Although his anticipated second album El Che still remains without a release date, Rhymefest continues to maintain his optimism. From books, to race and gender relations, few artists seem happier to be involved in Hip Hop and more active in carrying out its once golden intentions.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Rhymefest speaks on his latest mixtape The Manual, [click to listen] explains why J Records may not be his home for much longer, and how Twitter has united artists and their fans.
HipHopDX: Your mixtape The Manual has been on a number of blogs and websites this entire week. What has the feedback been for that so far?
Rhymefest: The feedback has been astronomically great. One of the best things about is that a lot of fans have written reviews for [it]. The fans have really shown their power by like saying “Okay, if major radio ain’t gonna support Rhymefest or The Source or whatever major magazine. Vibe is not gonna put Rhymefest on their cover. We’re going to cover him. We’re gonna show that he has fans and that regardless of who pays for what.” ‘Cause you know a lot of times these labels they pay for their artists to get these features [and] inside these covers of these magazines and I’m happy that I have a fan base that’s like “All you gotta do 'Fest, is put it out. You put it out. Let us do the rest.” And so a lot of fans are writing blogs, reviewing it, and turning their friends onto it. It’s just further showing that the playing field can be leveled through different medians - not just the BET and the mainstream radio.
DX: I saw your blog on HipHopGame the other day and you actually reviewed your own project. What was the motive behind that? Did you want to discover something by reviewing your own project?
Rhymefest: Well, I think by reviewing your own material it’s kind of like doing your work and then checking over it. You may discover some things you didn’t discover the first time.
DX: Like proofreading?
Rhymefest: It’s like proofreading. Exactly. That’s what that was. And I discovered some things about me as I was writing it. One of the things that I discovered is I’m having more fun and it’s easier for me to do this and put it out quick. Man In The Mirror [click to read] was done in a month. The Manual was done in a month. And I’m putting this stuff out that’s better than peoples albums, in a month. And here I am on a major record label and can’t get a record out in three years. You know what I mean? So it’s like I have to determine because what happens is the fans they blame you. They don’t know about the red tape. They don’t know that the label is saying, “Oh, well go get a song with Kanye [West], or go do this and jump through that hoop.” And then we’re gonna have a meeting about the meeting we had last week. And in the meantime the fans are saying “Why isn’t this nigga not putting out no records? Why ain‘t he putting an album out?” So now I’m thinking about my career in a way like maybe I should just put out my music and not even sell it. [I can avoid] the “How many did he sell the first week” game. Maybe I should just give it to the people [and live off of] merchandise, touring, other revenues. Like Rhymefest music is not my only stream of revenue. But then my thing with that is if you give people music they tend to think it’s not as valuable as the one that other people bought. There’s a misconception. While The Manual is better than any album out right now, that’s just come out, it’s kinda like the value of it is depreciated because it’s given away.
DX: At the end of the review, you wrote on your blog you actually gave yourself four and a half stars. Why not go for the full five? What would have made this a five star mixtape in your opinion?
Rhymefest: Because I am the biggest critic of me. I try to be. I think we all should be. I think our biggest competition shouldn’t be Jay-Z [click to read], it should be you. I’m trying to beat myself. I think Man In The Mirror, honestly, was better than The Manual. I think it had more personality in it. I think The Manual, one thing that I [think] it didn’t have...it didn’t have any girl songs. I was being rebellious and stubborn - like, “I ain’t making no damn girl songs.” I think I was mad at the radio or something. ‘Cause everybody was pandering. When you listen to the radio, it’s like, “If girls can’t dance to it it’s not nothing. If the ho’s don’t like it, fuck it.” And then sometimes I feel like what happened to men wanting to be men? What happened to men being like women are going to admire me because I’m a man. I stand this way. I work. Look at my fingernails baby, look at the dirt under it. I roll with men, they respect me. I’m a general. Do everybody gotta be like, “Girl get ya ass over here and shake it right here like this oooh.” My thing is it’s not that I can’t do that, haven’t done it, or won’t do it. It’s that just for this I wanted it to be a man. I wanted it to respect like Hip Hop like from where it comes from for me and how it grooms me as a man. So when you hear the song ["A Deal's A Deal"] with CL Smooth [click to read], when I say, “A deal’s a deal. A man’s a man. Your word’s your word and you gonna know where I stand.” Like that meant something to me. Like I’m a stand up guy. This is what I’m on. Like everything ain’t for shaking your ass. Something’s are for [just] listening and entertainment and understanding. So that’s what this is for. But I think that even with that big, elaborate thing that I said I still took some points away because it’s like you can’t do all that and relate to the ladies, homie? Then why not? I look at it from all aspects or I’ll say, “You got 20 joints on there. You telling me you can’t do three where it’s like some Bohemian, Philadelphia thing where you still doing Hip Hop? You know what I mean? Like the song ["You Got Me"] that Erykah Badu and The Roots [click to read] did? That’s like [an] old school joint. You telling me you can’t do that? You know, just a little softer homie. Just a little bit?” And so I’m like, “Okay, okay.”
DX: So The Manual has some production by Scram Jones. What made you choose Scram for this particular project?
Rhymefest: [Man In The Mirror] was mainly [produced by] Mark Ronson. This one [is] with Scram Jones. I believe every project that I do should have continuity to it. Should have a sound to it. And I think Scram Jones represented the sound of that golden age Hip Hop, from all the tracks that I’ve heard from him [and] from what he’s done on my album, El Che. He has the golden age sound, but it’s updated for today. So when I said “Okay, I want to do this type of CD,” Scram Jones was the perfect person with the chemistry for that. Like when you hear all those scratches on there and the [imitates scratching noise] Rhymefest it’s like “Man, he knows how to do that.” Now if I would have went to Nottz, Nottz is like this [ill tone] producer. You go to Nottz for that west coast, down south type boom boom. So when I do that, I go to Nottz, but if I’m doing that golden era Hip Hop I’m going to Scram. And me and Scram, we have a chemistry.
