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6/29/2006 What up, Shawnna? I'm good. We're on this countdown. It's just a couple of days now [until Block Music drops]. I'm anxious, I'm nervous, I'm excited, I can't sleep, I can't eat, you know how that goes. I don't feel the sophomore jinx though. I don't feel any pressure thanks to "Getting' Some". Maybe I'm so relaxed because I've been getting some. Are you happy with how Block Music came out? I am. I'm very happy. It's an album that I would take in my car and bang out and ride through the city with. It's songs that I would request the DJ to play in the club. It's songs on there I would allow my kids to play. You know it's called "Block Music"? That's where I come from. In Chicago, there's a lot of hanging out on the block. There's a lot of family, fun, friends, and all that other filth. Did you receive some good help from your DTP family on Block Music? Of course I did. Of course I did. I'm very proud of my family and I feel like we have so much more to offer, so I used this as an outlet. Did you expect for "Getting' Some" to take off like it did? No, of course I didn't, mainly because of the content. Yeah, I hear you. Who did you work with on the song? It was a guy named XL. Because I'm really adamant about helping people out in Chicago as far as up and coming artist and he hadn't done anything before, but he will be now. Okay, so you've spit some nasty verses in the past but you also do the sexy thing. How do you balance that out? That really how I am. Like when I'm hanging out I'm wylin'. I'm really energetic. I'm aggressive, I'm open. But then again if I got a significant other, you know…Every woman wants to be sexy and there's a time and a place for it. So I put that in my music because there are so many more women like that. Do you think your listeners know that about you or do you think the audience is more inclined to put you in a box because of the content of "Getting' Some"? I'm so visible to people when I'm on television or when I'm out in a crowd so I make sure people know that I'm reachable, that I can be touched. I'm not a superstar and I don't want to be a superstar. Once you alienate yourself from people and start acting like a superstar, people will treat you like that then you start saying, "Well, I can't go to the grocery store" and "I cant do this." If you don't put yourself in a box, then they won't. If I'm always at the grocery store, then they're going to get tired of me being there. So you just have to analyze it and make it work for you because regardless of whether or not you want to be a star, you're going to be because of what you do. It's not like I'm going to act like I'm better than anyone because I can make words rhyme. Are you concerned about the negative implications that the song has on young kids, especially considering you have a son yourself? No, not at all. There are certain television shows children can't watch. There are clubs children cannot go in and we don't condemn them more and try and shut them down. It's about reigns and it takes a village to raise a child. There are certain words that children cannot say so there are going to be certain songs that they can and cannot listen to. So you wouldn't let your son listen to "Getting' Some"? No, he cannot listen to "Getting' Some". He is a child and I am an adult. He does what I tell him to do, not what I do. Some people say you're also promoting oral sex and with all the diseases out there, what do you have to say to people about that and about being safe? I just want to say that the promotion of oral sex was here before me and will be here when I'm gone, and if people want to emphasize on that, I really can't do nothing about it. I just wanted to put the song out as kind of like an anthem for women in a time when it was so many songs saying "bust it wide open", "shake it like a salt shaker," and "let me see that pussy whole" and women needed something to throw back. What do you have to do from here on out to make Block Music successful? I'm just making sure I hit every radio station I can, just to let people know that I'm here, go listen to it let me know what you think. When I get a chance to hit the internet I look at the feedback and reply to some of the people. I'm just going to keep talking to people, keep grinding you know. Networking and communications. You recently did the Block Music mixtape with Clinton Sparks. How's that doing for you? It was hot. It was really the first mixtape I had done exclusively. It was different. I just really spit a lot of verses and sent them in to him and he sent me some tracks. The majority of it was him taking acapella versus me going in the studio and him putting his own beats under it. But it was cool because people were calling about it all over the country. It's been a few years since your debut Worth the Wait. Do you think this album is overdue at all? No, I think it's right on time. Worth the Wait was a blessing in disguise because if everything had been moving at the pace it's moving, I wouldn't have learned some of the valuable lessons I had learned. I wouldn't have learned to stay away from some people that I stay away from and I wouldn't have learned to not turn some of the corners that I don't turn now. Did you try and avoid some of that stuff while doing this album? Yeah, as far as every mistake that I made I made sure I didn't do it and every regret that I had I made sure I did do it. What was one of those regrets? Just staying in the label's ass and staying on radio. Making sure I get the numbers and making sure the label didn't have all of the contact with everyone and just talking to people more and seeing what's up and letting them know what's up. Were there any frustrations from the label this time around? No, not really. I mean, there are some songs that I did that I definitely wanted to get on the album that are not on there. I am a little upset about that, but you know, due to sample clearances and timing, we had to go. We ain't here to be messing around waiting. What's your next move? I'm going on tour with Yung Joc, just him and me, so we're going to get out there and tear some clubs up. Do you feel comfortable with the title "First Lady of Chicago"? No, not really because there are a lot of women doing really big things in Chicago right now. If anybody is the First Lady of Chicago, Da Brat is. I'm the Ambassador. I have to give it up to her though. She's like my sister and she's from my city and we keep in touch. I don't have a problem with that. Do you have to say to other young ladies trying to make it in the business out there? Keep your legs closed and your mind open. What do you have to say to everyone? Go get it June 27th. Holla Back. Tell me what you think.

By Nick Johnson

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