DON'T MISS TODAY:

Back to Artist Profiles

6/7/2006 What's good? I'm hectic as usual. I'm going to tell you straight up and down, I'm hectic as usual. You have about two months until The Last Stand drops. How are you feeling about the album right now? I'm just moving forward. Right now, I'm in preparation mode because there's a lot of shit that's about to hit the fan. I'm a warrior, so I'm prepared for war. Why is the album titled The Last Stand? Because we're at that breaking point for us and for our enemies. We're at that breaking point and we're at a point where we're going to turn over a new leaf and turn the corner and start a new point. If you look at every angle on The Last Stand to the movie, when you're at that breaking point where everything is "trying to be taken" or is in jeopardy of being taken from you, you will be at your last stand and you won't be able to take it anymore. People have tried to remove our page in history. We have continued to sit back and move forward with our mission. We have not been quiet about it but we haven't been trying to turn it around and shown our beast mode because we've been concentrating on moving forward. We're international. We connect Europe, Japan, international rappers…we're on to countries right now. We're not even concentrating on the United States right now. We're platinum-status overseas. They've tried to remove our page in time too much. We're at our last stand and we're going to show y'all that we're not having it. What are your goals for the album? To put it down. That's my goal for the album: to put it down. Simple and plain. Every time I read a hip-hop book, the things these so-called hip-hop purists talk about are the best in '92 and then the best in '96. They forgot everything else. Maybe they don't like me and maybe I offended someone, but why would you exclude Smif N Wesson? Maybe they stepped on your toes, but what about Heltah Skeltah? These are the same people who act like they're trying to save hip-hop and all that, but they're hypocrites because they're only putting in people who are platinum status. It's fucked up they're leaving us out. It was the book Hip-Hop Immortals. I know it's only one book, but it means something to me and it means something to kids out there. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to act like it doesn't exist? It does exist. This is a game based on arrogance. If you're humble, you're almost doing yourself an injustice. Do you have to reinvent yourself in 2006? I don't have to do shit, really. I don't feel like nothing. We all go through different periods and feel different ways. It's about moving forward and I don't feel anyone owes me anything. It's all about what I have to bring to the table. I'm not going to sit back and complain. I'm not a complainer. That's not what I do. I'm not trying to be that dude. I'm not trying to be the person complaining in every magazine and all that. I don't want to be that dude at all. I just want to be known as the dude who's bringing it forward. I know one thing that time doesn't change is bringing it, regardless of what, OG, double-OG, young G, whatever, that's it. You can only bring it to a level to a certain extent. A young G is going to respect an OG and what he did. He can't take it to the OG level yet, but he can respect an OG's accomplishments. That's what it's about. It's about respect. What level would you put yourself at right now? I represent the equilibrium. The level I would put myself at now is making it happen. I'm a representation of making it happen. There are a lot of people who look at me and see me as an example of great independence. There are a lot of people who feel my movement and that's why they're behind me. It's more than the rapping and the lyrics and the beats. It's a movement. In a nutshell, we've mastered it to a certain level and now it's just about doing it. There's no surprises or secrets coming out of our box. Either we do it or we don't do it, and we do it good. There's eight MC's coming out of Boot Camp and every one of them is nice and has different views, even down to our reggae niggas. How many groups have reggae niggas who are nice? With everyone together, I would think you had some good sessions. Of course. We have the illest of the illest and the best of the best. When we're in the studio, it's not like any regular sit down and record session. I'll be in other people's studios and just be mad bored. When you come in a Boot Camp session, you never know how it's going to go down or what's going to happen. It's like that because there's so many of us and we have people who are with people and we're all tight. "Trading Places" has gotten a lot of positive feedback so far. Are you happy with how fans are reacting to the single? That's a representation of what's to come. I feel that. I'm glad that's getting a lot of positive feedback. That's what I'm talking about. That was just a natural song. That wasn't a song intended for anything. We weren't talking about constructing it a certain way. We constructed it to the nature of who we are, if you understand what I'm talking about. We didn't construct it on some textbook shit. We're all a tag-team and we're family. Mentally and physically we have chemistry and we play with that. The beat was there, the beat was fire, and everybody just got down and traded lyrics. How's your new album with 9th Wonder coming? We haven't recorded anything for The Formula yet, but it's going to be bananas. The Chemistry is still doing its thing. It's still