New Elliot Wilson interview(editor in chief of XXL)speaks 50,Suge,Em,Dr. Dre

[Mr. Humonculous]

New Elliot Wilson interview(editor in chief of XXL)speaks 50,Suge,Em,Dr. Dre,Jimmy
Elliott Wilson: Bragging Writes

— by William E. Ketchum III


Elliott Wilson knows a thing or two about hip-hop -- and if you're familiar with his work, you should, too. From founding Ego Trip magazine in the mid-90s to ascending to his current position as Editor-In-Chief at XXL, "Yellow Nigga" has dedicated the latter part his life to supplying hip-hop junkies with their monthly fix of interviews, album reviews, and news updates, while ably representing the nation to outsiders who don't recognize.

But an ABC Audited Circulation of 315,000 copies that places XXL's sales above all other music magazines doesn't leave him satisfied. Wilson plans to capitalize with the magazine's first compilation CD, XXL Raps Volume 1, and diversify his hustle with other publications. In this definitive interview, YN schools BallerStatus on the compilation, his relationship with Interscope, and hip-hop journalism -- page-flipping and paperless.

BallerStatus.net: What made you decide to do the compilation now?

Elliott Wilson: I know for a fact that this is the best year we've ever had. The ABC Audit, which is our Soundscan, says that we're the best-selling music magazine on newsstands. We're the best hip-hop magazine. I feel like it's time to take things to the next level, and try out different things that I've observed people doing. The compilation game is something that the industry is against right now, except for the Now That's What I Call Music! series, because all the majors profit from it. My thing was to go with an independent, so I don't have to do any major label favors, promising coverage from this cut for this guy. I didn't want to play that game. I feel that we can put out a good record, move a couple of units, and get the brand out there further.

It just feels right, like it's the fourth quarter. This type of record is good for the casual fans, which I think will help me grow my readership even more. I feel like I have the true heads, they know what's going on. Now I'm trying to take things to more of a level where I'm grabbing up more of the casual fans. It's hard coming in as a new voice of the hip-hop nation. You have to create your own legacy, it's hard to follow in the shadows and footsteps of the past and carve out your own niche. I think we're slowly feeling like it's time for us to really put our hand down and try to do it.

BallerStatus.net: You put together the compilation yourself, selecting and sequencing the songs. What kind of an experience was that? Compare putting together a compilation disc to putting together a magazine.

Elliott Wilson: I think it's similar in the way that you're taking all the parts. I do what's known at magazines as the "pagination," which is when you have all these features and stories, and you decide which stories you want to come first. To a certain extent, you're right, there are similarities. It's a sequence: you sequence the content of the magazine, and here with the record, I think I do that with the songs.

I definitely liked the Eminem song "Evil Deeds." I thought that was a hot record and I wanted to begin my record that way. I also thought 50 Cent's "Ski Mask Way" was a hot record; I thought that was a good 1,2 punch (with the Eminem record). That was also a big jab at the people who think I'm Interscope's little bitch. "Oh my God, he started the record with Eminem and 50 Cent!" Just hit them in the head and entice all the haters. Then I do a heavy G-Unit segment (with several songs) one after the other, because I feel that if you spread it out, it didn't flow well. So that's controversial, I have all of the Interscope records at the beginning of the record. Then I took it down South, with a little bit of East Coast flavor. Then I end it on a real thoughtful note with Common's "The Food" -- I have the unreleased version, not the "Chappelle's Show" version -- and an Obie Trice joint and a Trick Daddy joint. I feel like it takes you for a ride, and it's like any good mixtape or compilation. You want to give people no filler, and keep them interested from the beginning to end. I think the record does that. I hope people give it a chance and throw it in the car, and I think that they won't be disappointed. I think it flows well.

BallerStatus.net: I'm asking this as sort of a set-up question about the compilation, but how would you describe your relationship with Interscope?

