Rakim cleared the air early in his career, that he was not a joke. While the comparisons between Rakim Allah and Mike Jones might end before they start, the Houston rapper most certainly is deserving of more than his peers and critics give him.
Mike Jones ain't no joke either, just ask him about his grandmother's love, his rise to stardom, or being one of the only multi-platinum artists you'll meet, who sat unwillingly on label shelves, while A&R's arguably picked apart an album, that albeit dusty, has still made significant radio rotations over a year before release.
On a cold New York day, Mike Jones puts his lunch to the side to talk to HipHopDX in a busy Atlantic Records studio. He talks about weight loss, about his compromised image at last year's Ozone Awards, and about the influence of his grandmother on his life. Although a minor delay prevented the Ice Age CEO from his then-intent of releasing The Voice on April 14, the anniversary of her death, Mike Jones has a lot more than re-introducing himself in mind with this album.
A little over 20 years ago, some Rap fans had trouble taking Biz Markie seriously too. But "The Vapors" will get you.
HipHopDX: With its rags-to-riches tones and theme of going from undesired to in demand, do you ever compare 2005’s “Back Then” as perhaps a Texas version of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”?
Mike Jones: First off, “Juicy” [click to watch] is my favorite record – from Biggie. Before “Back Then” [click to read] was even made, when I heard “Juicy,” there was a lot of stuff that he [said] that I went through, that he still was able to make a negative turn positive. I always took that from that song. He “was considered a fool / ‘Cause I dropped out of high school / Stereotypes of a black make misunderstood / But it’s still all good.” Like, he peeped it, and he ain’t trippin’ on it. “I’m still shinin’,” I was like, “Man, that’s me!” He couldn’t picture Nintendos, and now he’s picturin’ a whole bunch of stuff.
“Back Then” had its own way like that. I wasn’t tryin’ to take nothin’ from nobody else’s stuff; a lot of people tell me that it reminds them of [Biz Markie’s] “The Vapors.” The topic is very [similar]. It’s just the point of people not wanting to show you love, and now people wanting to show you fake love. That’s just the topic. “Juicy” was basically the same thing, he just had a more persuasive way of tellin’ the world about himself and how he overcame it. I was like, “Man!” I liked that. That was my song. I used to just bang [the song] everyday. “Birthdays was the worst days.” Who didn’t have that? “Now we sip champagne when we thirsty.”
[When] I came out with my album [and “Back Then”], I wasn’t even thinkin’ about no other records, when I wrote it. I was so shocked on how people treat you – the same person [changes] when they think you have money or they think that you’re broke. It amazed me. That’s why I started off real easy. “Before I came up in the game, nobody showed me love / They used to see me in the club and treat me like a scrub / They wouldn’t holler ‘cause my dollars wasn’t swole’ enough / Turn! I bet they changed they mind when them 84’s come rollin’ up.” It’s like a before and after. It’s just amazing how I can have the same outfit I have on now and a girl can look at me and say I’m not hot. But I get on TV and come back, and shit, I’m hot again. As that formulated, and came out, a lot of people was really lookin’ at that song and bein’ aware, like, “Damn, that is true. Back then, she ain’t want me. I ain’t have a car; she wasn’t tryin’ to holla at me. Now I get me a new Toyota, she can’t stop callin’ my phone.”
Or, “I used to be overweight.” People come to me all the time, women and men, kids, “Yo Mike Jones, I was a 100 pounds overweight, man. The girl Stephanie didn’t want to holler at me, but man, I lost 60 pounds, and now she thinks I’m this, this, that.” So not only me, it built up a lot of peoples’ self-esteem, confidence from that record, just like “Juicy” built up my self-esteem and my confidence from [Biggie’s] record. Hopefully, in time, someone else will come with another record that will build up people’s confidence. It doesn’t matter what time of record it is, as long as it’s a record that’s uplifting, because there’s so much wrong and so much crazy stuff goin’ on that you need something to uplift you.
