Allhiphop: Ok, Doom, talk to me about what Nas an artist means to you, and why you ran to his album? MF Doom: Yeah, no question. Nas is an MC the way that he approaches the joints that he do. If you think about it, all of us get the beats plain. Then for whatever the beat inspires you, that’s what you put it there. I’m like, just listening to the choice of beats from Nas’ early stuff, and the choice of lyrics that he put on there – he came with that s###, like everytime. [He] never ceased to amaze me. He is a real ill writer. 9th Wonder: Big is a great story-teller, and Tupac is most influential. But Nas is probably the most prolific writer that hip-hop has ever seen. Illmatic, arguably, is probably the best record that hip-hop ever heard. He started the new revolution. I always been a fan of Nas. I just haven’t been a fan of Nas recent work as far as his choice of beats. Because, he’s not a club dude. Because he doesn’t have the swagger of a Jay-Z or a Biggie. He’s a street champion. But you can still grow as a lyricist, which he did. If you listen to God’s Son, and I listened to it [while remixing] and I was like, "Wow, he has really grown from Illmatic to now." But you can’t tell that with the beats that he had. The beats really killed the mood. So what I tried to do was give each song its own personality to make it sound like an album. That’s what Illmatic was. Allhiphop: History question for Doom. I know when you were in KMD you was producing for 3rd Bass back in the early 90’s. And MC Serch was a cat who really was big in getting Nas a deal and whatnot. Was Nas around for your sessions back then, or you ever cross paths? MF Doom: Nah, I didn’t get a chance to meet that brother. I think I met him once, just briefly in passing. But I never really sit down and kick it. Allhiphop: What was your response to God’s Son, as a cat who really understand hip-hop? MF Doom: Lost Tapes was f##### rugged as a m###########! The God’s Son [though], there’s some joints on there! That was the one with "My Book of Rhymes" on there? That n#### came ill! Let a cat who trying to discredit any MC, try to do the same s###. Nas’ll eat any n#### who like, "I didn’t like this album, like that album." Every album you ever come out with is gonna be different. I think a lot of people set high expectations and expect it to be the same as an Illmatic. I’m like this yo, I know from a rhymer point of view, and Nas is like a n#### when he sets the standard so high for himself, that a lot of people are probably gonna say lil’ things like that. If I had them beats and that kinda pressure to stay on top with the battle back-and-forth s###, the way that he came with that God’s Son s###? Pssh! To me, he took that s### with that s###. He got the crown right there. Allhiphop: The "Second Childhood" remix is mouth-dropping. To remix a Preemo track is something that rarely happens in itself. To work around the scratch-chorus and a track that you can’t forget to begin with, how did you go about presenting such a formidable remix? Soul Supreme: Basically, I knew I would never be able to make a better similar beat, so instead I tried to make a beat that brought a different feel to the song. I wanted the remix to sound a bit darker and more desperate. I knew that the sample to the song had been used a couple of times before, but I felt that it was worth it using it again. Allhiphop: You dig it then? MF Doom: Yeah, I was wondering how it was gonna sound. Then he sent it to me, and I had a chance to vibe off it and s### is kinda ill. Each joint caught me off guard. Snap, like the joint he used – "Bang, Bang", that s### fit on there crazy ill. I was impressed with what he did. Allhiphop: Then let’s talk about one you yourself did. Last year you remixed "One Love" which was amazing. MF Doom: Yeah, I hooked that up on a special recipe promotional type of thing. Allhiphop: 9th, what’s going on with Little Brother right now? 9th Wonder: We’re [about to be] on MTV2. We’re trying to graduate to the big leagues, get on a major [label]. If you want the type of music you love, and you grew up on played on radio, and you want everybody to feel what you feel when you listen to Mos or Comm, or whoever, you gotta get on a major. I’m not displeased with ABB at all. ABB been good to us, but it’s time to move on. Allhiphop: Soul – while we talking, tell us about how you and O.C. tried to recraft the ambience behind his first two LP’s? Soul Supreme: Well, I have not been in the studio with O.C. [yet], but I think that my production style fits him pretty well, since I’ve always been listening to mainly New Yorkesque hiphop. From what I’ve heard of the upcoming album, it will be more thoughtfull and reflecting than "Bon Apetit." That, by the way is mad under-rated, and perhaps a little more soulfull than his first two albums [in terms of beats]. Allhiphop: Doom, everybody’s talking about your Mad Villain project with Madlib. What’s this album gonna be like? MF Doom: Basically the same old rec yo! Madlib, he’s the type of producer that just comes with those beats that are just like a canvas. But the canvas that he be givin’ me, […]