Elliott Wilson: I would describe it as a better relationship than I have with some labels, but there are times we butt heads like any other situation. They obviously enjoy when we put certain artists on the cover, and they didn't enjoy certain covers, like when we put Suge Knight on the cover. It fluctuates. There's a lot of propaganda about how I do a lot of Interscope covers. Me and Jimmy Iovine met one time, he doesn't own the magazine. The true stats are that the last five out of 11 issues for the past two years have been Interscope. The big artists have been, for the last few years, Eminem and 50 Cent. And then The Game comes along. I'm documenting hip-hop, and if all the biggest artists are on one entity, so what?

I'm not getting the covers through Jimmy Iovine, I'm getting my covers through my relationships with other management or the artists themselves. We did a five-page feature on 50 Cent before he was even signed to Eminem, before he even really got the mixtapes out. That's why I built a good rapport with him and Sha Money XL. That's the relationship that's been the most beneficial, not a relationship with Iovine. 50 Cent is a connection I made way before he signed with Eminem or signed with Chris Lighty as representation for him.

I think that at the end of the day, [the accusations] are just not accurate. I challenge anybody to talk about it, and you can ask me anything you want. The other side of the fence drove a lot of propaganda out here. I put out a good magazine every month. Sometimes I have Interscope on the cover, but the last couple issues haven't had it, and I'm not going to now not put Interscope because some people are going to think we have an inappropriate relationship.

You look at the artists there, and they're interesting people who have stories that people want to read about. Eminem just went to rehab a couple months ago. So now you mean to tell me that if Eminem is ready to talk about his problems with drugs or whatever, I'm not going to give him the forum to talk about that? Any other magazine would kill for it! So I shouldn't do that just because there's haters? C'mon, it's not happening. I'll do it, and I'll do it proudly. And if 50 signs Mase, M.O.P., and Mobb Deep, and signs all these groups and has this movement where it seems like he's snatching up every free agent in rap, I'm going to put all of G-Unit on the cover. That's my next cover. It's 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, Mase and M.O.P. on cover no. 1, and on cover no. 2 is the rest of the crew: Banks, Buck, Yayo, Olivia, Spider Loc. That's the hot story of the year: 50 monopolizing the game, trying to snatch up everybody. I have to document the culture, that's my responsibility.

And when we do ask them questions, we don't kiss their ass. If Eminem has racist tapes in the past, we have the forum to ask him about them instead of just commenting about it and having tabloidy covers. We get to really talk to the individuals about the issues. That's a position I enjoy being in, and I'm going to take advantage of it. But, there's no extra favors or anything that's done with that. It fluctuates to the point where people are with you one minute and not with you the next. These artists and these labels, they don't give a f--- and they don't care; they just want wherever they're going to get the most looks. Another magazine put themselves in an adversarial position with Interscope Records, and obviously, it benefited me. But I earned my position, building a magazine and making it good to the point that there was an alternative to that magazine that people could go to. I earned that position, I wasn't handed anything. I was given certain advantages, and I took advantage of it, but at the end of the day, the quality of my work and my magazine stands out every month. And every month, Interscope isn't on the cover.

BallerStatus.net: Elaborate how important is it to have relationships in the journalism industry?

Elliott Wilson: It's important, but at the end of the day, you have to keep a measure of professional distance. One fact that I always tell people and they bug out is that I've never met Eminem, Dr. Dre or 50 Cent. I've never shook their hand. I've never even spoke to 50 Cent on the phone once, and I've never seen or spoke to Em or Dr. Dre. So, this whole theory of what they think my relationship is with these people...I think that to a certain extent, you have to have a good relationship with certain people, but the quality of the work has to back it up at the end of the day. I think your job is to call what's going to be the hot thing. When I listened to 50's mixtapes back in the day, I thought he was good, and I had the freedom to give him a bigger story than other magazines could at the time. I took advantage of it, and because of that, I'm cool with him and cool with Sha enough through the magazine that he recognizes our relationship and the status that we have in the game, and that's an advantage.

