Q: Are you originally from Hammond, IN? What was it like growing up there? (*RockTownNigga)
A: Yeah I'm originally from Hammond . It was the same as it was growin' up in any other hood. Shit I grew up in a single parent house. I'm the oldest out of 3 kids. Shit we grew up on free school lunch and god damn food stamps and all that shit. It was the same shit as any other hood, the world is a ghetto.
Q: Compare Hammond to Gary. (*RockTownNigga)
A: I'll say it like this,Hammond, Gary and East Chicago are all in the same little circle. In reality it can all really be one city. The best way I can describe it is Gary is where the majority of the black people at. Hammond you got black people, but its white people and latin people too. Then East Chicago its black people, but its majority latin. It's all really the same thing, its just a couple streets over. If you not from out here, you could be on one street and be in Hammond and go to another street and be in East Chicago and go over the bridge and be in Gary.
Q: How did you land your deal with Legion Records? (*Believer)
A: I was basically doin' my thing out in the streets, doin' what I do. Somehow one of my mixtapes or albums or somethin' got into they hands and they sent a representative to one of my shows. When they saw the energy at the show, they was really tryin'to get at me. At the time I had a couple offers on the table with a couple other labels. What had happened was, I was suppose to fly out to L.A. and meet wit some people from Sony and I had fucked around and went to jail. When I got out, I was tired of goin' back and forth to jail for some little stupid shit. Tired of goin' in circles droppin' mixtapes and doin' the same shows over and over. So after a couple of months of negotiatin' I just went on in and inked it.
Q: What do you feel will set your next album apart from everything else out there at the moment? (*Redd)
A: As far as on the Midwest scene, the quality level on this album is just extraordinary. Me and Trax did a lot of good songs, me and No I.D. did songs. It's a good album because half of the album No I.D. was overseeing the producing. The other half of the album Trax was overseeing the producing. Then it was me doin' what I always do. It's more separated from a regular Ric Jil album. It's just more ideas and more different people's inputs than just me doin' whatever I want to do. As far as it being separated from the rest of the game, ain't nobody in the game doin' no hard ass just what I like to call “real nigga rap”. They not reppin' the streets or Midwest streets at least. We have a lot of niggaz in the game talkin' like they sold a million keys of dope and shit, but ain't nobody really comin' from just the average joe, regular, ordinary joe, real street cat nigga perspective. Ain't nobody really representin' that nigga, so that's what I'm tryin' to do with this ‘Ricdiculous' album.
Q: Any features on the new album that you already can confirm? (*Face97) Who's gonna be on the album? (*WhItEbOy Da KiLLa)
A: As of right now at this moment, I know me and Trax got some shit. Me and Johnny P got some shit. Maybe Thugged Out from Gary and someone else on The Legion I'm pretty sure they gonna be on my album.
Q: What industry niggaz do you plan on doing tracks with? (*x-mizel)
A: We done reached out to a couple other ‘major acts' if you will, but ain't nothing in stone yet so I don't wanna say someone name and they don't end up on the album.
Q: What kind of production and material is gonna be on the album? (*WhItEbOy Da KiLLa) What can we expect to hear, and how's the process going? (*Face97)
A: For the most part its on some representin' the streets. I'm really rappin' from the stand point of a consumer and I'm representin' the Midwest movement, the niggaz thats been buyin' the CD's and all the albums that's been comin' out and shit. It's some real hard shit on there. I got some shit for the hoes on there. I got some shit that make you think. I got some club shit. It's a real diverse album. I think its some of my best work to date. The beats, the quality is there, it's high powered. It took so long to come out, so it catches a lot of different stages with me. I was goin' through different stuff at different times, so whatever I was goin' through at that moment in time is comin' out in these songs. So all those songs put together in one album is just like a roller coaster and shit. It's just gon' take you for a ride.
Q: You and Trax were like a 1-2 punch when yall were together. You gonna be doin' more with him or what? (*meanmug)
A: Shit Trax did like 6 or 7 joints on my shit. Me and him did a song where we rappin' on some flippin' twist type of thing that's real hard. He did the joint with me and Johnny P, which is definitely for the ladies. Me and Trax did some of the hardest shit that's on there. We got a real life type of song that me and him worked on. Trax did a good bulk of my album so it's what people would expect from Ric Jilla and Traxster. He was on point on the beats and I did my thing with the words.
Q: What made you and Trax squash the beef? (*
)
A: Me and Trax never really had personal beef. To make a long story short, I just did what I did and made the move that I made on the 'Free Agent' just so I could get Trax attention. At the time I felt he was playin' me, but we squashed the beef. The way it happened was, he worked for Do or Die. Do or Die is on The Legion and I'm on The Legion. So him and Rudy was doin' a lot of business and Rudy brought it to my attention and asked me what I thought about it. Like I said I never really had a personal beef with the nigga. I was just lettin' him know I ain't no hoe so to speak. So that's how it was, it wasn't really too much for us to squash the beef. I said what I had to say, he said what he had to say. As men we was able to accept that and put it behind us. Now its water under the bridge and money is the motivation when it's all said and done. If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense. I'm not gonna pass up on some money for some foolishness. He one of the coldest niggas on the beats, I'm one of the coldest niggas on the raps. We both representin' the Midwest in this Midwest Movement, so we had to do it.