I’m not even gonna lie; I was a bigot. I was a bigot. I felt as though “Man white producers their drums might be a little off because they may not have the rhythm of a [DJ Premier], Kanye, Just Blaze. They may not have that melody, that feel, that soulfulness." But I found through making this album, my best music has come from the white producers. They have the passion. The guy that did “Bullet” on Blue Collar [click to read], a white guy named Emile did that song. Emile has done stuff for like Lloyd Banks [click to read], Eminem, and 50 [Cent] [click to read]. Scram Jones has done stuff for 50 and Mariah Carey, Raekwon [click to read], Ghostface [click to read], all types of people. And what I find is what it’s really about in Hip Hop is your passion. And passion comes in all colors.
DX: On The Manual you have a song with Queen Latifah called “Going In,” and she’s really rapping on that track. How did you get her do that? Because I haven’t heard her rap like that in a minute.
Rhymefest: She’s snapping ain’t she? Snapping so hard that when it was my turn to write my rap...you've gotta understand, if you feel like some of these people killed me on some of these songs just because, I ain’t even gonna lie I was intimidated. It’s like imagine meeting somebody you grew up [on] that formed who you are. Their words formed my personality. Their words formed my passion. Her words gave my passion for Hip Hop definition. You know what I mean? And to have the opportunity and you rarely hear male rappers say this about women let alone female rappers. Queen Latifah [click to read] helped form me as a man. Her words gave my style definition. When you hear, “If you may think you Hip Hop…” in my raps, where do you think that comes from? That comes from her example. Her being one of the examples and the example she set. Now I met Queen Latifah because my friend Malik Yusef had invited me to this BET taping that was called A Sit Down With The Queen with Ananda Lewis and Queen Latifah. I was like, “Oh, we’re going back stage?” He was like, “No, the taping. We’re just gonna sit in the audience.” I was like, “Man I don’t wanna sit in the audience for BET. They don‘t even let me on Rap City, nigga. You want me to go sit in the fuckin audience and watch Queen Latifah get interviewed? She dope and all, I love her and everything but man I will get there and it‘s gonna look like Jet magazine and there’s gonna be all types of Black Enterprise ass niggas there.” He’s like, “Nah. Come on, come on.” So I went. Turns out he got a call and he’s like, “Aw, I can’t even go in. I gotta go take this appointment somewhere else.” So now I’m going to BET, sitting in the audience by myself, watching Ananda Lewis interview Queen Latifah. But boy, it wasn’t nothing but beautiful black women trying to get empowered and listening to words of wisdom. I was the only male there.
DX: I know you were happy.
Rhymefest: I was happy, but then I felt like, “Man, don’t nobody know who I am.” Here I am sitting around all these women. ‘Cause you know I got a little ego. I be wanting people to know it’s Rhymefest. [Laughs] They went to a commercial break. Queen Latifah looked down in the audience and she starts winking. Waving her and winking. And I’m like, “Who the fuck is she winking at? Ain’t nothing but women around here.” So then she’s like, “Hey Rhymefest. [Reciting] I don’t like it unless it’s brand new. Brand new.” And all the women start looking at me like, “Is she talking to that nigga? Who is you?” And then I pointed to myself like, “Me? You know me?” She’s like, “Yeah. Come here, come here.” I’m like, “Excuse me, excuse me,” going around people. And she’s just like, “Stay here. I’ve been looking for you. I need to holler at you as soon as this is done.” And I was like, “Get the fuck out of here.” I start texting all my niggas, “Queen Latifah, she loves me nigga. She loves me.” And after the show she was telling me how much she like my music and she was like, “I’m getting ready to go to the studio later in the week.” ‘Cause she still records for fun or whatever. She was like, “I’ma hit the studio. Why don’t you come listen to some of my stuff? Tell me what you think.” I’m like “Word?” Next thing I know me and Queen Latifah [are] at the studio. So do you think that I’m gonna let the opportunity pass before I’m like, “By the way, I’ve got this beat and you know if you’re not doing anything.” She sat right down. Got to it. Went in there and when she started saying, “With the heart of a champion I got that understanding. Hater’s say that she crampin’. I been pampered and pampered.” Oooh-weee! And from then on, like, that’s my girl.
DX: You mentioned her [Queen Latifah] as an example of someone you look up to. Who are some other artists who have set examples for you as well?
Rhymefest: It’s funny for me ’cause it’s like I don’t have the same old list. You know what I mean? Not that these artists are any less of great, but I just don’t have that list of Rakim [click to read], Nas, Jay-Z. Even though they’re legends. In top five, 10 whatever. My list is a little more awkward. My list would include Biz Markie [click to read], [Ol' Dirty Bastard]. People who weren’t afraid to be themselves. Like [with] Biz Markie and O.D.B., we learned the humor is okay in Hip Hop. You don’t have to take yourself so serious all the time. Humor is a great part of storytelling. Humor and sometimes talking about your frailties is a great part of being entertaining and being a man. Being human is good in music. I would say the gangsterism of Scarface [click to read]. Like for him to say things on [The Geto Boys'] “My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me” like “Day by day it's more impossible to cope. I feel like I'm the one that's doing dope.” That’s not like, “Yo, I just sold a [kilo] for half a mil. Oh shit nigga look how great this is. Selling drugs feels so good.” It’s like he’s telling you the real life. Scarface, Biz Markie, I would say the storytelling genius of Slick Rick. Slick Rick is the greatest storyteller of all time. A lot of Rhymefest songs, you think you're gonna hear this battle rapper, but you turn it on, you may be surprised to just hear these great narratives. And that’s that Slick Rick you know. You go to somebody like Kool G Rap [click to read], who just has ferocious metaphors and lyrics. It’s people like that that I would say had the biggest influences on me. The Queen Latifah’s, the Slick Rick’s, and the Scarface’s. And that eclectic mix makes me as complicated as I am as an artist.
