I recently got the chance to speak with Sean Price for hiphopsite.com... We spoke at length about his new album Mic Tyson, the Random Axe project and a few other topics. Sean P is a funny dude. Check out the interview below...
http://www.hiphopsit...mp-for-wu-tang/
Interview conducted by Pattch82 (pattch82@gmail.com)
Interview Date: October 25th 2012
PATTCH82: First off, Mic Tyson is set to drop on October 30th. How do you feel it stacks up against your other solo records…?
SEAN PRICE: Ummm I don’t know. I just make them shits you know. You figure that out, the fans figure that out.
P82: Personally I think you’ve got a classic on your hands here. Every solo album is a step up from the last.
SEAN: Thank you man, I appreciate it.
P82: Do you have any favourite tracks on the new abum…?
SEAN: Ummm, the Title Track. You know what I mean. I like the wordplay of the second verse man… You a battle rapper / you be rapping in battles / I shoot your shit up duke it’s a wrap for the battle / niggas yappin’ they tattle / it’s a wrap when I catch you / chrome to your iPhone I clap at your Apple. I love that line, hahaha. I love that shit man.
P82: With Monkey Barz you had the whole ape vibe going but then you seemed to drop it for the Jesus Price album. What made you pick up the ape vibe again for the cover of Mic Tyson…?
SEAN: I wanted the apes on every album man. But Dru, for the second album, Dru was like get the fuck outta here with that ape shit. So I listened to him. But we went back to the ape shit now so get the fuck outta here with that shit Dru Hahahahaha.
P82: The beats throughout the album are slamming. You managed to get heaters from pretty much everyone. One of the standouts was the Evidence produced BBQ Sauce. Do you personally reach out to each producer or do they send you beats to pick from…?
SEAN: I went to California to work with Alchemist and you know him and Evidence are like brothers so you know. As soon as I got off the plane, and Alchemist picked me up, we went to Evidence’s crib and the first song we did was BBQ Sauce.
P82: Alchemist hit you up with a few heaters too, the first two tracks on the album both being Alchemist beats, it sets the album off perfectly.
SEAN: Word thank you man.
P82: Alchemist has dropped a lot of projects this year. Have you been keeping up with any of those projects or the MC’s he’s been working with…?
SEAN: Well you know, Alchemist is a great guy, he works so hard. He does a bunch of songs with all kinds of people, he be on the road with Eminem, you know he DJ’s for Eminem so you know, he’s a man of many hats. He’s dope overall though, he’s a great guy.
P82: What do you think of some of the other MC’s that Alchemist is working with at the minute like Action Bronson, Curren$y, Domo Genesis…?
SEAN: Ummm I’m not too familiar with, who was the last guy you said? Genesis?!
P82: Yeah Domo Genesis, he’s down with Odd Future…
SEAN: I don’t really know who he is, but Action Bronson… that’s my boy though. If you see Action Bronson ask him about the Five Percenter Sandwich!
P82: The Five Percenter Sandwich…?!
SEAN: Yeah, ask him about it man. Who else did you say?
P82: Curren$y… they did that Covert Coup mixtape.
SEAN: Oh Curren$y… I don’t listen to Curren$y either, not because of any disrespect. He just be so high all the time that he makes me high listening to him. You know, I’m tryin’ to be part of a functioning society so I can’t listen to Curren$y man. His rhymes make me high haha.
P82: Do you listen to much Hip-Hop in general…?
SEAN: Nah, actually I listen to ummm… the song I wake up to every day is Billy Ocean’s One Of Them Nights [Ed: Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)]. That’s my favourite song. (Sings) Ohhh I’m on fiyyuuure. That’s my shit right there, Billy Ocean baby.
P82: Ill Bill features on the Solomon Grundy track on the new record. How did you originally hook up with Bill…?
SEAN: Oh man, Illest Bill that’s my boy man. We just friends, you know if he ask me to get on a song I’ll do it and vice versa you know what I mean. I did one on Kill Devil Hills, I did one on the new La Coka Nostra joint. And I asked him to get on this one and he did it no problem. We supposed to be working on a project soon too called The Pill so look out for it.
P82: I was just about to ask about The Pill collaboration. So is that still happening…?
SEAN: Yeah, yeah, hell yeah.
