Of course we got a bigger budget, but a budget has never been the factor to make me or break me.

True. You are already legendary and have accomplished a lot by being in the game for 14 years as an artist. What’s left?

Taking chances and expanding. You never get set in what you do and rest on your laurels. That’s when motherfuckers fall off. I’m still hungry and want to do things I haven’t done on previous my albums.

Like?

I wanted to do more collaboration on this album than I had ever done. This is something my fans have wanted to see from me. Like on my last few albums I’ve always done songs with Cube or Mack 10 and I never really stepped out and done songs with other cats outside of family (CJ Mac). Last album I got down with E-40 and Too Short. On this one I had to step out a little. I got down with Scarface that is heat. I did a song with Case and flipped the script. On paper you might be like, "What?" but the song is banging. It’s a new millennium and I had to flip the script and put a new stamp on things.

When doing collaborations, how do you know which beat to select? Especially with contrasting styles and the whole mail order vocals thing? If you don’t vibe with a cat how is the chemistry going to work?

You don’t! As long as the beat is banging you ride on it. You have to realize, if you study long you study wrong sometimes. I have to go with the gut instinct sometimes and run with it. I wanted to rock over some tracks that weren’t strictly West Coast, but still swing it with that WC signature on it. I wanted to make sure I had some songs that would get played outside of my region. Me and Case did a song called "So Hard" and it came out real good. I was in the studio with each of the artists who is a guest on my album, so the chemistry is on point.

You were working on songs for the follow-up to The Shadiest One for almost three years, how many beats did you go through before you whittled it down to the selection for Ghetto Hiesman.

I can’t even name how many beats, Allen. I went through a gang of beats because I have been working on this record for a while. Now I recorded the record in three months, but the pre-production and whatnot has been going on for a minute. I’ve been signed to Def jam for a minute. Working with Def Jam and getting an understanding of how they work, and how we were going to work together has been part of the process. I have about another album and half worth of material. That’s how much I have been working on this album.

It’s been a long time, unless fans brought albums by Mack 10 or E-40 where you had spit a verse.

A lot of people figured that since I’ve been off the scene that I just went away. But for two and a half, almost three years, I have been working on another album. This is all while we were trying to clear the red tape while I was with Polygram Records. That took some time to get through. In regards to me working on my record once I got to Def Jam, I had to get used to the way they play ball, and they had to get used to the way I play ball. There had to be a medium. They are a label that strives on excellence and they wanted to come in and get some shit cracking on the West Coast. It’s been a while since they had really hit big on the West, so by signing me they didn’t this album to come out and be just another album–just regional. They wanted an album that represented the West Coast and could be played in all markets nationwide..

Now you are the lone California artist on Def Jam. They have had great albums by Jayo Felony and South Central Cartel, Warren G and Domino had success with the Chronic/Long Beach explosion, and Richie Rich from Oakland was down. Warren G and Domino blew up on their own, but Def Jam has never put forth the effort for breaking new West Coast artists like they did for Ja Rule, DMX, etc. How were your meetings with the label knowing this and what were your concerns?

Were they going to get behind me or were they going to let it [Ghetto Hiesman] come out and walk on it’s own legs. That was my concern. We sat down and I told them I wanted to be marketed as a new artist. Fuck what I’ve already accomplished as a solo artist or a member of a group, I want to be marketed like a brand new artist that is hot and everybody should be bumping. That’s what Def Jam did for DMX and Ja Rule when they first came out. I want to do everything that all the new artists do on this label. I said fuck it, swallowed my pride and everything. I’ve been on big stages by myself, with Cube and as a member of Westside Connection, but now I’m out here doing promo shows and visiting college and major radio stations. Doing in stores and going to the malls. Rhyming on mixtapes. I’m doing everything a new artist has to do to break into the game.

A change in strategy for a change in the business.

