the
same thing
momma
went
Beat they ass, Learn to teLl
the through.
'em no. Don't let 'em cry.
It'l[ never stop. lt's that cycle that's gonna keep
No chitd shoutd have
They don't get eveMhing they want? No. That's not a reason to cry. Send 'em to they room. Give'em a nice room, let 'em have they nice Littte toys and video games in they room. But back in the day, our teachers used to paddte us. lt used to be that the school coutd beat us,
going and going.
What have you bee.
through that
you
wouldn't want your children to repeat?
Fjrst
to
of atl, I've been
prison. And aLthough I Look at it as a Lesson,
man, there's lessons in books. I coutda went to
but now they've got
laws protecting kids to cover up some dumb shit that some dumb parents did. But now it's hard for us to raise our kids. You've got to get their respect. lt's not about hav-
coLtege, I coutda finished school, I coulda done a
tot of things, But naw, I went to prison. Those are years out of my tife. Nobody couLd ever say they gon' forget. Those years could never be forgotten, and they coutd never be given back to me. I don't want my son to have to
go
to
prison.
I
ing your chitd fear you, it's
growed
up Poor, in the projects.
My chitdren ain't poor. As long as l've got 55, my chitdren can get 54
to cry
grom.
of that 55. And I don't
shown abore uppings before they grown,
with his 3-year
son
Jay
tatkin' about niggas and hoes who think they coutd rap - get me that one record, and I'lt hetp you do the rest. Everybody say, "Oh, you got a Label? Put me down, my nigga!" Nah, jt don't go
tike that. I been doing this shit for atmost ten years. lworked, so you've got to work too, my nigga. Ain't nothing handed to you. once the New Year kick in, l'm gonna start working on getting a ldistribution] deat for my tabet. See, I don't wanna go to the man until I'm ready.
How do you feel about Atlantic's "Joint
chiefs" campaign, p.omoting you along with
don't stand a chance. That woutd be the shit
isn't that the same drug y'atl were tockin' everybody up for? Y'atl sajd it was a date rape or addictive drug, and now y'att wanna say it's okay? But, I think they wiLt eventuaLty Legatize drugs some type of way, as long as the govern' ment couLd make money off 'em. lt's aL[ about potitics; it's att about the government monitoring us. They need to know what you've got. lt's the same problem with us warring with other countries. The probtem is, we worried more about what other peopte got more than we worried about ourselves. stasy,
What was your reaction after the election? I honestty beUeve that this time it was as fair as it's gonna get. lt's over now, we're stuck for another four years. We just gotta stick together and not let this become a country where it's
Do you have any New Year's resolutions?
l'm gonna get money. I'm gonna start my label.
I
pray God witL keep me heatthy and keep me safe
to respect me.
on their tiptoes. lt's just tike a country where women can't show their faces. Same thing.
Have you seen a dramatic change in the way Atlantic operates since they've merged and
brought in new executives like Lyor Cohen? Definitety. Before, I iust knew names, I didn't know faces. A tot of peopte are signed to a tabet and they don't even know who owns the tabet. Now, I know what part everybody ptays, so if somethjng goes wrong I can 90 right to the there's more interaction now. Yeah. lt's atways drama deating with the peopte who deat with radio and video, cause they have the hardestjob. lf someTV show gets a no-show, they'tL catL Attantic cause they know somebody that know somebody, and they're Like, "We need such"and-such to fitt in today, we heard he's in New York, can he come here right now?" Attantic wants everybody to be Superman. l'm not used to that. I don't know who's Superman, So
but l'm not, lcan't operate tike that.
You've been performing lately with a live band. 15 that a lot more difficult than pe.forming over a track?
was two years ago, and I atmost went to prison. You can't tet stuff offend you. I hang with white boys and I catt them "my niggas" and they catl me "nigga." That don't offend me. Nah, I want them to put Miamj on the map.
There was a lot of controversy last year because Benzino put out some tapes where Eminem had used the word "nigga."
