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7/17/2006 What's up? I'm good. What's going on? How much longer are you going to be a free agent? It's going down real soon. Everything is in motion. Everything is happening real soon. Can you let out any names? I ain't going to put it out there like that until it's final. Once everything is signed, sealed and delivered, I'll put it out there. What are you looking for? A lot of different things. I need marketing and promotions, creative control and a guaranteed release date clause. These other cats are being signed and put on the shelf. Everything is in motion right now. You've put a lot of work in to get to this point. Is it possible that you put in too much work? It's impossible to do that. You have to work harder every day. Are you not going to go to work tomorrow because you went to work today? You need to go to work every day. It's the same way with this. It doesn't stop. I'm a workaholic. I want to work like a slave and eat like a king. You were definitely patient waiting for this opportunity. Yeah, definitely. I dedicated my life to this and at the end of the day, I can't just jump into anything. Patience is a virtue. You must be happy you didn't sign with Select-O-Hits back in the day. Yeah, I'm happy I didn't sign a lot of those deals. I'm happy I didn't sign a lot of that shit. A lot of cats took them and look where they're at. It sounded like you had some decent offers. Was it ever hard turning them down and holding out? I didn't worry about that. I'm secure financially and mentally. At the end of the day, I'm putting out good music and reaping all the benefits. I'm not in a rush. I'm doing paid shows, getting exposure on MTV, BET and every magazine. I'm not rushing to sign with anybody. Everything has to be right. It has to feel good that you've been so many places without an album. It shows good music is still appreciated. Yeah, exactly. A lot of people aren't understanding and realizing that a lot of careers are built off of hype. My career is built off of strong lyrics. Everything I've done revolves around me being myself. That's what I bring to the table. Kayslay already touched on this when I interviewed him, but a lot of young rappers talk about guns, drugs and women. You can go outside of that box and still sound good. I cover everything. I cover all aspects. You have to be versatile in this shit, man. That's what you see and hear when you hear a Papoose project, whether it's a mixtape or record. You hear versatility. I give you the night and the day. I don't just give you one without the other. I think that's what keeps me grounded too, that I'm not one-dimensional. The 1.5 Million Dollar Man mixtape just dropped… Yeah, that dropped yesterday. I was just in Philly yesterday for the Hip-Hop Summit. There were a lot of good people on the panel like the mayor, Russell Simmons, Queen Latifah and Queen Pen. We talked about a lot of things like community empowerment and how to keep your community strong. I really enjoyed that. How did it feel being on a panel with Russell Simmons? It was an honor. I grew up watching Russell Simmons. It was crazy. But everybody should go pick up that mixtape, the 1.5 Million-Dollar Man. For promotional use only, go find it at a bootlegger near you. We're the most consistent our right now. The Nacirema Dream is coming soon. That's going to make history, so prepare yourself. How does mixtape #15 stack up to the rest of them? Everything I do is a continuation of my last project if you pay attention. It's only one level higher on every project. How long does it take you to do a mixtape? It doesn't take that long. I just make music and at the end of the day, the mixtape is done. You and Kayslay started some new things on the mixtapes. Yeah. We started with the mixtape credits and putting "Produced By." We format those like albums. My mixtapes are like albums. We're the first to put credits on mixtape. Nobody was doing that before us. Nobody was messing with Miami Kaos before us. We started that. Now you see everybody doing that. I'm not mad at that. With fifteen mixtapes out, the big question now is what more can Papoose do? Make sure you cop my album. Then everyone can see what more I can do. Knowledge is infinite and you never stop learning. If you think I can run out of music, you're not listening. Everything is a continuation of the last one. I gave you three "Law Library's" and I gave you "Monopoly," then I took it to "Charades" and then to "Chess." It's all a continuation. At the end of the day, I'm leading you down a path to the final destination. Just pay attention and listen. I'm not just talking. I'm true to my art and everything is mapped out and planned strategically. I just want my fans to pay attention to what I'm saying and they won't be disappointed. How's The Nacirema Dream coming? My album is coming out crazy. I feel sorry for cats when my album drops. I feel sorry for cats. I'm not blowing smoke. A lot of people say that, but I feel sorry for cats. I'm coming full-blast. There haven't been a lot of highly-anticipated debut albums to drop in a long time. Is there as much anticipation for The Nacirema Dream as there was for Illmatic? I would never compare myself to those who came before me because they laid the