TWISTA  (July 2007) | Interview By: Nima

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Interview was done in July 2007

Questions Asked By: Nima

Twista Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Audio Interview Here

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Dubcnn: Dubcnn hooked up with Chi-Town's own Twista for an exclusive interview. How you doing man?

I'm cooling out man, can't complain, excited, as usual!


Dubcnn: We're here to talk about the new album, "Adrenaline Rush 2007". That's a heavy name, why did you decide to call it that?

Because I wanted to bridge the gap between my old fans and my new fans. So it wasn't about a gimmick or nothing like that, it was like "Man, I got old fans who own the new music and know what's up, but then I got a lot of new fans that don't know about the old music." So I did that to show people the 10-year span. It's really longer than that, but to just to give people the history of the 10-year span and the long route that I took to be where I'm at.

So I got on the album, this time it's a red cover, this time I got a different sweater on but I'm still chilling in the chair doing my thing. I want people to look at the two album covers and be like "Damn! This nigga is still doing it 10 years later, the same way!" So it was like a statement, I had to show that I'm the vampire, the black Jason of rap, you dig?


Dubcnn: I hear you! Will the production on the album be reminiscent of Adrenaline Rush?

Definitely, but not totally. I definitely couldn't just mimic the album, but I got similar production. When you listen to it like 3-4-5 jams in, you're going to feel that whole Adrenaline Rush vibe, before it starts really switching up into some other stuff. So I definitely tried put it together the way I felt it should be put together. So you're going to feel some similarities but you're also going to get some new flavor.


Dubcnn: Who handled the production on the album?

I had to keep it mostly in-house, so they did a quarter of the album, which is my cuzzo Tight Mike with my man Toxic. My man Toxic is the one that made sure I had the Adrenaline Rush sound, cause he came up under the school of the producers that produced the first album. So they came with the main joints that feel like Adrenaline Rush.

I ventured out though, I had to get my man R. Kelly on the record to do some stuff, I got Kanye on the record to give them my feel of the Chi-Town sound, I had to have my man Jazze Pha produce something for me and Cee-Lo on the album. I definitely got some other production, I got Pharrell who gave me my single, that Baltimore sound fo the ladies, he said I needed to have that, and I trusted his judgement and went ahead and snatched him up.


Dubcnn: What about guest appearances?

Man I got T-Pain on the album with me. It's funny you say that, cause T-Pain is on the joint that I feel like is probably one of the most Adrenaline Rush style joints on the album called "Creep Fast". So I got him, I got Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on the record, I said R. Kelly already. You know I got the Mobstaz, definitely gotta have the Speedknot Mobstaz on the record.


Dubcnn: I heard there were talks of doing "Overdose 2" with Legendary Traxter?

Yeah, I wanted to make that for this album, and it really killed me that I didn't get that one on there, but I probably will do it for a mixtape project or something, I definitely still gotta do that song.


Dubcnn: What about Johnny P or Do Or Die?

They're not on this album, but we still definitely going to do work together! They my guys! We don't got no problems with each other or nothing like that, everybody just got different paths right now working on different music. I see JP a lot though, so you'll probably hear me working with him pretty soon. But all of the guys, it's still all love with all of them!


Dubcnn: I heard the single "Give It Up" was supposed to be featured on "Entourage", what happened to that?

Just a couple of things fell through, moving wrong, so we ain't get a chance to do it the way it should have been done. It was related to the video too, but it fell through. I'm not totally upset though, because the video was shot by Hype Williams now, and it's crazy than a muthafucka, so I ain't even really mad, it's cool, things happen for a reason.


Dubcnn: How does the new album compare to your last album "The Day After"?

More me. It's more the Twista that the fans is used to. The last album, "The Day After", I had different people helping with the project as far as picking the songs on the album, and I made a bunch of songs that I consider singles, and I made a bunch of songs that I could fit in my joints for my people. A lot of those joints got pushed aside, and all of the joints that was considered "hot" got put together.