DX: Who are some current artists that you think are similar to the artists that you just named as far as them not being afraid to be who they are and tell you how life really is?
Rhymefest: I’m gonna do the diss. I’ll do the dis then I’ll do the good side. The diss is most artists currently came up when rap went so mainstream that the only three choices that they could take to be successful were 2Pac, Biggie, and Jay-Z. And a lot of [fans] just really [chose] Jay-Z. Now they're choosing Kanye, which is ironic ‘cause in a way I feel like y'all taking me. Imagine if you took a thousand sheets of paper and you just hit copy. Some of ‘em are gonna come out dark. Some of ‘em are gonna come out real light. Some of ‘em are gonna come out like not legible. That’s what these artists are to me. A thousand copies of Jay-Z - in different tones. They may have different aspects of Jay-Z or different aspects of Kanye. Some of them are like “Well, I’m just gonna sing like Kanye,” or “I’m just gonna rap like Kanye,” or “I’m just gonna be colorful and arrogant like Kanye, even though I can‘t sing or rap.” So you see different tones of the same original two copies. But, there’s hope. Like [Barack] Obama said, there’s hope. B.o.B. [click to read] is dope. I love B.o.B. I think Wale [click to read] is very promising. And I would not count out people who I feel like are still doing it. Andre [3000] [click to read] is definitely original. And it’s like he’s one of them people anything he say just be good. He’s so good at rapping. He don’t even have to rap no more. I feel like Devin The Dude [click to view] is so underrated. He is so good. And it’s like everybody knows about Devin The Dude, but don’t nobody want to talk about it ‘cause don’t nobody else really know. I wish people would stop doing that though ‘cause like he is so dope. Devin The Dude, I wrote that dude a MySpace one time. I might’ve freaked him out. I was like, “Man, I really mess with your music.” He was like, “What up man? I mess with you too.” Then I was like, “Oh God, he answered me back.” Before I got a deal, Devin The Dude’s music really helped me through a lot of things in my life. I just wrote him back and told him, “Man, I’m just gonna write you as a fan bro. Your music got me through hard times in my life and I don’t know how you feel about what your situation is. This is what it is. This is how I feel about you as an artist and what I see in you as a person.” And I don’t really know how rappers feel about other rappers coming at them like that, but he never wrote me back after that. It was on MySpace. He probably didn’t even think it was me. I really admire him. And I really admire the fact that he’s so consistent and so talented
DX: On the mixtape you also have the diss track “Super Sonic (Chucky Cheese)”. Why did you decide to make that track instead of just letting the issues between you and Charles Hamilton just die out?
Rhymefest: Because that was always a part of the CD. Just like I released “Exodus” and I released the track “Coolness.” If you look at it [J.J. Fad's] “Supersonic,” was '80s, '90s. It was part of the whole schematics of what I was doing and just because it came out early it was part of promoting The Manual. I’m done with dude. I want him to go on and have a whatever kind of productive career he can have. Hopefully, there was a lesson learned. Not just by him, but it was a lesson learned by all. Like this wasn’t just about me dissing a person. This was about me giving an example of Hip Hop - like an example of these are the rules of engagement. You know what I mean? If this happens, this will happen. This is an example to all. What was interesting though there was another debate that came out of me dissing him that I never expected that to me was more important than whatever I felt about him. You know by me being friends with Kanye and me being friends with Mark Ronson, they have a large amount of fans that are gay, who are homosexual. And by them knowing them or liking and buying their music they know who Rhymefest is. And when they heard a lot of references in “The Coolness” and in “Supersonic” about gay and faggot and homosexual. How I felt was that they can’t believe that they [Kanye West, Mark Ronson] could think so forwardly and progressively and you think like how you think. And I got inundated with e-mails and criticisms from the gay community. And I took time and I called the ones that sent their numbers. I called them. We sat and spoke. I gave them my view. They gave me their view. I told them why I said what I said. How I felt about the lifestyle and it was just very good conversation. And understanding that sparked from that. And I blogged about that on HipHopGame.
DX: What’s going on with the second album El Che? Is it still being pushed back?
Rhymefest: Girl, it’s been pushed so far back. It’s been pushed off the radar. It’s kinda like maybe I talk too much. Maybe I say too much. Maybe a lot of things. Maybe things I’m saying and the music I’m making is just not mainstream enough for a major label. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it’s just the motherfucker don’t know how to make you into a figurine ‘cause everybody gotta be an action figure like 50. 50 is the action figure. Jay-Z is the don. [Young] Jeezy [click to read] is the drug dealer. Kanye is the model, the eclectic one. Rhymefest is a person. How do we sell a person? How do we sell an intellectual? How do we sell a lover? How do we sell a revolutionary? How do we sell all of this in one? So it becomes work. And who wants to do that? No one likes work and I don’t make it easy. But I work with them.
It’s not that I’m just giving you work and I’m being a jackass of an artist. I’m like, “Maybe we can do this,” or “Maybe we can do that.” I’ve jumped through all the hoops and then eventually I was like, “Okay it’s been three years guys, I’m done. It’s like either we’re gonna roll or we’re not. The album is done. I done made over 150 songs. What we gonna do?” Everything is in limbo right now. I’m not dissing the label. J Records has to do what’s best for them business wise. Now J Records has been successful with a lot of R&B projects. And maybe Hip Hop or the type of Hip Hop I do is something they don’t understand or they don’t know how to do. Like it’s not Alicia Keys. It’s not Mario [click to read]. It’s not Maroon 5. This is something totally different. And so maybe it’s time for me to search for a home that knows how to do that. You know what I mean. So as far as El Che is concerned, El Che is complete. However, I’m trying to find the best venue for it to come through. Everything will work out.
