Rolling Stone Interview With Ice Cube

[DudeAsInCool]

Ice Cube: Ten Ways to Save Hip-Hop

Common was fretting about the state of hip-hop way back in 1994, on his first hit, "I Used to Love H.E.R.," a song that compared hip-hop to a girl who ran off with some gangsta guy. Five albums in, Common is on better terms than ever with the music. He describes his reconciliation with hip-hop on "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)," his hit ballad with his main squeeze, Erykah Badu, which updates "I Used to Love H.E.R.": "We broke up and got back together/To get her back I had to sweat her." And he's made the most adventurous album of his career: The new Electric Circus (produced in part by Roots drummer ?uestlove) is a free-for-all that recalls the ambition of late-Eighties classics from the Jungle Brothers.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have a few pointers for his colleagues, though. "I really don't want to be preachy," he says over five cups of tea at a Lower Manhattan Thai-food place. But his vision is distinctly more bohemian and less bling.

1 Free Your Mind, and Their Asses Will Follow

"I worry when people are able to imitate hip-hop so well on Saturday Night Live skits -- it means we have set this culture up to be just one thing. I think the big problem comes from us trying to please the crowd. We limit hip-hop to just one look, one uniform, one statement of being real: getting money and guns and women, or selling dope all the time.

"But you try to please the crowd, and the crowd might change. They may say, 'We're tired of that gangsta stuff.' Or a new cat will come in, doing the same thing as you. But because his face is new, he'll get accepted. As Ice Cube said, 'They'll have a new nigga next year.'

"Rock artists are allowed to just be themselves -- to be the nerds or punk rockers or skateboarders or acid takers that they are. Stevie Wonder or Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan or Bob Marley -- they did songs about all type of different things. You can't make yourself secure by just trying to please whatever is happening now. I believe you please the crowd by being you."

2 Don't Let Your Homeys on Your Albums

"In hip-hop, we let our homeys rap on our records all the time, and sometimes that's not what they were meant to do, bro. I believe in providing opportunities for our brothers and sisters, but my record is my child: You gotta be bringing something special to a song to be on it. This is my art -- if you ain't got league game, I don't think you should be playing in the league. There are other ways your people can make it in the music business."

3 Check Out the Hood in Cuba

"I was talking to some of the guys from Linkin Park, and they were telling me that they toured for two years straight. Only one band does that in hip-hop: the Roots.

"Hip-hop artists need to tour more -- both to build a real fan base and just to see different cultures, and know that this is a world hood. Southern cats need to experience New York and Paris or Cuba; East Coast artists need to experience Chicago and the Midwest, go down to Jamaica or Italy."

4 Hot Producers Can Burn You

"We get coerced by our record labels to use the producers of the moment -- the 'in thing' they think can get us to the promised land. Ask yourself: Are you making music just to have a producer's name on your song, or are you trying to make something good? Put it this way: I think the Neptunes are some of the greatest musicians around, but what's gonna make the consumer differentiate you from the other twelve artists that they produced?"

5 Don't Think Rhyming About Bitches and Ho's Doesn't Influence Five-Year-Olds

"Words are power. Don't think you can rap about money and bitches and ho's and shooting somebody and then make it better by giving ten dollars to somebody in the community. Your words are probably destroying more people than the ten dollars is helping. Your words are affecting the five-year-old riding in the back of their daddy's car; your words are affecting how the world sees you. I listen to the Roots and Mos Def, and I also listen to Dr. Dre and the Clipse -- we just need to have balance in the music."

6 Look for the Union Label

"Many artists don't have health, life insurance and dental and medical benefits -- and they don't have the legal advisers that truly have the artists' interests at heart. I'd love to see a support system in hip-hop -- actors have a union, NBA players have one, so why not MCs? I would set up medical and dental and life insurance for artists -- maybe even a pension plan for old-school cats."

7 Put Your Money in the Bank, Not on Your Records

"You really need to know what's going on with your money; sit down and go over what's going on with your accountant. At the same time, the music in hip-hop sometimes seems like an afterthought, because the dream is just to get money. You gotta create the art and let the finance come as a result of it."

8 Know Your History

"A lot of shorties got into hip-hop in the Biggie-Tupac era, or even later. We can't live back in the Eighties, and I don't wanna try to re-create it, but to really know it, you need to know its history, from the Sugarhill Gang to Grandmaster Flash to KRS-One on up."

9 Keep an Eye on Your Record Company

"My album's out, and I still ain't got all of my advance check. Hip-hop artists get less long-term development than rock artists -- hip-hop albums are looked at as a product that should get a quick return, and if it ain't catching on, they don't work it like they do the rock artists. It's hard, because rock artists have more of an outlet: MTV reaches more people than BET."

10 Make Your Music Look Like Your Life

"For one, we all didn't grow up in the ghetto. And even if you did, there's more to ghetto life than just violence and sex and getting money -- there's a lot of beauty in the community aspect of it. That needs to be reflected in the music. Most people I know from the ghetto don't want to glorify ghetto life -- ain't nobody happy to have to sell dope, and most people don't wanna talk about killing people and violence. As my father used to say, 'Even gangster dudes go to church.' "

NATHAN BRACKETT • Rolling Stone

(February 25, 2003)

[DudeAsInCool]

Another interview--from Trickology.com

The Most Beautifullest Interview

By whatdaumm

Any real hip hop head can tell you that when first this new kid rhyme on Erick Sermon's "Hostile" that they were immediately mesmerized. That kid was Keith Murray. His cameo debut on "Hostile" is probably one of the most memorable in hip hop history. That moment launched his career that has been a road of ups and downs. From gold records(Most Beautifullest Thing In This World) to police records(allegedly hitting someone with a barstool) Keith Murray still has the same hunger he had back in 1994. The latest in the Murray rollercoast his the rumors of surrounding his dismisal from Def Jam. We got to sit down and chat with him about that.

