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11/28/2005 What's good Juelz? I'm cool man, just grinding. What was your state of mind like recording "What the Game's Been Missing?" First, it was "I need to make myself what the game's been missing." That was first. To do that, I felt like I needed to just grow. I always felt that my talent was up on another level already. I just wanted to grow. I came in with such a focused mind. I knew what I wanted to do and I knew what I wanted to get across. I recorded so much music. I recorded over 160 records in my new studio. I got a chance to really grow with myself and grow with the music. I think it came out so much better. With me, I'm already an original artist. I don't sound like nobody and I don't try to be like nobody. I work with regular producers. I don't want to work with a big name. I love all those dudes like Pharell, but I want to generate the same type of attention that they get. I don't want anyone saying "that record was produced by 'such-and-such,' and that's why it's hot." I want to make somebody hot. I want to get my own producers and make him hot. I want to be the reason a producer gets hot. I want somebody to say "he did a beat for Juelz Santana and he killed it." I just think there's a lot of that not going on and that was my focus on just giving the people what everybody else wasn't giving them right now, having that balance. Some albums sound like they were chasing a single the whole album. Every song sounds like a single but it's not really good enough to be a single. Albums should have balance. They should take you on a journey and get you through your day. When you put that in your car, you can feel everything. There's shit that you can feel, not just something that sounds good. I say some people get heard, some people get felt. I'm definitely one of those people that get felt. "Lil' Boy Fresh" was a dope concept, what was your inspiration for doing that song? I think that every hood has a Lil' Boy Fresh. That's how I looked at it when I looked at my hood. It came from a movie called "Fresh" about a little boy. I relate the song to the movie because I always knew that somebody had one of those little boys around them that was good in the streets that the O.G.'s looked up to. It was a story that I knew everybody would relate to, coming from where I'm coming from and representing what I represent. I just thought that it was a very powerful statement and a strong song. Everybody has a Lil' Boy Fresh around them, whether he's next door or down the block. He's around, believe that. It seemed like Rakim might be on the album with him being in the "Mic Check" video. What happened? When we got together, we never actually talked about him getting on my album. Rakim's been real busy, and I've been real busy too. I kind of lost contact with him, and by the time I had to turn my album in, it was too late. You have to turn your album in two to three months early. Me and him are real cool. He showed me so much love. I always respected him before that. On the set, he gave me some words that really inspired me that will stick with me throughout my whole career. He told me, "yo G, you're really carrying the torch well." For a nigga like him, he said he appreciates what I'm doing and that I make niggas like him look good. I felt like, "damn, I'm really a part of this Hip Hop shit!" I just kind of felt like niggas fuck with me…Rakim is Rakim! That's motivation for me. I'll never stop doing it just because he said that, and I know I can't slack off because he said that. I know I got people like him watching me, paying attention to me, I definitely can't be slacking. Your intro is dope too. Why did you want to feature your nephew on the album? My nephew is in my "S.A.N.T.A.N.A." video…he's grown so much. That conversation actually happened and I just recorded it like that. He told me his teacher asked him for my autograph. That was hilarious to me, I thought it was crazy. I said "I'm starting my intro off with that." Your new mixtape is dope too…why did you choose to hit a lot of classic beats and why aren't others doing that? That's my thing! I always wanted to be different. I wanted to change the game. You don't see people digging in the crates for freestyles. If you notice now when I do my freestyles, I don't even do my regular flow. I rap it just like the way you originally loved it, I'll make my own words though. Like on "Know the Ledge," or "Kill a Man." Sometimes I like to just bring back that essence. Hip Hop is missing that. A lot of these youth don't know these songs, and that's a shame. That's how I also pay my respects. Shorty's say "that's a dope song," and I'm telling them, "nah, that's Rakim!" They say "who's Rakim?" Next thing you know, I'm telling them about Rakim's legacy and they may go out and buy Rakim's albums. You did a dope freestyle on Eminem's "Hi, My Name Is." Eminem is the last