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9/24/2007 What’s up?  Man, I’m taking it easy.  Your new album For The Hell Of It is finally dropping. How does that feel?  It feels good. At the end of the day, it’s perfect timing. We got all the Kanye and Curtis shit out of the way. Now it’s time to get back to that gangster music.  What was your state of mind recording For The Hell Of It?  Everybody had big expectations for me from when I came home. Cam’ron was coming off of his success and Juelz is an established artist, so there’s a pressure for me to make certain kind of records and fit in. I went into the studio and didn’t say that I had to do a party record or a diss record. I said I was just going to do the shit that I wanted to do.  How did approaching the album like that and not placing any limitations on yourself change your music?    It feels good. It feels good. I feel it helps the music and it helps me be who I am and still get appreciated like Kanye West. He knows he wears fake jeans. He knows that’s not accepted in hip-hop. He still continues to still break these barriers, I guess, to strive for originality. He’s going to do whatever he’s going to do, but that’s why I felt that I had to do me. I felt if I made certain records, it wasn’t going to be me. I just did me. I basically just put my best foot forward in my own fashion.  How did your single “I Ain’t Playin’ Wit Cha” with Dame Grease come together?    Oh, man, me and Grease basically sat down and he said, “Yo, Hell Rell, man, you have to come out with some dope-ass, hard shit to get hip-hop to where it needs to be. When X came out, it was in the shiny suit era and you couldn’t get any video play unless you were wearing shiny suits.” That’s why I tried to do with “I Ain’t Playin’ Wit Cha.”    Is there not enough hard music out right now?  Yeah. There’s not enough hard shit right now. There’s not enough real, New York, gutter shit. At the end of the day, all of these dudes from New York are hardcore, gutter MCs from Jay-Z to Biggie. They figured out how to make hit records and all of their records are universal. I understand what it is.  Is making a hit record a concern for you?  That is the ultimate goal because at the end of the day, that’s what an artist is supposed to do – make hit records to sell a lot of records. The idea is to always maintain a formula where you get the crossover appeal and still maintain a little credibility and please everybody. Diddy learned the formula. Dre learned the formula. And I learned the formula. But I couldn’t put certain big records on Koch because Koch doesn’t have a machine behind them. At Def Jam, they have 100 people working a record as opposed to Koch, who has four people working a record. I’ll just save those songs for my next album.   Are you the best hardcore rapper in the game today?    I would say so. I would say so, hands down. At the end of the day, I’m young, the streets relate to me and everything I say is real talk. People say I’m fronting, but come get with me! At the end of the day, it’s real talk. It’s not a fluke.  Who do you see in the game today as your competition?    Everybody.  A lot of people look to you for hard tracks. What do you have to do to keep the people coming back?    Making big records and staying effective. I meet a lot of people who don’t even like my music but they like me. And then it works the other way too. People don’t like me but they like my music. It’s a challenge. I can never get to a comfortable position to where I feel like I got everybody on my side and I can just do what I want to do. Nah, these are consumers. Every time I put an album out in stores, I’m catering to the consumer. Every time I put a mixtape out, I’m bringing you into my world. The consumer should be able to relate to the artist and if you don’t have any stories on there to relate to people, why would they support you?    Look at Jay-Z and Kingdom Come. The album went over people’s heads because he was catering to an audience that wasn’t hip-hop. The streets can’t relate to “30 is the new 20.” The streets couldn’t relate to that. You have to put something out there for the consumers and you just have to keep it in mind that you’re catering to the consumer. You want them to buy something so it has to be to their liking.    A lot of artists say, “I dumbed it down for the streets” or “I kept it simple for the streets.” Do artists underestimate the intelligence of the streets?    Yeah, they do. They really do. They feel they have to dumb it down for the streets, but nah, man, people ain’t dumb in the streets. People know what’s going on. People read books. I don’t feel like you can ever dumb it down for the streets. If you say you’re dumbing it down, it means you’re making music for a whole bunch of idiots.  You also wrote a book to go with the album. What was that like for you?    Oh, man, it was hot. I just got a chance to let everybody know my mindstate and the type of attitudes I’ve been going through as far as recording the album. The book is basically chapters that are named after every song on the album. It basically brings you into my world. I heard a lot records that I liked and I was like, ‘Damn, what was he thinking when he made this record? What was he going through?’ I wanted to let the people know what I was going through. It’s pretty much a front-row seat to the Hell Rell Show.  You’ve been working with the Diplomats for a long time without having an album come out. Was it ever frustrating waiting to get a release date for an album?    Yeah. I kind of spazzed out a few times and got real emotional wondering when my album was going to come out. Cam had to sit me down and basically show me the ins and outs of a lot of things that are going on in hip-hop right now. “Party Like A Rockstar” didn’t even scan more than 200,000 records and that was a big record. Even the big records that we’re looking at that we think are going to sell a lot are only scanning 200,000. I had to really take assessment to that like, ‘Wow, these dudes are putting out big records and it’s not coming back the way it’s supposed to.’ I have to do what I have to do. I was definitely impatient until I had a talk with Cam about a lot of things. Patience is a virtue. A lot of shit got out the way and it just made a lot of room for my movement and for what I’m about to do. It’s perfect timing.  Was it hard for you to trust Cam at first?    Yeah, it was hard. It’s like, ‘Dog, you’re rich already. You’re popping. You’re on already. You got all these albums under your belt, so it’s easy for you to say that.’ He had to show me that I had to really, really, really be a man and see what’s going on. Homie’s been in the game for damn-near 10 years and he has an idea of what’s going on. I just followed his lead.  You and Cam are also working on an album Uptown Boyz. How’s that coming?    It’s done. It’s crazy. When that drops, people are going to be like, ‘You got some real big records on there!’ We just need to get a few features cleared and we’re ready to roll.   What was it like recording an album with Cam?    Oh, man, that was an honor. Juelz and Jim and all of them were on before me, so for Cam to want to do an album with me, that was an honor. He would let me pick the beats and he would let me pick the subject matter and he would basically add his flavor to it. I basically set it off. It was a good look.  Are you closest to Cam in Dipset?    I’m close with everybody, man. But I deal with Duke Da God and Cam the most. I love the whole ‘Set.  Did it bother you when Jim Jones got onstage with 50 Cent at Rap City?    Jim Jones is an executive of the company. He’s not an artist. He can’t be chastised like he’s a little kid or something. I guess that was an executive decision he made and I don’t agree with it. I don’t have to agree with every decision that’s made, which I don’t. I wasn’t feeling it, but hey, I guess that was a move for his career that he felt he needed.  But what you’re saying is that we would never see Hell Rell do that.    You would never see Hell Rell do that! Of course not. Not in a time of despair and not in a time of cease fire.  Jim Jones said he hasn’t spoken to Cam in over a year. What’s going on?    There’s a lot of things going on, but I can definitely say that we’re not splitting up. We’re doing what we have to do to get where we have to go.  Are you still recording an album with JR Writer?  Yeah. The albums that we’ve talked about are done. We’re just waiting for release dates and for features to be cleared. Other than that, look out for these albums to be dropping in early ’08.  JR Writer recently signed a multi-album deal with Babygrande. Are you looking for something like that too?  I would like a little bit of both. Look for us on the major side of it and on the independent side of it.  What’s the ideal label for you?    Diplomat Records.  What’s the next move for Hell Rell?    Oh, man, just getting this album out. I’m also reading these scripts to these movies that I’m about to be in. So look out for a couple of movies coming in ’08.  How far are you trying to take your acting?    I’m trying to get to Denzel status, baby! (laughs)    Have you started thinking about your next album?    Yeah. I’m eight songs deep in that already. I really got, like, 100 songs laying around that are recorded already.  Now that your debut album is dropping, is it going to be easier for you to get the next albums out?    Yeah, definitely. Definitely. We got a lot of big deals up. Just be looking forward to seeing Hell Rell everywhere.  What advice would you offer to up-and-coming MCs?  Support your hometown DJs and your local DJs because those are the ones that are breaking records. Basically just get hot in your hometown. You can’t really become a national star if you’re not hot in your hometown. Look at history and look at all the big records that popped off. They had the support of their hometown.  What are your goals for For The Hell Of It?    Just to reach and touch everybody that’s showed Hell Rell love. I’m trying to keep the music out there.   What do you want to say to everybody?    Oh, man, look out for my clothing line. Me and Duke are opening up a restaurant called “Rugar’s Ribshack.” Look out for that.

By Brian Kayser

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