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10/2/2006 What's up? I'm good, man. I'm eating some of this good Florida food right now. We haven't heard too much from you lately. What's been going on? I've been on the run for the past two years. I caught a case. This label left me stranded because they thought I was going to do fifteen to thirty years. I beat that shit. I've been working on my music and working on life shit. It's all good. Did you think you couldn't beat the case? Basically I gave up as far as the music. As far as the case, I was like, I'm fucked! Everybody's always talking that gangster shit and then when everybody gets involved they start telling. They "allegedly" said I did what I did. I didn't do shit. Can you give us some more information on the case? It was an attempted murder charge. What happened was some boy got hit and they said it was me. My little brother was involved. He was my codefendant. These motherfuckers are running around in the streets talking shit. Basically it comes down to the dude blowing his own brains out. People were making up shit. I don't know what dude was but he was 6'4" and was a straight-up pussy. That's what happened. I was supposed to be in France the day I got the word. I just got caught out there with that shit. Are you 100% focused on rap right now? Oh yeah, I'm definitely focused. I feel like I've been creating the best music I've ever made in my life. There are a lot of these dudes who have mentors who helped them do what they do. I'm going to keep it real. Nobody helped me do nothing, down to Stretch Armstrong. All he did was give me an opportunity. Niggas never showed me how to make a song. All I knew how to do was write music because I love this shit. Everybody's rapping because it's the new hustle. Niggas can't hustle crack anymore. They think they can say "boom bip" over a hot beat and become a millionaire. I'm focused. You go back with 50 as well. Can you talk about that? 50's a real nigga. I don't know about all the shit everybody's saying about him snitching. I don't have anything to do with that. The dude I met, I'm not even going to disrespect him and call him Curtis, when I met 50, he was a real dude. The night 50 got shot was the same day all the shit jumped off for me. I was actually on Hot97 saying I hoped he got better and all that shit. That dude doesn't owe me shit. A lot of people are saying, "50 could have grabbed you and Sha Money is a pussy." I don't look at it like that. I could have done the same thing they did with their grinding. I had the same opportunity they had. I only met 50 four or five times prior to him blowing up. He gave me props, saying I was that nigga. We were at a show with 30,000 motherfuckers and he was giving me props. Stretch Armstrong held me back from that. He didn't want me getting with 50's management. He didn't want me going on tour with them. Whoo Kid and them, I don't know how they got hooked up. They started promoting 50 real hard. They were promoting me real hard too. I never had the type of work ethic 50 had. I was never trained for that. They never tried to put us together. It was just I was hot and he was hot. Clark Kent fucked heavy with us. I was just too loyal. Somebody told me where loyalty ends, stupidity begins. I was loyal to Stretch. I never went behind his back. Niggas were putting $10,000 in my hand and were saying, "Don't tell anybody. Just take this as our letter of intent." I was in New York every day and I never say one nigga with guns in the studio besides 50 Cent. None of them. I never saw nobody else. You know little ol' skinny-ass me, I had big shit. 50's my man whether or not he's a multimillionaire. Every time 50 sees me he extends his arm. I respect dude. I have made love for dude. If he wants to sign a nigga, I'm a free agent! I just have to get back up in my circle. Can't none of these dudes fuck with me. I am the best and I didn't ask to be. What's your relationship with Stretch now? Fuck Stretch. The one thing I can do is say, Thank you for the opportunity. He put me in an opportunity to be talking to you right now. A lot of people wouldn't have heard of me if it wasn't for Stretch, but Stretch is a slimy motherfucker. Stretch is real sweet with the bitches and he had a million-dollar budget I didn't know about. I recorded my first record on my own and I was a virgin to the music industry. All I did was watch the nigga work the Pro Tools. This is '98, '99. I learned by watching. I mastered the shit by watching. When I caught that case, Stretch came and got me but after awhile those niggas left me for dead. I'm in New York and I'm scrambling. Niggas were leaving me $10 or $15 to eat and we're talking downtown Manhattan. You know me, I'm going to go back to doing what I do best. I'm going to rob the shit out of these motherfuckers walking through the office. I had my case and I couldn't fight fire with fire. I was in a real fucked up position with Stretch. We lived together for a year and some change. Stretch was already rich. I didn't know that. I didn't know his parents were rich. I wasn't thinking about the money, to be honest. I was thinking that he was giving me a chance. I'm loyal. If you extend your hand, I extend my arm. In this industry, loyalty is a sign of weakness, like, This