Project Pat
Interview by Black Dog Bone
How did the Cutthroat project come together?
It was a mixtape with me and Juicy, V-Slash and Lil Reno. It was a mix CD and then it got kinda hot. We called DJ Scream and DJ Smallz and it got hot, Lil Whyte got on it too. Then we wanted to put out an album and since people already knowin Cutthroat, we decided to go ahead and put out Cutthroat. The album’s called “The Take Ova”. 
“The Take Ova” is different from the mixtape you put out?
It’s basically the same thing as the mixtape. We just made Cutthroat like a group. It’s me, V-Slash, Lil Reno, and Juicy J.
Is the sound similar to your solo albums or Three 6 Mafia? What are we going to hear?
It’s similar, but also something different cause we’ve got the Money Train producers which consist of Billy West, a young guy we signed, and another young dude named Lil Lody. He just made a track for P. Diddy, did one for Rick Ross. He’s doing his thang out here. He’s real hot with the production, and he’s part of Money Train Productions too.
You have a big presence on the CD? Will we hear that same Project Pat that we know and love?
I’m rappin all over it! You’re gonna get that same Project Pat. I don’t switch it up much. It’s a lot of the same thing—reality Rap, street Rap, talking about what’s goin on in the streets. It’s real serious shit on every song. The songs is like back when I first came out. We’re gonna play it real real deep. It’s got some major hard tracks on it. The two singles we’re pushing off from it are “My Money” and “Them Hats” featuring Twista from Chicago. It’s a hard CD. You gotta check it out. Got Billy West on there singing.
What’s behind the song called “Them Hats”?
“We Wear Them Hats” is a song that’s got V-Slash, Lil Reno and Twista on it. It’s a salute to all the guys that’s in organizations, like gangs but organizations. Organizations originated outta Chicago. You got the Folk Nation, you got Stones, the Vice Lords. Everybody wear their hats a certain way. That’s why I got Twista on the song, because he’s from Chicago. It’s about the street organizations that Jeff Fort and Larry Hoover created. It’s saluting the people that do what they do and are stand-up guys. It goes out to all my mob figures. It says, “We wear them hats to the left, to the right, to the left.” It’s a real hard song, it’s a song that I made up. I thought of the song maybe 5 years ago. I never put it out because I’m not part of nothing. People who are involved with different mobs could get in depth with the song and people could accept it better because it’s more real. You can’t just rap about anything. I don’t like to rap about something I really don’t know. I just said, “I’m not gonna touch that. I’ma let some real people that’s involved actively in organizations go ahead and rap this.”
Are street organizations like this big in Memphis?
Oh yeah. We have plenty of them in there. We’ve got everything that Chicago do, cause Memphis do the same thing. It originated out of Chicago and that’s where the headquarters are.
I remember first hearing Three 6 Mafia and other Memphis artists 15 years ago and it was such a fresh sound. Now after all these years the biggest artists in Rap, like Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame, sound a lot like Three 6 Mafia. That Memphis sound is so influential. Do you see that?
I do see that. We’re the so to speak legends, the pioneers of the Memphis sound, Three 6 Mafia. It’s all good. I like Gucci Mane, I like Waka Flocka. They’re doing their thing, and I like it. If I had anything to contribute to it—hey, I’m glad I did cause I like it. That’s how it’s done. We had our swag back in the day. They’ve got a 2010 swag. They put their swag on it, and they do their thing. That’s good. It made way for some more guys that were in the streets or whatnot to rise and come up. If I had anything to do with anybody being able to come up and get off the streets, then I feel I did my job. I hope everybody keeps doing their thing and get some money, man. That’s what it’s about—it’s about the money. You do what you do to get what you get. As far as what style of swag you come with on your raps, if you use something I said or use something that I do and can put a twist to it and bring it up to date and get you some money out of it, you better do it! If I were you I would!
I don’t see it as a negative thing; it’s a positive thing. It’s good to see that what you all created in Memphis became the popular sound we hear all over.