Q: When, where, and who is gonna be in the new video and will it air on BET? (*Quan1)
A: We should be shootin' the video before the end of May or early June. The song is called ‘Bounce Somethin' and its produced by a cat named Mr. Lee who did a lot of production for Rap-A-Lot, Bun B, Pimp C, ScarFace and that whole Rap-A-Lot thing. It's one of the club joints on the album. I'm not sure who all gonna make a cameo on the video. We been networkin' with a lot of people and a lot of people got invites, so ain't no tellin' who gon' come through on that day. It will be me, it will be my real niggas, my label mates and a bunch of bad ass bitches. Some of the video probably gonna be shot in Chicago, some in Hammond. I'm trying to do some of it in Indianapolis too. It's gon' be on BET and MTV. It's not just gon' be an ‘Uncut' video at the time. It's gon' get some Rap City run and MTV Jams and from my understanding its gonna be the ‘New Joint of the Day' on 106 & Park when it come out too. Hopefully that pan out.
Q: What type of promotional efforts are set-up for the upcoming Legion album? (*C-Stylez) Can we expect some promoting on your upcoming album? (*Glock40)
A: They gonna go full throttle on my project. Once we finalize it, it's gon be all over the internet, all over the TV, in the magazines, on the radio. We gon' take the same approach everybody else take to make a successful project.
Q: I recently heard PayRoll & Cap-One were added to Legion's roster. Does that affect your Legion release in any way? (*ColdFlow)
A: That doesn't affect my release at all. Payroll and Cap-1 they both my niggas. I use to rotate wit them a little bit before they came aboard to The Legion. It ain't no hostility or ain't nobody competin' for no certain position or certain spot. Everybody understand they role. Everybody know we all on the same team and got the same goals. We all want to make money and see the label do what everybody keep waitin' to see. Everybody want to see whats gon' happen and what we gon' do. This year hopefully we gon' kill all doubts and tell muthafuckas what time it is.
Q: What are your thoughts and predictions about the current and future NWIndiana rap scene (*D-LUX)
A: My thoughts on it is it's a lot of good music. A lot of niggas can rap and make good music, but in all reality, if a muthafucka didn't come along in the CCA, Will Skrill, Ric Jill, Grind Family days, the streets ain't really embracin' niggas as rappers. Now mufuckas ain't really gettin' called by they rap name. People remember ‘em from school or whatever they use to do. A lot of stores out here closed. I remember at one time it was 15 record stores I had my shit in. Now it's like only bout 8 or 9 stores and the industry ain't really thrivin' like it use to. So now I'm out here fuckin' wit the arabs at the corner stores, gas stations and liquor stores. They sellin' more CD's than record stores. For the most part, its some niggas that can flow and doin' they shit, but I don't really know if they really sellin' they CD's or not.
Q: How did you and MCGz end up having beef? (*Believer)
A: You know what, it really ain't the MCG'z. It really was just Hit. The MCG'z, they was on my album and we did a lot of shows and shit together. What ended up happenin' was this nigga that make beats, had where everybody had beat CD's with the same beats on there. As I was finishin' my "Upgrade" album, I was in Nap. I had rode Hit over to one of my cribs in Nap. He was listenin' to the beats CD's tryin' to figure out what song can we do together. Come to find out we both had the same beats on the beats CD's and it was a couple of ‘em he was like “nigga that's on my CD” or “I'ma do somethin' to that beat”. To make a long story short, what ended up happenin' was I ended up makin' a song on one of the beats he suppose to had paid for and was recordin' something to already. One thing led to another and niggas was instigatin' and niggas all in a nigga ear and he just made a move. You know all niggas got pride, we all got pride. So I can't really blame the nigga for doin' what he did. For the most part, it ain't really beef-beef like what people might think it to be. He said his lil thing on the CD or whatever, but it ain't like real beef-beef where we see each other in the streets and its gon' go down like all my other beefs, you know what I'm sayin'?
