Audio Sean Price
"Mess You Made"

How does the Jesus Price Supastar compare to Monkey Barz and your earlier [Heltah Skeltah] stuff? Where are you trying to go with the new one? Well, you know, Sean Price has no earlier stuff besides Monkey Barz. Right, right. Sean Price and Ruck is two different people. Separate entities. You know what I mean? So my earlier work was Monkey Barz, that was my first work. This is my second work, right. It ain't too much of a difference, if it ain't broke, you know what I mean. I got just about the same producers. I got 9th Wonder, Khrysis, PF Cuttin and Moss. Now, I mean, I kept it real, you know. Same formula, you know what I mean. You're not trying to go too far left. Yeah. The beats is hard. I think the beats are harder on this album than Monkey Barz, don't you? I agree. You know what I mean. I think I rhyme a little harder on this one. But otherwise than that, they're almost the same. Yeah, yeah. Were you trying to keep it similar because of the success of Monkey Barz? It's like you buy some Tide one year, and then you get Tide with Bleach the next year. You know what I mean? Advanced Tide. Yeah. After the big success of Monkey Barz, were you more confident this time around? Definitely. I was like, yo, listen, they like this s*** out there. They're going to love this next s***, because I'm going all out. You know what I mean? And not change up. I just thought I had to do more what they like, I'm going to do more of it. That's all. Right on, man. And you've been working with 9th Wonder and Khrysis for a while now… Yes. On both the albums, and I know that they've done a bunch of stuff on the other Triple Threat records, the other Boot Camp stuff. What's the difference, you know, working with them compared to working with Da Beatminerz back in the '90s? Well, I mean, Da Beatminerz were more like, you know, those were like forefathers to me. They helped me get in the game, you know what I mean? Sure. So there was no playing around with them. I felt like I had to, you know, show and prove with them. You know what I mean? I ain't gonna front. I remember there was a song on Nocturnal called "Prowl." And "Prowl" was like, one of our demo songs. I remember I did that, at Walt and E's crib. And I was under mad pressure like, I'm like "damn man, I'm with the Beatminerz, if these niggas don't like my s***, I'm f***ed." You know what I mean? Right, right. I remember feeling that pressure. So, you know, when I work with 9th and them, I felt like—I felt more solidified already. Went in there, you know what I mean, with a little swag. Mm-hmm. But with Da Beatminerz I always feel like the student. Which is good sometimes. Like, it's not a complaint. It just is what it is. Now, when you're recording, when you're doing this record and Monkey Barz, are you recording with those guys in North Carolina, or are they coming up to New York, or are you sending stuff back and forth? Well, when I did Monkey Barz I did most of the album in New York. No interaction with the producers. They just gave me the beats on a CD, I laid it down. Then I went down South and did "Heartburn," "Bye Bye" and "Onionhead." I went down there. And we just banged it out. But this time around, like I told them—they only did, like, three joints for Monkey Barz, so this time I'm like, "You know what? When I start this new album, I'm coming down there so we can just vibe out." You know what I mean? So that's what I did. I think it kind of shows on the record. Yeah. I think it sounds real—I mean, I liked Monkey Barz a lot, but I think this one is your best work to date. Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m feeling it. Now, you've got several Boot Camp features on there. You got Buckshot and you got Rock and Steele and a couple other cats, as well as the Justus League guys. How did you link up with Sadat for "Da God"? Oh, Sadat is just peoples, man. Like, I knew Sadat since I've been in the game, you know what I mean. When he was on Loud Records, I mean, I've been a fan before he was on Loud Records. Who wasn't? But by the time I signed to Priority he had a solo album coming out on Loud, and for some reason we just toured together a lot. We became homies, you know what I mean. I respect his craft; he respects mine. And that was it. It wasn't even—like, the joints we do wasn't even no money exchanged. It's like "yo, son, come thru," you know what I mean. Like, he called me to be on one of his, so I was like, yo, no doubt. It ain't even about the money. That's really people right there, you know what I mean. He in jail right now, you know what I mean? Yeah, I heard about that. Hold your head, son. He'll be home soon. He doing good. Cool, cool. Now, is it true, I read somewhere that you when you're writing your rhymes you write everything on, like, a Blackberry