DX: Maybe he’s looking for some publicity.
JB: But to do it that way… What made me look at it like it was funny was that he had a mixtape coming out in two or three days. Even if his claim was legitimate, the fact that the first time I saw your diss record it said, “my mixtape coming out in two days” right next to it, it made it look a bit suspect. I got a tape coming also in a month, but dissing my people is not something I’m willing to do just to get promoted.

DX: He might have to change the name of his mixtape now.
JB: No, he can leave it as Ransom Note. As a matter of fact, I think it’s out now. Please everybody, run out to your local Mom & Pop store, the Jamaican or African on the corner, and pick the tape up. That’s why I named my second response “Ransom Note”, I’m trying to help him get some pub out there. [Laughs]

DX: That’s nice of you.
JB: I’m nice, I’m a nice guy.

DX: On the radio interview you did with him Sunday night, DJ Envy said that he thought the beef records with Ransom “brought the old Buddens back.” You sounded offended by that.
JB: Yeah, that’s the dumbest shit I ever heard in my life. That’s crazy, “the old Buddens back.” Def Jam would like for people to believe that Buddens retired, or isn’t the same rapper, when the reality of it is the longer I sat there not releasing music, I continued to get better and better and better. So I don’t get offended when the average Hip Hop listener says something like that, because how are they to know? I haven’t put an album out in so long. But when a nigga like Envy, who’s a DJ and it’s your job to keep your ear to the streets… When you say something like that, it just lets me know that A, you really haven’t been keeping your ear to the streets or B, you might think I released something that was a little bit suspect. And I knew it couldn’t be B, so yeah, I was a little offended by that.

DX: What specifically led to your release from Def Jam?
JB: I stayed there so long just being patient, and trusting that the powers that be would eventually get on top of their A game and recognize my talent and try to capitalize off of it. But we coming up on a five year mark in June. The memory of the Hip Hop audience is not that long. I couldn’t just sit around and keep releasing Mood Muziks for the rest of my career, so I needed to make a move that was beneficial to both of us. They obviously didn’t want to be bothered by me, and I didn’t want to be bothered by them. Def Jam is not the old Def Jam. Def Jam isn’t what it used to be, when you heard Def Jam you thought of real Hip Hop and rap at its finest, Def Jam now is… I don’t wanna say a pop label, but it’s kinda pop.

DX: You give props to Jay on some of the leaked, untitled tracks for Mood Muzik 3…
JB: Like what?

DX: You refer to “The greatest rapper alive” who is now wearing suits, who everyone is comparing themselves to.
JB: Okay, I did say that.

DX: So you don’t bear any resentment towards him?
JB: Any personal feelings I have towards Jay have nothing to do with the fact that I think he’s the greatest rapper breathing. The guy can rap better than anybody else who picks up a microphone. Now, is he the same Jay as "Reasonable Doubt Jay" or "The Life and Times Jay" or "Blueprint Jay?" That’s a totally different question. In my opinion, he’s by far better than anyone else rapping. I’m an Andre [3000] fan, I’m a Lupe fan, I like guys that really can rap. Whatever me and Jay went through on a business level… I could think that he’s the worst president ever, but that doesn’t take away from his skill.

DX: You’ve been in talks with a lot of labels, what are they saying about you?
JB: They’re excited, everybody is excited and everybody wants to know what’s wrong with me. Like there has to be something wrong with me somewhere for Def Jam to keep me sitting for such a long period of time without doing anything at all. But there really isn’t anything wrong with me. The music is there, the capability is there, the work ethic is there, the talent is there, being marketable. Everything is there, so there’s nothing wrong with me. So that’s a question that’s always fun when it comes up in the meetings.

DX: How are you going to make sure you get the album out shortly?
JB: My album will be out in the summer of 2008, no matter where I am. It’s not like I have to go somewhere and record a billion songs. I already have music done that I’m happy with that I never handed in to Def Jam, and I already have beats that I’m ready to get on that I have been collecting over a course of three or four years. So I just have to make sure my deal’s right. I have to make sure the company is just as happy to have me as I am to have them. The album part? That will take care of itself. I was living like an unsigned artist. I had all these capabilities and I was making all these records and making all these freestyles for no point at all. So now, when I sign my new deal, it’ll go like a normal artist getting a deal. I’ll bust my ass, I’ll make my records and the albums will come out, and I’ll reap the benefits of being a rapper. Continued on page 3 »