So I felt the last album was not fully Twista, but people had to realize that I was keeping it real, it's still the growth process of me doing what I do, cause I'm rapping on the album about my experiences and what I'm seeing. At that time, we were at the clubs, we were seeing girls, we were killing them doing shows in different cities, so you can kind of feel that on the album. But, still songs like "Welcome To My Home", man I did a joint with all old school lyrics, I'm probably gonna put it on a mixtape now, I did some crazy stuff for that album that didn't make it, so this was my way of just hitting them with a punch, to let people know "man, it's Twista, don't get it twisted!"


Dubcnn: What can fans expect from the album lyrically? What are you talking about?

Let me think about it, what am I talking about on the album? Shit, talking shit. *laughs* You know, I like feely music. Some people use their music as a conscious effort, philosophers and shit, you got people that do different shit with their music. Me, my album is called "Adrenaline Rush", because that's my line. Just "Woooo, he's snapping!" Or "Daaamn, that's hard!!" Just the sound that makes you feel good. So my album is mostly my ghetto culture music, I'm just on there talking shit about what I got, how you can get it.

All that shit that people are saying is "cliché" and "Oh he's talking about that same shit." I'm talking about a lot of that shit, but if you wonder how I pull it off, it's because I'm creative when I do it. I don't just say "I got big rims! Big chains!" It ain't that simple. So I feel like I'm blessed with the ability to say whatever I wanna say, because I can put it so cleverly when I say it.


Dubcnn: You collaborated with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on their latest album, and they're on your album as well. How did the beef get squashed and what made ya'll hook up?

Well the beef had really already been squashed, but we hooked up when we did the "Spit Yo Game" with Biggie, when we did that video and we was there with Swizz Beatz, all of us was there chilling. I walked up to Krayzie [Bone] and I said "Look! We're satisfied!" Sipping a little bit, talking a little bit, and talked about how we should be putting it down in the Mid-West the right way, and how things got misconstrued back then.

We layed everything out on the table and said "from this day forth, we gotta try to get money and do it the way we gotta do it." I mean it's cool for somebody else to get some money off of us, but damn, let us get some money, because we know how to click up the way the Mid-West should be doing! We just got on them two joints to let people know that we finna start making it pop!


Dubcnn: Would you ever consider doing a duo album with Krazyie Bone?

Yeah, yeah, fo sho!


Dubcnn: I think that would be crazy.

I even did a joint with Bizzy Bone man!


Dubcnn: Oh for real?

It's crazy, it's crazy as hell.


Dubcnn: When is it coming out?

I don't know, it's his record! I got some stuff though, I got something with Tech9ne, I got some joints out there! I just did a new one with E-40, I just did a new one with Mike Jones, I got some joints!


Dubcnn: You had a dope track with Devin The Dude called "Toast To The Pussy", any plans of collaborating with him again?

Yeah, that's my man. Devin is one of those guys that when you meet, he reminds you of somebody from your hood, that could have grew up next to you. Devin is definitely my man, I love his music, I love how he spit it, his swagger and everything. Really, I'm a big fan of his music, so any chance I get to work with Devin, I'm definitely going to take advantage of it.


Dubcnn: What about The Federation? That "If I Had A Gun" track was knocking...

Oh yeah, I just listened to that yesterday, too!


Dubcnn: I think Rick Rock did that right?

Yeah, Rick Rock did it. That's crazy right there, I was just bumping that yesterday man. I listened back to that song, and I'm mad at that song, cause there's a bar in there I would have changed. I can't remember what bar it is, but I was like "Damn! I wish I would have changed that!"


Dubcnn: Who are you feeling right now from the West Coast? Any upcoming collaborations?

From the West Coast, the first person that comes to my mind when you say West Coast is Ras Kass. That's my homie right there, so you're definitely gonna hear us doing some shit. Like we're homies homies.


Dubcnn: Ya'll did something already right? I've heard a joint with you and Rassy on it.

Yeah, yeah! But that's what you get with us kind of bullshitting and not focussing. It still came out like something because we're both talented, but when we get in this time, it's gonna be a whole different perspective.


Dubcnn: Who are your personal favorite up and coming talents from Chicago right now? Who do we need to watch out for?

Man, remember the name Skooda Chose, remember that. The best way I can describe him is... I don't know man, just get ready! You've never heard nobody in Chicago spit like this, this is definitely gonna be a first. Like "Damn!!" *laughs* It's definitely gonna be a first. I think his mind is something that the East Coast will be picking up on as soon as they hear him. So definitely look out for Skooda Chose.

