Halftimeonline: When I spoke with you the other day you said recording the new album was giving you the same feeling as when you did The Natural. What are you feeling now that you were missing on the last couple that has you feeling that way?

Mic: Hip hop is kinda funny because the further you get into it the more at risk you are. As an artist when you come into it you don’t know nothing really. You just know what you do and it’s free of the influences of money, power and all these other things people learn about the further they get into it. When I did The Natural that album was done from the perspective of a kid from Queens that was 19-20 years old who doesn’t know that much about the industry. I wasn’t altered by the things that come with success but as you go about it those things play a part. You have twenty million people in your ear and they all trying to tell you which way to go. Then you have BDS, videos, and all this stuff calling you that you start to analyze because you’re constantly around it and everybody is looking at these numbers. So people start the new album hoping they get the big second week sales, rotation and other shit. When you start thinking about all of that it kinda fucks up the creative part a bit. Now I just came to the point where I decided that’s not what I want to think about. I’m at a point where I let my mind go with flow of the music I’m making and it’s not interrupted by me trying to please everybody.

Halftimeonline: As you mentioned at this point in your career you’re not chasing the spins or the mainstream success. So in your heart right now who are you making music for these days?

Mic: I just make it for the people that always enjoyed hearing from me. I make it for people that enjoy the energy of rap music or a good rhyme. I do it for the people I see everyday, not the Hollywood ass people, the normal people. It could be the old man I see at the store or the chick I see walking down the block. Normal people that are everywhere you go. That’s who I make records for and I don’t expect all of them to give me pay $11.99 to hear my record. Truth be told I don’t care if they do or they don’t. If they hear it and it helps them to keep going and keep getting up everyday then that’s what’s up. You could never put a dollar amount on that anyway.

Halftimeonline: With all the changes going on in the rap game cat’s is always jumping onto the new thing. Ideally, where do you feel a veteran artist like yourself fits in today’s hip hop game and realistically where does the industry try to place you?

Mic: That’s a good question. The Gods have a lesson that tells you to build and destroy and that’s the cycle of life. Things have to be destroyed and then it has to be rebuilt. I think rap always go through cycles where it appears that it’s destroying itself but it’s actually purging itself and after it purges itself it comes into another state of being. I think where it is now is there are a lot of younger dudes coming up. Rap is purging itself from the things it didn’t need and it’s allowing the younger dudes to come up. With that being said you’re always going to need people from that golden era. You’re always going to need those folks that introduce certain things to the next generation and I fit in that sense. In terms of where they try to place me, they are going to try and place me with anyone else who has been rapping for 12-13 years. They gonna place me in the ‘you’re nice to hear when I feel nostalgic but I don’t really want to hear you right now’ category. That’s the game but there are certain individuals that have that ability to mesh with what’s going on and I’m glad I have that ability. I can look at it at the end of it all and laugh at where they are trying to put me because that shit doesn’t apply to me. It’s like an imaginary world placed in front of you and you either believe in it or you don’t and I don’t.

Halftimeonline: I was looking over the three albums you put out and to me they kinda reflect the changes in hip hop. Your first one was grimy, people said the second one was a bit jiggy with Puff, and the third one was independent as hip hop was moving in those same directions. Being apart of all of these changes in your career what advice would you have for an up and coming hip hop cat?

Mic: Just do it. That’s all. Life ain’t complicated unless you complicate it. My cousin always tells me that. They’ll try to lead you in different directions and if you’re a new artist coming up whatever the fuck you’ve been doing that got you there keep doing it. Be mindful of everything going on around you and always be on point but don’t be so on point that you lose that ability to be what it was that got you out there. Be true to yourself and as long as you can look back and be happy with what you’ve done stay that way.

Halftimeonline: What inspires you to write?

Mic: A lot of stuff. It’s a combination. I might listen to somebody’s shit and be like wow I wish I could do something like that but on some rap shit. I may watch a movie that inspires me, read something or see something going on around me. I get influence and inspiration from anything in life.

Halftimeonline: You were talking about maturity earlier. Coming up with this new album now what do you feel is the difference maturity wise now versus then with your music?

Mic: Shit I was young, dumb and full of cum when I first came out.

Halftimeonline: Haha

Mic: I was like a bull in a china shop. You can’t give no 18 year old a lot of money and expect shit to be cool. They are going to lose their mind. I was smoking weed everyday. I was just out of control. When I first came in I did all the shit that young niggas do but as time went on I grew into a man and I look at the game like I’m an O.G.

Halftimeonline: I was reading about your first video, ‘Shit’s Real,’ where Hype Williams directed it and ya’ll jacked the equipment from K7’s set to do it real quick. Everything came together for that.

Mic: It was a lot of renegade shit. Hype was a real renegade. A lot of the shit we did was very spontaneous that’s why I can say it was meant to happen. We literally had no plan. There was no video treatment. We were just stealing camera equipment like I don’t know nigga tap dance or something. Do anything but it came out to be what it was.

