Cooles Interview...
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel you and your fellow 1st Generation group members have the respect of today's artists?
MC Eiht: We really don't care. I feel that we've earned that respect. I've sold records and that's all that I can say about it. I came from the generation that lived off of Soundscan and Billboard. Record companies didn't sign kids off of gimmicks. You had to pay your dues. You didn't get played on the radio because somebody wrote a check. You got played because the DJ thought your music was the sh*t and not because the record company could come in and pay a quarter of a million dollars to the stations. I went through the struggle of having to go on promo tours and being up in the studio on two-track tapes. Nowadays it's just simpler.
AllHipHop.com: Do you wish it was this simple when you first started out?
MC Eiht: I appreciate the struggle that I had to go through because simple is as simple does. A lot of cats are simple and that's why their music is simple. A lot of cats are simple and that's why they can't sell records or get ahead. That's why they will just put out mixtapes for the rest of their lives or never get a deal. I respect the struggle that I had to go through. I earned a record deal. I wasn't an overnight success. I went from putting out mixtapes in the garage to 12” records – just hoping to get a deal. I couldn't just make up a song and then sit in front of my computer and put it up – and then 5 minutes later I have 10,000 hits. It's easier for kids to get exposed these days but like I said – simple is as simple does. I respect my struggle. You look at a lot of the artists from my day and how we became successes. A lot of kids are just one hit wonders nowadays.
AllHipHop.com: You've had a lengthy career with high and low points. Did you ever have that moment to where you just wanted to give up?
MC Eiht: First of all, I do music because I like it. I never looked it as a career where it was just all about the money. I started making rap music just off the fact that I liked it. I wanted to talk about my neighborhood. I wanted people to know what was going on in Compton and how the Police was jacking us. About how we were trying to eat and Mom's is struggling. Even if I never made a dollar from it I would never be to a point to where I say, “F**k It. I'm not going to do it.” Rap music is a struggle but that's with any job that you do. Some days it's going to be good and some days it's going to be bad – but I never regret it. I wouldn't trade it for nothing.
AllHipHop.com: Do you have an update on your album with DJ Premier?
MC Eiht: I just came back from New York. Premier is mixing the record and we just dropped two new singles from the album. The first is “Fine By Me” and the other is “Where U Goin' 2?” We shot videos for those two songs. The album is dropping on Works Of Mart of Year Round Records. Preemo is just trying to figure out which one he's going to put it through. We've got deals on the table for it and we're just trying to figure out which is the best one.
AllHipHop.com: What brought you two together? That's a unique and unusual combination.
MC Eiht: I've known DJ Premier since I started rapping. We did some of our first concerts together. Gangstarr and CMW used to get a lot of bookings together. Just seeing each other on the road over the years and hanging out, we've always stayed in contact. Though all of that we built a friendship. When Premier started his label Year Round Records, he was putting out Blaq Poet. He called me and said he wanted to do a remix and I got on it. From there we just started talking about his label and what I was doing. I started sending him demos from what I was working on – because I was already working on a project. By listening to the demos, he liked what he heard. After a month I had sent him about 40 songs and he asked if he could pick 15 songs and put it out as an album. It went from there. I appreciate that someone like DJ Premier, a worldclass DJ and Producer, that enjoys my music. When someone like him says to do a project together, you have to roll with it. The album is called Which Way Iz West and Premiere is the Executive Producer and he has three cuts on it.
AllHipHop.com: You're a West Coast artist and he's got an East Coast sound. Was that a challenge to make your sounds work together?
MC Eiht: Premier is the type that knows your flavor. He's a worldclass Producer that doesn't just have one particular taste. With the work that he's given me and what my production camp has put together, it doesn't sound astray. People will be amazed when they hear the record. With the two singles that we've put out, it's just been all love.
AllHipHop.com: Before all of this, you were in a group that Snoop Dogg put together called Warzone which included Kam and Goldie Loc. What ever happened to that group and situation?
MC Eiht: Warzone, to me, was politics. I'm not one to bite my tongue about sh*t. I think we fell victim to politics. They told me basically that Koch didn't want to put out the record because we didn't fit the format of what they were doing. To me that was f**king ludicrous because as a distribution company that has a deal with Doggy-Style Records – you're going to put out whatever they f**king give you. For them to release a Dubb Union record but not want to put out a Warzone record was beyond me. But you can't argue with it. I'm a profession and I've been in this business for a long time. For a motherf**ker to tell me that it's over because an independent distributor thought we didn't fit the criteria of what they were putting out, is like crazy. You have to take it for what it is. Like you said, there are ups and downs. You take the punches and roll with it. Warzone didn't come out for reasons that Doggy-Style said about Koch, and I swallowed that and moved on to 1st Generation. I just started my own label called Blue Stamp Music. I'll be doing a follow-up to Which Way Iz West on there.
AllHipHop.com: Why did it take so long to start your own company?
MC Eiht: Everything comes with time. I'm one of those people that belives patience is a virtue. You've got some artists that come in the game and become an overnight success. You've also got some workers that work 30 to 40 years before they get that big payoff. When you're patient and stick to your craft without going astray, it will come to you. Perfect timing is everything.
Part 2 interview with fellow 1st Generation group members in a new exclusive feature coming soon.
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bin ehrlich gespannt auf das album.
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