DX: In your blog you mentioned that you might be too complex for some listener’s. Do you feel like fans of Hip Hop and music in general are afraid of complexity?
Rhymefest: I don’t think it’s just Hip Hop. I think it’s Americans. I don’t think you have to go further than the TV shows that we watch and that we talk about. I did a thing on Twitter where I do a versus game everyday at six o’clock. I was in the Los Angeles Times' "Top 25 Celebrity Twitter’s." My thing is I did one where I said, “Let’s compare books.” And I started off [with Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince] vs. [Sun Tzu's] The Art Of War. And people knew Machiavelli “Aw man, Machiavelli. 28 Laws Of Power. ‘The Art Of War.” Like everything that everybody talks about in movies. Then I got a little deeper. “The Secret” vs. “The Art Of Seduction.” Maya Angelou’s Heart Of A Woman vs. Why The Caged Bird Sings. And guess what? People stopped answering. Now Twitter has a more intelligent crowd than the usual mainstream crowd - than the MySpace crowd I would say. Twitter has more intelligence. And yo people started hitting me up like, “'Fest we never read those books. We don’t know that.” And it brings me back to something Maya Angelou said when she said, “It’s a shame that the people I fight for and write for will probably never read any of my work.” And that’s why the blog the week before last was “You wanna hide something from a nigga put it in a book.” It’s not just books, but it’s like when you’re talking about an artist like Rhymefest, I’m not a club rapper per se. I don’t fit into a category of even when you say conscious rapper. I’m not a stereotypical conscious rapper. I don’t wear head-wraps and I’m not Five Percent - not that I have anything against the stuff. I’m not against things like some people are. You gotta roll with me or not roll with me. It’s just creativity. What do you think? Do you think fans, people, Americans are dumbed down?
DX: I do. I think that people are just lazy these days. I think that people are too lazy to read a book, too lazy to listen to lyrics. No one wants to put effort into anything.
Rhymefest: Everything is brought to us. It’s also electronics. It’s also the technology. Music is just so accessible. It’s like you can put 80,000 songs on an iPod. People are so lazy. I’m even into it. I’ll catch myself downloading a song, listening to it for 10 seconds, and deleting it. You don’t even know what it’s about. Nothing can be appreciated anymore because it’s just too much stuff. It’s a philosophy called "The Used Car Lot Sale," that everything must go. The only thing you like then is what a reliable source tells you is good so now you can listen to the whole thing. And usually that reliable source comes from a major media outlet. So if Vh1 plays it a lot and is like, “This is the hot shit,” people are gonna be like, “Aye, you seen the hot shit?” It’s just too much stuff for you to search on your own. It’s too hard to form your own opinion. Too much thought goes in it. Tell me what’s good and I’ll learn to like it. That’s the motto of America.
DX: How do you think rap has changed or evolved since your days at Scribble Jam in ‘97 and ‘03? What do you think has changed in Hip Hop?
Rhymefest: I think it’s gotten better. Out of all the complaints...I’ve sat here and complained to you about everybody and everything, but at the end of the day, the beats have gotten better. The tracks have gotten better. There’s more opportunity for more artists to be heard. It’s not just like if you don’t get played on these radio stations and if you don’t get played on by this TV show then you won’t get heard. Back in the '90s, it was only one or two video shows. Now it’s like you don’t even need video shows. People put your stuff on YouTube. You can get on MySpace. You can get on Twitter. All you gotta do is be exciting enough to build something and make people listen to you. Get a good team. WorldStarHipHop, VladTV. There’s more opportunities to be heard. I just think that artists have to stop doing music for the wrong reasons - if you’re doing this for money. If you’re doing this because, “Yo, I just wanna do this to support my family and make a lot of money and blah, blah, blah,” nigga, you're asking for failure. Because what’s gonna happen is even if you get that money you ain’t gonna know what to do with it. You have done no preparation. You gotta be prepared to get money. I tried to tell Wale that. I try to tell new artists. I be like, “Man, are you prepared to have money? Do you know what to do with money?” Motherfucker’s look at me like, “Yeah, nigga. Spend it.” I’m like, "Alright. If you think that’s all you do with money you gonna be hurting. Everybody gonna be hurting." So it’s like my thing is I think Rap has changed because Rap has given more opportunities and more of a leveled playing field for artists to be heard. I think the music has actually gotten better. I think it’s more open. I think it was an epic battle waged between the heavens and the [hells] when 50 and Kanye went at each other. That was the epic of "is it okay to be yourself versus you gotta be gangster?" And I think [the fact that] it’s okay to be yourself opened up and now we’re in the age of the awkward rapper. Which is gonna morph into something else. But the awkward rapper, and this is no diss, like the Charles Hamilton’s [click to read] and The Cool Kids’ and whoever else. The hipster. And like something’s a little off about them, but I like them. The nerd is cute. The Asher Roth [click to read]. And so, you know. And at this time, Rap is redefining itself and that’s okay. That’s great ‘cause what that does is it gives it new life. I’m just glad nigga’s ain’t just rapping about they rims no more. Oh God. How many different ways can we say the same thang. So how has rap changed since 2003? ‘Cause that was when my Scribble Jam was. Since 2003, which is a short time, rap has extended its reach to accepting people from Europe coming over here. Doing they thang. Rap music has embraced white people. Liked it used to be [that] white people could only buy my shit. Now white people can sell shit on the block too.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Rhymefest speaks on his latest mixtape The Manual, [click to listen] explains why J Records may not be his home for much longer, and how Twitter has united artists and their fans.
