DubCNN: In the aftermath there was quite a bit of mudslinging between your camp and their camp. Without getting into all that and rehashing history, was the beef going back and forth serious or was it just more for show?
It’s like this, I had money, street money, so I had illegal money. They didn’t have the problem, I had the problem. I felt motherfukkers fukked me over and didn’t stick by me, and that wasn’t really the case. They gave me fair warning, Short sat me down a many of times and told me, ‘bruh, slow your roll. Them nikkas ain’t your homeboys. You got too much going for you, them nikkas are going to drag you down right along with them’. I had looked over all that shyt. When I’m making my songs I was pissed because them nikkas was having fun, but I was taking it 100% serious. I beat the shyt out of Mhisani, pulled up on Banks, threatened Short; I mean, I was doing a lot of shyt that was serious to me, but it shouldn’t have never been like that. I’m old enough to say this shyt now, but back then it was serious to me. I don’t think it was ever serious to Short and them, I really don’t. I think they was like, ‘okay, this nikka talking shyt so we’re going to say something about him’. When they said something about me I took that shyt like they smacked my momma. I ain’t used to the battle rapping shyt. God knows if it would’ve ever came down to somebody doing something to me, we would’ve been doing something to each other. It was serious to me, but I don’t ever think it was that serious to them. I never really think they meant me any harm. I was just fukked up, bruh.
Honestly, Chad, I’m being as candid as possible with you. Since I been home that nikka Short, Banks, Richie Rich, Fab, Jay Stallings, Stevie Joe ain’t been showing nothing but love. At the Legends to Underground tour I went into the Short suite, and grabbed the nikka and I hugged him and I apologized to him for my attitude back then, and for the shyt that I did because I had been wanting to do it for the longest. Once you grow up and you look at the shyt that you go through and I paid attention to what I did wrong. Short said he never really knew I was mad at him, and it just seemed like I was just pissed off. I was pissed off at the world at that time. I had just lost my cousin, and me and Jive was going through it. It was all kinds of shyt going on and I was just mad at the world at that time. It was never on Short and them. Me and Short today it’s like, I just got off the phone with him earlier, and it’s like when shyt come up he call me and be like come on, come through. It’s just I was a stubborn brat back then and I was getting into too much shyt. I can’t knock them nikkas for wanting to separate themselves from me, because I was either going to kill somebody or somebody was going to kill me.
DubCNN: During all of that, did you have a personal relationship with either Rappin’ Ron, or Ant Diddley Dog from Bad N-Fluenz because they came at you a couple of times. What was that all about?
I didn’t give a shyt about Ron. God forbid me talking about the dead, but I mean they jumped on the bandwagon with Short and them. I caught Rappin’ Ron once and commenced to beating his ass. I’m not talking ill of the dead, but the truth is what it is. He didn’t know me and because me and Short was into it he felt he could get in it, him and Diddley Dog. I’m him, not the baddest nikka in the world, but even he didn’t want to fukk with me when it comes to shyt like that. I’m not no punk, not no coward and this little boy should have minded his own business, so I caught up with him in east Oakland and I beat his ass. I mean that wasn’t a game to me at that appointed time. I was kind of fukked up and he should’ve stayed out of it. I knew him, I had met him once before, in fact when I heard about this dude that supposed to be as hard as Richie Rich I sent somebody to get him and bring him to the picnic we was having. He freestyled and he kicked it, blew and drunk with me and that was the only time I had ever met him. Then the next time I hear about him, he on a song talking about me. So, when I caught him I beat his ass simple as that.
DubCNN: The last thing about that time, because everything was kind of going back and forth, did you ever hear anything amongst these diss wars that were going on that made you laugh? Not that they were true, but you were just kind of like that was pretty witty?
Short’s “now your hardcore like cb4”, that shyt right there. I was like these nikkas right there. That’s why I said it was never really serious to these dudes, they was poking fun, but I was serious. I had to laugh at “Get In Where You Fit In”, but you got to think when somebody gets on the mic and says your momma’s p*ssy smells like the gutter…..that pushed me, that was Goldy and that’s why I beat Goldy’s ass. I don’t mind saying this now because the only people from Dangerous that I’m worried about that I hold any regards for is Short and Banks. Keeping it one hundred, I don’t give a damn about Randy Austin, he’s just somebody to me. I don’t feel either way, I don’t like him or I don’t dislike him. I laughed at it, but when you get on the phone and say my momma’s p*ssy smell like the gutter, that’s why I got Goldy. Now I laugh at the shyt when I listen to it now; I laugh at Short’s shyt, I always have. I laugh at it now, but back then I kind of was not laughing at that part of the song. I laugh at it now.
DubCNN: Moving on, you reconciled with Ant Banks later on and featured on his TWDY Derty Werk project for the song “Ride With Me”, as well your own fukkin’ Wit’ Dank 2000 with the song “Fire”. Tell me about squashing the beef with Banks and coming back in to work together after all that stuff that had went down?