You keep these relationships, but you can't let it sacrifice your own personal integrity. I choose to put 50 on the cover, or Eminem, or Game or whoever, whenever I feel they're the hot thing at the moment. At the end of the day now, since we've been successful and become number one, we're not battling other people: we're the first choice. To me, more artists want to be on our cover more than anything. So now, it's a position of power, where we have to be able to choose now, instead of fighting for what I want out of the storm. I get offered what I want, so now I just have to figure out what's the best thing to do. Now I don't even have to have great relationships, because people are coming to us now, because they recognize our status and how well we're doing out here.

BallerStatus.net: I was talking a friend/journalist about journalism and hip-hop, and she was saying that while she likes hip-hop and journalism separately, that a lot of journalism standards are lowered for hip-hop journalism. What do you think about that?

Elliott Wilson: I think there's poor journalism, a lot of poor "hip-hop journalism" if you want to call it that. I think that the model that was set for us is a flawed model, and that we're all a product from that, coming out of that. But, it's important for me to restore that feeling for people that when they read my magazine, that there's integrity there. These people love hip-hop, and they're doing the best that they can, and ask and write questions that represent the audience. But, I think that there is a stigma based on the actions of the first hip-hop magazine. Now, being the new voice of the hip-hop nation, the challenge is to redefine that and make people believe again that what they're reading is based on what these people like and what they feel is important.

At the end of the day, it's a business. I'm not doing ELEMENTAL magazine, and that's no disrespect to them. I'm doing a national hip-hop magazine; I'm trying to sell magazines. What I hope is that through my honesty, that I'm at least honest with the people, that they understand where I'm coming from and that I'm making a business decision when I choose covers or who I'm deciding who to put in the magazine. I also want to cover it with integrity, but there's a balance of those things that has to take place.

BallerStatus.net: You guys outsell Rolling Stone, VIBE, The Source and SPIN on the newsstand. Those are four of the most respected magazines in the nation; what do you think makes buyers gravitate toward XXL more than them?

Elliott Wilson: I think it's exciting. We get Jay-Z with LeBron James on the cover. We cover the top people at the right time. I think we've been able to make great decisions. I'm a big believer that when you do good work and you make good decisions, that the lucky breaks go your way also. We've gotten a lot of breaks, but we've taken advantage of those breaks and not squander them. We do good work, and we're slowly building a readership to the point that our brand is respected enough that people will buy our magazine every month, regardless of who the cover is. But at the same time, the criticism comes in because now you're the number one person.

It's always cool to root for the underdog, but now we're the favorite, so then you get the hate. When I was the underdog, and I was trying to defeat the other magazine, everybody was on my side, like "Yeah YN! Go do it!" Then you do it, and all of a sudden you're held accountable, and now you have the crown, and everybody's trying to critique you. But, I welcome that and I welcome the challenge, and I understand that hip-hop only is a sickle, and they're challenging, and they love, hate and breathe this culture. They're going to challenge you and question your moves. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I understand that I have to continually do good work to stay on top, and if I start putting out wack magazines, with wack covers, or four or five clunkers, they're going to turn and find something else to read.

BallerStatus.net: What magazines do you read?

Elliott Wilson: I read everything, man. I try to grab everything from the VIBE magazines, to the mainstream magazines, to everything. I try to look for inspiration and look for creativity. I read the way 50 does a Q&A with Maxim, or the car magazines, the booty girl magazines, all of them. I study the game. My goal now in this upcoming year is to not only run XXL, but to create other magazines, too. I did Hip-Hop Soul a while back, I want to re-launch that, and maybe do a hip-hop video game magazine -- just do different things and prove that I can make XXL a successful brand, but that I can do other brands that are hip-hop-related and make them successful. So, I study all magazines and look at the game.

I love journalism, I love print, but I'm learning to appreciate and respect the Internet world and what that is, which is sort of this crazy expression. You have good sh--, bad sh--, people giving accurate information, people giving erroneous information, and it's a big f---in' mess. But you know what? That's what hip-hop is. It's good, it's bad, it's ugly, it's beautiful, and that's what we all experience if you love this culture and you've been in this. If you've experienced this, and it's true to what you are and what you believe in, you love this culture and you hate this culture. I think that's what the Internet and the blogs represent.

