Paris
Interview by Mto-Wa Mbu
Continued from Murder Dog vol 13 #1
What was it like working with Flav?
I don’t know because I didn’t meet him. All of his parts were thrown in from existing stuff.
What about Chuck?
He is cool! He’s pretty reserved and has a million and one things going on. The weight of this project and the production really fell on my shoulders, so a lot of my interaction with him was quick. He stays on the road a lot and tours and does a lot of different things, but he is a cool brother.
Is it a Public Enemy project or a Public Enemy and Paris project?
It’s Public Enemy featuring Paris and the name of the project is "Re-Birth Of A Nation." I wanted to get the revolutionary dream team together. It’s true to the P.E. blueprint. The response so far is real good and I’m happy with it so we will see what happens. It’s also featuring Dead Prez, Kam, MC Ren and The Conscious Daughters!
You are also dropping a compilation?
Yes, the compilation is about reaching out to people that represent our same concerns. Here is a place where you can come and get down freely! This is a place to come over and get life affirming music. The name of the compilation is called "Hard Truth Soldiers Volume One." This is the first installment of a series!
Isn’t MC Ren on the comp? Will you do more stuff with him in the future.
Ren has the track "Still Ain’t Free". We talked about it a long time ago and the last time we spoke Ren said he didn’t want to do it anymore. I told him I would give him as much input and production that he needs. I can’t make him want to do it if he doesn’t want to. That was the vibe that I got from him the last time we spoke but I done material with him and I am pleased with it.
Who is all featured on the Public Enemy album?
Who else is on the compilation?
It’s me, Dead Prez, P.E., Uno The Prophet, Truth Universal, and a lot of people.
On your last album "Sonic Jihad" what kind of respose did you get from the album cover where the Plane was about to crash into The White House?
You could probably imagine! There was a lot of fallout about that, but that was a necessary statement that needed to be made in this environment where everybody was a "yes ma’am" to this administration. They had the authority to do whatever they wanted to do and ride on whoever they wanted to ride on in the name of protecting us, which is bullshit. Really with "Sonic Jihad" and Guerilla Funk in general it was to let people know that there’s more to hip hop than rims and gold fronts. There is a time and place for everything but there has to be balance in the game.
Is there balance in the game?
Right now there is no balance in the game. A lot of people think I’m on this high horse and look down at people and artists who don’t do what I do and that’s not true. I’m just saying that there has to be room for everybody. You can’t have a bunch of gangsta clones running around and that’s all there is in the game. We’re not the ones who control the content and we are not the ones who control what gets shine and what doesn’t get shine. I can’t really look to go to Interscope or Def Jam and expect them to have my best interest at heart. It’s that corporate interest that really don’t represent where we come from and that’s why Guerilla Funk was born.
The game is saturated with too many materialistic things because everyone has to have that big fat chain or that diamond platinum grill. Do you feel that rap took a totally different direction from the streets?
That’s what happens when you don’t have leaders and when people make the creative decisions that surround the music. There are a lot of artists now that don’t even remain true to themselves and make what other people want to hear in pursuit of finance. This is supposed to be some individualistic and is supposed to represent where the artist is coming from, but now artists adjust to what they think labels want to hear and that is damaging because you don’t get the full spectrum to what we are all about.
That $250,000 chain can feed 100,000 starving children or more…
And I never really understood where all that came from. That goes from being young and having a lot of money at an early age with no financial guidance and no real direction artistically or otherwise. What ends up happening is you look around and see a lot of these people that are shining now but then you read about them in the news with something crime related and you hear about bankruptcies. They weren’t set up for the success that they currently entertain. There will be a lot of sob stories in Hip Hop and when it’s all said and done, the corporations that benefit from the material that these artists make will still be around. They’ll still be alright while the artists fall by the wayside.
You are giving hope back at Guerilla Funk! Why do you think more people don’t follow in that direction?
I really believe that people follow what they are exposed to. The one common refrain that you hear from labels is: We make what the streets want to hear. That’s bullshit because labels dictate the streets! People only respond to what they are exposed to! We are faked into believing that we have choice, but you don’t have choice if everything that comes out talks about the same thing over and over. By doing that they keep Hip Hop artificially young and thumbed down.
As a producer do you get a lot of artists coming to you for beats?
Not really because I don’t think that people really associate me with production yet. I’ve been labeled in that political box so people a lot of people don’t associate me with tracks for whatever reason. I’m not gonna make tracks for you if you’re talking about that bullshit anyway. It’s spelled on the website very explicitly that if you want to get down with Guerilla Funk you have to represent a good cause and can’t be about materialistic stuff, Black on Black crime, selling dope, or hating on women. I can’t fuck with that. I won’t put my money behind something like that. If you want to put that shit out you can get with one of these majors.
