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3/19/2010     Your new mixtape is titled The Hangover. Tell me, have you ever woken up with a tiger in the bathroom?  (laughs) You know what? I’ve had some nights where they’ve been so crazy where I might as well have, between tequila and Miami, that’s pretty much what you’re coming home to at 4 a.m. in the morning.  Can you still get it in out in Richmond?  (laughs) I try to. I try to hit up all different kinds of spots. I listen to all types of music so I can hit different spots, but if I want to get it in like that, I can hit up D.C. for  that.  What’s been your worst experience waking up from a crazy night?  Oh, man. I remember taking too many shots of tequila. I want to say at least nine or ten shots of tequila. I woke up in Miami laying without a shirt on by my closet in a condo. I don’t know how I got there. I just know it was crazy. Tequila is definitely the devil.  Are you sure Ski Beatz didn’t slip you a rufie?  (laughs) No, he definitely didn’t. He definitely didn’t. I got myself there. I think I’m pretty much the champ of that.  Of slipping girls rufies?  (laughs) As far as drinking, not rufies!  I didn’t take you for that kind of guy, but I guess you gotta get it how you can, right?  (laughs) We don’t have that jumping off!  Just had to check.  Oh, man, that’s hilarious.  If you look at your crew, who would you be if you were in the cinematic masterpiece known as The Hangover?  I think I would have been Bradley Cooper’s character - sarcastic type of guy, trying to find one of my homeboys who was going to get married. That would definitely be me.  Can I be Alan?  Yeah! (laughs) As long as you don’t bring the beeper then we’re good.  Have you ever had the experience where you’re going out with your friends and one dude, who someone else knows, comes in and ruins the night?  I think that happens to everybody. You have to have that happen at least twice a year. There’s always that one guy.  How do you get rid of that guy?  After you hang out with him, you don’t hang out with him anymore. It depends on how that guy really is. Is he so crazy and so crazy that it’s funny or is he the kind of guy that rolls into the club and starts fights?  What if he’s just creepy?  The creepy guy! Sometimes that can be kind of funny from a distance.  How do you lose Creepy Guy?  Oh, man, sometimes it’s hard to do because if they’re pretty creepy, they can be hard to get away from because those are the guys who do not take the message at all.  And you don’t want to piss him off because you don’t know what he’s capable of.  Exactly! You gotta walk the line, man. You can’t irritate him. It’s kind of like the Cable Guy, I guess.  At least the Cable Guy had something to offer. The Creepy Guy just has a pocket full of rufies.  Exactly!  How did you go about crafting The Hangover mixtape as being your big introduction to the world?  I have to give a lot of credit to Haywood, Wes P, Sickness and my manager D. Smith… I had a lot of music that i wasn’t even really using. They kind of confronted me about it, that we were making all of this good music and not releasing it. We were going to do it before the album came out. They put it together and sent it to me and I was amazed with it and figured we should run with it.  What was it like working with Ski Beatz and Kleph Dollaz on this?  Ski, I’ve been working with him for a couple of years. He’s helped a lot. It was kind of intimidating at first but over the years it’s improved my songwriting and it’s helped a lot. And Kleph, he’s also the executive producer of the album. He’s helped me improve on my writing and everything. It’s been really great working with Kleph because he’s one of the types who will not let you slide. He’s real creative. I’ll tell him what I’m looking for and he’ll just take it to a whole ‘nother level and that’s what makes that partnership really, really great, Big shouts out to Kleph.  Will fans start paying more attention to Kleph?  Yeah. He really is a good artist. I hope people do. He released a project Nostalgia a little while ago, which was his take on older songs. Man, it was fantastic. There were a couple local clubs that were even playing it in the area. That cat deserves as much attention as possible because he’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever worked with.  Does The Hangover show your range as an MC?  Yeah, I definitely think so, because even though it’s called a mixtape, there’s a lot of different songs on there. It’s not just me spitting 16s with a lot of different people. It’s almost like an album with all the wide ranges it shows.  How’s the album coming?  The album is called The Morning After. That’s the one that Kleph is going to be executive producing. We wanted to get people better acquainted and let them enjoy this for a little bit and then we’ll release the album.  Does it ever bother you that people will be downloading The Hangover for free?  Not at this point. There are people who would say they support you and then download it anyway. I’m hoping that by making it free, they’ll go back and buy my previous works on iTunes as well, which it seems like people are doing. It’s a win-win all around.  From knowing you off and on over the years, you’ve always been a dope MC but have never publicized your music in a big level. Why did you lay low for so long?  For a minute I was into the whole battling thing and then I fell back on the business and then I improved on the songwriting a little more. I guess I’m my biggest critic but my producers said it was finally time for me to release some music and to reap some of the benefits of my labor.  How far along are you on The Morning After?  It’s coming really great, man. As a matter of fact, it should be finished being mixed on Thursday and I’m going to sit down with Wes P, Haywood and Sickness and see if there’s anything else that’s needed. I’m really proud of this project, man. I can’t wait to release it.  What’s the best part about living in Richmond?  Richmond is more or less like a melting pot. There’s all different types of styles. You might see some stuff from up North and down South. There’s a mixture of everything. You’ll hear all of it and I think my music shows that.  What other artists do you feel have potential to come out of Richmond and be successful?  Shouts out to Nickelus F, he’s been doing his thing for a minute. Different artists like Skillz and Clipse and the Neptunes and Missy, they’ve always repped VA. There are definitely some coming up.  It seems like Richmond gets overlooked when looking at the DMV area. Is that accurate?  Sometimes I think Richmond does get overlooked, but I think at the same time what we have to do is come together and do a lot more shows and more promotion and do a little bit more as a unit. I think it’s coming together a little bit better lately because there’s been more benefit shows. It’s a really good question. I think Richmond does sometimes get overlooked but it’s not the artists. People just need to support their local artists more. Fans go to D.C. but they don’t support their own artists.  Can you be a catalyst in bringing artists together?  I hope to. I hope to be one of the people who can. I think there’s people out here like Noah O. He’s actually done a lot with that and if I can help, I would love to. I don’t know if I’ll be the main one, but hopefully I can help do some things.  Now that the mixtape is out and the album is coming, what’s your focus going to be?  World domination! (laughs) What I really want to do, man, is make sure the music gets out and people enjoy it. I think one of the big things that’s missing right now is that people really aren’t enjoying making music. There are too many people making music to make money and not because they love making songs. If people can understand that about me, then it will be beautiful.

By Brian Kayser

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