That Benzino and Eminem thing, that's deeper than Nino Brown. I stay out of shit I don't know
How was your Christmas?
nothing about, To me, the word "cracka" or "pig"
My Christmas cost a tot of money. And I never reaLly get nothin'for Christmas,
means the potice, or a snjtch. "Nigga" means with a dick, just Like "hoe" means with a pussy. ldon't
How do you make sure your kids have everything they need without spoiling them?
if
source and get the problem taken care of.
When you performed at Khaled's birthday party, you made a comment dissing the Miami Awards. They ain't qive me a Miami Award. I mean, come on, man. lwant you to do me a favor, and I want you to write this shit, too. Whenever you hear a song that I'm on and you feet tike I buttshitted, you put in your magazine and you let them know: "l think Trick coutda did better. " Cause I don't do that. Wheneveryou hear one of my songs, or if I'm on a song on somebody etse's atbum, that's the song that everybody ptayin'. cause l'm gonna represent mine. There's some cottabos I was supposed to do that never came through, but that's because of some paperwork or some company probtems. I don't have probtems.
just the poor and the rich. They're trying to When artists talk about "putting Miami on the wipe out the middte ctass. They've made it into map," don't you feel like you've al.eady done a country now where even though I took noth- that? Are you offended? ing like a terrorist, I have to go to the airport Nah, I don't get offended. Last time I got offended and go through aL[ these extensive searches. lt's crazy, but jt's working in some peopte's eyes. lt makes us look like a communist country where you can't trust nobody. lf you see a Mustim or Arab watkin' by, you Look at 'em crazy because you don't know what to thjnk. lf att you lr'sten to is the news, you don't know what's the truth and what's the ties. Everybody waLkin' around
us
we did a Joint Chiefs aLbum, a coltabo.
in these streets. I don't need enemies this year. I'm gonna leave atl my enemies in 2004, I wanna think drugs will be legalized? The government is trying to legatize ecstasy for have a better relationship wjth my momma, my peopte that's on they dying bed. Did you see kid5, my wife, and my famity. I'm gonna take it to that on the news? That's some crazy shit. Ec" that levet where a nigga can't have no choice but
2M5
fut. I witt never Nino Brown my tabet. So, any good artists that's tooking for work I ain't
a ctique of muthafuckers together agajnst
before they eighteen.
Do you
OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN
tertainment, and I pLan to be the biggest artist that couLd open up doors for other artists. I aLso pLan to have my labet where it's zero toterance. My employees witl get paid, the artists wilt get paid. Every time we successfut, we atl success-
drildrenl is not abolt all about respect. Respect T.1., Fabolous, Fat Joe, Twista, and Juvenile? l don t mind, because l respect aLL them nigur drild tear you, it's go way further than fear. gas. lf it was somebody who I djdn't respect ResDdsoes the kids need or didn't respect me, then it'd be a probtem. feai. Br.rt1he Sometimes But atl those niggas been grindin', they deserve to be beat? least ten Definitety. The average kid to get they money. lt s their time to shine, so they needs at least ten ass-wh- tet's do it together, And anybody tryin' to get
want them using, setting, or deating in no type of drugs, whatsoever. But by the time they grown, drugs witt be a thing of the past.
22
Are you still affiliated with Slip-N-Slide? That's who I got my deat through, Stip-N-Stide. But I atso have my own Label, Dunk Ryders En-
care nothing about that. As long as they respect me, man, a white person coutd call me a "nigga" or a "cracka" and I woutdn't get offended.
ain't gonna betieve this, but I never practice with the band. They know what they're You
doing and I know what I'm doing, so we just go out there and it's natural. I use signaLs to tetl
'ern when to break or when to end that song.
Sometimes, when you vibin'on the stage, you might even drag that song out an extra minute without the peopte knowing it.
You used to rhyme about "smokin'dirty," weed laced with cocaine. You gave that up? Yeah, I don't smoke dirty no more. I only smoke crip. I got off dirty a tong time ago, like two years ago. My system was just baiting on me. You don't wanna eat, you don't wanna do nothing but smoke. You wake up, smoke, go to steep, smoke. lquit, ljust said, Fuck jt. You've gotta have a strong mind, though. A lot of peopte just let the drugs take over them and then when it's over, aL[ they can say js, "sorry" or pray and go to God. God gave you the signs atready.