The Speedknot Mobstaz got their album dropping at the top of the year, you got Young Berg, I got a recod with him on his album coming up... It's a few of them! You got Dude 'N 'Em with the "Watch My Feet" thing, I got on the remix with them, that's like letting you see that whole juke music sound from Chicago and we're flowing on that joint. It's a lot of Chi-Town cats coming up now that I'm proud of. B-Plus, he's putting it down too.


Dubcnn: What about old school, what are you jamming?

Man, the record I've been listening to lately from the old school is the Black Moon album, the "Enta Da Stage" album. You can put that on and I can sit there and bust every verse of every song. So that's what I've been bumping the most. On regular basis I'm bumping Rakim, Kool G Rap, Fat Boys, Slick Rick, that's like regular shit I bump, Efil4Zaggin, regular shit that's like my normal life.


Dubcnn: What's your view on the low sales in music right now? It seems like even artists with radio hits have trouble pushing numbers...

CD wise, we do. *laughs* You know the first thing people say is the numbers! But now let's get specific, what do them numbers count? The soundscan from the CD going across in the store. So what about the technology and the route we going? Cause if you go back 10 years to when Adrenaline Rush came out, man, if you wanted a record you pretty much had to get it on a CD! But in 2007, I know this lady that's a program director, who brought kids to her radio station, and had a little seminar at her station to find out what the kids like. And she said "Okay, when you go to the record store, what do you buy?" Now you are you ready for my answer? The kid said "What's a record store?" *laughs*


Dubcnn: That's crazy.

iPods, downloading music... So you can't judge the sales of music off of just soundscans anymore, because a lot of people don't buy their music at the record store anymore!


Dubcnn: You know when I spoke to Bun B, he said something that I felt was real true. He said that a song doesn't have the same value that it had 10 years ago. 10 years ago you had to hunt down a CD, go to the store, now it's so easy to get music, that we don't even have the same value for a song anymore.

Yeah, it's a trickle effect of who it hurts. You think it just hurts the artists who sells CD's, but it hurts the radio stations cause now we got satellite radio, internet radio, now you don't just have to focus on one particular radio station. The video channels are being hurt because you can just go to YouTube and see any video you wanna see. So you don't have do say "Man I can't wait till Rap City come on to see that video!" Technology has changed everything, and it's not as profitable as it once was, because everything is so easily obtainable. So you're going to have to grind extra hard.

Another reason that a song is not that valuable no more either, is because back in the day, you only had so many artists coming out a year, now it's so many artists that's coming out! You almost don't give a fuck about music, it's almost a blur, like "whoa, goddamn, 30 artists are dropping this month!" It's crazy and absurd, and you gotta go that much harder to go against the competition. That's why it's good to be a longevity artist, that's why I'm glad I'm Twista, and some artist that just got one hit, that nobody really knows about. People know me from years of rapping, so regardless of how a record does, I'm still gonna end up doing an interview with you, because I'm going to spit some crack, somebody gonna like it, I'm gonna go get in there and do some shit!


Dubcnn: What other ventures do you have going on right now? I've heard about the barbershop...

Yeah, I'm going real hard with that one, the building we got for that is real crazy. I also got a club downtown Chicago that we're working on, got a few investments. The architect in there is hooking it up nasty for me, so hopefully in the summer of 2008 you'll be able to come club with me. In addition to that I got the clothing store... Most of the ventures I got going on are outside of music, I got homies that's into real estate that I click up with... I know everybody says that, but hey! *laughs* It's like that! My whole thing is just trying to keep my money up, specially when I look at the rap game and where it's going, my whole thing is trying to keep my money up. When people see me and talk about the music, I wanna be able to say "I'm paid, regardless. I do this music cause I love it."


Dubcnn: Is there anything else you'd like to let everybody know?

Man, really, just let people know I'm still here, 10 years later, look at the cover, you're going to see Twista's still here, the black Jason of rap. You got the Mobstaz, the true vampires of rap, they're coming out at the top of the year. I just want to say thanks to all of the fans for keeping me around so long, and that's it!