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Kool G Rap Kool G Rap is a legend in the hip-hop world. From It’s A Demo to his latest project Click Of Respect, Kool G Rap has never compromised his music. His quick fire delivery, signature lisp, mumbling voice, and hardcore rhymes have made him the godfather of hardcore hip-hop music. All of the hardcore emcees you look up to today mention Kool G Rap as their major influence. Everyone from Prodigy of Mobb Deep to Styles of The Lox pay homage to the legendary emcee. Hailing from Queens, NY, Kool G Rap and DJ Polo made classic after classic including It’s A Demo, Streets Of New York, Talk Like Sex, and Road To Riches. His tales of the street were gritty and realistic.
Kool G Rap went from label to label, releasing solo album after album. His LP Roots Of Evil (which mimicked the movie poster for Scarface on the LP cover) was a cinematic album filled with tales of fast life, mafia ties, sexy women, and money. During this time, Kool G Rap has been making collaborations with hardcore hip-hop groups.
Fast-forward to 2003, Kool G Rap and his wife, Ma Barker, came together with his crew, 5 Family, to make the Click Of Respect album on his own label, Igloo Entertainment. It is a gritty, hardcore album of family values, guns, thugged out romance, and money. During a NYC radio interview, Jay-Z was asked what his favorite album of the year was and he responded that the new Kool G Rap’s Click of Respect album was his favorite. On a cold evening, Pixelsurgeon had the honour to talk to the legendary Kool G Rap about relationships, movies, hip-hop, old school, production, Rawkus Records, money, and more. Kool G Rap is the godfather of hardcore hip-hop. Respect the Don.
PIXELSURGEON: Great to meet you. What are you up to right now?
Nothing much, just keeping busy. That’s all. I’m trying to keep busy. I’m doing small work in the studio and shit like that.
Do you have a favorite song on the Click Of Respect LP?
Ah, man, I got a few. I like the title track. Click Of Respect is dope. Pimped Out, Breaker Breaker. Blackin Out and Air You Out along with Sick Wit It.
What is the difference between Click Of Respect and 5 Family?
Click Of Respect is just a title of the album or song while 5 Family is the name of the group itself.
Who is in the Click of Respect?
Ma Barker is my wife. 40 Cal Hammerz is her brother. My man, Glory Warz is her cousin. It just came together from being around family.
How did you and Ma Barker meet? How long have you two been together?
We’ve been together like 4 years now. We met through a mutual friend too. She was a female rapper coming up and I was looking for a female rapper. My manager at the time told me about her. I heard her on a tape with some other cat. She was rapping with someone else I knew, named Papoos. We were peoples. We met up and she played more of her stuff for me. I was blown away by her material.
What is the key to a successful relationship when both of you are in the music industry?
We are just real tight. It is not just a husband and wife relationship. We are best friends too. I think that is the key to a successful relationship. Both people have to be best friends too. It can’t be just a man and a woman thing. It has to be more than that. We hang out together and everything. I’m not like, ‘I’m gonna go hang out with my peoples’. She does not say shit like ‘I’m going to hang out with my girls’. You know what I’m saying? We do everything together. I can do anything with her. Nobody’s minds are wandering somewhere. That’s the key to any kind of relationship.
You have a newcomer producer called C.O.S. doing most of the production work on the new album. Who is he? How did you meet him and why did he do most of the work?
C.O.S. and I met about 3 years ago. I was in Sony Studios recording ‘The Giancana Story’ for Rawkus Records and he was in there doing intern stuff. He gave Ma Barker a production CD. When we got home, we played it and we loved the tracks. That’s how C.O.S. came on board and became one of our producers.
As an emcee, who were some of your major influences?
I’m from a whole other era, as far as being inspired by rappers. The cats that inspired G Rap are Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Silver Fox, Grandmaster Caz. They are the dudes who inspired me when I was a young dude, just starting to rhyme, putting my shit together and wanting to get out there.
You have been in the hip-hop world for a very long time. You are a legend. What would you say is the key to maintaining your career for so long?
Keeping the love for it. If you keep the love for what you do, you stay competitive at it. I think being competitive can bring the best out of you. In my case, it brings the best out of me lyrically. It keeps G Rap going and a recognizable force.
How did you eventually get into the record industry and record the single It’s A Demo?