path and made it possible for guys like me to come up. I would never compare myself to them on that type of level. The people are going to be able to respect what I put out and the album is going to make history. Has there been as much anticipation for another debut album as there is for your album right now? What do you think? I want to know your opinion. Recently, I would say no. The only other highly-anticipated album in my opinion is Saigon's. Make sure you put that in the interview. If I say that, people are going to take it for granted. You're at HipHopGame and you're interviewing different MC's every day. You saying it means more than me saying it. Is the album overdue? Don't blame me for the politics of the game. The only thing I did was play ball. I said, "You know what? However they want to do it, whatever obstacles they're putting in my way, I'm going to overcome them. I'm not going around them." They don't want a nigga like me in the game. They don't want a pure MC in the position I'm in. At the end of the day, I just kept swinging at whatever obstacles they put in my way. Overdue, I don't really know what that means. My time is now. Have you ever been asked by industry execs to dumb down your style? They know I'm versatile. When you sign to a label, you should be able to adapt, change and be versatile. I challenge anyone to pick up one of my mixtapes and hear the versatility on it. How important has Kayslay been to your movement? Real important. He's an underdog like me. He's been doing what he does for the longest and he doesn't get his just due. He still stays hot. He's been maintaining all these years and he's still on his grind like me. They try to hold me back from all angles but they can't. Kayslay talked about making you do songs you may not want to do. At what point did you say you were going to try it regardless of how you felt? I'm open to Kayslay's opinion. I'm open to suggestions. I'm not pig-headed. If you told me, "Pap, I think you would sound good on this." I would give you a listen. If I don't really hear it, then I'm not going to do it, but you can never say I didn't give you the opportunity to present it. Maybe you're hearing something I'm not hearing. How is it in the studio with Slay? It's a good experience. He's a workaholic and I'm a workaholic so it's a good combination. We work real good together. How does it feel having Kayslay's full support? It feels great. Everything happens for a reason. The opportunity that I have is because Kayslay gives everybody a chance. Everybody knows on Thursday nights that they have a chance. At the end of the day, are you going to use that chance? I'm the only one who followed up on it and showed up at the table when I was supposed to come to the table. I was consistent with it and I seized the moment. Kayslay gives everybody a chance. Nobody can take that away from him. I'm just the only dude who capitalized off that. How did you feel spitting "Alphabetical Slaughter" live on the radio for Kayslay? I wasn't nervous at all. I had that song for years. I had been listening to Hot97 forever and I was finally up there in the flesh. I would never take an opportunity like that for granted. What's the best advice Kayslay's given you? Not to react to all the haters out there. There are times I get mad because I've been on the grind forever and for a nigga to hate on me, how could you do that? How could you hate on me? You'd have to be stupid. I'm the truth, man. I'm not a nigga who tripped over a record deal. I didn't have a silver spoon in my mouth. I came from the bottom. For a nigga to hate on me, they don't deserve to live. Kayslay helped me to not pay those idiots no mind. How much research did you do for the "Law Library" songs? A lot. I come from the ghetto. I come from the hood and growing up in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, you see dudes going to jail every day. The prisons are overcrowded. What better idea than to do "Law Library"? There are so many levels of the law and so many ins and outs that dudes need to know. Would you be a lawyer if you weren't rapping? Nah, that never crossed my mind. How much research do you do for songs versus what you already know just from reading and observing? A lot of the shit is common sense and certain shit you have to do research on. The majority of the times, it's just common sense that you have to elaborate on further. We already know a lot of the stuff, sometimes we just don't realize it. As an MC I bring everything to the table. Nothing is counted out. Others are so one-dimensional talking about how much they bust their gun. There is so much other shit going on in the world to talk about. I think they're crazy for that. I bring everything to the table. I bring the kitchen sink, my old sneakers and my report card. I bring everything to the table. I'm just trying to make you understand I leave nothing out. I'm a fan first and I know what I want to hear. You have songs like "Charades" where you stay on one theme. GZA is one of the only other MC's to master that form. Is GZA an influence for you? I definitely respect the Wu-Tang Clan and what they laid down. Everybody who came before me, I respect what they laid down, period. I came up listening to Kool G. Rap, Rakim, LL, all those dudes. Are the