It’s all good. Yeah. And people do give us credit for what we did. When people see me they call me OG and they’d be like, “Man I’m still bumpin your shit!” They still be bumpin the ol’ “Mista Don’t Play” and all the Three 6 Mafia albums to this day. Like I still bump Scarface. Scarface was a big influence for me and I still got Scarface in my BMW right now. “The Diary” and “Mind of a Killa”, I still bump that great shit. Willie D, Scarface, Ice Cube, that’s what influenced me and I bump it right now to this day. It’s all good.
Do you think the sound in Memphis has been changing? Are you hearing different sounds?
Yeah, yeah. We got Lil Lody, and he’s got a different sound. It’s hard though, real hard. And you’ve got a lotta good rappers coming up outta Memphis. You’ve got a guy by the name of Don’t Trip; he’s about to blast off like a rocket. There’s another Rap group outta Memphis called Corporate Mob; they’re doing their thing. You got your rappers comin up in the city. Then you got our artists, V-Slash and Lil Reno, they’re hot. I’ve got another group out of Indianapolis. He’s a White guy named BPV. He’s in a group with Jellyroll out of Mansville, and Lil Wyte, they’ve got a group called Sno. They’ll be out in February of 2011. They’re coming off the label DBI and Hypnotized and Wyte Music. Lil Wyte is Paul and Juicy’s artist and BPV out of Indianapolis is my artist. I promise you, they’re gonna take the game by storm. When people hear these guys they’re not gonna believe it. They’re gonna be like, “Who? They came outta nowhere.” That’s how they’re gonna come; they’re gonna come outta nowhere. You know how when you be up north, a person goes to sleep and they you go outside and there’s snow everywhere? That’s how they’re coming, like a snow storm. They’re gonna wake up in the morning and snow’s gonna be everywhere.
Is their sound very different from your sound?
Check this out—their sound is like Three 6 in the beginning! But it’s 2010. It’s sinister. The beats is produced by Money Train, Billy West, Juicy J, DJ Paul. Paul produced some hits on there and Juicy produced some good hits too. You got Lil Lody Lucci. When they hear that Sno, it’s over with. It’s over with. That’s what I’ve been busy doing. I’ve got V-Slash’s album coming out real soon called “Pain and Suffering”. V-Slash, she’s from the North side of Memphis. She’s got a mix CD out in the city. When I say it was hot in Memphis—it was real hot! I heard the CD and that’s how I got in touch with V-Slash. I got with her. She’s comin so hard. The “Pain & Suffering” album is bein cooked up right now. Lil Reno’s got an album coming out called “Loyalty Is Everything”. He’s in the studio workin on his. We just workin. We’re gonna drop this Sno right after this Cutthroat. Everybody needs to be on the look out: Cutthroat “The Take Ova” November 16. You can preorder on iTunes now. And we gonna come with another Cutthroat album in about another 90 days. A minute after that we gonna be droppin this Sno.
DBI is your own label?
It’s an entertainment investment company, but it’s a label.
Are you still signed to Hypnotized Minds?
I’m still signed to Hypnotized Minds. I’ve got an album already finished called “Gold Hustler”. We rollin right now. Three 6 got an album comin out called “The 48 Laws of Power”. They got that album ready. They’re gonna go forward pushing their single pretty soon. It’s gonna most likely drop in springtime of 2011.
How are things going for you in your personal life?
Real good. We just been mainly workin. We was in Puerto Rico about a month ago, vacationing. I was in Puerto Rico in a mall, dudes was asking me for my autograph and taking pictures. I was tripping. They know you all over. I was just up in Fairbanks, Alaska and Anchorage, doing some shows up there. Three 6 just came off tour in Canada and Europe. They got the cooking show poppin off too. They’re doing the cooking show in LA. Juicy just did some songs with Wiz Khalifa. We been workin. We all been getting money. I’m into real estate on the side. That’s one of my main money-getters. We been sellin merchandise online. We’ve been blessed. We’ve been taken care of. I’m still making money off of “Mista Don’t Play”. It’s still selling.
Are you taking care of your health, Project Pat?
For sure. I had lost a little weight. I be workin out and stuff. You gotta stay healthy, cause you gotta spend that money.
What about Juicy and Paul? Are they still healthy and good?
Oh yeah. They’re lookin real good. Juicy is almost a vegetarian now. He’s looking good. You know Juicy, he’s always lookin ahead. He’s thinkin about movie roles, so he’s gotta be lookin good.
