DJ Kay Slay - It's just a different side of the game right now. A lot of mutha****as got it confused with Hip-Hop, rap and entertainment. This ain't no hate either. You can challenge it if you wanna challenge it. I'm the ***** to talk to 'cause I'm Hip-Hop. A lot of them cats you see on TV is entertainers that's doing the dances with the raps. They are entertainers okay. Nas is a rapper. A lot of people are getting it mixed up when he says "Hip-Hop is Dead" or **** like that. Nas is coming from the true lyricist and the true Hip-Hop angle. A lot of **** that is being portrayed as Hip-Hop is not. Hip-Hop is 360 degrees of the game. You got lyricism, story tellin', droppin' knowledge, science for the kids, education, and then you can bring it back around to the club joint. 360 degrees, how many rappers are doing that right now? Nas ain't saying that "Hip-Hop is Dead" because the South is on more videos and more radio then the North, he's saying that it ain't Hip-Hop that is going on right now. Right now we are getting more of the drug ;dealer's guide for the kids then anything else.
thaFormula.com - Why do you feel that the South rappers were the first to get really pissed about that (Nas) title though?
DJ Kay Slay - Because I think a lot of them mutha****as know that they are not Hip-Hop (laughs). First and foremost everybody must know that I got love for the South. Before they was poppin', I had Three-Six Mafia on my first single. That was on my album 3 years ago before they blew up. I have always supported T.I. since day one. Eightball and Ludacris, etc. have got love shown. But a fact is a fact, everybody down there ain't lyricists. Some *****z make good music, some of them are Hip-Hop. Three-Six Mafia is Hip-Hop. UGK is Hip-Hop. Scarface, Ludacris, Eightball & MJG is Hip-Hop. There is a lot more and please don't say I'm dissin' you if I didn't mention your name. But there is a lot of mutha****as that ain't Hip-Hop that are getting spins and Nas is just bringing that **** to life. Basically saying, at the end of the day Hip-Hop is dead.
thaFormula.com - Nas recently said that he saw a lot of artists and people furious when he squashed his beef with Jay-Z, did you see that?
DJ Kay Slay - I did see it. Me myself I ain't gonna lie, I was kind of confused with that move. I just felt like Nas was his own entity. It's a double edge sword. It's good for the game, but I just think they both went at each other to hard to be rubbing shoulders like that again. That's just me. On some grown man ****, both of them really got personal. But for them to make that move is big.
thaFormula.com - It seems like things are changing in Hip-Hop right now. The South had a huge run, but it the way things have been going recently it looks like it's coming to an end…
DJ Kay Slay - It's over. On the real check the numbers right. I got good relationships with a lot of brothas from the South, but I don't wanna name how many of them *****z albums came out and did not go platinum. Albums that were bricks. Nobody speaks about this ****. Like Ying Yang Twins, I like them dudes. They did some **** like 20 something thousand their first week. This is a group that just went double platinum. I could sit here and name some mutha****as but then I don't want to put anybody on blast and hurt *****z egos cause a lot of people are respected and looked up to. Then they are gonna twist my words and say Slay is ****ting on them. What I am gonna tell you is to check the Soundscan. 8 out of 10 rappers in the South right now didn't sell no records and their album just dropped within the last 4 months. Ain't go Gold either. So if you look at the state of the game right now, I think the East is kind of edging. So when *****z be talking that East Coast fell off, nah man ya'll *****z ain't checkin' no ****in' numbers son. Everybody is suffering right now. The whole record industry is ****ed up right now. Nobody is fully winning right now. Let's put this **** in the proper perspective. 50 Cent about to drop his album and he's gonna do his numbers, Papoose gonna do his numbers. The way the game is right now, it's balanced if you ask me. This is because everything evolves 360 degrees man. These are the laws of the universe.
thaFormula.com - For a minute though it looked like the South would be completely running things forever.
DJ Kay Slay - But the run was on the radio and on TV. Check them numbers man. You know, I knew that the run was pretty much over for the South or was about to come to a halt, when Outkast didn't go Gold. Outkast are some real creative artists. They are Hip-Hop. They've been on the stage with Raekwon. Them *****z done touched every angle and that's what I'm talking about. How many artists in the South have done what Outkast has done? Like from different angles and ****?
thaFormula.com - Do you think that you have played a big part in keeping the East going through the hard times?
DJ Kay Slay - I'm the type of dude that no matter where something is going on or how it is poppin', I always support them, but I keep my flag up from where the **** I'm from first. *****z start ****ting, I'm always gonna **** back and I'm gonna try to keep everything where it's supposed to be. I definitely thing I'm supportive in that movement because I ain't never changed hats.
thaFormula.com - I saw that with how you kept grinding with Papoose and sticking with that NY flavor, while a lot of dudes basically just turned into Southern rappers?
