SPICE 1 (PART 3) (April 2008) | Interview By: Nima Etminan

       Dubcnn linked up with the legendary Spice 1 for a three part interview, his first in-depth interview since he was shot late last year. This is Part 3 of the interview, and here we talk about Spice 1's view on the New West artist, his relationship with the DPG, being on an independent compared to being on a major and his views on the game.

We also talk about retirement, how he felt when Nas said his name in "Where Are They Now?", 2Pac, and we end off the interview with a tribute to Pimp C.
 

As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done by phone in March 2008

Questions Asked By : Nima Etminan

Spice 1 Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Click Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Missed Part 1 of this interview? Click Here
Missed Part 2 of this interview? Click Here
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Dubcnn: What about New West cats like Bishop Lamont, Glasses Malone, Crooked I and them?

I respect they shit! I heard a lot of cats saying that they gave me props on the radio or in a magazine somewhere, but I ain't really been able to listen to none of they music cause I've been too busy trying to see what my shit is gonna sound like. *laughs* That's the problem we got right now! Everybody riding around listening to their own music and stuff, instead of listening to the muthafuckas who really putting shit out! So it's kinda hard, but my I got my respect for certain MC's because they got skills. If they ain't got no skills then I look at them more like business men than recording artists.


Dubcnn: You and the Dogg Pound have always had a good relationship as well.

Yeah, hell yeah! Me, Daz, Kurupt, we've always been cool! I've never had no problems with them cats.


Dubcnn: What made you wanna put Daz on the first song you put out after the shooting?

That's my homie! We all go back so far, he just happened to be in the same studio that I was at, and he heard the song and was like "Man let me get on that!" So it wasn't like I had to go find him or nothing, we was in the studio and heard it, he was like "Man I'm hopping on that shit, it's clean, it's tight, I'm fuckin' with it!" That's how it should be! A lot of West Coast rappers don't get along, don't get on each others songs, it be all kind of bullshit going on.


Dubcnn: There was supposed to be a Spice 1 & Jayo Felony album but it never came out properly, are you planning on re-releasing that album?

To tell you the truth, it's so many pirates out there, that the shit be coming out and we don't even be knowing who did half that shit!


Dubcnn: Yeah it came out, there were other MC's on it, ya'll were only on a few of the songs and it just didn't sound right.

Yeah! Some pirates did that shit! *laughs* I don't know who put that out, Black Beard did that one! *laughs* We do songs, and get paid to do songs, and they end up floating all around this muthafucka.


Dubcnn: How would you compare the last years as an independent compared to when you were with Jive?

Well now, atleast I know where my money is going! *laughs* You know what I'm saying? If I loose 20 or 30 thousand, atleast I know how I lost it or why, instead of always being suspicious of somebody else, thinking that they stole some money from me or some shit like that. It's just good to know where you're money is going, and it's good to be responsible for your own career and have your destiny in your own hands, as opposed to somebody else controlling what you put out. My destiny is in my own hands, I'm picking what single we drop, it's up to me! I go by my fans, I let my fans hear it and take it from there.


Dubcnn: About the new album, what's the concept behind it, what are you trying to talk about on this record? You said early that it's raw uncut gangsta shit.

It's entertaining. It's comical, it's gangsta shit. It's like a "Friday" movie on wax. Comedy and gangsta shit at the same time. The name of it is "Home Street Home", and that's basically saying that you never know what's gonna happen when you're out there on them streets. Especially if that's your home where you roam at, the streets. It's a jungle, a concrete jungle out there, it's a jungle made out of concrete. It's gorillas out there! *laughs* I got a song on the album called "Gorilla Shit", that's talking about gorillas out here in the concrete jungle, with banana clips and bandanas, swinging from purple trees and shit. It's a lot of shit going on out in this muthafucka. This is home street home!


Dubcnn: You're a vet in the game, do you ever think of hanging up the mic? And if not, is the love of music still the driving motivation or is it the financial side of it?

I'm not gonna say that I ever thought about hanging up the mic, because I'm a natural artist. That's like asking a painter to stop painting! No matter how old you get, you're never gonna stop painting! You could be 70-80 years old painting stuff, as long as your hands work. But getting shot in the lungs, as far as me doing shows and spitting all loud or whatever, it takes your wind. You gotta have some strong lungs to be doing all of that shit. So I mean, if my lung didn't heal up, that wouldn't became a factor in my life, actually not being able to get on a stage and spitting, or going to the studio and spit the shit the right way, because I can't keep my breath trained and shit.

My mind is mentally prepared to handle my business, and I gotta keep on going. I'm still young, still pretty. *laughs* First time I hit the stage after I got shot, I started telling everybody that I'm the only muthafucka to get shot in the face and still be pretty. It actually ricoche'd off my chin and went through my chest and went through my lung and bounced into the muscle of my back, so I still got the bullet in my back and shit.


Dubcnn: If you stopped rapping one day, what would Spice 1 be doing?

Probably writing movies, cause I got a hell of an imagination. Probably write and direct some movies, do the Spike Lee thing. It really ain't too much for me to do, as far as stock work or some shit like that. I got six prior gun cases and everything, I got bullet wounds, stab wounds, tattoos, all kinds of other cases to go with that shit, so as far as me getting a job somewhere, that's a wrap! That ain't gonna happen! *laughs* I'll be in the entertainment industry for the rest of my life, I know that.


Dubcnn: Looking back at your career, what's your favorite album of yours and why?

