*NEW* Hilarious Andre Nickatina Interview (MUST READ)

[Blood$]

http://www.thrashermagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1364&Itemid=41

September 25, 2008

ANDRE NICKATINA
Interview: L. Riggs | Photo: Whiteley

With little enthusiasm for interviews and professional photo shoots, Andre Nickatina fans are accustomed to letting his music speak for itself. After 16 years in the rap game, his songs get little radio play, even on local stations. The artist does very little to promote his popularity and fame. But it doesn’t matter. Anyone growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area recognizes a Nickatina song from the sound of the first beat. Breaking a short period of media silence, Nickatina met me at his management office in the East Bay. The “office” is actually a poorly furnished house in a residential neighborhood. The front room consists of two folding chairs, a TV set with a Playstation, and a computer table in the corner.
Reaching through an open window to unlock the door from the inside, Andre Nickatina enters the room in the most unconventional manner possible. He doesn’t bother to glance in my direction and heads straight to the PS2. Seconds later, 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album blasts from the Playstation and Nickatina disappears into the back room to roll a blunt. He sticks his head out from around the corner. “You smoke weed?” I nod. “Let’s smoke some weed, then.” With the blunt lit, and a quick switch to Stevie Wonder, the mood is finally set. And as we talk, his infamous laughter roars throughout the room, finally causing the New Era to fall off the back of his head. —L Boogie


This is Stevie Wonder. What other music do you listen to? What do you play at home or in your car?
I’m a Pisces, so I’m probably a mood person. So it probably depends on my mood or depends on how good the weed is in the morning…

Well…this is Stevie Wonder and you were listening to 50 Cent earlier…
They fuckin’ black. What the fuck?

I don’t know. So do you listen to all black artists?
FUCK no, fuck no. In my motherfucking car, I got fucking Guns ’N’ Roses. I was just listening to Mr. Brownstone, driving over to this motherfucker. So, fuck no. If I like the motherfucker I’ma play the motherfucker.

So who would you say your musical influences are? Who did you listen to when you were growing up?
A lot of Al Green. A lot of Prince. Fucking Huey Lewis. And then the rap came. You know, I’m a Sugarhill Gang cat. I’m an ’80s baby, so I know the Sugarhill Gang—everythang. Everything from Sugarhill and beyond. There’s just too much shit to really go, “Okay, this person.” I just do shit not to have a regular job. Does that make sense? If I could really get out on a baseball field and smack a baseball around, knowing that I’m having fun and I’m getting a lot of money, I’d probably be on a fucking baseball field. I was just a person who was growing up looking for a way to not have a regular job. And be able to talk shit.

What if you did have a regular job? What kind of job would you have?
If I had a regular job, right now, I’d probably be job to job because I can’t keep a job like that. I can’t have somebody pigeon toe me and make me come in at nine o’clock everyday, don’t let me leave until five o’clock.

What if you could make your own hours and do whatever job you wanted to do?
That’s what the fuck I’m doing now. I’m a rap cat. So the hours, I just adjust the hours and shit. I’m at this bitch house the other night, right? And we was just choppin’ it up about shit. But it was late, and the fuckin’ lady come upstairs and say, “Is there any reason why you’re up at five o’clock in the morning?” Bitch, it’s five o’clock in the morning! It ain’t no goddamn signs in the world that say muthafuckas supposed to be sleep! Like, I don’t understand that question. We probably makin’ too much noise! We probably talkin’ too loud and the music’s too loud and the stomping. Yeah, but, no bitch, you don’t come knockin’ on someone’s door like, “Is there a reason why you’re up?” What I’m saying is, I just like to play around with the hours. If I go to bed at five and gotta be to work by nine, I won’t be no good worker. To make a long story long…

How did you start in music? How did you get your CD out? What was your first CD, The New Jim Jones?
My very first cd was The New Jim Jones. And before I put that out, I was on the streets for about a year with those songs. Driving around San Francisco, just selling it like a tape. Just selling it my own, independent way. Just trying to be a rapper. Jim Jones was the first one.

