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1/2/2006 How are you doing Posta? I'm doing good. I'm just happy to be here and making my way back. Get ready. We haven't heard a lot from you lately. What have you been up to in the past year? I've just been recovering. For those who don't know, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in '04, so from July '04 to July '05, I had to go through chemotherapy, get my weight back, and two intensive surgeries. One was 11 and a half hours, the other was five hours, and I lost a testicle and a kidney. Now I'm back and I'm recording, and I'm ready. Are you feeling good today? No health problems. I got my weight back, I'm in the gym, and I'm in that booth every time I get a chance. Are you more health-conscious today? Yeah man, definitely. Even back then, it wasn't that I wasn't health-conscious. It just came out of nowhere. Nobody in my family ever had that disease. I never even smoked cigarettes. It just came out of nowhere. It's a young man's disease. A lot of young men and teenagers get it. How did going through the cancer change your perspective on being on MC? It's just more serious now. I appreciate the fact that I have the gift I have. Going through that, I don't take anything for granted anymore. It's a struggle and you have to go through it. Right now, I'm about my music and I'm about my company. MC'ing is usually about being invincible, do you think that this disease will make you change the way you write? Definitely. I just try to get a message across in everything I do. I'm about to be a spokesperson for a big cancer association and I know a lot of people are going to be listening. If you didn't know, now you know. I just try to send a message every time I open my mouth. Was there any point during the bout that you thought about giving up MC'ing? (pause) Yeah. When I first found out that I had it. I found out in 2004 on Father's Day. The doctor came into my room and said, "Mr. Dixon, I've got bad news. You've got testicular cancer, and you will probably have six months to live." When I heard that, it was really just all about my health. My girl was pregnant with my son at the time, so I was just concentrating on her and having my son. They told me I only had six months to live, but through the grace of God I'm able to be here and have this interview with you. You've been getting great feedback from the HipHopGame audience, what are you trying to give people with your new music? I'm just trying to give the people what they want. A lot of people want to know what happened to me. For those that want to know, I'm not signed with Cooter Love or Universal, because I didn't get any support throughout my whole situation. I was released of the situation on my own will; my lawyers got me out of the contract. I just want a fresh start all over again. Just a fresh start. What went wrong at Universal? Before I got sick, I had a few hot singles that the samples didn't get cleared on. I had another record that Cooter and I were feeling, but Universal wasn't feeling. There was a lot of friction there. Then when I got sick, I didn't get any phone calls from them. When someone's life is on the line, business isn't supposed to matter. At least that's what I'd do if someone's life was on the line. I'd support them financially, emotionally, physically, whatever is needed. I didn't get that. I can't get no money with anybody like that. Are you cool with Cooter Love today? I haven't spoken to him. I don't have any bad wishes on the man, but I haven't spoken to him since I got released from my deal. I'm focusing on my music. What are you looking for right now? I'm looking to get signed again and to come out and make nice, productive music and give the people what they want. I have an international buzz due to BET "106 and Park." I got love for what I do and I'm still doing it. I'm just looking for the proper situation and to have the right people behind me. What will you do differently the next time you get signed? I'm not trying to just get a record deal. I'm trying to get a production deal too. I got my own production team and I shot my own video. Shout out to Richie Dane, who did my video. He's done some motion pictures and worked on "Training Day." I got my own studio. I'm trying to get a production deal, that's the big picture. The record deal, I've already been there and done that. I'm not going to get a big budget because I can do that stuff on my own. I'm only going to need the money for the mixing and mastering. Seeing what's come out of being on Freestyle Friday, would you do it again? No. I'm not really a battle rapper, for the record. I just did that to look for a new opportunity to get noticed and to get a record deal. Before, I was going about the standard way of heading up to record labels and passing my CD's off. That wasn't working. I said I was going to go on the show and win it for 10 weeks and get signed. That's what happened. After the third week, Master P was trying to sign me. As it went on, I had 12 labels trying to sign me. Right now, I got my own single shot with my own money, and I'm just waiting to get the machine behind me. I don't want to shoot my bullet with no machine behind me. What did you learn from the "106 and Park" experience? I learned that if you want something, you have to go hard to get it. Before I went on the show, I had visions of winning 10 weeks in a row, and then I went and did it. A lot of things happened because of that. I got a record deal, I got a publishing deal, I met a lot of people, and my life changed. I became a hood star. You can't go in stores anymore, everybody knows you. I moved from Harlem…a lot of things happened from the show. Do you find that people, even in 2006, see you as a battle rapper? Yeah, but you