Yeah. Look man, I’ve been blessed to be on an album that has sold two million (Westside Connection), and I have collectively sold two million records on my own, but realistically I have to be true to myself. It’s been 2/5 years and I’ve paid my dues and put a nik in the game, and a lot of cats have come in and tried to fill my spot. I ain’t having that. I’m back and it’s all good, but I want my Chucks back.

It’s a new day, the new fan buying Nelly, Shade Sheist or Fabolous may have saw the Up In Smoke Tour, but wasn’t buying albums when the Shadiest One dropped. Much less, Low Profile, The MAAD Circle or Westside Connection.

Plus, in two years you have new fans that weren’t buying albums before. Cats that were 13 and 14 are now 14 and 15. There are working in the mall or have some type of job, and they have a new car or CD player and need something to bump. Why not a new Dub-C (WC) album? That idea was part of what I needed to incorporate when planning for this album. While I’ve been out of the public eye, I’ve still been practicing and writing. I have a lot of shit to say.

So changes are necessary, but how do you make those changes without going out like disco? Remember when Ohio Players and The Temptations tried doing disco tracks? That was the end. It’s getting to the point where the cats you came in with in 1988 have to change styles, flows and music to compete with the kids and most times it’s a losing battle.

It’s necessary that you make changes or your ass is up outta here. It may not look like Too Short or Scarface have made changes, but listen to those albums closely. The changes they have made have kept them at the top in this game. Making changes doesn’t mean follow the latest trend. That’s when motherfuckers fall off. The changes I’m making are necessary and don’t compromise what WC is all about. I have been blessed to be in the game 14 years like you said and still making a dent. Look at Too Short, Scarface, Cube, LL Cool J, KRS ONE, and Rakim is about to come with a new one. There are others that ain’t comin to me at the moment, but all of us are going strong on our seventh, tenth and umpteenth album. Every one of us has made the necessary changes without compromising our art. Not everyone can do it and maintain a level of respectability in this game. We have to be able to fulfill our own wishes and our fans wishes. I know my fans want to hear WC kick socially aware records as well as the gangsta shit, but it’s a new day and time. I can’t do another Ain’t A Damn Thang Changed album.

I tell ‘em to go buy the old one.

Yeah, gotta go buy the old one. That’s history and I have that leverage. I don’t get spins up in the club my shit is played out of car stereos and Walkmans. But I would love for my shit to be played in the club.

Like a Missy Elliott song?

Shit yeah! You laughing but Missy Elliott gets the hell played out of her records. I wish I could do a song with her and spit what I do to reach as many people as she does. That would be something else. I got a few songs that could do that will surprise you because this album is about being different but still maintaining what WC is about.

The music and creativity has never been a concern of mine with a WC album. What I’m intrigued by is what Def Jam is actually going to do with this project and the next one. Is this the most business-oriented time in your career?

You speaking like a true vet right now. This is the most involved I’ve been with one of my albums. I had to. I have to watch everything because this is a big swing for me. This is Def Jam, the major leagues and I have to make sure that I’m up to their standards of doing things and I have to follow up to make sure that each channel is operating to my benefit. From radio to marketing and promotion, to video- all that. That’s why I’m out here now on the road like I’m a new artist. If I hit, I can be real big. If I miss, it could be detrimental. If this record don’t blow, he’ll yeah I’ll be upset. But I’m taking the steps and measures to ensure that everything runs how it’s supposed to and then when we’ll see when the record comes out. I’ve got to let the audience know me who I am. My fans know, but others just know me as the nigga rhyming with Cube because I’ve always been in the background or down with Westside Connection.

Oh hell naw! That’s perception but not the reality.

You right, but a majority of Hip Hop fans don’t know that. I’m the guy that raps with Cube and Mack 10. That’s what Ghetto Hiesman is all about. I’ve been in this game long and hard paying my dues and accomplishing things, and now that I’m with Def Jam I’m in the big leagues as far as label power and reputation. I’ve already won the Hiesman Trophy, like the top collegiate player, and now I’m headed to the top NFL team in the recording industry.

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