With me, I called my album Who Is Mike Jones? I wanted people to know who I was. I could’ve just came out and [said], “Oh, I got 100 whips and 100 broads, this, this, this.” Nah, I want to let people know this is how we ride [with] “Still Tippin’.” People know me for repeating lines [in songs]. That’s the main idea of my verse. You hear the whole verse, you hear me repeat stuff at the end, that’s the part that I really want you to understand [and let it] sink in. Everybody has their way of explaining stuff or sellin’ stuff. This is my way…just off of [saying “Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot, they all on me”] in “Still Tippin’,” people fell in love with that quote. And it made me say, “Damn. If that’s what everybody likin’, may as well do a record, talkin’ about that!”
DX: You were poised enough to apologize after the Ozone Awards situation. I don’t want to ask about that as much as ask, if you care to comment…you’ve always been very human, by all means a “nice guy.” I think that’s what people get from your records and respect – I respect that about you. In 2005, that was an against the grain move. With whatever headlines may have been, do you feel that you compromised that image at all, or that image was compromised?
Mike Jones: I honestly think that…like you said, people that have followed me from ’05 and [in] the underground [previously], they know that I don’t carry myself as a violent person. I’m a person…I like to go to work, make money and chill. I’m not finna mess with you [if] you’re not finna mess with me. I’m not gonna be the one that’s gonna be the cause of a problem; I’m always in the defense, if anything. Just by looking at the [Ozone Awards] situation, you can look at that and look at my rap sheet and [know] that Jones would never even indulge in [an activity like that].
At the same time, we all livin’ in reality. Some people do see a chance to take their career to another level [when] they can’t do it on their own. They don’t do [those things] when cameras aren’t around; they wait till cameras are around. It’s gonna keep happenin’ from now till the end of time, whether it’s me and [Trae], or whoever the next group of people is. People just sit back and [prey on other artists’ fame]. Even though we all know how people plan [these things], people are still gonna talk about it afterwards. My thing is, I just pray that everybody who knows me as a person and knows how I get down, knows that I wasn’t intending to put a bad image on what happened at the Ozone.
I came to the event…me and my mom, first off. I brought my mom. When you bring your mom to anything, you really aren’t trying to bring that [element] to the forefront. I brought her, I brought my brother, my homeboy from out of town and my mom brought a few of her homegirls. The way it kicked off, we wasn’t even able to make it to our seats. When everything kicked off, it really just not only disappointed me, but disappointed my mama for one. As my mama, she knows I don’t get down like that. [Then] my fans. Like you said, you know that ain’t my character. And three, they gonna pin it on Mike Jones ‘cause I have the name. You not gonna pin it on the other people, ‘cause they don’t have a name. Just think about it.
[Trae and his entourage] won’t tell you that they seen me a week before the event and looked me in my face; they won’t tell you that. Here it is, lights, camera, action, this is the perfect time to make it happen [for them]. Thank God that my mom was cool, I was cool; it’s cool. The record’s gonna speak for itself.
DX: You mentioned family. A few minutes ago, you and I were talking about your grandmother and the significance of this release date. Tell me about following up “Grandma,” and also of family in your life…
Mike Jones: Man. Honestly man, my main dream forever [was] basketball. In ’98, I used to play ball, all the time. In ’99 I was supposed to graduate, but I didn’t graduate. I was already down from that. My dreams, that kept me going to school was basketball. You’ve got to pass if you want to play. When you switch schools, from school from school from school, you’ve got to wait a year, wait a year, wait a year. After a while, I was like, “Man, forget it.” My grandma, she was always that helping ear, was always that guidance, was always that…shieldin’ me to the right place. I never seen my dad, never, ever. So I grew up without my old man, never ever, but I’m not mad at that. My grandma, she just gave me enough game that I needed to know that I can still make a change and make a difference.
