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eing raised by a father who taught Kas A. Nova everything about the drug game may have had a less positive influence on the Chicago native, but his past shaped his future and rhymes, which ultimately created a notable regional and internet buzz. The name of your next mixtape coming out is called Between Heaven & Hell. Why did you choose to name it that? Every day in life we’re tempted by all types of transgressions, and I’m finding a way to live a better life but I have also had homies on the grind that’s going through hell. With those certain situations going on, I’m trying to make the right choices. You lived in California for a while, right? Yeah I lived in Long Beach for a couple of years. I was back and forth from the west to the midwest. I actually got offered a deal out there by Mr. Suge Knight and that was in May 2000. Death Row Records unfortunately had a lot of stipulations with the contract and as you know, they lost their distribution with Interscope. If I would have signed the contract, you wouldn’t have heard shit from me. How was it meeting him? He a large nigga. He about 6’4” and about 6’4” wide too. He’s a cool dude though, but due to his reputation he has a bad name. What inspired you to start rapping? I started when I was in high school. I was the class clown and I used to always play around with rhymes all the time. After a while, a lot of my friends started telling me I needed to really pursue that. So I started listening to people and watching videos and was thinking to myself, these niggas getting money and they talking about nothing. So after a while it was kind of like therapy. I started writing my problems on paper. You have a large fan base. Would you say most of your fan base is street? Yeah it’s real underground. But it’s not just street, it’s also versatile because I want everybody to vibe with it. I don’t just aim for a particular audience, I want your momma to like it, I want your grandma to like it, I want your sister to like it, I want the streets to like it, and I want the backpacker to like it. I don’t want to be placed in just one genre or category.
Your father had a real negative influence on you growing up. How has that affected you as a rapper? Oh yeah, I can’t even call him my father because he never fathered me, but he was there. He had his hands full, especially when it came to selling dope. At the age of 12 he was showing me how to cut dope. But I look back on it and I don’t regret it because it taught me a lot about the streets. Plus, everything happens for a reason. With having over 400 songs stashed away, how often do you record? Man I write a song whenever even when I’m at work. People look at me like I’m crazy because I’m always writing lyrics down on napkins. But that’s just how I am. I’m always writing down lyrics in my sidekick. It’s funny because I will wake up in the morning with songs in my head. It’s a blessing. I’m just using my time before God take it away. Do you have any songs on the radio? I don’t know if you’re familiar with DJ Kid Scratch down here with Power 92; he’s with Violator. We’re actually trying to get a good radio song going on. It’s not as easy as it may seem. Nowadays they want a big time marketing company behind you. Let’s cut the bullshit, they want money. It’s still a business and you have to come with it. What’s going on with you and 50/50 Records? I’m actually not signed with them. I’m just really close and affiliated with them. Your MySpace has over 10 million plays. What has come from that? It’s been such a crazy transition for us – the digital market, Paypal, MySpace is just wild. I actually had to ship some CDs to Japan once. That was shocking. Knowing that they don’t speak no English but buying the CD anyway is a blessing. Even though shipping it off costs way more than the CD, but it’s cool. What was the key to gaining all those MySpace hits? Promotion. I think you can sell some hot shit in the sun if it’s promoted right. At the end of the day, it’s all about marketing and promotion.
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