Buckshot Stream Boot Camp Clik's new album The Last Stand (Exclusive)
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MP3: Buckshot, how you doing man? Buckshot: Just chillin man. MP3: You excited about the new album or what? Buckshot: Yeah. Yes. I'm definitely excited because we got another strike at the canyon. MP3: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I've been following you guys since the first single, and I like the last BCC record a lot, but I think this one is definitely taking it to the next plateau, the next level. I think it's really good. Buckshot: I really appreciate people's opinion of that. MP3: Yeah. Buckshot: Because it's natural. MP3: It's something like—I mean, obviously the producers that you've got on there are all pretty dope dudes in their own right, but I think just lyrically you guys are gelling more than ever. Buckshot: I really appreciate that. I really appreciate that, and I really hope that the hip-hop world embraces this album. MP3: I think they will. Buckshot: You know, we need to get across the board, and right now it's time to do that. That's why it's called The Last Stand, because it's time to get across the board. MP3: Right. Yeah, I was going to ask about the title. So that's not implying that this is your final record or anything like that? Buckshot: Nah. This is just implying that it's time to get across the board. Because it's the last stand, and you know when a person says "the last stand," it's more like "it's all I can stand I can't stand no more." MP3: Right on. Now, you guys, you have a very devoted, hardcore fan base. Does it seem like most of the cats that come out to see you are from the "Who Got Da Props?" era or from the—or kids who've gotten turned on to you more recently? Or a mixture? Buckshot: Both. MP3: Both? Buckshot: Both. And that's good, because being that it's both, it shows us that what we do is good. If you could pick up a new fan today, someone who knows nothing about "Who Got Da Props?" that means that you are actually good. That means that you didn't come out during a time when, no matter what, if you had—like, we didn't come out during the time of Cross Colours. So if you had Cross Colours, no matter what, you was going to be on. And that era is over, nobody rockin’ Cross Colours no more. So that time is over. What we do is good, so it doesn't matter if—you know what I'm trying to say? MP3: Yeah. Buckshot: It's like we stand the test of time because what we do is good. All right. Cross Colours—all right, jumping from swinging your arms side to side and wiggling it a little bit like on some real, Naughty By Nature. That shit is over. But we didn't—but that's not what made us hot, because of the whole "Who Got Da Props?" comes to the side thing, and that was in at the time. And all you had to do was do that, and you were on. And when we switched up and came with "I Got Cha Opin," and everybody doing some melodic shit. It wasn't that just because you were melodic and you wore a backpack, you was on. We switched up and came with Heltah Skeltah. I mean, we always changed with the era. We just don't get recognized for it because we never were on a major situation that had somebody say, "Recognize these people." MP3: Right, right. I hear you. Well, I think people are going to start recognizing now, man. I really do. I think the new album is really strong. Were you happy with the solo album, the joint you did with 9th Wonder, Chemistry? Buckshot: With Chemistry? Yeah. I'm happy with all the stuff that I do. I'm happy with the fact that we're getting even to put out records. And like I said, my thing is not—I don’t give you no props. You all give me props. It's just that we aren't recognized enough because we're not on a system that allows us to be recognized. It's a machine that's pumping as much gas as it can possibly pump. MP3: No, that's definitely true. I've heard rumors that you were going to hook up with 9th again and do—for a second—for a third solo album. Is that true? Are you guys working on that or talking about that? Buckshot: Yeah, we're definitely going to do another album. We're doing another project. The name of it is called The Formula, and we have a relationship with Little Brother and 9th Wonder, so basically with Justus League and Boot Camp Clik, it's basically, we formed an alliance. MP3: Cool, man. Now, what about Black Moon? Buckshot: Always. Always. MP3: Evil Dee's still in the fold, right? Buckshot: Always. I mean, Beatminerz produced the Boot Camp album. They produced some of the Boot Camp album, and they're working on songs for the Black Moon joint. And Black Moon is the foundation of this whole square. MP3: For sure. Buckshot: So Black Moon will always be a part of the…Black Moon is always going to put out an album, and Black Moon is always going to be doing our thing. It's just like, it's like there's so much stuff blossoming from the pot… MP3: You got to spread it around. Buckshot: We were never the type of people to be like, “Black Moon first. Y'all gonna recognize that, y'all better be recognizing Black Moon.” We're not like that. We're like, look, let everything blossom from the pot. Don't worry, Black Moon gonna come back out with another album soon, but let everything blossom from the pot. MP3: Right on. Now, what's up with 5 FT? Is he still locked up? Are you in contact with him? Buckshot: Yeah, yeah. He's still locked up, and he'll be home soon. MP3: Cool. Buckshot: He'll be home in a year, and he'll be home for good. And then he'll jump right back in the system and continue to do another album with Black Moon. Because we can't do an album without him. MP3: Okay. I gotcha. Buckshot: When 5 comes home, we'll continue to do another Black Moon album. I just can't do a Black Moon album without 5 FT. MP3: Yeah, yeah. Totally. Buckshot: I haven't done it, and I won't do it. MP3: No, that's good. I mean, it's good to have that kind of loyalty, because he's definitely a big part of the group. Buckshot: Like, some people