YounG AleX

On October 12, the industry got word that Ras Kass, after a decade-long struggle with Priority-turned-EMI-turned-Capitol Records was over and the Carson, California-representing emcee was free at last. It’s assumed that as label execs started working the phones, hungry producers got to chirping as Ras simply took a deep breath amidst what he calls the numbness of it all.

On Tuesday evening, Ras Kass, still in a state of calm and euphoria, spoke at length to HipHopDX. Although bound to limited discussion concerning the terms of his contract release, Ras Kass does hint at where he’s headed – or at least who’s offering. Despite the fact that he admits that music is an escape from insanity, the "Vincent Van Gogh of Hip Hop" also admits that he’s not hung up on throwing together an album. With at least 100 jewels on his Macbook and in notebooks, Ras Kass has the assets to deliver the greatness that he hinted at way back in 1996 with Soul On Ice. Unlike the original Van Gogh, lovers of the art of emceeing are likely to meet the master long before he leaves his canvas – instrumentals awaiting slaughter.

DX: Do you draw any parallel to being locked up in jail to being locked into a record contract?
RK: Let me say this, I can’t speak at all about the terms of my divorce, but I can do general statements. So yeah, definitely. I always felt like the experience with a contract was harsher than the prison thing. I definitely see a complete parallel. A contract, from the experiences I’ve seen, are unwritten rules. At least in prison you know the rules. A lot of this is you’ve gotta play it by ear when you sign something. It’s definitely not designed in the best interest of the artist, it’s for the multinational corporation. The same reason people are mad at [George W.] Bush for immigration: these companies are making all the money while Americans can’t fuckin’ make a living. [Laughs]

DX: To what extent do you think you’ve been a pillar of hope for other artists, whether Crooked I or Saigon or whomever, that appear to be locked into contracts? And, were there people you looked up to for hope over the last seven years?
RK: Not to sound arrogant, but I think I was a pillar of hope more so to my peers and the people who knew me. David Banner, who I saw through his hard times and tried to be a friend or Twista or whoever. We went through it at the same period, I just went through it differently. Seeing them being sincerely happy for me kind of meant a lot more for me – or Jay-Z or T.I. Technically, I was a younger kid but I’m still “Class of ’98,” when it’s about to be poppin’; odds are we can pop. [Laughs] Some people don’t know my story. [Talib] Kweli knows my story, Mos [Def] knows my story, Twista, whoever. Seeing them rallying for me in ways that they could…nobody wants to fight the fucking Goliath. I made certain choices that every artist goes through. I just chose to do things how I did them. In retrospect, maybe I can look at and say I should’ve done some of it differently, but at the time, I tried to make the best decisions I could. There’s nobody I have beef with. I’m completely happy, man. I would hope I wouldn’t make the same decisions again, but overall, it’s been an interesting ride. That’s what life’s all about anyway.

DX: Let me clarify. You and M.O.P. were some of the first major label artists who pioneered this idea of releasing mixtape-albums or street albums that were reaching chain stores like Best Buy while your paperwork was still tied up. We’re seeing that more today with Red Café, Joell Ortiz or Strong Arm Steady. I mean, the last time we spoke, Institutionalized had gotten a “XL” in XXL magazine.
RK: Those things were real accidental to be honest. What I realized was that I would be judged based on an album from ’98. Everybody evolves. So within the confines of what I could do, I wanted to people to at least hear the music. Dude, I’m growing every day. Those things were by the blessings of God or somebody reaching out to me and saying, “Hey, this is an angle that you can do.” I didn’t plan that, I was just fortunate enough to stumble onto that.

Usually I’m making music to not go crazy. [Laughs] I’m ventin’, nine times out of 10. I’m just makin’ shit, but I want some amount of people to hear it just so I can get some feedback on it. That was the main thing. Institutionalized was for me – and it was for the dude in Poland who took the time to write me a letter while I was locked up. I had to figure out ways to get that to the dude in Poland.

