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3/13/2006 What's up Akir? I'm chilling and working hard. I'm trying to keep my movement organized. Are you happy with how "Legacy" came out? I'm very happy with how it came out. I think it's a good introduction for anyone who hasn't heard about me or has only heard a couple of my songs. I think it's definitely something to solidify my fan-base. We did a lot of new things on this project that we never did in the past, like having live musicians come in. We also worked on one concept throughout the whole album. What are you learning about how to put together an album? Organization is definitely the key. The next time I do this, I definitely have to jot down a checklist on what I have to do and try to knock it out one step at a time. Unfortunately with this one, there were a lot of things that I wasn't aware of and I ended up running up on a lot of my deadlines because of it to prevent the album from getting pushed back. It's funny, until you do everything yourself, you don't realize why albums continuously get pushed back and have a lack of promotion. You may have an album dropping in October and you see the ad saying October, then it never drops in October and you go through your life wondering when this dude's album is going to drop, and then it never does and you don't realize that it dropped later on. It's kind of bugged out. What's the significance of the title "Legacy" to you? Our grandparents' generation had a certain way of life. There was a lot more family and community guidance. A lot of them were into doing things that entailed safety and security. Then our parents came up in those homes and after awhile became broken, whether through divorce or what have you. They were trying to find success through corporation. They were getting more sophisticated jobs that you may need a college degree for. There was a much more sturdy foundation back then. When we came up, we had single-parent homes, independent women, and a lot of us, although we may have had some sort of parenting, had to find our own way and we're still trying to find our own way. Looking at the generation behind us, I feel like they're stuck almost in limbo because a lot of them deal with truly broken homes where they may not even know their mothers or fathers, or their brothers may be locked down. There's no one to provide guidance. They're looking to emulate us but there are so many misguided directions for them that a lot of times it just ends up coming out as reckless activity because they just don't know what to do or what to focus on. I feel that our generation is responsible for finding some sort of direction and example for that direction. No one sits down with them. I sat down with my man the other day and we were just talking. There was always someone older telling you how to do something or work the system. Now, kids are just picking up whatever tools they can find and they don't know where to start, which causes for a hectic-ass environment because you have a lot of motherfuckers that are just wiling out. Where are the elders to sit down with shorty and say, "This is how I did it, and this is how you can do it. You take this, and do better than I did."? That's what a legacy is, and I think that we lack from that. What was your inspiration for "Apocalypse"? The world today. When I'm sitting in front of my computer listening to beats, I usually have the TV on and I catch glimpses here and there of what's going on. I wouldn't see anything but terror and despair on TV, and I was like, "What the fuck is this?" It's hard for me to focus on making a party track when I see all of this garbage going on and no one discusses it, or they discuss it as a gimmick to get people into their shit. "Apocalypse" came about after the album was finished because Immortal Technique felt that we needed one more banger. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to write for it, but I found a 16 I had written on my Sidekick. A lot of thoughts that had been building up throughout the process of the album came together and that's how "Apocalypse" came about. You and Jean Grae have good chemistry on "Tropical Paradise." I really like working with her. I really appreciate her style and her tenacity in terms of making her way in this Hip Hop business. I think in a lot of respects in the way her wordplay is, I thought it would be a good match because I like to jumble a lot of things together as well. It was good working with her. She told me to just throw her the beat and we would get it popping. She came to the studio and we got it popping. I didn't even know what we would do for the hook, but she just started singing and I was like, "Word, let's keep that!" Are you happy with how your single "Politrix" did? I really like how people responded to it, but as you already know, the vinyl market is kind of dying. I would have liked to see it sell more, but I really liked how people responded to it. I think in a different day, it would have done a lot better, but there are just not a lot of people buying vinyl. I got a lot of spins on radio and a lot of compliments on the beat, which I produced. I'm proud of that. How much production did you handle on "Legacy"? A lot of the joints on there I either produced, co-produced, or I helped with the vision of the track. I spent a lot of time sitting with Southpaw working on