Jeru the Damaja
Albums:
Divine Design (2003) Heroez 4 Hire (2000) The Wrath of the Math (1996) The Sun Rises in The East (1994)
What up Jeru!?
Ain’t nothing just always trying to keep my head above water without selling my soul to the devil.
Aiight!
Where ya’ll at?
We’re in Baltimore right now.
Oh aiight B-More that’s what’s up. The other night, well it wasn’t night it was like six o’clock in the morning I was watching this joint about a cop who shot this kid with a knife in Baltimore.
Yea it be happening like that sometimes.
Yea, that sounds like some NYC type shit, but I know that Baltimore is like that though.
They scared of them kids. They kinda have a reason to be, but sometimes they don’t have to go the way they be going though.
You know it’s like that everywhere especially in the inner city where there is a lot of black people.
What do you think of that situation where the 400 lb guy got killed?
They definitely overdid it, but he was wilding out and he should have had a better hook and he could have probably escaped. He did a lot of that to himself because he fell. He’s a big dude if it was me and you we’d have probably beat the shit out of him too. Even if we wasn’t the police just regular dudes. Some big 400lb dude try to hook off on you…
That cop dropped when he hit him too.
Listen the thing is as people we have to start being reasonable. The police are doing a certain type of job so if I’m a criminal I have to expect to get caught. I can’t expect the police to treat me nice. If we just killing and they just run up on us like the retarded kid in LA with his pops that was crazy foul. Even though money died if I’m committing crime what’s gonna happen is gonna happen. My man recently got killed by the police out here. He shot at the police. It’s foul because you don’t want to see nobody get killed whether the police do it or another criminal does it. It’s a game and you have to pick what team you play for. Don’t get me wrong the police are foul and they do all types of stuff; Rodney King, Abner Louima, all types of stuff so we know they do it. Me and Black Thought got arrested a couple years ago they took my car and the whole nine.
For what?
My man was rolling a blunt in the car, back then it was Giuliani and I haven’t smoked since then. But this was a while ago and they was foul they stole my jacket. I had the gortex camouflage joint and they just decided they wanted it. They took my car had it impounded, took it to the investigator’s bureau. They took my license and all that. It was foul, but we got caught smoking a blunt. If we wouldn’t have gotten caught smoking a blunt they couldn’t have done it. So you gotta know where you stand. If you know this is a rule at your place and you go outside that rule look for something to happen. I grew up in the 80’s when crack first hit the streets and all that and my moms used to always tell me you are not supposed to deliver yourself into the enemy’s hands. We know that their foul, that they beat kids up and all of that, but don’t put yourself in that position though. If you just walking down the block and they scoop you up that’s something different, but if your doing something to put you in that position whatever happens after that is on you.
November 14th, 2006
Real talk. There’s not much I can add to that. Jeru is an inspiration with his lyrics and his mindstate.
All these money makin MC’s need to know this - make that dough, but consider uplifting people with even one song about how to get urs in all the positive ways possible, not telling people ‘that’s how I’m livin’ - gangsta, thugsta, pimp @*%!! … Yeah, that’s how ur livin’, but that ain’t how others be livin’, specially when people want inspiration for a better life.
C’mon people, things on TV ain’t how it really is, ‘cept if its a real life documentary.
Love thyself then you can truly love others.
Read this interview again…and again!!
I’m out.