It was a time when I didn’t want to use “Mike Jones”; I had another Rap name. She was like, “Use Mike Jones. You need to be proud to be a Jones.” So I started doin’ it. The reason I really started [marketing my name] was because I’d go to a deejay, and be like, “Hey, I need you to check out my CD.” They’d be like, “Who are you?” “Mike Jones.” “Who?” “Mike Jones.” “Man, don’t nobody know who Mike Jones is.”
I’d just take back to her everything that they’d told me. She was like, “Shoot. Let ‘em know who Mike Jones is then.” From there, I [decided] I was gonna call the album Who Is Mike Jones? … She was like my manager, my…I don’t know what to tell you, but it worked for me. I always promised her that when I made it, I was gonna forever look out for my grandma, because not only did she look out for me financially, but she looked out for me in spirit, heart, words. April 14, 2003, she passed away, right when everything was startin’ to grow for me, startin’ to blow. April 19, 2005, two years later, I had dropped the album, Who Is Mike Jones? I dedicated it to my grand-mama. I dedicated a track to her called “Grandma” [click to read]. It wasn’t a single, but people fell in love with the fact that I’m not just talkin’ about ballin’ and shot-callin’, I’m lettin’ people know about my personal life, and lettin’ people know that I do have feelin’s for my grandma, and I’m glorifyin’ it. She is the main reason why I’m called a marketing guru, or this and that, ‘cause she gave me the tools or the game, the insight, and I listened to her, and took it to another level.
DX: This past year, when Big Moe passed, we did our research [and not much has been written or said]. You were probably the biggest artist he worked with, in terms of sales and commercial success. You did that at a time after his single and all that. Talk about that, because I don’t think he’s somebody that the history books are covering, and I hope that they do one day…
Mike Jones: Wow. Big Moe, a legend [of] Houston, Texas. Even [Lil] Wayne [click to read], now, he has records where he’ll say a whole Big Moe line. I don’t know if you heard it, but he’ll rap a whole Big Moe “Bar Baby” line, and he’s showing respect to Big Moe. Before I even started doing the music – in Screw or rappin’ in general, Big Moe already had radio locked down [with] Wreckshop Records at the time.
Big Moe was doin’ the man. Big Moe could sing. Even though he was [physically] big, people didn’t care about that, they loved his voice, and fell in love with his heart. Big Moe used to sing and freestyle, and people were just addicted to Big Moe. [He] passed away before his career could really go to the next level, like a Fat Pat or DJ Screw or any of the others that came…I always…I’m a fan of music, whether it’s Houston music or out of state music. I’m a fan of music. I love Big Moe’s music.
The movie, The American Dream, I got D-Wreck from Wreckshop Records to shoot the movie. I was a fan of the way, independently, he put Wreckshop Records on the map. And I want to put Ice Age on the map, independently, in the same structure. So me being a fan of that, I got him to do the movie, and I [placed] Big Moe on my first album [on] “Flossin’” [click to read].
I wrote the hook and was like, “I can’t sing, but I can write.” I wrote it. Big Moe [read it], and he sung it, and it sounded perfect. It hurt me that much that when that record came out, it was the #1 most-added record at urban mainstream [radio], but the machines at the major labels started turnin’ off, and the record started goin’ down. So we never got a chance to see it explode, [like] a “Still Tippin’” or “Back Then,” but the numbers showed that it was the most-added record before [the push stopped].
When Big Moe passed away, I reached out to his mom, and we did this big, big Big Moe party, and we donated the proceeds to his mom. I was just tryin’ to do somethin’ to show people it wasn’t just all about, “Oh, we did a song with him.” It was about reaching out to the fans; I’m a fan too.
DX: Earlier, you called yourself a marketing guru. A lot of writers have agreed. We’re in the Twitter-era now. As you see every artist in Hip Hop going there, do you feel you were a pioneer in granting that kind of access to who you were as a platinum artist?
Mike Jones: Oh, fo’ sure! Especially to the point where I had to take the backlash. When I was the first one at the time, everybody didn’t have a problem makin’ fun of it. Now it’s a central tool that artists use to help market themselves, something that I was doing years back.