nigga will do anything for me. I wasn't no crash dummy but in all honesty I was to a certain extent. This nigga had beef with Jay-Z and I lied to Jay-Z to his face. We were about to rumble in Justin's but I had the thing on me so it wasn't nothing. Whoo Kid and them know I'm a real nigga. They know how I get down. I done took on beef by myself. I've walked through Crown Heights by myself. I think Stretch was more scared of me than had respect for me. He was scared of me. I had love for Stretch. He broke my heart. Do you have to change as a person to win in this game? Honestly, how can I change my loyalty? It's in my genetic makeup. I can't sit here and say, I can't be loyal to anybody anymore. That's not me. I'm going to be honest. I've never been a shiesty nigga. I don't know how to be shiesty. I'm trying to learn because it seems you have to do bad to do good. I can't change my loyalty to people once I know they've done things for me. I can't change my faith in people but I also just can't sit there and say, That's my man. You have producers and mixtape DJ's who turn their back on you because I won't write fast for them. I don't write fast. I never write fast. I write good music. That's what I think the people deserve. These motherfuckers put out all this bubblegum shit and flood the block with garbage. The good shit is going to run out. You can get a stack of garbage anywhere. I don't want to go off topic but I'm a little discouraged by this industry because the shit they're signing, it doesn't even make sense anymore. The music isn't music anymore. I'm on my way. Tell them I'm on my way. Sorry I'm late, but I'm on my motherfucking way. Are you in talks with labels? These fucking dickhead-ass A&R's. I'm not even looking for a deal. I'm waiting for them to come to me. I'm money in the bank. I just have to step my weight up, that's all. I just have to turn my packs into weight and I'm going to be supplying everybody. All these A&R's are homies. These record label execs are so stupid that they can't tell you what's good music. Dre can tell you hits because he's put out hits, but he can't even tell you everything that's a hit because that depends on the chemistry between the artist and the beat. I'm not even looking anymore. If you build it, they will come. I'm undeniable and I'm that conceited about it. How do y'all want it? I have yet to be disrespected by one of these rappers and I can talk shit all day about their moms and their cousins. I don't give a fuck, you fucking monkeys! I weigh 152 pounds. I know these niggas aren't cut like me. You're not cut like that. Fucking actors! Do yourself! Fucking weirdos! Fucking labels! It's not even music anymore. It's like reality TV. You have all these fake-ass gangsters. Everybody's a fucking gangster. Gangsters are gentlemen. These guys don't even know how to talk to women. The A&R's are going on vacation with the artist's money. I don't give a fuck about none of that shit. Cut me a check. I'm going to get my Caddy and we're riding. When you're undeniable, the people have no choice. Even the mixtape DJ's are trying to be stars. Ask one of them niggas to get on the tables and cut that shit up. I was with Jazzy Jeff a couple weeks ago and I said, You should host my mixtape. I honestly don't even want to put a mixtape out. The game is so watered down. Everybody's doing it. It's not even hip-hop. These fucking A&R's. We need to fire everybody and hire the producers as the A&R's. These A&R's are like, He's from the A? Sign that nigga! I'm waiting on my time. It's coming though. It's definitely coming. I'm going to sign the best deal coming out of Philly because half these niggas are nutbuckets where I come from. What rappers are messing up the game? They ain't rappers! How many of these dudes can go flow for flow with everybody. No disrespect to the South or the West Coast. Snoop Dogg is a fucking rapper. He can freestyle. Kurupt has all types of flows. Some of these dudes just can't rap. You know what the fuck I'm talking about. You're not stupid. You put some of these niggas on stage and they're not coming with anything. They don't even know what's wack. They snap their fingers and have a fucking hit. Here's $10,000. Battle my man right here. Do what Jay-Z did to Nas. Battle TI for $1 million. Let's see what happens. I'm only using TI as an example because the nigga has shit. Niggas are biting each other's shit like crazy. I remember back in the day if you said somebody else's rhymes, the battle was over. These niggas are "borrowing" lines now. Get the fuck out of here! Fucking weirdos! They're disrespecting shit. That's why there's so much disrespect in the streets too. These young motherfuckers are shooting everything and the old heads are scared shitless. You have dudes who have been rapping for fifteen years who can put words together but they may not have the personality. I have the skills and the look. Hip-hop is not hip-hop anymore. It's a fashion show/wrestling match, straight up. In your "Hustlin'" freestyle, you said, "I had an invitation to the millionaire's club years ago." Can you talk about that? I didn't know my value. I didn't know I was a star. Lyor Cohen told me I had the greatest name in rap. Jadakiss was quoting me on the corner and I'm just sitting there