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Boondox What was going on in your life that influenced the songs you wrote for your new album, "Krimson Creek?" "Krimson Creek" has a lot of reality-based stuff in it. I’ve been listening to a lot of Biggie Smalls lately. I’ve been listening to a lot of Snoop Dogg lately. And everything they rap about is reality-based stuff and stuff from their lives. That’s kind of what "Krimson Creek" is. What’s behind the album title? The album title, the "Krimson Creek," the name of the creek that used to be by my house, it wasn’t really called Krimson Creek. But it gave me the inspiration. It was just a creepy-ass creek, a place that I went to write songs and just chill there. It was just like my chill place. So that’s kind of where it came from — just a place near my house. It wasn’t really called Krimson Creek. It didn’t really have a name. But that’s where it came from! What was creepy about the creek near your house where you grew up? It was just dark. It was always dark — just the way the trees covered it and everything, it was always dark. There was never any light there. What was it about that setting that made it conducive to your songwriting process? It was because it was so quiet. There was nobody around. There was the sound of the creek with the water flowing. There was a bank with this weird, bright green grass that grew beside it. And it was just cool to lay there and think and do whatever. How old were you when you wrote by the creek? This was probably like 13, 14, 15 — early teenage years, before I even got into rapping. I was doing all this metal stuff. Did you have a heavy metal band back then? There were a couple bands It was back in the day. I was in one band called Savage Instinct. I was in a band called Revel Cove. And I was in a band called Stainless Steel. So you had metal bands as early influences, right? Iron Maiden, Metallica, Sepultura — stuff like that. I liked it because it was loud, it was aggressive and you could pretty much talk about death and whatever — just like how I do at Psychopathic. That’s the same aspects I like about Psychopathic. I can rap about death. I can rap about all the dark stuff in life. You’re from Georgia. Is there an even greater response for you when you play a show in the South — especially in Georgia? It is special because I’m from here, but the best response I get from the South is when I play North Carolina. That’s one of my favorite places to play. The venue is small where we play, but just the energy in the room is crazy. Georgia’s cool, Atlanta’s cool — it’s my hometown pretty much. But North Carolina, that’s the best response I get anywhere down South. The kids are just crazy. I think it’s the mountains. A lot of stuff I rap about is moonshine and running moonshine, praying with snakes and all that. That shit’s pretty much all Appalachian-based. That’s where all that shit happens and goes down, mostly in North Carolina. Do you have family ties to North Carolina? North Carolina, South Carolina — I’ve got a lot of family. That’s where most of my family is from. Me and my brother are pretty much the only ones born in Georgia. The other ones are pretty much all North Carolina, South Carolina. What do you think you’d be doing now if you weren’t signed to Psychopathic and living out your dream as a successful rapper? Jumping from job to job! I mean, I never really had no skill. I always was all about music and did what I had to do to support my musical habit. So I’d just be jumping from job to job. How would you compare "Krimson Creek" to your previous full-length CD, "The Harvest?" This is more reality-based than the last one. One song that I have is called "Unwritten, Untold." It’s pretty much just a story about my childhood that I’ve never really told anybody and never really gotten into. Back when I was maybe 6 years old, my uncle tried to kill me. He tried to drown me in a swimming pool — just crazy stuff that happened. I talk about pretty much going to school, I had a rough time in school. I didn’t really get along with too many people. I was always getting into fights, taking drugs. I was a bad-ass kid. Were you ever addicted to drugs? I don’t have an addictive personality, so I never was addicted. I just experimented and did whatever. I just did what I wanted to do. It never was like I did it because other people did it. I just did it because I wanted to do it. That’s how I’ve always been. Never had an addictive personality though. Tell me more about your uncle. Were you close with him? Who was he? I didn’t really know him too well