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4/17/2006 What's up guys? Thes One: We're chilling, just waiting for this album to come out. It's been awhile since your last album. What have you been up to? Double K: Doing the record and being on the road. All the quiet time is time in the studio, time out digging, basically doing all the work it takes to get the record ready. It's a long process. It sounds like you guys take a lot of time to make each record different from the others. How much time do you like to spend on an album? Double K: A lot goes into it. Everything happens on the spot. If we have a beat, we'll record it. We don't plan it out too much. Thes One: It's years and years of working on shit. It's years and years of work. We'll take stuff we've made over the years and try to make a record out of it. What did you want to make with "Stepfather"? Double K: A new People Under the Stairs record. Something that would be just as fresh as the last one. Thes One: I wanted to give everyone something different, but the same. I didn't want to give everyone another "O.S.T" or "Question in the Form of an Answer." We want to have similarities so fans feel it, but we don't want to touch on the same topics. We had some songs that we cut because we didn't want to do the same songs over and over. We had a dope DJ song where K was killing it, but we already did that. This record is not so much about Hip Hop like "O.S.T" was. This is more some family stuff. How hard is it to balance what you want to do and giving the fans what they want and expect? Double K: I say we just do it. We always do what we want. Me and Thes may be doing something and we'll say, "The fans are going to hate this, but we're going to do it anyway." We're artists and we make music. Thes One: Yeah. For instance, I fucking love "Pass the 40." I think it's the shit. I know a lot of fans that like certain things aren't going to like it and make fun of it. We're doing this to make ourselves happy. To each his own. God knows we're not selling platinum, so we don't have to cater to our audience. Can all the creative control you have being independent ever be a bad thing? Thes One: It goes both ways. In my opinion, the lack of people being on a label means a lot of bullshit is coming out. Bigga B used to help people on his label. We try to do something professional. If we do independent Hip Hop, it gets lumped into all the bullshit everyone else does. There are cats that do a lot of bullshit. There are a lot of cats that don't put a lot of effort into their records. We try and knock them out. What was your inspiration for naming the album "Stepfather"? Thes One: We're the stepfathers of this. We're coming in and we're bringing our loops and break-beats and topics for the songs when all these other cats have their bling bling and their ice. That's what the kids are in love with. I don't want to say any names, but there's a lot of bullshit out there. We're trying to come in the house and they don't want to listen to us. It's more in a comical way, I guess. You have a lot of tracks, like "Days Like This," that talk about having fun. Has Hip Hop forgotten to have fun? Double K: I think Hip Hop is having a little too much fun, but in a bad way. There are a lot of underground heads that just want to be super-Hip Hop. They're running around with their four elements. C'mon, this is life. It's bigger than that. Have some fun and just drop it. Get over the fact that you're Hip Hop for one fucking second, buy a hat that fits you, and go out and have some fun. You don't hear songs like "Eat Street" very often. Thes One: Yeah. We love to eat, so why not rap about it. The Fat Boys did it too. Why not talk about it? Dudes like to talk about having sex and smoking weed, but everyone loves to eat, too. I guess it's not cool to rap about that. You wouldn't hear that on anybody else's album. How important is it to pay tribute to the old school with tracks like "Old School"? Double K: I think that's a problem. Without them, we wouldn't be here doing this interview or talking about "Eat Street." I've heard rappers say, "Fuck them." No one would know who you are if it wasn't for them. And it's fucked up when underground dudes try to come out like, "We're Hip Hop on some yo-ho shit." This is America and you can listen to anyone you want, but why would you want to listen to a 21 year-old say what I could listen to LL say? Shut up with the four elements. Hip Hop has been around for thirty years and no one is going to raise the roof like they did. Pay them tribute or get over it and move on. Are you guys tired of hearing everyone say, "I'm talking it back to '95"? Thes One: Hell yeah! Shut up! Double K: What was going on in '95? Everyone acts like it was all good. There was some good music coming out, but it was just Hip Hop. The golden era was the late 80's, but I guess dudes can't take it there. Thes One: We love that era because our favorite groups were coming out. But what if Tribe Called Quest said, "We're going to take it back to '83!"? That's basically what we're doing for the new kids coming up. Instead of doing some innovative shit, everyone's trying to take it back. Double K: Yeah. We have the golden era to look back on. I was there and I can go back and listen to it whenever I want. Thes One: No one is going to do '95 better than the dudes that did it. You can make some great 2006 shit. It kind of makes me upset. What's the motivation for artists saying that? Is it a lack of creativity or are they stupid? Double K: I think it's both of them. It's a lack of ideas. They want to duplicate things. Thes One: They want to sound like Pete Rock really bad. But does he have to make shit he made back then for the rest of his life because people liked it? It's really killing shit. It's really getting weak and pointless. I apologize for any kids that were excited about that. Our record's dope. Does it bother you when people say you guys are on "that old-school vibe"? Do you consider yourself old-school? Double K: No, because it's 2006. I don't talk like Kurtis Blow. I guess our music is reminiscent of it because we're coming up with fresh beats and fresh rhymes. That's the extent of it. If they think we have an old-school vibe, that's cool, but don't put