Q: What do you think about the Grind Family? (*)
A: Me and the Grind Family we squashed our beef too. There was a point in time where the violence in NorthWest Indiana was up. The god damn crime was up ‘cause of that beef. It literally turned 2 cities against each other, 2 hoods against each other. Niggas was gettin' beat up, shot and stabbed. Mufuckas was gettin' whooped at clubs and in jail. It was some beef for real on sight, who ever saw somebody wearin' the other nigga T-Shirt or know him to be affiliated with the other group it's on, but it ain't like that no more. We squashed our beef. I hear people say they signed a deal. I don't really know too much about it. If they did, that's good, because they ain't did nothin' on the street in a long time. So a move like that, is something they need to really put mufuckas back on it like that again. They ain't dropped nothing since a long time ago. It's been a couple years, but like I said, I ain't got nothin' against them niggas. I want them to do they thang. I want anybody that's from ours to do they thang. With the people in Indiana and Chicago, I think the main problem is, everybody want to be the first nigga to be the ones to really do it. Because of that man, don't nobody want to do nothin' with nobody or help nobody. Everybody is really like ‘you either wit me or you against me' ‘if you ain't wit my niggas, or got the same T-shirt or chain as me'. It's like the gang bang mentality. Every record label or crew is they own gang. The rap game is the same as the street out here. It's on some gang shit out here.
Q: What was your favorite song you recorded with Grind Family and why? (*Believer)
A: It's a cross between ‘Studio 2 the Ghetto' and ‘The Anthem'. The Anthem was my shit, but Studio 2 the Ghetto was the shit too. But on some all time favorite classic Indiana shit was 'Insane.' That song right there was what really kicked it off for a nigga. A lot of niggas might not admit it, but that's what changed the mufuckin' rap game in Indiana . They won't say it out they mouth, but before that mufuckin' 'Insane' dropped, all them niggas was rappin' like CCA, rappin' fast like a nigga was from Chicago or rappin' with a big voice like Mystikal. When that shit dropped, niggas started listenin' and niggas started usin' metaphors and started really tryin' to rap a little bit versus "bein' on a block/wit a glock/servin' a glock" or some shit.
Q: Do you keep in contact with Will Skrilla, and if so when is he getting out? (*Glock40)
A: I don't keep in contact with Will Skrilla, nor do I keep up with his situation, nor do I give a fuck about his situation. I feel like the safest place for a nigga like that, is where he's at right now.
Q: Are you mad that Do or Die got to drop that “D.O.D.” album before you? (*meanmug)
A: Nah for the simple fact they was signed to the label and they album was already in the works before I even jumped down with the team. I do have a problem with the way it affected my release and the way shit turned out, but they shit was suppose to go first.
Q: What do you think of Do Or Die's “D.O.D.” album & the group itself? (*DLCT/The Silencer)
A: To me I don't think the album was a horrible album like what niggas try to make it out to be. It was some songs on there I liked, some songs I liked a lot and some I didn't really care too much for. I think it was really all about timing with the Do or Die project. It was a lot of behind the scenes shit that niggas don't know about, that I don't really want to speak on. I hate that it happened the way it did. I think it was a good album man. It had all the makings to be a successful album, but I really don't know what went wrong. I don't have nothin' against Do or Die, I mean we on the same label. We don't hang out with each other, but when its lights, camera, action and time to do a show or on some Legion shit, they all some cool niggas. I fucks wit ‘em. We don't really run together like that, but I don't have nothin' against ‘em.
Q: Is Legion still holding strong after the D.O.D. flop, or will it take time to bounce back? (*ColdFlow)
A: It won't take time to bounce back, we bounced back already. It was peanuts to an elephant man. A lot of times you have to go through stuff as a learning experience. We all hate that it happened, but now that it's time to do the next project we know the in's and out's, what to do, what not to do, who to fuck wit, who not to fuck wit and what's the most effective way to promote, market and really push the product. It was an expensive learning experience, but at the end of the day, The Legion ain't never starvin' or worried about nothing. It is what it is, small thing to a giant, but we been bounced back. Look how many mufuckas they done signed. Shit it's still on and crackin' we just had to re-strategize and now it's time to get back out on the field.
Q: What are your feelings on other Chi-town artists? (*DLCT/The Silencer)
A: To be honest I'm familiar with everybody. I keep my ear to the street. I ain't no hater, I ain't against nobody. I fuck wit who ever fuck wit me. I want everybody to do they thang and get on, whether I like them personally or not. I'm all about the Midwest movement. Who ever doin' they thang big ups to ‘em, whether they from Indiana, Ohio, Chicago, Michigan anything. I don't feel like another man's success would ever threaten mine, so more power to ‘em.
Q: Would you do any collaborations with commercial guys like G-unit, if so what would it take? (*maq)
A: I would do a song with any of them niggas if they was payin' me, instead of me payin' them. I wouldn't break my budget to have 50 Cent do a verse on my album, but if he wanted to do a song with Ric Jil, I'm wit it.
Q: Which of your own tracks are you most proudest of so far? (*Redd)
A: I would have to say 'On the What.' I made a lot of other good songs, but that's a real song to me. That's a song I could listen to and feel like it ain't even my song like its just another nigga on there sayin' that shit.