hip-hop police watching you? Hell yeah. They're watching everybody. They're waiting for us to slip, especially me. My voice carries and I give you both sides. I give you the positive and the negative and they don't like that. At the end of the day, of course they're watching. They're watching everybody to a certain extent. We're all under the eye in the sky. Were you talking to anybody on "Russian Roulette"? You know what I say to that? If the shoe fits, wear it. On "Robbery Song," you said, "I dropped 'Get Right' to show these dudes I can/Do what they do, versatile I am/I showed my fans the wise man can play the part of the fool/But the fool can't play the part of the wise man." How do you feel about "Get Right"? I do a lot of shows and I travel a lot. I'm in a different city almost every day. When I do that record at shows, the response is crazy. You can check out the footage from my shows and see the response from my shows. The response is crazy. What do you feel about the song? It's not one of my favorite records but I understand why you did it. No doubt. I respect that. How do you feel about fans who say you can't do those records without selling out? I think they're crazy. They didn't pay attention from day one. I never came from one element. I always did a combination of different types of records. I think that the more you grow, the more they turn their back on you. When you start to grow, they don't love you anymore. Everybody always loves the underdog and when you're not the underdog, they don't love you no more. That may be the reason for that. At the end of the day, I'm versatile and I can make records about anything. How important has Busta Rhymes been to you? Real important. Busta Rhymes is a living legend. He's one of the greatest stage performers ever and he makes big records. He saw what I bring to the table. I'm the most feared MC. I'm new to the audience, but MC's know me. A lot of MC's were scared to do what Busta Rhymes did. It's Streetsweepers/Flipmode. Are you an official member of Flipmode? Of course I am. Streetsweepers and Flipmode did a joint venture. It's not like I'm signing directly to Flipmode. It's a joint venture to make both entities stronger. Am I an official member of Flipmode? Yes. Am I an official member of Streetsweepers? Yes. Am I an official member of Violator? Yes. Am I an official member of Thugacation? Yes. We all formed as one now. What's the most valuable advice you've received from Busta? Actions speak louder than words and he showed me that you can't stop. How many years has he been making hit records and how many rappers has he been shutting down on the stage? I learned from watching him and seeing him come up in the game. Are veteran MC's scared to be shown up by you on a track? Everybody who came before me, I give them the utmost respect. I did a record with Nas. I did a record with G. Rap. These are dudes who came to the table and saw what I was doing. I did a record with Sauce Money. I wouldn't sit here and say the veteran MC's are scared to work with me. I have too much respect to do that. What I said about me being the most feared MC, that's true. Did rocking the BET Awards feel different from all the other shows you've done? Yeah. Hell yeah it felt different. That was in front of millions of people. Summer Jam was 52,000, but nothing's bigger than national TV. That was a hell of an experience. A lot of cats haven't experienced that. That shit was priceless. Do you have a new type of fan discover you who didn't know about you on the mixtapes? It definitely took things to another level. It's just growth. You'd be surprised to know how many people knew me before that. I was surprised. Honestly, I can't even walk down the block without signing autographs now. The BET Awards gave me more exposure, but it's definitely not the birth of my popularity. Is The Nacirema Dream going to happen in 2006? That's our aim right now. I'm not going to stand here and bullshit you, but that's definitely our aim. Is the album almost done? The album is done. I have enough material for two or three albums. It's just a matter of picking and choosing. What are your plans for the rest of the summer? It's a surprise. I'm not warning these cats. I'm not giving them sneak previews. My mixtape dropped on their head out of nowhere. They know what's in my blood. I'm going to keep working. What advice do you have for young MC's trying to come up in the game today? Only do it if it's in your heart. Don't do it because you see Papoose doing it or someone else. Don't waste your time if it's not in your heart. Don't do it because you see your favorite rappers doing it. Be consistent with it. Four freestyles, a video, five DVD's, and four shows is not going to do it. Don't let anybody tell you what you can and can't do. What do you want to say to all your fans? I'm not just saying this, but thank you for your support. Look out for my album coming real soon and Kayslay's album with Greg Street, The Champions. The video features myself, Shaquille O'Neal, and Bun-B. Look out for the Jeanie Ortega's video featuring me. Look out for The Nacirema Dream. Thank you for the support and the MySpace support, and thanks for the support on HipHopGame.

By Brian Kayser

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