dude in Hip Hop to be funny. How important is it to bring out humor and personality in your music? It's all about being different but being myself. I'm a street nigga, but everybody gives you that same street story. What makes you different? I gave you "Hi, My Name Is" in a different viewpoint. I didn't want to just be funny and stupid. I took it and jacked it to be funny in my way: "Hi guys, do you like my life? Do you like guns, pussy, drugs, the high life? Are any one of those three things you do not like? Number two, are you pussy, are you gay, do you like guys?" It's fucking with it, but it's me. It's being creative. It's still myself. I didn't get up there and say "I stick needles in my eyes until I bleed puss out." That's not my thing. I did it my way. Have you gotten any negative response to "Fat Bitch?" Nah, I haven't gotten any hate over nothing. The whole response has been beautiful. Even though I have the song called "King of New York," with the hook saying that, I'm saying "nah, I ain't the king of New York, stop saying that, I'll let other niggas fight for that spot." I was on tour and niggas were calling me telling me that I'm the king of New York right now. I'm like, "c'mon man, I don't want that title." It seems like everybody else does… I don't want it. I'm good. I'm just me man, your local G, giving you that local street report. You mention "The Matrix" a lot in your rhymes. How would you compare your life to Neo? In a whole different way. Not the whole action-figure, guns shooting, jumping off the wall, that's out the window. It's more feeling like I'm the one, that I was chosen for this. Neo didn't come in cocky. He didn't even know that he was the one. Cam is my Morpheus. He took me through all them levels. I wrote "Gangsta Music" in a basement in Chicago because Cam wouldn't let me go to the club because I wasn't writing any songs. Cam showed me the way. Neo didn't know he was that good so he had to be taken through all these tests. When he got it, that's like me building my own studio and becoming the man that I am, being able to stand next to Cam as my own man. Neo knew that there would be no Neo without Morpheus. I can sell all the records, but you always have to have someone at the head of the table to tell you when you go off track. It's not like Neo became bigger than Morpheus. Neo was humble with it and he got the job done. Was there ever a moment when you felt like you were the chosen one? I just work hard. I don't sit there and say "I'm the chosen one." That's for other people to say. I have a lot more to accomplish before I can sit there and say that I feel like the chosen one. Right now, I'm definitely getting that feel. My life is definitely headed in that direction. There's rumors about Cam and Jay having problems. What made you want to come out on Def Jam? There's no problems. There was no real transition. When we were at Rocafella, Jay was the CEO and we still did our Diplomat thing. Our albums came out the same way. Our last album came out the same way, under Def Jam/Rocafella. People think there's a difference but in all actuality, it's not different. Now it's Def Jam/Diplomats. We're still running our own label and Jay handles his business. Everybody has to play their role and he's a businessman. Right now it's not about what side we're on. We don't have to be the best of friends. It's a big world out there. We don't all have to be cool like a Memphis Bleek and Jay are. There's not a problem between Cam and Jay, it just was what it was, we were doing our own thing. It didn't really affect us. L.A. Reid was more of a transition than Jay, in a good way. We had to get to know him and see what he's capable of doing. We wanted to know him. How much responsibility should the label and artist take for the success of a project? It's about doing what you're supposed to do. I know I work hard. It's not about anybody doing extra. This is what we're all supposed to be doing. I did everything I was supposed to do for myself, like paying for my videos. It seems extra because niggas aren't doing that. Labels do their promotion, and it's like one hand washing the other. We're both making it work for each other. That's why I wanted to stay there. I just felt like I needed to be a priority. You've done work with Jeezy and T.I., any chance of a collab album? Me and Jeezy may be working on something. I don't really know what's going on with T.I., I haven't spoken to him in awhile. Whatever the future holds, I'm with it. It seems like the Diplomats have definitely learned a lot from watching Wu-Tang… Maybe it's just embedded in us as individuals, but it's not like we were all watching Wu-Tang back in the day saying "this is how we're going to be when we get older." I'm sure we all knew who Wu-Tang was individually, because they were the shit. I would compare us to Wu-Tang as far as our movement, where you have niggas that are stars in our