So what’s up with the video? Did you have any input in that in terms of conceiving it.
The one with Sasha Grey in it?
Yeah.
Rik Cordero is just his own universe. I see video as the one area in our career [where we aren’t as heavily involved]. It’s kind of ironic being that we are very detail-obsessed with absolutely every aspect of our career from the fonts of the record, to the art design, to how it’s engineered, to the shows to the lights and all that stuff. But this is one area which we’re absolutely hands off, which is video. I really wish I was Kanye-obsessed with visuals as he is. With Rik Cordero, for all these videos that he’s shot—and we’re gonna do about five more with him—he’s just trustworthy to where I believe in his vision for the song to the point where he basically telling me what’s going down. My only insistence on “Birthday Girl” was that we pull an Aerosmith which was basically, I don’t think we should be in the video because it would be distracting. Make this video more or less a narrative so he brought up the whole “To Catch A Predator” theme.
There’s kind of like an implied gang bang going on . . .
Well, it’s Sasha Grey! So obviously we’re going to have some double entendre reference. If people aren’t familiar with who Sasha Grey is…
Was Sasha your selection? Are you familiar with her work?
I’m very familiar with her work. And her story if there’s anyone in the adult film world that could sort of fit in to the narrative of the song, it’s her. Her manager is Dave Navarro’s manager. I’m actually getting’ with this thing tomorrow with Navarro in Miami with Skribble. I met him when I did the Jay-Z thing for BET. We did “99 Problems” with I guess this all-star rock band thing at the BET awards in 2005 if I believe. Anyways, I’ve known Sasha I guess for a year now, for about a year.
Apr 24th
What did you think of T-Pain’s comments about your meat being huge?
[Laughs.] It was a little pause. But at the same time, him being such a talent, he could’ve dissed me. But he gave me props. So I can’t diss him for that.
Have you seen him since he made that comment?
Yeah, one time. We just said what’s up. I think he caught flack from that on the Internet so I don’t think he would ever go there again. [Laughs.] DJ Clue called me like, "Yo, son, you see what T-Pain said? I’mma send you the link." Everybody was hitting me.
You have often been photographed with Suge Knight. How did you get cool with him?
I’ve been knowing Suge since I was 10. Snoop and Daz used to come pick me up every day and take me to Can Am [Studios]. I used to tell people I’m going down the street. I used to hop in the back of Snoop’s car. I would just be up there all day. I been knowing Snoop since I was 12. I was with Death Row throughout the whole movement.
What was the craziest thing you ever saw at Can Am?
We walked in one day and Faith was sitting on Pac’s lap while Pac was writing a verse. It was like, "What the f*ck is going on?" That was one of the craziest sights, dog.
That really happened?
Faith was in Pac’s lap. I was like, "What the f*ck? I know I’m not? Is that? It can’t?" Three weeks later, “Hit ‘Em Up” came out. There's a couple of people that came up out of that camp. Bow Wow was in Snoop’s camp. Keyshia Cole was always through Death Row in her younger days. I used to see Keyshia all the time in there with Pac. I’m not hating on nobody. I got love for Faith. That was unbelievable, during the time of the East Coast-West Coast beef.
Apr 8th
Q: What do you attribute your success to?
A: I attribute it to being real to people. You can’t lie to the people, they’ll find out the truth about you, especially in the Internet age.
Q: Do you read a lot on the Internet?
A: Hell yeah, I read all that shit.
Q: Is that how the whole beef with Byron Crawford started?
A: I really hate to give that dude any kind of any kind of promotion. He’s like an 8th rate Howard Stern of the Internet. It was an issue of him trying to assassinate my partner’s character when he couldn’t defend himself. That guy doesn’t go anywhere but to Panic at the Disco! and New Pornographers concerts. He’s like one of these NPR guys saying things to get a bite.
Q: What do you think about blogs in general?
A: At the end of the day, a blog is just about one person, usually not doing any research. To validate what people call journalism, the media jumps the fence and does whatever. I’m not hating on the media either, the difference is blogs print how they feel about a situation and it doesn’t necessarily have to be corroborated by information. Ultimately, shame on me for getting mad about it. I should know better.”
Apr 2nd