My favorite album... Actually it's my first one, "Spice 1". I know it was banging and everybody loved it, but it was more of a sentimental value to me because I didn't have shit, I wasn't doing nothing. I didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. The rap game just swallowed me whole and took me up under her wing and showed me the world. Just off that one album, I met a lot of people and a lot of people respect that album. It's more sentimental when it comes to that first album than it is with the rest of them.

I never thought I was gonna be nothing until my fans proved me otherwise, that's why I love my fans so much. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be nowhere, I'd still be on the block doing what I do. Somebody decided to say "This new Spice 1 is the shit." and word of mouth got around that Spice 1 was the shit, and next thing you know, I knew what the rest of my life was going to be. That first album was something that let me know that, and it kept me going.


Dubcnn: How did you feel when Nas said your name in that "Where Are They Now" track?

Shit, I didn't know what to think! I'm from Hayward, and this fool is all the way from Queens, NY, and he's saying my name in his music. I never met him before in my life, and it being Nas, I was overwhelmed about it. You never know who's listening to your music. It could be anybody! I didn't know that Shaq O'Neal listened to my music, I didn't know that Damian Marley listened to my music and shit! My music was strong enough for Wyclef to see me in a club and actually get on his knees and bow down, like "Spice 1!!" My music was strong enough for Jamie Foxx to pull over his limo in the rain and him to hop out the limo and tke pictures with me, in the rain! In the middle of him doing that "Ray" movie!

That let me know how strong my music was, and that was probably all from the first album. R. Kelly knows me from that album, Mary J Blige, a lot of big artists respect that album. I was talking to Halle Berry, and she liked that one song on the first album, all that shit is overwhelming to hear people talk about your music like that when you never met them before. And they're more famous than you are but they're starstruck! 'Pac knew all of the songs on the first album, he knew the words to it and shit. Everybody was on that album!


Dubcnn: Do you think the game would be different is Pac was still around?

I do, but I don't know if he by himself could've stopped all of this bullshit that's going on in the industry. It woud've taken a few more cats, like me, Scarface, Ice Cube, we would've had to have a team like that, with Dr. Dre on the tracks, to actually stop all the bullshit. To actually put a sock in the mouth of these wack ass MC's and these wack ass muthafuckas out here just making money off the music and never giving a fuck about what it's really about. We wasn't around at the times of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and all of that, we were youngsters, we didn't know what all that meant. We had no idea what they did for us, we just knew that they was famous people and black leaders. That's all we knew.

Nowadays, it's hard for these little niggas to actually respect what we've for them. Us taking the blows from the major labels, fuckin' us out of our money, so that them in turn would know what deal to sign and what not to do, like "don't sign an artist deal, get a publishing deal" and all of that. It's because of us that they have this knowledge to even think about a publishing deal. We took them blows for them, and they don't respect that shit! That's the whole thing. It would be a different game if 'Pac was still around and we actually did something about it. But it's too much involved in the industry now, and the very core of the music is being framed, because it's tainted by too much money and shit.

So niggas like me, I just sit up here, keep it real and rap my gangsta shit, because it ain't really nothing you could do but put out good music against that phony ass shit that's out there. It's like you got one muthafucka showing you some crack with additives and preservatives in it and bullshit up in it, but everybody's buying that shit. Then you got the other cat over here who got the pure and uncut shit, but don't nobody wanna pay for it! That's what it is with me, we got the pure and uncut, the real rap music, the real gangsta shit. All of this jumping up and down, hyphy happy shit... I'm the type of nigga that used to go the club, put my back on the wall and look around for enemies. I wasn't jumping around with no big ass glasses on trying to flash my gold fronts and shit! *laughs* I'm a hood cat for real.


Dubcnn: I heard something about you, the D.O.C. and MC Breed working on something?

Yeah me and Breed were supposed to do some songs, and the D.O.C., I really looked up to that cat. Him and Ice Cube were the main reasons that I really started flowing and shit. I wanted to do whatever he was doing, I didn't care what his voice sounded like, I even found that entertaining. And if we all connect, I don't see why it shouldn't happen. If we all happen to kick back and chill, and end up doing something and run into each other, we'll record some songs no problem!


Dubcnn: What kind of memories do you have when you look back at the Dangerous Crew days and recording the Don't Try This At Home album?

*laughs* Haha, shit, me damn near like a little kid not even knowing what the game had in store for me, or what it was about. I really didn't know too much. Five years or ten years from now, I'll probably be looking at myself now the same way. But you gradually learn, and sooner or later you get your head straight and find your direction. Right now atleast I'm headed in the right direction, the album is sounding good, we plan on doing a lot this year!


Dubcnn: For the last question, let's get back to the present, are you planning to go on tour anytime soon?

Yeah! We have some stuff planned with me, Too Short, E-40 and hopefully WC, sometime around this summer. I'm hoping for the album to drop around the same time, so you all can get a double dose of Spice 1, hear the single on the radio with the video, and then I'll pop up in your town somewhere and do a show. That's the whole plan for this year.


Dubcnn: Sounds good! Before we go I gotta play a little tribute real quick. *plays Spice 1 ft. UGK - Murda Man Dance* - Rest in peace Pimp C!

Murda Man Dance! Hahahaaaaaaaa! That's my shit! *sings along*


Dubcnn: Classic shit! We appreciate your time Spice!

Hell yeah, that's my shit right there!

 

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Missed Part 1 of this interview? Click Here
Missed Part 2 of this interview? Click Here
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