because by the time I was old enough to even know who he was, I think he was dead or whatever. But he was a crazy guy. He ended up going to jail for killing his wife. He was just crazy. My dad’s side of the family is totally nuts! So I get a lot of my influence from his side of the family because they’re all nuts. I think my dad and maybe a sister are the only people left in his family because they’re either dead or in jail or whatever. How are you able to use what you could easily call negative influences to be a successful rapper and part of society? Well, that’s my dark side. His side is my dark side. And my mom’s side, they’re completely the opposite. That’s pretty much what keeps me grounded and what keeps me sane — my mom’s side of the family. But my dad’s side of the family, that’s my dark side. That’s why I’m able to write the songs I do. But my mom’s side is the reason I’m able to function in life. What are some of the other more personal songs on "Krimson Creek?" I’ve got a song called "Death Of A Hater." What that is is since becoming Boondox and since releasing "The Harvest" and whatever, there’s been a lot of positive. But there’s also been negative — like people not feeling what I’m doing. And that’s cool with me if somebody don’t feel what I’m doing. But I’ve read things where I’ve had people say, "I hate him. I hope he dies. I hope his kids die" — you know, stuff like that. That shit right there is unnecessary to me. So I pretty much wrote a song about what I would do to those people. I’d kill them. Anybody who says anything about my kids or tries to mess with my kids, I mean that’s pretty much their life. How many kids do you have? I have two kids. One is 10 and one is 7. You don’t look very old. I’m 32. I don’t look my age! Are you married? I’m not married. I’m divorced actually. What are some of the other songs you’re looking forward to having your fans hear from the new album? I’ve also got like the straight-up country shit, wicked shit — like from "The Harvest." I’ve got a song called "Straight From The Crops." It’s pretty much talking about where I’m from, stuff based off of that. I’ve also got some songs that aren’t reality based — straight-up wicked shit, telling stories and stuff like that. I’ve got a song with Insane Clown Posse. It’s called "(Walkin’) After Midnight" and I think it’s based off of a sample from a Patsy Cline song. She had a song called "Walkin’ After Midnight" and we kind of took that sample and re-did it ourselves. It’s kind of searching for stuff — what are you looking for at night, stuff like that. Who are some of the other guest rappers on the album? I have Blaze on there — pretty much the same people as "The Harvest." I didn’t really go outside of Psychopathic this time. I was going to. I had a list of artists that I wanted to use. But mostly Juggalos and stuff, they don’t really care. They want to hear Blaze, they want to hear Twiztid, they want to hear ICP. It’s cool to put other people on your shit, but the reality is you aren’t going to sell any more records based on having somebody else on your record on a Psychopathic record. Who else would you like to work with eventually? I’m sure you’ll go outside of Psychopathic for a collaboration on a future album, right? I would love to work with Tech N9ne. He’s one of my favorites. Anybody from Three 6 Mafia. I was actually gonna work with Haystak. He was willing to do it, but it was a time-related problem. The record needed to be done, so there wasn’t really time to do that. I actually did a song — not on my record, but I’m on his record (“Crook County”) — with The Dirtball. So that was cool. What brought the collaboration with The Dirtball about? He contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do it, and I was down. He, to me, The Dirtball is one of the hottest rappers out there as far as lyrical skills and stuff. I was like, "Hell, yeah." It was a chance for me to flex some of my lyricism because I can be lyrical. I can rap with the best of them. It’s just that on Psychopathic stuff, it’s just a different thing. The song you did with Blaze for "Krimson Creek" is called "Worst Fear." What was it like working with Blaze Ya Dead Homie? It features me, Blaze and Monoxide Child. It’s a very personal song. My verse is pretty much about a fear of dying since I have kids. Before I had kids, I didn’t care, but after having kids my biggest fear is not being there for them. Everybody else wrote about what their worst fear was. Is Jamie Madrox on the album? The song with Madrox is the one song "Death Of A Hater." He spit a verse on