would do it. Some people would do the album and then call it Black Moon and then be like, you know. And it's love, but it's reality, too. You know what I'm saying? There's so much more. The chemistry just would not be there. Me and E in the studio, every night we would be like, we know something is missing. MP3: Right on. Now, I know that you're very involved on the day-to-day business with Duck Down and running the label and keeping everything running smoothly over there. Is that harder to balance the sort of business aspect with the art, with the music? Or does it just force you to be more on top of your game with that? Buckshot: Now it's a little bit easier because Dru and NoHa, (Dru's little brother), they have really stepped their game up. They are an integral piece of Duck Down. They make it very easy for me. It's not hard at all because when there's difficulties or when there's any type of questions or anything that really consists of needing me to be in a position where I have to be there… MP3: Those guys help things go smoothly? Buckshot: Yeah. Back before it was a little bit more stressful. Now it's like, I learned how to balance my creativity with the business, because it's like I really get involved. I'm there every day. You know what I'm saying? Me and Dru talk all the time, and we handle situations like that. Me and Dru have a mental relationship that's like ping pong. Any time he got a question, when me and him get together, it's crazy. And when I get off the phone with Dru, his energy is so up and my energy is so up, you would never know we just spoke to each other. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like once he get on the phone with somebody else, he got a little bit of that Buck in him, and I got a little bit of that Dru in me. It's a wrap. MP3: Now, I know recently there's been a lot of talk, people are saying that New York has fallen off and everybody's sort of jumping on the Southern bandwagon, trying to do snap music and this and that. Which is sort of ironic because it seems like, 10 or 12 years ago it was the same thing with California when The Chronic and Snoop got big and everybody was saying, "Oh, New York, whatever." Now, being that you guys are so New York, so Brooklyn to the bone, does that piss you off, or is it just extra motivation to make your s*** stronger? Buckshot: Extra motivation. Yeah, extra motivation. Because you know that the timing is crazy. It's like, how many groups are really, really taking it to they heart, let alone how many groups are representing the Northern New York, let alone how many groups can [still] stand. We not only have stood the test of time, like you said, we're like veterans—war veterans. We've been here from the first war, and we're here with the second. So we got to be really strong. We was there when it was the West. And now it's like New York is the underdog again, and we're here coming back with our full-fledged power. MP3: Nice. Buckshot: We're saying, "Yo, look. New York is the underdog. Not just Boot Camp." So New York period can relate to what Boot Camp was feeling these past few years. So now when we come out as Boot Camp, New York, we're asking for your support because we now are looking at you going, "Y’all can relate to what we've been trying to say these past few years when we've been going overseas, going over here, going over there." Just saying that, all we saying is we just representing hip-hop the way we know how to do it. That's all we saying. MP3: Excellent, man. What do you think in your opinion—I mean, you've been around for a long time. What do you think is the best thing about hip-hop today, in 2006? Buckshot: The fact that you have so many outlets to express it. That's the best thing. You've got MySpace. You've got your own web site. You've got Burn Lounge. You've got this, you got that web site. You've got the independent stores. You've got the video shops. People got their own cable shows. I mean, the information and the opportunities is just, it's just bananas. It's crazy. Back in the days, there wasn't really that many opportunities to have. You had radio stations, college and mix shows and magazines. MP3: Right. But you guys, too, it seemed like you were one of the first groups to really get on the Internet and to have that interaction with your fans and stuff like that. Now everybody's got a web site or whatever, but you guys have been there for a long time. Buckshot: I know, man. I know. And that's kind of like the reason why I'm going for that Internet king—you know what I'm saying, that crown, man. Because I need that, man. I need that. I'm not crowned nowhere else. And Jesus, man. It's like I got to have some type of throne, some type of chair somewhere. I mean, I don't have no page really nowhere, really, in this hip-hop thing, really. I mean, I got respect, but I mean a page.You know how people be having pages in history? It's like—it gives me something. Like Buckshot, the Internet King. Something. You know what I'm saying? Because even Wu-Tang went platinum back in the days, and they stand for all of that stuff. They took that position, so we can't even get that. All right. Cool. Like, the independent thing, people have taken that. All right, cool. You know, when it comes to the dot-com situation, like you said... MP3: You guys are OGs online, for sure. Buckshot: OGs, man. If you punch up our name, we're damn near on 90 thousand different sites. You know what I'm saying? Buckshot over here. Buckshot over there. So, we're on so many different sites, and I thank you for that. Because yeah, man, I really do want to big up our team for that, too. MP3: Definitely. On the flip side of that question, what do you think is the worst thing about the state of hip-hop today? Buckshot: I would say the fact that people still have fear. MP3: People still have what? Buckshot: People still have fear. People still have fear to—just to do as they want to do. And it's not to stand out as a individual. People still have fear