or a two-way or something? On my Sidekick, yeah. When did you start doing that? Have you been doing that for a while? I started writing on those ever since the Motorola two-ways came out. Because not even on no braggadocios s***, it’s just that I had a habit of, like, buying a notebook, writing one rhyme in it and leaving it in the studio. So once they came out with the Motorolas, I was like, no more paper. Right on. I get to save all my rhymes. That's smart. Now, lyrically, you know, as a lyricist you come very hard, very gutter, with it. But you also have a lot of kind of clever word play and metaphors that a lot of people lack. That's kind of a lost art. You also have a good sense of humor there, you know. There's not a lot of dudes that would come out on their first solo record talking about being the brokest rapper. Do you feel like MCs today are too one-dimensional with their lyrics? Ummm, you know what? It's the label's fault, too. Like, people, I think people want to be comfortable in their own skin, but the labels, they want that, "Yo, listen man, we need a hit just like the last guy." Something for the clubs, something for the girls. So they never get to be them. You know what I mean? They got to put out that Top 10. Whereas I don't give a f*** about that s***. Like, I want to be on the Top 10. I want my song, who doesn't want their song played all day? Obviously, yeah. But, you know, if you don't, so what? That don't define a good song. Right. And you don't have, like, an A&R breathing down your neck saying "we need this, we need that." No, I got Dru-Ha. You know, Dru-Ha definitely makes some suggestions. "Yo, you should do this. Maybe you should talk about this." And I'll try it. If it works, we run with it. If not, f*** it, you know what I mean? Totally. But no pressure. No, like, "You better!" None of that. I hear you. Now, over the last few years the whole BCC has come back really strong, and out of the whole crew, it seems like you're getting a lot more props and a lot more press now than you ever did back in the Heltah Skeltah days. Sort of like, comparable to Ghostface—like, Wu Tang is doing a lot of new stuff now, but Ghostface is getting, a lot of the press and a lot of the Top 10 lists and this and that. Is there competition with the Clik about who's bigger than who? Or is everybody just happy doing them? Nah, nah, nah. Because you know what? My effort is their effort. You know what I mean? Like, I wouldn't do this album without…all my people's input is very important to me. But Steele and Buckshot, if they don't like the album, I'm really f***ed up. I've got to do it over. So this is our album, you know what I mean? It's still like a group mentality. It's a group thing, man. If one of us win, we all win. We're a team. Like, we're really a team. When we do an album, after I lay down the vocals that's just the beginning, you know what I mean. Dru get on his job, he calls the peoples up, "Yo, son, we need to do this, we need to do that." Like, they're writing some of my hooks. I've had Steele help me with a hook, Buck help me with a hook, Rock do a hook for me. So everybody's involved in my project. No doubt. It's still a collaboration. Yeah, yeah. It's family, so, nobody's jealous, because if I win, they won. Everybody wins. Exactly. You do a lot of tours with the whole Boot Camp, and you also do a lot of solo shows. Is there one that you prefer over the other, or is it just all good as long as you're playing, or what? Yeah, it's all good, man. As long as we're working, man. You know what I mean? Like, I was on tour with Ed O.G. Buckshot was on tour with Talib, and Smif-N-Wessun was on the "Rock the Bells" tour. Yeah, I saw them out here. That's cool. We all working and doing the things we like to do, man. I love to see that. I had to step back and reflect on that and I'm like that's what's up. Everybody working, everybody getting money, you know what I mean. And when we get together and do it, it's proper too. So, as long as me and my peoples working and getting money, putting out that good music is all good. Nice. Now, what's the status, I know there's been a lot of talk, is there a third Heltah Skeltah album in the works? Yeah, we working on it right now. Okay. Nice. And what about, on "Mess You Made" on the new record, you mentioned the Fab 5 album that's sitting on the shelf. Yeah. Is that in the Duck Down vaults, or is that Priority, or will that ever see the light of day in the future, do you think? I don't know. I doubt it, though. It wasn't that good. Right. Honestly, it wasn't that good. [laughs] Okay. Right on. I like your honesty man. Now, you're one of the few dudes that has, you know, kind of disappeared for a while and then come back bigger than ever. That never really happens in hip-hop music. People got real short