Legendz

The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Is that statement actually true? It might be true in some cases, but in Hip-Hop is that particular saying even worthy of a valid argument? Well that’s when it gets a little tough.

Every decade of Hip-Hop has seen its fair share of change, some might say for the good, and of course others will say for the bad. It literally went from being shy and innocent, to being completely business savvy and marketable. And in between those two transformational periods, you can’t forget about the “Afro-centric,” “Gangsta,” “Conscious,” or the other transitions that people have lived through and witnessed.

Even with this new day of Hip-Hop, some of its elder statesmen have continued on treading water and staying afloat instead of being drowned by all the inconsistency that surrounds them. But if you want to go back in time and see the evolution of one of Hip-Hop’s most consistent contributors, then jump in your Delorean and set the timer back to 1992. That’s where you’ll find Buckshot (known as Buckshot Shorty back then) rapping about how he’s going to play a n***a like “Sega,” or catch him talking about his baggy black jeans, knapsack and his beeper on Black Moon’s classic hit “Who Got Da Props?.”

After you’ve driven back to the present, you’ll find Buckshot no longer rapping about beepers (like they still ex ist anyways), nor will you hear him rapping about playing a n***a like “Sega.” The beepers have been replaced by Sidekicks, and the Sega Master System has long crumbled into oblivion with PSP’s, PS3’s, and XBOX 360’s taking over the videogame universe. Even though the man born as Kenyatta Blake doesn’t make the same impact as he did back then, plenty of the fans that grew him throughout those years still anticipate his album releases.

The man behind the boards of his last highly successful release, Chemistry is another 30-something Hip-Hopper who also likes his music a certain way. Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit is the second half of the team that brought you 2005’s Chemistry, and is also behind songs like; Erykah Badu’s “Honey,” Destiny’s Child’s “Girl,” “Is She The Reason,” and “Game Over,” and “Good Woman Down” by Mary J. Blige. Now some would say with production credits like those on your resume, why would you want to bother with a “quote-un-quote” underground MC in his 30’s?

The answer is simple. He was already asked a question similar to that one in an interview last year, and his answer was plainly: “There’s nothing like listening to an album with a consistent sound all the way through, we’re used to that. We’re used to listening to records that you can just put in your car and ride to.” And when we said “we’re,” he meant all of the Hip-Hop lovers that are also entering their third decade of life. So with that, he and Buckshot are set to release their second album together rightfully named, Formula. Two fans of the music from different parts of the country, coming together to form a single union for one goal; “Consistency.”


So what have you been up to these days?

Buckshot: Well as for the Formula, we moved it back to April 29th now.

You did?

Buckshot: Yeah, we actually had it coming out April 15th, but the buzz has been picking up a little bit better. So it just makes more sense for people to get a chance to be like, “What are they talking about?!”

So how does Formula differ from Chemistry?

Buckshot: Um, it’s more natural. I think what separates this album from Chemistry is that it captures adult contemporary Hip-Hop. It’s the kind of Hip-Hop that you can play in a party, in a club, or in the house. You can play it wherever you’re at, and you don’t have to feel a certain type of way about. Like, if its too booty shaking, or if its conscious, its just right in the middle. It’s just a feel good album.

How was the creative process like when you guys were creating this record? Did you two agree on everything?

Buckshot: It was real natural, 9th [Wonder] just gave me beats, and I rhymed to them. The concepts I come up with are based upon the music. I don’t like to come up with fake concepts, and try to write around it. It’s just natural. Where I’m at right now, is where I need to be, and where I want to be at. There is nowhere else for me to be at. Creative wise, mentally, and just every other aspect—I’m at the seed of my fruit. So that means that when 9th gives me the beat and it sounds good, I hear the concept, and then I go-in and I write and I give it to the people, and they’re either going to like it or they don’t like it. Somehow, some way, some reason—they just like it.

So that’s the one part of music that none of us can explain. We can try to explain it once we get on like, “Yo when I did that album I was in some type of zone.” GET OUTTA HERE! Bottom line is this: You don’t know if people will like it or not, all you can do is roll the dice. And that’s pretty much it.

How did you and 9th Wonder initially hook up in the first place?

Buckshot: What’s funny is that we heard of 9th Wonder through Evil Dee. Evil Dee mentioned him as being one of his favorite producers, and that caused Dru Ha to go back and get some more information on him. Then he went and listened to more of his music, and he like, “Buck I think we need to get with this guy 9th Wonder.” Then I was like, “I never heard of his music, let me hear some of his music.” Then he let me hear the music, and then I said, “I don’t know this guy, but whoever he is, he’s dope.”

So we went down there and got up with him, and he did tracks for Smif-N-Wessun and Ruck. It was like a Tuesday, and him and me just ended up doing music together. He gave me a beat, and I was like, “I like this!” Then I recorded the track, and I was like, “How do you like that?” And he was like, “I like that!” Then other people were like, “Why don’t y’all do an album?” And I was like, “Why don’t we?” And he was like, “Word!” “Lets do it!” We work so naturally together, that our chemistry is good. And then we were like, “Why don’t we call our album chemistry?” And that’s how it all happened.

So are 9th Wonder and Buckshot collaborations something that’s going to be a regular occurrence?

Buckshot: Of course, of course—I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think that I’m totally one trillion, ga-zillion [Laughs] percent blessed that I can come out in 1993 and here we go in 2008. You got Chemistry and all theses other projects coming out, and it has been a lot of years. It’s a blessing to be reborn through children of the people that were first listening to Beatminerz. It’s like I was reborn through 9th Wonder and The Justus League, because they’re like a Black Moon of today. Not creative-wise, but just scenario-wise.

