THE D.O.C.  (April 2008) | Interview By:

      

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Interview was done by phone in April 2008

Questions Asked By: Chad Kiser

The D.O.C. Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here
 

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Read Part 1 of this Exclusive Interview: Here
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www.myspace.com/7zup
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Dubcnn: So what’s up with Silverback, and more specifically Six-Two and the cats you had with that?

Six-Two is still in Texas. I haven’t had an opportunity to really deal with Six-Two since. A lot of those guys was really upset with me because they really wanted to take that trip with Dre. They didn’t appreciate me taking the record from him. But it was my record. Once I put this thing back together with the good Doctor, I might be able to reach back and grab them and all those young guys, and try it again. When I do records from now on, I’ma send my shit through Aftermath. If it ain’t going through Aftermath...


Dubcnn: If it ain’t through Aftermath, you’re not touching it, huh?

Probably not, ‘cause I’m not in it for fun no more. It used to be for the love, the art, the rap, blah, blah. But now, it’s because it’s a billion-dollar business, and it owes me.


Dubcnn: You worked with Breed on more than a few of his projects. How did that relationship come about?

I met Breed through a mutual friend that I grew up with. Breed is a, my Zodiac sign is Gemini, Breed’s a Gemini, too, and he has a lot in common with me: He’s a damn fool, he’s a damn drinker, and a damn weed smoker. He loves to do all those things all the time, just like I do. So we can hang out together and kick it. He’s a good n-gga! He’s a good...if he could’ve been from Texas, he’s a good country n-gga. He can cook his ass off. He’s a great friend. I love him. That’s my brother.


Dubcnn: Do you have any updates for us about Nate Dogg’s condition after his stroke?

I heard that Nate Dogg is doing well. I haven’t had a chance to see him, but I talked to Kurupt. Kurupt said he was doing good. I talked to G-Dub, and G-Dub said he was alright, don’t worry about him he’s going to be straight.


Dubcnn: Any plans to get him on the Detox record?

You know what? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t put it past Dre. All the usual suspects that you would think should be there, I’m fighting for them to be there. Usually I get my way.


Dubcnn: What about those suspects we would want to see on there like a Cube, or a Ren. Like a little NWA type track?

I don’t know about that one. That’s a stretch. I think you might have to wait for my record for that one.


Dubcnn: Why don’t we get many Cube, Dre & Ren collaborations?

Well, that’s between those guys. They each got their lives, and they all doing well. It’s like 3 cooks in a kitchen, they ain’t got to be in the kitchen together, they straight. But I do believe when it comes to my record, I’ll be able to pull some shit off to be able to give the world some dope-ass shit. At least we know if I’m writing it, it’s going to all be dope!


Dubcnn: Do you have any specific ideas for this upcoming album yet?

I wrote Dre a song called...no I’m not going to...I almost let it go!


Dubcnn: C’mon, man!

No, No!


Dubcnn: Just a little exclusive, dog??

That n-gga would have been pssed OFF! But I just write songs that feel good to the drums I get. I’m a thinker. I write shit that is going to appear to be thought-provoking. I wrote a song for myself; actually I wrote this song for my album. In my mind I wrote it a year ago. In my mind’s eye, I wrote it for Kanye West to sing. It’s a song called “America The Beautiful.” It’s a song about a mother, and her 6 kids. There’s a brother named Saddam, there are 2 twins called World War I and World War II, there’s an adopted pair of twins that are black that wear red & blue rags in their pocket, and the youngest child is named Freedom. And at the end of the song, America kills her child. America kills Freedom at the end of the song.


Dubcnn: Damn.

I know *laughs*. Rappers don’t really want to go there, but ‘cause Kanye said “George Bush don’t like black people..” I thought that that would be a really cool idea. And he has the Jesus Walks song, I thought that would be a really good idea for me to get that message out through him, and they would be able to accept it. It really is just a song that’s telling you that shit ain’t all it’s cracked up to be out here, if you open your eyes and pay attention. Shit is kind of fucked up.


Dubcnn: So is this a song that you’re keeping for your album now?

Yeah. You can’t put that on a Dre album because it don’t match. If you hear Dre rapping about the government, then you know the world is over.


Dubcnn: Do you have any plans to be involved with Game, or have you been involved with Game?

No, I haven’t up until this point, but I have a lot of love and respect for Game. If he ever reached out, I’d be there. Now, I did reach out to Game about being on my record. Of course he said it would be an honor, but he spent most of his time talking about you just make sure not to leave him out of Detox. I told him I’m not going to let that happen. I’m from Texas, but I’m very connected to west coast rap, and Game means a lot to it. I’m going to represent for west coast rapping, fa sho. Where Detox is concerned, it’s going to feel like a traditional west coast record, if I got anything to do with it. it’s going to feel like a traditional west coast record, but it’s going to have, you know, the rhymes are going to be universal. Big. The one word I would use is: Big. Every song is big.


