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11/14/2005 How are you doing man? I'm all right. Things are getting better and better each day. Your first real exposure to the mainstream was on "Hold You Down" with Alchemist, but listeners didn't really get a full picture of you on that song. Who is Illa Ghee? Illa Ghee is a general. I am the 9th God Allah. I am the incredible mathematics of rap. I understand there are a lot of people that judge me off of "Hold Me Down." I am the first person to tell you that I don't think I really say anything on that song. However, there are a lot of people in the street that like what I said. I am the future and the present. I'm an ex-felon…I'm a live nigga now. I'm not out there running around now and I'm not portraying that. Just don't bother me. I'm a live nigga that can rap. I'm a rapper's rapper. That's who Illa Ghee is. What did you want to give people when you sat down to make "Closed Session?" "Closed Session" was just to show people that I have my fam with me. Me and P used to rhyme with each other, either on the phone or in the lunchroom. We used to do a lot of songs together. Then one day everything clicked and we did this. "Closed Session" is just to let you know that I'm more than what you heard on "Hold You Down." This is just a small sampler. Right now, I'm about to put out three CD's, and this is so that everybody can hear me so they can constantly get into the world of Illa Ghee. On "Morning Rain," you ask us to "follow you." Where do you want to take the listener? It's a slow ride right now because a lot of people don't understand what they're doing. I'm mixing street with Hip Hop. A lot of people don't understand that what you do when you rhyme is ego-trippin'. I'm bringing the essence of ego-trippin' combined with the essence of the streets. I'm not rapping about hustling crack from a corner. I've done that and I'm not doing it now. If I was doing it now, I wouldn't say it. People have problems with doing them. I don't. That's what I want people to know. Understand that my rhymes are dangerous. My flow is a drug now. I can still say that I hustle, because I hustle words. My flow could do anything. I want them to use their brains with my metaphors and similes. I have to break it down so they can see the picture and I can take them on a ride through Brooklyn. There's different attributes to a person, no matter who you are. There is a hard side, there is a thoughtful side. No matter what, I'm always going to say I'm the incredible mathematics of rap because all mathematics of life I'm not a part of. How did you originally get down with P and Hav? We met in school. We all went to school together. What have you learned working with Prodigy? I've learned different things, little by little. When I first came home from jail, I didn't take rap seriously. All I cared about was writing freestyles and hearing them on the radio. I used to write freestyles for Marley Marl and Pete Rock's radio shows. They told me to keep going. I learned how to make songs. I learned how to make sure my voice matched the beat. I learned what to do and what not to do, business-wise. I learned not to let yourself go entirely. I also learned that this is a business. There's a lot of things I learned from them and I'm still learning. Big Twins told me that Alchemist is real tough in the studio… I learned how to put a CD together through Alchemist. There are days when I would go to an Alchemist session or a Mobb Deep session, and I wouldn't say anything. I would just sit there and watch. Whenever I felt it was necessary, I would ask questions why, or I would just figure out on my own what's going on. Everything's not about trying to get a beat or "do this for me." There's numerous times when I have gone to their sessions and not said anything and just watched what they do. Alchemist is hard. That's good though. I'm hard on myself in the studio. What's the difference between working with Alchemist and Havoc? Al knows what he wants it to sound like. As far as Havoc, Havoc will let you go. If you stink it up real bad, Hav will let you know that it doesn't sound right or to fix one part, but with Al, every sentence has to be incredible. Does Mobb Deep signing to G-Unit help your situation in any way? A little bit, not too much. Really, I don't know. I'm just trying to put myself out there. I don't find out until later what mixtapes I'm on and whatever. I just continue to work hard regardless of what happens to them or me. I just continue to work hard. I really don't know what to say about that. I really don't. I just keep my nose inside of the beats and music, and that's it. Going back to your past, what did your experiences in jail teach you? Don't go back! I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot of different things about the government. Jail is not the spot to be. I survived. I made it. I like women too much to be in jail. Jail is not popping. It's just like a long Monday in school that never ends, and it has no women in it. It's not popping. You're dealing with a bunch of bullshit every day. Either you could be a victim of it or you can better yourself, better your mind-state, and improve your living. If you don't know what you're going to do when you get out, then you're going to go back. We last spoke during the Littles and Prodigy situation, what's your situation with Littles today? I don't speak to him. He do his thing, I do my thing. Do you have plans to squash any problems? I never considered it beef. He do his thing, I do my thing, that's it. Are you working on an official album? I'm putting street albums out. I feel like I just have to put stuff out there for the people to see that I'm that nigga, for real. Right now, I'm putting out street albums, that's it. Think about it, if I'm willing to put this shit out in the streets, imagine what I have in the stash. What are the advantages to doing street albums? You get more bread. I have two vehicles now, and I don't have a record deal. I think I'm doing better than a lot of rappers. I do shows, but I don't even do a lot of shows like that. My shit comes from sales. The internet is an amazing thing. What's next for you? I'm putting out three CD's. One is called "New York Crunk." Remember when we came out with the West Coast mixtape? This is my version of it. I'm rhyming to all Down South beats, but in a New York style. In Crunk music, all they do is just get hyper. This is all New York flows. Then I'm putting out "Illa Attacks Primo Beats," where I'm rhyming all to DJ Premier beats. And the first street CD is going to be "Bullet and a Bracelet" or "Murder and Truth." That's going to be original music with producers I deal with that I feel are hot. I'm going to make a strong statement. Most of the tracks are done by Team Demolition. They're very strong. They could hang with any producers that are out there now. We're going to put it out there like that. What do you want to say to everyone out there reading this? Buy Illa Ghee CD's. Stop snitching. And don't think this game is a joke. And buy Illa Ghee CD's!

By Brian Kayser

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