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6/7/2005 What's good Aztek? Everything's good right now. Everything's good. How did that freestyle go down with Jay-Z? The freestyle with Jay-Z really happened off of vibe man. He was at the 40/40 Club and he came in and he was playing some music and it just happened. It was a big deal. It was #1 on your site right? That's crazy. My situation's looking great. So you're officially signed to Roc la Familia? Yeah, I'm officially signed to Roc la Familia. How does it feel getting signed by Jay? It feels real good. I would expect no less from myself. I always wanted to walk with the greats, the giants. I always considered myself to be somewhat at the top. Jay is someone I looked up to and still look up to now, and being able to work with him and learn first-hand is a great thing for me. So you recorded it with Jay? Yeah, he was in the studio. We were at Baseline. There was eight people in the studio. I recorded my verse, then he went in. it was magic man. Then after my freestyle, he spit on another beat two 16's back-to-back. It's amazing how he works man. What did you learn in the studio with Jay? I learned that he ain't playing around man. He don't play around man, he's really One-Take-Hov. Who is Aztek? I witnessed a lot of life-altering shit. I lost my dad and brother to the family business and I took a couple hits myself. It made me who I am…I'm doing this to get out of this environment. I'm gonna guard this shit with my life. No one will take this from me. I'm gonna hold the Roc all the way the fuck down. Do you think what you've been through helps you take this rap game more serious than others? It's my life man. It's life or death for me. That's why I've never taken any shit from anybody. Anybody that wants to come at me in the rap game, I'm like, "are you kidding me?" because my family's been up against darkness, niggas you see in gangsta movies. I see these motherfuckers, and there's no way they're gonna be able to move me from my spot. A lot of people are depending on me. If I'm not able to make it, a lot of people are gonna be hurt. Does that pressure ever get to you? I don't see it as pressure, I see it as motivation. I don't ever get pressured into doing anything. People say, "you must be under a lot of pressure, you got signed to Jay, you're gonna be under a microscope." I welcome that as motivation. I know what I am, I know what I'm gonna be, and nobody's gonna be able to stop me. That's motivation. Now if I go back to the hood, that's pressure. But that's never gonna happen. How did you get the name Aztek? It means warrior. It's actually a Mexican Tribe from a long time ago, their tactics were real crazy. There's a lot of Mexicans in Texas. I have a real strong bond with them. An OG gave me the name Aztek because I was always fighting, and I kept that name. How was Summer Jam? It was crazy man. I saw one performance. I saw Jay. I was standing right behind him when he was performing. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen in my life. One of the best things I ever seen. You felt that performance man, you felt the crowd. The Roc is alive. Diamonds are forever. It's really one of the greatest feelings I've ever felt. You're one of the only Southern artists coming out of Houston without Rap-a-Lot or Swishahouse behind you, does that make it more difficult for you? I'm gonna succeed regardless because no one's gonna be able to stop me. People know my reputation in the streets. I'm gonna make it regardless. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna make it. Without the Swishahouse or Rap-A-Lot umbrella, it feels good that I did it myself. I don't owe nobody nothing. I did it myself. I got love for both of those labels, but it definitely feels better doing it on my own. Looking at how Memphis Bleek and the Young Gunz have done, are you worried about coming out and not doing well? Not at all. I'm gonna try and sell 1.5 the first week. What other Houston artists have you worked with? I haven't worked with none of them. Who would you want to work with? The only two that I would want to work with are Paul Wall and Scarface. What do you think it is about Houston that has it blowing up right now? I think it's a style, it's a trend, it's something different. I'm in New York, and people don't even know what Screwed and Chopped is. It's a different look in the Hip Hop music, it's another point of view, it's another vision. I think a lot of those rappers need to step their game up a little bit, they need to hold it down a little better for our city. That's been a big criticism of Down South music… What I think it is, is that these labels go to Houston or Down South, they don't search for the right ones. There's a lot of artists from Houston that can spit. I'm not the only one. But labels hear certain names and they're gonna look for an artist from the same camp, and that's gonna be the same type of artist. There's gonna be a change in that. There's a lot of Down South artists that can spit that haven't been discovered yet. If I can do anything, I'm gonna help them out. You got the new mixtape dropping Thursday, is this your first official one? Yeah, it's my first official mixtape. How do you feel about this mixtape and what it says about you? I gave people an outline of myself. I didn't give detail. When you write a paper, you do an outline, then you write the paper. I gave them an outline of who I am. In this mixtape, I gave them different looks. I gave them good music, and I gave them great music. People told me I should have held songs for my album, but I get better every time so I'm really not worried about that. I let people know why I am this way, why I act this way, why I think the way I do. When the album comes, I'm gonna give them detail and really let them know what's going on. Any appearances on this mixtape? The only person that I wanted on my mixtape is Jay-Z. A lot of people wanna get on it, but I only deal with greaetness. I'm honored to have Jay-Z spit on this. Have you started working on your album yet? Yeah, I already got like five or six songs recorded for my album. What's the name of the album? The name of the album is gonna be "Columbian Neckties." What producers do you want to get for this album? I want to get everybody. I want to get Kanye West, Just Blaze…me, I'm the type of person where I gotta feel the music. I noticed the cross you're wearing, can you talk about what that means to you? The cross that I always wear is very important to me because my relatives from Columbia sent me that. It's a shoelace with beads. It's real hard to live over there. My nephews made it for me and sent it over here. It's very dear to me. The beads and the colors are the Columbian flag. Most rappers rock diamonds, do you want diamonds or do you want to stay away from that? I don't know man. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I haven't even thought about that. How hard is it knowing you got family struggling in Columbia? It hurts me man. That shit is always motivation to do better. That's definitely always in the back of my mind. It motivates me. Do you hope to bring them over to the States? Definitely. If they can't come over here, I'm gonna build them a mansion over there. A year from now, where would you like to be? A year from now, I want to be a millionaire. I want to be considered one of the greats. I want to speak for Hispanic people that don't have a voice. My story's real and I know a lot of people have similar stories that they can identify with. Maybe that can help them get through the day a little better. What do you want people to take away from your music? I want people to take away just who I am. I am who I am. What is it that's gonna make Aztek blow up? I've never had to force my music to nobody. I'm just me man. They feel my struggle, my pain. They feel every drop of blood I've lost. They feel that, and it comes through in my music. I just want to make it easier for a person to get through their day and identify with my music.

By Brian Kayser

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