A friend of mine, Eric B, came out with a real hot single called ‘Eric B For President’ with Rakim. I was cool with Eric B’s brother. Since I was cool with his brother, I got to meet Eric. Then, me and Eric B became cool. Eric plugged me in with Polo, trying to put me on, because he thought I was a good rapper. Polo was tight with Marley Marl and brought me to Marley Marl’s house. They used to go to high school together or something like that. We went to Marley Marl’s house one night and recorded a song. It turned out to be our first single ‘It’s A Demo’.
What is the major difference between the hip-hop world then and now?
I’ve seen it change drastically, man. Then, it was just about hip-hop music. It wasn’t so political or geared towards a certain audience. There was not a specific direction to receive radio airplay or play from DJs. Hip-hop was not brand new but it was very new. It’s uprising was new. People all over supported hip-hop because they loved it, period. Now you have cats who are not doing it because they love it. They are doing it because they see all of that other shit that comes along with being successful in the hip-hop industry, as far as the money and the materialistic stuff. They see the cars, the crib, the women, and the touring. To some degree, even earlier rappers did it for that too. A lot of the stuff people are getting now was not even conceivable to niggas back in the day. Clothing lines and movies? That kind of shit was not conceivable to a lot of cats who started this shit and laid the foundation for it.
What emcee/group would you like to collaborate with in the future?
There may be a couple who I respect what they do lyrically. One of them is Jigga, Jay-Z. Jigga would be at the top of my list.
What producer would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I would love to get something from Kanye West and Just Blaze. To me, they do my kind of tracks. They lay down some real hard shit.
Your last solo LP ‘The Giancana Story’ was pushed back a couple of times. The songs were even changed too. At first, Rawkus was going to put it out but then, Koch Entertainment released it. Were you happy with the end result?
Definitely not! No! I recorded it to be promoted and marketed in a major fashion. That didn’t happen! If it went through with Rawkus, there would have been Kool G Rap shit everywhere! The promotion and marketing campaign would have been tremendous. Rawkus was not a label that was into sticking by who they signed. They signed me as an artist for a certain reason but when it came time to put out material, they wanted me to become a different artist. A lot of labels do that. People want a Ja Rule record or whoever is hot. 50 Cent came out muscular so they wanted The Last Emperor to get all muscular and show off his chest. This is the shit I’m talking about. Whoever is out and hot at the time, they hop on their dick. This is what they expect from their artists. They couldn’t tell me shit like that! Nobody can tell me to go to some fucking gym and tighten up my abs! They knew they couldn’t deal with G Rap like that. They could tell other artists what to do but not me. This is where me and Rawkus bumped heads.
You worked with many contemporary big name emcees like Noreaga, Mobb Deep, M.O.P. and more. What collaboration are you most proud of?
Wow! That’s a good question. I really did like the collaboration with Mobb Deep. I liked that song ‘The Realest’ a lot. Mobb Deep is one of my favorite groups. Working with Mobb Deep was like a honor for me as well. I was really feeling their music. I loved that one and the one with Big Pun. I thought Big Pun was an incredible rapper.
What is your favorite part of your live show? How has it evolved?
I was never really a person who did a lot of live performances but I feel that my live show has gotten better with age. It is better now than when I first began performing and putting out records.
What is the biggest mistake you made in your career?
Signing with Cold Chillin (laughs).
What happened with Cold Chillin records?
Cold Chillin’ Records just went under. They got to a point where they got real comfortable and were satisfied with little shit instead of trying to be a label that was on top of the industry. The cats from Cold Chillin’ weren’t doing bad.
What advice would you give to an up and coming emcee?
Do your thing. Stack your chips. Make investments in other things.
What other investments do you have?
I’m just starting to invest my money in other things. I never had a person to teach me what I should do so, I had to find out on my own. A lot of different things came with age. It’s not just the intelligence of investing the money but how you can invest it and that you don’t have to be a millionaire to do certain things. I wasn’t educated on certain things like I am educated now. Now, I am starting to put investments in other things.
What is your favorite solo album, from your collection?
I think I may have to go with ‘Roots Of Evil’. A lot of people didn’t take to the tracks but I had more fun doing that record than any other record because on that record, I just did all out G Rap. I didn’t try to do a whole bunch of songs for radio or anything.
What is your next solo LP going to be like?
I don’t have an idea right now. I don’t know what label it will come out on.
Do you have any final words for the people who will be reading this?
Look out for the Ma Barker album coming out soon! We don’t have a date yet but the Ma Barker album will be coming out soon! Beautiful, man, beautiful! That sounds gangsta to me!
Thank you KOOL G RAP!
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