ArtofRhyme Interview w/ Slug

By: ArtofRhyme

What's up Slug?

Slug: Hey. What's up man?

First off, why'd you decide to title the new album When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold?

Slug: Because the record is about making the best out of things.

What sort of direction did you take as opposed to some of your previous albums?

Slug: You know, I'm not sure if there is any conscious direction or comparison with the previous albums. Every record that we make is like an example of where we are today. I guess the difference is there's no samples on this record. It's like all organic sounds coming from musicians. We sampled them instead of actual records or we replayed samples. Album-wise it's really full because we were able to get the most out of every single. As opposed to samples where you have the guitar, horns and the drums that came off the same record. Lyrically it's a step away from past stuff that people always saw as autobiographical or whatever. There isn't a whole lot of that stuff on here. It's more a narrative type of story. It's fictional.

Brother Ali told us that he's obviously feeling a lot of other producers but it would never be the same as with Ant. Is that how you feel at this point?

Slug: Of course. That just stems from the fact that he and I have been friends for fifteen years now. I'm sure Ali looks at it the same way. They have been working together for like eight years. So yeah it isn't going to be like that with anyone else in my matrix that I've known for that long that makes beats. If I go hop on a track with some producer it's basically like two people saying, "alright let's make a song". There's no real connection there, you know what I mean?

What's the response been for the "Shoulda Known" single thus far?

Slug: You know I'm not really sure. I don't know if any radio stations picked it up. I don't really keep up on that. There's a couple of websites I go to just because I've been going to them for years. You know people are cool with you because you've been cool for some time or sponsors because you knew them for years or whatever. I'm not really that dude that goes looking for the response. I really don't focus on the response. That's not my problem, that's the record labels problem. For us we make the music and keep it moving.

The video premiered last week, correct?

Slug: Yeah.

Do you have any other videos in the pipeline?

Slug: Yeah there's a video I think coming out tomorrow for a song called "Guarantees".

You guys haven't been sending promotional copies of the album. Instead you've had events where critics could preview the album. How has that been going for you guys?

Slug: It's been going really well as far as I'm concerned since everyone has been having fun at them. I mean you can't go wrong when you give everybody free booze. As far as it working for the album? I don't know, we'll see. I don't know what kind of coverage we are going to get. That's probably a question to ask mid-April or mid-May maybe, then we can look and see how it worked. As of right now my record hasn't leaked yet and I had a lot of fun so I feel it's a success.

Do you perform songs off the new album at your recent shows?

Slug: We did about five or six songs off of this record on this last tour. I was trying to test some songs because we were still trying to make the record. I wanted to see how they came off live and go home and put the final touches on the song for the record. I haven't done any shows since November. I've been chilling and working on other angles. We go out in tour in about another two weeks. We'll probably do a lot of the songs off the record.

You guys have obviously acquired a huge fan base and achieved a lot of success for independent artists. What are your goals for this album in terms of sales and promotion? What would satisfy you?

Slug: I don't like disappointing my people. So as long as my people at my label are happy, I'm happy. Whatever they feel like they need to do I hope they can do it. I don't have a number in my head like, "I want to do this many copies." I don't really get down like that. If the label turns to me in a year and says it's not enough then I'll feel bad. Because I'll feel like I made these guys do all this work getting to people who want to get it. For me and Anthony our satisfaction comes before the record even comes out. The stuff that happens before that are the parts we really look at and think about. Come release date April 22nd I'm not thinking about the record anymore. I'm thinking about the show, I'm thinking about the next record and I'm thinking about how I stick and move.

I always crack jokes saying, "this record isn't my problem, it's the labels problem". [Laughs] Now it's contradictory because I'm part of the label but I have to separate myself from the label when I'm doing my own records. There's a lot of conflict of interest there. I don't want to sit in on a meeting for my record. What if I'm pushing to spend this much on my CD's or this amount for my album. It's not really fair. With me sitting in on other peoples records make more sense because I need to be one of those heads to make those decisions. I don't ever want to get drunk with power. With our records I really take a step away from any of that kind of stuff. I really just stick to the creative stuff when it comes to my records. When it comes to where would you buy ads, or where will you do this or that; I'm more into let me help someone design the ad or let me give some ideas of what I think could be done and should be done. Ya'll figure out where ya'll want to spend the money. Otherwise it's a conflict of interest for me to sit in and make decisions on marketing and whatnot on my own record. What if our marketing plan is massive and the next artist that comes up through Rhymesayers only gets this or that. They'll be like, "Ok, I see why I only got this much, cause of fucking Slug." That's not good business and I try to stick to good business.

Also when we talked to Brother Ali the other day, he was saying that he can only write when something really needs to come out, whereas it flows much easier for you. Has writing always been an easy process for you and is it therapeutic?

