The year 2005 marked Remy Ma’s breakout to the mainstream, but Remy’s been around longer than Lean Back. The lone lady of the Terror Squad has been holding it down since the mid-90s alongside Fat Joe and the late Big Pun, earning her stripes by spewing vicious metaphors and punchlines (if you don’t know, ask Lady Luck). With her Terror Squad clique finally getting the commercial success they deserve, it’s only right that drop her solo debut, There’s Something About Remy. In this interview, Remy Ma talks about the new album, getting mushy on wax, and male groupies.
HipHopDX: What was it like recording a whole album, as opposed to just working with Fat Joe or Terror Squad before?
Remy Ma: There’s really no difference. Most of the time, when I was working on the Terror Squad and cameos, I was doing the same amount of work I’m doing now. It’s just that it wasn’t my album, so it doesn’t seem like I was doing that much. But I’ve been doing this for the longest; this was just the first time that it was only my name on it, and nobody else taking credit or whatever the case may be.
HipHopDX: What kind of expectations do you think people have of you?
Remy Ma: I think I set my expectations for my album higher than anybody else. A lot of people probably don’t expect much, being that I’m a girl and I’m a rapper. I really know how people think of girl rappers. I don’t really think of myself of a girl rapper, or as a “femcee,” as they say nowadays. I know a lot of people aren’t going to expect nothing too crazy, that’s why when they do hear it, it’s going to be such a shock, and way bigger than I probably even expect because people have such low expectations. There’s a few people out there that know (I’m talented), but the majority (of people think) just being a female and being a rapper, you’re supposed to be wack. But when they’re starving, and they find out that my album is that eight-course meal, when they realize that they were ignorant and that they’re stupid, and they realize that my album is the wisdom they never had, and that my album is the map for wherever they’re trying to go, everything’s going to change.
HipHopDX: Your rap style is pretty gully, but you’re still an attractive woman. Do you feel any pressure to make certain songs? Like the Ne-Yo song, you said it’s difficult for you to be gushy on a record…
Remy Ma: That’s just me talking. At the end of the day, I can make any type of record. Any topic you give me, I’ve got it. Any beat you give me, I’ve got it. It’s just that me being me, I enjoy more talking shit, talking about how I smash this, the crazy metaphors, that’s fun to me. The “this is my man, I love him, I want to marry him and have his kids,” ahh! I can do it, but at the end of the day, it’s like, for what? I don’t want to do that! It’s not my favorite song. But when I do it, I’m going to do it so I like it. The song with me and Ne-Yo, it’s gushy or whatever you want to call it, but it’s not so soft that you can’t see me doing the video, or you can’t see me doing the song. I did it how I am, from my own perspective, not how people would want me to do it. I did it Rem style, so I’m happy with it.
HipHopDX: Yeah, I think your gully shit is your best too. I’ve got to give you props for the joint with Papoose, where you were like, “niggas throw they meat in you, you’re burnin’ like a frying pan.”
Remy Ma: [laughs] That’s my nigga. We’re about to do a mixtape together, we’re working on it now, it’s going to be like an album. It’s going to be a wrap, niggas ain’t going to be able to put out mixtapes after that.
HipHopDX: What was it like working with Swizz Beats?
Remy Ma: Swizz is dope. What’s so crazy is that I worked with him before when I was recording what was supposed to be my first album, Remy On The Rocks, when I was signed to Loud. We had done a joint called Monster, he had sampled Jada’s voice in the beat, it was crazy. This wasn’t my first time working with Swizz, so we were like, “We’ve got to do some crazy shit.” I went to the studio with him, we went through a few things, came up with the Whatever joint, he left me in the studio, came back the next day and I left the song there for him. He’s cool, I fucks with Swizz. I like his whole work process, he’s hella creative. Sometimes you have to stop him, like, “Yo, you’re wildin’.” [laughs] But I’m not saying that. For the most part, he’ll make some shit, lay it down, and lay the tracks on top of each other and it’s just crazy.
HipHopDX: So how do you think you’ve grown since the work that you’ve done before?
Remy Ma: As an artist in general, to me, all the great ones get better as they go on. It’s very rare that a great one starts getting wack; it happens, but it’s very rare. I just feel like whatever your craft is, the more you do it, you just automatically get better, as long as you keep at it and that’s your passion. But there are some other people, like Joe and my older brother, who swear, “When you were 17, that’s when you were dumb nice.” I’m like, nigga I’m still dumb nice, I just seemed way better then because they didn’t know I was as nice as I was. The first time they were hearing me, nothing’s like the first impression. You’re used to hearing me spit fire every day, it takes away the edge. But let’s stay on topic, I think I’m better now, they think I was better then. As long as everybody thinks I’m the best, I really don’t care.
