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9/19/2005 How have you been lately? I've been good man. I'm playing the position of C.E.O. now, taking care of all the business. How have things changed since Smurf went away? Oh man, a lot of things slowed up and whatnot. I had to really learn how to do a lot of the business things on my own. Now, my schedule is jam-packed. How do you and Smurf work together? We work together beautifully. He's the eye, I'm the glasses. It's perfect, we make it work perfectly. Everything is good on that side. I know how to rap and put words together, and he has a vision and a lot of the connects. How's he doing now? He's doing real good. You can't do but so good in a situation like that, but he's doing real good. He has everything he needs, everything he wants. Let's get this question out of the way…how tired are you of people still asking about 50 Cent? I'm tired of it man! I hate it! I got music! I don't like to be focused on that. Everybody's asking me "is the album a 'Fuck 50 album?'" No, it's not a "Fuck 50 album." It's self-explanatory, "God Giveth, God Taketh Away." You could have a million now and be broke next week. Never take anything for granted. How do you apply that title to yourself? That's my everyday life. They took Smurf away, but in turn they gave us a label deal. We have something that can possibly benefit our families in the future. You have to always remember, He sees everything you do, so it'll come back to you somehow. What do you want to give Hip Hop fans with this album? I want to bring them a message and bring New York back. That's what I want to do. I want to give them a taste of everything. It's ok to cry, to be a gangsta, to love your mother. Those are things that make up a person. One ingredient doesn't make a meal, and I have a lot of ingredients. And this is going to show people that Domination can make songs. I'm depending on this album more than life right now. If I die tomorrow, I would just want people to hear "God Giveth, God Taketh Away." What's it going to take to bring New York back? Unity. Everybody has to really unite, and it's going to take getting rid of the egos. Once everybody gets rid of their egos, New York will be back. Until that, we're still going to be stuck in the twilight zone. What does "God Giveth, God Taketh Away" say about Domination as a person? This album says that I'm not just an artist, I'm a person, I'm real. I feel what everybody else does, and I'm not afraid to express it. A lot of people want to be gangsta 24-7, but that's not everybody. You're not trying to kill everybody. You have somebody that you love, your mother, father, kids…this album expresses that, that I'm basically a real person. How long did it take you to record the album? I'm a songwriter. It don't take long for me to record at all. Most of the songs I already had before I was signed to Koch. It didn't take long at all. The process of getting it out takes long, but the actual album didn't take long. What's your favorite track off the album? My favorite song is "On My Side" because it goes into politics and the police in New York. It's just a good song. How was it working with Kurupt on the single? Working with Kurupt is great man. We went out to the West Coast. We went out to Mark Sparks studio out in the valley. They smoked some weed, drank some Hennessey, and we got to working. They played the beat. As soon as I heard the beat, I was like "this beat is magic, let's do it." There's always been rumors about you being associated with Tha Row, is there anything going on with that today? I love Death Row, but we're ourselves. We're "Gangster Flip Records." We have our own record label, our own distribution deal. We're not going to Tha Row. We love Tha Row, but we're not going to Tha Row. What other artists are on the label? I have an artist named Young Dice and some other artists I'm working on. What does the deal with Koch entail? A 60/40 split. It's crazy. It's real good. And they're going to release our future releases. We want that independent money. What's it going to take to make Domination a household name? Marketing and promotions! Sites like HipHopGame.com. I check the audio page every day, and I read the comments, and I'm impressed with the comments. I actually print the comments out and mail them to Smurf. The comments are great. How is Smurf helping you today? He's helping me in spirit. He believes in me more than anyone else, and that keeps me motivated. When you have somebody that believes in you that much, you can't fail. Smurf gets out in '07, what do you hope to build by the time he gets out? I hope to build an empire by the time he gets out. I want to have a house with a bathroom in every room like the Holiday Inn! What's next for you? Everything! Entrepreneurship. Go check out my Gangster Flip rims on gfrecords.com. I have a trees wraps company, that's something to wrap your blunt up in. I'm also getting into real estate. How important is it to be both an artist and businessman? Man, if you're an artist, you're going to be broke. If you're a businessman, you're going to get paid and stay paid. What do you want to say to everyone out there reading this? Free Smurf! "God Giveth, God Taketh Away," go pick it up, September 20th, it's the most powerful album of the century. If you don't believe it, go listen to the snippets at gfrecords.com, go buy it, and if you don't like it, I'll refund your money.

By Brian Kayser

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