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8/21/2006 What's up? I'm good. I feel good. What have you been up to lately? I'm putting together my mixtape. That's pretty much done. I just have to format it and get it out. I'm also trying to pick those bangers for the next album I want to come out in February. We have a lot of paperwork on the table from the labels. I'm looking at other labels and deciding if I want to go another round with SRC/Universal. I'm already in the studio working on that so it will be ready on time. I'm doing shows everywhere. Every day I'm in another state or country. Besides that, I'm chilling. I'm good. Do you need to change anything musically for the next album? No. I know that the There's Something About Remy album was popping. I'm pretty much going to stick with the same format. I'm just going to do whatever I want to do and however it comes out is what we're going to rock with. I feel there were a lot of things I left out - well, not really left out because you can only put so many songs on an album unless you're 50 Cent or 'Pac. The label allowed me to put fifteen songs on it, so obviously there are a lot of things I couldn't touch on on the last album. In the last interview we did, you said you felt the label set you up to fail. Do you still feel that way? It was! The way they had everything organized with my video and all that, the whole set-up was a failure to me. I just feel like the way everything was set up, it was set up to fail, from the promotions to the amount of albums they were shipping. It got crazy. It got to the point where I felt they did not want me to win. I do feel differently now though that that record was a great set-up record for what I'm doing now, from the "Conceited" record to "Whuteva." It's a great set-up for the next album. How do you feel about the timing of the "Conceited" remix? It came too late. It wasn't even that. They didn't push it. I had been did that. They wanted to let it rock and then they wanted to rush with the "Feels So Good" record, the radio was already playing it without us asking for spins. I was telling them to slow down on that because that's a hit and they'll be playing it for the next two months. They could have pushed the "Conceited" remix more before "Feels So Good." They threw the remix out not as an official remix but as a mixtape joint. They ran with "Feels So Good" but at the same time they don't give me the money to shoot the video. They're just stupid. Who's in charge up there is dumb. I tell them this all the time. They're retarded. I don't think they know what they're doing. They're trying the same method with every album and they never profit and they're wondering why they're not profiting. Why do you want me to do it the same way and just roll the dice? What does SRC/Universal have to do to keep you? First, they're going to have to give me a hell of a lot of money. That's the first thing. The second thing is there are going to be a few people who have say-so in my project. I don't want certain people to be a part of my album at all. I felt like there was a lot of inside hate from the label. What people don't understand is that when a label doesn't like you, they don't put that extra money behind your projects, you're not going to get anything extra, you're not going to get nothing you're not supposed to get and they're not going to do anything extra they're supposed to do. There was a lot of hate on the corporate side. I don't know. I don't like them and they don't like me. That's how I feel. Would you be better off at an independent label? Not necessarily an independent label. I would personally like my own label and be my own artist on my own label. Nobody can promote me and sell me to the world better than me. What do you want this new mixtape to do for you? It's already clear that the talent is there. Everybody knows who Remy Ma is. I just feel like I need to make a few points. I may not have certain album sales, but this whole summer was Remy Ma season. There's not a time I don't turn on the radio and I don't hear "Conceited," "Whuteva" or "Feels So Good." They're dancing to my songs on 106 and Park. It's crazy. It's the same thing that happened with "Lean Back." None of my songs were as big as "Lean Back" was, so that tells you there is something wrong with the company. All I can do is make music, perform and put myself out there. The mixtape is to hold me over. In the in-between time, what am I supposed to do? You don't hear this material from other females because they're not making their own material and they don't have songs that they can put out. They don't even have their own minds as to how they feel on certain things. I'm looking at, What do I have to do? I have these rhymes and I have to put them out. It's not for the money. It's not for the airplay. It's just because I have something to say and I feel like shitting on everybody. There's been a lot of speculation that you and Fat Joe aren't on good terms, but