the tracks. He was a huge part in the making of "Legacy." I would come to him with the tracks that I produced, and it would have a nice feel to it, and he would put something over it to make it much fuller and better. How was it working with Southpaw? We've been working together since I started rapping. It's like clockwork. We have our little brotherly feuds, well, not really feuds, but more like disagreements, like all brothers do. For the majority, we're pretty much on the same page. He's the dude that inspired me to rhyme. He knows what I'm going for. He knows that if I have an idea in my head, then six times out of ten, he could probably say my idea before I even say it. It's good to have that type of working relationship. Anytime you work with somebody for a six-month or year time period, there is definitely going to be a sense of frustration here and there, but at the end of the day, we always sit down and try to figure out how we can reach our common goal. I really appreciate that. With someone that you don't know, when it gets to those sticky areas, people either duck out on you or you end up beefing. But when it's family, it's dope because you can always find a way to resolve the issue, even if you have to agree to disagree. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm happy with how the project came out. What did Immortal Technique do as executive-producer? He was the guiding force behind making the project come to fruition. Since Southpaw and I own ONE Enterprises, a lot of the responsibility is on our shoulders, but it's dope to be able to have a support structure and financial backing, which is what Immortal Technique did. He was right there the whole time giving his input on what he thought would be a commercially-viable product or he was helping us get shows and publicity or he would be finding us producers and cameos. He helped us with the tracklisting. We did damn near thirty songs for the project and only nineteen made it. We sat down and we thought about the ones that wouldn't be able to make it. We rearranged the tracklisting eight times. He really made sure that the project was a complete package. He brought "Apocalypse" to the project at the final stages. It's good because he's done it before. Sometimes I would just say "fuck it," but he was there to add a lot of insight into the process of this shit. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he was holding my hand the whole time, but he was able to show me the steps and how he thought we should do it. We would go back-and-forth on that. At the end of the day, he left the decision to me. Usually the suggestions that he had were right because he has done it before. I respect that. How has Tech's growth and popularity helped you? I've done about six tours since I first met you a few years ago, and probably about a couple hundred shows, which a lot of them I did with Tech. At first, I thought people were going to box me in on some sidekick shit. Sometimes they thought I was the DJ. After I was able to start gaining some accolades on my own, people definitely started to pay attention a lot more. I was telling my man this the other day, I have this thing called "the buzz versus the buck." I want to make sure that each time, I am able to gain more buzz that it brings other things to fruition. There are a lot of cats that we saw in the past that we really thought would be the next ones to do it. They were killing the mixtapes, DVD's, cameos, and they were being seen at all the parties, and then two years later, you never hear again from that person. That's frustrating. As an artist, I never want to land in that predicament. I hope that buzz helps me get my weight up and helps me to get a larger, more consistent fan-base. A lot of people don't understand that you can go out there and sell CD's all day long, but at the end of the day, if the fan doesn't feel some sort of attachment or bond to what you're doing, then that's not going to be a consistent fan. Just because you meet a fly chick and bone her does not mean that you'll be able to see her again. But if you look nice, smell good, bring some roses, and tell her what she wants to hear, even if you don't smash, you'll be able to see her again. At the very least, you have a friend. The industry right now, with all of their promotional involvement, I feel like they're just fucking the fans. It's like a big-ass orgy. Someone new comes out, then someone old comes out and tries to fit a current marketing scheme. Then the CD only has two or three hot joints on it, so all the fans want to do is download shit because they don't trust it anymore. I want to be able to romance the fans and make them understand that this movement is not a fucking gimmick. I want them to understand this so that they can create their own movement. I want this album to be an encouraging effort not only for me to succeed in life, but also to show everyone that I can give you thought and dialogue to help you reach your own goals. Is there ever a drawback to being socially conscious in your raps? My main goal right now is for people not to box me in. A lot of the artists that were really going to do it and take it there ended up getting boxed in. It's human nature for people to do that. In the music industry, they're always figuring out what demographic they can fit it in to. That, combined with the mass audience, who is