out there and it's still doing good, but we haven't recorded anything for The Formula yet. I'm zoning out on that album. There's going to be some crazy shit on that album. Are you going to approach The Formula any different from Chemistry? No. I'm going to approach it the same exact way. The only difference is it's going to be different topics and there's going to be a little more skits before the songs, but that's just giving more understanding to what the song it. I'm not approaching it any differently. Would you do anything different on Chemistry today if you were to rerecord it? The reason I'm satisfied with how Chemistry came out is because me and 9th Wonder have great chemistry. It wasn't rocket science as to how we were going to record the album. We were like, "Wow, we have a great chemistry together." We did the album in six days. I wasn't beating myself over the head when we were doing it. He brought the beats and I brought the lyrics. If I want to direct a project a certain way, I'll do it. I did that for BDI Thug and I'm happy with that. I intentionally did BDI Thug on some "I don't give a fuck" shit and it did what it did. It did 60,000 copies or some shit like that but the company was bankrupt right after the album dropped. Are you going to drop another Buckshot album with other producers soon? Of course. Buckshot is a talent. I'm not going to be what the public needs me to be. I'm going to be who I am. I have to be who I want to be. I can't be what the public wants me to be. I don't know how to do that. I don't do shit intentionally because I think that's what the public wants from me. This album is definitely going down. We're about to do that. We are about to get that cracking. I work closely with Battlekat, that's Snoop Dogg's producer. We're crazy tight. Me ad Pete Rock are tight. Me and Swizz Beatz are cool. I say cool because there are certain producers I'm tight with, like I'll go out to Cali and stay at Battlekat's crib. That's my boy. I recently did that. I have a track with Battlekat already. I consider 'Kat family. Battlekat and Snoop are family past rap. I've known Snoop for over ten years. I don't see him as a rapper. He's like a brother to me. I've just been waiting for the opportunity to get out of this muckhole I'm in and be able to do songs with them without the public feeling some crazy way. Do you feel the public expects a certain sound from you and they don't want you to leave it? Of course they do. Of course they do. And I don't just do it because they expect me to do it. I do it because that's the opportunity that's given to me. I do it because that's the limit I could get to. I can only get to a certain limit in this game and people expect that and respect that. I could only get to that level because I'm on my own. The minute I connect with someone on another level, like stars, it's a wrap. Why is that? It's because the public will see and they will feel my talent and the talent that I have. The public is going to feel that. Look at Green Day. Those dudes have been underground since the '80's and then they popped off and went multi-platinum. They popped off later in their years. Do you see that happening with yourself? I don't know. I don't know. I just know I'm a warrior and I can not be stopped. I don't know anything else in life. How's 5FT doing? He's still locked up. He's a warrior and he's holding it down too. Have you spoken to him lately? Not lately, but I am going to speak to him in a minute. I haven't spoken to him in a minute. My dude knows I have love for him in my heart and I'm going to do some big things for him. When is 5FT scheduled to be released? 2008. Will you guys do a new Black Moon album when he gets out? Yeah. We might do it before then. How would you do that? With technology. Maybe we do it the way Beanie Sigel did his and C-Murder did his. We're going to try to get something done. I know without 5 there would be no Black Moon and I know that and the Creator knows that. 5 knows I'm out here on my grind. He knows I'm out here doing what I have to do so when he comes home he's good. He won't ever have to go out looking for a deal or anything. You guys tear it down together on stage. Does it hurt you not being able to do Black Moon shows now? No, because we're going to do it again soon. Are you happy with how Total Eclipse did? Yeah. I'm happy with it because everything happens for a purpose. It did what it was supposed to do. Everything happened the way it was supposed to happen. Did you ever talk to Just Blaze over the Little Boy Blues' "Seed of Love" sample on "Stay Real" and Jay's "PSA"? Nah. We had a little beef about that, but we reconciled and it's over. Me and Just are cool now. Love is love. What thoughts go through your mind when you hear Enta Da Stage today? That everything happens for a purpose. I didn't come out with a second album, but that's the way it was supposed to happen. It's crazy because when I did it, I didn't do it with the intentions of it being an album people would be feeling on some platinum shit. I wasn't even conscious of numbers. I wasn't conscious of platinum and gold. I was, but I wasn't. I was concentrating on getting the deal, getting it out, letting people hear it, and going from there. I was prepared to work. I was prepared to do low numbers and keep it moving and keep climbing up. I didn't know that the whole world was going to like it like that. I had no idea, truthfully. A lot of people talk about the "golden age" of hip-hop... We were like a great prophet who