Q: Are you ever gonna make more songs like “FaWhatItsWorf”? (*meanmug)
A: Yeah I got some songs like that on the album comin' out. Those kinda songs though man, it ain't easy for me to do those kinda songs because that ain't just some words you sayin', that's some shit that's comin from a nigga's soul, from the bottom of a mufucka heart, from the gut. I don't be writin' those kinda songs a lot because I don't like puttin' my business in the street. I got songs like that, but I ain't finna be doin' a whole bunch of that shit cause it's a little deeper than some words that rap. It's way deeper than music.
Q: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment? (*C-Stylez)
A: I gotta say the biggest accomplishment would be bein' on BET and VH1, even though they just showed a clip, but the shit on VH1, that's big time shit, that's VH1. Even though it was BET Uncut, millions of mufuckas seen that shit whether they knew who I was or not. When that shit came on it just commanded that you look at your TV and pay attention to look at the festivities before your opticals.
Q: What's the biggest lesson you've learned? (*Redd)
A: To really stay focused and pay attention to what's goin' on. Don't be so thirsty or get so quick to jump at the first shit cause it's always somethin' better around the corner if you just hold on a lil longer. You just gotta keep it movin' and fuck what the haters say. It's always gonna be somebody who don't agree with what you doin' or sayin'. Fuck how they feelin' or fuck what they thinkin' and just handle yo business man. If you hang wit 9 broke mufuckas you bound to be the 10th one. The people that's around you man, if they ain't got nothin' to lose you gotta get away from them. ‘Cause niggas will try to bring you down. You gotta be smart and stay sucka free, if anything, that's what I learned.
Q: How can i get some of that ric jilla merchandise? (*dawreck67)
A: I'ma have T-Shirts, hats, god damn water bottles, shirts for the baby's, shirts for the hoes, wrist bands, panties all kinda shit. Anything I can put my mufuckin' name on, I'ma have it. We gon' sell it from The Legion website, ricjillaonline.com, my MySpace page or anywhere that you can get my music, you can get merchandise. I also got a DVD that's finna come out. I got one comin' out with the album and I got one comin' out before the album just to give people a peek into my life to see what I'm on. Its got some good concert footage, studio footage of me and Trax cookin' up this dope, me on the streets hustlin', sellin's CD's, some interviews and all types of shit. It's a bunch of good footage on there, my music video, a lot of stuff man just to give the people a small glimpse into what I be on, livin' the life of Ric Jil.
Q: What are your plans after the Legion album drops? (*C-Stylez)
A: Depends on how big it be. For the most part, shit I just want to be able to get my weight up and use the celebrity that I gain from this release and make mo money off of it. Bring up other people, get paid off the shows and really do my own thang. Get my label shit jumpin' off and make me some money, open up some other businesses and put that money somewhere. Put some of them 2's on top of some of them 3's, on top of some of them 8's and stack it up and let me see my money grow you know what I'm sayin?
Q: What is the current and future status/roster for Upgrade Music? (*D-LUX)
A: Right now Upgrade as label is kinda on a hold right now just based off the fact, the CEO's, the artist's, me and my whole roster got a lot of legal issues right now. The mufuckin' Hammond police is on some real hip hop police type shit, they got my whole organization under investigation. They won't even let a nigga live. They fuckin' wit us, pullin' a nigga over doin' all kinda dirty shit. My group Gutta Block, one of ‘em locked up, one of ‘em fightin an attempted murder case, so you know niggas ain't really focused on no rap right now. Niggas really focused on some life type shit, tryin' to get they life together, but we still a crew. We still representin', we still got the streets on lock. My homegirl Nukkie Andrews she down in Atlanta right now. She politicin', she just got some kinda production deal. We still active in the streets man, but just to keep it real, we really on some crew shit. We Upgrade the crew right now and Gutta Block the street crew versus bein' a record label at this time.
Q: Where can we expect to see you in your career 5 years from now? (*ColdFlow)
A: You can expect to see me on the top, lookin' down on all the haters, grabbin' my nuts. That's where you can expect to see me.
At Ric Jilla's request, he speaks out to all his fans and critics:
I just want to say the album will be out late Summer, early Fall. Its gon' be hard as fuck. All the people that be hatin' on Ric Jil, I know yall be wishin yall thought of some of the shit I said, wish yall would have did it first. But everybody can't be the pitcher. Somebody gotta be on left field and somebody gotta be on 2nd base. Just let me live and do my thang man. Just let me rock it and keep my dick out yo mouth and everything will be all good. I got love for everybody that got love for me. All the haters can bury they selves. If they hatin' me right now and hated me when I was on BET Uncut, then they gon' be at home in they livin' room ready to shoot they TV screen when they see me on the couch on 106 & Park. They gon' be like damn, how did he do that? And I'm still gon' be the same real ass nigga from the HMD, posted up on the block, chillin' wit my niggas and like I said, grabbin' my nuts lookin' down on them hoes, talkin' bout I told you. This Upgrade, The Legion Records, Gutta Block. “Ricdiculous” the album will be in stores. Holla at a nigga on myspace.com/swisherkill. All the haters die in ya dreams.