that. And that song is crazy. It’s one of my favorites. You were awesome on the Toxic Terror Tour with your new drummer Sam the Butcher and your hypeman Cousin Cleedus. Did Madrox and Monoxide from Twiztid record their verses while you were all out on the road for that tour? The one song I did with Monoxide and Blaze, he did his verse on the tour. The one I did with Madrox was right before the tour. The tour was good. We sold out a lot of shows — most of them actually. The response for me was ridiculous. People are really starting to come around and feel what I’m doing. It’s the shit and it showed on some of these shows on the tour. The response was great — just seeing all the kids knowing your lyrics and spitting your lyrics is ridiculous. I love it. Did Mike E. Clark do most of the production once again for the new album? I’ve got Mike E. Clark, I’ve got Kuma, who (both) did the first album. As far as different producers, I’ve got a song produced by Violent J, I’ve got a song produced by Scott Sumner, I’ve got a song produced by Lost Koast Productions — the guys from Potluck. (Mike Clark) did maybe four or five tracks — him and Tino Grosse from Howling Diablos. Mike did most of the first album. As far as that Boondox sound, the country stuff, those two guys — Mike and Tino — are the only ones who can capture it! It’s just such a dirty sound. All the stuff they do is mostly live instruments, so it’s just that live, dirty sound. Was there still any involvement in the production from the mysterious Dr. Punch? Yeah. Dr. Punch, he’s always working on my shit. But we still can’t say who he is? No! I won’t be the one to reveal it! What do you make of how well the fans have taken to your music? It seems that you made a name for yourself on Psychopathic and earned the fans over, much like Anybody Killa did a few years back. I think people will travel to a show just to see you perform. I think the reason that is is just like ABK, I put myself out there for the Juggalos. I mean, I’m easy to approach. I talk to people like it’s nothing. People walk up to me and it’s not like, ‘Hey, how ya doing?’ I’ll sit there and have conversations with people. And I think he was the same way. I’m just a Juggalo. That’s where I come from. It’s not like I joined Psychopathic not knowing anything about it. I joined them as a Juggalo and I’m still a Juggalo and that’s what people see. They see through everything else to the bare bones of it and they see that I’m a Juggalo and I’m just like them. Hatchet House, which is a sub-label of Psychopathic, is releasing an album called "Tunnel Runners" that features underground acts that represent the wicked shit. Did you have any involvement in that project? I originally gave them a list of artists when it first was being talked about because I listen to a lot of really, really underground shit — like the ClaAs and the fucking Lo Keys and the Q-Strange and all of that. And I know most of those guys. So I gave them a list. That’s pretty much my involvement. As far as who was picked, I didn’t have any involvement in that. I know these guys from when I was in S.H.I. because when I was in S.H.I., we were on the very bottom looking up. So those were the guys that we could get a hold of that we look up to — like fucking Q-Strange and Lo Key and all those guys. We kind of looked up to them because they were doing bigger things than we were doing at the time. Are there any other songs you’d like to talk about from "Krimson Creek?" There’s I think 15 tracks. I’ve got one song on there that’s just straight up wicked shit. It’s called "Inbred Evil." It’s not really anything reality based. It’s just pretty much I kind of got it from that movie "Wrong Turn" with all the crazy hillbillies killing people. That song’s pretty dope. I’ve got a very, very, very personal track on there. It’s called "All Alone." Actually, I changed the name. It’s called "Path I Walk." And it’s a slower song. It’s produced by the guys from Potluck — Lost Koast. It’s very personal. It talks about real, real personal shit. It’s pretty much reality life-based. I talk a little bit about my ex-wife on there, some of the things I went through with her — just my life so far, up until now, and how I don’t regret anything. What made you want to put out the "Punkinhed" EP between your two full-length albums? I want to put stuff out in between albums – kind of like how ICP did where they would have a Joker’s Card and they would have EPs and stuff between them. That’s kind of what I want to do. It keeps you fresh without having you have to sit there and focus on making a