HipHopDX: Your mixtape The Manual has been on a number of blogs and websites this entire week. What has the feedback been for that so far?
Rhymefest: The feedback has been astronomically great. One of the best things about is that a lot of fans have written reviews for [it]. The fans have really shown their power by like saying “Okay, if major radio ain’t gonna support Rhymefest or The Source or whatever major magazine. Vibe is not gonna put Rhymefest on their cover. We’re going to cover him. We’re gonna show that he has fans and that regardless of who pays for what.” ‘Cause you know a lot of times these labels they pay for their artists to get these features [and] inside these covers of these magazines and I’m happy that I have a fan base that’s like “All you gotta do 'Fest, is put it out. You put it out. Let us do the rest.” And so a lot of fans are writing blogs, reviewing it, and turning their friends onto it. It’s just further showing that the playing field can be leveled through different medians - not just the BET and the mainstream radio.
DX: I saw your blog on HipHopGame the other day and you actually reviewed your own project. What was the motive behind that? Did you want to discover something by reviewing your own project?
Rhymefest: Well, I think by reviewing your own material it’s kind of like doing your work and then checking over it. You may discover some things you didn’t discover the first time.
DX: Like proofreading?
Rhymefest: It’s like proofreading. Exactly. That’s what that was. And I discovered some things about me as I was writing it. One of the things that I discovered is I’m having more fun and it’s easier for me to do this and put it out quick. Man In The Mirror [click to read] was done in a month. The Manual was done in a month. And I’m putting this stuff out that’s better than peoples albums, in a month. And here I am on a major record label and can’t get a record out in three years. You know what I mean? So it’s like I have to determine because what happens is the fans they blame you. They don’t know about the red tape. They don’t know that the label is saying, “Oh, well go get a song with Kanye [West], or go do this and jump through that hoop.” And then we’re gonna have a meeting about the meeting we had last week. And in the meantime the fans are saying “Why isn’t this nigga not putting out no records? Why ain‘t he putting an album out?” So now I’m thinking about my career in a way like maybe I should just put out my music and not even sell it. [I can avoid] the “How many did he sell the first week” game. Maybe I should just give it to the people [and live off of] merchandise, touring, other revenues. Like Rhymefest music is not my only stream of revenue. But then my thing with that is if you give people music they tend to think it’s not as valuable as the one that other people bought. There’s a misconception. While The Manual is better than any album out right now, that’s just come out, it’s kinda like the value of it is depreciated because it’s given away.
DX: At the end of the review, you wrote on your blog you actually gave yourself four and a half stars. Why not go for the full five? What would have made this a five star mixtape in your opinion?
Rhymefest: Because I am the biggest critic of me. I try to be. I think we all should be. I think our biggest competition shouldn’t be Jay-Z [click to read], it should be you. I’m trying to beat myself. I think Man In The Mirror, honestly, was better than The Manual. I think it had more personality in it. I think The Manual, one thing that I [think] it didn’t have...it didn’t have any girl songs. I was being rebellious and stubborn - like, “I ain’t making no damn girl songs.” I think I was mad at the radio or something. ‘Cause everybody was pandering. When you listen to the radio, it’s like, “If girls can’t dance to it it’s not nothing. If the ho’s don’t like it, fuck it.” And then sometimes I feel like what happened to men wanting to be men? What happened to men being like women are going to admire me because I’m a man. I stand this way. I work. Look at my fingernails baby, look at the dirt under it. I roll with men, they respect me. I’m a general. Do everybody gotta be like, “Girl get ya ass over here and shake it right here like this oooh.” My thing is it’s not that I can’t do that, haven’t done it, or won’t do it. It’s that just for this I wanted it to be a man. I wanted it to respect like Hip Hop like from where it comes from for me and how it grooms me as a man. So when you hear the song ["A Deal's A Deal"] with CL Smooth [click to read], when I say, “A deal’s a deal. A man’s a man. Your word’s your word and you gonna know where I stand.” Like that meant something to me. Like I’m a stand up guy. This is what I’m on. Like everything ain’t for shaking your ass. Something’s are for [just] listening and entertainment and understanding. So that’s what this is for. But I think that even with that big, elaborate thing that I said I still took some points away because it’s like you can’t do all that and relate to the ladies, homie? Then why not? I look at it from all aspects or I’ll say, “You got 20 joints on there. You telling me you can’t do three where it’s like some Bohemian, Philadelphia thing where you still doing Hip Hop? You know what I mean? Like the song ["You Got Me"] that Erykah Badu and The Roots [click to read] did? That’s like [an] old school joint. You telling me you can’t do that? You know, just a little softer homie. Just a little bit?” And so I’m like, “Okay, okay.”
DX: So The Manual has some production by Scram Jones. What made you choose Scram for this particular project?
Rhymefest: [Man In The Mirror] was mainly [produced by] Mark Ronson. This one [is] with Scram Jones. I believe every project that I do should have continuity to it. Should have a sound to it. And I think Scram Jones represented the sound of that golden age Hip Hop, from all the tracks that I’ve heard from him [and] from what he’s done on my album, El Che. He has the golden age sound, but it’s updated for today. So when I said “Okay, I want to do this type of CD,” Scram Jones was the perfect person with the chemistry for that. Like when you hear all those scratches on there and the [imitates scratching noise] Rhymefest it’s like “Man, he knows how to do that.” Now if I would have went to Nottz, Nottz is like this [ill tone] producer. You go to Nottz for that west coast, down south type boom boom. So when I do that, I go to Nottz, but if I’m doing that golden era Hip Hop I’m going to Scram. And me and Scram, we have a chemistry.