Just like you said, you’ve been in the game for a long time.

Buckshot: Yup, for a very long time. I didn’t think it would ever be possible for me to talk like that.

How do you think you’ve remained relevant?

Buckshot: I think it’s because I don’t want anything from this game. In my heart I really am doing it because I was born to do this. I don’t know anything else. I was born with this talent. I was born with creativity, and I was born to be connected to the life.

People always hear me talk about conscious stuff and then they’ll hear un-conscious stuff, and then they get confused. Life is a balance. Life is a representation of the number 8, that’s infinity. That means that everything good happens; bad happens. You have to take the ups and downs together. And that’s what Boot Camp and Duck Down represents to you—the good and the bad, the ups and the downs.

So if you go to our shows, you’ll see white kids, black kids, Chinese kids, and all different kinds of races representing one union, which is what we bring to the table. Our longevity in the game has been through the people, literally. From our people from our generation, to the people that are under us that’s coming up.

Speaking of the people that are coming up under you, do you feel as if you’re competing with the younger talent that’s out there today?

Buckshot: I compete on different levels. With me, my competition is with labels and a certain style of MC’ing and all that. So to answer your question don’t I feel like I’m competing with the little n***as like Lil’ Wayne and stuff like that—they are of TODAY. No matter what I do, I won’t be able to replace, or take their time. I move on another level, meaning when are they going to get to my level, and where I’m at? Then there will be a Lil’ Wayne when Lil’ Wayne becomes “Buckshot’s” age. It’s cycle. And I’m saying that I no matter what—I can never go back to; “Who Got Da Props?,” “I Got Cha Opin,” “Buck ‘Em Down,” and “I Ain’t No Joke.” None of those records, I can’t go back to that.

That was for that era, and for that time when we was young, and we were doing [our] thing. That was the life that we lived at that time. And this is the reason why I’m creating or trying to promote adult contemporary Hip-Hop. Because there is a still person like “Buckshot” who is still relevant to making good music, but it just might not be preferable to society or to the young people because I’m not talking about purple-colored sneakers, orange socks, Bathing Apes, cartoon heroes, and the latest dances. That’s what is going on now, it’s supposed to go on now, and I promote it going on now. When I was young, I was doing my thing, so I promote what they’re doing.

So with that said, there isn’t anything that bothers you about today's Hip-Hop?

Buckshot: The one thing that bothers me about Hip-Hop today is non-ability to use your skills. I mean, c’mon man. I tell people if you want to know why KRS [One] stood out in his era is because he had a voice, style, and a way of talking. Hip-Hop was based around certain things that make it attractive. So when people heard “Buckshot’s” voice, they were attracted to his voice and his style. So what makes it different are those things. Have your own voice, have your own flow, your own conversation, and your own style. Then you’ll make it, and you’ll blow and move on like the rest of us.

My only problem is—that there is a one-page vocabulary page that every rapper uses. It’s like: Money, liquor, cars, jewelry, struggle, hustle, crack, cocaine, grind, brick, package, and dope. All these things are on one page, and these rappers—all they do is re-arrange it. Like it’s re-arranging a jigsaw puzzle. Instead of saying brick-grind-cars, they’ll say grind-brick-jewelry. We’re talking about the same thing, because that’s the only thing we want to talk about right now. That’s why you have to start listening to XM Radio, and all those others, so you can get away from the programming of the average radio station, because you will get tired of it too, as a common person would.

Is that everything that gets to you?

Buckshot: That’s the only problem that I got. Be creative, and I have no problem with it. Lil’ Wayne is very creative, 50 Cent is another creative person of today. He’s very flowetic, and very powerful. So there are artists of today that I do love. People always want to say things aren’t what they used to be. Well then change it by being—why don’t we have more radio stations and more video outlets than we do rappers? That’s because everybody wants to be a rapper, and that’s my opinion.

But with a lot of labels sprouting up these days, a lot of people think they have a good chance at making it.

Buckshot: Well a lot of the information that these labels are putting out is false and it’s not true. They don’t teach you about this business, they don’t teach you anything. Now you can buy a handbook on how to get in the game. First off it’s like, “Are you a rapper?” “Are you an MC?” “Well then how can you tell me about this game if you were never in this?” “How can you tell me about anything?” “Cause what?” “Because you signed a couple of rappers?” The difference between me as a label and other labels is the fact that I did it, on both ends, so I can relate to everybody. I don’t like when these people come out of college and they never been involved in our music, our lifestyle, or our culture. But they own these labels, and they start telling us stuff about how we should do it.

Meanwhile they ain’t got NO EXPERIENCE! Some guy named “Lenny Schmockenflyer” who doesn’t know anything about our culture, but he’s going to tell you how to get in the business, and we as a culture are going to buy his book, and that’s just going to make him even richer.

So you think times are changing for the worst?

Buckshot: We’re in a time where it’s a perfect time for you to come up. There are not a lot of crazy things going on, like we’re evolving with the whole presidency thing. There are just a lot of things that are changing over, and it’s a good time. Now you can’t be like, “Oh I can’t get a chance.” Now is a good time. Get your own website, get your own product, and just use that to get yourself out there in the world. But there are a lot of artists out there lying by saying they’re getting $7.00 per record, when they’re not. All you have to do is go to and I can show you how to get that where ever you go.