It wasn’t really hard because when I came home from prison in ‘98, I was fukking with Ted Bohannon and he had just started Super Slide Records. He used to own Banks’ music, so Ted comes in the studio and says Banks is outside for me. I’m like what! He said Banks outside, so when I went outside Banks was sitting in his Benz and he was like, ‘bruh, here I got some music for you. I got a song for you and a song I want you to do with me’. Like I said, me and Banks had issues, but it was never like that. I felt Banks should’ve did things differently, but you can’t tell a motherfukker to walk away from his money. But when I came home that nikka was right there in ‘98 and he looked out and that did it. Me and him talked until I fukked around and I caught another case, but it was good being back in the studio with Banks, man. He came over to Super Slide because we had the studio there. We did the track there and ran through them. I told you at the beginning, anytime me and Banks get in the studio it’s a good thing. He knows me better than most motherfukkers. He knows what I want to do, and I know what he wants me to do. Sometimes he get to pushing…’nikka do this, do it this way, I don’t want this, and I want it this way’. He probably the only person that can get me like that. When me and Banks together he brings the best out of me, so it’s fun working with B.
DubCNN: As far as the other crew members like Goldy, Spice 1 and them is that stuff squashed? What does the beef stand with those guys?
Well, I’m going to say this: me and Spice, that’s my nikka and we talk all the time. I just got off the phone with him and I’m getting ready to do some shows and shyt with him. When I came home in ‘98 I went to Spice’s house and me and Spice sat down and talked. We squashed our shyt before me and Banks did. Me and Spice was close before. It just got into, because when I was hearing about shyt that he was saying, it was ‘he say, she say’ that got me and Spice into to it. Chico, that’s my boy, that’s another one who looked out since I came home. Everybody thought I was going to get out and play with guns again, and I get phone calls from these motherfukkers saying, ‘bruh, you good, what you doing? Slide through the studio. Where you at? Get away from over there, come over here’. I’m 43 years old, and these nikkas calling me like I’m 16 or 17 years old. I respect them for that, I love these dudes, they been fukking with me for the longest. Me and Spice, yea that’s my nikka. Goldy? Now, that’s something else. I really don’t talk to Goldy, and I haven’t seen him since I’ve been home. I’m not looking for him, really don’t have a reason to, but his dad was my boy, and may he rest in peace. It killed me when I found out something happened to his dad. His dad was one of the promoters back in the day that really put me on. Me and Goldy have that in common, but I haven’t talked to him since I’ve been home.
DubCNN: With your most recent release, Kaos Theory, you’ve said that Ant Banks was producing like 12 of the 14 tracks, which is the majority of the album. In listening to Kaos Theory, I can hear in “Mesmerized”, “All My Life”, “Get Me Started”, “Player’s Life” that without a shadow of a doubt those where produced by Ant Banks. But there’s some tracks I can’t tell.
Ant Banks has a whole different gear, and he sort of opened up on some of the songs. Some of the songs he had he was like, ‘you got to do this one!’ I was like, ‘man, who did that?’ He said, ‘who else did it?’ None of tracks on there that me and Banks did came from scratch, he already had the songs. He created these songs like a couple of years ago because he wasn’t really fukking with nobody. People say that all the time, they be like, ‘who did that beat because we know Banks did that one, but who did that one?’ and I say Banks did the whole damn album except for two songs, man. He didn’t do “Macaroni”, and he didn’t do “Free”.
DubCNN: I listened to “Let A Beast On” and “Bang” and I’m like that isn’t Banks.
It’s Banks, bruh! It’s crazy that you mentioned “Let A Beast On” because I just got a call about it from a lady at MCA. She called me about that one and “Rap Song”. She’s talking about using “Rap Song” on some rap documentary that they’re doing, but she asked who did it, and I told her Banks! She was like, “Ant Banks?” I was like, ‘yep, he did that one and “Let A Beast On”.
DubCNN: That’s crazy because some of that I wouldn’t have even been able to tell! If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t have said Banks did some of those other songs. You have new record you’re working on now that Kaos Theory is has been released. What’s the new album called, and what can we expect?
It’s called The Return of Underground Street Poetry. I got Ant Banks, Elijah baker, Freejack, Sqweeze Beat, and Doc Holiday doing beats. I’m picking beats as we speak.
DubCNN: You’ve got the production handled, is anybody going to be featured on it?
Several people! I got Keak the Sneak, E-40, Dru Down, B-Legit, Spice-1 and some others.
Well here’s my last question: Are we going to hear another song, or another track, with Ant Banks, Pooh-Man and Too Short all getting down on it together?
I’m really, really, really pushing for it, man, and nine times out of ten it will happen! Everybody wants that! I want to sit down with Short and Banks, and even Goldy, and try to work on that! I really want to see it happen, but as far as my album of course I’m going to work at getting a song with me, Short and Banks on there.