I’m not even gonna lie; I was a bigot. I was a bigot. I felt as though “Man white producers their drums might be a little off because they may not have the rhythm of a [DJ Premier], Kanye, Just Blaze. They may not have that melody, that feel, that soulfulness." But I found through making this album, my best music has come from the white producers. They have the passion. The guy that did “Bullet” on Blue Collar [click to read], a white guy named Emile did that song. Emile has done stuff for like Lloyd Banks [click to read], Eminem, and 50 [Cent] [click to read]. Scram Jones has done stuff for 50 and Mariah Carey, Raekwon [click to read], Ghostface [click to read], all types of people. And what I find is what it’s really about in Hip Hop is your passion. And passion comes in all colors.
DX: On The Manual you have a song with Queen Latifah called “Going In,” and she’s really rapping on that track. How did you get her do that? Because I haven’t heard her rap like that in a minute.
Rhymefest: She’s snapping ain’t she? Snapping so hard that when it was my turn to write my rap...you've gotta understand, if you feel like some of these people killed me on some of these songs just because, I ain’t even gonna lie I was intimidated. It’s like imagine meeting somebody you grew up [on] that formed who you are. Their words formed my personality. Their words formed my passion. Her words gave my passion for Hip Hop definition. You know what I mean? And to have the opportunity and you rarely hear male rappers say this about women let alone female rappers. Queen Latifah [click to read] helped form me as a man. Her words gave my style definition. When you hear, “If you may think you Hip Hop…” in my raps, where do you think that comes from? That comes from her example. Her being one of the examples and the example she set. Now I met Queen Latifah because my friend Malik Yusef had invited me to this BET taping that was called A Sit Down With The Queen with Ananda Lewis and Queen Latifah. I was like, “Oh, we’re going back stage?” He was like, “No, the taping. We’re just gonna sit in the audience.” I was like, “Man I don’t wanna sit in the audience for BET. They don‘t even let me on Rap City, nigga. You want me to go sit in the fuckin audience and watch Queen Latifah get interviewed? She dope and all, I love her and everything but man I will get there and it‘s gonna look like Jet magazine and there’s gonna be all types of Black Enterprise ass niggas there.” He’s like, “Nah. Come on, come on.” So I went. Turns out he got a call and he’s like, “Aw, I can’t even go in. I gotta go take this appointment somewhere else.” So now I’m going to BET, sitting in the audience by myself, watching Ananda Lewis interview Queen Latifah. But boy, it wasn’t nothing but beautiful black women trying to get empowered and listening to words of wisdom. I was the only male there.
DX: I know you were happy.
Rhymefest: I was happy, but then I felt like, “Man, don’t nobody know who I am.” Here I am sitting around all these women. ‘Cause you know I got a little ego. I be wanting people to know it’s Rhymefest. [Laughs] They went to a commercial break. Queen Latifah looked down in the audience and she starts winking. Waving her and winking. And I’m like, “Who the fuck is she winking at? Ain’t nothing but women around here.” So then she’s like, “Hey Rhymefest. [Reciting] I don’t like it unless it’s brand new. Brand new.” And all the women start looking at me like, “Is she talking to that nigga? Who is you?” And then I pointed to myself like, “Me? You know me?” She’s like, “Yeah. Come here, come here.” I’m like, “Excuse me, excuse me,” going around people. And she’s just like, “Stay here. I’ve been looking for you. I need to holler at you as soon as this is done.” And I was like, “Get the fuck out of here.” I start texting all my niggas, “Queen Latifah, she loves me nigga. She loves me.” And after the show she was telling me how much she like my music and she was like, “I’m getting ready to go to the studio later in the week.” ‘Cause she still records for fun or whatever. She was like, “I’ma hit the studio. Why don’t you come listen to some of my stuff? Tell me what you think.” I’m like “Word?” Next thing I know me and Queen Latifah [are] at the studio. So do you think that I’m gonna let the opportunity pass before I’m like, “By the way, I’ve got this beat and you know if you’re not doing anything.” She sat right down. Got to it. Went in there and when she started saying, “With the heart of a champion I got that understanding. Hater’s say that she crampin’. I been pampered and pampered.” Oooh-weee! And from then on, like, that’s my girl.
DX: You mentioned her [Queen Latifah] as an example of someone you look up to. Who are some other artists who have set examples for you as well?
Rhymefest: It’s funny for me ’cause it’s like I don’t have the same old list. You know what I mean? Not that these artists are any less of great, but I just don’t have that list of Rakim [click to read], Nas, Jay-Z. Even though they’re legends. In top five, 10 whatever. My list is a little more awkward. My list would include Biz Markie [click to read], [Ol' Dirty Bastard]. People who weren’t afraid to be themselves. Like [with] Biz Markie and O.D.B., we learned the humor is okay in Hip Hop. You don’t have to take yourself so serious all the time. Humor is a great part of storytelling. Humor and sometimes talking about your frailties is a great part of being entertaining and being a man. Being human is good in music. I would say the gangsterism of Scarface [click to read]. Like for him to say things on [The Geto Boys'] “My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me” like “Day by day it's more impossible to cope. I feel like I'm the one that's doing dope.” That’s not like, “Yo, I just sold a [kilo] for half a mil. Oh shit nigga look how great this is. Selling drugs feels so good.” It’s like he’s telling you the real life. Scarface, Biz Markie, I would say the storytelling genius of Slick Rick. Slick Rick is the greatest storyteller of all time. A lot of Rhymefest songs, you think you're gonna hear this battle rapper, but you turn it on, you may be surprised to just hear these great narratives. And that’s that Slick Rick you know. You go to somebody like Kool G Rap [click to read], who just has ferocious metaphors and lyrics. It’s people like that that I would say had the biggest influences on me. The Queen Latifah’s, the Slick Rick’s, and the Scarface’s. And that eclectic mix makes me as complicated as I am as an artist.