So yeah, I do feel that a lot of them should thank me. But I’m not even trippin’ like that. My whole thing is, if you come with a concept, and I feel like I don’t think it’s gonna work, then I just keep my feelings and my thoughts to myself, and we keep it movin’. But when you publicly let it be known, “Oh, he’s stupid. He’s a gimmick…” and then three years later, you’re doing everything you said I was doing, I’ve got to ask, “Okay, am I still what you was sayin’, or are you just not hip to the game?”
DX: Tell us about the labor of love that went into The Voice, and what’s gonna be there…
Mike Jones: For one, I been wantin’ to drop this album since the success of the first one. You know how when you place a bet, and you go from no money, to a million! You’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna run that same route again.” I never got a chance to run that route – to at least be able to say I failed or I succeeded. Somebody’s tires on the car stopped me from getting to know my outcome – I hope you understand what I’m sayin’.
The first album was Who Is Make Jones? Someone gave me somethin’ to sell. I sold it. Two million sales. In my time-frame, where I’m from, it ain’t been done. Double-platinum, out the gate. My second album, [I wanted to top it], so I made “Cuddy Buddy,” “Next To You,” “Drop And Gimme 50,” so my question to you is, if I would’ve came out with those records, right after the success of the first album, it would be a different conversation, to what we’re talkin’ about right now. But, since the tires went on flat and the alternator went out, and all that happened, I was still forced to hold everything in my backpack, until I felt that stuff got more smoother for me to release it.
Now that it’s smoother, and politics are in my favor, and now that I lost weight – went from 285 to 190, and now the girls are sayin, “Wow.” Now that all this is happening, and now that the record that people said I couldn’t do [sings “Cuddy Buddy”], I’m like, “Damn boy, I remember when everybody said that Mike Jones fell off with this record.” Just imagine if I had the opportunity to drop it in ’06, right after my big year. What you think? I know what it did for me in ’08, just imagine what it [could have] did for me in ’06. So that’s why I’m so excited to bring The Voice out.
Mike Jones ain't no joke either, just ask him about his grandmother's love, his rise to stardom, or being one of the only multi-platinum artists you'll meet, who sat unwillingly on label shelves, while A&R's arguably picked apart an album, that albeit dusty, has still made significant radio rotations over a year before release.
On a cold New York day, Mike Jones puts his lunch to the side to talk to HipHopDX in a busy Atlantic Records studio. He talks about weight loss, about his compromised image at last year's Ozone Awards, and about the influence of his grandmother on his life. Although a minor delay prevented the Ice Age CEO from his then-intent of releasing The Voice on April 14, the anniversary of her death, Mike Jones has a lot more than re-introducing himself in mind with this album.
A little over 20 years ago, some Rap fans had trouble taking Biz Markie seriously too. But "The Vapors" will get you.
HipHopDX: With its rags-to-riches tones and theme of going from undesired to in demand, do you ever compare 2005’s “Back Then” as perhaps a Texas version of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”?
Mike Jones: First off, “Juicy” [click to watch] is my favorite record – from Biggie. Before “Back Then” [click to read] was even made, when I heard “Juicy,” there was a lot of stuff that he [said] that I went through, that he still was able to make a negative turn positive. I always took that from that song. He “was considered a fool / ‘Cause I dropped out of high school / Stereotypes of a black make misunderstood / But it’s still all good.” Like, he peeped it, and he ain’t trippin’ on it. “I’m still shinin’,” I was like, “Man, that’s me!” He couldn’t picture Nintendos, and now he’s picturin’ a whole bunch of stuff.
“Back Then” had its own way like that. I wasn’t tryin’ to take nothin’ from nobody else’s stuff; a lot of people tell me that it reminds them of [Biz Markie’s] “The Vapors.” The topic is very [similar]. It’s just the point of people not wanting to show you love, and now people wanting to show you fake love. That’s just the topic. “Juicy” was basically the same thing, he just had a more persuasive way of tellin’ the world about himself and how he overcame it. I was like, “Man!” I liked that. That was my song. I used to just bang [the song] everyday. “Birthdays was the worst days.” Who didn’t have that? “Now we sip champagne when we thirsty.”
