iTzMe

First off, I love M.O.P.! Let me just get that out of the way. While they have never seen serious mainstream success, there are a lot of other groups who have came and went since M.O.P. made its debut in 1993 with “How About Some Hardcore”. Their longevity can be attributed to an extremely loyal underground fan base and a passion for what they do.

HHNLive.com writer D. Shanks hooks up with Billy Danze (M.O.P.) and up-coming MC Ikka'bod to discuss working with G-Unit, whether or not the M.O.P. sound is still relevant, Billy's Rock aspirations, the struggle, DJ Premier and much more.

Billy Danze on M.O.P. in 2007: "I don’t need to be in a studio trying to impress any fu@#$ng body and telling lies."

D.Shanks: Aiight brothers, lets get right into what’s poppin’. What are we promoting? Is it that rock collab with Danze that I’ve been seeing everywhere?

Danze: Yes sir, Heavy Metal…that “730”…

D.Shanks: Ok, Ok, that’s crazy too (by the way). Now this is different…yall were running with another band before for a previous collabo…

Danze: What you talking about son?

D.Shanks: A couple years ago you did a rock collabo…not the Marxmen joint…

Danze: Oh you talking about The Mash Out Posse

D.Shanks: Ok, so this is a totally different situation?

Danze: This is totally different right now. We got the 730 joint out there now. My man Ikka’bod laid that down for us. Also, we got my girl Fox on the record; I’m on the record, Teflon on the record. My little man Lukie on the record. Sha Monopoly on the record…We got a lot of dudes on this record. Busta Rhymes supposed to come and get down and do a joint with us…Wyclef…so we got a whole bunch of artists on here…and the new artists on here that no one recognizes...they’re definitely worthy so we’re just putting this thing together so everyone can get their glow.

D.Shanks: So this is a straight First Family financed operation. This has nothing to do with G Unit or any of your other affiliations?

Danze: Not at all. This is just First Family brother.

D.Shanks: So what’s the (release) date on this?

Danze: Well right now as you see we got the “730” out there. So like next month we’re gonna put another joint out there called “Slam” which is gonna be the next single. Like August the album is gonna drop but just before the album we got another joint called “Wigga” which is incredible too. So like August the entire joint will be out and everyone can go out there and purchase it. We definitely appreciate all the support and everything.

D.Shanks: Ok so I have to ask what everyone else is asking…Where’s the M.O.P. album?

Danze: Oh the M.O.P. album…we’re gonna do that just before October but what we’re gonna do is…like in the middle of this month, we’re gonna start launching joints. So before you even get the M.O.P. album we would’ve done sent like 10-15 joints at you…and then you’ll get the M.O.P. album.

D.Shanks: Now is everything good? Everything square over there (G Unit) with the business?

Danze: Everything is good! You know what brother, I ain’t gonna hold my tongue for nothing…

D.Shanks: I appreciate that…

Danze: …If I have a problem with somebody we go in and handle it chest to chest.

D.Shanks: I expect that. I mean yall have been real quiet so I assume everything is good over there but at the same time man, yall got a lot of fans and yall got a lot of dudes that’s disappointed. I know that because I’m talking to dudes all the time.

Danze: Right!

D.Shanks: I mean just in my inner circle of dudes I run with…we grew up on M.O.P…Real Talk!…no BS interview sh*t… and we questioned the move (to G Unit) from the beginning but it’s like “ok well if it’s good for the business then it’s good for the business”. But now 2-3 years (later), everyone has dropped but my ni##as haven’t dropped yet, what’s the problem?

Danze: Well that’s all it was. It was business. I mean being as though G Unit had already built they own empire or whatever. They had their thing going and we’ve been on our own grind for years. I look at it like a ni##a (50 Cent) extended his hand and the ni##a… there was a whole gang of other muthaphu@#$ that we came out with in the game that are in better positions (than us) that could have said “why don’t yall come over here…”. So I look at it like everything is a blessing whether it’s right or wrong. If it’s wrong we’ll learn from it, if not, then we’ll come up on it.

(during this time I hear the Mister Softee ice cream truck theme playing in the background)

D.Shanks: (Laughing) Are you in Brownsville man? Is that a Mister Softee ice cream truck?

Danze: Yea ni##a it is. I’m in the hood right now.

D.Shanks: Ok. Your last major release was Warriorz in 2000. Its been some time since then and I know you guys haven’t changed. Do you feel like there’s still a lane for you to do what you do in the game? Do you think G Unit sees that lane? Might that have anything to do with the delay? I know Sha Money (president of G Unit Records) allegedly made some comments regarding your project and whether it was being shelved and why.

Danze: I really don’t have any idea of what was said by Sha Money or whatever so I’ll tell you like I’ll tell anybody that asks me, I’ll wait ‘till I speak to Sha Money and we’ll handle it like that. As far as that lane, it’s still there cause we do it for the brothers at the bottom and the bottom ain’t changed yet…you know. I was in the bottom, my homies been in the bottom, Ikka’bod’s in the bottom out in the D (Detroit). My pops was in the bottom, my older brothers, my father’s father…so the bottom will never go anywhere. There will always be a lane for that.

