Clipse - Re-Up With No Strings Attached

[big dawg]

The typical way to start writing a lead to an article is to search for a little background information on the person (or persons) that you are interviewing, create an awesome and/or informative introduction to the Q&A and try your hardest to be creative, funny or amusing. Well, with online publications, bloggers and underpaid writers, important things like integrity, rules and regulations seem to be thrown out the window and all styles of writing, questions asked and obvious biases are fair game. Right? Sure. As a journalist, I was taught to be objective and to look at interviews from a standpoint of being in “the middle.”



Well gas prices are high, rappers are lying and the industry is crooked - so why front?



Pusha-T of the Clipse was funny, frank and respectable and Ab-Liva of the Re-Up Gang was extra chill, specific and very knowledgeable about the culture. In a nutshell, the Clipse is introducing the Re-Up Gang on August 5, 2008. We all know that they have the best series of mixtapes with “We Got it 4 Cheap” and we should rush to the store to go buy this official “Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang” album. Don’t be alarmed. I’m a journalist and I’m simply reporting the truth. R.I.P. Shampoo.



Give me the official top five emcees of all time.



Pusha: Top five of all time would have to be (in no particular order), Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, BIG, Jay-Z and KRS-One.



Liva: Yeah, KRS-One.



Pusha: An honorable mention goes to Chuck D. I had to put him in there. I’m sorry, he preached to me.



Pusha T, did Malice teach you how to rap?



Pusha: Not per se, I mean not so much taught me like, ‘Sit here and do it like this,’ but everything I learned I got from watching and taking notes from him. It was his enthusiasm that even put me there.



If you had to choose the hustle you’re most addicted to, which would it be: street life or music?



Pusha: You know what? I would have to say right now, by far, the music. I have a new found love for music, right now.



Talk to me about that.



Pusha: I’m excited about the music. I’m excited about what it is that the Clipse and Re-Up Gang do. Man, I think I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum. I’ve sold a platinum record and I’ve sold a record that went wood. I know what it means to be hated and I know what it means to be critically acclaimed. For now, I feel I sorta got a sense of direction to where I think the Re-Up Gang, the Clipse and the Re-Up Gang Records Movement is going.



If you could pick one song (in Hip-Hop history) to have been featured on, which song would it be and why?



Pusha: If I could have picked on song in hip-hop history? Hmm…



Liva: I know what I would’ve been on.



Pusha: What’s that Liva?



Liva: “The Benjamins”… I didn’t know what was going on when I heard that shit. The beat was so fuckin’ crazy and everybody got on (there) and killed it. Then, when BIG came in and the whole fuckin’ beat changed -- I lost my mind.



Pusha: Wow. Bastard. Ab Liva said, he would’ve been on “The Benjamins” and that’s probably one of the greatest ones. For real, to go back, I would have to say… “The Symphony.” [It] was just a lyrical exercise. I’ve never been impressed by five verses, with no lacking. Everybody got on and got busy. Like for real, everybody got busy. There was no slum -- nothing. It was greatness. I would’ve wanted to be a part of that.



Liva: [Laughs] I knew he was gonna say “The Symphony”..



Hypothetically, the Clipse have a situation where you have the perfect deal, the perfect album and the perfect timing. You sell ten million records, but the hip-hop community doesn’t respect you. Do you (A) drop a street album (B) stop rapping and retire or (C) keep doing your thing and say “f*ck” the streets”?



Pusha: Well, personally I think dropping a street album. If I sell ten million records, the world better beware because all I’m going to do is talk any and everything that I wanna talk. We always say that Hell Hath No Fury was a critically acclaimed album that we did basically for ourselves. I would make ten of those. I want to make ten of those. The point I was getting to really is that, you can do what you wanna do. I watch a lot of guys sell all these records and when they come back it seems as if they’re trying to please. Instead of just doing what we loved them for in the beginning.



So, has the Clipse ever thought about doing solo albums?



Pusha: Hell yeah. Pusha coming out with a solo album. It’s gonna be a son of a bitch.



Fans and supporters are amazed by the flows, delivery, and techniques on the “We Got It 4 Cheap” mixtape series. Describe your thought process behind recording.



Liva: Basically, we really try to go in and attack them like they’re albums. As far as doing our own thing to the beats, if they gotta hook we like, we just put our own spin to it or create our own hooks. We make sure our ad-libs and everything are tight, like we are working on a real album. We attack it from that approach and take it to the next level.