How do you feel about the “Bay Area Hyphy Movement”? Do you feel like you’re a part of that at all? You work with some of the artists who associate themselves with it.
I’m trying to think about what to say about that. Sometimes when I hear that “Hyphy Movement” about rap artists, it means that if there’s no “hyphy” then that rap artist doesn’t exist no more. And that’s not true. I wouldn’t say that. I would say that it’s just a word in a situation, in a town, that got a lot of recognition. Because, there really ain’t no “Hyphy Movement.” It’s just good music. If you capsule it “hyphy,” then when motherfuckers come around and hear that music again, they might not want to hear it because you capsuled it “hyphy,” instead of it just being a good fucking rap song. So, I’m not really trippin’ on the Hyphy Movement. It’s a good thing for the person and the people who really believe in it like it’s a movement. And if it created jobs, and it created money for that person, then most definitely, it means something. But for me, it’s just a good thing for good rap cats. I don’t really think about it like it’s a movement or anything else.

It just got a lot of hype.
Yeah, hyphy got a lotta hype. And that’s what I mean. I wouldn’t want an artist out here to be labeled a hyphy artist if people around the world start saying hyphy is old. ’Cause that rap artist is not an old rap artist because hyphy is old. So that’s what I mean by it’s just a good word. A good word that gave the Bay a good look. But I wouldn’t label none of these motherfuckers a hyphy rapper. That’s my opinion, I guess.

How do you feel about rap music in general? The stuff they play on MTV. I’m sure you heard Ice-T’s comment about Soulja Boy.
You know what? I was just with Ice-T and Coco around my birthday like three months ago. And me and Ice-T had such a gentlemen’s conversation that I won’t even comment on that. I wanna leave my respectability for him and that respectability that we had, that I have for him. I don’t want to comment on that shit because whether Ice-T is older and the dude is younger, it’s still two black men going back and forth complaining to journalists. I’d rather look at Ice-T as…

Well in general, rap music. The same thing that Ice-T was referring to, how do you feel about it?
Well, shit. Rap is a bitch. And motherfuckers gonna treat a bitch how they treat a bitch. You might get a dude that treat a bitch [that] he wanna be [as] that bitch girlfriend. You might get a bitch who just wanna fuck that bitch. You might get a dude who wanna pimp that bitch. So rap is a bitch. And whoever you are, is how you gonna treat rap. So, I treat rap how I treat rap. I can’t really comment on where it’s going. If it’s around, then mothafuckas gonna mold it the way they want to mold it. Like a bitch. If a mothafucka want a girlfriend and a wife, that’s the way he gonna treat rap. Like a girlfriend and a wife. The rap game is a woman. It’s a bitch.

How tall are you?
Hella tall. 6’3” to 6’5” Somewhere in that range.

You put out a lot of albums. If someone didn’t know your work and you had to recommend the three that best exemplify your work, which three would you recommend?
I would probably just tell them to take the three recent CDs. That’s what I would say. I wouldn’t give him or her no titles of what to look for. I would just tell them to look up the recent shit and if they like the recent shit, then fall back. That’s how I would put it. I’m not gonna sit there and try to pick they fuckin brain and be like, “You’ll like this one and this one.” Fuck ‘em. Somebody who don’t know me, I wouldn’t even waste my time trying to pick they brain and go, “Fuck with this one or that one.” I would just say, “Take the last three ones I put out and decipher from fuckin’ there.” And if you like those three, then you might fall back and you might like the other ones that went back further.

The New Jim Jones. When that CD came out, I didn’t know who Jim Jones was; I found out later. I didn’t take it in any literal meaning, but what did you mean by that? It’s a pretty heavy title.
Now that we’re talking about it, and I think about it, you’re probably right. At the time, I was young and the situation of mines was, I guess in my young mind, was hopefully to have a small following. But, in my young mind, I probably didn’t know how to express it in that way. So, in my young mind, I guess I expressed it in that way. And that’s what it meant. I guess, to have a small rap following. I guess. I don’t fucking know what it fucking meant. I guess that’s where my young mind took me. That was a while ago.

I want to talk about A Tale of Two Andres with Mac Dre because, I think your publicist or someone called my office a year or two ago and I asked her about the CD because I had seen it in Amoeba. And she said that you hadn’t put it out and that you weren’t getting any money for it.
Do you remember the name of this person?