attention spans and there's a small window for being big or just sort of going by the wayside. There's a lot of older guys trying to get back in the game now, you know. '90s cats kind of doing the reunion thing or whatever. Do you think any other people will be successful at it or what? I mean, I don't know. Like, what I do know is there are some dudes from back there when we first came out that probably do have the skills. But who knows. It takes more than skills. Skills is the first part. You got to have a hell of a team, man. Yeah, no doubt. You know what I mean? My team's serious. So it's more than just writing a rhyme. That's the easy part. You know what I mean? There's a lot of other stuff. Yeah. There's a lot of other stuff behind that, man, you know. You got to take this independent game seriously. Like, stop thinking it’s the D league and s***, you know what I mean. You got to be nice here too. That's for sure. You said in a recent interview that, you know, with a few exceptions, that the up-and-coming rappers in New York are all garbage. Yeah! What do you think that, you know, that artists and the city as a whole, what needs to happen to change that? They need to stop. [laughs] Nah for real, not even on no crack of the day, they need to stop and really work on their craft. Totally. Like, I would revoke their deals. I'd be like, "Yo, man, go work on your craft, man." You know what I mean? Like, you need to work on your craft. Like I said, it was a lapse between Magnum Force and Monkey Barz, there was a little time gap. I mean, I was into a lot of other s***, but I was definitely working on my craft still. So work on your craft, most importantly, man. Stop trying to beat up everybody on the street and getting into drama. It ain't got nothing to do with hip hop. Work on your f***ing craft, and you won't need to get popular by a stabbing or a shooting or something. Right, right, I feel you. So I assume you're going to be doing a big tour once the album drops? Yeah, well, I'm going on tour in a few days. Friday I'm going to be in Amsterdam smoking my head off. That's what's up. You know what I mean? And, you know, I got a show out there. I'll be out there, I'll be overseas until, like, the 11th of February. Cool. Then I come back, I got some spot dates and then after that I'm jumping on tour with Jedi Mind Tricks. Nice, that sounds good. And is there going to be another Boot Camp group album? I thought The Last Stand was outstanding. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. Yeah, we going to work—we're working on another Boot Camp album. That was The Last Stand, but that wasn't the last album. [laughs] The name of the album was The Last Stand, not The Last Album. That's good. You know what I mean? The Last Stand, it's more of like, "that's all I can stand I can't stand no more." Man, lets just drop this album. Let's make a stand. Let them know, man. You know what I mean? I think we did that with that album. Absolutely, man. And also that was, like, to put a, like a closing on that whole Triple Threat thing, you know what I mean? Monkey Barz, [Buckshot and 9th Wonder's album] Chemistry, [Smif-N-Wessun's] Reloaded. All right, let's end it with this Boot Camp album. Now let's start to the next phase, you know what I mean. That was big, man, definitely. Well, I got one more question for you, and then I'll let you go. I know you got a lot of press going on. And this is something that I ask everybody. You've been doing this for a long time. You've seen a lot of ups and downs in the industry. You've seen the music change, from back in the day to now. All these kids today, everybody wants to be a rapper. Everybody wants to be a producer, have a label or some sort of movement or whatever, you know. What advice would you give to all these young cats that are just trying to get their foot in the door? It ain't easy, you know what I mean. You got to be a soldier, man, you got to go through that training. You got to pay dues. You got to pay dues, man. You know, like, nothin was—it wasn't easy for me. I had to show and prove. Even when me and Rock stopped making music, even on a Sean Price level, it wasn't just, "All right, you the other half of the group, no doubt, no doubt!" Nah, I had to prove myself to Dru again. So you got to prove yourself all the time. And if you're nice, it shouldn't be a problem. That's what's up. You know what I mean? Just stay working on your craft, man. Right on. Well, thanks for taking the time to talk to me, man. I appreciate it. And for real, like, I hear a lot of records, you know, being a reviewer, and your new s*** is banging, I like it a lot. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Good luck with the tour and all that, and have a good one. All right, brother. Thanks a lot, man. Take it easy. Peace.