HipHopDX: The new album has very few guest appearances. With this being your first album released, other people usually have three or four notable cameos. Did you do this on purpose, or was this just the way that it worked out?
Remy Ma: I feel like this is There’s Something About Remy, so the album should be about me. A lot of artists, new and old, they have so many musical guests and features on their album, it sounds like a mixtape when you’re finished. If I want to hear the artist, that’s who I want to hear.
I feel like I’ve been underestimated. It’s a lot of people to this day, as much as I’ve been around and as many songs as I’ve been on, they don’t know who Remy Ma is as an artist herself, or how she puts together a song on an album. I just didn’t want to flood my album with mad collaborations.
The song that I’ve got with Pun, we recorded when he was still alive, original beat and everything, I’ve been holding onto that for years. The song with me and Ne-Yo, we recorded right before his first single. Everybody was like, “Who’s Ne-Yo? Why don’t we get Mario on there?” I was telling them, ‘This kid is dumb nice, and when he pops, I don’t want to hear nothing from nobody.’ It’s the same thing with Keyshia Cole, we clicked when I first met her, that’s like my people. We call each other all the time, make sure each other is all right. It’s love, it’s only right that we get together and do something crazy. I have Ivy Queen on my album, a lot of people don’t really know who she is, she’s big in reggaeton. At the time everybody was jumping on the reggaeton bandwagon, I was like, “You’ve got to do something with me. But I don’t even want it to sound like a reggaeton song, you’ve got to get gully on it.” And that’s how it came out. I’ve also got Fat Joe on a chorus, he didn’t rhyme—I knew everybody would expect that, so I put him on a chorus.
HipHopDX: You built your reputation with Fight Klub and battling. Do you plan on ever going back to Fight Klub?
Remy Ma: I mean, I guess anything’s possible. I feel like, not like I’m bigger than that, but I’m past it. That was a stepping stone in what I’m trying to do right now. I don’t feel like I’ve got nothing else to prove. The whole Lady Luck thing was worth getting into because people thought she was going to win, I was upset. So at the end of the day, it makes me bitter. I hold grudges, and I feel certain ways after things, whether I win or lose. I won, but I still don’t like some of the things that she said, period. We can never be cool again. So I don’t want to make extra hate for people.
HipHopDX: You’re in KING magazine talking about male groupies. What has that been like recently? Has anything gone down on this tour yet?
Remy Ma: I hate male groupies, they’re the worst. People read it and I think they get it confused, they think I like male groupies. We only like them because we humiliate them to the highest level. It’s like, have you any pride, any dignity? What would your father think of your actions, or your mother? But so far, the tour just started, so there’s nothing crazy yet. Call me in another week, I can probably give you two crazy stories. Nothing yet though.
HipHopDX: What was it like recording a whole album, as opposed to just working with Fat Joe or Terror Squad before?
Remy Ma: There’s really no difference. Most of the time, when I was working on the Terror Squad and cameos, I was doing the same amount of work I’m doing now. It’s just that it wasn’t my album, so it doesn’t seem like I was doing that much. But I’ve been doing this for the longest; this was just the first time that it was only my name on it, and nobody else taking credit or whatever the case may be.
HipHopDX: What kind of expectations do you think people have of you?
Remy Ma: I think I set my expectations for my album higher than anybody else. A lot of people probably don’t expect much, being that I’m a girl and I’m a rapper. I really know how people think of girl rappers. I don’t really think of myself of a girl rapper, or as a “femcee,” as they say nowadays. I know a lot of people aren’t going to expect nothing too crazy, that’s why when they do hear it, it’s going to be such a shock, and way bigger than I probably even expect because people have such low expectations. There’s a few people out there that know (I’m talented), but the majority (of people think) just being a female and being a rapper, you’re supposed to be wack. But when they’re starving, and they find out that my album is that eight-course meal, when they realize that they were ignorant and that they’re stupid, and they realize that my album is the wisdom they never had, and that my album is the map for wherever they’re trying to go, everything’s going to change.
HipHopDX: Your rap style is pretty gully, but you’re still an attractive woman. Do you feel any pressure to make certain songs? Like the Ne-Yo song, you said it’s difficult for you to be gushy on a record…
Remy Ma: That’s just me talking. At the end of the day, I can make any type of record. Any topic you give me, I’ve got it. Any beat you give me, I’ve got it. It’s just that me being me, I enjoy more talking shit, talking about how I smash this, the crazy metaphors, that’s fun to me. The “this is my man, I love him, I want to marry him and have his kids,” ahh! I can do it, but at the end of the day, it’s like, for what? I don’t want to do that! It’s not my favorite song. But when I do it, I’m going to do it so I like it. The song with me and Ne-Yo, it’s gushy or whatever you want to call it, but it’s not so soft that you can’t see me doing the video, or you can’t see me doing the song. I did it how I am, from my own perspective, not how people would want me to do it. I did it Rem style, so I’m happy with it.