What did you think when you heard that Eminem made rude remarks about Black women?
I don’t even recognize Eminem! There are certain artists that are born of corporate interest and I don’t even recognize that shit! If you look at these award shows you’ll see these artists which are people that celebrate themselves. I hear everybody’s album is a classic now, everybody’s a legend in the game, and all these female singers are divas. All that shit is taken to the point where nothing matters anymore. When I look at all these artists it’s like the Emperor has no clothes. All these artists are celebrated but none of them are coming with shit. 99% of niggaz in the game right now would get rushed off stage back in the day with that bullshit. Guerilla Funk is taking you back to the meat and potatoes of the game and you can get that gravy elsewhere.
I tell people to make their money in the underground!
At the same time not everybody is cut from that independent cloth because there are some artists out there that need to be on somebody’s label because they don’t know what the fuck they are doing business wise and can’t show up for shit on time.
Back in the day you put out the Pooh Man CD "Judgment Day." Whatever happened to Pooh Man?
I think he went to jail. We kind of went our separate ways and I haven’t heard from him since then.
Where do you wanna see Guerilla Funk in the next five years?
I think we’ll continue to expand and move forward. I’m trying to shoot for three full length albums for each quarter with no releases in the fourth quarter. If I can do nine to ten albums a year set up the way that I’m currently set up then I’m good. Who knows what will be born as a result of that.
I know you released the Guerilla News DVD, will you put out more DVDs in the future?
Definitely! I may venture off into straight to DVD full length independent features, but that is a whole other level of the game that I want to be completely sure about before I jump into it. As far as the music goes there are lot of projects that are on deck.
What else do you have coming?
We got Kam’s album, my album, and I’m still in talks with Stick Man from Dead Prez to put his record out. Also I got the Conscious Daughters album coming out.
What have the Daughters been up to lately?
They have been working and doing day to day living. They have been keeping their skills up by recording on and off over the years. There really are not any female rap groups out there. I know that I want to provide a voice to them so they can address women issues. I just want to be sure that all of these oppressed voices are heard.
A lot of the females I interviewed say it is so hard to be in the game because everyone looks at them like sex objects, but look how they portray themselves!
Yeah, what do you do? How do you present yourself, and what are you talking about? If you are talking about sucking dick for money then that’s the response you’re going to get. You will get back what you put out. People automatically know when they meet me, they know what page not to come at me on. You already know what I represent! That’s the same thing that goes for some of these female acts. I’m telling the Daughters to come over here! They don’t have to be absolutely revolutionary like me, but they are the Conscious Daughters and do speak on shit of concern to women.
What are you like as a person away from the music and outside the studio doing your normal thing?
Shit man there is no normal thing because everything is in hyper speed. I don’t really have too much spare time right now. I do read a lot and dig movies. I do the same shit that everybody else does, but I look at it with a discerning eye. I’m able to tell the real from the bullshit instantly. That’s good because we can’t afford to not be critical.
Will your new solo album be different from your previous one?
I try to differentiate every time I come out. You don’t want to make material that is preachy and stuff that muthafuckaz can’t relate to. What is can’t relate to? Muthafucka, why can’t you relate to it? Is it cause you don’t know no better or are not exposed to it? You don’t have no choice to relate to it because look at your condition. Everything can’t be about dope and grills! There has to be more to the game than that. This is that medicine that is necessary! I’m not saying I’m trying to change the game, but I just have to be value added to the game. My last album sold hella records! My last record sold 90% of most Bay Area records because I have a global perspective talking about shit that concerns people on every level no matter what your social background is, race, or religion. I’m talking about global oppression and that shit resonates with people. You got shit burning down in France, you got genocide in Africa and genocide here. When you make real shit you start to realize how ridiculous the other shit is. Now I don’t even approach majors because I already know where they are coming from and what my limitations are going to be.
Do you ever get mail from people telling you how your music changed their life?
I get hella mail like that. I also get a lot of mail from people that I have nothing in common with that give it up like skin heads, republicans, militia and shit like that who are also disgusted with the government. They will write me and say that they hate hip hop but fuck the government too. It’s a trip because this really reaches a lot of people. On the last album I made a song called "What Would You Do" which was a response to 911 and that shit made rounds everywhere. That was on all the anti-establishment websites in a lot of countries. It created a tour situation where I went to hella different regions of the world which I never had been to before. It made me realize the power that hip hop has. The shit touches people! I will go to another country to a sold-out show with about 15,000 people and sometimes the show will be full of muthafuckaz who know the words. I can just point the mic at the crowd and muthafuckaz will be saying everything. That is the power of music! That is letting me know that people listen to the shit that we say.
Do you ever worry about being a target?
Not more so that I have been worrying about it because I have been doing this for years and years!
