HANNIBAL LEQ Talks About Upcoming Projects, The Counsel, & Much More With

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HANNIBAL LEQ Speaks Talks About Upcoming Projects, The Counsel, & Much More With Illuminati 2G


http://www.illuminati2g.com/hanniballeqinterview.htm

Arizona is quickly becoming a hotbed for up and coming as well as established artists to showcase their talents on the west coast. One of those artists is Hannibal Leq and he took time out to chop it up with us about a number of topics. We discuss the Arizona hip hop scene, the re release of his mixtape, The Hood Prophet and how he linked up with Mike Jones and much more so check it out.

Illuminati 2G is here with Hannibal Leq, how's it going?

Good, what's popping with you?

Not much. Tell me a little bit about how you got your start in hip hop and who are some of your musical influences out there?

I started doing my music thing, seriously around 10 years ago when I was in college and I was with my homeboy Blackjack out in Vegas. We were just doing it for fun at first, and then we did a gig with Digital Underground and The Luniz. We went and wrote 4 songs that night and performed at the show. People were leaving the show singing and reciting our songs so I was like yeah I might be able to do this. But I always wrote lyrics and raps for fun but I was mainly influenced and my favorite rapper of all time is Scarface. I just really like dudes with lyrics that are really saying something, because everybody talks about shooting people. I am trying to tell people what they don't got to do, so they do not go through the same thing I did. I have done time for 5 and a half years so I am not trying to promote none of that nonsense ya dig. Just to let people know though if they want it, they can get it.

How did you come up with the name Hannibal Leq for yourself?

Well they used to call me...., because I was born in Georgia so they used to call me Dialect because of the way I talk. I talk so fast that people would say that it sounded like I was rapping anyway. So they used to call me Leq for short and then the battle *****s, I used to eat them up and then people was like damn Leq you eating them, you like Hannibal so it came from that. So the STREETS gave me my name, unlike some rappers that name themselves.

Tell me a little bit about your mixtape The Hood Prophet. You are also set to re release that mixtape?


Yeah I am going to re release it. I got over 2,000 songs and I have never put them out to the streets. People always ask me do I have product, and I would give them what I had on me, so instead of doing that, I compiled songs that I had back in the day that I had with some artists and did 7 or 8 new songs. A couple joints with Mike Jones, a couple songs with my squad, Monstaz Ink, with my dude Lo and Trap and basically put something out to the streets and see what it do. I really did not put a buzz behind it when I first released it, but now I am going to put it back out there and give it the buzz it needs this time.

That leads right into my next question. Tell me about the 2 singles, the Miss DJ track, the concept of that and the track with Mike Jones, Can't Leave You Alone.

Well I have been dealing with Mike Jones for a few years. My cousin Lil Swole did alot of production for him and Collipark, he did Drop & Give Me 50, he did a couple songs with Soulja Boy, he was the one on the video with V.I.C., Get Silly, playing the keyboards. Collipark was taking alot of credit for the music that my lil cousin was making. He probably owes him 1.5 million from all that. Mike was out here in Phoenix for All Star Weekend and we were getting him shows and getting him booked so he could make a couple dollars and we could make some on the side. I don't know if you heard the last single that Mike Jones put out, after Next To You, he had a song called Swag Thru The Roof.

Right

My little cousin made that beat and he is the one singing on the hook. I wrote the bridge for Mike, so right now whenever I see Mike, we got some words ya dig, because he ain't broke bread for that bridge that I wrote him. He did the hook for me with the song Can't Leave You Alone so I look at it like that. I ain't paying for that hook he did, unless he wants to talk to me about payment for that bridge, then we will talk about payment on Can't Leave You Alone. He was supposed to do the 3rd verse for me, that is why it was open, but he got busy with his promotions and tours. We just put that out there for the females, because everyone is trying to put music out there for the streets but we doing some radio joints because that is where the money is at.

On the song Miss DJ, we got a new mixtape coming out called Backseat Business, and then my partner, Nthawind, he got the beat and he came up with the hook and everything. Doing a love song about a female DJ ya dig, so I am just trying to hit the female market hard because I got alot of street songs man. If the females want it, the dudes got to get it, you got to get what the females want to hear so I am going to keep making bangers for the females.

Absolutely. Do you have any upcoming videos or albums after you re release Hood Prophet?

Yeah right after we re release the Hood Prophet, we will drop the Backseat Business next month. Right after that one we got another mixtape that we are dropping in November, right around my birthday. My birthday is on Thanksgiving, but right now I am just focusing on my other projects, my group Monstaz Ink, with my dude Lo who was from a group called blitzkreig and my homeboy Trap House. People can go on Dat Piff and download his mixtape, he had over 100,000 downloads in a couple of months. We get it, and we got alot of radio push behind us on that project but basically I got my foot in alot of things, just focusing and making sure I am doing everything right. I have a new seed, my daughter is only 5 months old so it is hard to move around like I used to.

You are also down with another Arizona artist, Juice, with a group called The Counsel. What is going on with that group right now?

Right now I am thinking there might be some inner turmoil right now! I don't know, I am hearing that....., like I said P-Thoro is my guy, I love that dude and Juice is like my lil brother. At the end of the day, if you family you are going to bump heads at certain times and in certain ways. At the end of the day, we are always going to be family. Whenever that project come, when the budget is right for that situation, everybody will be happy. There will be no problems with the camp, when that Counsel shit drop, it is going to be a problem homie.

What are just your thoughts on the hip hop scene in Arizona? Lately it has been, whether it has been Willy Northpole or different artists, there are little rifts between this particular artist with this artist. What is your thoughts on the scene out there?

It is alot of dudes out there that are hungry, but there is also alot of cockiness. I believe you got to be a little bit cocky to be a true artist. If you do not believe in yourself, no one else is going to believe in you, ya dig. Alot of dudes take it to the furthest extent, alot of these dudes are feeling themselves before they even do anything. Then when it is time for them to actually move units, they don't do it. Then they get mad when other dudes talk about them not moving units because the other person does not even have a deal to even talk about moving units. It is like that in any state, if the state got behind the situation, it would be different because there are alot of dudes out here that get it homie.

Ok

Willy my homeboy, I am cool with Hot Rod and Thoro and Juice is like my little brother. So any of these dudes can get it, my dude Pokerface had a deal with ArtistDirect, but so many things going on out here that it is hard for some to stay focused. As soon as they get a deal, it is like they lose they focus that they had before they got the deal. I don't understand it, you got to stay hungry.

Tell me a little bit about your website. I know you got a new website that you got a couple weeks ago. So let everybody know where they can hit you up. Myspace, Twitter, all that information.

Yessir, www.twitter.com/hanniballeq, www.myspace.com/hanniballeq, or if you have some beats or anything for me to jump on, send it to my gmail, hannibalthemc@gmail.com. The site is now officially up, http://thehoodprophet.ning.com/. We are just trying to make a movement and make a strong push man.

Do you have any upcoming shows or tour dates coming up for you that you want to let the people know about?

Yessir, we got Twista out here at the Venue in Scottsdale November 6th and we have E-40 on the 19th or the 16th of next month at the same place. People can check my myspace page, and I will keep them posted on there. I have not been able to do that lately, but I got my dudes running that for me. All that will be up and legit so people can find out all the show dates. If anybody wants me to jump on anything, send me the beat at gmail and we can get it popping.

Well that is all the questions that I have for you, appreciate you getting down for the interview. Is there any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?

Just to tell *****s keep doing what you doing. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do what you believe in.

Appreciate the interview.

Alright, thank you homie.

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Mixtape dropping in a couple weeks...keep an eye out for a couple more NO DJ drops off the tape