Interviews with Bootie Brown in London

One of Lodowns all time favorite hip hop bands is with us tonight and I don´t have much to say; I just wanna raise a big round of applause for the greatest, the faboulus, the fantastic, the unbelievable, the undefeated champions in miccontrol ..... here is The Pharcyde !!

Bootie Brown: Yo Lodown, what up ?

Lo: First question, what happened to Fatlip, did he really leave the group ?

Smooch (Manager).: Well, Fatlip, he was definetly right to enter the group and the group loves him, but he just chose to have a solo career. The group was trying to progress and move forward and he and his life just wasn`t at the point, where he could progress with the group. And so rather the group suffering, rather than Fatlip suffering, they just kind of split ways, you know what I`m sayin, and they just kept it cool like that. And that`s just what it is. We don`t hate Fatlip, they just feel like individuals, that they just have to go out and proove themselves and go out to show the people that they can work together positively as a unit and do just as well as they did with Fatlip. Before the Pharcyde even got together he was a solo artist and his mindstate never changed and he just didn`t work with other people very well, he was always on his own tip.

Lo: What about future? You have this big colaboration with the Souls Of Mischief coming out ?

Imani: Yeah, we have this album coming out.

BB: It`s not a compilation...........

Lo: Yeah, that`s why I said colaboration.

BB: Colaboration is a good choice, very good. `Cause some people say compilation, that`s wrong, you know, we gonna actually have like a group-name, you know what I`m sayin, this is gonna actually be like a whole kinda character, you know, like a thing that`s built around......

Lo: What`s it gonna be called?

I: It`s gonna be called Mighty Pythons.

BB: Mighty Python!

Tres: That`s the name of the group.

Lo: What`s special about it, what`s the style?

I: We specialize in mindcontrol.

BB: The whole thing is, em, it`s from G to triple X, that`s all I can tell you. It`s from G to triple X, the songs, that`s our whole thing, we wanna go fron G to triple X.

Lo: So there`s gonna be no Pharcyde album, there`s just gonna be that colaboration?

BB: No, there`s gonna be everything, there`s gonna be a lot of things.

Lo: So when is your longplayer droppin`?

BB: Check it out, man: Pharcyde is doin`a lot of things, we gonna have like two little ep`s, you know what I`m sayin. We gonna try to put it out real fast. And you know what I`m sayin`, we just gonna do a couple of things, just that people know that some stuff was goin`on, but we still gonna have an album, we just got to get some stuff straight first. You know what I`m sayin`, we got a label thing to get out together.

Lo: So when is that Souls Of Mischief colaboration droppin`?

BB: Eh, I`d say it`ll probably be finished sometime in feburary. I mean, when we talked about it, you know what I´m sayin`; it was kinda gonna be like the shit and we was all hype and said: Yeah, we could just do this real fast and just put it out, you know what I`m sayin`. But now there`s so many people just concentrated on that and you know, we just got to take a little time `n make sure that this one`s tight, that we`re just not puttin`out some bull, know what I`m sayin`.

Lo: Do you see yourself in the hall of fame of rap since "Bizarre Ride"?

I: Naw, we broke some ice, made a little noise.

BB: I feel like we`re not done. We don`t have time to sit back and enjoy the fame, we just keep progressin`n creatin`n innovatin`and then we`re down with it, you know what I`m sayin`, then we look back `n we`re like: yea whoo, yea whoo.

Lo: How was it back in the days, when you were dancers and before you got into the rap thing?

I: Same, man!

Lo:No difference...

I: Nothin`!! Nothin`different, the same thing, man. It`s just a bigger bargain, higher stakes, but same thing, man. It`s the same thing, that`s why we not fail, `cause this is the same we`ve been doin forever. It`s no big deal man.

Lo: How important is money?

I: Money is very important, `cause without money in this structure that we live in. You`ll never survive for two seconds. So it`s just dope, that you can do somethin`that you enjoy so much and get money from it. But in the imortal words of KRS One, know what I`m sayin`, If you´re doin`hip hop, it`d be so much doper to do hip hop if you had another formal income, ya know what I`m sayin`, `cause than it`s not about the money. But you know, how our structure is, it´s about the money, we just like to do it. It`s not that we like to do it because we get money, we like to do it and it`s dope that we make money.

