responsibility for our own kids in our own households. But I’m not taking responsibility away from rappers, either. I think we should take responsibility amongst ourselves. We gotta get together in a room, with no record players, no cameras, no radio. And you have to understand that a lot of these cats don’t know nothing but heartache. A lot of these young cats don’t have nobody to teach them better, and they’re making money doing what they’ve been doing, so why should they change? We have to educate each other, because nobody else gives a fuck. The establishment makes money off us being the way we are. It’s crazy, but the truth is that nobody’s gonna hear us if it ain’t jammin’. And the truth is, right now, what we say and do is jammin’. It’s proven. When I go away from the David Banner that everybody talks about, what happens? Be honest, Julia. You say it. You flop. Exactly! So I’ma keep it thuggin’. Fuck ‘em. Niggas can talk that shit, but everybody does it. Look at America. C’mon, America came up off slavery, pimpin’, and killing. Murder, bloody fuckin’ murder. How can muthafuckers sit up in their big-ass houses that were built off murder and criticize me? Not that that makes it right or wrong, but we have to start dealing with the truth. And throughout all the things in American history, a lot of those things have been done “in God’s name.” God is watching. That’s one thing I’ve learned in this music industry. Music ain’t shit when it comes to God. We will have to eternally deal with all the things that we say and do. This time we’re living in ain’t nothing but a second to God. With the tsunami and all the hurricanes and earthquakes and everything going on in the world today, some people speculate that we’re living in the “end times.” Everybody talks about the end times and this and that, but actually, from my understanding of the Bible, the end is actually when it gets peaceful. When there’s too much peace, that’s when the end is gonna come. I think God is reminding us that he does exist, and that all this could be taken away in a matter of seconds. That’s why Certified was so important to my career. We gotta be slapped up. We gotta go through hard times. That’s what keeps us being men and women. One thing you could say about Julia Beverly and David Banner is that nobody made us. Ain’t no man made me. Ain’t no woman made you. People have helped us, but nobody made us. Nobody got out on the streets passin’ out those magazines with you, and nobody slept in that muthafuckin’ van with me. God has put us through all that for a reason. When Mississippi and New Orleans come up, we’re gonna be the strongest people, ever. And that’s through the grace of God. You’ve been in the rap game for quite a few years. Having seen a lot of producers and rappers come and go – what do you think separates the artists who last from the ones that fall off? I think the problem people have is that they start smelling their own shit. You gotta continue to listen to what’s hot. A guy named Freddy Young, from Jackson, MS, once told me, “If you listen to the radio and you don’t like nothing that’s on the radio, there’s something wrong with you.” People criticize all the new music that’s coming out. A person will be like, “Aw, snap music is whack,” this and that. But snap music is jammin’. Kids love that shit. You better get with it, nigga, or fall behind. Or make something better, if that’s how you feel. Peo-
ple felt like the South wasn’t hot and they wouldn’t get with the South, and then what happened? They got left behind. Do you ever have to check yourself to make sure you’re not smelling your own shit? Hell yes. Every day of my life I have to check myself. That’s why I say God is so good. Sometimes God checks you. He gotta slap you up and bring you back down in order for you to realize you’re here for a purpose and a reason. Yeah, I gotta check myself. If you don’t check yourself, that’s the problem, when you feel like you ain’t doing nothing wrong. I have fucked up. I need to be checked. That’s why you need people around you to tell you when you fuck up. When people become successful, do you think it’s the money that changes them, or other people’s reactions to their money? It’s all of that. It’s people in your ear all the time. It’s people not telling you “no.” It’s the fact that everything’s at your discretion. It’s people lying to you, telling you, “Yeah, dawg, that’s jammin’,” when it’s actually not. People change towards you. And all the stuff I’m learning from this music shit, I’m implementing to the movies. I’m gonna try not to make the same mistakes. Please put this in bold writing: Tell these young cats to read. Read anything. I don’t care if it’s a Playboy magazine, just read something. Read. Find out about your money. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned. Get a good accountant. It ain’t about our talent with black people. We’ve got the talent. Look at how we make billions of dollars out of nothing. We have to learn to keep our corporations. What made you decide to put out DA SIPP mixtape? I’m just tryin’ to give a lot of the local cats at home some national shine. Before, there was just a lot of stuff I didn’t know how to do. Now that I’m learning, I’m trying to come back and give back. We’ve been giving the mixtape out at all my shows. For the next mixtape that I do, I’m gonna give cats the CD and let them press them up and sell them theyselves; give them an opportunity to make money. Any last words? I want to thank everybody that’s helped me throughout my career, and all my fans that stuck with me. And I want people to know that we do make mistakes, and we’re not perfect. People swear that we’ve got it together. That’s why I always give praise to God, because I don’t know how I did what I did. All I know is that I get out there and bust my muthafuckin’ ass. That’s why people should watch what they say to these rappers, because we came from nothing. Muthafuckers look at us on TV and get it mistaken. I am not playing. I am dead serious, dude.
Artists featured on DA SIPP mixtape include (l to r): Smoke D, Gutta Boy, Sweetz, Twizzle, David Banner, J-Dub, Roy, Aziatikk Black, and Marcus.
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