can't really be mad because people are only going off of what they know. When I get my new situation and I start coming out with these hit records I've been recording, they'll see that I'm not. I'm not a battle rapper. I don't even battle anymore. After the show, I didn't battle again. You said that you want to give the people what they want. What do the people want? Good music, man. Good music. They want hit records. They want good music and hit records, and even more than both, they want consistency. If you stay consistent, you're bound to win. If you never stay consistent, then you're right around the corner from losing. Are you focusing more on freestyles or songs right now? I'm working on my album right now. It's called "Live from the Emergency Room." That's what I mean when I say that on my freestyles. I'm working with two great producers right now, Versatile and Dilemma. I've got some guest producers on there as well, Amadeus, Ron Browz, Dame Grease, and one more big fellow that I can't let out. It's about to go down. I'm already 10 songs deep. We all know you're nice on the freestyles, but no one knows much about your songs. What will your album do to the game when it drops? It's going to be a shock. I'm going to put up snippets on HipHopGame to get people ready because I don't even think they know what lane I'm in right now as an artist. I'm not trying to kill someone 100 times in a verse. It's about making good music, staying on that radio, and staying consistent. Where do you see yourself in the mix of all the other rappers trying to come up right now? For the new era, top five. I see myself in the top five. My music is going to do the talking. A year from now, when people read this interview and hear the music, they'll see why I said "top five." How hard is it to make a comeback right now and almost have to start from scratch? It's hard, but it's kind-of not-hard. The people still know me, the anticipation is still there, I still look like I'm 18, and I didn't lose any pep in my step. The music is going to do the talking. With the right record and the right machine behind me, it's over. It seems like in today's game you need a co-sign, and you don't have any right now. What makes you want to come up with no co-sign? I'm just confident like that. A co-sign would be cool, but I don't have it, so I have to move on. Life doesn't stop. I've been rhyming since I was 11 or 12. I was trying to get a deal, nobody felt me, then I went on 106 and Park and I did it myself. And in my case, I'm going to make history repeat itself and I'm going to get back on fire. I did it before, with nobody. It was up to me to win every battle and don't stutter, and to look presentable to the A&R eye. I did that myself without no co-sign, and I'm going to do it again in another way. "Jurassic Harlem" was huge for you back then… Yeah, we just did a part two to that. As soon as the ball drops on January 1, that song is going to drop. How important was "Jurassic Harlem" to your career? Very important. Everywhere I go, whether it's here or overseas, everyone knows that record. I always start my shows off with that record. How do you feel about the way Harlem is being represented right now by Mase and the Diplomats? They're doing their thing. Cam is doing his thing with Dip Set and Mase is doing his thing with G-Unit. Anything coming from Harlem, I'll support it. I just have to do what I have to do. I represent Winning Team Records, that's my label that I started, and I have and artist P-Reala, and I'm his co-sign. Where do you see your label going? I see it being big, being the next Bad Boy when they were at their early stage and hungry, and G-Unit, we're going to be there. I got a female artist named Salazar from Harlem. I got some tools. I'm not coming into this myself. Once I start bringing these tools out of my toolbox, it's going to be a problem. What did you learn working with Raekwon? It was a pleasure to work with Rae. I'm a fan of Rae. It was really cool. I've worked with him about three times. He was on my first mixtape. We built a relationship where I'll go check him at his crib and he'll come up to Harlem. That's my dude. How was it working with Prodigy? That's my nigga! I see him doing his G-Unit thing. He's a real nigga. I met him in Puerto Rico, and I told him I needed to do a song with him. He said as soon as we get back, he'd make it happen. He came up to 125th and parked his white Yukon in the Grant Projects. We blew some haze in the air and we did the record. He's real cool and he kept his word. I fucks with Prodigy. Who do you want to work with next? I'm open to work with anyone. Whoever wants to work with me, I'm open for it. What's going to be your next project? I got a project coming out called "Real Recognize Real," with songs I've done with everyone from Raekwon to Prodigy to Nelly, Talib Kweli, Da Band…we did collaborations with no money down. That's going down, and after that I have a CD called "State of Emergency" with all new stuff that will be released after that. I have my moves lined up, and all I can say is that I'm ready and I'm back. What do you want to say to all the label heads reading this right now? I'm back, I got my video done, and I got my album done. People already know me. It'll be easy, I just need the machine behind me. I don't need a big budget. Everything's done. People already know me. If you know what's best for you, contact HipHopGame and find out how to get in touch with Posta. If not, I'll see you at the top, that's where I'm going. What do you want to say to everyone out there? Thanks for supporting me. The boy is back. I'm staying strong and consistent. I'm staying in the booth, and two flags is up, Winning Team.

By Brian Kayser

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