Lo: You did have some trouble back in the days with the music industry. They fucked you up on the figures and how much was sold `n stuff like that, what happend?

I: Well you got to distrust some guy, who has more to gain by lying to you than tellin`you the truth. And, you know what I`m sayin`, by handelin`the music `n doin`the tours `n all, it`s kind of hard to keep you with the figures at first. You`re just too exited, we had been able to just do the tours `n the album `n the videos `n all that shit `n even if you can get the real figures there are just too many questions and nobody has answers.

Lo: So Bizzare Ride almost went gold.......

BB: Naw, it went gold.Yeah, it went gold, about two years ago. But 2 Pac told us it was platinum. In the amortal words of 2 Pac, rest his soul, he said: Pharcyde, you should have platinum or ya gettin`fucked. And with the exact words of 2 Pac he said: Everywhere I go I see that shit man, you`re not platinum then you`re gettin`fucked. And that`s what 2 Pac said `n I believe him. So that`s why we`re on the mission that we`re on today, `cause of 2 Pac the Rapgod.

Lo: Did you change the people you work with, management-wise, to get straightened these things?

I: No, we just got a little more hands on, know what I`m sayin`, it´s easier to keep draggin` things, when you got hands on. You know exactly what`s bein` made, you know exactly what`s bein`spinned; every erea that needs to be taken care of, you can kinda have hands on it. At first we just didn`t, that`s just the biggest difference.But this is like we`re the captains of a ship; the Pharcyde is the ship, know what I`m sayin`.

Lo: So what`s happening with your sparetime?

I: There`s no sparetime. Pharcyde is 24 hours a day.

Tres: In the sparetime, you know, I`ve always done like other music and stuff, I just produce other music in sparetime. I learned to play the base `n do the drums, I just do a lot of shit with my sparetime.

Lo: Who`s into snowboarding?

T: Right here. 100%, 120%.

Lo: What`s your raddest trick?

T: My raddest trick is holdin`my dick.... hahahaa........and go balls out on the hills, you know.

Lo: When was the last time you got really high?

BB: Yesterday.

Lo: Like what, after the show?

I: Yeah.

Lo: What did you have?

BB: Some herb.

Lo: Some herb, some booze?

BB: We had cognac and tequila.

Lo: Some heavy shit. Is that why you`re kinda slow today?

BB: No, never slow.

Lo: How was your tour so far, good?

BB: Naw, great. Amsterdam. That was the night I was gonna change into a bud.......

Lo: Did you have some good pot over there?

BB: Yeah, Amsterdam. We were in Amsterdam, so you know, we had the proper pot!

Lo: Where does your musical inspiration come from, who where like your heros back in the days?

T: Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, War, lot of ol`cats, a lot of Jazzcats, Thelonius Monk andStan Getz, a lot of people.

Lo: What`s your favorit hiphop band, right now?

I: I just say right now I got Pete Rock in the changer, know what I`m sayin`, he`s in the changer. Who else is in the changer?

BB: Whenever Slum Village comes out, they gonna be great.

T: Bob Marley is in the changer.

I: Outcast is in the changer.

BB: Yeah, Outcast is in the changer.

I: Blackstarr is in the changer, Pete Rock, and that`s about it.

BB: The Roots got to be in the changer still. You know what I`m sayin`.

Lo: What about yesterday, when you got stoned `n shit, did you pick up some chicks, after the show?

I: No.

BB: No chicks,man. We went to a party, man.

Lo: No chicks on the party?

T: No chicks.

I: We`re kinda shy.

Lo: But you are stars, man. Stars can be shy but they get layed by chicks anyway.

I: We have families at home.

T: No we`re not stars, man. Shoot out `n burn up in flames, man. We`re not stars, man.

I: We`re something else.

BB: We´re the new breed of musicmakers.

Lo: And you weren`t gettin`some hot chicks, man?

BB: No, man, we just was partyin`, really gettin`the whole vibes.

T: I had a room-service night, you know what I`m sayin`. I had the avocado and spinach raviolies, it was a great night, ya know what I`m sayin`, a great night for feasting.

Lo: Describe the word hip hop `n what hip hop means to you, in a few words.