[When] I came out with my album [and “Back Then”], I wasn’t even thinkin’ about no other records, when I wrote it. I was so shocked on how people treat you – the same person [changes] when they think you have money or they think that you’re broke. It amazed me. That’s why I started off real easy. “Before I came up in the game, nobody showed me love / They used to see me in the club and treat me like a scrub / They wouldn’t holler ‘cause my dollars wasn’t swole’ enough / Turn! I bet they changed they mind when them 84’s come rollin’ up.” It’s like a before and after. It’s just amazing how I can have the same outfit I have on now and a girl can look at me and say I’m not hot. But I get on TV and come back, and shit, I’m hot again. As that formulated, and came out, a lot of people was really lookin’ at that song and bein’ aware, like, “Damn, that is true. Back then, she ain’t want me. I ain’t have a car; she wasn’t tryin’ to holla at me. Now I get me a new Toyota, she can’t stop callin’ my phone.”
Or, “I used to be overweight.” People come to me all the time, women and men, kids, “Yo Mike Jones, I was a 100 pounds overweight, man. The girl Stephanie didn’t want to holler at me, but man, I lost 60 pounds, and now she thinks I’m this, this, that.” So not only me, it built up a lot of peoples’ self-esteem, confidence from that record, just like “Juicy” built up my self-esteem and my confidence from [Biggie’s] record. Hopefully, in time, someone else will come with another record that will build up people’s confidence. It doesn’t matter what time of record it is, as long as it’s a record that’s uplifting, because there’s so much wrong and so much crazy stuff goin’ on that you need something to uplift you.
With me, I called my album Who Is Mike Jones? I wanted people to know who I was. I could’ve just came out and [said], “Oh, I got 100 whips and 100 broads, this, this, this.” Nah, I want to let people know this is how we ride [with] “Still Tippin’.” People know me for repeating lines [in songs]. That’s the main idea of my verse. You hear the whole verse, you hear me repeat stuff at the end, that’s the part that I really want you to understand [and let it] sink in. Everybody has their way of explaining stuff or sellin’ stuff. This is my way…just off of [saying “Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot, they all on me”] in “Still Tippin’,” people fell in love with that quote. And it made me say, “Damn. If that’s what everybody likin’, may as well do a record, talkin’ about that!”
DX: You were poised enough to apologize after the Ozone Awards situation. I don’t want to ask about that as much as ask, if you care to comment…you’ve always been very human, by all means a “nice guy.” I think that’s what people get from your records and respect – I respect that about you. In 2005, that was an against the grain move. With whatever headlines may have been, do you feel that you compromised that image at all, or that image was compromised?
Mike Jones: I honestly think that…like you said, people that have followed me from ’05 and [in] the underground [previously], they know that I don’t carry myself as a violent person. I’m a person…I like to go to work, make money and chill. I’m not finna mess with you [if] you’re not finna mess with me. I’m not gonna be the one that’s gonna be the cause of a problem; I’m always in the defense, if anything. Just by looking at the [Ozone Awards] situation, you can look at that and look at my rap sheet and [know] that Jones would never even indulge in [an activity like that].
At the same time, we all livin’ in reality. Some people do see a chance to take their career to another level [when] they can’t do it on their own. They don’t do [those things] when cameras aren’t around; they wait till cameras are around. It’s gonna keep happenin’ from now till the end of time, whether it’s me and [Trae], or whoever the next group of people is. People just sit back and [prey on other artists’ fame]. Even though we all know how people plan [these things], people are still gonna talk about it afterwards. My thing is, I just pray that everybody who knows me as a person and knows how I get down, knows that I wasn’t intending to put a bad image on what happened at the Ozone.
