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2/20/2006 What's up El? I'm in good spirits right now. I'm excited about this album coming out. What do you want to give people with "The Unusual"? I wanted to step back. The last record I put out was more personal because I wanted everyone to see what was going on with The Artifacts and all that. I wanted to go back to the rhymes and boasting. The album sounds like it could bang in a lot of places. That's why I titled it "The Unusual." A lot of underground acts today don't take it seriously enough to know that people might hear their record. You want to compete with the big dogs and get into the clubs. I'm going to be myself, but you have to change your music around a little bit to get some people to listen to your music. What was your state of mind recording this album? It varied. I was really scared of the beat Illmind did for "Crowd Pleasa." Whatever I was feeling, I wrote. I wrote a lot in the studio. Everything changes for me when I'm in the studio and the music is loud. I wasn't angry or frustrated. I just wanted to go back to the beginning and remember why people wanted to hear The Artifacts in the first place. "Don't sleep on yourself El. Try to do something to give yourself a chance." When I heard the Saukrates joint, I felt the party vibe in there, but if I'm in a party, what's there to talk about? I'm drinking and smoking like everyone else. I wanted to celebrate on this and not be the typical backpacker MC that says, "Hear me." That's not me anymore. I'm just happy in 2006 to be putting out an album. How would you define "the usual"? The usual for a cat like me would be what I've done already on the last album. The sound on my last album isn't outdated today, but I definitely didn't want to do that sound today. People are probably expecting me to do tracks like that. I wanted to give something different this time. All of the songs on this album are faster and it sounds like a different machine. I wanted to work with different people. I looked at what they were going through. I went into this with a whole new fresh outlook. I told them not to give me beats that El would have fucked with in the past. That's the whole thing between "the usual" and "the unusual." "Crowd Pleasa" is a dope song. What was your inspiration for writing that song? The beat. I was scared to write that. I kept putting it aside in every session. My man pulled me aside and said I had to do it. We put that beat on for two hours, got some beer, and I wrote it. It sounds like explosions and Jackie Chan all day. That's why I said "straight action-packed jumping through windows." You have to like that beat. It's stupid. I had to feel like I was going one-on-one with it. How is it working with Illmind? I met him at a radio station. His boys knew I was coming. It was kind of like a secret meeting. Illmind played me at least 17 beats, and none of it was beats that are on this album. I was like "wow," but I didn't want to see that. Then I couldn't help it, I was like, "Damn, homeboy!" When I found out he was from Jersey…he's right around the corner from me. He's going to be one of the next big producers. We're working on some more stuff now, but I can't let the cat out of the bag just yet. How did you go about getting the other producers down for the project? That's my man. He gave me two hot joints for the last album. I called him back and told him we had to do something else and it was a new situation. I told him to send me the hardest shit he had. I called Saukrates and I think I fucked his head up because I asked him for a track instead of asking to do a song. Redman was there and he was like, "I haven't seen you in years." Jake One sent a beat tape to my man Lamonte and I told him I wanted to work with him. I called Revolution out of nowhere. I have a good relationship with Fusion. My man Rell, he's a barber and he has beats. I wasn't looking for the big-name cats because I know the ones I got have just as much heat as everyone else. I didn't have a crazy budget either. Why did you keep the guest spots limited to Sean Price and O.C.? There are not too many people out here that I feel would help me with what I'm trying to do. When I look at Sean Price and O, they're both trying to do what I'm trying to do and they are not slouches. They come from my era, and I would rather work with them and get something genuine. I didn't want to ask cats that were just looking for a check and shopping themselves. I wanted to step it up. I'm not getting any younger. I wanted to get the message out there that you don't have to be one type of MC to break through the door. It's been almost four years since your last album, what have you been up to during that time? Touring. I learned a lot about myself with the record not doing what I wanted it to do. Things happen and you just have to keep it moving. Instead of going backwards, I went forwards. That was the first time in my career, as a solo artist, that I had a plan and knew what I wanted to do. In between not doing an album, we were on tour for a month with A.G. and Party Arty. We had to get out there and do different places. We went to Paris and Finland. In 2004, I was still touring to different places. I did Croatia for a week. That was something different. I knew that as far as marketing-wise, my name was out there. I had a better outlook on what I could do. I told myself that the next time