DX: Whether it was a phone call, a letter or leaving a meeting, what was that day of freedom like for you?
RK: I was just kind of numb. Surreal is probably the better word for it. It’s definitely not the same experience, I can’t even compare to what slavery must’ve been like. But to say “it’s over,” I was kind of used to living like this. Is this is a sick joke? Is somebody gonna say, “Syke!” [Laughs] You don’t know how to feel. On a better note, it’s probably what a football player feels like when they get drafted, and they go to the bank, and there actually is 13 million dollars in the bank. I was pretty numb.

DX: You mentioned not having beefs. In life, it can be difficult to watch people beneath you succeed. If you mature, you can deal with it. But Capitol/Virgin has found a lot of success this year with MIMS and J. Holiday. Was it frustrating when you think about how hard they worked those projects, or hearing it on the radio, and all the years you spent fighting?
RK: Nah. Everybody’s path is everybody’s path. I don’t know MIMS that well, but CL [Corey Llewellyn] from Digiwaxx was my old roommate. That’s my friend; I like to see people win. Maybe that’s the just the difference of me. I like to see my peers win, whether I can get with that particular song or not…do your thing. I never grew up gauging my success compared to the next man’s. For me, that wasn’t ever a problem. If it was, I just totally removed myself from the equation, which means I didn’t watch BET. I don’t want to be a hater. I come from L.A., and that shit means a lot. [Laughs] People that know the code of the streets and the rules of engagement know don’t be a hater. You be a congratulater. Mother Theresa said, “Why be antiwar when you can be pro-peace.” Sometimes you spend all this energy being anti-something. I’m not a homosexual, but why should I be anti-gay? I’m just pro-heterosexual. I don’t have to hate everybody. Your rights end where my start. As long as you’re not stepping on my toes, I don’t give a fuck, do your thing. I’ve tried to be appreciative and genuinely happy for everybody. Because if I had to compare my bank account to Xzibit’s or Jay-Z’s or Nas’ or even Game’s, I’d jump off a building. [Laughs]

DX: To what extent do you call yourself a free agent today? To every? To none?
RK: I am a free agent in every sense of the word.

DX: In the past, a lot of us sensed you were moving towards Aftermath and later G-Unit, especially when both were becoming homes to artists with troubled deals in the past. You couldn’t speak on it then, that was years ago, what about now?
RK: You know what? Time changes, man. There are things I didn’t speak on…I can speak on them now, I guess. I had an opportunity to do DTP [Disturbing Tha Peace] for the last year and a half. I just asked people to be patient with me. They just had a lot of talented artists, and who knows, they just made peace with Chingy. So who knows? I really haven’t had…it’s been three or four days. I’ve had some interesting conversations within those three, four days, but I don’t know. My job is to get back into the studio. I’ve been waiting to exhale, and I’m exhaling right now. Now I can actually work.

DX: Is that what the process is now, shopping an album instead of shopping yourself as an artist?
RK: I’m blessed enough to have relationships with Dr. Dre or Bun B or Jazze Pha, and have somebody say, “What are you doing? Get in here now. Let’s do it!” Okay, fuck it, let’s do it! I think I’m in unique category because I think people genuinely respect my talent and genuinely like me and are rooting for me, so that’s my blessings. That’s what HipHopDX gave me, and XXL and The Source, I’m your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, then I’m a cool dude too. I don’t have a lot of enemies in this business. I just happened to make some enemies that could control my life. [Laughs] Now that we’ve made peace, the rest is just work ethic.

DX: You’ve been so patient. How much of the situation your looking for will come down to how fast you can get an album on shelves?
RK: That’s a tricky question. I made what I felt. So Institutionalized was the album I wanted to make. Did I get to do it in a $2,000 a day studio? No. Did I want Kanye [West] to do a beat? Maybe. With the tools I’ve had to work with, I’ve made the albums I’ve wanted to make.

I actually haven’t been interested in making an album recently. [Laughs] That’s probably not a good thing, or a cool thing to say in an interview, but it’s true, so fuck, I’m usually penalized ‘cause I tell the truth. Fuck it. I’m not that interested today; I may snap tomorrow. I’m in like happy-mode, I just want to be thanking God. I’m observant. I just like just listening. I’m seeing the world through a whole new set of eyes than I have. The only thing I can compare it to is when I got my lasik surgery. I can see. So right now, I’m just looking around. [Laughs]

Xzibit asked me to write 100 songs in prison. I wrote 100 immaculate songs. Then I didn’t have nothing to do with them. [Laughs] I got a million songs in a million notebooks. I got more catalogues than 2Pac probably, to be honest. All I gotta do is go lay ‘em – find the right beat to match ‘em, or make the beat around the rhymes. I’m constantly creating, but I’m not in a rush to do an album till I figure out what the fuck is going on here. For me, I’m just breathing easy for a second. I could pull up my Macbook and give you an album of fire right now. Dog, I wrote some shit. Trust that.