I came to the event…me and my mom, first off. I brought my mom. When you bring your mom to anything, you really aren’t trying to bring that [element] to the forefront. I brought her, I brought my brother, my homeboy from out of town and my mom brought a few of her homegirls. The way it kicked off, we wasn’t even able to make it to our seats. When everything kicked off, it really just not only disappointed me, but disappointed my mama for one. As my mama, she knows I don’t get down like that. [Then] my fans. Like you said, you know that ain’t my character. And three, they gonna pin it on Mike Jones ‘cause I have the name. You not gonna pin it on the other people, ‘cause they don’t have a name. Just think about it.
[Trae and his entourage] won’t tell you that they seen me a week before the event and looked me in my face; they won’t tell you that. Here it is, lights, camera, action, this is the perfect time to make it happen [for them]. Thank God that my mom was cool, I was cool; it’s cool. The record’s gonna speak for itself.
DX: You mentioned family. A few minutes ago, you and I were talking about your grandmother and the significance of this release date. Tell me about following up “Grandma,” and also of family in your life…
Mike Jones: Man. Honestly man, my main dream forever [was] basketball. In ’98, I used to play ball, all the time. In ’99 I was supposed to graduate, but I didn’t graduate. I was already down from that. My dreams, that kept me going to school was basketball. You’ve got to pass if you want to play. When you switch schools, from school from school from school, you’ve got to wait a year, wait a year, wait a year. After a while, I was like, “Man, forget it.” My grandma, she was always that helping ear, was always that guidance, was always that…shieldin’ me to the right place. I never seen my dad, never, ever. So I grew up without my old man, never ever, but I’m not mad at that. My grandma, she just gave me enough game that I needed to know that I can still make a change and make a difference.
It was a time when I didn’t want to use “Mike Jones”; I had another Rap name. She was like, “Use Mike Jones. You need to be proud to be a Jones.” So I started doin’ it. The reason I really started [marketing my name] was because I’d go to a deejay, and be like, “Hey, I need you to check out my CD.” They’d be like, “Who are you?” “Mike Jones.” “Who?” “Mike Jones.” “Man, don’t nobody know who Mike Jones is.”
I’d just take back to her everything that they’d told me. She was like, “Shoot. Let ‘em know who Mike Jones is then.” From there, I [decided] I was gonna call the album Who Is Mike Jones? … She was like my manager, my…I don’t know what to tell you, but it worked for me. I always promised her that when I made it, I was gonna forever look out for my grandma, because not only did she look out for me financially, but she looked out for me in spirit, heart, words. April 14, 2003, she passed away, right when everything was startin’ to grow for me, startin’ to blow. April 19, 2005, two years later, I had dropped the album, Who Is Mike Jones? I dedicated it to my grand-mama. I dedicated a track to her called “Grandma” [click to read]. It wasn’t a single, but people fell in love with the fact that I’m not just talkin’ about ballin’ and shot-callin’, I’m lettin’ people know about my personal life, and lettin’ people know that I do have feelin’s for my grandma, and I’m glorifyin’ it. She is the main reason why I’m called a marketing guru, or this and that, ‘cause she gave me the tools or the game, the insight, and I listened to her, and took it to another level.
DX: This past year, when Big Moe passed, we did our research [and not much has been written or said]. You were probably the biggest artist he worked with, in terms of sales and commercial success. You did that at a time after his single and all that. Talk about that, because I don’t think he’s somebody that the history books are covering, and I hope that they do one day…
Mike Jones: Wow. Big Moe, a legend [of] Houston, Texas. Even [Lil] Wayne [click to read], now, he has records where he’ll say a whole Big Moe line. I don’t know if you heard it, but he’ll rap a whole Big Moe “Bar Baby” line, and he’s showing respect to Big Moe. Before I even started doing the music – in Screw or rappin’ in general, Big Moe already had radio locked down [with] Wreckshop Records at the time.