P82: You mentioned the track you did on Kill Devil Hills, the Troubleshooters track…
SEAN: Yeah Troubleshooters and I did Electronic Funeral, that’s the name of the song on the La Coka Nostra album, it’s crazy.
P82: For the Troubleshooters track were you actually in the studio with Muggs and Bill or did you record your verse separately…?
SEAN: Nah me and Bill was in the studio at the time. Me, Bill and Eclipse.
P82: Do you prefer working on solo projects or do you work better as part of a group like Heltah skeltah or Random Axe…?
SEAN: I’m definitely happy by my self, you know what I mean. The money is better. But you know, I’d just rather be alone, hahaha.
P82: Do you think there will be a follow up to the Random Axe album or was that just a one-off project…?
SEAN: I would definitely do another Random Axe album man, that was fun. That was fun. I’m looking forward to doing that again you know. Guilty, that’s my boy. And Black Milk is a genius but he’s not aware of that genius so it’s awesome.
P82: I heard that you didn’t know who Guilty Simpson was when he approached you for a verse on his Ode To The Ghetto album…?
SEAN: I didn’t, I didn’t. Somebody just asked me, and me being greedy for money I said yeah. But I ended up doing the song for free anyway you know, once I realised he was dope I did it for free.
P82: So how did that one guest verse steam roll in to the full Random Axe project…?
SEAN: I literally got off the phone, said who’s Guilty Simpson… this guy played a shit load of Guilty Simpson records and I was like fuck a song, let’s do a whole project! As simple as that. Being that the first song we did was Run and Black Milk made the beat we was like fuck it Black you can make all the beats. It was real simple.
P82: Did you have any other input in to the album aside from your rhymes…? Like guest features, which tracks were used, etc…?
SEAN: Not really. I suggested Roc Marciano and Danny Brown but everyone else on there was all Black Milk’s doing but I have no problem man, big up Fatt Father and all the other boys on the album.
P82: Who do you think took it lyrically on that album, yourself or Guilty…?
SEAN: You know what, I don’t know man, maybe Guilty man. I can remember a few times when I’m going yeah I killed him on this one but then Guilty would just drop a verse that would slap the shit out of my verse so I dunno. You know what, I’ll give Guilty the gold medal man, I’ll take the silver, it’s alright.
P82: It inspires good competition though…
SEAN: Exactly. We wasn’t trying to out rhyme each other. I remember when I did Chewbacca, started writing it and when I spit it niggas was like wooooo! And I was like yeah I got the gold medal on this one, but then Guilty just murdered me and shit. So I was like alright, they both good verses, I’m not gunna re-write a verse to try and top his shit because that’s corny.
P82: Is there one album that you’re most proud of, or that you feel stands out above the rest…?
SEAN: Kimbo Price. I love that Kimbo Price mixtape, I still play that shit right now, it still holds. That was a good one man.
P82: How do you decide which tracks actually end up on mixtapes and which ones go on proper retail albums…?
SEAN: Ummm well with mixtapes I just do a shit load of songs, mix them down and put them out you know. But with an album, I’ll have a bunch of songs, I’ll give them to Dru. Dru will be like this ones cool, this ones whack get the fuck outta here, this ones cool, you know what I mean. We just take it from there. The whole team is on board with the album. Mixtapes I do what I wanna do but the album, I do my part and then I hand it to Dru and they do their part. That’s great management baby.
P82: It’s good to have someone around you that is totally honest with you and will tell you when something is whack…
SEAN: Yeah I’ve learned. Dru taught me something so I try not to fall in love with these songs, because they’re just songs you know what I mean. There might be a sample that you can’t use or this, that and the third. So I’ve learned not to love the songs, it’s like fuck outta here, it’s done, move on you know. It’s better for me that way.
P82: With regards to samples, what is the most you’ve had to pay out to get a sample cleared…?
SEAN: Oh there was a track on Nocturnal I think. I forget which sample. We sampled ummm Bad Company? Was that the group? And yeah they wanted a shit load of money plus roll over’s. Which means every certain amount sold I had to pay them again! That was a nightmare. And the song wasn’t a single or nothing, it was just an album track you know what I mean. So yeah, I’ve learned from that shit.
P82: Is there anyone in Hip-Hop that you haven’t worked with that you would like to…? Anyone you would like to collab with…?
