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5/18/2006 What's up? I'm all right, man. I'm working hard. "Myrtle and Throop" is finally out. How does it feel to finally have the album out? It feels good. We've been trying to put that out for a minute. We figured it was the right time. We dropped a lot of mixtapes but it was finally time to drop the album. How'd you put Myrtle and Throop together? It was a slow process. Everybody wanted me to do mixtapes over beats they recognized, but then they finally accepted me as a lyricist. I had a lot of songs, and for this album, we took the more lyrical songs and put the album together like that. What do you want fans to get from the album? That you could still be street and not talk about drugs. You can still have the element of rap and hip-hop mixed together with being street and still be yourself. Are a lot of dudes lying in the game right now? Yes! Because if you have 28 ki's flying all over the place, what are you doing rapping? They need to get off that element. I'm not going to tell people what to do, but you don't have to lie. How are you on the corner hustling if you're in a video? What hustler wants to be photographed for a magazine and speak about it on record? I've never known any hustlers to do that. What do you think of all the violent incidents to happen lately, from TI's personal assistant to Big Hawk to Gravy's incident at Hot97? We live in a violent society. That's how our world is. This is the society we live in. Nobody said anything about Arnold Schwarzenegger…he killed about 800 people or Sylvester Stallone when Rambo was all that. They're constantly making movies about death and destruction all day. This is a society that presses the button for our troops to go fight wherever and for what? They don't care. This is our society. I don't feel it should be like that, but this is what it is. I don't think it should be acceptable that you have to go do that, but also, people have to realize what type of music they put out. If you put out that tough-guy gangster music, dudes that live the life for real are going to see if you live it. You addressed a lot of those issues on "I'm Here." Yeah. It's just getting tiresome. Rappers are not showing originality. Everybody can't be a dope dealer or a hustler. Everybody can't sell drugs. What happened the lyricism where you don't have to talk about coke everywhere? I do talk about protecting myself, but people take that the wrong way. I say, "I would pop someone." Not "I do." But you have to really take me there for it to get to that situation. Other than that, everything is about my lyrics and my flows. I talk about how pretty the guns is or what type of guns I carry. "I'm Here" is about a lot of dudes who think they're tough because they have actual criminals with them, but he may have only been in one or two altercations and he thinks he's criminal. These dudes come and snatch up a rapper and it's just corny to me. Why is it harder for rappers to just be tough without talking about it? When you go to these shows, these dudes wish they could do that. They see the drug dealers and the tough guys in their neighborhood and they want to be a part of that. Once they get into the game, they turn into that character. In all actuality, when you look at them, they don't really want to do it. The media always asks if the rapper has street credibility. That shouldn't matter. Rap is about music. It shouldn't matter if you have street cred or not. Dudes should be mindful enough to not talk about things even if they've done it. I try to mix hip-hop and rap together, but dudes don't do that. They're so concerned with their image. They just try to be that tough guy, which I don't understand. Just be yourself. I have no problems with anyone just being themselves. How do you feel about the way your peers are representing New York right now? They're confused. A lot of the blame is on the New York DJ's because they just don't want to help out the dudes that are really trying to get out there as opposed to the guy who's already out there. I think the scene is confusing. A lot of people want to follow trends when usually we're the trendsetters. You just have to find dudes who are strong enough to break the mold. It's not about bringing it back, it's about making yourself heard. It's like with drugs, the best drug will sell. You can't be mad at anyone else. The South is doing their thing right now. You can't be mad at that. I think my peers right now are confused. They really don't know what they want to do. They want to bring New York back, but they should stop saying that because we never left. Their heart is in the right place, but their mind isn't. A lot of Mobb Deep fans have been hating Blood Money. What do you think of the album? I had no say-so in that. They did what they felt they needed to do. They had to be happy with the album, they put it out. The fans may see it one way and they see it another. I have no views towards that. I'm concerned with what I'm doing. Are you still close with Hav and P? Yeah. No matter what, they're always going to be my people. People just have to understand the things that they go through. Is there a specific reason that you weren't on their album? You'd have to ask them that. I couldn't even tell you. Next time you speak to them, you ask them why Illa Ghee isn't on the album. Do you feel like you should have been on the album? I think I belong on everybody's album if you ask me. (laughs) I think I belong on as many albums as possible. I don't care if I know them or not. I feel I should be on everybody's album. What's Illa Ghee's next move? We're going to push Myrtle and Throop and let people know as much as possible about Illa Ghee. If no major labels holler at me, them I'm going to put out Bullet and a Bracelet in September. What do you want to say to everyone? Keep supporting Illa Ghee music. Understand my music is rap, hip-hop, and street at the same time. A lot of people are just catching on to what my music is about. It's not just freestyling over the beat, it's not just riding the beat not saying anything, it's a combination of the two. Support real music. Support what you like. Thank you for all those who bought the CD and all those who support Illa Ghee. Keep supporting Illa Ghee and real rap music. Cop the album at http://mixtapemerchants.com http://myspace.com/illaghee

By Brian Kayser

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