DX: You were part of the BET Awards. Being a free man, what was that experience like for you, without those invisible chains on you?
RK: It was a blessing. I want to thank BET for reaching out to me. It’s like being ostracized. I haven’t had the opportunity to be part of my fraternity, which is emcees. It was just nice, and ironically perfect timing.

DX: For those tuning in, who else is part of the cipher, the fraternity?
RK: Mine was me, Joell Ortiz and Cassidy.

DX: How true of a cipher was it?
RK: For the most part, it was. I think we kind of had an idea of what we was gonna say, but we had to work within the parameters, so we had to start switchin’ shit up. Every take was different. It was 90% freestyling, which was cool. But even a freestyle ain’t a freestyle. As a freestyler, you’re not gonna freestyle ‘cause you’re gonna look at dude and start thinking of shit you could say about him, if you’re battling somebody. That was the cool shit; we all kind of went into it on that. I think it came out dope. I said one line in mine and Bun B turned around and gave me the thumbs up, that meant a lot to me.

DX: Last question. Your fans have signed petitions for you, they’ve made your two label albums collector’s items, they’ve rode hard. In the interim between now and what’s next, what can fans for you?
RK: I just want to say thanks. I think they’ve done enough. Hit me on Myspace; I do some interesting things, ‘check my funny pictures and shit. [Laughs] Get a laugh. I’m grateful to my peers, to my friends – I call my fans my friends, to the critics who actually thought it was worthwhile to even write about me. My homeboy Clay [Evans] that runs Grand Hustle told me when I came out of prison, and he’s with one of the biggest artists in T.I., “Nigga, you the shit. But there’s so many people who’ve sold more records than you, who nobody gives a fuck about, and you still ain’t sold what you supposed to, but people want you to.” That’s a big thing to take in. I didn’t feel like the end of the world, ever, because I always had people pulling for me. I just want the fans to get ready for the show, it’s a wrap. I’ll tell you one thing: I used to get slightly offended. You can’t name a Top 10 and not mention me. For anybody who does, I’ve got something to prove to them.


source-hiphopdx.com

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I learned that everybody is not your friend. You have to watch who you associate with and surround yourself with positive things and people who want to do something positive.- Gucci!

Rebel INS {CF}

possible DTP signing ? oh for the love of fuck no ! Koch foo ! do u ! and dodge the wack features while ur at it

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"Fighting Ignorance every day is gettin weary"
[name pending] --- The Gateway Drug --- Sometime Soon --- myspace.com/namepending08

Black Star

^^^^
if he goes to DTP ill keel Luda

Tha Boricua Flow

rass ass aint going nowhere!!!

GAME NEW ALBUM IN STORES NEXT YEAR

DOCTOR ADVOCATE IN STORES NOW














lol I'm sorry, I just felt like that, nah its coo that he got released

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Chow Mien Gunna

^^u foo

and that will be a shame if he signs with dtp...only reason ras could be wanting to do it is for commercial success

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Black Star

he should go with G-unit since there was rumor last year











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Montana Diary

He needs to Sho'Nuff so he can be on the same label as Ciara and Cherish. If not, then Bad Boy so he can have guest appearances from B5, Cassie and Gorilla Zoe.

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Meth Tical

Babygrade should sign this ma fucker

ILLogic

Dope read.


And for the record, I hope he gets signed to Hiero Imporium, unlikely, butt fuck it.

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Recognized Thresholds of Negative Stress
"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left" - Ras Kass

Nokster

Dope read indeed.

I just can't picture dude on DTP or some commercial shit and still spit those intricate rhymes. But Ras is a smart dude, I think he's gonna be fine wherever he goes.

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Los Scandalous.