JIHAD  (June 2008) | Interview By: Javon Adams

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Interview was done in May 2008

Questions Asked By: Javon Adams

Jihad Interview Audio: Listen Here
 

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Related Media

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Jihad - Nigga Datz Hood (Featuring Eastwood, Cross & Cook)
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Jihad - Me First (Feat. Cashis) (Produced By Pakman)
Jihad - Dippin' (Feat. Jayo Felony) (STREAM)
Jihad - New York
40 Off A Brick (Feat. Duke Riddles) (STREAM)
DJ Warrior & DJ Nutty Present: Jihad - Death Before Dishonor (Mixtape)
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Dubcnn: Alright, so Dubcnn is welcoming Jihad in the building! What’s going on with you man? How are you doing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chillin’, everything is good, you know. Gettin’ it poppin.


Dubcnn: Now you are overseas right now right?

Yup, right now I’m in the desert. I’m in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates. So we’re just trying to get it pushing out here and get things going for us


Dubcnn: Ok, now along those same lines, being in Dubai what is it like over there?

Um, it’s crazy man. You know, you’ve got like, you see a division in terms of classes. There’s obviously a bigger upper class and then you see like a working class and lower class. There’s not really a middle class in terms of people but you see what you see on TV. Like all the hotels and like whatever else is going on in terms of materialism and all that. Then you see the everyday struggle and the people that are actually making that stuff happen and go through so it’s crazy.

The scene is like brand new and the market is open. That’s why I’m out here right now trying to get it going for myself and our whole camp, Rebellion.


Dubcnn: Now, do the people of Dubai, I know you said it’s kinda new and it’s burgeoning but do they embrace hip hop?

Yeah, definitely. The scene here, it’s crazy because there’s a want of a scene right now. The majority of the people, just people in general are youth so hip hop and music in general is really big out here. Especially hip hop compared to other genres. Everybody’s really into rap. Everybody’s really into 2Pac onto 50. And, you know anything that’s coming out they embrace it. It’s not really a scene out here so it’s really new.

I’m trying to be one of the founding people out here to make it really go and take it to the next level.


Dubcnn: Ok. Now tell me about your name. I was reading where you said Jihad and the word ‘struggle’ are one and the same. Can you talk about that a little bit

Yeah, definitely. Jihad is actually an Arabic word. It’s from Islam, I’m Muslim so it comes from Islam but the actually meaning is struggle. A struggle within oneself. Like a beautiful struggle which is like a struggle within yourself to stay on the right path. To be righteous, like good versus evil type thing. I think what it has been interpreted as is one of the secondary meanings which is like a defensive holy war. And I think people kinda latch onto the holy war aspect of it and try to push it out and turn it into something that it’s not.

That’s why I picked the name. It represents me, it represents that struggle that everyone goes through. Also in terms of musically. If you do come at me we are ready to bring it in that sense too.


Dubcnn: Ok. Now Hip hop is still mostly African American and a lot of the songs talk about police brutality, neglected neighborhoods, stereotyping and systematic oppression. With so many people stereotyping people of Middle Eastern heritage do you find yourself having to combat those stereotypes in your music? Or with perceptions of you as an emcee?

Yeah, definitely I think it’s obvious. Especially the last couple of years after 9/11 and things like that. You look at who’s being zeroed in on. I mean, for years now it’s been African Americans that have been attacked and minorities in general. Now, if you really take a good look you see it’s Muslims, people of Middle Eastern decent and even just Muslims in general. So, obviously we are all going through the same thing. It’s the same struggle, same oppression and the same plan. So, the relation in terms of where I’m coming from and the music, even looking at the hood. If you look at the hood aspect of it worldwide you can see what it’s like in a 3rd world country and how hood it really gets. All of that goes hand in hand. And you can see that we all may be in different parts of the world but the struggle is all the same for everybody.


Dubcnn: Now, I don’t want to keep it too heavy for the whole time we’re conversating here. So, I noticed that you worked with Big 4-D? Is it Big 4-D?

Yup, Big 4D


Dubcnn: Ok, who produced some tracks for T.I. on his last album. Your latest mixtape it featured Jayo Felony. You’re getting played overseas. So what does 2008 hold for Jihad?

Right now you can see me working extensively with Big 4D from the Secret Specialists. You know, he did Act I, II and III of of T.I. Vs. TIP. We have a lot of things planned. Usually I’ve been keeping everything on the hush until it’s locked in but you know I had to save something for Dubcnn to let everybody know.

So, right now, I’m in the process of putting out a mixtape with DJ Thoro and DJ Big Mike. Working on a mixtape with DJ Superstar J. I’m trying to put something together with DJ September 7th. There’s a lot of different things going on. I spoke to Nick Beam. I’m just trying to put something together with everybody and just push the movement and make things happen. Like, I’m out here trying to get a video shot for one of the tracks off of my mixtape, “93 Fly”. That’s out now. You can get that at SoCalPeople or you can get it off my MySpace.

It’s not like your run of the mill thing I’m trying to do. It may seem like I’m silent because I want to perfect what I’m doing before I start putting out music and make sure it comes out in a proper form and not just drop tracks. I have over 200 tracks already done so it’s nothing in terms of the music but I want to make sure it comes out properly and it gets pushed. There’s a lot more than that, I’m also working on something with Evil Empire and you can see me doing something with DJ Arcane. (DJ) Warrior is always there as well. I mean I have all kinds of things going on right now that we are trying to lock in. Like, you’ll see me on 4 or 5 projects that I’ll be heavily recording in the next couple of months. I have a hybrid album, which is like a rock/rap album I’m doing with my boys Burning Tree Project.