A: Yeah I'm originally from Hammond . It was the same as it was growin' up in any other hood. Shit I grew up in a single parent house. I'm the oldest out of 3 kids. Shit we grew up on free school lunch and god damn food stamps and all that shit. It was the same shit as any other hood, the world is a ghetto.
Q: Compare Hammond to Gary. (*RockTownNigga)
A: I'll say it like this,Hammond, Gary and East Chicago are all in the same little circle. In reality it can all really be one city. The best way I can describe it is Gary is where the majority of the black people at. Hammond you got black people, but its white people and latin people too. Then East Chicago its black people, but its majority latin. It's all really the same thing, its just a couple streets over. If you not from out here, you could be on one street and be in Hammond and go to another street and be in East Chicago and go over the bridge and be in Gary.
Q: How did you land your deal with Legion Records? (*Believer)
A: I was basically doin' my thing out in the streets, doin' what I do. Somehow one of my mixtapes or albums or somethin' got into they hands and they sent a representative to one of my shows. When they saw the energy at the show, they was really tryin'to get at me. At the time I had a couple offers on the table with a couple other labels. What had happened was, I was suppose to fly out to L.A. and meet wit some people from Sony and I had fucked around and went to jail. When I got out, I was tired of goin' back and forth to jail for some little stupid shit. Tired of goin' in circles droppin' mixtapes and doin' the same shows over and over. So after a couple of months of negotiatin' I just went on in and inked it.
Q: What do you feel will set your next album apart from everything else out there at the moment? (*Redd)
A: As far as on the Midwest scene, the quality level on this album is just extraordinary. Me and Trax did a lot of good songs, me and No I.D. did songs. It's a good album because half of the album No I.D. was overseeing the producing. The other half of the album Trax was overseeing the producing. Then it was me doin' what I always do. It's more separated from a regular Ric Jil album. It's just more ideas and more different people's inputs than just me doin' whatever I want to do. As far as it being separated from the rest of the game, ain't nobody in the game doin' no hard ass just what I like to call “real nigga rap”. They not reppin' the streets or Midwest streets at least. We have a lot of niggaz in the game talkin' like they sold a million keys of dope and shit, but ain't nobody really comin' from just the average joe, regular, ordinary joe, real street cat nigga perspective. Ain't nobody really representin' that nigga, so that's what I'm tryin' to do with this ‘Ricdiculous' album.
Q: Any features on the new album that you already can confirm? (*Face97) Who's gonna be on the album? (*WhItEbOy Da KiLLa)
A: As of right now at this moment, I know me and Trax got some shit. Me and Johnny P got some shit. Maybe Thugged Out from Gary and someone else on The Legion I'm pretty sure they gonna be on my album.
Q: What industry niggaz do you plan on doing tracks with? (*x-mizel)
A: We done reached out to a couple other ‘major acts' if you will, but ain't nothing in stone yet so I don't wanna say someone name and they don't end up on the album.
Q: What kind of production and material is gonna be on the album? (*WhItEbOy Da KiLLa) What can we expect to hear, and how's the process going? (*Face97)
A: For the most part its on some representin' the streets. I'm really rappin' from the stand point of a consumer and I'm representin' the Midwest movement, the niggaz thats been buyin' the CD's and all the albums that's been comin' out and shit. It's some real hard shit on there. I got some shit for the hoes on there. I got some shit that make you think. I got some club shit. It's a real diverse album. I think its some of my best work to date. The beats, the quality is there, it's high powered. It took so long to come out, so it catches a lot of different stages with me. I was goin' through different stuff at different times, so whatever I was goin' through at that moment in time is comin' out in these songs. So all those songs put together in one album is just like a roller coaster and shit. It's just gon' take you for a ride.
Q: You and Trax were like a 1-2 punch when yall were together. You gonna be doin' more with him or what? (*meanmug)
A: Shit Trax did like 6 or 7 joints on my shit. Me and him did a song where we rappin' on some flippin' twist type of thing that's real hard. He did the joint with me and Johnny P, which is definitely for the ladies. Me and Trax did some of the hardest shit that's on there. We got a real life type of song that me and him worked on. Trax did a good bulk of my album so it's what people would expect from Ric Jilla and Traxster. He was on point on the beats and I did my thing with the words.
Q: What made you and Trax squash the beef? (*
)A: Me and Trax never really had personal beef. To make a long story short, I just did what I did and made the move that I made on the 'Free Agent' just so I could get Trax attention. At the time I felt he was playin' me, but we squashed the beef. The way it happened was, he worked for Do or Die. Do or Die is on The Legion and I'm on The Legion. So him and Rudy was doin' a lot of business and Rudy brought it to my attention and asked me what I thought about it. Like I said I never really had a personal beef with the nigga. I was just lettin' him know I ain't no hoe so to speak. So that's how it was, it wasn't really too much for us to squash the beef. I said what I had to say, he said what he had to say. As men we was able to accept that and put it behind us. Now its water under the bridge and money is the motivation when it's all said and done. If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense. I'm not gonna pass up on some money for some foolishness. He one of the coldest niggas on the beats, I'm one of the coldest niggas on the raps. We both representin' the Midwest in this Midwest Movement, so we had to do it.