Nas is certainly a producer’s favorite MC. The way that he drives his words, his cadences, and overall the content matter – are all true to hip-hop of the past, future, and present. Since Illmatic, Nas has never settled with one sound, while some of us may have wish he had. Instead, Nas evolved to make every record a ground-breaking effort for less or better. This year, two budding producers attempted to remix full Nas albums. 9th Wonder, the musical genius behind Little Brother was the first, and attempted God’s Son. 9th’s successes and creativity was followed by Soul Supreme, a Boston beatmaker who re-laced Stillmatic. Just when we thought it was done, KMD front-man and underground super-veteran, MF Doom attacked Nastradamus. The results of all efforts were heavy topic of conversation, and trend-setting alike. AllHipHop.com assembled 9th Wonder, Soul Supreme, and MF Doom to discuss God’s Son, beats and rhymes. Did the remixes work? It ain’t hard to tell. Allhiphop: 9th, I know you did this project, God’s Step Son, because you had the accapellas laying around. But beyond that, what moved you to do this concept? 9th Wonder: I learn from greats. I know that when greats do new beats, they throw accapellas over them to see if they work. You never know the potential of a track until [you do that]. That’s how I started doing remixes. I did that for a while. A guy by the name of DJ Bumrush brought the [Nas] accapellas to the house on a Saturday. My mom just so happened to be down visiting me. She came down and she cooked and I cooked, and two days later I got eleven joints done. I didn’t do the rest of those joints because I really didn’t feel the words like that. I wanted to hear a Nas record with some traditional hip-hop on there, because he’s a traditional lyricist. Allhiphop: Soul, your approach was really different than his. You seem to pull from a later era of soul…deeper in the 70’s. How did you map out the direction you were going to take ahead of actually getting down? Soul Supreme: Well basically, I just wanted to make the remixes from a Soul Supreme point of view. That means that I wanted to continue with the vibe from "The Saturday Nite Agenda", but switch it up to fit the songs and concepts on Stillmatic. Allhiphop: Doom, your remix was more of a promotional item rather than selling it on its own? MF Doom: Actually, I was approached by Mike Pizzo from hiphopsite. And he told me that he had blended my instrumentals with the accapellas. He was just asking me for permission to use my beats. I didn’t really do it. So I gave him permission, just as a novelty, promotional thing. I think it came out pretty ill. Allhiphop: Were these beats supposed to be for Little Brother or other artists? How’d it pan out, 9th? 9th Wonder: The first joint I made the day I started working on the [project]. "Made You Look" is like two years old. "Last Real N#### Alive" I did that day. "Hey Nas" I had used before, but I re-freaked it. I did it that day. "I Can", I cooked it up that day. "Book of Rhymes", that was a Big Pooh solo joint. "Mastermind" is a beat that was six-seven months old. "Warrior’s Song" I cooked up a couple days before that, it matched pretty well. "Thugs Mansion", I cooked up five-six months prior. The "Ether" joint, that was a remix I had done a while back. Only one was for Little Brother. Allhiphop: You were the first to do this. You been doing the remix promos. This is a huge trend now. How does that sit with you, especially with the Nas remixes that followed? 9th Wonder: We all learn from other cats. Not to say they learned from me or whatever. But somebody had to start doing something. Who’s to say that if Soul Supreme had done it first that I would’ve came behind and did a Nas record. I see it as flattery. Soul Supreme is a dope producer. MF Doom is a legend. I don’t see it as an insult or a bite, I see it as flattery. Allhiphop: So, Soul, your remixes dropped second. I know you and 9th are cool. But did you feel at all like you were stepping on toes? Soul Supreme: Not really, If I was 9th I’d take it as a compliment that somebody was biting my idea, haha.