I: The shit.

BB: It used to be hip to be hop, now ist hip to be pop, you know what I`m sayin`, and that´s to be real.

I : Hip hop is the shit, hip hop is the music for the new millenium.

T: Hip hop is like shit, sometimes it smells shit, sometimes it ain´t shit, sometimes it´s the greatest shit. That´s what it is.

I: Hip hop is love `n hate. worldwide. That´s what hip hop is, another test of love `n hate, another chapter.

Lo: So how do you get along with all those hardcore homies out there in south central `n stuff?

BB: Man, you got hardcore homies down here too, dont you? So how do you get along, you know what I´m sayin´.

Lo: I avoid them.

BB: You can´t avoid´em, man, you can´t avoid the hardcore, man. You know what I´m sayin`, and then what you do is, when you see these people you got to understand where they`re comin´from, you got to see the world from their eyes and then really just, you know, breake it down and then come to a rational thoughts where both share each others different words, you know what I`m sayin´. Where you could just help this person not to be like that. Or maybe you will see, you know, why they are like that `n then this is really understanding.

Lo: Did you ever get beaten up?

BB: Man, I got beaten up a lot of times, you know what I´m sayin`. I got beaten up, ya know what I´m sayin`, I mean nothin´, I mean gangstuff, that´s what I mean. Man, if you`re in L.A., you go through it. I mean I dont care. I mean, in a certain part you go through it, know what I´m sayin`, you go to the store, you get sweated. After the jam, you get sweated, you know what I`m sayin´, that`s just a part of life, I mean in L.A. you just realize that, but you can`t be in hatred-mood..

T: No. Some people are lions, some people are gazelles, some people are cheaters `n some people are puma, you know what I`m sayin`, and just got to look on the gangsters like they`re lions. They`re actually soldiers, they`re just untrained soldiers, that`s all. `Cause when the shit goes down, the gangster is just gonna be the one that everybody is gonna rely on to get shit done. Believe that. `Cause they got to be the ones, who put it down on the front line. All you got to do is, I`m telling you, everybody knows that, when everybody wants any ruler that tries to get anything that goes down, they go to the hard, they go to the poor, they go to the people who`s less fortunate for the simple facts, that`s the way, that`s how you get the working class, that`s the people, who fight hard for you, that´s the people, who got all buzzed out, you know what I`m sayin´.

Lo: Do you get political?

BB: Political. The war, that`s political. You know, people think that politics just involve in voting, going here`n you gonna vote and that´s politics, you`re in politics, man. Life is politics. I mean there`s just political things at home, I mean, why don´t people eat dinner together, you know what I`m sayin`? That`s half political, how many people just eat stuff, I mean people dont eat dinner with their families no more, that´s a real political issue. Know what I`m sayin`, why dont people eat dinner with their families, dude, why not? Know what I`m sayin´, why not?

Lo: Don´t know man, but are you happy that the NBA lockout is over?

I: NBA lockout; it´s over?

T: It´s like shit is gonna be, how it´s gonna be, you know, that´s their situation, I`m not makin`any money out of it either.

BB: It´s just cool to watch them, but they handle on their business. They had to sit out the whole season.

Lo: Are you down with the Lakers?

BB: Shaq, you know, man.

I: We `re cool with the Lakers, the Lakers are alright, man. They probably could do a little better, ya know what I`m sayin´.

Lo: Do you think M.J. is gonna come back this season or is he goin´to quit?

I: No, he gonna retire.He´s not gonna play this season.

BB: We`re M.J.`s age `n we think M.J. should just sit out this season and if he wanna come back, come back next season, this is gonna be a fluke season and anybody could win. You know, it´s a toss-off season.

I: That´s in the air.

Lo: Who had the killer idea for that Spike Jonze a.k.a Aron Spiegel video?

I: Spike Jonze, the video guru.

BB: Yea, Spike came `n said: Look, man, you guys gonna need a week, `cause you guys gonna have to learn the words backwards. And we was like: Backwards? and he was like, yea, you need a linguist, a linguist. And then you know, we had somebody, who actually wrote like, you know, like got the words `n kinda wrote `n spelled the words like they will sound, you know, phonetically or whatever; and then we had a week to just kinda learn our verses backwards, basically.

