HipHopHeads

How's everything going?

Jus: Everything's good right now you know. Just trying to stay busy.

I know you've been shipped around between Philly and Boston during your career.

J: Yeah man, just different places to record. That's the only reason I was up there in Boston was to pretty much try to record my album.

Now why was it that you left Jedi Mind Tricks in the first place?

J: In the beginning it was a money situation. I really didn't feel like I was paid right for what I did. I just didn't feel like I could trust them and once that was broken I felt like I had to bounce.

What happened while you were a member of Omnipotent Records?

J: It was kinda like they were a small label. I started working with them as soon as I left Jedi Mind Tricks, but they really didn't have the talent of producers I wanted. I just wasn't feeling the way they wanted to put out the album, so I stopped working with them for a minute. Then I got back up with them but it was pretty much the same deal. It was like I jumped back in the same situation I left them for. I was looking for a different route to go.

When you left for Omnipotent you had a lot of bad words for Jedi Mind Tricks, was that how you really felt or was that just frustration?

J: Everything I said was true at the time. It was like I believed it and I meant it. Nowadays I look back at what I said and I can't really dwell on the anger side. I kinda just let go of that, it is what it is. I'm not saying they are anything, I'm saying it is what it is. I'm not really concerned about that anymore.

How was the reception at Babygrande Records after saying those things?

J: It was cool. Dudes weren't crying about it, it was just an internet interview. I didn't even think it was going to be that big of a deal. It was like whatever and let's move on, that's how I felt. I think on their part they still felt some resentment towards me.

What prompted your return to Babygrande to release an album?

J: Honestly, that was a situation where I was looking for a label to put my shit out, and nothing really was popping off. Out of the blue I was looking for shows and labels and I ended up talking to Stoupe. The next day I get a call from the dude from Babygrande. The day after that they were like "Jedi Mind Tricks is back together". It was a rough state, it wasn't really thought out. I was desperate for a label to put my shit out on and it ended up backfiring on me.

What were the changes on All Fates Have Changed that you didn't approve of?

J: Well, a lot of the old songs that were on there. I didn't really approve any of the artwork, which I wanted to do. I didn't have my thank-you's, I didn't write none of that. None of what you see on the album is anything I did. A couple of the Agallah beats. I'm the type of dude that I record a song and I have to really feel it to put it out. They kinda have a rushed attitude. Yo let's record these songs and put it out. Upon second listening I didn't like some of the songs but it was a time thing where they didn't want to go back and change it.

Do you approve of most of it musically?

J: I mean yeah, it's all my rhymes. Some of them are repeated. Ones were used twice because whoever put it together doesn't know my shit. That's what happened.

Will you be working with Agallah more in the future?

J: No thank you. I don't think I want to work with Agallah. When I first got there that was kinda the only producer they had for me. They just wanted to throw me in with the only dude there. Get the cheapest beats possible and rush an album together and put it out. That's how he works though, that's his work ethic. I really wasn't vibing with him on that page. I need a different producer who puts more into his beats. He's really different from Stoupe. Not the style that I was going for, but at least someone who really puts time in his shit. He would throw a beat together in like five minutes. That's cool for some people cause a lot of people work like that, but I really wasn't used to that.

Would you say that by working with Stoupe earlier in your career you've been tainted as far as other producers?

J: Yeah, yeah, I would say that definitely. It's like I'm used to rhyming over good beats, so when I don't have them I feel naked. I don't even want to perform the songs, I don't want to do nothing with it. When I record over a beat I don't like, it's like I almost never hear the song again, it doesn't even phase me. When I take my time and it's a beat I'm really feeling, it makes it a classic song, at least for me.

Did you have any work with 7L or othre Babygrande producers?

J: 7L? Nah I don't have any work planned with him.

Who are some producers that you would like to work with?

J: I mean, there are a lot of producers that I like their beats but I don't think they match the style I'm doing. I like Madlib, just my own personal taste not in terms of beats I'd rhyme over. Madlib, 9th Wonder, who else. Count Bass D, I like him, his beats are tight.

So the rumor that you returned to Jedi Mind Tricks isn't true?

J: Nah, that's not true. It's kinda hard to explain now because you may hear me on some of their newer stuff, just because in the process of recording this album a lot of verses got stolen from me. You may hear me on some stuff that I didn't reall approve of, just cause they have a lot of my verses now. They're all old verses, nothing I'm really worried about. Personally, I would never work with them just because they can't be trusted with money which is what I'm in this for now. Dudes have to buy houses and make families and shit.

Do you approve of the Devilz Reject project that Bomshot is releasing?

J: No, honestly I think Bomshot is the wackest rapper I've ever heard in my life. He was more of a fan that turned into "yo let me rhyme on your tracks". I've never recorded one song with Bomshot. Honestly, you never hear me say his name on any of my songs. All the songs he super-imposed himself on. It was a thing worked out with him and Chuck, like a song on my album and other songs he recorded that he put out as Devil Rejectz. You can download it for free on my MySpace, it's up there now. I was telling Ikon he's like the spit of rap. Nobody likes him, he's sloppy, he's corny and he just keeps putting out shit. Dude is like 33 years old, so it's like he's never put out a thing in his life and his first song is a diss song about his favorite rappers.

He used to dickride me hard as hell, so it's real funny to hear a dude who used to sweat the shit out of me try to diss me. I heard the song just to see what he was talking about, and it's all fictional made up shit. If you're going to come at me, talk about something that's relevant. Don't just make up a bunch of garbage and put it out there. For him to even come at me and call me a false god, I don't know how deep he is into his studies, but he claims to be a Muslim. He's not even on my level to even call me like that. Let another god try to call me out, not Bomshot. What's that about?

So on one hand you want to respond but you also feel like it's not worth your time?

J: Exactly. Some people don't realize that. If you think I'm scared of Bomshot you're crazy, he's a joke. Either he's crazy or retarded or something. We can't be listening to the same thing. I can't get it, I can't call it.

What are you working on right now?

J: Right now I'm going to take my time and make sure my project comes out the way I want it. All Fates Have Changed, I really don't consider that my album, just because Chuck Wilson from Babygrande stole it from me and released it without my consent. I don't consider that my album. I consider what I'm doing now as my real album.

When do you plan to have it done?

J: I would say early fall.

What label?

J: All that is still in the works. I just want to make some loot and not fall in the same situation that happened last time. I'm taking it real slow with the labels.

So who's paying for the studio time?

J: Who's paying for studio time? I mean, it's kinda like I just float around and it's not even really a planned thing. It happens when it happens.

Where are you headed now?

J: I'm headed to perform now in Virginia at this night club. Me and Ikon the Mic King.

Any plans to come back to the Boston area anytime soon?

J: Honestly, no. I like doing shows but the traveling gets real draining. Boston is like five hours away. If I can get a tour going or something I would definitely end up there, but for one show it would seem like a waste of time. When I come up to Boston tell Bomshot.