DX: You also made news with a debate between you and Lupe Fiasco. You speak from the perspective of the downtrodden supporting a change that could benefit those like you. What was it that Lupe may or may not have understood?
RF: I’m still waiting on that call. We don’t have beef. We don’t have any animosity towards each other. We dig each other’s music. We’re both from the same city and we’re both Muslim. So, we’ve shown how Muslims handle discourse. We’re civil. It’s a beautiful thing about being Muslim – especially with the stereotypes – and how we’ve managed to handle it. I don’t think it was a perspective, really, I think that they try to push it as different viewpoints. In truth, one brother was wrong and the other was just correcting him. I’m standing on my stand. How is it a debate when he says that Obama supports bombing Iran and I say that it’s not true? He still doesn’t believe in the political system, which is what it was. Now, if you want to talk about the fact that I believe that there can be change and he doesn’t, which was clear, I’ll say this… You know those people who say our vote doesn’t count because they’re all the same people? What if the slaves felt that way? What if Harriet Tubman thought that this shit wouldn’t change? What if Frederick Douglass goes to France, leaving his people behind? How can you say that and you sell records for a major record label?! That’s a system in itself! As long as Obama or Clinton are in office it means that WIC can still be enforced so that mothers can get milk and food for their kids. What the fuck can a rapper do? You’re going to be involved in the record label system and talk about a political system. You’re not impressed with Obama? This is not a debate. It’s optimism versus pessimism. It’s a fight for the spirits of our people… and I’m not talking about just black folks. I’m talking about Hip Hop. Some people got the spirit of we’re doomed. I’m going to fight like hell for my survival. El Che [Guevara] was a revolutionary figure and they say that I speak like a reformist about the game. [Laughs] To that I would say, “If Abraham Lincoln were to come to America in 2009, through a time portal and see a black man or a white woman as president, would he think that it’s revolutionary or reformist?"

DX: With all of this political and Afrocentric mindedness, do you think the game is ready for “El Che”…?
RF: It doesn’t matter. Was the game ready for Gandhi, Bob Marley or any revolutionary? Nah. [Laughs] Any revolution has to have the support of the people. I think that I have the backing of the people. Do you think that people want to revel in mediocrity? I don’t think so. Hell, if that was true and I was delivering mediocrity as such, don’t you think J Records would’ve dropped me after Blue Collar? They know that they don’t want to do that.

DX: Last night, you had a listening for the dedication mixtape and I noticed that it was cool, but managed to still be industry. Will people ever get past the notoriety of an artist’s name and just enjoy the experience?
RF: No. One thing that has been consistent and hasn’t changed is what people are attracted to. From the beginning of time till now, people like beauty, status, color, charismatic things. If a name represents that, people will go. The thing is that we can have them all the time and I’m not like that. We need manners. We got to teach the people. We’re in the position as artists to do more than just entertain.

DX: This next question may be a little tough, but I know that Kanye’s mother was one to all of y’all who know him. How has her lost affected you and how have you helped your brother-from-another stand tall on his feet?
RF: I don’t want to talk about that one.

DX: With a lot of work ahead of you – what is one thing you want your fans and the buying public to remember when they hear the name Rhymefest?
RF: Feli Kuti, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder are all people who left this world being great at music and the people identifying with them all. I want to leave my audience a gift. When you hear my music, I want you to remember who your girlfriend was, what car you were driving, some sort of lifetime experience that you’ll never forget. I would like for my gift to define an era from which you lived.