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10/31/2006 What’s up?  I’m feeling good, man. It’s a beautiful day.  You have a label, Johnny Pump, with Rockwilder and Rahman Dukes. What made you want to be a part of that?  Those are my boys for a long time. Rockwilder and I have been in the same camp, doing it for a minute. I figured it was time to get it popping. Rock was with it and I was with it. We’re trying to get this shit smoking.  Rockwilder has given Redman some of his best songs. Can he provide you with that same heat?    Definitely. He’s definitely cooking it up. As a matter of fact, I’m at his crib now. I haven’t left it since I came here. I’ve been here for two months. We’ve just been banging them out.  Your new single is “Earthquake.” How far can that song go?    I think it can go real far. I’ll probably have the chicks do a little dance for it, an “Earthquake” dance. We’re going to try to shake it up and have it do what it will do. It’s all on the listeners. It is what it is. But I definitely think it’s going to do what it do.  How do you think your hardcore fans will react to “Earthquake”?    They’re going to like it. Even my hardcore fans go to the club. They’re not going to like it more than my hardcore shit. I did myself, I kept it trill and I just talked about the club.  Rockwilder is executive-producing your album. How is he helping you make a classic?    Rock is a professional artist. I’ve been doing my thing on the freestyles and on the mixtapes. I’ve been going hard. Rock is a professional. He’s been giving me a lot of studio tips and he definitely elevates my music.  How’s the album coming?    It’s definitely crazy. The album is crazy, man. I’m going to have a little listening session at HipHopGame for it.  Is Redman involved in the album at all?  The way we’re doing it is that we’re doing two albums for next year. You have one with Red and one with Rock executive-producing it. This one is just me and Rock. We just went in. Red is on tour and he’s putting it in and he’s grinding himself. He’s definitely on the album and he’s giving me his guidance. This album is really just me and Rock. We went in.  What do Rockwilder’s beats bring out of you?    It brings that animal out of me. I want to get on them. I’ve dealt with a lot of producers and I’ve been on a lot of niggas’ tracks. I can’t lie. This nigga’s a monster. He’s been in this game for a long time.  How’s your album with Redman coming?    That’s definitely crazy. That’s going to be crazy. Look for that in the summer of ’08.  You didn’t go on tour with Redman because you wanted to work on your album. Was that a difficult decision for you to make?  Yeah. I love traveling and seeing the world, but I’m not going to lie, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time so it’s business first. Plus I love doing the album. I love working on music too, especially for my album. It’s a whole new excitement now. I’m going to go out the next time.  What’s it like being on the road with Redman?    It’s crazy. It’s crazy. I love it. The shit is like a natural high right there. The shit is incredible, man.  What’s one of the craziest things that happened to you on tour?  One of the craziest stories…We were in Arizona, right? We were just chilling in front of the hotel, getting our bags and shit. Two girls came up out of nowhere and they were like, ‘How long are y’all staying in town?’ We were getting our bags together from the bellhop. We were like, ‘We’re touring and doing what we’re doing.’ They said, “We’re down to suck y’all’s dicks until y’all leave.” That was awhile ago, but that was one of the craziest stories. I didn’t even have to kick it to the bitch. That was one of the craziest ones.  What are you going to be doing from here on out to have the album be successful?   We’re doing a lot of promotions. I’m working with a lot of DJs. We’re looking at dropping a lot of mixtapes. My boy Shannon Briggs is fighting in January. Shannon’s from Brooklyn and he had to hit up the hottest nigga from Brooklyn. I’m going to walk the nigga out to his fight at Madison Square Garden in January. There are a few other things. I’m grinding like a motherfucker. Shout out to Shannon Briggs, who’s training for that fight.  Do you think Shannon still has some fight in him?    Hell yeah! Shannon’s a beast. Shannon is definitely a beast. If you look at his record, he only has four losses. So out of four losses, he has like 40 knockouts and 44 wins. That’s a good record. I was chilling with him. He has that fire in him.  What’s the next move for Icadon?  I started this company, so a lot of the work is on me, Rockwilder and Rahman Dukes. I have to do a lot of business. I have to handle a lot of promotion and marketing and that’s a hard-ass job in itself right there. I’m going to just be building. And we’re basically trying to get this shit popping so by February, we can get some shit out.  Where are you trying to take Johnny Pump Entertainment?    I’m trying to take it to where it can go. Whatever hasn’t been done, that’s what we’re trying to do. I don’t want to do what’s already been done. We want to do it our own way.  What do you want to say to everybody?  Get that album when it comes out. Look out for the mixtapes. You’re definitely going to hear traces of the album on the mixtapes. I’ve been putting in a lot of work. Definitely listen for a minute. I definitely appreciate it.

By Brian Kayser

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