DX: Who are some current artists that you think are similar to the artists that you just named as far as them not being afraid to be who they are and tell you how life really is?
Rhymefest: I’m gonna do the diss. I’ll do the dis then I’ll do the good side. The diss is most artists currently came up when rap went so mainstream that the only three choices that they could take to be successful were 2Pac, Biggie, and Jay-Z. And a lot of [fans] just really [chose] Jay-Z. Now they're choosing Kanye, which is ironic ‘cause in a way I feel like y'all taking me. Imagine if you took a thousand sheets of paper and you just hit copy. Some of ‘em are gonna come out dark. Some of ‘em are gonna come out real light. Some of ‘em are gonna come out like not legible. That’s what these artists are to me. A thousand copies of Jay-Z - in different tones. They may have different aspects of Jay-Z or different aspects of Kanye. Some of them are like “Well, I’m just gonna sing like Kanye,” or “I’m just gonna rap like Kanye,” or “I’m just gonna be colorful and arrogant like Kanye, even though I can‘t sing or rap.” So you see different tones of the same original two copies. But, there’s hope. Like [Barack] Obama said, there’s hope. B.o.B. [click to read] is dope. I love B.o.B. I think Wale [click to read] is very promising. And I would not count out people who I feel like are still doing it. Andre [3000] [click to read] is definitely original. And it’s like he’s one of them people anything he say just be good. He’s so good at rapping. He don’t even have to rap no more. I feel like Devin The Dude [click to view] is so underrated. He is so good. And it’s like everybody knows about Devin The Dude, but don’t nobody want to talk about it ‘cause don’t nobody else really know. I wish people would stop doing that though ‘cause like he is so dope. Devin The Dude, I wrote that dude a MySpace one time. I might’ve freaked him out. I was like, “Man, I really mess with your music.” He was like, “What up man? I mess with you too.” Then I was like, “Oh God, he answered me back.” Before I got a deal, Devin The Dude’s music really helped me through a lot of things in my life. I just wrote him back and told him, “Man, I’m just gonna write you as a fan bro. Your music got me through hard times in my life and I don’t know how you feel about what your situation is. This is what it is. This is how I feel about you as an artist and what I see in you as a person.” And I don’t really know how rappers feel about other rappers coming at them like that, but he never wrote me back after that. It was on MySpace. He probably didn’t even think it was me. I really admire him. And I really admire the fact that he’s so consistent and so talented
DX: On the mixtape you also have the diss track “Super Sonic (Chucky Cheese)”. Why did you decide to make that track instead of just letting the issues between you and Charles Hamilton just die out?
Rhymefest: Because that was always a part of the CD. Just like I released “Exodus” and I released the track “Coolness.” If you look at it [J.J. Fad's] “Supersonic,” was '80s, '90s. It was part of the whole schematics of what I was doing and just because it came out early it was part of promoting The Manual. I’m done with dude. I want him to go on and have a whatever kind of productive career he can have. Hopefully, there was a lesson learned. Not just by him, but it was a lesson learned by all. Like this wasn’t just about me dissing a person. This was about me giving an example of Hip Hop - like an example of these are the rules of engagement. You know what I mean? If this happens, this will happen. This is an example to all. What was interesting though there was another debate that came out of me dissing him that I never expected that to me was more important than whatever I felt about him. You know by me being friends with Kanye and me being friends with Mark Ronson, they have a large amount of fans that are gay, who are homosexual. And by them knowing them or liking and buying their music they know who Rhymefest is. And when they heard a lot of references in “The Coolness” and in “Supersonic” about gay and faggot and homosexual. How I felt was that they can’t believe that they [Kanye West, Mark Ronson] could think so forwardly and progressively and you think like how you think. And I got inundated with e-mails and criticisms from the gay community. And I took time and I called the ones that sent their numbers. I called them. We sat and spoke. I gave them my view. They gave me their view. I told them why I said what I said. How I felt about the lifestyle and it was just very good conversation. And understanding that sparked from that. And I blogged about that on HipHopGame.
DX: What’s going on with the second album El Che? Is it still being pushed back?
Rhymefest: Girl, it’s been pushed so far back. It’s been pushed off the radar. It’s kinda like maybe I talk too much. Maybe I say too much. Maybe a lot of things. Maybe things I’m saying and the music I’m making is just not mainstream enough for a major label. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it’s just the motherfucker don’t know how to make you into a figurine ‘cause everybody gotta be an action figure like 50. 50 is the action figure. Jay-Z is the don. [Young] Jeezy [click to read] is the drug dealer. Kanye is the model, the eclectic one. Rhymefest is a person. How do we sell a person? How do we sell an intellectual? How do we sell a lover? How do we sell a revolutionary? How do we sell all of this in one? So it becomes work. And who wants to do that? No one likes work and I don’t make it easy. But I work with them.
It’s not that I’m just giving you work and I’m being a jackass of an artist. I’m like, “Maybe we can do this,” or “Maybe we can do that.” I’ve jumped through all the hoops and then eventually I was like, “Okay it’s been three years guys, I’m done. It’s like either we’re gonna roll or we’re not. The album is done. I done made over 150 songs. What we gonna do?” Everything is in limbo right now. I’m not dissing the label. J Records has to do what’s best for them business wise. Now J Records has been successful with a lot of R&B projects. And maybe Hip Hop or the type of Hip Hop I do is something they don’t understand or they don’t know how to do. Like it’s not Alicia Keys. It’s not Mario [click to read]. It’s not Maroon 5. This is something totally different. And so maybe it’s time for me to search for a home that knows how to do that. You know what I mean. So as far as El Che is concerned, El Che is complete. However, I’m trying to find the best venue for it to come through. Everything will work out.