Lo: One of the best videos ever.

BB: One of our best videos ever?

I: See thats goin back to politics, `cause`when it comes to award-time, we dont get the award,`cause of the politics `n it could be the best video. See that´s why we call it...

T: ...propaganda, redtape `n dickdriving, bullshit.

Lo: Is that what makes you realy sick? Or what makes you sick?

BB: What makes me sick? I tell you: What makes every man sick! When the pockets are low and you just go out `n do something, which you just dont wanna do. You know what I`m sayin´, that makes every man sick. My sickness is just like everybody else`s . If your pockets are thick, you dont have to do certain things, you can do what you wanna do; but when your pockets are low, man, you got to go out in the cold to go `n get that pizza that if you had the money, you could have it delivered. You know what I`m sayin`, there`re certain things you got to do when you`re just broke, man, it`s uncomfortable.

Lo: And what makes you like really crazy?

I: What makes me really crazy?

Lo: Yeah.

I: Man, bills make me crazy. I think that is what makes me crazy. When you just come home one month `n you figured: man, I´m cool. Within a year, your whole table is cleared, the billboard is cleared, there`s no bill `n you feel like you accomplished something, and then two days later, there`s a bill, that comes out of the blue, that you was not thinkin´about, `n you don´t know, where it came from, it`s like a million dollars, or whatever.

Lo: What was your worst bill?

BB: Taxes.

I: No, it`s a surprise-bill! That makes me crazy. That´s what happens all the time, like damn, my name was cool at one time, but now, it`s about to be back in the shithole.

Lo: Are you enjoying your tour?

BB: It´s great, it´s fun, and it helps to pay the bills. It`s the remedy for the bills. T: Tour is like, you know, expression, it gives you a chance to like, you know what I´m sayin`, to get high with other people, instead of gettin´high by myself, basically. You know what I`m sayin`, haha.

Lo: Anyone got any good jokes to tell?

I: Nooo jokes. We`re rappers, we`re musicans..

Lo: Serious rappers?

I: We`re not comedian-rappers. To speak with the voice of other people.

BB: Who said good jokes? I got one: What´s black `n white `n red all over?

Lo: Hää ?

BB: A zebra on her period. haaha

I: Ch-ch-chokes, jokes

T: We`re legal MC`s, we`re here to make you think about certain things, that you not really focus on to much: love, life, whatever.

I: Exactly.

Lo: So, any secret projects comin`up ?

I: Well, we got that one movie with Oliver Stone comin`up...

T: I dont know what to tell you about it, because it`s not really official. Oliver Stone, yes, it`s supposed to be like a futuristic action flic, type of thing.

BB: Yes, like you know, Temptations meet like Startrek, and then, you know, these brothers from out of space hook up, while settling `n then, you know, do a little gig around pluto and then you know they come back and go to pull shit in the..

I:..in the next level, it´s about the next level. You know, it`some Oliver Stone-experimental with the Pharcyde.

BB: Yea, it`s some Pulp Fiction type of shit.

Lo: If you had like three hours before the world would go down, what would you do?

BB: Get high.

Lo: What else?

BB: That`s it.

Lo: How many spliffs could you do within one hour?

BB: No, not spliffs. I`d do a little cocain, a little mescalin, a little heroin, a little bud, a little acid, all that....and then I`d get all that different types of girls: mexican, russian, iraqui `n all that...

BB: But see, what if they did you see doin´all that when they told you that the world ended and then they said: It´s a trick, got ya, haha. Then you just come back: Oh,my god! You`re just the highest you`ve ever been! Oh, man, not good.

Lo: Can you drop some of your Yo Mama-jokes?

BB: O.K. Yo Mama. That`s it. I ain´t got no yo mama jokes, you know, when I used to do yo mama jokes they got too serious, man. You know what I`m sayin`, people, you know, they just wanna fight, man.

T: Yo Mama got a big dick and she got to push it around in a wheelbarrow.

BB: A wheelbarrow, that`s a pudy-joke.

I: No yo mama jokes, I kick real life.

Lo: Aight thanx gentleman, good to have you with us.

BB:Yeah man...

T: And check out our website www.thepharcyde.com . and www.pharcyde.de ;-)

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