DRAKE PROMOTING THANK ME LATER IN THE U.K.

FREESTYLE ON TIM WESTWOOD

PART 1 OF THE INTERVIEW WITH DJ SEMTEX

DRAKE | INTERNATIONAL RAP from DJ SEMTEX on Vimeo.

ENJOY.

DRAKE, EYES ON ME (COVER STORY OUTAKES)

Here, in an unpublished excerpt from Drake’s XXL cover story on stands now, rap’s next big thing talks the difference between writing rap and writing R&B records, being bored with mixtapes and why he hates the way he looks in pictures, as well as a few other things. Thank us later. (Or is that going too far?)

How many songs are on Thank Me Later?

Drake: It’ll probably end up being about 15. But it’s just, you know, I love doing R&B music, I really do. And I just always feel like to tie in hip-hop with R&B and to utilize R&B to glue it all together, that’s my trademark. That’s something that only I can do. And that’s why I will continue to do it. There might come a time where I might be like, “Yo, I just want to do an R&B mixtape, or I just want to do a whole [R&B] album,” but I don’t think so, man. I think that that is the makeup of me—melody and just the tone of my voice and all; I don’t think I could ever change that, so…

I’m waiting on the Drake Gangsta Grillz.

Drake: [Laughs] I just find that boring, you know. There’s certain people where it’s impressive, like with Lil Wayne, to hear him freestyling over other people’s beats for an hour is impressive because it’s just like, Yo, this guy never runs out of clever shit to say, but for me, people might want to hear it, but it’s just not something that I really want to give you. I’d rather just give you something that lasts a little longer than that ’cause those mixtapes never really last much longer than six months. When the songs become played out, and…

Well, it’s different now. It’s like Dedication 2 and Dedication 1 and Jeezy obviously, Trap or Die…

Drake: Yeah, but even so, do you listen to those on a constant basis or would you rather put in an album where somebody’s giving you original compositions and moments that maybe apply to your life as opposed to listening to like… I don’t know? I know to listen to freestyles over songs that maybe I’m just sick of, even though somebody kills it, there may be one or two or three that really, really, I love, but other than that, I’d rather just listen to like somebody’s music.

There are some special ones.

Drake: There are for sure.

Do you feel that you can go bar for bar with anybody?

Drake: As far as rappers? Um… I’m really still trying to become a better rapper, you know? And I still have idols. I still have people I look up to. I definitely don’t feel that I’m the best I can be nor am I the best rapper. Like I said, I just love making the music, and I’m less concerned about where I stand in the rankings and more about just where I stand with myself, like am I getting better? You know, am I the best I can be? I really don’t care about like compared to Hov or compared to Wayne. That’s another man. I’ve never been really worried about what anybody else is doing. I just use it as reference points and as influence and inspiration, but I don’t really bother myself with thinking who’s the best. ’Cause that doesn’t really matter. It’s just who’s got the songs that move people at the time. Like if you’ve got the title of being the best rapper but you don’t have the hottest songs out? To me, that’s what’s important is just like putting out consistently good product. I don’t really care how they rank me or anything like that.

How important is it to be involved in the larger rap conversation?

Drake: I definitely want to be great. You know, I’m not saying I don’t care. I obviously care. I love being mentioned in a class of people that are incredible but I mean, you can focus on that shit and drive yourself crazy…. In different genres it’s way different. I think rap is probably the most competitive genre.

Absolutely.

Drake: R&B is becoming competitive, too. Especially with all the younger artists. But in I don’t know if Grizzly Bear is wondering if they’re better than Kings of Leon, you know [Laughs]. I think they all just make the music that they love and that’s kinda what I try to take away from those individuals is I just want to make the music, man, and however it turns out… I can’t sit here and tell you my music is so good ’cause it’s just not for me to decide. It’s for people to decide. The results are always evident. If you choose to ignore them and still say my music’s the best and I’m the best, that’s when you start getting lost.

What’s the difference between writing R&B records and rap records for you?

Drake: R&B records, to be honest with you, is kinda like, I mean, process wise, like the way Jay writes raps I guess or the way Wayne writes raps. Like, they don’t write things down, they just like say it in their head and are able to retain all the information in their head [that’s] how I write R&B. I don’t write down the lyrics, I kind of just stand in the booth and I just keep singing and singing until I just find melodies and words that make sense or come together. Or I just stand in there and find melodies that I love and then really go outside of the booth and think about what’s been going on in my life and try to put words to it. R&B though, I mean it’s really pretty much the same content-wise, you know, it’s all pretty honest stuff. I always try to keep in mind that both male and female will be listening to it so I try to make R&B music that’s not too sappy and not too “girl this” and “girl that” just so that like I sound like a man who’s thinking. I sound like a man who’s confident just so that it’s not awkward for other men to listen to. And then at the same time I try to keep it empowering for women. Really I just like, I like my R&B to feel a certain way and then I that feeling is usually evident so when I get there I’m like okay, yeah, yeah, this is it.

I’ve heard folks say that writing R&B records can be more difficult because there are less words to work with.

Drake: Yeah, I don’t know, to be honest with you, I kinda think that more words can often be more room for error. Like when you have to write a 16 bar verse or a 32 bar verse, which I often do, I feel like that can also be more difficult. I also feel like one of my biggest attributes or talents is finding melody. You know me and [my producer] 40 can sit together and pick melodies that other singers would probably just use as like a harmony but they just become so prominent when you use them as a lead. And yeah, to me, with R&B, I just don’t take it that serious where it’s like I’m an R&B singer and this song has to sound a certain type of way and if not then no one’s going to respect me, you know? I just kinda really allow myself to just have fun. I’m able to let go and just see what comes of it all the time. You know, because it’s the icing on the cake. It’s something that if I’m able to pull it together, I just see it as a plus. When we do get it right, it really adds a dynamic to my career.

How do you make sure you’re saying something new? I can’t imagine you’re studying the entire catalog of every rap record made from all time.

Drake: Um, I mean, I have a pretty good idea. If I come up with something that I think is really, really clever, I’m not afraid to like Google it or really start sitting there and thinking about [it]. Obviously, you’re right – there’s no way for me to figure if it’s been said before in some rap record from some guy that I’ve never [heard of], but as far as prominent things where I’m going to say it and someone right away is going to be like oh that was ’Pac or oh, that was T.I…. I really do try and make sure that a lot of what I rap about has never really been worded in the way that I put it.

Rather than reinterpreting someone else’s structure for instance.

Drake: It’s more in the words. I mean, I admire flows. I really do admire flows and sometimes I’ll flip flows that I love, like the dead prez flow, you know I love that flow. That’s one of the most powerful song’s startings ever in hip-hop in my opinion, you know, and I wanted to pay homage to that, but at the same time, like, unless I directly mean to, usually I’ll stay away from copying or just trying to emulate someone else’s whole style or the type of things they would say.