Dubcnn: Is still along the lines of that 12-step program, or has it taken a whole other direction?

I can’t tell you that! Because if I tell you that it’s going to throw off the whole record; I’m giving it away!


Dubcnn: What’s going on with Dre, Game and 50 Cent. All that beef over there.

Dre’s not really into drama. He’s not really into bullshitting; he’s into making records. We love all the young guys. We love Game, 50, Eminem, Snoopy and wish that they would love each other ‘cause all that other shit is unnecessary. Nobody gets no money from that. I’m not really into beef because I’m actually far from what you would call a thug nigga. All that thug shit is cool, you know, to a certain extent, but when it’s not needed it’s annoying. You niggaz don’t scare me, so I wish you would just talk to me, ‘cause all that other shit is just bullshit.


Dubcnn: I picked up this Bruce Williams Book, “Rollin’ With Dre”. Have you had a chance to check that out yet?

I heard about that; I haven’t read it. I’m not really interested in that. I’m not against any of these guys, I want them to make their money, but I cannot endorse any information in the book. That book is bullshit *laughs!* I’m just joking, man, but I don’t know about that shit. I ain’t got no time for that shit. The guy’s trying to make him some money, I guess, it’s all good.


Dubcnn: Yeah, he’s apparently been an associate of Dre’s for about 20 years…

He’s been around for a long-ass time, ain’t no question about that. But not on a level with that book because that’s a little over and beyond. He never had a job where he made any difference in any of the creative shit that went on around there. He was just Dre’s people, you know?


Dubcnn: He had mentioned in the book that you had also wrote a version of “Still D.R.E.”, that was almost exactly like Jigga version that was used. How close were the two songs really?

Aw, man, shit I can’t even remember that far back. We go through so many songs! The way we do it around here, it’s like a family kind of thing. We all put in our bits and pieces to make the best product we can make. We don’t really care who did what, we just want the song to be the shit!


Dubcnn: Is it true that the role Ice-T played in New Jack City was initially intended for you?

I’m not sure, but maybe. I had to go audition for it, but it was after the wreck, and I just wasn’t in a place where I could do it.


Dubcnn: There’s a little bit of curiosity about the song “Bridgette”. Is that a No One Can Do It Better leftover?

Yeah, that was a leftover from the No One Can Do It Better days.


Dubcnn: During that time, were there any other recordings done for that album, or the NWA albums for that matter?

Me and Dre was just talking about this shit the other day, but I’m not sure if there’s any other shit that we did. To my best recollection, we only did those songs that you heard, plus Bridgette. It’s like every song I did, we used it.


Dubcnn: Have you, or Dre, ever thought about doing a “Lost Tapes” type of album, where there would be unreleased NWA or Death Row songs put out?

I don’t think that you would hear any of that kind of stuff because they’re not really in to the past, they into the new shit. But once I start working on my record, I’m hoping that I can go back to Tomica and that she’ll allow me to go though a lot of that old stuff and see if I can find some shit that’s never been used.


Dubcnn: So she may be sitting on some sh-t then?

I don’t know! Maybe..


Dubcnn: Ok. We know you wrote for Dre’s Chronic album, Snoop’s Doggystyle, is there anything else you were involved in during that Death Row era that we may not know?

I was all over that stuff! I was all over the place! Just being in the room, or in there when the shit is being created and putting my little two-cents in here and there like, “no, it should go like this” or “no, you should do it like that.” Really, no more or no less than that.


Dubcnn: You also helped on Snoop’s Blue Carpet Treatment as well, right?

I got 4 songs on that one: That’s That Sh-t, Round Here, Imagine and I can’t remember the other one.


Dubcnn: There was one on there that, “Think About It”, that I thought might have been you.

Nah, that wasn’t me. I would never write Snoop some shit that didn’t sound like Snoop. It’s going to sound like classic Snoop if I wrote it. That was him at his best! I’m not really into all the new shit.


Dubcnn: I know you busy with that Detox record, so bang out that hot record with Dre, and then we’ll look forward your new record after that.

“Voices Through Hot Vessels”! I’ll be honest with you, I hate that name, but if that’s what the good Doctor wants to call that shit, and he’s going to push the buttons, he can call that muthafucka “World Wide Wonder Wheel” if that’s what he want to, just put the bitch out!


Dubcnn: Aight DOC, it was a definite honor to talk with you, and I appreciate the time you took out to speak with us and keep us up-to-date.

I appreciate the love, kid!