No, I have no idea.
Was it a female?

Yeah.
I ain’t never had a publicist. I cannot tell you at this time, or maybe anytime, who the hell that was who told you that. [LAUGHS] Shiiit, I don’t know who’s speaking up for me, but SHIT, she needs ta holla back. I got a couple mo’ things fo’ the bitch to do. Shit. But, this is what it is, right? There was a bootleg album out there called A Tale of Two Andres that I had nothing to do with. As you know, this game is a little different coming with computers and downloading. Anybody can make a CD-R now and call it anything they want. And, when you got a public who really want certain artists, they’ll buy that CD-R. So, that’s what that Andre ’n’ Andre CD was. It was a bootleg that somebody did.

So, it’s on iTunes now.
Well, that was maybe a year and a half ago. Now, before Andre died, we were trying to collaborate to make a CD together. So, in an untimely situation, it just never happened. So what I did was, I went around to a couple of people who dealt with Dre and asked them, “Can I use some of his verses?” Not songs, just verses to give maybe the small public who want to hear us together on a track somehow, some way. Here ya go. With the right permission, not bootlegged, the right song titles and stuff like that. So what my company did was took the title that the bootleg company did, used that title, and put it towards a real CD. That’s why you probably heard of Andre ’n’ Andre years ago or a year and a half, maybe two years ago, and then you’re hearing about it come out now and people are maybe a little bit confused. But the point is to say, “Hey, the person who bootlegged it, we’ll use your momentum and roll like this.” So that’s why you’re getting two different versions of Andre ’n’ Andre. That’s the only way I can explain that.

Do you experience a lot with people bootlegging your stuff?
Only thing I can say about a bootlegger is you are a weak muthafucker. You a weak muthafucka, like a real weak hustler, a real weak-minded muthafucka. If you can sit up there and take somebody else’s shit, why don’t you just take about four hours out the day and just make some original shit so you won’t be a weak muthafucka. But until you stop doing that shit, whether you bootleggin’, standin in front of Safeway, talkin about, “I got DVDs,” you’s a WEAK muthafucka. It’s gonna always be a muthafucka that do the bullshit of Louis Vuitton is Louis Buitton. You know, at the Chinese flea market or something. But that’s still a weak muthafucka, too. You’s a weak muthafucka. Because I think I can call you a weak muthafucka because I sell shit. And I try to sell shit from a situation of not trying to cheat the muthafuckin’ consumer. Anybody trying to cheat a consumer, you’s a weak muthafucka. You can eat a dick. That type of shit. That’s about it.

Yeah, well we want to buy it.
Well, I can never blame the customer. ’Cause I done bootlegged shit myself that I actually really wanted. Like, when American Gangster came out, I got the bootleg. ’Cause I wanted to see it that bad. So nobody’s safe from being bootlegged. I’m just talking about a muthafucka that take it to the extreme, to where the police can knock on your goddamn door and bust yo’ shit down—to where you actually really making a dent in a muthafucka’s pocket because you doin this type of shit. That’s what I mean. That type of muthafucka. That’s a weak muthafucka. If it was a fuckin’ skateboard magazine that came out and called themselves Crasher and was really doin fuckin good, I don’t think the muthafuckas over at Thrasher would be fuckin’ happy with it.

Have you ever skateboarded?
FUCK no. I’ve fucked with some thick skateboard bitches…Never actually got on no board. No boards, no boogies, no surfs…I might listen to Board(Bored) Stiff. But I ain’t getting on no board. Might go to the Boardwalk…

How would you say your work has changed over time? Or, how have you grown as an artist since you put out that first CD?Let’s say I get a beat today. I’ll sit up here and think, like ‘Why I couldn’t have this beat four years ago? So, I don’t really think like that. Like, every album…I just rap, muthafucka. I don’t go in the studio with nothing but the intentions of just rappin’ over a good beat. It ain’t nothin’ else. I ain’t givin no messages; it ain’t no hidden agendas, no shit like that. I just rap, muthafucka, for real.

