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6/5/2006 What's up? Everything's good. Everything's real good right now. I'm real happy with the release of the mixtape. I've been real busy but this time I'm going to hit it hard and get out there like I'm supposed to. How do you want to introduce yourself to everyone? My name is Don Cerino. A lot of people don't know me out there yet. I'm creating good hip-hop with no gimmicks, just having a real good time with it. What was your inspiration for naming your mixtape The Rap Game is a Joke? At first, I was trying to come up with a name for it with the different phases of Don Cerino. I was thinking about it and I was creating a CD called MC/Comical Genius. I have a skit on the album called "Rap is Gay." I have all the things rappers say with homo terms. I listen to the radio here and there and I can't listen to the radio. At my job they play Hot97 or Power105. I just laugh. A lot of people think it's like a cheap-shot. I asked a lot of people's advice and a lot of people think it's a cheap-shot at other rappers. It's not that, it's just how I feel about the game right now. Even the cover is controversial. The cover is definitely controversial. I love the cover. I've gotten a lot of good and bad feedback on the cover. I'm not out there. I'm not out there making diss tracks. I just wanted people to know how I feel about the game and how the game is right now. Right now, it's like my main audience is the underground scene. I've gotten a lot of love from the underground for my cover. It's not like a diss. I'm not disrespecting like that. If you listen to my mixtape straight through, you'll know it's about real music. How did you put the mixtape together? I would say it's been a few years in the works. Once you start networking, it's a lot easier. I'm just finishing up school and I have two jobs, so I'm really trying. Whenever I hear a beat, I'll throw it on the iPod or listen to it in my car. Once I get that feel, I'll just write the whole track and bang it out. It's not like I did the mixtape in three days. It's been a few years of work. I just want to make good music. I make music about what I'm feeling and what's going on in my life and I base it around the beat. I always write with the beat. How did "Reckless" with Domingo come about? I've been a big fan of Domingo's stuff for a long time and I'm at a lot of the QN5 shows. I got his contact and I wasn't expecting him to send me beats, but I sent him the cover and a few tracks and he threw some beats my way. The second he sent it to me, I downloaded it, heard it, and wrote the track right there that night. I sent it to him and he was feeling it. How's The Rap Game is a Joke doing so far? I knew the negative feedback would come. I love any feedback people can give me. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. I've sold a lot at school, but this summer is when I really want to get my stuff out there. I want to get my performance game out and do it like I should. I have my last final tomorrow and once all that's out the way, I have the whole summer to use up for promoting myself and getting an independent deal and working on my buzz. How do you balance school, a job, and rapping? I hardly sleep. I work my job which is usually late-night shifts. I have a weekend job too. I don't have a lot of time to write, but when I'm driving, I'll be listening to beats. I'll stay up to seven or eight when people are just waking up. I'll write it and record it and see how the track comes out. Any second I get to write, I'm writing. There's always a conflict, though. There's bills to pay but you also have to have an education. I have a year and a half or two years left. I find myself writing papers in rhyme and writing rhymes in class when I'm not supposed to be. If I said education was my number-one goal, my friends would laugh at me because they know that's not true. Do what you feel. I'm in school for some of the right reasons and some of the wrong reasons. I need some health insurance, so I'm in school for that. People just need to do what they feel. The rap thing is more of a hobby to me. I love making good music. It's not a business for me and it's not making any money for me, but you always have to have something to back you up. You probably make better music not being under that pressure to make music or go hungry. Definitely. I don't have deadlines or anything like that, so when I experience something or something comes in my life or when I'm feeling a certain way, I'll just sit down and write. I'll choose writing over going out a lot of nights. I'll just sit in the crib and write instead of going out because I don't get the time to do that a lot. What's your next move? This summer is really about promoting the mixtape. I could throw another mixtape together, but I'm really going to spend my summer promoting this mixtape, getting some shows, and working on my performance. What do you want to say to everyone? Good looking and thanks for takin to time to read this, I really appreciate, look out for me this summer and look out for The OVERSEAS produced entirely by my man croup out in Germany. Check out doncerino.com for the updates and all the music. Peace!

By Brian Kayser

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