DON'T MISS TODAY:

Back to Artist Profiles

8/7/2006 What's up? I'm feeling good, man. I'm feeling blessed. I'm on TV! I'm on TV and in the magazines. It feels good, man. How have things changed since the "Drive Slow" video dropped? My MySpace friends doubled and I'm getting a lot of phone calls from people I haven't heard from in a long time. Sometimes it only takes one song. Yeah. I got that push now. The ball is in my court right now. What am I going to do with it? For real, I feel blessed and highly favored. Everything happens for a reason. I said it in "Spaceship" about how it wasn't my time to get signed. It's a beautiful thing. Your mixtape seems to be doing well. Are you happy with the response so far? I feel blessed because when A-Trak and I did that mixtape, we weren't even thinking motherfuckers were going to be like, "Wow, I can't believe this shit! When's your album coming out? This mixtape is a classic. If mixtapes sounded like this we wouldn't need albums!" I can't really express in words how good I feel off the response of that mixtape. What's the Chi state-of-mind right now? It's thirsty, on the grind. Motherfuckers are feeling dehydrated. We're going to do whatever it takes to get out there. Motherfuckers are selling everything on the corner from Red Bull's to bootlegs. We're going to eat however we have to. It's that go-getter life. It's that hustler mentality that you'll go all out by any means necessary. Malcolm X was a street hustler named Detroit Red and look what he became. Speaking of hustling, you took it back on "Hustlin'". Oh man, I love Ice-T. I had to take it back and pay homage to him and UGK and 8Ball and MJG. I had to pay tribute to people who inspired me like Scarface. That's what it was. Those were artists that I was inspired by and helped make me the man that I am. Growing up where I grew up at, a lot of times we didn't have fathers so we looked up to rap music and the ballers, as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rambo. Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson were all on TV doing their thing. Do you see yourself as a role model? Whenever you're on TV, whenever you're rapping and whenever you're doing things that people look up to, of course you are. We are the father figures nowadays. When I was growing up, there were kids dribbling basketballs and playing football and now they look up to the rappers. Look at how Jeezy came out with the snowman and every little kid in America had the snowman t-shirts. That's the power and effect we have over these kids and our music gets a lot of kids through their day. I talked about losing my mother on "Spaceship" and people thanked me for that record because they lost their mother and my music helped them get through that. Of course I'm a role model. Nobody ever told me that was a part of the game, but it definitely is. We're responsible for a lot of people. "Spaceship" seems very important to you. Yeah. That's what got me out there. After that one verse on "Spaceship," a lot of people were able to identify with me. Even though there was a video for it that never came out, a lot of people liked it. OG's in the game who I respect to the highest degree came up to me about that. When people come up and tell you that you have talent and a gift off of one verse, that's a beautiful thing. "Honor Me" seems very personal to you as well. That's just like a testimony. That's me getting a lot of shit off my chest that I'm living with. When I say, "From zero to zilch/To something you feel/When Freddie got killed/I felt nothing but guilt." Freddie was my man and he got killed. He was my road-dog. He wanted to join the organization I was in and a week later he was dead and I have to live with that. There was just a triple-homicide around here and a Walgreen's manager got his brains blown out because he couldn't open the safe. It's crazy. I used to look at movies like Menace II Society like, "Damn I couldn't live there," but then I'd go outside and my neighborhood was just like that. I got a lot of people counting on me. When they see me in the videos and on the records, it gives them hope that they can make it out the hood too. I can't say it any better. It gives them the hope and the desire to want more than what they see around them. You're getting very personal on songs like "Spaceship" and "Honor Me." How personal do you want to get with your fans? Man, I want to get super-personal. Anybody who's listened to my music, they know me. I expose myself. I told my life. I have diabetes, I lost my mother, I lost my father and I've been through a whole lot of shit and I put it out there. There's a lot of shit going on in this life that I'm not ashamed of. I lost my house in a fire and I've been snitched on. I took a case. With my music I'm just telling my life. I have a story to tell. If you hold shit in, you can explode. I just have to get this shit off my chest over cold-ass beats and let people