HipHopDX: Yeah, I think your gully shit is your best too. I’ve got to give you props for the joint with Papoose, where you were like, “niggas throw they meat in you, you’re burnin’ like a frying pan.”
Remy Ma: [laughs] That’s my nigga. We’re about to do a mixtape together, we’re working on it now, it’s going to be like an album. It’s going to be a wrap, niggas ain’t going to be able to put out mixtapes after that.
HipHopDX: What was it like working with Swizz Beats?
Remy Ma: Swizz is dope. What’s so crazy is that I worked with him before when I was recording what was supposed to be my first album, Remy On The Rocks, when I was signed to Loud. We had done a joint called Monster, he had sampled Jada’s voice in the beat, it was crazy. This wasn’t my first time working with Swizz, so we were like, “We’ve got to do some crazy shit.” I went to the studio with him, we went through a few things, came up with the Whatever joint, he left me in the studio, came back the next day and I left the song there for him. He’s cool, I fucks with Swizz. I like his whole work process, he’s hella creative. Sometimes you have to stop him, like, “Yo, you’re wildin’.” [laughs] But I’m not saying that. For the most part, he’ll make some shit, lay it down, and lay the tracks on top of each other and it’s just crazy.
HipHopDX: So how do you think you’ve grown since the work that you’ve done before?
Remy Ma: As an artist in general, to me, all the great ones get better as they go on. It’s very rare that a great one starts getting wack; it happens, but it’s very rare. I just feel like whatever your craft is, the more you do it, you just automatically get better, as long as you keep at it and that’s your passion. But there are some other people, like Joe and my older brother, who swear, “When you were 17, that’s when you were dumb nice.” I’m like, nigga I’m still dumb nice, I just seemed way better then because they didn’t know I was as nice as I was. The first time they were hearing me, nothing’s like the first impression. You’re used to hearing me spit fire every day, it takes away the edge. But let’s stay on topic, I think I’m better now, they think I was better then. As long as everybody thinks I’m the best, I really don’t care.
HipHopDX: The new album has very few guest appearances. With this being your first album released, other people usually have three or four notable cameos. Did you do this on purpose, or was this just the way that it worked out?
Remy Ma: I feel like this is There’s Something About Remy, so the album should be about me. A lot of artists, new and old, they have so many musical guests and features on their album, it sounds like a mixtape when you’re finished. If I want to hear the artist, that’s who I want to hear.
I feel like I’ve been underestimated. It’s a lot of people to this day, as much as I’ve been around and as many songs as I’ve been on, they don’t know who Remy Ma is as an artist herself, or how she puts together a song on an album. I just didn’t want to flood my album with mad collaborations.
The song that I’ve got with Pun, we recorded when he was still alive, original beat and everything, I’ve been holding onto that for years. The song with me and Ne-Yo, we recorded right before his first single. Everybody was like, “Who’s Ne-Yo? Why don’t we get Mario on there?” I was telling them, ‘This kid is dumb nice, and when he pops, I don’t want to hear nothing from nobody.’ It’s the same thing with Keyshia Cole, we clicked when I first met her, that’s like my people. We call each other all the time, make sure each other is all right. It’s love, it’s only right that we get together and do something crazy. I have Ivy Queen on my album, a lot of people don’t really know who she is, she’s big in reggaeton. At the time everybody was jumping on the reggaeton bandwagon, I was like, “You’ve got to do something with me. But I don’t even want it to sound like a reggaeton song, you’ve got to get gully on it.” And that’s how it came out. I’ve also got Fat Joe on a chorus, he didn’t rhyme—I knew everybody would expect that, so I put him on a chorus.
HipHopDX: You built your reputation with Fight Klub and battling. Do you plan on ever going back to Fight Klub?
Remy Ma: I mean, I guess anything’s possible. I feel like, not like I’m bigger than that, but I’m past it. That was a stepping stone in what I’m trying to do right now. I don’t feel like I’ve got nothing else to prove. The whole Lady Luck thing was worth getting into because people thought she was going to win, I was upset. So at the end of the day, it makes me bitter. I hold grudges, and I feel certain ways after things, whether I win or lose. I won, but I still don’t like some of the things that she said, period. We can never be cool again. So I don’t want to make extra hate for people.
HipHopDX: You’re in KING magazine talking about male groupies. What has that been like recently? Has anything gone down on this tour yet?
Remy Ma: I hate male groupies, they’re the worst. People read it and I think they get it confused, they think I like male groupies. We only like them because we humiliate them to the highest level. It’s like, have you any pride, any dignity? What would your father think of your actions, or your mother? But so far, the tour just started, so there’s nothing crazy yet. Call me in another week, I can probably give you two crazy stories. Nothing yet though.