I get an opportunity to do an album, I would do it how I wanted it to be done. I didn't look at it as a dire situation. I said I would make a good record and put it out. You can put singles out, but it's completely different when you put out an album. There are a lot of people not getting the chance to do an album. How much freedom did you have on Fat Beats? A lot. All of the major stuff was done before I got the deal. The O.C. and Sean Price songs were recorded after the deal, and the Revolution and K-Def songs came together at the end. Once I had everything recorded, we all sat down and planned on what could go and what could stay. I thought everything I did could fit on the record, so whatever couldn't fit I was cool with. I wanted to give them options. You've seen both the major and independent game. What's the biggest difference between the two? You're locked up on a major. It may feel good to have a deal and video. I'm sure a lot of cats can vouch for me on that. I always knew that as far as we were on Atlantic, it was going to be a struggle. It's different now. With the independent market, everybody is one type of person and it's more widespread because everybody's trying to get something done. There's no time to sit down. If you're on a major, you're going to be sitting on that shelf because you have to wait for everybody else to come in and do their part. It's crazy, because you're sitting there and the same people are working every project. You have all of the same people sitting in on the meetings and working on the projects, but they're not like the artist. They don't know you, they don't know where your crowd is...at least in the independent world, everyone is on their grind. With Fat Beats, the relationship was already there and they said they would back me as much as I needed to put it out. There is no video with this. There are rarely any visuals in an independent project. If you make a video, you don't even know where it's going to go. You don't want to be on BET Uncut. There are a lot of ways to go about making a career at an independent stage. Every Jersey artist that I've ever interviewed has had a different opinion on Jersey Hip Hop, and a lot of New York artists share the same perspective on New York Hip Hop. Why is that? Every group that ever came out of Jersey did something different. Everybody that came from Jersey had a hit record. We knew we couldn't sound like New York because everyone would think we were trying to sound like New York artists. I can't even begin to tell you how it works. If you go back and listen to everyone from Jersey, you can tell what artists they were influenced by except for Flavor Unit. It all started with Lakim and Latee and Chill Rob G. We came up early in the game. When you see today, it's not even about Jersey or New York. In the Eastern Conference standings, we're in the bottom of the division because everyone sounds the same and is doing the same thing. We separated ourselves from everybody because we didn't want to be like anyone else. A lot of times they thought we were from New York. I don't know if the new cats wear Jersey on their arm right now. You don't hear a lot from Jersey artists unless it's Redman. Are you still tagging? Oh yeah. You could probably do some freight cars in Passaic, but the last piece I did was in Croatia. That wasn't even on some sneaky shit. Some dudes had a wall that they wanted to do and I got down with them. What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career? Establishing myself abroad. I have a career outside of being in Jersey and New York City. I can go overseas to Japan, the West Coast…I'm proud that I was able to reestablish myself as a solo artist because I didn't get to do that in my group. A lot of people thought that when The Artifacts broke up, one MC would be putting out more than the other. I have a level head to stay in this game. A lot of cats will try to break you down in this game, but what you stand for will keep you in it. We all want to get paid in this shit, but at the same time, I never really had money like that so my goals are totally different as far as being a thousandaire to a millionaire. I was able to accomplish more than a millionaire has. Not a lot of cats can say they've done what I've done. What's a normal day like for you? Chilling with the kids, cooking, I watch the Food Channel, ESPN is up all day, everything sports…I feel that if you don't separate yourself from being an artist during the day, you get caught up in yourself. I'm a regular dude. Just don't be surprised if one day you see a limo pulling up to my house and people are taking pictures…it's like a Clark Kent thing to me. It's more or less a job to me now. I walk to the store, I play my Playstation 2, you come to my crib, we can get it in on some Madden, smoke out and drink…I'm regular. What's next for you? I'm in the process of recording another album. Me and K-Def have an album coming soon. That'll probably come out in the fall or wintertime this year. We have about six or seven tracks and we're going to keep recording. What do you want to say to everyone? Know that you have somebody you can count on to bring you quality music. Pick this record up when it comes out, you won't steer yourself wrong. Thank you. To everyone that wants to see a change, hopefully I'll be able to bring it for them.

By Brian Kayser

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