Q: When, where, and who is gonna be in the new video and will it air on BET? (*Quan1)
A: We should be shootin' the video before the end of May or early June. The song is called ‘Bounce Somethin' and its produced by a cat named Mr. Lee who did a lot of production for Rap-A-Lot, Bun B, Pimp C, ScarFace and that whole Rap-A-Lot thing. It's one of the club joints on the album. I'm not sure who all gonna make a cameo on the video. We been networkin' with a lot of people and a lot of people got invites, so ain't no tellin' who gon' come through on that day. It will be me, it will be my real niggas, my label mates and a bunch of bad ass bitches. Some of the video probably gonna be shot in Chicago, some in Hammond. I'm trying to do some of it in Indianapolis too. It's gon' be on BET and MTV. It's not just gon' be an ‘Uncut' video at the time. It's gon' get some Rap City run and MTV Jams and from my understanding its gonna be the ‘New Joint of the Day' on 106 & Park when it come out too. Hopefully that pan out.
Q: What type of promotional efforts are set-up for the upcoming Legion album? (*C-Stylez) Can we expect some promoting on your upcoming album? (*Glock40)
A: They gonna go full throttle on my project. Once we finalize it, it's gon be all over the internet, all over the TV, in the magazines, on the radio. We gon' take the same approach everybody else take to make a successful project.
Q: I recently heard PayRoll & Cap-One were added to Legion's roster. Does that affect your Legion release in any way? (*ColdFlow)
A: That doesn't affect my release at all. Payroll and Cap-1 they both my niggas. I use to rotate wit them a little bit before they came aboard to The Legion. It ain't no hostility or ain't nobody competin' for no certain position or certain spot. Everybody understand they role. Everybody know we all on the same team and got the same goals. We all want to make money and see the label do what everybody keep waitin' to see. Everybody want to see whats gon' happen and what we gon' do. This year hopefully we gon' kill all doubts and tell muthafuckas what time it is.
Q: What are your thoughts and predictions about the current and future NWIndiana rap scene (*D-LUX)
A: My thoughts on it is it's a lot of good music. A lot of niggas can rap and make good music, but in all reality, if a muthafucka didn't come along in the CCA, Will Skrill, Ric Jill, Grind Family days, the streets ain't really embracin' niggas as rappers. Now mufuckas ain't really gettin' called by they rap name. People remember ‘em from school or whatever they use to do. A lot of stores out here closed. I remember at one time it was 15 record stores I had my shit in. Now it's like only bout 8 or 9 stores and the industry ain't really thrivin' like it use to. So now I'm out here fuckin' wit the arabs at the corner stores, gas stations and liquor stores. They sellin' more CD's than record stores. For the most part, its some niggas that can flow and doin' they shit, but I don't really know if they really sellin' they CD's or not.
Q: How did you and MCGz end up having beef? (*Believer)
A: You know what, it really ain't the MCG'z. It really was just Hit. The MCG'z, they was on my album and we did a lot of shows and shit together. What ended up happenin' was this nigga that make beats, had where everybody had beat CD's with the same beats on there. As I was finishin' my "Upgrade" album, I was in Nap. I had rode Hit over to one of my cribs in Nap. He was listenin' to the beats CD's tryin' to figure out what song can we do together. Come to find out we both had the same beats on the beats CD's and it was a couple of ‘em he was like “nigga that's on my CD” or “I'ma do somethin' to that beat”. To make a long story short, what ended up happenin' was I ended up makin' a song on one of the beats he suppose to had paid for and was recordin' something to already. One thing led to another and niggas was instigatin' and niggas all in a nigga ear and he just made a move. You know all niggas got pride, we all got pride. So I can't really blame the nigga for doin' what he did. For the most part, it ain't really beef-beef like what people might think it to be. He said his lil thing on the CD or whatever, but it ain't like real beef-beef where we see each other in the streets and its gon' go down like all my other beefs, you know what I'm sayin'?