We have the Larceny Family West situation going on right now which is ….

(Brief silence on the phone)


Dubcnn: Hello? I thought I lost you for a second. Go ahead. You were saying Larceny.

Yeah, Larceny Family is actually Cassidy’s group from Full Surface (Records) and my manager Cook from Cook Up Entertainment is actually putting together Larceny Family West right now. So we have that situation going on and then I’ve been in talks with Skee and from my end getting things popping and getting an actual album done on myself. I’m going to have him promote and market it.


Dubcnn: You mentioned DJ Skee and working with him in terms of marketing and promotion, what’s that relationship been like so far? And how did that come about?

One of the people out of my camp made it happen. He actually used to work with Skee and we’ve been talking about it for a minute. So we finally sat down with him. Basically everything on his end is good we’re just getting everything together on our end. We’re trying to get together a proper budget and then it’s a go. It’s been beautiful. The situation is there it’s just on our end we gotta make sure we take care of our part and make things happen.


Dubcnn: Ok. Now Rebellion, that’s your label right?

Yeah. Me, my partner Joe and there’s a camp load of us.


Dubcnn: I see where in the past you worked with Ruff Ryders. Are you trying to land a major deal or is the route that you’re going now, it seems you have a vision. Are you trying to stay on the independent side or are you looking for a major to back you?

(pause on phone) ….As far as major or independent, it doesn’t matter. As long as there is something behind it and I can put out projects with the proper promotion. Whether it’s independently and we can get that kind of push, because we have all of the contacts and everything in motion then it will be independent. But if a major comes by and gives us a proper deal then it’ll be a major. Getting the paperwork right and getting the right machine behind what I’m trying to do and the vision we have for Rebellion, which is to take what we have right now and create a movement and really make it worldwide. So the people can see what’s going on and we can do something beneficial for the community, come back and really help out people.


Dubcnn: Tell me what a typical week is for Jihad in terms of music.

Man, when I’m back in Cali, in Cerritos I wake up and get straight to writing. Get ready to go to the studio and get the recording aspect done, that’s as an artist. But before even all that takes place I have to wear like four or five different hats. Either contacting media outlets, trying to set up some marketing and promotion, work the advertising end, network, follow up on contacts. You know, just keep trying to push and keep things going. You’ll see me doing like four or five different things. I’m trying to link up with producers to get the proper music right and sitting in sessions with them when they’re making beats and taking meetings left and right. It’s an everyday thing. It’s not just one aspect. At the level I’m at right now I have to wear multiple hats to get certain things done and make sure everything is done effectively.


Dubcnn: Now, just out of curiosity do you ever sit back when you’re wearing these multiple hats and executing the plan properly, do you ever look back and say, wow? Maybe from where you began to have to do all of those things out of necessity how much more effective you are now as opposed to when you first starting doing those things.

Definitely. I think a lot of it comes down to what I’ve done. Like, by having more of an extensive resume now made things a lot easier and I have more of a relationship with a lot of people to open the door up on a lot of bigger situations. That came from grinding, putting out music and putting in the work to get to the point where I’m at. I mean, we still gotta keep going and building and growing. But in general if you take it from the beginning to where I’m at right now it’s like leaps and bounds. And that’s just a blessing from God so it’s good to see all your hard work pay off.

Obviously I gotta keep that grind and stay in that grind mode but it’s definitely good to see all that pay off. To see a lot more doors open up and things be a lot more effective and refined as time goes by.


Dubcnn: Nice. So, you recently made your acting debut right?

Yup


Dubcnn: So, what was that process like?

That was a trip. It actually came out of nowhere. My homeboy Kadir from France came down last summer and he was working on a project. Things kinda got tossed up in the air and he needed some help. He came to me and said, “Yo, I need you to be in this movie for me.” I was like, “Cool, lets do it.” The name of the actual independent film is HYPE.

It’s kinda like a Crash-type of film where it’s a bunch of multiple stories but it revolves around music. It’s in different cities and it’s crazy. The way it’s being shot is crazy and its, you’ll see it. You know, it’s going to premiere at Cannes I think next year. When I come back, I’ll be back in Cali around July, so we’ll be finishing out the shooting out there. We’ll see how it goes.


Dubcnn: Now, since you are a world traveller and the Cannes Film Festival is in France if I’m not mistaken. Are you going to go out for the debuting of it?

Yup.


Dubcnn: Ok

The directors are originally from France, so that’s like their backyard.


Dubcnn: Nice, nice. Well, any last words for Dubcnn?

Yeah, definitely, I appreciate the support from everybody. We’re gonna keep it movin’, stick with us. It’s a pleasure and honestly a blessing for everybody that enjoys the music. I appreciate all the support.

As far as Rebellion, you can look for music and look for new projects to come out. You can expect a new album from one of our artists, Drifter who’s actually my cousin. Troubled Soul which is his album will be coming soon. Want to give a shout out to Commune Clothing, which is actually run by my homeboys Daniel and Eddie. And you’ll see a lot of stuff being done in terms of Rebellion and our clothing line through them.

Nick, International Nick, who does all of our video stuff. D. Vinny, who takes care of our music video stuff. Joe Park, everybody man, there’s a whole movement of us. What up Tycoon? Be on the look out for a lot of big things coming from us.


Dubcnn: Sounds good. You said Calm U Clothing?

No, it’s actually Commune Clothing, C-O-M-M-U-N-E. You can check it out at WeAreCommune.


Dubcnn: Sounds good man. I appreciate the time and be safe overseas and get home safely. Continue doing your thing man and we’ll continue to check up on you

Fa Sho. Buck, buck!