Halftimeonline: That and ‘Masta I.C.’ are two of my favorite songs.

Mic: It’s bugged because I just watched that video online. We were up in Murder Inc. and it was ill because everybody was really quiet. I could look in everyone’s faces and see them reflecting on how much time has passed and all the things we went through. In a sense it kinda makes you sad because there are a lot of things about those days you wish you could go back to. You wish it wasn’t so much like it all is now but at the same sense it’s good to go back because you can find what’s missing and where to put it.

Halftimeonline: Yea that takes you back. It was just more flavor. Not to disregard some good hip hop that comes out today, it’s just that certain records had an essence that captured you when the beat dropped. That’s really not there anymore these days.

Mic: Yea we were talking about that the other day. It used to be when a good record was about to drop you heard it out of every car and every kid with a boom box was playing it 3-4 weeks before it came out. Now it’s not like that you just see ipods left and right and there’s no anticipation factor. I have yet to see something drop with the anticipation that Illmatic had or that Ready 2 Die and Cuban Linx had. Those records had real anticipation factors. It was almost like a big movie was coming out. These days it’s not that way anymore. Now it’s like you turn around and be like oh that shit’s out I didn’t even know. Hip Hop has its ups and downs but I’m gonna do my best to not necessarily bring that back but just remind people what they are forgetting about.

Halftimeonline: What does Masta I.C. stand for anyway?

Mic: At the time I was heavy into mathematics and dealing with the Gods so Masta I.C. was the breakdown of what Mic meant in terms of the alphabet. It stands for Masta I Self and C is sight unseen, wisdom understood. I wasn’t gonna go to the extent of making it Masta Islam Self so I just made it Masta I.C. which made sense because I am the only Masta I see in myself so we just left it.

Halftimeonline: I always thought it meant master in control.

Mic: It can stand for that if you want it to. I’ve heard so many breakdowns of what it’s supposed to mean that I’m like yea if that works for you. I’ve had people sit there for hours and explain to me what it meant.

Halftimeonline: What about the Geronimo part since the Mic part was way more in depth than I ever thought?

Mic: I got that part from high school because I used to always get into bullshit and they just started calling me that but it was really Irv. I was djing before I was rapping. I was calling myself Mike Geronimo and spelling it like Mike but he was just like spell it M-i-c. I was like that’s ill cuz it stands out.

Halftimeonline: You mentioned getting into acting and I remember seeing you in that Whiteboyz movie for a brief sec. What other stuff have you been in or working on?

Mic: I went to acting school for like a year and ended up doing voiceovers and stuff. I could have done a lot more with it but at the time I really wasn’t taking it seriously.

Halftimeonline: What voiceovers were you doing?

Mic: I did one for Seagrams. I did one for Harley Davidson, Wachovia, Perrier, and The Gap.

Halftimeonline: What did they have you saying? What did they feel your voice was perfect for?

Mic: They’d just write a script and I’d say it. Sometimes they’d want you to sound professional and mature and sometimes they want you to sound like you just finished smoking one on the corner.

Halftimeonline: Haha

Mic: It depended on what they wanted me to say. I could cover the gamut. It’s cool though you go in for an hour, read the script, leave and you got a check.

Halftimeonline: So tell us about the new album. When is it dropping and what can people expect from it?

Mic: Probably in early fall or late summer. I don’t know what I’m calling it yet. I’ve kicked around a million titles and it will come to me so I’m just leaving it alone. I’m real excited about it. I’ve been working with Scratch, Self, Jimi Kendrix, and Large Professor. I got joints with Ja and Flush so it’s good shit. I’m glad to be here. I’m glad I’m at school today. That’s how I feel about it.

Halftimeonline: You mentioned Irv a couple times and also that you’re working with Ja. I’m assuming things have been mended a bit. What’s the relationship with him now?

Mic: It’s cool. Me and Irv don’t have any beef with each other and there ain’t any bad blood between us. At the end of the day he brought me into the game and I did what I did for him so for life we’ll always be attached. I’m not gonna say it’s 100% what it was because it isn’t because times change and people change but it’s definitely not a situation that we can’t amend and talk to one another. Things happen and you live and you learn but I would never look at him as an enemy and I think it’s the same with him. I just seen him the other day so as far as I know we’re cool.

Halftimeonline: What message do you want to send out to your fans checking this interview?

Mic: Thank you. I don’t see what ya’ll see half the time but I’m very appreciative and grateful. I hope everyone continues to ride with me the way they have done. I could never repay you because each and every one of you changed my life. They’ve done more for me than they would ever know. I’m gonna keep making records as long as I can because I owe it to you.

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Posted by Jbutters on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 and is filed under SICKWIDIT, LOST & FOUND, INTERVIEWS.