SEAN: I think niggas collab too much you know what I’m sayin’? You can’t hold shit down on your own? Collab too much man. I don’t wanna give a fuck about that man, but I do because people pay me. But when it’s my album, first of all I don’t wanna get a bunch of crazy dudes on there because they’re never together, they never do the song together. So that shit is whack, I like to perform my work you know what I mean. I’m an old school dude man, fuck all that collab shit man, hold it down. Like I ain’t gunna do a record with Christina Aguilara on it or some bull shit. If it’s gunna be a hit, it’s gunna be a hit on my own merit man.
P82: One of my pet hates is when a rapper puts out a so called solo record, but it features two or three different MC’s on each track…
SEAN: Yeah it’s like a fake compilation album man. I always narrow it down to just my friends, they’re not all even rappers, they just friends. Ill Bill be wild cool. Ruste Juxx too. These are my boys man. And I don’t even have Rock on the new album.
P82: I was about to ask you about that…
SEAN: He’s still working his ass off, but I did that on purpose just to let him know, you know… I’m good. I did it so he could be proud of me. I ain’t got you on the album, I don’t need you for a hook or nothing baby, I’m doing it baby. Hahahaha. You know what I mean, it wasn’t out of spite, it was out of love.
P82: How much do you charge these days for a guest verse, or if someone hits you up through Facebook or Twitter for a verse…?
SEAN: It varies man, it depends if I like you. Sometimes the song might be so fucking horrible that I’ll make you pay me more just for going through the hell. If you contact my management and ask for a feature they’re gunna charge you a shit load. Hahaha.
P82: I remember reading in an old interview that you were going to up your prices after some kid tried to get you on a track using his Bar Mitzvah money…?
SEAN: Yeah a kid man, he wrote to me. (Speaking in the background) You remember that Noah, when that kid wrote me? He wrote me saying yo my bar mitzvah is coming, I wanna take some of the money and get a verse, I love your music. That’s a true story. So I’m like yeah maybe I should raise my prices man. And then my man Noah had a bar mitzvah too, he could have bought a Sean Price verse and had some money left. He could have bought an album hahahaha. Oh shit.
P82: You dropped a couple of verses on some Wu-Tang related albums over the last couple of years. I always think of Boot Camp Clik and Wu-Tang as quite closely related because you were both big crews that came up at the same time. Did you see it like that…?
SEAN: Hold on, hold on. First of all I’m not Boot Camp man, I’m down with Wu-Tang. Yeah I’m not down with Boot Camp man that shits weak. I’m Wu-Tang now. Don’t ever refer to me as a Boot Camp Clik member again man, I am Wu-Tang.
P82: You need a Wu-Tang name then, you can’t just go by the name Sean Price.
SEAN: Oh yeah man, I’m The Shizza. Yeah. Sean The Shizza… a.k.a. the 14th Disciple. Nah but Wu-Tang nigga. I just did a verse for the Brooklyn Nets mixtape by Clark Kent and the whole verse I’m bigging up Wu-Tang Clan. I’m Wu-Tang man, I don’t think RZA knows yet but when I see him I’m telling him man. I’m Wu-Tang man.
P82: I think RZA needs to start charging a fee for being Wu-affiliated these days…
SEAN: I’m Wu-Tang man… for free! Hahahaha.
P82: Back in the day did you see it as an element of competition between Boot Camp and Wu-Tang…?
SEAN: I mean it’s always competition but I got love for Wu-Tang. It ain’t competition to the point that I’m like I hate them. I love Wu-Tang. Me and Raekwon is good money, me and Ghostface is good money. Me and Inspectah Deck. And I just hit U-God on Twitter man, you hear that new song they got? On the Iron Fists soundtrack, you heard it?
P82: Yeah the Six Directions Of Boxing…
SEAN: I think U-God got the gold medal on that song man, I had to hit him on Twitter to let him know man. He caught a body on that song man, it was beautiful.
P82: U-God has been spitting flames for the last few years now…
SEAN: Yeah, yeah U-God is stepping up man, I’m happy to hear that too. And Masta Killa, he’s from East New York, I’m from Brownsville. I just did a song with Masta Killa for his new shit too. Me, Agallah and Inspectah Deck got a record together too, it’s crazy. I wanted to put it on my album but Agallah wouldn’t give it to me, it’s crazy though.