like, Wow. This nigga knows who I am and I look like a retard because I gave up my corner for this music. I realized you have to give up a lot of negativity if you want to get something positive. I've never been upstate but I hear these niggas talking about jail. You dumbasses. My kids be listening to y'all. When you talk stupid, that's bad for my kids. You should be saying how you should stay out of jail. People talk, "In jail I would have fucked your ass." You're a faggot! They invited me in the millionaire's club years ago but I wasn't ready. I might have blown years ago but niggas want you to move at their pace. I have to finish doing what I'm doing. This is a nigga that went and got a deal on the strength of me, 50 Cent and Red Café and didn't give me a dollar. I could have tied his bitch-ass up. I was ten seconds away from doing that and then I said, It's cool. It's cool. I didn't do it on the strength of loyalty. Just because he's cool with 50 doesn't scare me. My heart doesn't pump Kool-Aid. The only things I fear is HIV and God. Other than that, you bleed like I bleed. If you bleed some green shit, I'm running. Anything else, I'm gunning. That's how I ride. Skinny boy. Yeah. That's me. It's a shame I lost so much but I'm here. I'm on the phone with you. I could be sitting in the pen with the rest of these dumbass niggas. My mom called me Bunny Rabbit. I stacked my money, went to the courts, did my rap thing and got locked up twice and got out. I'm good right now. I sat with Paul Rosenberg before he was Big Paul. I got the tape! Don't get it fucked up! I can talk shit because I know shit, straight the fuck up. Niggas fucked me over. I'm a real dude. I'm not no snitch-ass nigga but I know I could have been rich a long time ago. Niggas wanted me to do what they wanted me to do. Don't keep telling me shit is not hot or that I'm the greatest. We do one record and we didn't even have the money to put it out. They had to cut the check. They said, I don't think it's the record. The next thing you know everybody from China to Egypt is banging the song and they know who Pretty Ugly is. I lost it but now I'm back. What's your relationship with Big Paul today? I haven't talked to Paul in the longest. They're all on bullshit. I gave him the new music. I knew him before they all came up. Paul was already eating off Eminem. Paul's cool. Paul's fucking cool. If he cut me a check he'd be even cooler. Theo, their lawyer, told me when I walked into his office that I was an uncontrolled substance and they already had one with 50. I said, All right, cool. I'm not sucking anybody's dick to get signed. I'm not on your dick because you're rich. I told Theo, Don't think I'm going to go to parties and watch you ball. I know you have enough money to have me killed, but you have more to lose than I do. Paul's all right. I'm going to be honest. I don't know what the problem is. I think it's this Jew Unit shit. They have this white power thing. Obviously they don't fuck with me like that because niggas haven't gotten at me. I wish them much success though. Theo was like, Look at my office. I came up! I was like, You damn sure did. He had the gator couch. You also said, "Philly is New York, Cali and Atlanta to the third power." Can you explain? It's like Theo told me, it's an uncontrolled substance. I'm telling you, Philly is one of the most scatterbrained cities you can go to. Everybody from the nobody to Jay gets robbed there. That's the difference between a Philly dude and a lot of other cats. They don't give a fuck. There's still a lot of snitches and bitches. But if you put yourself where you're in a position with Pretty Ugly, you're going to go home with some pussy. You don't want any trouble with Philly niggas. Philly niggas take more chances than anybody else. Ten people got murdered at one time! That's nothing that I'm proud of. I said, "I love where I'm from but I don't like where I live." I know Philly ain't a place where you want to raise your kids because they'll fuck them in the ass and throw them over the bridge. Niggas are crazy. The sad thing about it is that 70% of the bodies that's dropping is from young boys. Dudes respect some of the old heads but not a lot. There's Bloods and Crips shit down here but there's not going to be any recruitment shit down here. A lot of cats think I'm a Blood because of my brother. I see why the game got messed up. You have to determine whose side you're on. In Philly, they switch sides so fast. They switch so fast down in Philly. They do drugs and shit. I don't do drugs. I smoke weed and drink liquor. Niggas are on the syrup and all this crazy shit. I used to get dusted when I was a young boy, but these niggas have lost their mind. I've been to the most popular cities in the world. I've been to England and all these places and I don't think anybody's flyer than niggas from Philly. I'm just being frank. Philly niggas can go anywhere and adapt. A real Philly nigga says, "Fuck you" and he does him. You just don't want no trouble in Philly. Niggas will body you so fast. Even though it can happen anywhere, it's an entirely different level. They're calling in the Army in Philly right now. They're putting in Marshall Law. They're starting that shit now in Philly. That's how fucked up that shit is. We're averaging