I think that I've learned to appreciate that, but I still feel that there's a place for the print medium (having the magazine in your hands). I feel that those two things can co-exist. I remember back when I took over XXL, everybody was like, "Why are you doing magazines? It's the Internet." There were doubling peoples' money to go over and work at urban web sites like 360HipHop. That didn't work out for whatever reason. I'm happy that I chose to go to XXL, and was able to have the creative freedom to do the type of magazine that I wanted to do. I came up with a formula that worked for me, and I want to continue to do that with other brands.

BallerStatus.net: A recent article on SOHH.com had many people -- hip-hop heads and journalists alike -- saying that online journalism is the new voice of hip-hop. What do you think?

Elliott Wilson: I think to a certain extent, it is. To take you back, I came from the early '90s. I was from an era of independent hip-hop magazines; I was part of one called Beatdown, and then I started Ego Trip. Back then, you had other independent themes, so those were the forums -- everybody was doing their own magazines. Now you have kids doing their own blogs, and kids doing their own forums. You have these guys who are really heavy on the Internet, and they're real rap fans. If 50 Cent's on Conan O'Brien (late night talk show), the next day somebody has the footage out online and I think that's beautiful. But at the end of the day, a lot of these cats don't have the training or the expertise that it takes, so you get some good out of it, but you get some bullsh-- out of it too. It's just a big mess. Hopefully, through that, people can grow and learn.

The only people I have issues with are people who try to put themselves in the position of being the authority on other people, until they've earned their spot. You can have your forum, and show that you're the best coverer of daily hip-hop news, or critique the ten best West Coast albums of all time, or write really provocative reviews. Do those things and let me recognize how dope you are, and then I'm going to work with you and I'm going to reach out to you, and say, "This guy's dope, he's f---ing incredible. Can I work with you in some kind of way?" Instead of using your forums to take everyone else to task, use the exposure and opportunity you have to put yourself out there as a voice to show people why you are the better alternative for people to follow than a magazine. I don't think people are really putting that all together. So to a certain extent, it has changed, and the online presence of hip-hop is stronger than ever and it will continue to grow. But at the same time, I don't think it's taking my job away. The idea of a magazine still appeals to a wider audience, but to me, it's almost like the online stuff is sort of the conscience and the underbelly of hip-hop and journalism.

BallerStatus.net: What's your favorite part of your job?

Elliott Wilson: Wow. [Pauses] I'm in a very blessed, unique situation, where I don't have the freedom of a blogger or a kid in a forum, but I have maybe 90 percent of that level of freedom in my magazine to do what I want. I credit my bosses for giving me that freedom to create the kind magazine that I want to create. What you read out of XXL, I stand behind it and I believe in it. I have a dedicated staff working for me, and I just love the process. I love doing it every month. I love continuing to say I'm the sh--, then trying to prove I'm the sh--, and continuing to prove that we're the best in the business. And that's the challenge: if you talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk. I've succeeded on all levels, small and big, and I've kept my integrity in this business. It's about financial growth, and being successful on a monetary level, but at the end of the day, I would throw all that away if I didn't have the creative freedom I would have. That's what's most important about this job, and that's the only kind of job I can really have.

[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

No matter what he says,he's still Interscope's little bitch plus the studio version of Common's Food isnt all that rare & I have it.

[jeromechickenbone]

I mean his compilation is really just a bunch of G-Unit with a few others thrown in.  I'm sure theres all kinds of payola going on with XXL and Interscope.  Elliot Wilson is working his way to Benzino status.

[GangstaBoogy]

I have all of the Interscope records at the beginning of the record. Then I took it down South, with a little bit of East Coast flavor.

oh okay, well atleast he covered all the coast 

lol @ him saying he's not interscope's lil bitch but having "several" G-unit songs back-to-back and all the Interscope songs at the beginning