Interview by Mto-Wa Mbu
Continued from Murder Dog vol 13 #1
What was it like working with Flav?
I don’t know because I didn’t meet him. All of his parts were thrown in from existing stuff.
What about Chuck?
He is cool! He’s pretty reserved and has a million and one things going on. The weight of this project and the production really fell on my shoulders, so a lot of my interaction with him was quick. He stays on the road a lot and tours and does a lot of different things, but he is a cool brother.
Is it a Public Enemy project or a Public Enemy and Paris project?
It’s Public Enemy featuring Paris and the name of the project is "Re-Birth Of A Nation." I wanted to get the revolutionary dream team together. It’s true to the P.E. blueprint. The response so far is real good and I’m happy with it so we will see what happens. It’s also featuring Dead Prez, Kam, MC Ren and The Conscious Daughters!
You are also dropping a compilation?
Yes, the compilation is about reaching out to people that represent our same concerns. Here is a place where you can come and get down freely! This is a place to come over and get life affirming music. The name of the compilation is called "Hard Truth Soldiers Volume One." This is the first installment of a series!
Isn’t MC Ren on the comp? Will you do more stuff with him in the future.
Ren has the track "Still Ain’t Free". We talked about it a long time ago and the last time we spoke Ren said he didn’t want to do it anymore. I told him I would give him as much input and production that he needs. I can’t make him want to do it if he doesn’t want to. That was the vibe that I got from him the last time we spoke but I done material with him and I am pleased with it.
Who is all featured on the Public Enemy album?
Who else is on the compilation?
It’s me, Dead Prez, P.E., Uno The Prophet, Truth Universal, and a lot of people.
On your last album "Sonic Jihad" what kind of respose did you get from the album cover where the Plane was about to crash into The White House?
You could probably imagine! There was a lot of fallout about that, but that was a necessary statement that needed to be made in this environment where everybody was a "yes ma’am" to this administration. They had the authority to do whatever they wanted to do and ride on whoever they wanted to ride on in the name of protecting us, which is bullshit. Really with "Sonic Jihad" and Guerilla Funk in general it was to let people know that there’s more to hip hop than rims and gold fronts. There is a time and place for everything but there has to be balance in the game.
Is there balance in the game?
Right now there is no balance in the game. A lot of people think I’m on this high horse and look down at people and artists who don’t do what I do and that’s not true. I’m just saying that there has to be room for everybody. You can’t have a bunch of gangsta clones running around and that’s all there is in the game. We’re not the ones who control the content and we are not the ones who control what gets shine and what doesn’t get shine. I can’t really look to go to Interscope or Def Jam and expect them to have my best interest at heart. It’s that corporate interest that really don’t represent where we come from and that’s why Guerilla Funk was born.
The game is saturated with too many materialistic things because everyone has to have that big fat chain or that diamond platinum grill. Do you feel that rap took a totally different direction from the streets?
That’s what happens when you don’t have leaders and when people make the creative decisions that surround the music. There are a lot of artists now that don’t even remain true to themselves and make what other people want to hear in pursuit of finance. This is supposed to be some individualistic and is supposed to represent where the artist is coming from, but now artists adjust to what they think labels want to hear and that is damaging because you don’t get the full spectrum to what we are all about.
That $250,000 chain can feed 100,000 starving children or more…
And I never really understood where all that came from. That goes from being young and having a lot of money at an early age with no financial guidance and no real direction artistically or otherwise. What ends up happening is you look around and see a lot of these people that are shining now but then you read about them in the news with something crime related and you hear about bankruptcies. They weren’t set up for the success that they currently entertain. There will be a lot of sob stories in Hip Hop and when it’s all said and done, the corporations that benefit from the material that these artists make will still be around. They’ll still be alright while the artists fall by the wayside.
You are giving hope back at Guerilla Funk! Why do you think more people don’t follow in that direction?
I really believe that people follow what they are exposed to. The one common refrain that you hear from labels is: We make what the streets want to hear. That’s bullshit because labels dictate the streets! People only respond to what they are exposed to! We are faked into believing that we have choice, but you don’t have choice if everything that comes out talks about the same thing over and over. By doing that they keep Hip Hop artificially young and thumbed down.
As a producer do you get a lot of artists coming to you for beats?
Not really because I don’t think that people really associate me with production yet. I’ve been labeled in that political box so people a lot of people don’t associate me with tracks for whatever reason. I’m not gonna make tracks for you if you’re talking about that bullshit anyway. It’s spelled on the website very explicitly that if you want to get down with Guerilla Funk you have to represent a good cause and can’t be about materialistic stuff, Black on Black crime, selling dope, or hating on women. I can’t fuck with that. I won’t put my money behind something like that. If you want to put that shit out you can get with one of these majors.