Slug: I would say the actual words that I put to the paper are therapeutic. I would say the process of writing and taking my time to concentrate on something else and taking my mind off stress; that's therapeutic. Just like some people come home and watch The Wire and that's therapeutic for them. Just taking time out of my day to concentrate on something of course that's therapeutic. I don't say I'm going to write a song about this because if I get it out of my system I'll feel better about myself. I don't really see it like that. When I write it's usually because I want to make a point not because I want to release some kind of angst.

I try to keep my stuff more morale based and try to make a point. It's not like if I write this it'll make my day better or to help me understand how to better get along with my mom or girl. I do think that the actual physical part of writing is good for people because it forces you to focus. The same way I see driving as therapeutic since it forces you to focus on the road and quit tripping over whatever you're tripping on.

You guys have been releasing a lot of material over the past year between Strickly Leakage and the Sad Clown series. What motivates you to give the fans so much music?

Slug: We took a year off of touring. I didn't want to go hang out by a swimming pool and drink Long Island Iced Teas. I take my job serious. Its natural. Since we are not on the road and we are not practicing with the band, we should go work on this. I'm not really one for vacation. I don't really go max out and charge my battery a lot. All the music we released was albums that I was doing that year. As far as the free record I was looking at how people were responding to free songs. So we gave away some free songs and stuff. Making a song is easy; it isn't a thing, you know? I'm not saying we make incredible music or nothing like that but for what we do it's easy. So why don't we go ahead and show people that. Show people how much fun making it is and keep it moving.

Do you record a bunch of music and then assign it to different projects, or do you focus on one thing at a time and record specifically for it? For example are Sad Clown songs ones that didn't make an album?

Slug: It's funny because I think last year's press release made a statement something about, "What do you do when you make too many songs," but I think that was just them being cute. Sad Clown Summer was Sad clown Summer. Those songs were about summer, those songs smelled like summer with all the piano and beats on the song. Fall was about fall. Those songs were about Fall. If anyone listens to the lyrics they can hear the references that I'm talking about October and November. Winter with those songs, I'm kind of cold and frigid and the spring joint that's about to pop off is about rebirth.

We always are making a project. It doesn't always mean the listener gets to see it. Just because it's in my head and I have a concept I know I'm not the greatest communicator. So maybe if I make a song literally about leaves falling off a tree and stuff like that people will get it, but I don't think people necessarily ask so it doesn't matter. Whatever my inspiration comes from really has nothing to do with the listener. The listener is going to take songs and change them how they need to use them and everyone uses music for different reasons. Some people use it to forget about their day or some people play it when they are in their car. I can't expect listeners to even care about what inspired me to do these. Granted there are some fans that do, they want to know all that stuff and that's cool. I'll chop it up with them and tell them if they ask.

On the broad spectrum I know better than to get that invested in the listener. I'm more invested in what we do and I hope the listener accepts it. I hope not to disappoint them. Other than that if I start thinking too much about the listener than what am I doing? Who am I making this for? This way we can always keep it very focused. Anthony and I make this shit for ourselves. That's always been one of our biggest criticisms that people make towards us. "You sound like you're trying to make each other laugh." We'll that kind of is what we do. I accept that criticism because that kind of is what we are trying to do. We are tying to get reactions out of each other. He's trying to get me to react by playing me a particular beat and I'm trying to make him react by saying a particular line.

If I can make Ant laugh or make him stop and say "Whoa!" then I know it's good because we relate to each other. So if I can communicate what I'm trying to communicate and a like minded person gets it then I did it, I communicated. So that's kind of what we look for.

Obviously you guys spend a lot of time on the road. What's the tour schedule looking like for the new album?

Slug: We start out on April 22nd and we pretty much don't stop until December. I mean we take two week breaks here and there just to practice and learn new songs.

Do you enjoy the road?

Slug: Yeah man. Oh yeah. I'm going to miss it when I quit.

Abstract Rude has joined the Rhymesayers crew. What made you guys pick him up?

Slug: He and I have been homies for a while. Eyedea and I met Rude like way back, probably like nine years ago maybe and we just clicked. That's the thing I always appreciated about this. I tend to click with people that are good people. I really do want to believe it's because deep down I'm a good person. No matter how you cut it generally when I click with people it's not because I'm like, "Yeah homie you're tight." Usually I'm on some, "Hey man how's you're kid? Pretty good, how's your mom?" I make friends with people. When Abstract Rude came to the roster it wasn't nothing crazy. It was natural.

It's not saying he's going to release records on Rhymesayers for the next fifteen years. That's not how we do ours. It's like do you want to put out a record over here. Ok, do you want to put out another?. It's not the kind of thing where cats are locked into contracts. Its a per album kind of a thing. That way cats can feel comfortable knowing they got room to grow. I would hate to be say Rhymesayers is going to be your home. I always try to treat Rhymesayers as a means to get artists to be able to step up to another level. Don't aim for us, aim higher since we are just a stepping stone for you to get higher. With Abstract Rude he's a friend and gets nothing but respect from everyone at the label. Everyone looks at him like, "Yeah dude, teach me something." You know what I mean? [Laughs]

He's been on the road with Brother Ali. Is he going to join in on the Atmosphere tour?