Earlier you said, you can make just rap records and cater to a small segment, like how important is that to you? Or is it all about just being successful and making records to be successful?

Drake: Like to me, I think about them all the time because you know, I really do care about what they have to say, you know? …I still go on the websites like NahRight, like, I care, I really do care. So like I said, when I do have a chance to get in a rap mode, like for example I did this song off my album last night called “The Resistance.” It’s the song that comes right before “Over” and, man, that was one of those songs where I was like, you know, I really gotta take the time and write this song because it’s an opportunity to really rap and show people that I actually do care about rap and care about what you think about my flows and care about what you think about me as a rapper even if I have a crazy hook on it, which I do… But I still factor them into my thoughts. I haven’t let them go yet, that hip hop population that’s so judgmental and maybe hates everything I’m doing right now ’cause I’m doing it on such a grand scale and they feel like not a part of it all or they feel like I’ve abandoned them and what they stand for. I still think about them all the time.

How do you respond to the hate?

Drake: I don’t respond. I cut myself off from outlets where I would be able to say anything anyway, but it’s really not my style to really say anything to people, you know. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, man, honestly, the music feedback I don’t really trip off of ’cause I know everybody likes their own thing so I don’t really trip when someone doesn’t like my music because what you’ll tend to do is there’ll be 40 people that say, “Oh, dope song,” and then there’ll be one guy that’s like, “Yo, this dude’s overrated, fuck Drake,” and that’s the one you’ll pay attention to. That one guy will make you feel like everybody’s online dissing you so it’s easy to get caught up in the trap of the feedback. But to be honest that’s not even the stuff that bothers me, man. You want to know what really bothers me?

What?

Drake: What really bothers me is that fact that all my life, I always get caught in the worst, most unphotogenic poses ever. Now people follow me with cameras and are just clicking away and I always feel like I just look mad different in pictures. I hate seeing pictures of myself online when I’m leaving a spot or whatever; I just always get caught laughing ’cause I’m always outside making jokes or whatever with the people, but I always end up looking so stupid like that’s the shit that I’m always like, “Man, I wish that didn’t happen,” you know? But as for people’s opinions and shit like that, it’s all good. That’s what’s going to happen. You know people are entitled to their opinion and it takes a certain type of individual to really come online and give their opinion of your music, positive or negative. I don’t know if you do it, but I can’t say I’ve ever gone online and posted underneath someone’s song, and be like, “Dope song, son.” Or, “That shit is wack.” I’ve never done that before. It’s just a certain community of people that really feel like that’s their outlet and I know that me and my friends aren’t any of them so I don’t know who those people are and I can’t really take their opinion too close to heart just because I’m not really sure what those people are made of and if their opinion’s even valid so I just kind of keep it moving.

If it all ended today, if it got taken away, what would you want people to take away?

Drake: It can’t end yet. It can’t end yet because the story’s not done. —Benjamin Meadows-Ingram

Via HERE

THE LIFE FILES INTERVIEWS NAS

Nas is the truth.

VA$HTIE INTERVIEW WITH CASH & CAVIAR

VA$HTIE INTERVIEW from TONE on Vimeo.

This girl is truly one of the dopest females out there!

OFF THE WALL: FASHAWN

Off The Wall (Midnight) Sessions - Ep. 10 Fashawn from OFF THE WALL SESSIONS on Vimeo.

DOPE!

A BATHING APE X KID CUDI INTERVIEW AND PHOTOSHOOT

Kid Cudi was featured within A Bathing Ape’s new catalog for the 2010 Summer season. Shown are a collection of images from the shoot along with an interview seen below. The photography was shot by Guy Aroch. Its definitely been busy times for the multi-faceted Scott Mescudi. Enjoy!

How was 2009? The release of your first album and touring must have been highlights?

Looking back at 2009 is just really overwhelming for me, the fans have carried me so far and I’m just enlightened by all the love I’ve received thus far. The highlight is traveling and meeting all these beautiful young people who feel how I feel. I speak their language.

You worked at BAPE STORE NEW YORK before. How did that come about and why did you want to work there?

I was always a fan of the brand but it just wasn’t something I could afford back then. I remember working there my first couple of weeks in the same uniform cause I didn’t own anything prior to being hired. So it was a dream come true to be able to work at the store I dreamed of shopping in one day. Over a couple of years I might have applied at the store 3 or 4 times before the last attempt that got me hired. I fell in love with BAPE because of their color selection and artwork. I love the style of their cartoons.

How did you first get to know about BAPE?

I discovered what BAPE was when I moved to NY, the store opened up shortly after I moved from Cleveland.

Did you hear any interesting stories about your time there?

I remember Kanye coming in one time and I was helping him get a couple things. I forgot to take a sensor off of one of the jackets he bought and I had to run out the store to catch him before he left. Pretty funny me chasing after him in SoHo haha.

What do you think of BAPE at the moment?

I think BAPE is taking things to amazing new levels. I love the new designs and artwork. They stay true to classic BAPE style but including new and creative twists here and there. I love what they’ve done lately with my MILO character.

Do you have any styling rules when you dress?

I def stick to what works for me. I like to be comfortable, I have a ridiculous amount of t-shirts, some vintage but mostly BAPE. I wear the same jeans everyday a couple months at a time. I have a uniform haha.

Please tell us your plans for 2010.

I’m working on my new album now, “Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution” which is due out this Summer. I have an HBO show I have a supporting role in called “How To Make It In America” airing now. I want to do a couple movies this Summer and some touring. I like staying busy. Its not work, it’s fun.

Via Hypebeast

BKRW INTERVIEWS LEVI MAESTRO IN PARIS

BKRW "chill out" ITW with LEVI MAESTRO in PARIS from Jay SMITH on Vimeo.

ENJOY! P.S Y'all should definitely peep MaestroKnows.com, it's pretty dope!

INTERVIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY COVER (JAY-Z)

It would probably be a cliché to state that Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is the opposite of the all-beef persona he proffers in song and video, but he is soft-spoken and polite. As he finishes his lunch at the Brooklyn studio where we did the photo shoot for this story, he asks for something to drink. “Snapple, I guess,” he says. “Bring me something red with that excess verbiage on the label. Although,” he laughs. “I guess that could be any of ’em.” He pays the kind of attention that’s reflected in his lyric choices.

Whenever he digressed during our conversation, he would invariably interject something along the lines of, “But let me get back to your original question . . . ” and then finish his thought—the kind of attention to detail that he brings to bear as a writer, producer, and performer with a career that, arguably, represents one of the longest running periods of sustained success in the history of hip-hop. It’s a genre that he’s seen grow from its infancy to reach a crossroads, mirroring his own evolution from his twenties to his forties. (Jay-Z turned 40 in December.) In those terms, these past couple of years have quite possibly been among the most fascinating of Jay-Z’s life: from being quoted in gesture by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, who brushed some metaphorical “dirt” off his shoulder while giving a speech during the primaries in 2008; to signing on with Will Smith as a producer of the Broadway musical Fela!, about legendarily political Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti; to posting an old-school Zeitgeist hit such as “Empire State of Mind” in an era when video or radio play is of waning influence.