Big Moe was doin’ the man. Big Moe could sing. Even though he was [physically] big, people didn’t care about that, they loved his voice, and fell in love with his heart. Big Moe used to sing and freestyle, and people were just addicted to Big Moe. [He] passed away before his career could really go to the next level, like a Fat Pat or DJ Screw or any of the others that came…I always…I’m a fan of music, whether it’s Houston music or out of state music. I’m a fan of music. I love Big Moe’s music.
The movie, The American Dream, I got D-Wreck from Wreckshop Records to shoot the movie. I was a fan of the way, independently, he put Wreckshop Records on the map. And I want to put Ice Age on the map, independently, in the same structure. So me being a fan of that, I got him to do the movie, and I [placed] Big Moe on my first album [on] “Flossin’” [click to read].
I wrote the hook and was like, “I can’t sing, but I can write.” I wrote it. Big Moe [read it], and he sung it, and it sounded perfect. It hurt me that much that when that record came out, it was the #1 most-added record at urban mainstream [radio], but the machines at the major labels started turnin’ off, and the record started goin’ down. So we never got a chance to see it explode, [like] a “Still Tippin’” or “Back Then,” but the numbers showed that it was the most-added record before [the push stopped].
When Big Moe passed away, I reached out to his mom, and we did this big, big Big Moe party, and we donated the proceeds to his mom. I was just tryin’ to do somethin’ to show people it wasn’t just all about, “Oh, we did a song with him.” It was about reaching out to the fans; I’m a fan too.
DX: Earlier, you called yourself a marketing guru. A lot of writers have agreed. We’re in the Twitter-era now. As you see every artist in Hip Hop going there, do you feel you were a pioneer in granting that kind of access to who you were as a platinum artist?
Mike Jones: Oh, fo’ sure! Especially to the point where I had to take the backlash. When I was the first one at the time, everybody didn’t have a problem makin’ fun of it. Now it’s a central tool that artists use to help market themselves, something that I was doing years back.
So yeah, I do feel that a lot of them should thank me. But I’m not even trippin’ like that. My whole thing is, if you come with a concept, and I feel like I don’t think it’s gonna work, then I just keep my feelings and my thoughts to myself, and we keep it movin’. But when you publicly let it be known, “Oh, he’s stupid. He’s a gimmick…” and then three years later, you’re doing everything you said I was doing, I’ve got to ask, “Okay, am I still what you was sayin’, or are you just not hip to the game?”
DX: Tell us about the labor of love that went into The Voice, and what’s gonna be there…
Mike Jones: For one, I been wantin’ to drop this album since the success of the first one. You know how when you place a bet, and you go from no money, to a million! You’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna run that same route again.” I never got a chance to run that route – to at least be able to say I failed or I succeeded. Somebody’s tires on the car stopped me from getting to know my outcome – I hope you understand what I’m sayin’.
The first album was Who Is Make Jones? Someone gave me somethin’ to sell. I sold it. Two million sales. In my time-frame, where I’m from, it ain’t been done. Double-platinum, out the gate. My second album, [I wanted to top it], so I made “Cuddy Buddy,” “Next To You,” “Drop And Gimme 50,” so my question to you is, if I would’ve came out with those records, right after the success of the first album, it would be a different conversation, to what we’re talkin’ about right now. But, since the tires went on flat and the alternator went out, and all that happened, I was still forced to hold everything in my backpack, until I felt that stuff got more smoother for me to release it.
Now that it’s smoother, and politics are in my favor, and now that I lost weight – went from 285 to 190, and now the girls are sayin, “Wow.” Now that all this is happening, and now that the record that people said I couldn’t do [sings “Cuddy Buddy”], I’m like, “Damn boy, I remember when everybody said that Mike Jones fell off with this record.” Just imagine if I had the opportunity to drop it in ’06, right after my big year. What you think? I know what it did for me in ’08, just imagine what it [could have] did for me in ’06. So that’s why I’m so excited to bring The Voice out.