What did you think when you heard that Eminem made rude remarks about Black women?
I don’t even recognize Eminem! There are certain artists that are born of corporate interest and I don’t even recognize that shit! If you look at these award shows you’ll see these artists which are people that celebrate themselves. I hear everybody’s album is a classic now, everybody’s a legend in the game, and all these female singers are divas. All that shit is taken to the point where nothing matters anymore. When I look at all these artists it’s like the Emperor has no clothes. All these artists are celebrated but none of them are coming with shit. 99% of niggaz in the game right now would get rushed off stage back in the day with that bullshit. Guerilla Funk is taking you back to the meat and potatoes of the game and you can get that gravy elsewhere.
I tell people to make their money in the underground!
At the same time not everybody is cut from that independent cloth because there are some artists out there that need to be on somebody’s label because they don’t know what the fuck they are doing business wise and can’t show up for shit on time.
Back in the day you put out the Pooh Man CD "Judgment Day." Whatever happened to Pooh Man?
I think he went to jail. We kind of went our separate ways and I haven’t heard from him since then.
Where do you wanna see Guerilla Funk in the next five years?
I think we’ll continue to expand and move forward. I’m trying to shoot for three full length albums for each quarter with no releases in the fourth quarter. If I can do nine to ten albums a year set up the way that I’m currently set up then I’m good. Who knows what will be born as a result of that.
I know you released the Guerilla News DVD, will you put out more DVDs in the future?
Definitely! I may venture off into straight to DVD full length independent features, but that is a whole other level of the game that I want to be completely sure about before I jump into it. As far as the music goes there are lot of projects that are on deck.
What else do you have coming?
We got Kam’s album, my album, and I’m still in talks with Stick Man from Dead Prez to put his record out. Also I got the Conscious Daughters album coming out.
What have the Daughters been up to lately?
They have been working and doing day to day living. They have been keeping their skills up by recording on and off over the years. There really are not any female rap groups out there. I know that I want to provide a voice to them so they can address women issues. I just want to be sure that all of these oppressed voices are heard.
A lot of the females I interviewed say it is so hard to be in the game because everyone looks at them like sex objects, but look how they portray themselves!
Yeah, what do you do? How do you present yourself, and what are you talking about? If you are talking about sucking dick for money then that’s the response you’re going to get. You will get back what you put out. People automatically know when they meet me, they know what page not to come at me on. You already know what I represent! That’s the same thing that goes for some of these female acts. I’m telling the Daughters to come over here! They don’t have to be absolutely revolutionary like me, but they are the Conscious Daughters and do speak on shit of concern to women.
What are you like as a person away from the music and outside the studio doing your normal thing?
Shit man there is no normal thing because everything is in hyper speed. I don’t really have too much spare time right now. I do read a lot and dig movies. I do the same shit that everybody else does, but I look at it with a discerning eye. I’m able to tell the real from the bullshit instantly. That’s good because we can’t afford to not be critical.
Will your new solo album be different from your previous one?
I try to differentiate every time I come out. You don’t want to make material that is preachy and stuff that muthafuckaz can’t relate to. What is can’t relate to? Muthafucka, why can’t you relate to it? Is it cause you don’t know no better or are not exposed to it? You don’t have no choice to relate to it because look at your condition. Everything can’t be about dope and grills! There has to be more to the game than that. This is that medicine that is necessary! I’m not saying I’m trying to change the game, but I just have to be value added to the game. My last album sold hella records! My last record sold 90% of most Bay Area records because I have a global perspective talking about shit that concerns people on every level no matter what your social background is, race, or religion. I’m talking about global oppression and that shit resonates with people. You got shit burning down in France, you got genocide in Africa and genocide here. When you make real shit you start to realize how ridiculous the other shit is. Now I don’t even approach majors because I already know where they are coming from and what my limitations are going to be.
Do you ever get mail from people telling you how your music changed their life?
I get hella mail like that. I also get a lot of mail from people that I have nothing in common with that give it up like skin heads, republicans, militia and shit like that who are also disgusted with the government. They will write me and say that they hate hip hop but fuck the government too. It’s a trip because this really reaches a lot of people. On the last album I made a song called "What Would You Do" which was a response to 911 and that shit made rounds everywhere. That was on all the anti-establishment websites in a lot of countries. It created a tour situation where I went to hella different regions of the world which I never had been to before. It made me realize the power that hip hop has. The shit touches people! I will go to another country to a sold-out show with about 15,000 people and sometimes the show will be full of muthafuckaz who know the words. I can just point the mic at the crowd and muthafuckaz will be saying everything. That is the power of music! That is letting me know that people listen to the shit that we say.
Do you ever worry about being a target?
Not more so that I have been worrying about it because I have been doing this for years and years!