DX: In your blog you mentioned that you might be too complex for some listener’s. Do you feel like fans of Hip Hop and music in general are afraid of complexity?
Rhymefest: I don’t think it’s just Hip Hop. I think it’s Americans. I don’t think you have to go further than the TV shows that we watch and that we talk about. I did a thing on Twitter where I do a versus game everyday at six o’clock. I was in the Los Angeles Times' "Top 25 Celebrity Twitter’s." My thing is I did one where I said, “Let’s compare books.” And I started off [with Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince] vs. [Sun Tzu's] The Art Of War. And people knew Machiavelli “Aw man, Machiavelli. 28 Laws Of Power. ‘The Art Of War.” Like everything that everybody talks about in movies. Then I got a little deeper. “The Secret” vs. “The Art Of Seduction.” Maya Angelou’s Heart Of A Woman vs. Why The Caged Bird Sings. And guess what? People stopped answering. Now Twitter has a more intelligent crowd than the usual mainstream crowd - than the MySpace crowd I would say. Twitter has more intelligence. And yo people started hitting me up like, “'Fest we never read those books. We don’t know that.” And it brings me back to something Maya Angelou said when she said, “It’s a shame that the people I fight for and write for will probably never read any of my work.” And that’s why the blog the week before last was “You wanna hide something from a nigga put it in a book.” It’s not just books, but it’s like when you’re talking about an artist like Rhymefest, I’m not a club rapper per se. I don’t fit into a category of even when you say conscious rapper. I’m not a stereotypical conscious rapper. I don’t wear head-wraps and I’m not Five Percent - not that I have anything against the stuff. I’m not against things like some people are. You gotta roll with me or not roll with me. It’s just creativity. What do you think? Do you think fans, people, Americans are dumbed down?
DX: I do. I think that people are just lazy these days. I think that people are too lazy to read a book, too lazy to listen to lyrics. No one wants to put effort into anything.
Rhymefest: Everything is brought to us. It’s also electronics. It’s also the technology. Music is just so accessible. It’s like you can put 80,000 songs on an iPod. People are so lazy. I’m even into it. I’ll catch myself downloading a song, listening to it for 10 seconds, and deleting it. You don’t even know what it’s about. Nothing can be appreciated anymore because it’s just too much stuff. It’s a philosophy called "The Used Car Lot Sale," that everything must go. The only thing you like then is what a reliable source tells you is good so now you can listen to the whole thing. And usually that reliable source comes from a major media outlet. So if Vh1 plays it a lot and is like, “This is the hot shit,” people are gonna be like, “Aye, you seen the hot shit?” It’s just too much stuff for you to search on your own. It’s too hard to form your own opinion. Too much thought goes in it. Tell me what’s good and I’ll learn to like it. That’s the motto of America.
DX: How do you think rap has changed or evolved since your days at Scribble Jam in ‘97 and ‘03? What do you think has changed in Hip Hop?
Rhymefest: I think it’s gotten better. Out of all the complaints...I’ve sat here and complained to you about everybody and everything, but at the end of the day, the beats have gotten better. The tracks have gotten better. There’s more opportunity for more artists to be heard. It’s not just like if you don’t get played on these radio stations and if you don’t get played on by this TV show then you won’t get heard. Back in the '90s, it was only one or two video shows. Now it’s like you don’t even need video shows. People put your stuff on YouTube. You can get on MySpace. You can get on Twitter. All you gotta do is be exciting enough to build something and make people listen to you. Get a good team. WorldStarHipHop, VladTV. There’s more opportunities to be heard. I just think that artists have to stop doing music for the wrong reasons - if you’re doing this for money. If you’re doing this because, “Yo, I just wanna do this to support my family and make a lot of money and blah, blah, blah,” nigga, you're asking for failure. Because what’s gonna happen is even if you get that money you ain’t gonna know what to do with it. You have done no preparation. You gotta be prepared to get money. I tried to tell Wale that. I try to tell new artists. I be like, “Man, are you prepared to have money? Do you know what to do with money?” Motherfucker’s look at me like, “Yeah, nigga. Spend it.” I’m like, "Alright. If you think that’s all you do with money you gonna be hurting. Everybody gonna be hurting." So it’s like my thing is I think Rap has changed because Rap has given more opportunities and more of a leveled playing field for artists to be heard. I think the music has actually gotten better. I think it’s more open. I think it was an epic battle waged between the heavens and the [hells] when 50 and Kanye went at each other. That was the epic of "is it okay to be yourself versus you gotta be gangster?" And I think [the fact that] it’s okay to be yourself opened up and now we’re in the age of the awkward rapper. Which is gonna morph into something else. But the awkward rapper, and this is no diss, like the Charles Hamilton’s [click to read] and The Cool Kids’ and whoever else. The hipster. And like something’s a little off about them, but I like them. The nerd is cute. The Asher Roth [click to read]. And so, you know. And at this time, Rap is redefining itself and that’s okay. That’s great ‘cause what that does is it gives it new life. I’m just glad nigga’s ain’t just rapping about they rims no more. Oh God. How many different ways can we say the same thang. So how has rap changed since 2003? ‘Cause that was when my Scribble Jam was. Since 2003, which is a short time, rap has extended its reach to accepting people from Europe coming over here. Doing they thang. Rap music has embraced white people. Liked it used to be [that] white people could only buy my shit. Now white people can sell shit on the block too.