It was logical then that last fall Jay-Z dropped an album with the pressure-cooker title of The Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation), as if to remind himself that the pop world still has enormous expectations of him, yet things have indeed changed. He also possesses an acute awareness of who he is and what he has accomplished. We began the conversation talking about movies. He acknowledged Quentin Tarantino as an influence: “Man, the way Tarantino went back and forth in time, that’s it. I love Pulp Fiction (1994). I name-checked it before, but it was a big influence on my writing. If you listen to ‘Meet the Parents,’ the way he uses time as an element is big in that song.” He allows that Chuck D was right when he called rap the CNN of black America, but for Jay-Z, there’s more. “Rap for me is like making movies, telling stories, and getting the emotions of the songs through in just as deep a way. And I grew up in rap and movies the same way. I recently watched Once Upon a Time in America (1984) on a plane. Back in the day, Noodles”—played by Robert De Niro— “was my man. But when he rapes that girl, I couldn’t sit through it anymore. You come to realize that actions have consequences.” He was touching on the way movies bring us into whatever the characters are feeling at the moment. When this was pointed out, he sat back and nodded. His gift for bringing the way people talk into the way he walks in song works on both conscious and unconscious levels, a reminder that even in his music, Jay-Z has never lost sight of who—or what—he is.

ELVIS MITCHELL: Would you have ever thought there would be a time where you could have a song like “Empire State of Mind” blow up the way it has, and, yet, there aren’t any record stores around any more? Isn’t it strange that we got to this point?

JAY-Z: It’s horrible. I mean, you didn’t foresee this specifically, but you knew something would happen because whenever people reject change, things change for them anyhow. I think that’s what happened to the record business when Napster came around. The industry rejected what was happening instead of accepting it as change. Here we are today, more than a decade later, and we still haven’t figured it out.

MITCHELL: Well, it still speaks to the power of music that something like “Empire State of Mind” can pop like that. There’s still an appetite for it.

JAY-Z: Well, I don’t think the appetite is the problem. I think the consumption of music is at an all-time high. But I think the ways that record companies are trying to monetize it is just all over the place. At the end of the day, music is in the clouds. That’s where it’s at now. Before, you could hold it, look at it, turn it around. Now, it’s just in the air. That’s where it’s gonna wind up. You won’t need a shelf or a wall unit like my mom and pop had with all these big-ass records. You’ll just need your phone to call it up.

MITCHELL: I’m sorry, I’ve gotta stop you here. You must hear this all the time, but whenever you say something that’s a phrase from one of your songs . . . When you said “all-time high,” I just went right to “Numb/Encore.” Does that kind of thing happen often?

JAY-Z: All the time. It’s good. . . . It’s weird and good.

MITCHELL: I think it has to do with how you fold certain phrases into your lyrics in the way that people talk.

JAY-Z: I think it comes from me trying to tell the story in the most clear, concise, and truthful way—taking those everyday words and phrases and capturing them in a way that they become something else.

The people who write the headlines at places like the New York Post do something similar. They turn these phrases that you know into hooks. Sometimes they’re clever. Sometimes they’re stupid, like TIGER’S TALE. [laughs] Actually, that was pretty clever. Rakimsaid, “I can take a phrase that’s rarely heard/Flip it/Now it’s a daily word” [from “Follow the Leader,” off Eric B. & Rakim’s 1988 album Follow the Leader]. That’s what I’m talking about.

MITCHELL: But having that power of understanding the way people speak obviously really means something to you.

JAY-Z: I started doing it on a small level, just for the people around me. Then I realized the impact it had, the connection it created with the millions of people who’ve been through the same thing that I’ve been through, or who can relate to my ambitions or emotions . . . You don’t have to be from Marcy projects to relate to the idea of, I’m not gonna lose. I’m gonna fight, and I’m gonna make something out of nothing. You know, that’s pretty much the American dream as it stands now. So, for me, the realization that I could speak to people like that came first on a small scale. Then it just started happening—I started having this vibration.

MITCHELL: You’ve always had a really good ear for things like that in your music, but one of your real gifts is that you can hear those sorts of things in other people’s music, too—like The Notorious B.I.G. or the Neptunes or Kanye West. That’s part of what makes you a great collaborator.

JAY-Z: I just really love the music. Everyone who makes music is a good collaborator at their foundation because in order to make music, you have to connect to it in a way that other people can’t. Other things can get in the way, whether it’s the boxes that people put themselves in, or the feelings they might have towards a person. But those things don’t get in the way for me. To me, there shouldn’t be any lines. All these ways we classify things as R&B and hip-hop and rock . . . It’s bullshit. It’s all music. If you put yourself in that box, then you won’t be able to hear that it’s all music at its soul. When people say stuff like, “Oh, that’s soft rock. I don’t listen to that,” I find that elitist. It’s music-racist. [laughs]

MITCHELL: That was one of the big parts of rap for a while. Not only were you not supposed to listen to other kinds of music, you weren’t supposed to listen to other MCs either.

JAY-Z: Yeah, but that was all bravado. That was all about, “I’m the best! No one else exists!” I pretty much forget all that in terms of collaborating. I really just like breaking down those barriers, whether it means doing an album with Linkin Park, an album with R. Kelly [The Best of Both Worlds, 2002], or playing at the Brandenburg Gate with Bono.

MITCHELL: Or doing a song like “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys?

JAY-Z: Exactly.

MITCHELL: If you think about all the guys in hip-hop that you came up with, you’re one of the only ones who is still here—and part of the reason is that a lot of those guys didn’t break out of that box you’re talking about. In fact, most of them are still in it.

JAY-Z: I think a big part of that is insecurity. You know, successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people who’ve never done anything because if you haven’t been successful, then you don’t know how it feels to lose it all. You don’t have that fear. So why do you think people get stuck in those boxes? It’s that fear of going back down. “I had success. I had a number one record. I had a number one album. I have to make this kind of record again or else I’m going to lose it all.” So that’s how you end up making the same song over and over. People find their zone, a place that’s comfortable, and they say, “I’m not gonna try that other thing. What if I fail? Then I’ll have to go back! What if I can’t get in the club anymore?” [both laugh] It’s difficult for me as well. The Blueprint 3 was the most difficult album that I’ve ever made.

MITCHELL: Why is that?