AHH: Is that were the title " The Awakening " comes from? PMD: Yea because I was supposed to have got caught up in all of this. But God was like come on, yall seen " Strictly Business," yall seen "It’s My Thing," yall seen "Gold Digga." Red Man still runnin around here. It was never wack, something happened in my real life that had me questioning and when the Lord tells you to step up to do a job, you know you have to step up and do it, or pay the consequences. Now I see evidence ( Points to his poster on the wall, and his self promoting T-Shirt) I see evidence. People don’t get it, God is in you, every day you wake up you have a opportunity for what direction you want to take your life. There are 3 voices, yours Gods and the Devil’s. AHH: EPMD is in the top few greatest rap groups of all time. The chemistry was crazy. But as far as a solo act, you haven’t had the same success. What will be different on this album? PMD: The first two, "Shady Business" and "Business iz Business", I wasn’t even there. I did so much work in my first lifetime with the first 4 albums, Das Efx, Redman, there was no competition. There was no Bad Boy, there was no Terror Squad, there was no Flip mode, it was just me. It wasn’t Russell, it was nobody. So now, I’m thinking, the fans don’t want to see me by myself and they don’t want to see Eric by himself, so I beat myself before I even got started. AHH: What’s your relationship like now with Eric? PMD: Me and Eric’s relationship is dope because when EPMD was broken up the first 5 years, we didn’t really see each other because he move to Atlanta. Then in 97 when we did "Back In Business," he moved back to New York. So we was pollying and you know we were naturally out of sync because before we was like one. When we got back it wasn’t like we could just record the album because there was so many politics in the business and so many politics in the crew. But the beats and the tracks was hot, but me and Eric we say it til today , we just rapped on those albums. So then "Out of Business" came and that wasn’t even supposed to be the title, it was supposed to be "Major Business." So to our fans it was like, how can we be gone for 5 years, come "Back In Business" and be "Out Of Business" on some marketing scam? I never used any type of scam to market us. We just came through and let our music speak. AHH: So you guys are cool now? PMD: Yea we got 7 songs done on the album, We got hits. We got hits sittin there. But we also know from the 5 years we took off, that we seen a lot of guys just rush up and not do it right. And once you play yourself, That’s it in the game you can’t come back. So that’s why I’m doing my homework, you know were not on J Records no more, I got distribution. And Clive hooked us up and helped us. And Russell hooked us up and helped us. When we come through, we have to know how to put our own poster together, and put our own t-shirt together and not have to call this person or that person to hook that up. Ahh: Will the next EPMD Album be an independent release? PMD: Well, whever the chips may fall, that’s the beauty of it. We have something just sittin there waiting to do whatever we want to do with it. AHH: When you and Eric did have problems was it politics, money, or ego? PMD: With me, I was lucky because I was handling the business. The only thing that I didn’t do on EPMD’s first 3 albums was write Eric’s rhymes. Eric wrote his own rhymes. 90% of the production, PMD did. So when your wrapped up in the production, the management, the business, and the touring, I was in a zone. I had options, but the problems started in 1991 and it all came to a head in 92. I was like let me finish this business and then I’ll get back and see what’s going on. Luckily I did that because that was what made the legendary status. So If I would have gotten caught up in all that stuff , you would have never even heard of Redman or Das Efx. All the problems that we were having started in 1991 not 92. And I had to make decisions because Russell had millions in this and Sylvia had millions in this so I did what I had to do. I took the tour out there to see what was up. When I came back home it got crazy. It was mass confusion. AHH: With you doing most of the production, was the money split causing the riff? PMD: That’s the crazy part, because with all the work I was doing, it was still a 50/50 split. So everything was split half. That’s what I’m saying, it wasn’t a direct hit. It was heat coming from the outside. And I was still cool with it even to this day. EPMD is 50/50. Redman, I don’t even want any part of that, take it. Das Efx, there was a 10 % differential for the simple fact that I knew how to do the deal, I took care of the image, and I had an existing relationship with Sylvia Rhone through my production deal with K-Solo. Shuma management already existed in 1990 before the Hit Squad. So with all that, it was only a 10 percent difference with the Das Efx deal. Eric had Redman, I had […]

