DX: Who’s the first A&R that you want to just stunt on?
Termanology: Well it’s a lot of ‘em. I don’t really want to say their names, ‘cause it’s not really their fault that they can’t sign me. Some of them, it is their fault, ‘cause they’re fuckin’ gay, but a lot of them, there’s nothing they can do about it.

I’ll tell you who the cool cats were. I met with Sean C at Universal, he was mad cool. I was like, “Yo, what’d you think of my demo?” He said, “That ain’t no demo. That’s some good fucking music. Those are some really good tracks right there. Keep doing your thing, you’re going to get signed.” I’m like, “All right, cool. Thanks, man.” Some people were really cool like that. But other people were not so cool, and trying to persuade me to do wack shit. Trying to tell [Termanology's manager] Dan Green, “Tell him to do this, and do that.” I’m like, “C’mon my nigga, what happened to me just being me?”

DX: Back to Primo for a second. You’ve got three songs with him now—
Termanology:—Seven. [Laughs] Just figured I’d throw it out there. But there’s three on my album, yeah.

DX: When does it get past being amazed at who he is, and turn into real chemistry with him?
Termanology: I think I’ll never get past it, because he means so much to me as an artist. The beats he’s made have been the soundtrack to my life for the past fuckin’ 10 years. Nothing could ever take that away; even if I moved in with him and he was my roommate, I’d still feel like that. I’m…not the same as when I met him in 2003, I was starstruck. Now he’s more like my brother.

DX: Working in the HeadCourterz Studios, do you feel like that couch and those stairways have a magic to them?
Termanology: HeadCourterz is definitely a magic place. When you fuckin’ walk in there, you feel it. Like, “Oh, this is it.” I’m not really with that fancy studio shit. That shit is cool, but…I like HeadCourterz, man. That shit is grimy, but it’s like classy grimy. The booth is the same old booth: the same booth Biggie recorded fuckin’ Ready To Die, same booth Nas recorded his first album, and Jay-Z [click to read] and shit. It’s so much crazy vibe being in that booth, you just feel so ill. Like, “I love this booth. I never want to record anywhere else.” But that’s not possible, ‘cause Premier’s a busy dude. So when you’re out there, you have to take advantage and that and fuckin’ smash that track.

DX: It was dope to know that Bun B came in for the video for the single "How We Rock" [click to view] Did you work with a lot of these producers and artists in the studio, or was it e-mail-based?
Termanology: That particular song, me and Primo hooked it up in HeadCourterz, sent Bun [click to read] the beat, and he knocked it out. It’s funny, because the day the day that Primo made the beat was the day that Bun’s album came out. So I didn’t even want to call him that day, because I’m like, “This guy is going to be so busy. It’s the day his album comes out!” You’ve got to be on MTV or whatever. So I was like, “Man.” Primo’s like, “Fuck it, let’s call him.” So we called him, and we’re like, “We’ve got this track we’re working on.” Bun was like, “Call it ‘How We Rock,’ it can be about how we get down, on some skill shit.” Primo’s like, “Cool.” I didn’t really have to do much. Even though he wasn’t actually in the booth right then and there with us, he was still in the driver’s seat.

Primo made the beat on the spot, I watched him make it. All I had to do was write a 16 and an eight [-bar verse], and play my part. It’s a good look though that Bun came out and did the video. He’s such a cool dude, he’s the realest dude ever. I went and chilled with him in Houston for his birthday party, he invited me out. Me and Statik Selektah [click to read] went out there and kicked it with ‘em, and right then I realized it was for real. A lot of people will be like, “Yeah I’ll work with you, son,” and you can’t find ‘em. But Bun was like, “Yeah, let’s do this.” Anytime I called him, he always picked up. He’s just the realest dude in the world, man. It’s fun to work with legends like that.

DX: What about other songs? Like ones with Prodigy, Alchemist, Nottz. Did you work with them in the studio?
Termanology: Me and Pete Rock [click to read] did our shit in the booth. We went to Baseline Studios with Young Guru, and Pete Rock did the hook right there live on the spot. We kicked it and mixed the record together. Lil Fame, that’s like my brother. He came over to Dan Green’s studio and whatnot, kicked it with me and wrote the verse on the spot. Some of the stuff is on e-mail and some of it is in the lab, but to tell you the truth, I never really felt like I need anybody to be anywhere with me. As long as you kill it, and you play your part and you do the right thing, then it’s all good, man. Continued on page 3 »