Q: What do you think about the Grind Family? (*
)A: Me and the Grind Family we squashed our beef too. There was a point in time where the violence in NorthWest Indiana was up. The god damn crime was up ‘cause of that beef. It literally turned 2 cities against each other, 2 hoods against each other. Niggas was gettin' beat up, shot and stabbed. Mufuckas was gettin' whooped at clubs and in jail. It was some beef for real on sight, who ever saw somebody wearin' the other nigga T-Shirt or know him to be affiliated with the other group it's on, but it ain't like that no more. We squashed our beef. I hear people say they signed a deal. I don't really know too much about it. If they did, that's good, because they ain't did nothin' on the street in a long time. So a move like that, is something they need to really put mufuckas back on it like that again. They ain't dropped nothing since a long time ago. It's been a couple years, but like I said, I ain't got nothin' against them niggas. I want them to do they thang. I want anybody that's from ours to do they thang. With the people in Indiana and Chicago, I think the main problem is, everybody want to be the first nigga to be the ones to really do it. Because of that man, don't nobody want to do nothin' with nobody or help nobody. Everybody is really like ‘you either wit me or you against me' ‘if you ain't wit my niggas, or got the same T-shirt or chain as me'. It's like the gang bang mentality. Every record label or crew is they own gang. The rap game is the same as the street out here. It's on some gang shit out here.
Q: What was your favorite song you recorded with Grind Family and why? (*Believer)
A: It's a cross between ‘Studio 2 the Ghetto' and ‘The Anthem'. The Anthem was my shit, but Studio 2 the Ghetto was the shit too. But on some all time favorite classic Indiana shit was 'Insane.' That song right there was what really kicked it off for a nigga. A lot of niggas might not admit it, but that's what changed the mufuckin' rap game in Indiana . They won't say it out they mouth, but before that mufuckin' 'Insane' dropped, all them niggas was rappin' like CCA, rappin' fast like a nigga was from Chicago or rappin' with a big voice like Mystikal. When that shit dropped, niggas started listenin' and niggas started usin' metaphors and started really tryin' to rap a little bit versus "bein' on a block/wit a glock/servin' a glock" or some shit.
Q: Do you keep in contact with Will Skrilla, and if so when is he getting out? (*Glock40)
A: I don't keep in contact with Will Skrilla, nor do I keep up with his situation, nor do I give a fuck about his situation. I feel like the safest place for a nigga like that, is where he's at right now.
Q: Are you mad that Do or Die got to drop that “D.O.D.” album before you? (*meanmug)
A: Nah for the simple fact they was signed to the label and they album was already in the works before I even jumped down with the team. I do have a problem with the way it affected my release and the way shit turned out, but they shit was suppose to go first.
Q: What do you think of Do Or Die's “D.O.D.” album & the group itself? (*DLCT/The Silencer)
A: To me I don't think the album was a horrible album like what niggas try to make it out to be. It was some songs on there I liked, some songs I liked a lot and some I didn't really care too much for. I think it was really all about timing with the Do or Die project. It was a lot of behind the scenes shit that niggas don't know about, that I don't really want to speak on. I hate that it happened the way it did. I think it was a good album man. It had all the makings to be a successful album, but I really don't know what went wrong. I don't have nothin' against Do or Die, I mean we on the same label. We don't hang out with each other, but when its lights, camera, action and time to do a show or on some Legion shit, they all some cool niggas. I fucks wit ‘em. We don't really run together like that, but I don't have nothin' against ‘em.
Q: Is Legion still holding strong after the D.O.D. flop, or will it take time to bounce back? (*ColdFlow)
A: It won't take time to bounce back, we bounced back already. It was peanuts to an elephant man. A lot of times you have to go through stuff as a learning experience. We all hate that it happened, but now that it's time to do the next project we know the in's and out's, what to do, what not to do, who to fuck wit, who not to fuck wit and what's the most effective way to promote, market and really push the product. It was an expensive learning experience, but at the end of the day, The Legion ain't never starvin' or worried about nothing. It is what it is, small thing to a giant, but we been bounced back. Look how many mufuckas they done signed. Shit it's still on and crackin' we just had to re-strategize and now it's time to get back out on the field.
Q: What are your feelings on other Chi-town artists? (*DLCT/The Silencer)
A: To be honest I'm familiar with everybody. I keep my ear to the street. I ain't no hater, I ain't against nobody. I fuck wit who ever fuck wit me. I want everybody to do they thang and get on, whether I like them personally or not. I'm all about the Midwest movement. Who ever doin' they thang big ups to ‘em, whether they from Indiana, Ohio, Chicago, Michigan anything. I don't feel like another man's success would ever threaten mine, so more power to ‘em.
Q: Would you do any collaborations with commercial guys like G-unit, if so what would it take? (*maq)
A: I would do a song with any of them niggas if they was payin' me, instead of me payin' them. I wouldn't break my budget to have 50 Cent do a verse on my album, but if he wanted to do a song with Ric Jil, I'm wit it.
Q: Which of your own tracks are you most proudest of so far? (*Redd)
A: I would have to say 'On the What.' I made a lot of other good songs, but that's a real song to me. That's a song I could listen to and feel like it ain't even my song like its just another nigga on there sayin' that shit.
Q: Are you ever gonna make more songs like “FaWhatItsWorf”? (*meanmug)
A: Yeah I got some songs like that on the album comin' out. Those kinda songs though man, it ain't easy for me to do those kinda songs because that ain't just some words you sayin', that's some shit that's comin from a nigga's soul, from the bottom of a mufucka heart, from the gut. I don't be writin' those kinda songs a lot because I don't like puttin' my business in the street. I got songs like that, but I ain't finna be doin' a whole bunch of that shit cause it's a little deeper than some words that rap. It's way deeper than music.