JAY-Z: Well, what I was trying to do with this album—which is the same thing I was trying to do on Kingdom Come [2006]—is go somewhere that hadn’t been gone before, to try to chart a new territory in rap. The reason I’ve been grounded, though, and able to make albums, is because I’ve allowed my friends to come with me and voice an opinion. That’s who keeps you grounded—the people who have known you longest. People who don’t know you, you don’t know their motives. They smile at you all day, “Oh, that’s great. You’ve done it again! You’re the greatest!” And that’s not good for an artist. You’ve gotta keep the people that have been around you, who saw you when you didn’t have anything, so they have the confidence to say, “Get out of here. That shit is bullshit!” I welcome that.

MITCHELL: Just calling it The Blueprint 3 really throws down a challenge to yourself, doesn’t it?

JAY-Z: Right, of course. But I thought it was needed. I think this Blueprint is even bigger than the first one [The Blueprint, 2001] in terms of rap music in general. It shows that a guy who isn’t 16 years old can make relevant music. That’s a big thing in rap because it used to be that when guys got to be 30 years old, that was it because they had to try to rap like they were 18, and then the 18-year-olds were like, “We don’t even use that slang! That’s so last week! What are you talking about? You don’t even know what’s going on out here! You’re done!”

MITCHELL: That’s when you go do a sitcom.

JAY-Z: [laughs] Yeah, exactly. Because you’re so disconnected. But if you’re a guy who loves to make rap music, then you have to do it, and those 18-year-olds are where the white-hot spot is, right? That’s what everyone says. That’s the demographic that you have to go for. But you don’t get to those kids by not being honest with yourself, because a separation develops between you and your music, and those kids don’t believe what you’re rapping about, so they don’t buy into it. That’s not something that’s honest to them. For me, the challenge is just making great albums, because talent—and writing in general—is not tangible. There’s no expiration date on it. At the same time, you might wake up tomorrow and be unable to write music. There’ve been genius artists who’ve been great for two years and then it’s gone. You just never know. So for me to put out my 11th studio album and have it connect the way it has still . . . I know it’s not Reasonable Doubt [1996]. It ain’t The Black Album [2003], either. It’s The Blueprint 3. It’s its own album, and it has connected with a lot of people.

MITCHELL: These albums are sort of like epics to you. Each song is like a scene, but there’s a context for each of them.

JAY-Z: Yeah. I mean, Blueprint 3 is made up of songs, but it’s also a commentary on the idea that in order for rap to survive, we have to stretch out the drama. We have to stretch out the audience. It can’t be this narrow—we have to stretch out the point of view. Because, as people grow, their points of view change as well, and so you start to lose people as they get older, just by nature of the fact that they don’t relate anymore to what you’re doing. Rap is fairly young, but it’s hitting this wall right now. It’s not this new thing anymore. Everyone’s heard it all before. So it’s like, “Okay, what are we going to talk about now? Where are you going to go with this?” It can’t just be about shock anymore. Before, it was all shock—“Motherfucker! Get it?” It was all this rebellious energy. Now, that’s not shocking anymore. We see the punch coming. So we’ve got to come up with something new. We gotta get on our game.

MITCHELL: Part of it, too, is that, in hip-hop, the audience generally moves from one person to the next, which is why it’s so amazing that you’ve been in the game for such a long time.

JAY-Z: Well, in rap years, I’m like The Rolling Stones or U2.

MITCHELL: The Grateful Dead.

JAY-Z: [laughs] The Grateful Dead, exactly!

MITCHELL: Were you conscious of bringing the audience along with you?

JAY-Z: Yeah, but I also never wanted to just make the same album that I made before. I am who I am as a person—I can’t change who I am.

MITCHELL: You probably don’t remember this, but we met four years ago at the Spotted Pig [the restaurant in New York City’s West Village of which Jay-Z is a co-owner]. It was the night that Bill Clinton was there. You and I were sitting outside having a cigar, actually, and you said, “Man, the world has changed. The president is talking to me about my music!” Do you remember that night?

JAY-Z: Yeah, man.

MITCHELL: I thought about that when Obama did the “dirt off my shoulder” moment. What’s it like for you to have basically two presidents who know how to deal with you?

JAY-Z: It’s unbelievable because it’s so far away from where I come from. We were the kids who were ignored by every politician. We didn’t have the numbers, the vote, to put anybody in office, because no matter who was in the office, we didn’t think that it would affect change where we lived. So nobody went out and voted. For me, being with Obama or having dinner with Bill Clinton . . . It’s crazy. It’s mind-blowing, because where I come from is just another world. We were just ignored by politicians—by America in general.

MITCHELL: But then you went from being ignored to being targeted. I mean, politicians actually went after rappers.

JAY-Z: Yeah. From being ignored, to being targeted, to being accepted.

MITCHELL: And you, as a rapper, have lived through all those eras. How has the game changed for you? You’ve changed as a person but, in a lot of ways, as you’ve grown, rap has become more of a marketing thing, and much more cynical.

For the rest of the interview, go to Interview

CURTIS ON FUSE'S ON THE RECORD WITH TOURE

FOTR Curtis1
by yardie4lifever2

FOTR Curtis2
by yardie4lifever2

New questions, therefore, new answers!!

DRUYORKTV: KIXCLUSIVE STORE SOHO NYC

Wuss good martians? So, it looks like my boy Dru York has officially aimed for the skies and with this type of commitment and efforts, the skies might just have a new name and definition, yes, I said it, I'm hypin my boy up, I suggest you do the same. Anyways, here's a dope ass exclusive episode, shot at the new Kixclusive store and it's DruYorkTV's first interview. So, next time you in new york, check out this dope store in SoHo.






For more info, check out DruYork

OFF THE WALL SESSIONS

BRITTANY BOSCO

Off The Wall Sessions Ep. 5 Brittany Bosco from OFF THE WALL SESSIONS on Vimeo.

MELANIE FIONA

Off The Wall Sessions Ep. 4 Melanie Fiona from OFF THE WALL SESSIONS on Vimeo.

COLIN MUNROE

Off The Wall Sessions - Ep. 3 Colin Munroe from OFF THE WALL SESSIONS on Vimeo.

I'm a huge fan of these sessions, they are really informative and I feel like it's a learning experience cause I get to understand why they make the music they make. Brittany Bosco's just came out today and i've never heard of her prior to this but I'm gon definitely check her out. Enjoy.

60 MOMENTS: EMILIO ROJAS FT DONNELL RAWLINGS

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

Donnell Rawlings is a fool for this. Anyways, hope y'all downloaded Emilio Rojas' mixtape "The Natural"...it is seriously the business! Check it out, it's somewhere on this blog. Enjoy.

N.E.R.D - MTV DIARY (SNEAK PEEK)

MTV Diary of... N.E.R.D from Adrian Hylton on Vimeo.

Should be dope...