P82: There’s been a couple of tracks where both yourself and Inspectah Deck have dropped guest verses on the same track… There was that Phil Anastasia track.
SEAN: Oh yeah man. Deck wanted me on his last album too man, but he has horrible phone etiquette and so do I. We crack jokes about it now but you know, because of our horrible rapper phone etiquette we never got to do the song. But we will work though.
P82: I just wanted to touch upon something that you mentioned in a previous interview about writers block. Is that something that you have ever suffered from…?
SEAN: Nah I don’t suffer from that shit at all. Listen to Figure Four, the first word is Botswana you know, how can I get writers block? I write a word down on a piece of paper and I just build from that. So nah, I don’t get writers block. If I ever get writers block, it means the beat is corny man that’s all that means, there’s no such thing as writers block. It’s called corny beats, not writers block.
P82: Have you been working on any other projects…? What have you got planned for after Mic Tyson…?
SEAN: Yeah man but I learned to stop talking too much about these shits man because they start to take on a life of they own. And then you get people like yo what’s up with that, hurry up hurry up. So I’m not even going to talk about it man. I’mma show you better than tell you.
P82: Going back to the new album, it drops on Tuesday. What are you expecting sales wise…?
SEAN: Nah I don’t give a fuck about that shit man, that’s for the label to deal with man. I’m just the rapper, I do the rapping thing. The label can do all of that worrying about sales and shit you know what I mean. Just let me work my product and we’ll see what happens.
P82: For quite a high profile album you’re doing well anyway as the album hasn’t leaked online yet as far as I know. It’s unusual this close to release date.
SEAN: I don’t even wanna speak on that, I might jinx myself you know. Hahaha.
P82: A lot of the producers on the album are guys that you’ve worked with before like 9th Wonder and Khrysis, but who are some of the lesser known’s like Amp and Wool…?
SEAN: Amp and Eric G are part of 9th Wonder’s whole Soul camp thing. Wool, that’s a friend of mine, he lives on the West coast. He’s always sending me beats, he’s a great guy. He sent me that beat and he had like a nasty Sean Price sample in there and I was like yo take that shit out and send me the beat back. And he did, he sent it back, I wrote the rhyme and sent it back to him the next day. He’s just a good friend of mine, every time I’m in the West coast he’ll come out and smoke me out with some good kush.
P82: I also wanted to ask who Realm Reality is that you’ve got featured on the Bully Rap track…?
SEAN: Realm Reality is my friend Rick Gonzalez, he’s an actor. He was in Coach Carter, he was in Illegal Tender, Old School. So yeah he’s an actor but he’s my friend.
P82: And the album closes with two Beat Butcha tracks too, he seems to be everywhere at the minute…
SEAN: Yeah that’s my boy man. He’s from the UK right?
P82: Yeah he’s from the UK.
SEAN: Yeah he’s a great guy man he makes some crazy beats. I will work with him again for sure.
P82: There are also the iTunes bonus tracks too, I haven’t heard them yet but you got a Statik Selektah track there…?
SEAN: Yeah Remember. The track is called Remember. It’s got me and Freddie Gibbs on there. He murdered his verse, murdered it. His verse is a murder case.
P82: Freddie Gibbs is another guy that just seems to be everywhere all of a sudden…
SEAN: Ummm yeah he actually said that in the song. Said that he’s been rapping for years but just starting to get it now. So he’s been around for a while.
P82: He seems to be getting a bit more shine now…
SEAN: Yeah I mean that’s good, I’m happy for him man. He’s a great guy man. A friend of mine works with him and he asked me and Tek to do The Ghetto remix with Freddie Gibbs and we did that. And then I asked him to get on this song and he did it, he bust it out.
P82: You’ve worked with P.F. Cuttin’ in the past. Did you not hook up for Mic Tyson…?
SEAN: We actually did that song Ruben Blades that I put out, he did that but we decided not to put it on the album that’s all. But I work with P.F. Cuttin’ all the time. He’s my DJ. That’s my homeboy and I’m also the godfather of his child, haha.
P82: Well I’m pretty much out of question now man. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. Good look with Mic Tyson when it drops.
SEAN: That’s cool man, I have a great grilled chicken salad man, shit is awesome so I’ll get back to that. Alright bro, I appreciate it. Thanks.
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Peace!
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