Masked gunmen storm your house and tie up your friends in an attempt to find you. Meanwhile, you are on a tour of the country with your boy Erick and crew the Hit Squad (Das EFX, Redman and K-Solo). You play it cool and continue with the business of hip-hop legacy building. While most people would lose their wits, for PMD it was business. A converted soloist, PMD dropped a pair of albums without E, but he’s finally come into his own with The Awakening . The album features Fat Joe, Hit Squad alumni K-Solo, The new Hit Squad (The Final Chapter) and even Erick. AllHipHop talked to PMD about his life, the way things were and the current state of affairs. AllHipHop.com: Talk to me about the new album PMD: The new album is called the Awakening, it has 18 cuts on it. Basically it’s cool cause it’s on my new label Boondocks and I took the independent route. It’s distributed through Caroline and I don’t have the pressure to go gold or platinum. I already did that. So now, I been in the game like 15 years. I came in on Sleeping Bag, Came in on Def Jam, was on J records. When your younger, you just wanted to be an artist and hear your song on the radio. That’s basically what everybody wanted to do. But now that I’m on the other side, I am able to keep the creative point of view and be able to run the business at the same time. AHH: Did you step back from production because of the rigors of running the business? PMD: To be honest with you, I been in the game since 82 and then in 92 with the EPMD break up and Redman , Das EFX and K-Solo, there wasn’t like somebody helping me to do that. I just had heart from the hood. So after Unfinished Business, I didn’t want to have sons near me, I wanted to take other artists, let them become established, so they can be on the same level. AHH: EPMD defiantly prophesized all that’s going on in hip hop with " The Cross Over". With you new album, are you staying away from the radio friendly material? PMD: Yea, yea, with EPMD I never had to cross over. I had a dope song and basically with "The Cross Over" we told people that you could crossover with out playing yourself. You check out the hook, with the Roger Trautman in it and the respect is there really because hip-hop decides who they like and who they don’t. People turn this into a big street thing, and the streets, and the streets. But when Kool Herc and Bambataa, and all of them started this , the whole purpose of hip-hop was to get out of the streets. You know you don’t have to be out there with the gat and you don’t have to be out there slingin. You can tag or you can DJ or you can rap. Now these cats are so, whatever the right word is with the street game , that they prophesized it and they talked it into existence. And when you do that, you see with Pac and Biggie, you seen it with us. And we were like yo let’s put this pen down because were writing the wrath that’s coming to us. So you gotta learn more about the world you live in and America as a whole and know that we can only know so much from the hoods that we came up in because we are in little boxes. Hip hop allowed us to know what was going on in NY and Cali and ok we got a little thing going. But, America’s been here for years, we don’t understand enough about this money, we don’t understand enough about these taxes. So we need to fall back, get used to handling money, get used to dealing with people because it aint about you. AHH: One thing that EPMD was always respected for was the "Boondocks" theme and not really claiming any street hood. So how did the street aspect of the game come back to you? PMD: Well what happens is when your young and your in the hood, nobody’s really messing with you because nothing’s really jumping off, you just like everybody else. But then the minute stuff starts to pop, you have to trust somebody. It’s just like any movie for years, you never know when you got a kook in your camp. A lot of people when they have success, they surround themselves with people , But you really don’t know. And if you surround yourself with a wack team and they just yes men, when they’re around you everything is cool but when your not around their on the phone or plottin or whatever the case may be. So what I learned through all of these years is that you only have control over yourself. And somehow or another, through the success of EPMD, when you one of the most ruggedest groups, when your one of the people bringing the truth and speaking truth, and people hear your lyrics how you coming straight from the heart, then they get intimidated or whatever and they feel like they gotta take other means. As opposed to just speaking to you like a man. So with Eric and I, our biggest downfall was trying to pull too many people on. Then the plane got to heavy and if you didn’t have the eject systems, you would go down with the plane. I had my eject systems, and I love my mic so much no matter what would go on, the point is that you still gotta be able to spit that fire, without sounding like struggling and you still gotta be able to take care of that business. AHH: Did those experiences cause you to step away a bit? PMD: Yea, because […]