CHRIS BROWN X RIHANNA INTERVIEWS

I really don't know what to write about this situation mainly cause I'm a supporter and a fan of both Chris Brown and Rihanna. I hope somewhere out there, someone can learn something from these interviews. Both their albums are dropping soon so make sure y'all check them out, I know I will. Good luck to both of them. Martian love!!

JAY-Z INTERVIEW

Pretty dope interview...

JOE BUDDEN AND TAHIRY ON ANGELA YEE

Don't really know why I'm posting this but it's kinda interesting. Listen HERE

COMPLEX INTERVIEW: EMILE ON THE MAKING OF KID CUDI'S ALBUM

The man sometimes referred to as “The Urban Gentleman” has previously worked with Raekwon (”Ice Water”) and Obie Trice (”Wanna Know”), but it’s with Cudi’s project that Emile is truly making a name for himself. After producing the majority of the A Kid Named Cudi mixtape with Plain Pat, Emile shifted his focus to work on Cudi’s studio album. (The trio have since started their own indie label, Dream On.) On Man On The Moon, Emile’s touch is apparent from start to finish—he produced “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem),” “Soundtrack 2 My Life,” Solo Dolo (Nightmare),” and “CuDi Zone.” In this exclusive interview, Emile breaks down how each track came to fruition, and also talks about the first night he met Cudi…

Complex: So starting from the first track—”In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem).” How did that song come about?

Emile: It’s like the way we did all of our records where we started with nothing, and we were just kind of listening to different sounds and different music. I hooked that beat up pretty fast and I’m pretty sure that Cudi freestyled that whole thing. For a lot of songs we did he would write out the verses on his Blackberry or whatever phone he was using at the time. With that one, he just went in the booth and freestyled it and nailed it. We were always planning on redoing it or having him “officially” do it. But yeah, it was just like that first take was the one that stayed on the album. That was off the top, kinda ill.

Complex: Did you guys plan on starting the album with a gloomy beat like that from jump?

Emile: Actually, that was more of Cudi’s thing. He had in his head what he wanted to start the album with. Like way back it was a song called “Bigger Than You,” which some people might of heard because it leaked. It was a really dope record. “Bigger Than You” was actually the first record me and Cudi ever did together. It was on the first day that we met, we cut that song. Once we cut it, he was like, “That’s the intro to my album.” It stayed that way for a while, but that record was cut a long time before the album was ever done, so eventually it kinda faded out. Then we did this “In My Dreams” record and he was always kinda stuck on that being the intro. He really liked this part that I played which is the little melody part where he actually sings, “You’re in my dreams.” He always liked that and was like, that’s dope for the intro. So that’s how that kind of happened.

Complex: You said you recorded “Bigger Than You” the first day you met Cudi. When exactly was that?

Emile: 2007. Some point in ’07. Maybe summer of ’07 or fall of ’07, it was a while back.

Complex: The second track on the album is a lot of people’s favorite: “Soundtrack 2 My Life.” I remember Cudi spitting it as a freestyle on 106 & Park, but the lyrics were a bit different. Talk to us about that track.

Emile: It was probably around the time that 106 happened, I’m not 100% sure, but I would guess it was probably around the 106 time. I think probably one of the reasons why the lyrics got fucked up is because it’s kind of like a head-nod type of record and I remember the crowd started clapping all fast to speed it up and shit. That record started with me just kind of on the keyboard just playing shit. When he heard something he liked, he would be like, “That’s dope.” It would just be like some chords, then we’d kind of build it around that. It wasn’t like, I’d have a beat done and be like, “What do you think?”

Complex: Right.

Emile: It would always just start with nothing and then build into a beat. That was one of those records we cut all in one night—which is rare, because usually we would spend a few days or a few different sessions per song, but that one we just did in one night because he was just determined to get it done.

Complex: To me, it’s one of the records that really gives a glimpse into his life. Is that what he aimed to do?

Emile: I believe so, I mean I don’t really ever ask him why he writes shit or what he wrote. I just kind of take it for what it is. I want to say he had the chorus first, he probably put the verses around what he was saying in the chorus and what he had in his head for the chorus.

Complex: And it all came out in one night?

Emile: Yeah, in one session. Pretty much the whole thing too, which is ill because usually I go back and play around with the beat a lot. But that was literally pretty much hammered out. The only thing that was different on that was I had my boy Morgan play guitars on the outro. Like right at the end when his voice starts echoing, I had these guitars I added to the outro. But other than that I was pretty much done in one session.

Complex: So “Solo Dolo” is a track that leaked before, but without any strings. How did that song come about?

Emile: That’s my favorite song. I remember that session was just me and Cudi in the studio and I have a big record collection, we were just listening to the record that I got the sample from. I just had it playing in the background, I wasn’t really listening to it for samples necessarily, we were just kind of listening to some things and we both heard that and were like, “Oh shit, that’s dope—what if we took that sample and just slowed it way down?” So we just took it and slowed it way down, then I just kind of built the beat up around it and put some synths in it. There’s like this one weird little dreamy synth thing on the chorus, that was Cudi’s idea that he kind of had in his head. I just found the right sound eventually and added that in. Then I beefed it up with these 808s, I added some synths, and I added a couple things but I was really like, man this would be sick with a really big orchestra on it so let’s not add too much of anything and just get the ill arrangement and the ill strings on it. That’s probably my favorite song, I think what Cudi did to that is so fucking ill.

Complex: Yeah, he killed it.

Emile: When we did that, I was like, “Holy shit, he’s going in.” I think just the way his voice sounds, there’s like this low tone that he hits. I’ve had engineers ask me if that’s an effect I put on his vocals but it’s not, he’s got this low tone, it’s almost like adding bass to something but it’s in his voice. That’s in the chorus, that chorus to me just sounds so big. It’s sonically a big hook because he’s got that super sub-harmonic low voice in there. There’s no effect on there, there’s no auto, there’s no tuning, there’s no nothing. I tend to add a gang of shit to my music and my tracks, I just kind of love that overproduced vibe sometimes. But that one, his voice was so strong on that, it was just like, let’s just leave this wide open and then have the orchestra just come in and do some things on it. Larry Gold just went in on that, it sounded big and cinematic but sinister at the same time. It was perfect.

Complex: For “Cudi Zone,” I remember Cudi saying he had the first verse done, and then eventually finished the second verse at a later time.

Emile: He had the verse forever and me and [Plain] Pat were like “’Cudi Zone,’ what’s up with it?” and Cudi would just blow it off. So me and Pat were just like, fuck man, this record is so dope but it went on so long that I started to wonder if this monster of a record was going to be on the shelf, just like if it was ever going to get finished. A long time went by, and he just wasn’t going to force it. Cudi doesn’t force his stuff when he works, it’s either going to happen or it’s not going to happen. Eventually one day, it was real nonchalant, months and months after we had this record and he was just like, “Oh yeah, I got the ‘Cudi Zone’ verse.” I almost didn’t believe him, I was like, word? Not only did he come in forever after we did the first verse but he did the second verse and it sounded like he did it the exact same day he did the first verse. The tone was cool, everything was cool about it. It was like OK, shit we’re done. Sweet.

