When P.Diddy calls you in to battle the best rapper in a house
of young lyricists, you take the opportunity seriously. The success of battling
Ness, On MTV’s Making The Band 2, led to Jae Millz landing
a deal with Warner Brothers where he released the certified street banger “No,
No, No” produced by Scram Jones.
Business problems with the label caused Millz to jump ship to Universal where
he is now set to release his still debut LP Back To Tha Future this
spring. With appearances by heavyweights like Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and T.I. in
line, this isn’t your lackluster debut.
In this AllHipHop.com interview, Millz cites his Hip-Hop roots, looks at the
Ness battle, and even reveals how one if his peers is using the battle system
to get ahead, and jerking Millz in the process. We been riding with Millz since
’03, and it’s time to re-up.
AllHipHop.com: Who is best battle emcee in the game right now?
Jae: Me. Somebody was telling me the other day because I was the
first artist of 2005 to appear on the MTV News You Hear It First segment. And
the description it gave, it said my style was Jay-Z rocking with Jadakiss, something
crazy like that. And when they started doing the article it said Rakim, Big
L, Nas, Fat Joe, Mase, they showed people that I said were my inspiration. I’m
lyrical; I can kill anybody, lyrically. I am not saying people is wack, or I
am the best, but if it come down to it, I am gonna do what I got to do.
AllHipHop.com: Can you explain to the readers what happened
in the battle between you and Ness on making the band?
Jae: Me and Ness battled for about an hour. On MTV they showed about two minutes,
I wasn’t mad. [Puffy] said it was a draw on TV, he said it was draw that
night when we was really there. It was just crazy that they only showed three
rounds, we went five rounds, and he wanted to cut the cameras off, cause I was
getting so disrespectful and so crazy. It got very ugly in there. Anybody who
seen the uncut footage on DVD’s floating around [knows].
AllHipHop.com: Has your ability to freestyle helped you with
your song writing skills?
Jae: Of course, because when I first started off when I used to
battle a lot, all my songs sounded like I was battling. My moms always used
to tell me that all the stuff I talked about on my songs would sound angry.
Everywhere I went I just wanted to have ten rhymes in my head that I could just
say that nobody heard and I could just zone out. That’s how I was really
running around, I would just leave my house if I know I was going to a Ruff
Ryder or a Bad Boy session or a party or a video shoot you never know what can
happen. So as long as I got ten new rhymes in my head, the average person ain’t
got ten new rhymes that none of his people heard, that nobody heard that have
people like [S**t!]. Nobody really thinks like that, but that’s how I
used to think.
AllHipHop.com: Do you use your actual battle lyrics in your
songs?
Jae: Yes, but it wasn’t really appealing to people. That’s
not what people really wanted to hear. Now that I am a little older, I realize
when you trying to promote somebody, when you trying to work a single, work
an album, or an artist, you have to have those records. Nobody just wants to
hear you saying punch lines, so I had to figure out how to make a song, but
I still had all those battle rhymes, ’cause that’s what I was still doing.
AllHipHop.com: How do you think the transition from a rapper
with a buzz on the streets to a rapper trying to achieve commercial success
will be for you?
Jae: It’s not really a transition for me. This is what I do. I am an MC. I don’t have to switch my style up or sound like nobody,
I am real versatile. I could switch my style up like crazy. I grew up listening
to Kane, Rakim, Jay, Nas, Big, Pac and all them, and I was still listening to
Snoop, and Eazy and all them old NWA joints, then you got Big L, Cam and Mcgruff
and Mase. I was influenced by all this but I am straight New York n***a. I know
how to get on a down South bounce, I know how to rhyme slow over a screwed beat
how they do down in Texas, I know how to get on a Cali joint and get my bounce
on, I know how to slow it up on a crunk beat I know how to do all that. But
I am a New York n***a. Fat Joe’s Jealous Ones Envy and AZ’s Do or
Die. When I first got my first stereo, my moms got me those two albums for Christmas,
my moms pick those out for me, since then every payday I would ask my mom for
two CD’s and she just started hitting me with every CD I got. I’m
Hip-Hop. Can’t nobody tell me nothing.
AllHipHop.com: Is there room for you coming from Harlem, when Dip Set and Mase
are already holding Harlem down?
Jae: Oh yeah, I rocks with all of them – Cam, Jim, Juelz, Hell Rell, JR, those
my people. I know all of them. I got a good relationship with Mase. I know Loon,
I know Poster Boy, Mcgruff. I am not trying to step on nobody’s toes
or trying to compete to be the king of Harlem, nobody is gonna be the king of
Harlem because to me Big L got that.
AllHipHop.com: You were battling at the Mixshow Power Summit
in Puerto Rico.
Jae: Yeah, I was out there in the Fight Club battle, with me,
Jin, Shellz, and Wreckonize. I took an L, first round. I came in third place.
I lost to Shellz and everybody he came to Puerto Rico with. I’m keep it
real, you ain’t got to edit none of this out, that boy had all his people
directly behind me on the stage. He said some aight s**t, but I came back at
him. I think the things I was saying in my rhymes he took that personal, ‘cause
I know him. I battled him before and what was so crazy was, I think he took
that personal, his people thought I was really trying to stunt on him. So when
I started rhyming his people just starting airing me out with the boo’s,
and I ain’t really know who it was because I wasn’t looking in his
direction. I’m looking at him, they behind me, so I ain’t really
peep what was going on.
So the next round he said this old rhyme that he said to me in 1998 when I battled him, So I am saying the rhyme on stage. Like, I
know he ain’t gonna play himself and say this rhyme in 2004, like I ain’t
got this on tape in my house, like we ain’t do a freestyle together and
he ain’t say his rhymes, like he ain’t say this rhyme on Stretch
Armstrong years ago, this little battle rhyme that he said every battle growing
up, so I was just there listening and I’m saying the whole battle rhyme
out with him, and I think the judges thought I was trying to be cocky and say
his rhyme with him, but I really knew the rhyme.
After that, the next time I started rhyming they started booing me again, like really crazy. It was so much politics involved with it, it wasn’t nothing after that, I still
gave him a pound, gave all the judges a pound, walked off the stage, looked
at the rest of the battle. But me and him, I don’t rock with him anymore.
AllHipHop.com: What subjects are you gonna touch on your debut album?
Jae: I’m gonna take ya’ll to the hood, take ya up to Harlem; let you
know where I’m coming from on a Hip-Hop level. I’m gonna let ya’ll
party for a minute, give you some punch lines. Stop a couple beats with it.
Take ya’ll to the South real quick and get real dirty, take ya’ll
through my emotions and through my life. That’s how I’m gonna walk
ya’ll out. I got this song on my album called ‘Feel At The Moment’.
Things I went through with my pops. The intro and my outro on my album is better
that most peoples whole albums, Hip-Hop-wise. AllHipHop.com: What’s your 2005 New Year’s resolution?
Jae: Stop being so lazy, I ain’t gonna lie. I can’t
be this year cause there’s a lot of money involved, there’s a lot of serious
people involved. Sylvia Rhone is about her business, everybody over at Universal,
there’s so much going on, I can’t be lazy, I gotta be on point right
now.