hear it and get that response. When people overseas are saying my raps and saying my name and they can't even speak English, that means a lot to me. When I go to the hood people want to take pictures and I'm not even on yet. It's crazy to me because it hasn't really hit yet from the mixtapes to the videos to the LRG ad. Those things mean a lot to other people. When they see me doing my thing, it gives them hope and makes them feel as if they can accomplish their goals too. It's gangster for a shorty from the hood to go to college or to not sell drugs or to not murder somebody. It's gangster to go against the grain. It's gangster for Kanye to go on TV and say what he said about George Bush. It's gangster for Jay-Z to be President. We have to make the transition from the old to the new. We have enough killers out there but we need to get people running businesses and Fortune 500 companies. We have enough of the other shit. How did you and A-Trak start working together? We met in London. He was DJ'ing at a spot where John Legend was performing at a little signing and in-store. A-Trak was there doing his thing and Dame Dash introduced A-Trak to Kanye and myself. The next thing you know A-Trak is on tour with us and we bonded. We got to know each other and we just have love for a lot of same things from the music we listen to to the girls. We both have a love for beautiful women and classic gangster shit. It's just crazy. We just bonded. The next thing you know he was at my crib after the tour and he said, "GL, I want to do a mixtape with you. I really like your style." He's a legend. I was like, "Straight up, let's do it." You can't judge a book by its cover and you have to look at what A-Trak's done. He came out here and we just put this thing together. He really believed in me. It was a pivotal point in my career. I didn't understand what was going on because I had a deal and I was on these Grammy Award-winning albums and I was rolling with Kanye but I didn't really understand what was going on in the music industry. I went down to the Bahamas for the Power Summit with my mixtape and shit just started to take off for me. I met 3-6 Mafia and they're legends to me. I used to ride around in '98 to their shit. They said I couldn't finish my album without them. I owe a lot of that to A-Trak because Kanye was busy as hell working on his shit and he has a label to run. A-Trak stepped in. we just made it happen like that. You've known Kanye since he was 15. Has the fame changed him? If he wasn't how he was and if he didn't change, he wouldn't be as special as he is. You have to go through it. All the shit that he's been through…let's say you're working a job at McDonald's and you have a certain way that you do things and you don't really care about getting to work on time, but then you get a job as president of a company, you're probably going to get there on time. You're probably really going to have to change and step your shit up. When you have to change on the business-sense, you have to make personal changes too because a lot of times the business is what keeps you afloat. You have to make adjustments. The world is changing and we can't sit around complaining about what we can't change. We can't just cry about George Bush being President even though we all know it's fucked up. We have to evolve and try to make it in this game. Have you ever done any ghostwriting for Kanye? No. Rhymefest and Kanye wrote one record together and that was "Jesus Walks." Kanye writes his own shit as far as I know. How was it recording "Drive Slow"? That was a wonderful thing, man. Kanye called me and we went to the studio. Paul Wall came with his verse and I didn't have my verse done. He laid his verse down and it was cold as hell. The next day I laid my verse. Gee Roberson from Atlantic was in the room, he's from Atlantic, and he was like, "That's the single." There was a lot of positive energy and it was really good. I have to really thank Kanye for giving me the opportunity for getting me on that record. Even though I'm signed to him, he doesn't have to do anything for me but he does because he's a good dude and he has a good heart. Does Kanye get a bad rep from the press? I'm not going to say it's unfair. It's like when the European settlers when over to Africa and they saw how the Africans lived and their culture and what they did like praising the ancestors and having a ceremony if the grandmother died, that's how people live on. People live on through their memories. When the settlers saw that they labeled that paganistic because they didn't understand it. You can't blame somebody for what they say because you don't know them. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions and opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one and they all stink. The way Kanye is now is the way he's always been. Just imagine being shitted on in the game. Kanye's been shitted on in the game and he's been told he's not going to sell shit. If you had to go through years of that shit too, you'd probably be the same way. Now he's winning Grammy's and has his own label. I can't blame people for having their opinions, but just from what I know and me knowing him, I can only speak for what I know and how I feel. You seem like a very cool, humble person to me, but other people may not feel the same way. People are happy as hell as long as you're providing a service for them. I'm very grateful you're interviewing me. I'm very happy. Thank you. Somebody with some bad-ass music who can't get on HipHopGame may have a different opinion. I don't know the arrogant side of Kanye. It's all based on interpretation. How's your album coming? It's coming along really good. I'm really, really happy about it. I'm telling the truth on my album. It's coming along. I'm working really hard and I'm not going to let anything stand in my way. I'm making sure the product is the way it needs to be. I'm pretty sure you've heard "My record is the hottest" a million times. That's all that rapper-talking-shit. I'm not going to do that. I never said my mixtapes were the shit. I waited 'til I got reviews so I could show people what they were saying about me. I just want my music to speak for me and I want people to embrace it. I don't want people to just breeze through it. I want girls to have my poster in their rooms. Not only can I rap but I'm handsome too. (laughs) What kind of help are you getting from your GOOD Music family? A-Trak is A&R'ing my project and Kanye is executive-producing my album. I'll play Kanye my joints and he'll tell me what he thinks I should do. I want to give people who GLC is. Kanye is definitely executive-producing my project. He hooks up my beats with the strings and all that stuff that he does. I have production from 3-6 Mafia on my album. All the other producers are producers from Chicago that you've never heard of. The album is coming along. I get excited whenever I talk about it. Why the title Welcome to Haterville? I'm going to tell you this. This is something I tell people when I go on stage: I've been all over the world. That's true. I've been in different countries and states. I've found that in every place there's always a place called Haterville. Haterville is everywhere. If you are a hater, maybe you should look at yourself in a different life. Hate is the cousin of death and we can never get nowhere if we're always hating on each other. If you see somebody doing well, give them a push. Don't try to hold them back. I have like seven different producers on my album and they can get their name out from working on my album and then they can put on seven people and it keeps things moving. Don't be upset when things don't happen when you want them to happen. Things happen when God wants them to happen. We have to realize that. The opposite of hate is love. Hate is going to do nothing but bring you down. Some people are living in Haterville and they might not even be aware. Haterville has taken its toll on some people and they don't even know. Sometimes I look at myself like, "Damn, let me slow down." Ideally, when will the album drop? We're shooting for the fall. That's what it's looking like. It seems as if my label is excited about my project now and it came from a lot of hard work. It wasn't always like that. Even once you get on, you still have to work hard. You have to work harder. Whenever you're not working, somebody else is and there's not a lot of room at the top. What do you have to do to make this album successful? I have to make sure the product is top quality. I have to make sure my product is where it needs to be. Aside from that, I really need that push. I need people to pray for me because I need those blessings. I have faith in God and I'm dreaming about what I'm going to do the next day. And we have to treat people like people. I've seen people who have gained a little rank in the game and how they changed in how they act towards people and I pray to God that I don't ever become that. I truly do believe whatever you put in is what you get out. The 360O thing is true. When I was a shorty I was always chasing after the girls and now they're chasing after me. You can't be mad at that. Have you chosen a single for the album? It may be "Haterville." That's the record my label is going crazy for. All my fans on the MySpace love that song. I want to give the people what they want and I like that. That Kill Bill sample is hypnotic. When you play that for little kids they start dancing and shit. Are you satisfied with how things are moving at GOOD? In all honesty it's all a learning experience. The music industry doesn't move when you want it to move. This is something I'm learning in the game. It doesn't move when you want it to move, especially if you're a person who works off of logic. I try to find logic in things and when I can't understand things I question them. It's just like a