There are a lot of rumors what happened at Def Jam can you clarify for our readers what exactly went down?

KEITH MURRAY: What happened was I got into a situation unrelated with one of the workers out of the office. He took the situation to Def Jam saying he was scared of me. He couldn't work under that pressure so they elected to release me.

After you left the label Def Jam proceeded to drop your album, another single and another video  how do the royalties work in a situation like this?

Well they stopped promoting my album in 2 months. I got released 2 months before it came out and they stopped promoting it. They still put it out. Any sales I still get royalties and distribution.

How did Def Jam compare to Jive creatively and business wise?

I gotta say that Jive was much better as far as creatively. Jive let me do what I wanted to do. Me and Erick made the tapes and took it there. Def Jam tried to control me creatively. You can't cut the checks and still tell me what to make and how to make records. You signed me because of what I do. You know everybody up there got face in it.   That's why I was dissatisfied with Def Jam because I was out of my zone. Business wise? Def Jam used to be a Mom and Pop boutique record label. Then they got bought out by Universal. At the time I made the deal I wasn't thinking of that. When I went to Def Jam I didn't get that boutique situation I was looking for. I got a corporate situation, I thought that Kevin and Lyor would be hand and hand every step of the way while I be creative but they weren't. Jive, I never really even dealt business with Jive. I was signed to Erick's production company. He gets the budget, he gives me my advance and I make the record and they put it out. I just felt that Jive could have marketed me better because I was out there with the best of them and having elbow room just from the music alone. I didn't really see my sales match my popularity.

How do you see your album catalog are you happy with it?

"It's A Beautiful Thing" was incomplete when I went to jail. I told Jive not to put it out. They had somebody go in and try to complete it. So I was dissatisfied with that album. They wanted to put it out and try to recoup whatever they put out. This album with Def Jam, I like this album. It's got a lot of down to earth issues I never spoke about in my time of making records. I think this album was better than "It's A Beautiful Thing". So I'm like 85 percent thrilled about my catalog.

So you dropped your album in 1994, has the process changed since then when it comes to putting a LP together?

I dropped it in December 1994. The process is more commercial. Everybody wants that gimmick. You have to have that gimmick. You got to be on the dance floor.   

Do you think Def Jam was serious about promoting you or do you think they used you as a tax write off?

When I first signed to them they were serious. Eventually I became a tax write off.

So being a famous rapper how has this been against you when dealing with the legal system?

The harshness of the law. I felt more people view my case in society so they have to be harsh less lenient to set an example that we are the law and we will enforce what we choose.

What has changed in the industry since you got in it? For specifics you could get in for people who are excited about it and think it's like it was in 1990?

All the mixshows no more. They have a list of records that they are allowed to play. Certain mixshow DJ's can play what they want but a majority of the DJ's have a list what they have to play. That is where we use to be real dominant as far as DJ feel your record he can play it. Now? It has to go from mixtape  hot on a mixtape then it gets leverage to play on mix shows and when it is dominant on mix shows it can go to their radio. But a few of them that can go straight in to rotation. Now it is more of a fad. Hip Hop is a fad than it was back then. You know?   Originality has reached a high time low.

Has college radio helped a bit?

College radio is the greatest. It is resorting back to that. They driving everything independent back into college radio. They driving everything underground for artists that is striving for people to hear their music. But everybody rhymin' now. '94 to '95 to '99 it was just a few people. Now, the old white lady across the street raps, the Muslim guy down the street raps. It's full blown. It's a dog eat dog world. It has always been dog eat dog but just 10 out of 10 rap now. Before it was 5 out of 10, 8 out of 10. It's good but it's controlled by people who manipulate the mind of the consumer. Now rap is something different for a different type of consumer. Mediocrity is the standard quo. You don't even need to possess a grain of salt of skill to be considered exceptionable in this industry.

What do you have coming up next?

I have an album I'm finishing up right now. If I don't go with certain individuals, I'm gonna go straight independent and receive a bigger return from the sales of records from my intellectual property.

Who are the producers you are working with?

Erick Sermon, Rockwilder, some new producers. At the very end I am gonna get two more A list producers. I'm just doing the bulk of it now and then going to get what I need to finish it.

Is there going to be another Def Squad LP in the works sometime soon?

Def Squad was on Def Jam. When our managers sit down and able to talk about that then I will be able to discuss that.

Is the Internet a factor to you of downloading your albums at all?

Yea, I get a lot emails saying they downloaded my albums. I'm just like if I can make money where I can make money. People are gonna do what they want to do. I even download music like Lynard Skynard and them. Because I need to hear it. If you ain't want to buy it then do what you gotta do. I'm not thrilled by it.

Name 10 of your favorite emcees and producers without naming Def Squad members.

Rakim, KRS One, Ice Cube, G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Jay Z, Nas, Beanie Siegel, Mobb Deep, Outkast. Premier, Dre, Pete Rock, Marley Marl, Alchemist, Havoc, Outkast, Beatminers.

What has the public not heard that you wish to express in the near future musically and lyrically?

The Real Keith Murray released from Jail. I got fire and desire. I'm doin' me I ain't worried about what this nigga gonna say cuz they worth this. You know what I'm saying? I ain't worried what niggaz gonna say. I ain't listen to the radio. I'm just writing deep deeper than the bottomless pit.

How can a producer get in touch with you if they wish to collaborate with you?

[email protected] That is my partner Jon Shapiro