Do you really, honestly think that Hip Hop can ever reclaim the element of motivation it once had?

I certainly think it can happen. I think what we have to go back to realizing is that we hold the power. We’ve been tricked into thinking that they hold the power and we’re allowing them to make the choices for us. The perfect example is when we came up we had maybe two hip hop magazines—Word Up! and Right On and those to magazines dealt mostly with pictorials, they didn’t deal with a lot of elaborate stories and what most magazines are dealing with today. They certainly didn’t pit wars against different camps or different coasts. Media wasn’t what it is today and I’m saying this because we were still able to get a message out, we were still able to be known—I came out in ’88 and in ’89 I was in Denmark. There was nothing to hold back the promotion or marketing of an artist in those days but now I think we’re fooled into thinking, oh, that artist must be hot cuz they’re on the cover of a magazine. I came when there was only two hours of Hip Hop on a Friday and a Saturday. I’m just saying at that point you had to search for the Hip Hop that you liked and that meant something. When you look for something it’s just like working hard for something, you appreciate it more. When something is just handed to you, you have the tendency to just accept it.

What do you have coming up?

Well, I’m working on a new record and I have six songs done, the record is entitled Smoking Mirrors…

Why the title?

Because smoking mirrors often confuse not only the consumer that the show is being done for, but it also confuses the artists and I want to sort of, not only make the public aware of smoking mirrors, but to sort of lift the veil and let them know what things are real and what things are not. So I’m gonna get that out.

And you have a book of poetry?

Yes, Just My Take that we just released, self-published in August folks can find it at some local black bookstores and on officialmclyte.com. I also have a home accessory line coming out in January called the Lana Moore Collection which will be available at Lowe’s and Walmart. And other than that, I have bunch of speaking engagements at some colleges and universities and I’m looking forward to that. I’m just gonna keep it movin’.