Mystikal Bounces Back

[Crenshaw_blvd]

CDNOW: So you've had a great year. How have things changed for you since "Shake Ya Ass" blew up?

Mystikal: Man [laughs]. It used to be that there were still a few places left that I could go without being recognized, but now I can't. But that's it really -- and I'm not complaining about it either. It's a good thing, you know? [laughs]

Are you sick of being compared to James Brown?

No indeed -- that's a compliment. That's the Godfather of Soul. I'm grateful when someone compares me to James Brown. I can only thank them for the compliment. Really, all the publicity and attention I got, I appreciate it.

You were on Jenny Jones last year.

Yeah, that was fun. I also did Sally Jesse Raphael's show. All the talk shows were fun.

Did they get up to any hijinks? Did they have some woman come out of the audience and claim she had your baby?

[Laughs] No, it was nothing like that, but they had this contest to see who was like the biggest Mystikal fan -- "Mystikal Fever" I think they called it -- and they had all these fans doing crazy things. There was this one girl who jumped up on a table in the restaurant and started singing "Shake It Fast." It was a trip.

Did she, in fact, shake it fast?

[Laughs] Yes indeed.

So let's talk about your new album, Tarantula. Where did the title come from?

Well, there's no deep meaning to that or anything … I just like the way it sounds. Unless you wanna say that I'm like a tarantula: black and dangerous [laughs].

It looks like you hooked up with [production team] the Neptunes again for this one.

Right. I got the Neptunes, of course, but also my own production team, the Medicine Men. Everyone knows the Neptunes connection, but the Medicine Men are really my core and do the bulk of production on my albums.

Did they get up to any hijinks? Did they have some woman come out of the audience and claim she had your baby?

[Laughs] No, it was nothing like that, but they had this contest to see who was like the biggest Mystikal fan -- "Mystikal Fever" I think they called it -- and they had all these fans doing crazy things. There was this one girl who jumped up on a table in the restaurant and started singing "Shake It Fast." It was a trip.

Did she, in fact, shake it fast?

[Laughs] Yes indeed.

So let's talk about your new album, Tarantula. Where did the title come from?

Well, there's no deep meaning to that or anything … I just like the way it sounds. Unless you wanna say that I'm like a tarantula: black and dangerous [laughs].

It looks like you hooked up with [production team] the Neptunes again for this one.

Right. I got the Neptunes, of course, but also my own production team, the Medicine Men. Everyone knows the Neptunes connection, but the Medicine Men are really my core and do the bulk of production on my albums.

Did they get up to any hijinks? Did they have some woman come out of the audience and claim she had your baby?

[Laughs] No, it was nothing like that, but they had this contest to see who was like the biggest Mystikal fan -- "Mystikal Fever" I think they called it -- and they had all these fans doing crazy things. There was this one girl who jumped up on a table in the restaurant and started singing "Shake It Fast." It was a trip.

Did she, in fact, shake it fast?

[Laughs] Yes indeed.

So let's talk about your new album, Tarantula. Where did the title come from?

Well, there's no deep meaning to that or anything … I just like the way it sounds. Unless you wanna say that I'm like a tarantula: black and dangerous [laughs].

It looks like you hooked up with [production team] the Neptunes again for this one.

Right. I got the Neptunes, of course, but also my own production team, the Medicine Men. Everyone knows the Neptunes connection, but the Medicine Men are really my core and do the bulk of production on my albums.

Still, you've scored most of your hits with Neptunes tracks.

True, we got this little chemistry thing going ever since we did the "Jump" record for Oliver Stone for the Any Given Sunday soundtrack. Every time I hook up with those guys, they're just on such a different creative level.

What about Redman and Methodman? What was working with them like?

It was nuts. Pure insanity. I've been trying to sort out with those guys for a while. I've been trying to work with them since I went national, but it's all about timing in this game, and I knew if I waited around long enough that I'd get what I wanted.

Speaking of going national, what's it like going from the notoriously under-the-radar No Limit camp to being an MTV star and being in Newsweek?

Well, you learn a lot when you work with [Master] P, and you learn how to define your goals to get what you want. So I've just been taking my steps, one at a time, to get to where I want to be. Some cats come out the door, and they get to 9 million, and they go downhill from there. Others, we take a little longer, but we do it intelligently and build ourselves up until it's the right time -- but when it is the right time, then nothing can stop us.

So you learned a lot from Master P?

Definitely. You can't be around him and not learn things -- especially how to make money in this game [laughs]. I'm starting my own label, called Big Truck, and I learned a lot of lessons on doing that from P.

Can you talk about when you broke with No Limit?

Sure. That came right before the release of Let's Get Ready, and what happened was that No Limit was just going in another direction, and we came to the agreement that it was just time to go our separate ways. I was independent before I hooked up with P, and I think we all knew that the time would come when I'd be independent again. We'd done so much great work in the past together, but now it was time for me to do my thing and them to do their thing, that's all.

So there's no bad blood between you and the No Limit soldiers?

No, man. That's just gossip. That's how the industry is -- when you don't know, you just assume the worst. But I'm still cool with P, even if I'm not one of his soldiers anymore, you know? Blood is thicker than success [laughs].

What's next for you?

Like I said, I forming my own label, Big Truck, and my own [in-house] production team, which I haven't named yet, and I'm planning on bringing out a whole new batch of artists.

Any film work? That would seem like the next logical step.

That's definitely coming. I'd like to do action, you know? Be the hero. I already got my big line ready: "I'll whup ya!" [laughs] What do you think? Is Hollywood ready for me yet?

[Dogg_Pound_Gangsta]

lol mystikal of no limit days reminds me of some crazy lunatic like hannibal lector that gets locked up in a straight jacket and doesnt say a word until he spits rhymes on a song.  hes one crazy son of a bitch.  i think that him and eminem should do a song together.  did the medicine men used to be beats by the pound???