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8/1/2006 What's up? I'm good. I'm good. Everything's good. It's all about timing and I've just been waiting for this time right here. We haven't heard too much from you lately. What have you been up to? I've been in the studio making joints so I can hit them hard. I've been working hard with different cats to get my craft to where it is now. You had the single out last year, "Boss," with The Alchemist. How did that do you for you? It did good. I obtained some success with that in the underground and overseas. I toured with M1 and Talib last year. We did some shows in Italy. I put that song out for the love of hip-hop. I'm trying to reach way beyond that. What have you been working on lately? I've been working on just knocking joints out and getting it ready. That way when I get this deal I already have all the joints done. The mixtape is about to come out too. We did two videos on there, a video for "Livin' It" which has Luis Guzman from Carlito's Way in the video. You see me and what we're about in the LES. It's that New York sound that niggas forgot about. We revitalized it and innovated it and it's that shit that niggas have been missing. For everyone who hasn't been to the Lower East Side, can you describe how it is? We're the people from this neighborhood. We're the original people from the neighborhood. There are people trying to change the neighborhood and they're really trying to crack down on things and make it a nice neighborhood. We have our own steez and we've always been a part of hip-hop from the early days. If you watch Wild Style, it was filmed in the LES. "It Ain't Hard to Tell," "In the Ghetto" by Rakim," "Protect Ya Neck," "What's the Scenario" and "Head Bangers" were all filmed in the LES. There are rappers from '74 on my block. I grew up watching it in the parks where the plugs were plugged into an apartment two floors up. There's a lot of drugs down here and a lot of people are sick. It's the same afflictions all hoods have. There's a lot of people out here hooked on angeldust and stuff like that. It's rough but we're striving out here and we love where we're from. Before you were repping LES your father was. Yeah. My father broke the record "Set It Off." He was playing that record for niggas when they were telling him that it was wack and now that record is a classic. My father was a DJ and I have an older brother who's way older than me and he couldn't go outside unless he took me and my sister with him. We would go out to see the Kung-Fu flicks. It was ill. We were partying and celebrities have been coming down here for years. It's always been popping down here. All that gangster shit and the mafia started in the LES. Even Jesse James is from the Lower. How did things change for you when you joined Ghetto Inmates? I've always been a solo artist. I started rhyming in my cousin Richie Rich's basement until I got the courage to spit it for niggas. I started spitting my rhymes and my peeps said I was all right. I had to refocus and do it. The Ghetto Inmates was already popping before I joined. We were all from different parts. Part of the allure for us getting the group deal was me being Unsigned Hype and being on Tony Touch's 50 MC's. Tru [Life] was doing his thing and it just made us stronger. What happened after you got signed? I don't really want to get into the specifics of that but we did an album that never came out. It was an experience. I got to meet some good people and learn a lot and I got to meet some bad people and learn a lot. It's all good. Those things make you who you are. It just seasoned me to how I got here. What's your relationship with Tru Life today? We respect one another. I talk to both of his brothers. His brother just asked me to do a joint with him. I just have to focus on me and getting my hood on. I wish the best for anyone else doing their thing and everyone else is repping the same goals. When can we expect to see a Raze album? The situation has to be right. I know my worth. It's been in the works. I have joints for Street Labor. The street album Full Scale is going to hit everywhere early August. Look for it all over the 'net. Ask for that. It's going to be heat. I'm going to show the difference between me and the other niggas. It has that New York sound. Niggas don't respect New York because New York doesn't have that New York sound. All the West Coast heads name the old heads when you talk about New York rappers. You just have to ignore the A&R's looking for a suit-and-tie rap that's cleaner than a bar of soap. This is what it is. The album is going to be well-rounded. You're going to see me all over the place soon. I've been in the lab formulating and you're going to see me in everyone's grill from this year on. What's up with the mixtape? It's coming out the first week of August unless some bullshit happens. It may be the second week. I guarantee you it's going to blow any shit out the frame. Niggas will take notice. It's that shit you've been waiting for. Make sure you get it. What do you want to say to everyone? Look out for Raze in that new generation of hip-hop. I have that sound you've been missing. We're going to do it up and we're going to give it all to you. I'm coming with it. Support real hip-hop and that real G shit.

By Brian Kayser

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