so used to being directed or pushed to something through marketing, means that we have a climate where in order to not be boxed in, you have to either box yourself in and get a consistent fan-base so they don't get pissed off if you want to do something different, or you have to show diversity. A lot of my music does have a lot of content, but I don't feel that that has to box me in to being a "conscious" rapper or a "political" rapper. I just want to show you the different aspects of my mind. I know some OG niggas that I'm sure have shot a couple of people in their life. But if I ever fall on hard times, I know they'll hold me down not on gangster shit but on some love shit. They're the same people that would help an old lady cross the street and kiss their moms. They'll still make sure their daughter does their schoolwork, and that night they might go out to the strip club. People look at artists and try to come up with an idea of who that person is based on their music and box them into that. At the same time, the fan that's boxing the people in, they have their own spectrum of personality and ideas. For instance, a lot of people who are Hip Hop fans will listen to an artist for the first time. That artist might be talking about some gangster shit. That person could be from the hood or what have you, and a lot of their elements might be about their gangster surroundings. Then when they want to do a party track on their next album, people turn their back to it. Gangsters like to party too. I want to be able to provide a climate where people can see me as a person and see enough diversity on the album where they won't try to box me in. whenever I pick up a mic, I try to say something with intelligence so people know that I haven't left. The fans, at this point, have chosen me to have a platform to say what I want to say on it. Everybody who's come before me and is responsible for making me who I am today would only respect me if I use that platform as a positive force, and that's what I plan to do. Don't get me wrong, hopefully one day I'll have some party joints. Hopefully one day I'll have some grimy joints. But from where I'm at right now, I'm just trying to make sure that as a people, we have a better life and that I'm instilling positivity in the youth and creating dialogue between people who might not necessarily talk about certain issues. I definitely do not want to be boxed in as a conscious or political rapper, but I do always want to be able to create some sort of message. I asked Hasan Salaam this same question, but I'm curious to see how you respond. How do you feel about BET not airing Coretta Scott King's funeral? Wow. At this point and time, I don't even have cable. It distracts me a little too much, so I wasn't even aware of that. I feel like they should have definitely aired the funeral or at least went back-and-forth between their programming and the funeral to let people know what's going on in society and to honor a woman who is very important to our history. At the same time, no one should be surprised because as soon as Bob Johnson opened it up to Viacom, they should have known that it would be used as a vessel for whatever they wanted. The founders of BET had really good intentions, and there is nothing wrong with doing business deals, but it's wrong when it becomes a conflict of interest. You really have to think about it. What are your goals with "Legacy"? I want to be able to solidify a fan-base world-wide. This album is more than trying to hustle CD's in the area. Now that I have a vessel to reach out to places where I can't be at, it's very special to me. I definitely want to solidify a world-wide fan-base. I also hope that people identify with my music and personality instead of hearing just a little of it and trying to compare me to someone. I hope that people are able to find my identity in my music and that they give me a chance to show what I can do and that I'm not here to replace anybody in the rap game. I want to create an environment where I can continue to put out music. I also want to tour like a motherfucker and help other artists to succeed and bring their music to the forefront. What's next for you? Right now, I'm going to be touring my ass off. I'm basically trying to reach as many people as possible and introduce them to Akir and ONE Enterprises. I've already started, but I want to get more into my next project later on in the year. My primary project right now is to promote this record, but I'll be thinking of concepts and writing this whole time. Now that I'm in here, I don't want to wait too long to start preparing this next project. What do you want to say to everyone? I really hope y'all enjoy the album. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it. It will hopefully be something that will help to change the climate of what Hip Hop is today. With your support, I can continue to put out music with positive messages and with a real reflection of what's going on in today's society. I'm not here to be a spokesperson for all of the world's injustices, but I definitely want to provoke thought and conversation to y'all so that you can go out and make a difference. I'm just a messenger. Hopefully my little pieces of music will help to inspire that. For more information, check out oneenterprises.com

By Brian Kayser

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