Complex: Now how much of a time span went on between the first verse and the second?

Emile: Man…we did “Cudi Zone” and “Solo Dolo” I think back-to-back in like two days. It had to have been six months, I don’t know exactly. It was a while, I’m going to guess between four and six months.

Complex: Going back to the origin of your relationship with Cudi’s relationship, how did you hook up with him? Did Pat bring you in later or did you and Pat find Cudi together?

Emile: You know what, I heard “Day ‘N’ Nite” on Cudi’s MySpace and was blown away by the record. It didn’t even have that many plays on MySpace yet. I don’t know how I stumbled across it, but I stumbled across it and heard it. The second I heard it I was like, “Holy shit!” I looked around on his page and saw [Plain] Pat on his top friends list. Me and Pat have had a long relationship, we’ve always kind of worked together with him being an A&R and me as a producer. So, I hit Pat up and was just like, yo there’s this cat with this song that has you as one of his top friends and this song is just like the illest song ever. Obviously he had started to work with Cudi, and was like, “Yeah, yeah that’s my guy we should get up.” I said bring him by the studio, because I think some of the new beats I got are pretty well-suited for him, we should do some shit.

Complex: Did he bring him by right away?

Emile: We didn’t get up until a few months after that. I think Pat was doing the Graduation album with Kanye at the time and I was doing this album out in England. Then I think Pat might have hit me up and brought Cudi to the studio. On that first day we cut “Bigger Than You.” I remember I was playing them mad beats, and he liked the beats but it was the sort of thing where you’re playing an artist mad beats and they’re like, yeah that’s good, that’s good, but you know when somebody really wants something, things get done. The artist hears something and they’re like, I’m getting in the booth or I’m writing right now. When you’re in the studio that either happens or it doesn’t. That wasn’t happening and I was just like, fuck it, lets just make something from scratch. And that kinda just sent the tone for how we did everything. The way we did “Bigger Than You,” that very first record, it was a sample and we were just listening to records and he was just like, “Yo that’s crazy” and we built it up. That’s kinda how we did everything from then on.

Complex: You’re one of his managers. How did that music relationship turn into a managerial relationship?

Emile: Yeah, well it’s co-managing with Pat. Pat was always the original manager and when Cudi started coming to the studio we started working a lot, it was just an organic thing that happened. His buzz started getting bigger, we put the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi out and the next thing you know I had a million people hitting me like different labels and people I had different relationships with trying to get meetings and set up meetings and that kind of stuff. It happened naturally over time, the music kind of blended with the business. We just kept it moving.

Complex: Now the “Browski Room,” the place where the tracks you did for the album were recorded, is that your personal studio?

Emile: [Laughs.] Yeah. I mean I never had a name for my studio and we got a lot of inside jokes and that’s one of them.

Complex: You’ve worked with a lot of other artists, but is there something about Cudi that stands out to you?

Emile: The creativity, the harmonies, the melodies and just the fact that he manages to be completely original and be like an underground artist, but has melodies that appeal to everybody. I think that’s the trick. A lot of people are very underground and stay that way because they don’t appeal to the masses. Or, they appeal to the masses and real music heads can’t appreciate it. A lot of the time it’s one extreme or the other and Cudi kind of manages to fit in both categories and that’s the ticket.

Complex: Did you or Pat or Cudi ever feel like this album was too bold for a debut album? It’s not the most Hot 97-friendly record…

Emile: Yeah I mean, that wasn’t even needed to be thought about. We’re not the type to even really give a fuck about all that. It is what it is. Like when you hear “Day ‘N’ Nite,” you know it’s incredible but it’s not like a generic radio record. It just so happened that the people heard it, and loved it, and it managed to find a place in our world. I never even thought about it, I think we knew what we were doing was good and wherever it fit in, it fit in.

Complex: So now with the album done, what are you working on now personally? Are you working with any other artists?

Emile: Not really. I started to get back in the studio and cook up quite a bit and I’ve got in with a few artists to record a few things which is all good, but we’re really pushing this Cudi album hard so I’m spending a lot of time doing that. I’ve been getting back in the studio myself, personally just kind of alone, making tracks and things like that.

Complex: You’ve had big records with Obie and others before, but do you view this as a breakthrough for you?

Emile: Yeah, definitely because I feel like this is a new sound for me, it’s really producing. It’s not making a beat, sending it to an artist and having them record a song to it—which I do a lot of, that’s fine and that’s cool. That’s how a lot of stuff gets done in rap. But it’s not nearly as fun as truly starting from scratch with an artist and developing a sound. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do and this was an opportunity I had to actually do that.

Interview by Joe La Puma.

Via Complex

WILL'S WISDOM

Saw this on my boy's blog and I thought it was so powerful. I've seen the Tavis Smiley and Charlie Rose full interviews before but not the other ones, but this combines all the wisdom and knowledge into one video, really powerful and moving too. Enjoy and hope you take something valuable from this.

JAY-Z ON OPRAH

This is a good look for hip-hop!! Jay keeps pushing the envelope and setting the bar high for other rappers.

JAY-Z INTERVIW WITH OPRAH

At 13 he was selling crack. By 30 he was a hip-hop legend—having gone, in his words, “from grams to Grammys.” Now Jay-Z charts his escape from the hard-knock life, describes the reunion that healed the wounds of his childhood—and even reveals the standing Sunday date he has with what’s her name.

The first time the hip-hop artist and record executive Jay-Z witnessed a murder, he was 9 years old. It was 1978, and in those days, he was known as Shawn Carter—a quiet kid who lived with his mother and three siblings in a sprawling housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

“That was my apartment right there—5C,” Jay-Z told me one afternoon in August as we strolled the sidewalks of the Marcy Houses. “Navigating this place was life-or-death.” He wasn’t exaggerating; as the crack epidemic took hold in the 1980s, 13-year-old Jay-Z began selling drugs. His father had abandoned the family when Jay-Z was 11. And like many of his friends, he found his role models in the neighborhood dealers. “On the streets, you had to operate with integrity,” he told me. “If you broke your word to someone, he wasn’t going to take you to court—he was going to deal with you himself. So it was here in the projects that I learned loyalty.”

It was in the projects, too, that he began rapping. Around the neighborhood Shawn became known as Jazzy—a reference, he says, to the way he carried himself: “like an older guy, like an older spirit.” He gained a local following after he started selling his own records out of his car. And in 1996—disenchanted with the small-time label that finally signed him—he launched his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records. Later that year, Reasonable Doubt hit stores nationwide, and Jay-Z (the play on Jazzy he’d adopted after that name started to feel “too glittery”) was on his way.