So, do you participate in making your beats at all?
Well, in the beginning…from like Jim Jones to the Daquiri factory, yeah. Then, it just started getting to where like there were so many producers, it was just so overwhelming; they had good beats. But, yes, I will get in the studio sometimes and sit down with Nick or another producer and go, “I want this to sound like this.” Not as much, though.

Do you play video games?
Yeah, that’s what this nigga here for. To get his motherfucking ass kicked. You look at that nigga booty, it’s all kinda welts on it.

What system? PS2?
Yeah, that’s a PS2. I only really fuck with basketball, to tell you the truth. I’m not really a video game person. Me and this muthafucka do this, just talk shit. This nigga the only nigga I play video games with. Other than that, I won’t even be on no fucking video game.

What do you guys play?
Either NBA or College Basketball. Maybe, occasionally, football. Right around football time, we gamblers—football gamblers, so…

Do you watch TV?
Not as much. As you can see, this is what I do, put music in. Talk shit.

A lot of people affiliate you with the song “Ayo for Yayo” you did with San Quinn, but you don’t actually rap in the song, you sing the chorus. Do people affiliate it with you because it’s on your CD?
I think that people associate me with the song more than San Quinn because of the chorus. That’s why they associate me more with the song because of the chorus. Most people that I find out are listening to “Ayo for Yayo” are just listening until they hear the chorus. They hear the song, they hear the lyrics, but they actually not listening to the lyrics. The lyrics is saying, “Don’t do coke.” People listen to the song while doing coke. So, they listen to the melody and the chorus. That’s why they probably associate me with the song more than Quinn. But Quinn can do the song at any show he want to, too. And probably get just as big of a response as me, if he wanted to. But since it was on my album, and the chorus is mostly what they always singing, I guess, they associate me with doing the song. I think.

Did you have any CDs that were your favorite or any one song that you were proud of?
Let me tell you one thing, the CD that made the most money, that sold the most copies, that cd is my favorite.

Which was…?
I’m not tellin you that! Shiiiiit… No, I don’t have a best one. That’s like trying to say, “Who’s your best fucking kid?” Man, if you say Number Two is your best kid and Number One hear that, oh yeah, you gonna have a problem. So, you would rather say, “I don’t have no best kid.” You good on this day, and you good on this day. Ain’t no best.

Grape Swishers?
Definitely. Or I’ll fuck with a peach Optimo. What about you?

Yeah, I like grape Swishers. Strawberry Swishers?
No.

I hate strawberry Swishers.
That shit is like burning incense. That shit make me sick; I can just smell the artificial flavors.

And…what do you drink?
Hennessy.

Only?
Yeah. You won’t catch me experimenting. This bitch mixed some Hennessy and Remy one time and that shit turned green. She thought I would like it. When she turned away, I was like [made a face], and she seen me in the reflection. That bitch seen me make that face like, “I ain’t drinkin that, bitch.” Ooh. You listen to too many rap songs, bitch, I ain’t drinkin that. That shit turned green. Uh-uh. That shit was for the Hulk or Swamp Thing. Not for me.

Last time I saw you driving in a car, it was very low-pro. Stock rims, no tint. Is that how you roll?
I’m a regular person. I just think, if I drive too stupid, then I’ll get too many people looking at me. Not stupid, but flashy. I try to be more of a person that lets a party be a party and letting the traffic flow through traffic. I don’t need people looking at me. I want to come hear music like everybody else. I don’t want the DJ saying, “Andre Nickatina is in the HOUSE!” No need to say my name, nigga. You don’t need to tell muthafuckas I’m here! I just want to be in here like everybody else. That’s why you seen me in that at that time. Another thing, y’all in HP, muthafucka…I can’t even remember what you probably seen me in, but I be in so many different things at so many different times. You can see what I’m doing now, it’s the blue one outside. With a little bit of bird shit on the front. [LAUGHS] That’s mine, outside. I gotta take it over to the car wash. As a matter of fact, I hear that bitch screaming at me now like, “You supposed to take me to the car wash at one o’clock!” Shit, but I had to get over here and talk to you.

[the vine]

lol andre nick just a cool dude

[Sickaluffa]

good read +1