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5/10/2006 What's up? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling real good. I'm just working on this album. It's about to be finished. You've been on your grind for a long time. How good does it feel to finally be coming out? It feels great, man. I've been at it for a minute. I've had an unusual path to get to where I'm at. I felt like it was overdue, but at the same time, I feel like the timing is perfect. Can you tell us about your path? I'm from a small town, Talbotton. I didn't have the luxury that most rappers have coming from big cities and coming from places that people have heard of. That kind of makes you legitimate. I come from a small town of 1,500 people. I had to grind and I had to prove myself over and over again. I had to work twice as hard as the average rapper had to work just to get myself to a point where people would listen to my music. When people hear you come from a small town, if they can discredit you, they're going to discredit you. I had to make sure my talent was up to par. Do people from big cities look down on those coming from small towns? Not necessarily. I wouldn't say they look down on us, but at the same time, there's always going to be that stereotype that the South had; that we were slow and didn't know what's going on. When you come from a small town, it's the same thing times ten. Did you ever think you would make it out of Talbotton? My mom had me when she was 15. Her whole thing was she was going to make a life for herself and make a life for me and she was going to get out in the world and get what was due to her. That was instilled in me at a young age. Even though it was a hard grind and I paced myself at times because a lot of things that I'm doing and have done, I never could have even imagined myself doing it ten years ago. At the same time, you have to visualize stuff before it happens. I envisioned it happening in my mind before it happened. I felt I had the same talent everybody else had, no matter where a person was from. I had the same desire to succeed. It ain't too surprising, but at the same time I never thought I would go to Australia or be on tour with Eminem and 50 Cent. Sometimes I pinch myself. You hooked up with Lil' Jon in his So-So Def days ten years ago. Was there ever a time you thought about giving up? There were a couple times. I think everybody gets frustrated. It's about who has that desire and who stays in it. A lot of times people look at it like it's a sprint. Those are the people who had one good year, they think they're on top, they get lazy, and they fall off. You have to look at it like it's a marathon. Some people are going to sprint off, but if you just pace yourself, it can happen to you. What's the first thing you want people to know about your debut album, Sundays at the Bootlegger? It's all the things that you would see at the bootlegger. The bootlegger was a little spot where you could be ten years old or you could go and get drunk or meet the girls, or eat good food, talk about life. It was the intersecting point between everything. You might have seen your preacher at the bootlegger. You might have seen your teacher. It's where everything went down. It's kind of like a barbershop in that sense. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly at the bootlegger. I don't want people to get it confused and think it's just going to be some righteous, religious-type music. There's going to be some good in it, but I've seen people get harmed at the bootlegger on Sundays. I've seen people get shot at the bootlegger on Sundays. It's not going to be about church because it's on Sunday. Everything goes on at the bootlegger. How do you want to portray where you're from to people who have never seen it? I'm a visualizer. I'm going to make it visual. I'm going to make it real serious so people can understand how I came up and people can walk in my shoes. I'm going to make it so they can understand why I am the way I am. I want them to smell the same things I smell and feel the same breeze I feel. I want them to stand in my shoes for a moment in time. I would guess you have a lot of material to choose from for this album. Right. It's crazy because I've lived on both sides of the fence for so long. I can walk the streets as a normal person or rock a stage for 8,000 people in New York for Summer Jam. I get to see both sides thanks to me never having a video out there. I've been a successful artist and I have a lot of stuff to pull from for this album. Did you have fun putting together Sundays at the Bootlegger? Yeah. They say you have your whole life to make your first album, but only a couple months to make your second. I have so much of my struggle to explain to people. I had the time of my life making it, but at the same time it was hard work. It wasn't all that easy. How is it working with Lil' Jon? Jon is a perfectionist. I've learned so much from being around that cat and being under his wings that I think I know what it takes to take over the world. Just being up under that cat's wings and seeing all the things he went through helped me a lot. Are you confident in his plans for you? Yeah. Of course with anytime you get into the music business, you're not going to get to do everything you want to do. Sometimes you have to compromise and meet people in the middle. For the most part, I'm confident in everything my label has handled my career. Everything's good. Does Lil' Jon get the respect he deserves? I think if you ask him, he'll probably say he doesn't. I think once you get content, you will lose that hunger. I don't think he's gotten content yet. He'll still feel like he hasn't gotten everything he deserves. That's how all of us feel. As artists, we always have to feel like we're the underdog. I've heard you say before that you like to blend hip-hop and the blues. Is there a market to blend hip-hop and the blues? It's not me singing the blues. When you hear my music, it's not just me doing a song and calling it a "blues song." Yeah, there is. Everybody is starting to appreciate other forms of music, and I think hip-hop is starting to incorporate different genres of music. It's about growing. It's about rock and roll understanding hip-hop and vice versa and incorporating jazz and expanding your mind to appreciate all forms of music. Do you see yourself getting into other genres? Yeah. That's definitely something I want to do. I want to collaborate with other kinds of artists. How much ghostwriting have you done recently? I don't know if you remember "Damn" by the Youngbloodz and Lil' Jon. That's me on the hook. I did that. Have you done any others? I've written some stuff for the Eastside Boyz. I got a song with Usher's artist Rico Love. I collaborate and I write for artists. I just try to do it all. I try to get a lot of music out there. Do you write for Lil' Jon? I'll write some hooks for him, but for the most part, he handles all that. Mos Def recently said Big Sam and Lil' Bo should check their names before they come out. How do you feel about that statement? Those were their names before they got in the music, so maybe he didn't know that. Does it ever bother you when artists not from the South look down on Southern music? It used to frustrate the South collectively, as a whole, years ago. But now we've learned how to maneuver. The South is getting respect on the East and West Coast. The world is starting to acknowledge us. Before, our music wouldn't be played anywhere but the South, but people everywhere are embracing our music. It's a beautiful thing. What advice do you have for up-and-coming artists coming from places like yours where there aren't a lot of media and labels? Work hard and go to the places where things are happening at and then you can shine light a lot better on your hometown. I had to go to Atlanta where everything was happening at to hit my town harder. For artists to come up where there is no hip-hop scene, sometimes you have to go where there is a hip-hop scene. You have to get noticed and then be able to shine that light back on home. Did you have any adjustment problems moving to Atlanta? At first, but thank God, my mom stayed in Atlanta. She always stayed in Columbus, so I was always going back-and-forth. It wasn't too much of a transition when I went up there. How's Chyna White doing? Chyna's doing good. In fact, me and her just did a song together a couple of weeks ago. When is your Gangsta Grillz dropping? That's coming in the next couple of weeks. When should we check for Sundays at the Bootlegger? The album will be here in July or August. It's going to be one of the most amazing albums the world has ever heard. I have something on there for everybody. I have some pimp shit on there, some gangster shit, some conscious music, I got everything that a motherfucker would want to here and then some. What do you want to say to everyone? Be on the lookout for Bohagon. I know you've been waiting for me for a long time and I'm finally about to hit you up with the album. I appreciate the love that you've showed me throughout the years. I know I kept the fans waiting for years and years and years, but the wait is going to be worth it.

By Brian Kayser

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