DX: In one of your liner notes, you shouted out to C-Bo and Brotha Lynch Hung. I like that from totally different crowds, there’s a respect there. Tell me about that.
G: Blackalicious met in Sacramento when we were in high school. It was just a lot of battling cats. Brotha Lynch Hung was one of them cats that would just rip people to shreds back that. I also had a reputation. We bumped heads once and actually battled. After that, I saw him on the bus about a month after we battled and it was just all love. It’s all love and respect. C-Bo, I knew them from high school. I knew C-Bo’s cousin really well. He used to come up to school and we used to cut class and just go rhyme. I’ve known them for a while. I don’t keep in touch with them as tight as back then, but if I see ‘em, I’ll holla though.

DX: Papoose got a lot of credit for his concept on “Alphabetical Slaughter.” Years before that, you had “Alphabet Aerobics.” Does it bother you to see him get praised for originality that could be argued isn’t his?
G: [Laughs hysterically] I guess they didn’t hear [my song]! I think that Papoose is one of the rawest lyricists. He’s a raw, technical lyricist. At first I was like, “Wow, I did that back in 1994!” Everybody don’t hear everything. Maybe he didn’t hear it.

DX: I’ve always been perplexed by your record “A 40 Ounce For Breakfast.” On one hand it’s a whimsical rap about being bored at life, a bum, etc. On the other, it’s real pain, a real attitude, and a very common feeling in America then and now. Which was it for you in writing it?
G: That was just being young. Wow, that record was like 15 years ago. Just going out, wylin’ out, drinkin’, and just doing the things that you do when you’re young. Going overboard with it, to the point where it’s, “I’m starting to have regrets. This is really out of control, and it’s not cool.” “40 Ounce For Breakfast” was just getting that off my chest.