whole album, it’s easier to do. What I’m doing now is I’m starting to build my own stuff at home in Georgia so I can put out even more shit. That’s what I do – I write. With this shit, I’ll be able to write, record, send it up there and let them do whatever they’ve gotta do to it. I don’t really know much about producing, but it’s easy to record yourself. So I’m gonna start doing whatever I can do. And if they want to put it out, they can put it out. If not, it’s for my use or whatever. How much time do you spend in Georgia and how much time do you spend in Detroit, where Psychopathic’s offices and studios are? It ends up being about half and half because I’ve been on tour a lot. I was thinking about it the other day. I’ve only been with Psychopathic right at two years and I’ve already been on seven tours. That’s a lot of touring, which is good. I love it. So it works out half touring and half at home. You also are currently touring as part of the Juggalo Championshit Wrestling show, where you perform your set between wrestling matches. How’s that going? I’m a big wrestling fan, so those are always the shit to me. And getting to meet all the wrestlers – like Scott Hall and all those guys – those are the guys I watched. Sabu is gonna be on this next one and that’s one of the guys I look up to as far as wrestling. I’m a wrestling fan, so those are always good for me. It’s fun to get in the wrestling ring and rap! It’s like combining two of my passions. I remember the UWF, World Class Championship Wrestling, AWA and Florida State Wrestling. What were some of your favorites? They had the UWF, all the wrestling from Texas, the Memphis wrestling with Gordon Solie, all the Moondogs and all that stuff. I liked all that stuff. There wasn’t really any wrestling that I didn’t like. I really wasn’t a big fan of the WWF because they had so many gimmicks, but all the Texas wrestling, all the Memphis wrestling, all the Georgia wrestling – I used to watch all that. Now even on the minor league circuits, they still try to copy the WWE too much and it’s just not like it was bad in the day with the Moondogs and “Adorable” Adrian Street and Bill Dundee and all those guys. You’re in Psychopathic Rydas as Yung Dirt. How did you come up with the name? It’s pretty much a combination of before I was Boondox, I was Turncoat Dirty. I was gonna try to be Turncoat Dirty as a Ryda, but that didn’t work out. So we kind of came up with Yung Dirt. I think actually Jamie (Madrox) came up with it. Are you the youngest artist on Psychopathic? Besides (DJ) Clay, yes. There was some minor controversy online about “My Van,” one of the songs you contributed to Psychopathics From Outer Space, Vol. 3. Do you care to comment on that? I heard about it! It’s all totally fantasy based. To me, when I was writing it, there wasn’t any hate for chicks involved. It wasn’t like, “I’m gonna write a song about raping chicks.” It just kind of came out like that! I’d never do no shit like that. I’ve got nothing but respect for women, so whatever. But it got controversy, so that was the shit. It was about a crazy fuckin weirdo. You always see a guy in a van and you think, “Weirdo.” Every time I see a dude in a big conversion van, I think he’s a weirdo and you wonder what he’s doing. That’s kind of like what I wrote about. What are your goals for “Krimson Creek?” My goals for it are pretty much to reach the fans that I’ve already reached and to reach the fans who weren’t really feeling me to begin with. Even if you don’t like me, you’ve gotta respect my grind because I put everything into it. I’m hungry. I’m still hungry. I’m not gonna make records and then settle down. I keep improving and I’m glad that people see that – that I’m getting better. That’s what I’m gonna keep doing. There’s like 30,000 CDs sold of “The Harvest” – or close to that. But ICP sells hundreds of thousands of CDs. So that’s like 70,000 people that love the stuff ICP does. I want to reach those people. What’s your favorite Insane Clown Posse album? Some people say I’m crazy for it, but I like “Tunnel Of Love” because I like “Super Balls,” I like “Cotton Candy.” I like all the songs they write about the girls or whatever. Those are my shit. Any final words for the Boondox fans reading this article? I want to say to the fans that it’s nothing but love. That shit’s genuine from me to them and I know it’s genuine from them to me. And I’m just gonna keep on working. They haven’t seen the best of Boondox yet. I just keep getting better and that’s what I’m gonna keep doing.
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