then you were just in his music video. What's going on between you two? Joe called me like, Yo, Rem, I'm shooting my video. Come through. The thing is, the shit that I say to Joe, nobody else on this planet could do without him going crazy. He knows that when it comes to me and him having our ways. We say our word is our bond. I'm never going to change my mind and you're never going to change your mind. We might as well stop arguing, get over it and realize we don't agree, otherwise we're going to keep arguing. It doesn't make sense to keep having arguments. We never had crazy arguments before but I've just never blacked on the radio and he's never blacked in an interview. You're not leaving Terror Squad anytime soon? There is no Terror Squad to me as far as a group. The only people in it are me and Joe. I couldn't even tell you where Tony Sunshine is. I couldn't tell you where Armageddon is. I couldn't tell you where Prospect is and Pun's not here. If me and Joe aren't doing songs together, technically what is the Terror Squad? I look at it like it's deeper than just records. I've done so many records over the years and I helped define that as much as Joe and Pun did and everybody else. How could there be a Terror Squad if there is no squad? Why is it like that? I personally think everybody is fed up. They've been doing this way longer than me. I was never chasing this "I wanna be a rapper" thing. I was never pressing up demos. I was always on some "get money" shit. You lose your drive after awhile and you don't care about being the hottest nigga and you don't care about going to the studio. They have family and bills. Running around to the studio isn't paying that so niggas are doing what they have to do to eat and live. That's why they're not hoping they're on the next single. It's not easy being a rapper. This shit is hard. Personally I think they gave up. I don't think they do it no more. Does that bother you? Yeah. Those are my niggas. I want to see all my niggas with money. I don't want to see none of them struggling. I want them all to be popping. You can't force somebody to have drive. They're not nineteen and twenty-one anymore. They have wives and families now. This game is depressing and it's stressful. It's crazy. Once things got popping, everybody started going their own separate ways. After we did our first Terror Squad album, we were all supposed to blow. Niggas were all going for themselves. It just fucked everything up. Just like the argument me and Joe had on Hot97, other niggas had arguments and said stuff you can't take back. Will you and Joe do more songs? I could see myself doing more songs with him. I don't hate him. I don't wish he dies. When I hate people, I wish that they die now and forever. I don't hate him. I'm pretty sure we'll do a song together. I just don't think it's good, business-wise, for him to be over my projects. Since we don't get along, it's going to fuck up our friendship. One minute we're chilling and popping bottles and I'm smoking, and the next minute you're trying to put your foot down and tell me something about my song. It's a conflict of interest especially where he's an artist at the same time. As long as that's the case, I feel we're always going to get into it and have some type of discrepancy between us. I just don't think it's going to work. He's not trying to hear me and I'm not trying to hear him. If 50 Cent calls you up and says, Remy I want to do a song. What do you say? If 50 Cent calls me and says, Remy I want to do a song, I'm going to ask him how much he's paying me. I'm going to have him talk to my manager and tell him the price for a feature from Remy Ma. There were rumors about you being involved in the formation of an all-female supergroup. Is that going to happen? I was actually thinking of putting that together myself. I just feel like it would be a platform for all the females who have been in this shit and they have their own minds and they don't need no nigga telling them what they need to come up. Every chick that was under somebody else, you always have the main nigga and he's popping and the girl is fucked up. Look at Busta and Digga, Luda and Shawnna, Trick Daddy and Trina and Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat. I know for a fact that Shawnna doesn't have damn-near the same amount of money as Luda. I know Digga doesn't have as much money as Busta. Look at all the hit songs that the nigga ever had and the chick is on it. If that's your girl, it ain't right [for her to be in that situation]. It seems like a lot of female MC's don't get along. Look at Khia dissing Trina… Khia is a fucking hater! That's the whole shit with bitches. Bitches think the only way to get props is to bring down the next bitch. If a bitch gets in power, she's never going to make it easier for the next bitch because she knows what she went through. Khia was saying some crazy shit. I read her interview where she was talking about how all these females