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1/31/2006 Interview with E-Swift from The Liks How are you doing E? I'm good man. We're getting a good response on this record. I'm in New York right now, we just got back from Europe. Everything's good. What did you want to give people with "Firewater?" We just wanted to give everyone a taste of the raw, uncut Alkaholiks style. You know, the party-crashing, beer-smashing-ass style. We came with that and represented to the fullest. It's going to be our last album as Tha Alkaholiks. We all have separate projects to do, but we'll still work together. We had to make people remember our final album and I think they're going to feel it. Why did you feel that you had to retire Tha Alkaholiks? We've been in the game as Tha Alkaholiks for 15 years. If a group wants to stop making records, it should not be because everyone's fighting. It should be because they fulfilled their legacy. We wanted to end it on a good note and do it while we still have time to venture out on our individual projects. It's going to mean more music for the fans. We wanted to go on the farewell tour and bring out new artists like we've always done. In an older interview, you said, "In 10 years, Tha Liks will still be making records. We model ourselves after bands like the soul groups of the past eras." Exactly. Look at The Beatles and how everyone branched out after the group had success. We pattern ourselves after that. We're always going to be Tha Alkaholiks, but we can channel that sound in different ways and make it even stronger. When we come together, we make a big, strong unit. We're not retiring. We're going to start a new legacy. We might start a new group with a new name. It's always going to be Tha Alkaholiks. When you hear the song, you'll hear the sound that makes you say, "It's Tha Alkaholiks." That's always going to be in people's minds and mouths. We're going to keep it going and come up with more creative ideas. No one takes retirement seriously in Hip Hop. How serious is it that there will never be another album with "Tha Alkaholiks" label? At this point, it's a wrap. This is it. A lot of people think it's a publicity stunt. We're not doing it for the attention. We want people to understand that we've done a lot for Hip Hop, especially West Coast Hip Hop. We want to leave a legacy. We don't want to be like a championship boxer that retires, comes back, and gets knocked out. We're going to go out at the top of our game. It's for real. How much production did you handle on "Firewater?" About 90% on it. I took it back to the basics where I handled the majority of the tracks. I did a track with Evidence. Danger Mouse gave us a crazy track too. As far as rappers go, we only got a couple of guest appearances on there. Of course we have King Tee on there. He's the godfather and originator of Tha Alkaholiks. He gave us our name. We have him on a killer song. We're bringing two new cats out too. We always introduce the newest, freshest talent. We already did Xzibit, Phil da Agony, Madlib, Defari, the list goes on. Now you have to watch out for Stylistic Jones and Bishop Lamont. It's dope how you guys do that. It seems like most albums rely on guest appearances from established MC's. Yeah. We've done songs with Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Ol' Dirty Bastard, rest in peace…all these cats were friends of ours. It's not like we just called their managers. We met a lot of MC's. We met almost every MC you can think of. We really want people to know we have a lot of fans in the industry. Tha Alkaholiks fam has really grown. What are you and King Tee doing today? He's always been our mentor. He was the first recording artist that I knew personally. Working with him back in the day, he really showed me a lot of etiquette and how to handle your business. He's still around doing the same thing. He's in the studio working on new stuff. On the first track, you say that you're "the answer to the West." What does the West need right now? We just need a fresh sound. We need fresh faces or old faces making good music. We need that West Coast flow. We're keeping Hip Hop alive. Regardless of where you come from, it's about making fresh music that people can get into. That's what we're doing. That's what we've always done from day one. That's what we're continuing to do on this new album. Everything is lyrical on this new album. There's no ABC rhymes on this album. It seems like not a lot of people are having fun in Hip Hop. How important is it to keep that element alive? Once in awhile, you're going to get knocked down. You're going to need something to pick you up. That's what we are. We're a group that will pick you up after a bad day of going through life's trials and tribulations. You're going to need something to get you out of that bad mood. We're a breath of fresh air in that respect. We're going to talk shit and have fun. It's some 2006 Black Beastie Boys shit. Why isn't anyone having fun or smiling in today's game? Behind the scenes, everyone's having fun. They're all making money. They don't have nothing to be sad about. What's your next project going to be? I'm doing a solo album. I'm getting all my favorite MC's on it. I'm also doing an album with Madlib. That's been long overdue. We're staying busy. Plus, I'm producing everybody under the sun. I'm sure you'll hear about it, but I'm doing more shit with Snoop. What's the difference between you being a solo artist and being a part of Tha Liks? It's all the same to me. I just do what I do. I might make a beat that has a certain sound that I think will match an artist and I'll take it to him. I stay in certain modes when I work on our own music, because I really focus 100% on Alkaholik records. Once we're done, I'll start working on stuff for other people. I'm 100% loyal to the group. If I make a hot track, I'm going to keep it for us instead of selling it. A lot of rappers have their own alcohol. It seems like you guys need your own brand. Yeah. We're developing it right now. It's going to be a flavored beer called Likwit Brew. It seems like you and The Beatnuts would make some good music. Yeah, we actually just had a meeting with them. We're doing some work on Psycho Les' solo album How would you compare "Firewater" to your past albums? I just call it another classic. It's back to the "21 and Over" days. It's just us wiling out, being spontaneous, no holds barred, and having fun. We just put our back into this and made it hot. What has allowed Tha Liks to survive this long in the game? The thing is, our last album on Loud, they closed the doors and we've been in two different record deals since then. Artists Direct closed, and then we came to Koch and signed with them. We've been touring like crazy and just working on our records. It is what it is. A lot of people don't know, but we're one of the busiest groups in Hip Hop. We have a crazy stage show and people always want to come to the shows. What's some of the craziest things that have happened at your shows? If you can imagine it, it's happened, from fights to naked broads to riots in the crowd to bottles being thrown in the crowd. It's all happened, man. There's nothing that we missed out on in our career. What is it about Tha Alkaholiks that makes the girls go crazy at shows? You know what it is? It's the name, "Tha Liks." They don't know what it means, so they be coming trying to find out. (laughs) Have you guys ever gotten any negative feedback from groups like Alcoholics Anonymous? Oh yeah. We've gotten a few little things, nothing big. One time we got banned from the Bible states because of the name. They didn't want to advertise us. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. When we started out, I thought we were going to get attacked by everyone in the business. Do you think you would have a bigger fan-base if you were originally from the East? I don't think so. Right now, New York is our second-biggest market. There's LA and then New York. They're pretty much even in terms of our sales. I don't think it makes a difference because a lot of people from the East Coast hear our music anyway. Will we hear Tha Liks on a Dre beat soon? Yep. We're working on it. Hopefully real soon. Are you guys still down with The Neptunes? Definitely. They're my boys for life. They're good dudes. A lot of people would say that with friends like that, why not get them on the album. Why didn't you want big names on "Firewater?" They (The Neptunes) came to us. They were fans of ours. They came to us with that song and we needed something for the women. That was at a time when they were just coming up too, really on their grind. We looked out for each other on that. At the end of "The X.O. Experience" DVD, there's this young kid doing the robot. Who was that? That was one of our dancers! He was bugging out! He's probably still standing right there popping! What's up with Defari these days? He's dropping his new album in February. I don't know what it's titled yet, but he's still doing his thing, on his grind. Does J-Ro still have Wolfpack Records? Yep. That's still going strong. Everything is beautiful. What are you guys drinking these days? We've all got different flavors. J-Ro likes Captain Morgan, I like Patron, and Tash likes Hennessey. What do you want to say to everybody out there? Thank you for all the years of support. Buy the "Firewater" album. We love y'all. Keep looking for our individual projects. And God bless everybody.

By Brian Kayser

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