Ikka’bod: And because of (President) Bush, the bottom’s getting deeper. So there’s a need for that M.O.P. realness cause these are not happy times. We just have to survive with what the f#$k we got.

D.Shanks: You mentioned that Ikka’bod is from the D. Is that what you’re repping with your music?

Ikka’bod: You know what…I rep the world. You know coming out of Detroit and coming to NY it was more about being able to identify with things. I see the same thing in Detroit that I see in Brownsville. I see Detroit in Newark, Trenton, Camden, certain parts of Harlem. So it’s something you can relate to. It’s what Bill was talking about, that bottom.

D.Shanks: I feel you. The struggle is the struggle no matter where you go.

Danze: Yo D, hear me when you hear me n@##a. This project we working on right now, this Heavy Metal sh#t, is a steamer dude. During the course of this interview I’m gonna keep beating you in the head with this sh#t so in case you don’t wanna write it you gonna write it anyway ni@#a by mistake.

D.Shanks: I know exactly where you coming from with this project dude. I have the Handle Ur Business EP in the car right now. This is a good move for you (mixing heavy metal and hip-hop). Probably should have taken this route a few years back before the Linkin Parks of the world came out.

Danze: It’s alright though. It’s all gravy cause I don’t know anybody that’s great that didn’t really fight to get there. Everybody that’s successful had to fight to get there. Ni@#as that inherit sh#t don’t hold on to it that long. Or those that don’t deserve sh#t... usually other dudes know they don’t and take it from them.

D.Shanks: True. So what’s good with Slap (Lil Fame)?

Danze: Slap is good brother. He in the studio everyday. Everyday ridiculously. I just heard the joint he did…He told me about it when he did it but I just never got around to listening to it but I just heard it on a mixtape last night. It was a joint he did with Cam’ron.

D.Shanks: He’s on the production heavy right now…

Danze: Son, that joint is incredible. You know Cam’s a good dude. Cam is my man and everything. I called this n@#$a Fame but I couldn’t get him on the phone last night. I’m mad as a muthaph#$a. I’m like “that beat is a fu#$ing smoker. Why would you give it to another n##$a?” Naw but Cam slaughtered that sh#@. It’s a real good record.

D.Shanks: Everybody else is good? Tef’s good?

Danze: Tef is good. He’s on a joint we got called “War” that we got on this Heavy Metal joint that is...like I said…I don’t wanna be yanking my own chain and I’m not just saying it because it’s family but this is the record man. This sh#% is phenomenal n@##a.

D.Shanks: So Ikka’bod, what’s your involvement on this project? Are you a musician?

Ikka’bod: Naw man, I spit too. I wish I would’ve acquired some skills as a musician at some point but naw.

Danze: Ikk(a’bod) is on a few joints on the Heavy Metal album. Of course he’s on “730” the first single. I love the video. It’s a good song. Ikk went in there and did his thing lyrically and then turned into an actor for the video. I’m like, “this is great!” This thing is coming along so good brother. I’m really proud of everyone around us because we actually pulled together when times got rough like we always do…we turn it up one notch but this time we turned it up a few. So it’s turning out real good and once again, thanks to everyone for the support.

D.Shanks: So other than what you mentioned, the Heavy Metal project and then the M.O.P. album, what else is on the horizon? I’m assuming Fox is in the studio, I’m expecting a project from her.

Danze: Listen brother, Fox was in the studio two days ago. You know what Fox is doing? Fox is dragging the audience away from the traditional M.O.P. but it’s still M.O.P. She got that First Family sound cause, there’s nothing she can do about it, it’s in her, but she’s doing like other kinds of records. I’m not talking about the little girlie records cause that ain’t Fox but she got some touching joints. Some joints that really make you think. I’m really proud of her cause she’s like, “n@#$a all I want to do is do whatever I can for the family to make ends meet but turn it up a notch ” ,and that’s what she did. She really stepped her game up and she’s really someone that muthaphu@#$as should be paying attention to.

D.Shanks: Any plans to get back in the studio with (DJ) Premier? Can we expect any Preemo on the new album?

Danze: Yea as soon as Preem sit his ass down. Preem always running.

D.Shanks: Preem’s getting that Aguilera money (laughs)

Danze: Yea…but you know it ain’t all about the money with Preem. He just wanna be able to move and create cause Preem feel the same way about this sh#@ that I do, that Ikka’bod do and that Fame do. We feel like you have to be creative with this sh@# cause there’s nothing that you could say that muthaphu@#$ ain’t already said. It’s just the way you say it so you have to pay attention to how you writing them bars or how you making them beats because it has to be special. We don’t give a f@#$ if it never leaves the hood but whoever get it won’t ever forget it.