needed a nigga to come up. She was talking shit about me and how I came up with Joe. Nobody came at her crazy. You did what you do and more power to you, but don't bring down that next bitch because she had a little bit of help or whatever the case may be. I fuck with Shawnna and I know what she's really going through. I fuck with Trina and I know what she's really going through. Don't talk about somebody's shit unless you know what their shit is like. I've heard her story and it's not any different from anybody else's story. She went on tour with us with Fat Joe and Ja Rule when "What's Luv" was hot. She used to open up for us. It's crazy. To me it's a publicity stunt. She went at all of us. She felt like none of us were on her level. I feel like she's trying to get any one of us to say something back to her, which is crazy. I'm not the one. I'm not the one to write a song to her. I'm going to see you I'm going to smack fire out of you. Just don't come at me crazy if you don't know me. Don't talk about me if you don't know my situation. I've been grinding for infinity years. Will you do a song with Kim? I fucks with Kim. I like Kim. It's that Foxy Brown bitch I don't like. What's going on with you two now? Nothing's going on with Foxy. I heard she can hear again. I'm waiting to make sure it's official so when I say shit she'll hear it. I don't even think about that girl. She's on the Khia listing. If you know you're a fly bitch and you know another fly bitch walks in, you should be able to compliment her. I can say somebody else's performance was hot. None of my swag decreased because you walked in. When you get like that I feel like you're unsure about who you are and your situation. She better not say nothing to me ever in life or I'm going to smack her fucking head off. I told her that. It's not like I'm saying anything to you that I wouldn't say to her. You and Rah Digga would sound dope together. That's my nigga! Digga's my nigga. I don't have a problem with her. Foxy is the only person I ever had a problem with. When I did my history on her, I found out she had a problem with everybody. She had a problem with Queen Latifah. How do you have a problem with Queen Latifah? Are you fucking kidding me? That girl's crazy. It's clear. You were just speaking with a group of young girls. How important is it to you to stay connected to the young girls coming up? I was thinking of things I wanted to do and I was telling my management that I wanted to open a group home. When my friends, guys and girls, mostly guys, call me when they're going through shit and I try to help them. I'm known for telling the truth and nothing but the truth. Maybe sometimes I'm too blunt. A lot of times kids don't have the person to turn to. Do you think most of these kids are out here robbing and stealing because they want to be? They probably are hungry, have no clothes and no guidance. It has a lot to do with the way the parents are raising their children. The same way I said my album was set up for failure, I feel these kids are set up for failure. You don't realize that until you start taking care of yourself like, Oh shit, I'm fucked up. It's something you can't help. You're born into it. I look at the predicament some older people are in and it's like, Who are you to give me advice? I'm where a lot of kids want to be and if I can help them, then that's what I'm going to do. That makes me feel good. I want to feel like I did something. That's my way of giving back. People think they can write a check and send it to charity, but nothing's as effective as that hand-on-hand, person-to-person contact. Does today's popular music help or hurt kids? I don't think it does either or. You would be amazed at some of the shit kids are aware of and know of. They use the music but there's no way you know something is ok to do because you heard it in a song. You know right from wrong. You can't blame why you did something because you heard it. My son is six years-old and he listens to rap music but I taught him right from wrong. I curse all day and I curse in all my songs. He knows it's not "do as I do" but "do as I say." How do you feel about the Chicken Noodle Soup dance? I think it's cool. Everybody doesn't want to kill people all the time or stand up against the wall all the time. The girl is cute. I feel like it's hot. It's something different. I think it's cool. I actually like the beat. When are you dropping the mixtape? I'm looking for it to drop the first week kids go back to school. What do you want to say to everybody? Just know that I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not a fad and I'm not a phase. I've been doing this before '99. I've been doing this for y'all to hear it and I haven't even climaxed yet. Just be ready. Stop calling me a fucking female rapper. Whoever you think is nice, I'm better than them! http://myspace.com/remyma http://www.queenofny.com/

By Brian Kayser

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