us in that old-school box. Thes One: We're trying to be us. If you think we're old school, then you have a fucked up view of the old-school. This one kid called two of our tracks Hyphy tracks. I was like, "Word?" Me and Double K make Hip Hop. Double K: We love Hip Hop and we make Hip Hop. We're just artists. Do you have a problem if I ghostride to your tracks? Double K: I think that's dangerous. (laughs) Leave that to the people who started it. Thes One: Theoretically, if you want to, ghostride the whip. (laughs) Are people ready to hear "Stepfather" right now? Double K: I would hope so. I don't think so. I don't think they're ready for it. What kind of beats did you want to make for this record? Thes One: I just wanted to do something different. We have done our thing with jazz loops. We're influenced by a variety of music besides jazz. I went through greater pains to try to stretch it out and try some things I haven't tried before. I didn't want to do the kick-snare boom-bip shit. There are a lot of dudes that are great at that. We're trying to keep it interesting. I get bored with my own shit sometimes. Mike, I know you do too. Double K: Yeah. Look at Public Enemy or the Bomb Squad. They had a new sound. They could have made the same shit but it would have just sound like everything else. What equipment did you use for these beats? Thes One: Double K was on the 1200's and the MPC2000. I was on the MPC3000. I think what is interesting about this is that we didn't change our equipment, but we didn't change how we approach it. Doing a song like "Reflections," I knew what we were trying to accomplish and I hope we accomplished it. We didn't make it the same way we make our Hip Hop beats. I let go of the whole "if it's a Hip Hop beat, it has to have a snare right here." Not all songs even need drums on it. Double K: If you keep doing the same stuff, it's going to get boring. Why not rap over the part with no drums? Let's do it. You guys took a strong stance on downloading music on "O.S.T." How do you feel about that today? Thes One: Man, it's gotten worse. The day that our record went out to press, three days later our record was on the internet. To add insult to injury, I had motherfuckers calling me telling me the record was hot. "How did you hear it?" "I had to download it. I had to hear it." One of my homeboys got a press version and he has nothing to do with the press. I think it makes people value music less and makes them appreciate it less. They'll skim through it, say they don't like it, and erase it. It takes the joy out of going to the store and checking out the artwork. People put a lot of effort into that. At least they used to. It's fucked up. How do you feel today when you hear tracks off "The Next Step"? Double K: Wow. I say, "What?" We were young. I close my eyes when I hear it. We were just doing what we wanted to do. How would you judge your growth from day one to now? Thes One: I think we're just growing like any person is. If you look at our records, "The Next Step" is our teenage years. We were teenagers and we were acting like teenagers. "Question in the Form of an Answer" was us coming of age and talking about some serious issues. We were still partying, but we were dealing with other things. Then we had to do "O.S.T" and make a record about Hip Hop. That's about beat-digging and smoking weed. It's really only about Hip Hop. I don't think we could make another record like that. It's two young men growing. If you look at "Stepfather," it's people our age that are starting to get married, have kids, and lose their grandparents. That's what we're going through. I have eight friends who are getting ready to have kids. Every record is different and some teenage dudes won't want to hear us rapping about family stuff. They might want to hear "The Next Step" and hear us rap about buying beer with a fake ID. Will you guys ever go solo? Double K: I don't see myself being a solo guy. I don't want to go solo. I make music on my own, but that's not going to happen. Thes One: That would just be weird at this point. Double K: I'm People Under the Stairs. Thes One: If I'm going to make a Hip Hop record like this, then I have to do it with Double K. If I don't do a Hip Hop record, then it's going to be a real-estate investment. Hip Hop is definitely tough for cats who try to live this lifestyle. Will you guys step out and do some outside production for other artists? Double K: It would be great for both of us, but we're not going to submit beats to anybody. We're both working on things, but we're not going to just send beat-CD's to labels. Thes One: We have to work with our homies. Once we get outside of our homies, it's tough for people to catch the vibe. If we sent out our beat-CD's, I don't think anybody would like it. What are your goals for "Stepfather"? Thes One: To sell as many units as possible, tour as much as possible, and get more people to get into it. I just want people to be happy. Everyone has their own opinion. I like the record and Mike likes the record. I hope everyone loves it. Nah, I'm kidding. I really don't care. What would be your advice to kids today sending their music out trying to break into the game and keep getting rejected? Thes One: Don't break into Hip Hop! Sneak in on the side. Just keep doing what you do. We got turned down. We were told that we would never work in this city again. The joke's on them. They told us we would never work in this city again. Why would you even say that? Like he's the mayor and shit. Kids should definitely stick with it, but at the same time, be realistic about this shit. Remember, you shit is going to be the realest when you're having fun. If you quit your job when your girlfriend's pregnant and think you're going to be a rapper, nah, you're an idiot. Don't do that. Keep your job, support your family, and make your music on the side having fun. That's the best music you'll ever make. What do you want to say to your fans? Double K: We love you and we're coming to your town. Go buy "Stepfather" and buy extra copies for your family. And check out the DVD. Even if you downloaded the album, go buy the real copy so you can check the DVD out. www.puts-stepfather.com

By Brian Kayser

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