Since then, Jay-Z has released ten solo studio albums (the most recent, The Blueprint 3, debuted on September 11, 2009). He has sold more than 30 million records, won seven Grammys, and built a business empire that includes the Rocawear clothing line and Roc Nation entertainment company. In 2004 he became a part owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.

In December he will turn 40, and in recent years his focus has been on more than just his career. In 2003 he reconciled with his father, Adnes Reeves, shortly before Reeves’s death. That same year, he began to put his wealth to good use, founding the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund for disadvantaged and formerly incarcerated youth who hope to attend college (though Jay-Z never did time himself, in 2001 he pleaded guilty to stabbing a record executive at a Manhattan nightclub and was sentenced to three years’ probation). In 2006 he teamed up with the United Nations to raise awareness of the worldwide water shortage. And in 2008, after six years of dating, he married the singer Beyoncé Knowles.

After our walk through the Marcy projects, Jay-Z and I visit a three-story row house a few blocks away. The house used to belong to his grandmother, and until he was 5, Jay-Z lived here with his parents, three siblings, and extended family. As we sit on the front stoop chatting (the same spot where, Jay-Z says, he spent long summer evenings “just chillin’”), the passersby who spot him form a crowd on the sidewalk; several boys climb the iron fence that surrounds the property. “Is that really Jay-Z?” one boy says to another. “Yep—and he’s from here,” the other responds.

Sitting on this stoop, it’s stunning to think about how far Jay-Z has come. Not only is he an entirely self-made man, he’s found his great success doing exactly what he loves. He is thoughtful and intelligent, a reader and a seeker. And in between telling me how he survived life on the streets, how a scolding from his mother helped him fall in love, and even how he and Beyoncé managed to keep their wedding small and private, he explains why he cares so much about connecting with kids who remind him of him—kids he hopes will point to his photo and say, “I can make it, too.”

Oprah: So tell me how you got into the drug dealing.

Jay-Z: It was natural.…

Oprah: Because drug dealers were your role models. There wasn’t a teacher or a lawyer or a nurse or a doctor or an accountant in the neighborhood?

Jay-Z: Well, we were living in Marcy by then, so, no. And if anyone did become something like that, they moved out. They never came back to share the wisdom of how they made it. If anyone made it, you never knew it. That’s why I’ve always said that if I became successful, I’d come back here, grab somebody, and show him how it can be done.

Oprah: So by the time you were 13, this was a way of life. Did the lifestyle frighten you?

Jay-Z: No. It was normal. And at some point, you become addicted to the feeling. The uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle.

Oprah: This is where we differ. This is where we differ. Because I’d be very scared! Weren’t you shot at three times—within six feet—and you lived to talk about it?

Jay-Z: That was divine intervention. Divine intervention, and nobody knowing how to shoot.

Oprah: What happened in each situation?

Jay-Z: It was one situation, three shots.

Oprah: So he was a bad shot.

Jay-Z: Well, no one really practices shooting a TEC-9 machine gun, right? And when you’re a kid, with little bony arms—no wonder nobody could aim.

Oprah: Many of the little boys who grew up in the Marcy projects are either in jail or dead. Why do you think you got to grow up and buy your mom a house?

Jay-Z: There’s the gift, there’s the spirit, and there’s the work—all three have to come together. If one of those things is off, it can stop you from becoming who you were meant to be.

Oprah: When I met you a few years ago, we discussed our disagreement over the use of the N word and misogynist lyrics in rap music. Do you believe that using the N word is necessary?

Jay-Z: Nothing is necessary. It’s just become part of the way we communicate. My generation hasn’t had the same experience with that word that generations of people before us had. We weren’t so close to the pain. So in our way, we disarmed the word. We took the fire pin out of the grenade.

Next: Jay-Z on the wedding–>
Oprah: We all carry memories that are triggered when we return to a childhood home. What are your fondest memories from here?

Jay-Z: Outside in front is where I learned to ride a bike. I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyone used to stare at me riding up and down this block.

Oprah: You could ride a ten-speed when you were 5?

Jay-Z: I was too short to reach the pedals, so I put my legs through the V of the frame. I was famous. The little kid who could ride the ten-speed.

Oprah: Wow. That’s one great memory. Any others?

Jay-Z: The boat. For some reason there was an abandoned boat on this block. We used to play on it all the time, every day.

Oprah: You know, I also grew up poor, but rural poor is different. Did you feel poor?

Jay-Z: Not at all. Probably the first time was in school when I couldn’t get the newest sneakers. We didn’t have elaborate meals, but we didn’t go without. We ate a lot of chicken. You know, ’cause chicken’s cheap. We had so much chicken—chicken backs, chicken everything. To this day, I can only eat small pieces or else I feel funny.

Oprah: That’s too much chicken in a lifetime. So when you were 5, your family moved to the Marcy projects—and then your father left when you were 11. When you look back at that, what did your 11-year-old self feel?

Jay-Z: Anger. At the whole situation. Because when you’re growing up, your dad is your superhero. Once you’ve let yourself fall that in love with someone, once you put him on such a high pedestal and he lets you down, you never want to experience that pain again. So I remember just being really quiet and really cold. Never wanting to let myself get close to someone like that again. I carried that feeling throughout my life, until my father and I met up before he died.

Oprah: Wow. I’ve never heard a man phrase it that way. You know, I’ve done many shows about divorce, and the real crime is when the kids aren’t told. They just wake up one day and their dad is gone. Did that happen to you?

Jay-Z: We were told our parents would separate, but the reasons weren’t explained. My mom prepared us more than he did. I don’t think he was ready for that level of discussion and emotion. He was a guy who was pretty detached from his feelings.

Oprah: Did you wonder why he left?

Jay-Z: I summed it up that they weren’t getting along. There was a lot of arguing.

Oprah: And did you know you were angry?

Jay-Z: Yeah. I also felt protective of my mom. I remember telling her, “Don’t worry, when I get big, I’m going to take care of this.” I felt like I had to step up. I was 11 years old, right? But I felt I had to make the situation better.

Oprah: How did that change you?

Jay-Z: It made me not express my feelings as much. I was already a shy kid, and it made me a little reclusive. But it also made me independent. And stronger. It was a weird juxtaposition.

Oprah: I’ve read that when you were 12, you shot your brother in the shoulder. Did your father’s leaving have anything to do with that? Did it turn you into the kind of angry kid who would end up shooting his brother?

Jay-Z: Yes—and my brother was dealing with a lot of demons.

Oprah: How old was he?

Jay-Z: About 16. He was doing a lot of drugs. He was taking stuff from our family. I was the youngest, but I felt like I needed to protect everybody.

Oprah: Was it a dysfunctional household?

