HalftimeOnline: They didn’t do that back in the 70s with good R&B. It was all on how you sounded. You could be fat, ugly, buck teethed. Look at Billy Preston.

O.C.: Yup the perfect example is Teena Marie. On her first album they had a moon with a silhouette of a lady with eyes. People were like damn this black bitch can sing. Then when people seen Teena Marie they was like who the hell but by then they was already like her records is hot. Now you got the video and they are expecting a video to go with the song. The song won’t be hot without a video. There are only a few instances where a song will break through without a video.

HalftimeOnline: What was that song that Prodigy had? Did Keep it Thoro have a video?

O.C.: Yea, it had a video but the record was popping before they had the video.

HalftimeOnline: Yea I was thinking that was one of the cases. They fucked it up though by going back and putting in the chorus and everything.

O.C.: They was like we gotta go back and do a video for this now and that probably killed it with the chorus in it and everything. If you listen to all the good hip hop records back in the day there’s no choruses. Like Kane I get Raw. The chorus was just the music in between his 8 bars. I could name like a hundred records like that. Finesse’s Strictly for the Ladies, the hook was just a scratch. Nowadays so many things go into making a hit record we lost sight. MTV didn’t even play records, now they play everything with melanin in their skin.

HalftimeOnline: It’s interesting that you said Bon Apetite would be second because I know you know that got a lot of negative press.

O.C.: Jewelz got a lot of negative press when it came out too.

HalftimeOnline: Why do you think it got such bad press when it came out and why do you put it above Jewelz?

O.C.: Because all the little white boys that buy my records, their parents are cazillionaires and they go online and they don’t have anything else to do but try and pick apart a record. Then you got dudes who rhyme but they ain’t ever made it so their mad at the world. They want you to make the record they want you to make over and over. I can’t do Word..Life over and over. I can’t do Time’s Up over and over. They said Bon Apetite was a sellout record. Number one, none of those records on there were radio records. Number two, like I said earlier I don’t expect ya’ll to like everything that I do. It’s impossible to like everything I do. Some of my favorite artists I’m like nope this is not happening. There wasn’t really even no bragging record on it. I just toned it down. That was just the space that I was in. The beats were simple. It was just a simple record. Give me that much but people tried to stomp it into the ground. I’m like yo ya’ll done heard worse you’re not even giving this shit a chance. And on the internet most of the dudes who trashed it were little white boys because I didn’t do Time’s Up for them no more or I didn’t have DJ Premier on my record. Whatever the case was they didn’t like it and now people are coming up to me like Bon Apetite. I’m like oh word you like that? And they be like yea but it took me five years. It’s a repeat of Jewelz because I heard the same thing. [They say] ‘it took me eight years to get it through my head that [it wasn’t Word..Life]’. Ya’ll stupid man. I don’t say it to them but I look at them and my eyes say it. I don’t just make records for people I make records for me too. I don’t care if 50 said if you making records for yourself you’re in the wrong game. That depends on what you’re referring too. Matter of fact that was just a statement. He’s a controversial motherfucka and he just said that to make more controversy.

Jbutters: Yea he just be saying shit. I didn’t tell you this Marcus but he took a shot at your boy AZ.

Marcus: What!

O.C.: Yea he said making wack records like AZ

Jbutters: Yea there was no reason to throw AZ in there at all.

O.C.: He does that kind of stuff and then he’ll fuck around and sign AZ tomorrow. He did that with Mobb. Do you like Jay did to Mobb Deep and then signed the niggas. But he was like here are two porches and two million dollars apiece. They were like man what you said about us ain’t nothing. 50 can do that.

Jbutters: I’m still mad at them for that. How you gonna get clowned like that and then sign.

Marcus: I’m mad cuz he said something about AZ. We were just talking to him about that and the fact that no one disses him.

O.C.: Nah that’s good. Now he gotta figure a way out to capitalize off of that since 50 put him out there. If he same my name I’m not battling duke. I don’t have the money or the time to battle him, but I have the time to say, ‘50 said my name buy this mixtape.’

HalftimeOnline: Haha

O.C.: 50 said my name buy this. He said I was wack buy it. You have to use reverse psychology. Let anybody say my name. Say it in a magazine if you want because I’m gonna capitalize off of it like no other. I was dumb all these years by not being more business oriented with my music. I had one part down pat but now that I look at 50 and Jay and them I be like damn I was an asshole. He was smart before people said he was smart. He was like I’m gonna say everybody and their mother’s name and sure nuff Ghost and them niggas was like when we catch you son..and he was like I got them niggas mad that’s good. Pun and them was like who the fuck and he was like aiight I got them mad. Now people are like How to Rob and he sees Jay at Summer Jam and he’s like you know I gotta give it to you right. When he came offstage 50 was probably like thanks. I heard he shook his hand. Thank you now I gotta single out. Now he’s doing shows and doing people’s records over. Nobody wanted to let him in the game so he made his own way. I respect him for that. I feel like an old stupid mobster that was feared 10 years ago but didn’t save his money. Then you had those mobsters like Lucky Luciano who smiled all the time and was like you know you’re gonna have to work for me one day if you want to eat on the streets. You say no and end up with a bullet in your head like Dutch Schultz. That’s the way of the game. If I could turn back time and knew then what I know now I could be a cazillionaire and still be on the top of my game like Jay. I wouldn’t be a sellout or none of that.

Another thing is being behind the scenes is more lucrative than spitting rhymes. The rapper is the bottom of the barrel slave in the game. I get the last crumbs unless I own my shit like I’m doing now. Otherwise the label is like you didn’t recoup. I’m like I sold over 100,000 records. World..Life sold like 100,000 – 150,000, my second album sold 100,000 – 150,000, and my third album sold 40,000 records with no video or promotion just billboards in NY. Right now we just started to figure out the Starchild record that’s over in Japan is selling records. So who’s buying my records if I don’t make money for these labels. How can I sell 100,000 records if people aren’t buying my record? That don’t make sense right there. I’m gonna sell 100,000 on my own and walk to the bank smiling.

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Posted by Jbutters on Monday, May 15th, 2006 and is filed under HIP HOP ICON SERIES.