four bodies a night now. It's fucked up. It's real fucked up. What do you think of Philly rappers? I love Philly but y'all know Philly rappers are wack. Damn-near 90% of Philly rappers are wack. Niggas can't copy my style. They thought Roscoe sounded like me and I fuck with him, but I can't see that similarity that they talk about. Remember when Jay-Z came out and the way Jay-Z was rapping and everybody in New York was trying to rap like Jay-Z? In Philly if they're not trying to rap like Beanie they're trying to rap like Freeway. If Pretty Ugly gets signed to Aftermath tomorrow, watch them try to copy my style. They go with who's winning. It's fucked up. Out of ten rappers, nine rappers sound alike. That's what's different about me. I'm proud of myself for that. When I rap, I'll put a nigga in a cement hole and his mom and sister are like, Oooh. I talk that real shit. I don't talk that bubblegum shit. You have to hear these niggas. They're fucking crazy. These niggas are corny as shit. Nobody's getting signed from Philly. There are a lot of niggas that try to rap. I give them their props for trying. I respect the work ethic of Freeway. I can respect that nigga. A lot of people think he's the worst rapper but I fuck with Freeway. I don't know Sigel like that. I do me. Philly's fucked up on the hip-hop tip. I'm going to be honest. I'm the best thing coming out of Philly right now. Nobody's fucking with me and I'm not no battle rapper. I'm not shooting no more people unless I have to. These niggas are going to war on the hip-hop tip and niggas are really getting bodied over this battle shit. That's how real this shit is. Just do your homework. What are you working on right now? I'm working to get this chicken. I need this motherfucking chicken. I know what I got to do now. At first I didn't. I'm just working. I'm just trying to acquire a big deal and I can put my family in a nice crib. I need a good situation, not one of these rinky-dink situations. They can sign me to Crack Row Records or MC Asshole and watch them become one of the richest niggas in the game. They know I'm a threat. I'm a threat to their money. If I make $5 million, I'm putting other niggas on. If I make $5 million, why wouldn't I help other niggas get out? We make money to get out of the hood and to make more money. These other niggas get into the game to turn it into the streets like dickheads. The labels aren't giving your family money when you die, dickhead. I'm trying to start my own wolfpack. Niggas already took the name so I want to go song-for-song in a battle. They're going to lose. I'm not even worried about mixtapes. I'm trying to make good records to bring that fire back to the game. 50 makes great fucking songs. He makes great songs and that's why he has the longevity that he has. I haven't been listening to a lot lately because I've been trying to stay in my lane. I'm trying to give y'all all of me so I don't owe you shit. That's where I'm at with it. I'm trying to give everybody the best I can give them. I'm not trying to write 50 million rhymes in one day. I'm trying to put out good music. Quality. You can put out a lot of quantity but is it bullshit? Every time I come to the table with a song, the fans say, Oh my goodness! These fans want to go to AC and lose money on these bullshit rappers when they have Michael Jordan sitting on the bench. What's next for you? I want everybody to be snapping on these labels. When fans mention rappers, they always mention me. So-and-so is hot, but there's always Pretty Ugly. I want everybody to be in love with the fact that your boy is back. Once I get in the game, a lot of niggas got to go. I'm not afraid of beef. Say something about me. I'm not afraid to entertain the people. Do the unexpected. Diss me, talk about my mom, whatever. I want my fans to know I'm coming and I'm focused. I keep the heat on me but I'm making sure I don't do nothing stupid with it. I protect myself. And look out for my shit because I'm coming. It's definitely not going to be regular. I'm supreme. Fuck that. Put the gold shit in my tank. Yeah. Fuck that. I love all you motherfuckers, even the niggas who hate me. But I don't think anybody hates me except for the niggas with money because they know I'm coming to take it. I'm coming with that crack every time. What do you want to say to everybody? The boy is back. For the ones who didn't know me, it's five, six years later so you didn't get a chance to experience the old Pretty Ugly. I'm back. Ask your cousins and grandparents. One verse and I'm gone. And I didn't even try hard. I got love for this music. I'm going to give y'all my best. I'm not going to lie. I've been a slacker at times. My work ethic was not good because I didn't know what it took. I know what it takes now. Stop being fooled by all this bubblegum music and put out there. I'm going to make niggas step their game up. I've been missed and I thank everybody who's still supporting me. I have a cult following out there. I'm here. I'm back. I'm a free agent so don't come at me with those low numbers. Let me get my family cool so I can work for you with my best. And you A&R's don't even know what the fuck you want. Fucking monkeys. I'm a fucking gorilla.

By Brian Kayser

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