was so great that people didn't want to acknowledge our existence. People didn't even want to acknowledge my existence, and I say me because I'm at the root of this Duck Down movement. They talk about (sings) "We love the '90's." It's like they're missing Biggie, Wu-Tang, and Onyx, but no Duck Down niggas because we weren't commercial and on a major label like Bad Boy, Def Jam, RCA, or Loud. This shit hurts me so bad that 2Pac isn't here. If 2Pac was here, you would see an ugly, monstrous Buck. I think that's why Allah took him away. Not for me. I don't know what's to come. What's crazy is that people like the Buckshot Shorty records that I've been making recently and the mind-frame that I've been in has really been just really crazy. That's affected me in a great way. I guess what I'm trying to say is the greatest music is created by the most fucked-up life situations. That's what creates monsters. It's like, "You like my music, but this is the shit I'm going through." When shit is kind of positive, I guess the music isn't so great, but is your life in music how it is? When you see me as a person, do not get fucking upset. Do fans get upset if you don't meet their expectations? Of course, but I don't mind that. I'm like 'Pac and I say that because we're from the same breed. That's real. Here you have two people who lived two different lifestyles. The reason why we connected later in life and bonded so close was because we felt a connection. Deep down inside we would give our soul for the next person if we could. If I could give my soul to help lift you up and it wouldn't take anything from me, I would do that. Even if it might take something from me, I would still give it to you because I'll sacrifice part of me for you. To know that that shit doesn't matter to nobody in the fucking world, not the interview people, not the fucking magazines, not the video people, not the red, black, and green people, not the rappers, not my fucking homeboys who say it's not about money but when I leave it is…Imagine how it is and why I'm going to beast this shit out. When I beast this shit out, don't be surprised. When I stomp through this motherfucker, watch the fuck out. I don't know what's going to happen, but watch out. There are eight MC's and that's trouble because there's eight different opinions and eight different directions with them. I might be like, "Calm down, let them live," but Rock might be like, "Fuck that!" Is everyone in Boot Camp as hungry as you are right now? They may be, but they may not be. When that little window of opportunity is afforded to us, you know the door is going to open but they might not get there. Get yours. The public may see a nigga who's older, but they're going to respect one thing: here's a guy who's out to get his and won't stop. That's why they respect some of these southern niggas who can't rap but they got good music and they're doing their thing. Some of those niggas are looking mad old and they're just wiling, but they're good at what they do and they're getting it. Good energy always reaches the people. That's what the name Buckshot means. Think about it. As an MC, I'm a bullet. I'm out to hit my target. A lot of people say New York hip-hop is at an all-time low. Do you feel that's an accurate statement? Of course it's not an accurate statement that New York is at an all-time low. We're so big, so the minute that we fall to the side or "fall off," motherfuckers are going to make a real big deal out of it. Is the West Coast at an all-time low? If the West Coast is at an all-time low, what about New York? Who's lower? Do you see where I'm going with this? You have 50 Cent who's one of the hottest rappers out. You have Dipset, Jay-Z's still making his mark, and you have Busta Rhymes. How can New York be at an all-time low? It's just that New York isn't ruling it. You can't always rule something. New York is good and the south deserves their respect. One thing I like is when the south and New York get together just like when the east and the west used to get together. Staying separate is bullshit. The south is ruling and the south is connecting with New York and New York is going to keep it worldwide. It's about who got it and who don't got it. A lil' nigga like Buck got it. It ain't necessarily about rapping. It ain't about what comes out of your mouth. If I can get you to listen to me differently than the next nigga, then I got it. If another nigga talks to you and you listen to him a different way than you listen to me, then he has it too. He'll get in somehow, some way. He's going to get in even if he doesn't rap as good as Buck. A lot of people have termed the mid '90's as "the golden age" and call it the greatest era ever. Do you agree with that statement? There were no golden ages, man. What about the platinum ages? What are they going to say about that? There was no golden age. Every era of hip-hop was great and to single out one age is to do damage. To single out one age is fucking corny. I say that because that shit only comes from the people who were in that era. If you ask Sugarhill Gang what was the golden era and they say Wu-Tang, then you have something. The only people who say the mid '90's are the golden era are people from that time. I don't even agree with that, and I'm from the mid-'90's. My golden era was what made me rap in the mid-'90's, like Kane and EPMD. If it wasn't for EPMD and the Hit Squad, there would be no Boot Camp. I'm going to tell you straight up, if it wasn't for EPMD and Hit Squad, there would