Pusha: As far as the mixtapes, that’s some shit I always give credit to Re-Up Gang for -- especially Ab-Liva and Sandman – and that’s because mixtapes were something that the Clipse were never in to. When we tried to get in the game and tried to get on mixtapes…can you imagine how hard it was trying to get on and being from Virginia? We talking about 2001. We couldn’t get on and New York had it on smash. We could never get in the door. For the mixtapes to be such a part of the Clipse legacy (as far as right now) it’s just crazy.



What’s the best line that Lil’ Wayne has ever spit in his career?



Pusha: Um, I really don’t know. I don’t. When it comes to Lil’ Wayne or whatever. I really don’t know that much about him and him having quotable lines (to me). When I think of him, I think of him on a level of consistency. He’s put out a lot of music and he’s put out a lot of consistent music. I think that’s the prime reason for his public success today. He has a great work ethic, but as far as quotables -- I don’t know any quotables.



What about you Liva?



Liva: Nothing I can think about off hand

Liva, what do you think the majority of people don’t get about hip-hop?



Liva: The creativity aspect. Right now, the climate in music is so much about first week sales and charts… that the creativity aspect of it has lessened. The average fan out there just wants to hear a hot beat and a catchy hook and something they can say slick to their friends here and there. They’re overlooking the creative aspect.



Pusha: The thing that fans don’t realize is that, this thing is so much of a business. You should really, really appreciate the artist and understand that some of the moves that are made are very much so -- business moves. To be successful you have to mash the business and creativity together. Fans are sort of simple sometimes. I wish they could really understand the ins and outs of radio and how videos play a part of radio and how radio spins can play a part of how many times a video is played and so on and so forth and how it trickles down to the public.



How did you guys feel after seeing, N.E.R.D’s “Seeing Sounds” do under 100,000 in the first week?



Pusha: I look at “Seeing Sounds”, Pharrell and N.E.R.D. and they make very creative music. They make very “cool” music – boutique music. It’s sort of the way he sells his clothes. You can’t go buy BBC and Ice Cream in the mall. He sells it in three stores and it’s only for a selected group of people. It’s only for his followers (for real) or the connoisseur who really loves fashion that much and they’re going to go find it or seek it out. You know what I’m saying? So, when they do their numbers and when they out their albums like that, it’s not a surprise to me. I understand that. I made that album. I made “Hell Hath No Fury”. I sold 84,000 the first week? I just saw the charts and I saw Beck. You know white kid Beck? He just sold 80,000 and we all know that Beck is gonna be on TV all day long and they’re gonna call him a genius, they gonna call him this and that. So, when it comes to black media and us… it´s funny you asked that question about creativity. It’s a double edge sword.



Liva, If you had one wish, what would it be?



Liva: One wish? I’d be filthy rich so I wouldn’t have to go through all these politicks and bullshit.



Pusha T what type of production can we expect from this Clipse album?



Pusha: DJ Khalil who did “I’ll Still Kill” by 50 Cent and Akon is definitely on the Clipse album. We got Pharrell, the Neptunes, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (who did Maybach Music), we got Reefa, Dame Grease, and I think we got Just Blaze coming. The album’s not done yet, so we should have a couple more people to go through.



Who is Shampoo?



Pusha: A Virginia street legend who lost his life out here. He was a good friend of ours, for years. He basically died in a tortured kidnapping. Unsolved to this day still.



Marcus Aurelius said, “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.” What do you see and think is in the lives of the Clipse and the Re-up Gang?



Pusha: I think from here on out, we’re going to put out the music that we want to. We’re gonna have a long legacy, a long trail of records that touch a lot of people. Re-up Gang Records, to me, will be the most creditable record and loyal record label that the industry has ever seen. We’re gonna put out music that the fans will enjoy and get them caught up in our world for a minute.



So, you voting for Obama then?



Pusha: Damn, Right!

yoraps.com

[Shy Guy]

good read

[libramanofaz]

Got their album yesterday. Haven't had the time to bump it but more than likely, it's gonna be most played album in my ipod for a minute.

[Beesz]

Pusha T is my boo.
=].

[doodlez]

i always side with no strings attached... i wish all hoes would think this way

[www.pottstreet.com]

Thanks for the read