to do what they want to do. And I think that's it. You know, I think everybody thinks that they stand out as a individual. So I don't want to say that. Like, everybody goes, "I'm going to stand out as a individual." But people still have fear to do what they want to do. And there's still a lot of stuff going on behind the doors. People don't recognize DJs control the airways. MP3: Oh, yeah. Definitely. Buckshot: And, I mean, they are in charge of them. And these DJs understand that. And they still are not doing enough. Hot 97 has this thing called Music Meeting. That's like writing… MP3: Where they plan, like, what six songs to play all day? Buckshot: Well, no, the Music Meeting is their version of saying, "We're going to give the people an opportunity to pick what records— MP3: Oh, I see. Buckshot: "What we start playing." Now, that is something that they have, and they just started that now, right? Recently. And it took so much of a beat-down for that [to happen]. Right? But that right there is so funny and it's so crazy because that right there is an acknowledgement that… MP3: The system needed a change. Buckshot: That's like saying, "Wow. We got our first lady cop today." You mean to tell me that we didn't get there yet? So that really is it. Like, wow, right to this day. So you would think that we would've been headed that way. Buckshot can just go up to the station, give them a record. But it ain't like that. It still is a lot of politics that control the business. Along with the creativity, the business will never change. These things will never change, man. That's the only thing I don't like. That I can't just run up to DJ so-and-so and go... MP3: Here’s a new record. Buckshot: "Hey, yo, DJ so-and-so," and he go, "Hold it. Hold it. Hold on a sec." And he go, "I like this. Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen, hold it! Wait a minute! I just got this new record from my man Buckshot. It is hot! It is fire! He just walked in, ladies and gentlemen. This is hot! We're going to play this new record from the Boot Camp Clik. We got something new, let me know if you're feeling it. Call in at 1-800..." That is garbage. That's fantasy. It don't happen. That's the movies. That's not real. Stop believing that. Stop buying these movies and buying your tickets, believing that's what actually happens. MP3: So I just got one more question for you. Nowadays rap's bigger than ever, and it seems like every kid out there wants to be an MC, wants to be a DJ, a producer, start a label, this and that. Being that you are like a vet in the game, what kind of advice would you give to all the young kids out there that are just trying to get their foot in the door? Buckshot: Really take your time and, I would say, crawl before you walk, man. That mentality is a real mentality. Get your life together first. This is not something that you can spend the next three years or four or five years on and then decide you don't want to do this anymore. You know what I'm trying to tell you? You can, but the effect of that cause can really be either damaging or disappointing. So what I would encourage, is take your time. Crawl before you walk. So that way, you will be affected in a positive way if you decide to leave the game and say, "This is not for me, but what I've taken from this game is X, Y, Z." As opposed to saying, "You know what? I've rushed into this game. I thought it was going to be as soon as you get on you're popping champagne, popping Cristal…" Because I meet kids every day who really believe that. MP3: I bet. Buckshot: You know, who really believe all they're going to do is just get a record deal. Let me tell you the Number 1 statement that kills me. The Number 1 statement that makes me upset to my stomach is, "Yo, man. I'm not going to front Buck, you just got to listen to my demo son because, yo, once I get on with this rap stuff, this hustling is over son. I'm telling you, like, yo, I ain't going to be working, and I ain't going to be hustling out on these streets, man. No working, no job. None of that." And I'm like, "You have no idea, man. You have no idea." MP3: They don't realize the work involved. Buckshot: Not only the work involved, but that this is not something that you can bet your life on quitting your job at this age. You don't do that with this. This is not that. And I've only been able to last this long due to the business side of what I do. The rap side. People, they don't understand that. And most rappers, they get it. Like, Busta Rhymes has an investment corporation. He has a business, and he has an investment. Everybody creates an entertainment business that allows them to open up something else that opens up something else. And you never see that. That's the engine that keeps you paid. So, all that glitters ain't gold, man. MP3: Any last words for the fans? The album drops on the 18th, right? Buckshot: The album comes out July 18. You know what I'm saying? Look out for the dream team producers. Large Professor, Pete Rock, Marco Polo, 9th Wonder, Beatminerz, etc. And first and foremost, you know, look out for the international champions, Boot Campions. Go to MySpace.com. Go to DuckDown.com. Just check out for us, man. Because like you said, man, we will be crowned the dot-com kings eventually. You know what I mean? MP3: Right on, man. Excellent. Well, it's great talking to you, Buckshot. Definitely appreciate it. And good luck with everything, man. When you guys come out to Cali, I'll come check for you in San Francisco for sure. Buckshot: Ah, man. Thank you, man. Thank you very much. MP3: I look forward to hearing the whole album. Buckshot: Thank you very much. And yo, for everybody out there, one last—my last, last word. Everybody out there on MySpace, I really, I physically am on MySpace, so if you're out there, check me out. You know what I’m saying, holler at me. MP3: All right, man. Take it easy, Buck. Buckshot: All right, peace.

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Boot Camp Clik!