be no Boot Camp. There were the models for niggas like us. If it wasn't for the Juice Crew, maybe there wouldn't be an EPMD. Everyone was an inspiration for everyone else. If it wasn't for them, there wouldn't be no Boot Camp. If it wasn't for them, I might have been a selfish rapper who only thought about himself and my whole career could have been different, but instead, I believe in putting your crew and your clique on. We moved with a whole squad of niggas where everybody was nice. Do you have any regrets on having the team mind-state? No, because that mind-frame has allowed me to live and that's the mind-frame that Allah gave me. That's the mind-frame the Creator gave me. I don't have any regrets because that's the mind-frame the Creator gave me. I could have done it any other way, don't get it twisted, but that's just not the way that it turned out. Because it turned out like that, I influenced so many other crews and so many other people that that's what I was meant to do. That's what the Creator meant when He brought me forth. Me and my crew influenced Tommy and his crew. Little did Tommy know that I was created for him. What's the most important thing in Buckshot's life right now? Staying on track and crossing over, man. Crossing over. You're not far from it, as far as the obvious. I can only take us so far. You know what it's like? You know how a nigga doesn't know how to say "I love you" to a girl because he's never said "I love you" to a girl, I've never asked in my life for help, so I really don't know what that's like. I don't know what it's like to ask for help, especially when it comes to things that I worked so hard at getting. I know I've gotten help from my fans and my peoples and all of us that's moving towards this movement, but when we were on Priority, we had a real big impact on the world and that was because I had help from Bryan Turner. My point is if I had a Bryan Turner in my corner now, it'd be a wrap. It'd be a wrap. I was really hurting when Bryan Turner decided to do what he did when he stepped down. He stepped down. One day he decided he didn't want this anymore and that shit fucked a lot of us up. It fucked up Ice Cube, Buckshot, and Master P. Everybody just got fucked up from that. Here's a guy who, little do a lot of people know, was actually the man behind NWA and a lot of the Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg shit because he was helping them. There are a lot of stories that people don't know. If I was to reveal them in this interview, it would fuck a lot of shit up. Bryan Turner was that dude. Are you still in touch with Bryan Turner today? Nah. Bryan Turner is doing some other shit. He doesn't even fuck with music anymore. He doesn't even fuck with rap. People were pulling guns on him and the aggravation was too much for him. I can understand that. I would tell him, "Bryan, I wish you didn't have to go through that." I understand why he did that. At the end of the day, it was one of those situations and I understand what happened. His company didn't understand. That's one of the reasons why Bryan Turner and I have such a great relationship. It was the people under him, it was the people Bryan had working for him, and I think to this very day Bryan Turner is a very smart dude and if Bryan Turner opened up a label, it would be a wrap. It's not just the money. If a finance person said, "Hey, Buckshot, here's ten-million dollars." I would flood the market and kill the market. But with a label like Priority, Bryan knew how to work what he worked and I knew how to work what I worked. It probably wouldn't work like that with other people. Have you ever thought about quitting? I don't even know what that word means. I never even saw that word. I never acknowledged that word. I've seen that word. I'm being dead-ass serious. I know it means to stop, but I've never quit anything in myself. Quit what? This is my life. The only time I'm going to quit is when I'm gone. I've showed you that with Duck Down. I'm not just a rapper. This is my hustle. This is how I hustle and this is how I make moves. I just got three checks from Chemistry. These are royalty checks. Why would I quit something I'm making money from? If I'm selling incense on the corner and making $100 a day, I'm not going to quit that. I just know that eventually somebody's going to come along and I can't say who that is, but I know somebody's going to come along and we're going to power up and it's going to go to the next level. What do you want to say to everyone? The age of downloading is so crazy that I guess people are always wondering where people in Boot Camp are at and what we're doing. I guess my new answer is we're beating the competition in cyberspace. The next thing you know, a lot of things are going to be going to cyberspace. Like anything else, we're setting the trend. Some people are probably saying that's bullshit because we're not out there in the commercial world. We'll go on international tours and that's very, very important. We're not stopping, man. We're not quitting. We're going to keep putting out albums and the most important thing, I think, is separately, we're no joke, but together, we're a threat. We're going to bang them hard and the south is doing their thing so everybody is tuned into the south, but all we want to say is support this right here. If they think New York is at an all-time low, I don't think it is, but when New York does put out music, people should check for it.

By Brian Kayser

[39] REACT TO THIS INTERVIEW