DJ Kay Slay - Yeah, mutha****as done switched up man. I told Papoose man. "We gonna stay on New York beats and you cannot rap on it the way they rap unless it's one of them on a track with you and you are being competitive." We can't do what they do, that just ain't us.
thaFormula.com - Did it bother you to see so many artists switching up?
DJ Kay Slay - That was bothering me, but I knew we had some of the fathers in this **** that wasn't. Jay-Z was staying New York, Nas was staying New York, 50 Cent was staying New York. The strong elements in New York were standing firm.
thaFormula.com - Why do you feel that the South rappers were the first to get really pissed about that (Nas) title though?
DJ Kay Slay - Because I think a lot of them mutha****as know that they are not Hip-Hop (laughs). First and foremost everybody must know that I got love for the South. Before they was poppin', I had Three-Six Mafia on my first single. That was on my album 3 years ago before they blew up. I have always supported T.I. since day one. Eightball and Ludacris, etc. have got love shown. But a fact is a fact, everybody down there ain't lyricists. Some *****z make good music, some of them are Hip-Hop. Three-Six Mafia is Hip-Hop. UGK is Hip-Hop. Scarface, Ludacris, Eightball & MJG is Hip-Hop. There is a lot more and please don't say I'm dissin' you if I didn't mention your name. But there is a lot of mutha****as that ain't Hip-Hop that are getting spins and Nas is just bringing that **** to life. Basically saying, at the end of the day Hip-Hop is dead.
thaFormula.com - Nas recently said that he saw a lot of artists and people furious when he squashed his beef with Jay-Z, did you see that?
DJ Kay Slay - I did see it. Me myself I ain't gonna lie, I was kind of confused with that move. I just felt like Nas was his own entity. It's a double edge sword. It's good for the game, but I just think they both went at each other to hard to be rubbing shoulders like that again. That's just me. On some grown man ****, both of them really got personal. But for them to make that move is big.
thaFormula.com - It seems like things are changing in Hip-Hop right now. The South had a huge run, but it the way things have been going recently it looks like it's coming to an end…
DJ Kay Slay - It's over. On the real check the numbers right. I got good relationships with a lot of brothas from the South, but I don't wanna name how many of them *****z albums came out and did not go platinum. Albums that were bricks. Nobody speaks about this ****. Like Ying Yang Twins, I like them dudes. They did some **** like 20 something thousand their first week. This is a group that just went double platinum. I could sit here and name some mutha****as but then I don't want to put anybody on blast and hurt *****z egos cause a lot of people are respected and looked up to. Then they are gonna twist my words and say Slay is ****ting on them. What I am gonna tell you is to check the Soundscan. 8 out of 10 rappers in the South right now didn't sell no records and their album just dropped within the last 4 months. Ain't go Gold either. So if you look at the state of the game right now, I think the East is kind of edging. So when *****z be talking that East Coast fell off, nah man ya'll *****z ain't checkin' no ****in' numbers son. Everybody is suffering right now. The whole record industry is ****ed up right now. Nobody is fully winning right now. Let's put this **** in the proper perspective. 50 Cent about to drop his album and he's gonna do his numbers, Papoose gonna do his numbers. The way the game is right now, it's balanced if you ask me. This is because everything evolves 360 degrees man. These are the laws of the universe.
thaFormula.com - For a minute though it looked like the South would be completely running things forever.
DJ Kay Slay - But the run was on the radio and on TV. Check them numbers man. You know, I knew that the run was pretty much over for the South or was about to come to a halt, when Outkast didn't go Gold. Outkast are some real creative artists. They are Hip-Hop. They've been on the stage with Raekwon. Them *****z done touched every angle and that's what I'm talking about. How many artists in the South have done what Outkast has done? Like from different angles and ****?
thaFormula.com - Do you think that you have played a big part in keeping the East going through the hard times?
DJ Kay Slay - I'm the type of dude that no matter where something is going on or how it is poppin', I always support them, but I keep my flag up from where the **** I'm from first. *****z start ****ting, I'm always gonna **** back and I'm gonna try to keep everything where it's supposed to be. I definitely thing I'm supportive in that movement because I ain't never changed hats.
thaFormula.com - I saw that with how you kept grinding with Papoose and sticking with that NY flavor, while a lot of dudes basically just turned into Southern rappers?
DJ Kay Slay - Yeah, mutha****as done switched up man. I told Papoose man. "We gonna stay on New York beats and you cannot rap on it the way they rap unless it's one of them on a track with you and you are being competitive." We can't do what they do, that just ain't us.
thaFormula.com - Did it bother you to see so many artists switching up?
DJ Kay Slay - That was bothering me, but I knew we had some of the fathers in this **** that wasn't. Jay-Z was staying New York, Nas was staying New York, 50 Cent was staying New York. The strong elements in New York were standing firm.
Comment