group and the others are destined to be. It's all about that consistency, being out there, and reinventing yourself. We're not structured like Wu-Tang. I think in a sense of our individuality we're alike because we all stand together. We can go solo and come together in full force. You had all the solo albums and then you're wondering when the Wu-Tang album is like that. It's like that with us. You got the Cam album, the Juelz album, the Diplomat album...in a lot of crews, you just have that one head dude and that's how you pretty much know everybody else. And I'm working with Ghost now. I'm taking that real seriously right now. That song is going to be a problem because I looked up to Ghost coming up. I got no choice but to come at that the right way. How would you compare this album to "From Me to U?" I don't compare it. It's a different level of music. It's me. I got a chance to grow, I got a chance to be different, I got a chance to develop, and I got a chance to be so much more creative with the music while at the same time still being myself. That's why I feel that this is so much better. It's much more creative and grown, and that makes it better. What does it take to be human crack in the flesh? I say that because you know how crack was effective when it first hit. That's how I feel I am to this game right now. I'm making everybody want what I got and wonder what I'm doing that they're not doing right. I may not have sold all these records with my last album, but niggas are still scared of me. I keep niggas on their toes. I'm good for Hip Hop. Niggas like me are good for Hip Hop. Whether I sell records or not, niggas that sell records are going to say "this nigga can bust out at any time, this nigga's a problem." Dip Set is known for coming up with new slang, what's your favorite slang today? "Ya dig?" And "G-rind." It's no longer a "grind," we're on the "G-rind," that's what gangsters do. We're on the "G-rind." Looking at this Cam shooting that just went down in D.C., are you scared for your own safety right now? No. These are things we're aware of. We don't expect them to happen, but we know they can happen. These things can happen anywhere. It is what it is. You always have to be on point and you always have to stay focused. You're one of the only New York rappers to not complain about the South getting radio play, why is that? The South grinded their way to the top the same way we grinded our way in getting Hip Hop on the map, period, worldwide. There's room for everybody. The attention is going to move. The attention is going to be back on the West, it'll go to the East again, it could go to London. People want that new. There's room for everybody. The South didn't stop the Game from coming out or Snoop from having a great year. Why should you complain about what they're doing? Niggas are saying that because they're not getting played. Bottom line is, you have to do what you have to do to get played. Certain songs are crazy, I don't even want to get into it, but you know they're not Hip Hop and they shouldn't be on the radio. Some of these songs, just because a person is not as lyrically talented as you, real shit is real shit. Real niggas are going to relate to real shit. If you say, "I was walking in the crib, the cops locked me up, took all my shit." A nigga can be singing it, that's real shit! The realer it is, the more niggas are going to focus on it. I feel like New York niggas are trying to chase a hit. The South is making the records that they want to make and they're getting played. These niggas are trying to make records and they're not getting played. That's the problem. Make records and let them get played because they're hot records, not because they're radio records. If you pick a song because it sounds more like a radio record and the other song sounds too much like a street record, that's stupid. How do you approach putting a mixtape together differently than an album? Mixtapes are more fun. The mixtape is to show that you're lyrically nice. The album, you want to give people a journey and give them goosebumps. It's almost like rehearsing or performing a show. You can mess up in a rehearsal and it's still all good. The album is like that show, you're putting on that show, all eyes on you. How's Freeky Zeekey doing? Oh, he's beautiful! 2007, welcome home. Zeek is a good nigga and he's a strong nigga. They don't build niggas like Zeek. Out of all the niggas I know, he's not the one that should have went to jail, but he was the most one that could have went and held it up the way he's holding it up and not black out and spaz out. He's doing real good though. Zeek has a beautiful heart. What do you want to say to everyone out there? November 22nd, the new slogan is "Ay, get used to the future, because I am that. I don't claim to be the king, I just do my thing."

By Brian Kayser

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