slow process. You can't ever get comfortable in this shit, for real, because when you get comfortable and take your shoes off, it's harder to square up. It's tough. Sometimes you're like, "Damn," especially if you know other ways to get money fast even if it has a risk. Sometimes that crosses your mind but you have to break old habits and start new habits. You can't lose faith and you have to just pray and believe in God. That's my main thing. You have to think about all the people who are counting on you like my nephews and nieces. There's a lot of people who are counting on me and I've come really far in this rap game. I just have to tell motherfuckers I'm still that same dude and nothing's changed. How much confidence do you have that you'll get the push you need when it's time? I really believe I'm going to get it. I'm an investment and I can't see the label putting all that money into me and not trying to get their money back, even if they're not fucking with me like that. I have something to be proud of and I have something that can change the mind of a lot of people. I'm repping my label and I'm going to take my label to where it needs to be. I'm very happy with the label I'm on because what Kanye has done has made it possible for us to live out our dreams. Whenever I see myself on TV, it's fucking my head up like, "Wow, I'm on TV." Ten years ago I used to watch TV just wishing I could be on there. Now I'm on there. It's unbelievable. I'm blessed, dog, straight up. Do you see yourself in competition with labelmates like Consequence? Consequence is my man. That's my dog. He's really dope. Bentley, Common, those are my peoples and I fuck with them. I don't make the music they make. I make my music and we all have something different we bring to the table. We don't all do the same thing so there's no competition. I just want to see them do well because the better they do, the easier it is for me and the better I look. The way my label was at the Grammy's this year, that's great for me. It's all good. I just want to see people do good, period. I would never wish nothing bad on anyone. That's my thing. Why did LRG choose you for their ads? They chose me because I'm bad! I'm the business! I'm what they were looking for. I'm a trend-setter. Little kids look at me and say, "Damn, I want to be like him." They don't look at me and say, "Man, that dude is lame." The owner of the company called me and said I had the best ad that company ever did and I looked at it like, "Damn, this is the best ad they ever did." I'm that dude. It comes natural. I'm flamboyant, I have that charisma and the ladies love me. People gravitate towards me. I don't have to spin around to make myself seen. I'm going to be seen, man. I'm going to tell you like this, period: I'm a star. That's why they chose me. On Earth, we have the sun going on and all the stars in the sky. All those stars could be suns with life forces. People gravitate towards me. It's not an act. I'm not thinking about how I should pose. I have style. I already look fresh. It makes sense. Why not? Fortunate enough, I gave them my mixtape at the Magic show in Vegas and they all loved it. I was there with LRG passing out my mixtape with them. Not a street team, me. That's that Chi state-of-mind. A lot of people have gotten a visual before the audio. That's different from almost every other new artist coming out. Yeah. It hasn't really popped yet, but I'm new and it feels really good when people recognize what you do. People love how I speak coming from Chicago. It's a beautiful feeling when people embrace you. Another thing with my music is I definitely feel like I'm going to win because I don't sound like nobody else and I don't look like nobody else. What's the next move for GLC? The Midwest Gangsters mixtape I'm working on with Shawn Mac and the Drive Slow mixtape with A-Trak. We're working on the "Haterville" video. I just shot my first movie out in Cali and I have another movie I'm shooting next month, it's called Red Rum. I'm working on a cartoon called Haterville. I have a lot of shit going on and I'm just trying to keep it moving. I'm up here exercising my G. Powerful preparation prevents poor performance. You have to do that. What do you want to say to everybody? Thank you for the love. Thank you for accepting me. I'm just like you and I'm going through the same things you're going through. Don't let this music industry make you think just because we're on TV that we're not out there in the struggle ourselves going through the struggle. If you want it you can grab it. Love the next man and exercise wisdom and understanding. Whatever God has planned for you is going to be yours. They say good things come to those who wait but that's all the leftovers from the motherfuckers who got up off their ass to go get it. Thanks for fucking with me. I love the city where I'm from and I even put it on my arm.

By Brian Kayser

[14] REACT TO THIS INTERVIEW