Slug: He's going on tour with me April 22nd and he's doing the release tour for a month.

Who else will be rolling with you guys?

Slug: DJ Rare Groove is rolling with us but no other rap groups. It'll be Rare Groove, Abstract and Atmosphere.

Obviously a lot of artists would love for a chance to be part of Rhymesayers. What are you guys looking for when you bring somebody new into the fold?

Slug: The funny thing is we have never brought anyone in on the strength of a demo or the strength of them being a dope MC. Everyone that comes into the fold is a friend first. You look at Abstract Rude; Grayskul, Mac Lethal or Blueprint. These are people I knew for years and years before they ever really got down with Rhymesayers. I always try to tell kids all the time that send us demos or holler at us at shows. It's like no disrespect ,you could be the dopest rapper in the world but that's not what we are looking for. We are not trying to elevate the dopest MC in the world or the best DJ. We are trying to elevate good people. That's kind of why there is a friendship rule. We need to know ya'll are good people. Who wants to elevate an asshole? I'm not afraid to admit there are plenty of rappers out there that are dope as fuck but some of them are jerks. I'm an easy dude to get along with man. If I'm feeling like this dude is shady I don't care if I can sell a million records with dude. I'm not the one that's going to help that dude sell a million records. I would hate to put out a record with someone to find out a year later this guy beats on his wife or beats his puppy.

RA the Rugged Man was saying you're on the soundtrack for his movie. How'd that come out?

Slug: It was pretty fun man. We both have a mutual friend. A homie of ours named Kevin. He hit me up through Kev and it was the first time I really chopped it up with him. Obviously we've been aware of each other for a long time but we never got to really chop it up. Hip Hop fans box us in different corners right? The kids don't put me and R.A. in the same corner. Therefore the promoters never put R.A. and me on the same show. So we never really had a chance to cross and chop it up like people. I see that with a lot of people, when cats finally meet me they're like, "Oh I didn't know you were like this. The image I got of you was you were always making these girl songs, you got all these white girls at your shows" or whatever.

We are humans so we can't help but to put things in boxes. I'm not trying to speak for R.A. and I'm not saying that's how he felt. But I could see how that could be a natural way of thinking because you know R.A. He's rugged. He's on some street shit and he's on some harder shit. Once we finally got to chop it up it was obvious he's a great dude and a motivated dude so I was feeling that. He was like I want to make a joint so he sent me the beat and I said I could work with it. He said he figured I could. I was like, "That's wassup." Because that at least told me he knew enough about me to know what kind of shit I fuck with, so it was on. We made a song and it was fun to make. It's not a happy song. I wish I could've made a happy song with him but R.A. don't make happy music and I don't make happy music. I think if we would've made a joint together that had to be a certain color.

A lot of my songs are brown, black and dark blue. I see songs as colors. I hear a lot of R.A. songs and I think of like blood red, know what I mean? What if we can get together and make a song that's like yellow? [Laughs] But it didn't happen man. [Laughs] We made an unhappy song but whatever. It's a good song though and I'm not mad at it at all. I'm looking forward for the soundtrack to come out. People are probably going to be like, "Yo what the fuck? Why they put Slug on this shit?" I'm sure the record is going to be full of a lot of like hardcore shit. I think people are going to bug when they see that you know? "Ok, these dudes are down with each other?"

R.A. did mention to us that's why he though it was so dope. The fact that you guys are considered by the fans to be so far apart.

Slug: I think people hear your records and decide what type of person you are. They don't stop and consider that people are complex. I see music in certain ways, so I make music in certain ways. At the end of the day music is an escape. You got people that escape through weed; you got people that escape through heroin or alcohol. Ultimately at the end of the day it's all co-dependency. It's all self-medication and that's what music is; self medication. If you try different types of music this guy might do this and this guy might do that. At the end of the day we both have this common bond that we escape through the music. Once you kind of see past that you'll get over the imaging and the way people separate things. R.A. and I have more in common than we probably ever thought we did. We didn't even think about what we had in common because everyone is always pointing out what we don't have in common.

What else is lined up for you in 2008 after the album hits stores?

Slug: I'm going to stay on the road for as long as I can. Come home to my little two week breaks and take a couple of months. I'm going to start writing again and start working on another record. I got to keep it moving. People are so self-entitled with this shit. They think they made a record and they sold some, so now they feel like they are entitled to be this. I never saw this like that man. I want to respect this the same way I have to respect any kind of job, you know? Like if you don't stay on your shit you'll get fired. So for me I got to keep it going and I got to make sure everything is moving correctly and I'm doing my part. I don't want to be one of them dudes that take it for granted and be like I made some money, now I'm going to go and trick it off. I got to stay on my grind. That's the only way you're going to be able to keep a job.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Slug: It's going to be a long year. Not just for me but for everyone. It's going to move slower, so be sharp. Make sure you look over your shoulder so you can see what's going on.