.I. [click to read] that they're great emcee's, I should be able to tell somebody like Chingy or Yung Berg or whoever else that they're a wack emcee. It's just my opinion. It's the way I was feeling at the time.

DX: Many find you to be over the top and crude...do you feel your take on life and saying how you feel is only helping you or hurting you?
Charlamagne: I mean I got an album coming out on EMI. I just got the green light to be an associate producer on a BET show. I'm sitting down doing meetings with a couple other networks that are trying to develop shows for me. I think I made one of the top 30 radio personalities under the age of 30 in the country. So…if it's hurting I can't tell. Laughs. I put out mixtapes. I done got over 200,000 downloads just last month alone. My new mixtapes are on the streets right now by DJ Drama [click to read] with D. Woods from Danity Kane and Crooked I [click to view] from the west coast, so it's like, that's on the Internet right now at Tapedeck.com. I know we're gonna do at least another 100,000 downloads. I can't see where I'm hurting.

DX: With your music you poke fun at the current state of Hip Hop music. What musicians do you have respect for in the game today?
Charlamagne: Right now, like, right now? My favorite emcees of all time, my three favorites are: Nasir Jones, Ghostface Killah [click to read] and Rakim Allah are my three favorite of all time. Currently, I've acquired new era favorites of all time. T.I. is one of my favorite emcees of all time now because he is a brother that grew up in Atlanta and that's right by South Carolina and that's something I can relate to. When I see him and the things that he says and talks about in his music I can relate to, so he's one of my favorites. I like [Young] Jeezy [click to read], I think Jeezy is dope. Jeezy provides the soundtrack to my life for many occasions right now. Who else is out there right now? I like a lot of west coast artists. I like Glasses Malone [click to read]. I like Crooked I. I think Killer Mike [click to read] is incredible, I think Killer Mike has totally gotten up there with Chuck D. It's like Chuck D, Ice Cube [click to read] and Killer Mike all in the same three. Nas is in the same tree as Rakim. T.I. has just created his own tree. I think so. There's a lot of emcees that are coming out of the south now that are sort of branching off the T.I. tree. They're doing things. I don't really make fun of the whole current state of Hip Hop, but, come on man hip hop is corny right now. It's this one huge big reality show and we all just watch it. Even though we know it's fake, it's entertaining. So, ya know, that's what it is. Continued on page 2 »