D.Shanks: That’s a perfect segway because I’m sure you hear a lot of critics say that M.O.P. is one-dimensional. You can only get on this type of track or that type of track. You and Slap are arguably two of the most underrated emcees in the game. How do you feel or what do you say to cats that say “All they do is yell”?

Danze: I mean bru, I’m a Brooklyn ni##a! I hang out in North Philly, I hang out in Newark, NJ. Right now I’m in South Jamaica, Queens down in the bottom. This is what I know, this is what I see. When I get those little moments where I feel touched and the beat makes me want to talk about my kids and how hard it was to get on and what I wanna do when I get on then that’s what I do but I also gotta explain to a muthaph@#a what I had to do to get on because I don’t want you to forget. I’m never gonna forget. I don’t want anyone to think that it’s ok for a ni##a to sit there and give you a story. This is not a story, this is reality what I give on a record. I’m a grown ass man. I could be at home chilling with my kids, hanging with my wife. I don’t need to be in a studio trying to impress any fu@#$ng body and telling lies. I got friends that work at radio stations and have they own magazines. I could tell a lie in a magazine! I’m not going in the booth to tell a lie. In fact, I don’t know how to lie. You can ask my old lady, every time she catch me doing wrong I just had to get the f@#$ up cause I can’t lie. I just gotta be me.

D.Shanks: Now with the whole current state of hip-hop specifically the new cats coming out. What do you think about their passion and what they’re bringing to the game?

Ikka’bod: You’re asking about the way they are viewing the music right now and where they’re going with it? Is that what you’re asking?

D.Shanks: I’m piggybacking off of what Bill just said and (without injecting too much of my own opinion) saying that there’s a difference between say 94-95 when you had a M.O.P., a Gangstarr, or a Wu, where it was like this dude might not be a killer and this other dude might be but they all coexisted in the music because they all spoke their own individual truth. Now it seems like everyone’s in one lane and it’s like everyone can’t be the same thing.

Ikka’bod: Ok. I see it as…like we said, we’re all from the bottom and we all aspire to have more. We all dream about having that Benz and being all charmed up. But now instead of talking about the struggle, everyone is fantasizing about what they want and it’s taking a lot of the soul away. When you talk about ’95, you’re talking about a very creative era. People thought about doing more than one thing lyrically because it was about the love of the music. Now it’s more about a love of a life that you’re trying to live than the music. The people who are doing the music are from the bottom too but it’s the people who are guiding them, the people in the studio with them or doing the video that’s feeding them an image that they think will be hot. See that’s why this Heavy Metal project is so important cause we’re getting the chance to speak the truth over some music that you GOTTA hear. There is no creativity because there are no leaders driving the music. There are no leaders. You could never call a legendary group like M.O.P. one-dimensional. They’re multi-dimensional in the hood because they talk about more than one aspect of the hood. So if it’s angry it’s because they probably were when they made it. Real music reflects how you really feel at that particular time.

Danze: I feel personally that everything that’s going on in hip-hop right now, we absolutely need. You need right to determine what’s wrong. You need weak sh@# so you can determine what’s strong. You need broke n##@s so you can determine who’s rich. For everything, you need an opposite. If everyone was rich, there wouldn’t be anything to talk about. I mean maybe everyone would be happy financially but would we really be happy? I mean people aren’t really happy with what they have they’re just happy with what another muthaph@#a don’t have.

Ikka’bod: Now that’s cold!

Danze: So we need right-wrong, weak-strong…we need dope ni@#$s and we need wack ni@#as. That’s the balance.

D.Shanks: I feel you. Before we forget, give out some contact information so your fans can stay involved with your movement. Myspace page, website, whatever…

Danze: I like for a muthaph#@$a to email me directly.

D.Shanks: Aiight! Well put it out there.

Danze: My email is marxsman1@yahoo.com. Hit me I’ll hit you right back. However you feel about an M.O.P. project or M.O.P. period you hit me up and let me know. I like to deal with people directly. I don’t want you to run around trying to contact the label and contact this one and that one. Let me tell you what I got to tell you and you can determine if you like it or not but it’s straight from the horse’s mouth.

Ikka’bod: You can contact me at

D.Shanks: Ok any final words for your fans or for anyone out there? I’m not gonna hold you any longer cause I know you have to make a liquor run…

Danze: Heavy Metal!!! Naw but really, we appreciate all the people that have supported the family for all these years and even the new supporters that’s coming along... we ain’t mad at you, You just didn’t know any f@#$ng better. So now you know. We gonna keep sending them joints at you. So on behalf of myself, Fox, Fame, Laze E Laze, my boy Preem, Rocko, Teflon, DJ Premiere and the entire First Family, we send out our salutes and our love. Thanks.

Source: HHNLive

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"Cool As AC Cuz The Heat Secure Me"- Bank$ aka The PLK

Cropped_Stunts

Dope interview...

El Scorpio

good interview but I'm only interested in M.O.P. rap shit, not heavy metal
nice to know they want their album to be out in October, but it'll probably move back a month or two

quick19

good interview. imma check dat heavy metal shit its sumthn different and might be hot.