Q: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment? (*C-Stylez)
A: I gotta say the biggest accomplishment would be bein' on BET and VH1, even though they just showed a clip, but the shit on VH1, that's big time shit, that's VH1. Even though it was BET Uncut, millions of mufuckas seen that shit whether they knew who I was or not. When that shit came on it just commanded that you look at your TV and pay attention to look at the festivities before your opticals.
Q: What's the biggest lesson you've learned? (*Redd)
A: To really stay focused and pay attention to what's goin' on. Don't be so thirsty or get so quick to jump at the first shit cause it's always somethin' better around the corner if you just hold on a lil longer. You just gotta keep it movin' and fuck what the haters say. It's always gonna be somebody who don't agree with what you doin' or sayin'. Fuck how they feelin' or fuck what they thinkin' and just handle yo business man. If you hang wit 9 broke mufuckas you bound to be the 10th one. The people that's around you man, if they ain't got nothin' to lose you gotta get away from them. ‘Cause niggas will try to bring you down. You gotta be smart and stay sucka free, if anything, that's what I learned.
Q: How can i get some of that ric jilla merchandise? (*dawreck67)
A: I'ma have T-Shirts, hats, god damn water bottles, shirts for the baby's, shirts for the hoes, wrist bands, panties all kinda shit. Anything I can put my mufuckin' name on, I'ma have it. We gon' sell it from The Legion website, ricjillaonline.com, my MySpace page or anywhere that you can get my music, you can get merchandise. I also got a DVD that's finna come out. I got one comin' out with the album and I got one comin' out before the album just to give people a peek into my life to see what I'm on. Its got some good concert footage, studio footage of me and Trax cookin' up this dope, me on the streets hustlin', sellin's CD's, some interviews and all types of shit. It's a bunch of good footage on there, my music video, a lot of stuff man just to give the people a small glimpse into what I be on, livin' the life of Ric Jil.
Q: What are your plans after the Legion album drops? (*C-Stylez)
A: Depends on how big it be. For the most part, shit I just want to be able to get my weight up and use the celebrity that I gain from this release and make mo money off of it. Bring up other people, get paid off the shows and really do my own thang. Get my label shit jumpin' off and make me some money, open up some other businesses and put that money somewhere. Put some of them 2's on top of some of them 3's, on top of some of them 8's and stack it up and let me see my money grow you know what I'm sayin?
Q: What is the current and future status/roster for Upgrade Music? (*D-LUX)
A: Right now Upgrade as label is kinda on a hold right now just based off the fact, the CEO's, the artist's, me and my whole roster got a lot of legal issues right now. The mufuckin' Hammond police is on some real hip hop police type shit, they got my whole organization under investigation. They won't even let a nigga live. They fuckin' wit us, pullin' a nigga over doin' all kinda dirty shit. My group Gutta Block, one of ‘em locked up, one of ‘em fightin an attempted murder case, so you know niggas ain't really focused on no rap right now. Niggas really focused on some life type shit, tryin' to get they life together, but we still a crew. We still representin', we still got the streets on lock. My homegirl Nukkie Andrews she down in Atlanta right now. She politicin', she just got some kinda production deal. We still active in the streets man, but just to keep it real, we really on some crew shit. We Upgrade the crew right now and Gutta Block the street crew versus bein' a record label at this time.
Q: Where can we expect to see you in your career 5 years from now? (*ColdFlow)
A: You can expect to see me on the top, lookin' down on all the haters, grabbin' my nuts. That's where you can expect to see me.
At Ric Jilla's request, he speaks out to all his fans and critics:
I just want to say the album will be out late Summer, early Fall. Its gon' be hard as fuck. All the people that be hatin' on Ric Jil, I know yall be wishin yall thought of some of the shit I said, wish yall would have did it first. But everybody can't be the pitcher. Somebody gotta be on left field and somebody gotta be on 2nd base. Just let me live and do my thang man. Just let me rock it and keep my dick out yo mouth and everything will be all good. I got love for everybody that got love for me. All the haters can bury they selves. If they hatin' me right now and hated me when I was on BET Uncut, then they gon' be at home in they livin' room ready to shoot they TV screen when they see me on the couch on 106 & Park. They gon' be like damn, how did he do that? And I'm still gon' be the same real ass nigga from the HMD, posted up on the block, chillin' wit my niggas and like I said, grabbin' my nuts lookin' down on them hoes, talkin' bout I told you. This Upgrade, The Legion Records, Gutta Block. “Ricdiculous” the album will be in stores. Holla at a nigga on myspace.com/swisherkill. All the haters die in ya dreams.
good info..
cant wait for that new album..
5000