Jay-Z: Looking back, I guess it was quite dysfunctional. But I didn’t have that feeling until I got into my early teen years, when we were living in the Marcy projects. That’s when crack hit my neighborhood hard and I started getting into mischief.

Oprah: How were you in school? I’ve heard that when you were in sixth grade, you tested at a 12th-grade level.

Jay-Z: I was bored and distracted.

Oprah: Did you like anything about school?

Jay-Z: I loved English.

Oprah: I know you love to read now. Were books part of your childhood?

Jay-Z: No. I don’t remember that.

Oprah: And I thought we had so much in common!

Jay-Z: I just daydreamed a lot.

Oprah: What about?

Jay-Z: Performing or playing baseball and basketball. I took my mind out of my environment, to the point where I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening around me. I still do that now.

Oprah: You didn’t listen in class, you didn’t read books—and you still tested as a 12th grader. You must have a naturally high IQ.

Jay-Z: Or I’m an idiot savant.

Oprah: So when did you start rapping?

Jay-Z: I probably started around 9—but I was just playing around.

Oprah: Were the rappers in your neighborhood your role models?

Jay-Z: The drug dealers were my role models. Rappers weren’t successful yet. I remember the first time I saw the Sugarhill Gang on Soul Train. I was 11 or 12. I was like, “What’s going on? How did those guys get on national TV?” And then, when I was a little older, a rapper from the neighborhood got a record deal. I was shocked. “They’re giving you money to do that?” Because by this time, the music had taken hold of the entire neighborhood. Just like crack had before, now this music had taken hold. Everyone was either DJ-ing or rapping.

Oprah: And rapping came naturally for you?

Jay-Z: It was a gift. I had a notebook full of material. It was just a makeshift thing—someone found some papers, put a paper clip on them, and made me a notebook.

Oprah: Please tell me you still have that notebook.

Jay-Z: I wish.

Oprah: When did you realize that rapping was a career possibility—after you saw Sugarhill on TV?

Jay-Z: Yeah—but I still didn’t really think it was a possibility for me. It wasn’t until Jaz got a contract that I was like, “Wow, this stuff is going to happen.” [Jonathan Burks, a.k.a. Jaz-O or Jaz, was Jay-Z's musical mentor.] And Jaz went to London to make an album, and took me with him. I was a kid from Marcy projects, and I spent two months in a London flat.

Oprah: So tell me how you got into the drug dealing.

Jay-Z: It was natural.…

Oprah: Because drug dealers were your role models. There wasn’t a teacher or a lawyer or a nurse or a doctor or an accountant in the neighborhood?

Jay-Z: Well, we were living in Marcy by then, so, no. And if anyone did become something like that, they moved out. They never came back to share the wisdom of how they made it. If anyone made it, you never knew it. That’s why I’ve always said that if I became successful, I’d come back here, grab somebody, and show him how it can be done.

Oprah: So you didn’t have even one positive black role model?

Jay-Z: Just my mom. She worked two jobs and did whatever she had to do for us.

Oprah: Did you aspire to be a drug dealer?

Jay-Z: Well, no. No one aspires to be a drug dealer. You don’t want to bring trouble to your mother’s door, even though that’s what you’re doing. You aspire to the lifestyle you see around you. You see the green BMW, the prettiest car you’ve ever seen. You see the trappings of drug dealing, and it draws you in.

Oprah: How old were you when you got involved?

Jay-Z: Maybe 13.

Oprah: Did you realize it could cost you your life?

Jay-Z: In my mind, that wasn’t risking a lot. You think, “If I’m living like this, I’ll risk anything to get more. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Oprah: You could die.

Jay-Z: Yes, but you don’t think about that.

Oprah: Were you seeing people get shot?

Jay-Z: Definitely—I saw a guy get shot when I was 9. And he wasn’t even a bad guy. His name was Benny. He was the guy who would take us to play baseball. We always believed he could have made it to the majors. He was that good. Some guy was chasing him—and then I heard a shot and saw him on the floor.

Oprah: So by the time you were 13, this was a way of life. Did the lifestyle frighten you?

Jay-Z: No. It was normal. And at some point, you become addicted to the feeling. The uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle.

Oprah: This is where we differ. This is where we differ. Because I’d be very scared! Weren’t you shot at three times—within six feet—and you lived to talk about it?

Jay-Z: That was divine intervention. Divine intervention, and nobody knowing how to shoot.

Oprah: What happened in each situation?

Jay-Z: It was one situation, three shots.

Oprah: So he was a bad shot.

Jay-Z: Well, no one really practices shooting a TEC-9 machine gun, right? And when you’re a kid, with little bony arms—no wonder nobody could aim.

Oprah: Getting shot like that would be a wake-up call for the average guy. But you continued in the drug world.

Jay-Z: You want to shoot back. Well, maybe not everyone, but I did. I was angry.

Oprah: Did you go home and get a gun?

Jay-Z: Yeah. But the guy and I were actually friends.

Oprah: This is also where we differ! I don’t shoot at my friends. Did you ever make up with him?

Jay-Z: You can’t. You can agree not to shoot at each other, but you can’t be friends after that—unless the guy is your brother.

Oprah: You made up with your brother after you shot him?

Jay-Z: Yeah.

Oprah: So even after you went to London with Jaz, you stayed in the drug world?

Jay-Z: Right. Before I went, I spent a week making sure everything would be cool for when I came back. I was preparing to come back to the streets because I always had a fear that this music thing wouldn’t be successful. And since Jaz’s album didn’t work out, I did end up back on the streets. The same record label tried to sign me, but Jaz was the one who’d brought me in, and I felt that signing wouldn’t be loyal to him. So I told them no. I didn’t want to be involved with those record guys. They weren’t stand-up people.

Oprah: It’s ironic that you, a drug dealer, couldn’t trust the guys in the record business, as if they had no integrity!

Jay-Z: Exactly.

Oprah: How do you define integrity?

Jay-Z: As doing the right thing.

Oprah: Do you and Beyoncé have a pact that you just won’t talk about each other?

Jay-Z: Yeah. When you’re a public person, you have to keep some things to yourself, or else people will just—

Oprah: Eat it up. I know. But can I ask how in the world you kept your wedding a secret?

Jay-Z: Late planning!

Oprah: How many people knew?

Jay-Z: Very few. The sad part is that we offended some. But people who love you understand. Because at the end of the day, it’s your day.

Oprah: So here we are, talking on a Sunday afternoon. If you weren’t sitting here with me, what would you be doing?

Jay-Z: I’m gonna get killed for this, but I’ll tell you anyway. There’s a great pizza spot we go to every Sunday. It’s our tradition. It’s a small place in Brooklyn, you can bring your own wine, and there are candles there. It’s a nice date.

Jay-Z is slated to appear on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” Thursday, September 24th show.