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Reporter sits down to interview DJ Muggs |
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Tuesday, 21 February 2006 |
by MICHAEL COOPER
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Cooper: What up man?
Muggs: What’s going on?
Cooper: I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I know you are a pretty busy man and everything.
Muggs: OK brother, I appreciate you taking the time as well.
Cooper: Yeah, you excited to be going back on tour?
Muggs: Um, yeah its cool man. It’s cool. We got a bigger picture in
mind. You know what I mean? To go out there and let them know
everything that is going on. But touring is cool, it is alright. It is
not my favorite thing in the world, you know what I mean.
Cooper: You still young and wild enough to enjoy life on the road?
Muggs: Well life on the road is what you make it man. I enjoy going
city to city and meeting new people, and getting out and seeing what is
really going on. It is a way to touch pop culture, and touch your
people and really see what is going on instead of just seeing it
through the TV and through the magazines. You get the first hands on
experience about life. The only way to live life is to experience it
and feel it man. You can read about that s---, but that is just old
regurgitated ideas.
Cooper: Hip-hop artist are not really known for their live performances
as much as they are for recordings. But it is still a very important
aspect is it not?
Muggs: Oh yeah.
Cooper: Well, I tell you you’re going to love the Cat’s Cradle and the
Orange Peel. Those are two of the best places to play in the country.
Muggs: That right?
Cooper: Oh yeah. So what has it been like working with the GZA these days?
Muggs: Incredible man. It is a blessing to be able to work with talent like that.
Cooper: I hear your still doing that radio show. How has that been going?
Muggs: Radio show has been great man. We are on Sirius Satellite “Shade
45” on Monday nights. Playing the best of Hip-hop music, with some
original stuff and some bootlegs.
Cooper: I hear rumors that you are on Mike Patton’s new “Peeping Tom” album that is coming out in May. Tell us about that.
Muggs: I do not even know if I am on it. Well, I did do some songs for
him. I gave him some beats he said he would like to use a long time
ago, but I do not know if he was going to use them or not.
Cooper: Really? I hear you are on it. In fact, I am pretty positive about that.
Muggs: I hope so man, s---.
Cooper: He is a talented guy. He is probably one of the hardest working people out there besides yourself.
Muggs: Yeah, he is incredible man. He is a friend of mine. I think he is amazing.
Cooper: Lots of people have been criticizing the current state of
Hip-hop right now. Personally, I feel they have been focusing too much
on the negatives. What are your thoughts on that?
Muggs: I think you are right man. I think Hip-hop is in a great place.
I would not want Hip-hop to go back nowhere. Where? Back to where no
radio stations played it? Where there was no Grammy’s? Where nobody
took it seriously? You know what I am saying? Where artist could not
make money doing this s---? I mean there is a certain mystique with
anything, whether it is clothing or anything. Once it gets so big it is
going to change. It is going to mature. Now that is what it has become.
If you want to find the good or the beauty in anything it is there.
Whatever you want, it is there. The business of music is the business
of music. If you want to make music, you go home and make motherf------
music. So understanding that, (I) love where this culture is. (I) Love
that this culture took over the f------ world dude, it is a hip-hop
culture. There has always been s--- I did not like. Back in the day
there was Vanilla Ice, Young MC, MC Hammer, and all this garbage. You
still got garbage.
Cooper: There will always be garbage, but the good stuff is out there.
Muggs: Rap is just pop now. N.W.A. is not shocking anymore, everybody is N.W.A. now.
Cooper: I tell you for somebody that has been around as long as you
have and worked with so many influential people and produced so much
great material do you ever feel slighted in terms of the recognition
you get? Or does that not matter as long as you are making good music?
Muggs: It is top 40 man, you know what I mean? I have chosen to take a
different path in my career. I choose to make albums that are art. I
did an album with GZA. I did an album with Tricky. Everybody raps on my
beats and my records. I have talked to people that sell beats and I
watch these guys and they build their career. There are some exceptions
like Little Jon. There are always those, but 99.9 percent of those
motherf-----, they have personally told me ‘man I wish I did what you
did and created my own groups.’ Because at the end of the day you own
your s---, at the end of the day you sell a beat, but when your price
starts going up selling these beats people stop calling you dog. You
get too expensive, so a lot of these guys do not own s---. Me, I write
a creative record with GZA and started my own record label.
Cooper: It seemed like 2005 was a pretty good year for you. What was your best memory from the year?
Muggs: Just being able to work with a brother like GZA man, being in
the presence of somebody that I have admired for a long time.
Cooper: I am working on this article about how the DARE program is a
waste and counterproductive at best. I know you have been a long time
advocate for the legalization of marijuana and lit up that joint on
Saturday Night Live that raised such a controversy. What are your
thoughts on drug education in the schools?
Muggs: All I remember is that they walked in and showed you this film,
and then they showed you some pills on a board. Drug education should
come from the house. City governments, state governments, and the
federal governments should do as best as they can. Now you have so many
people with different views and different opinions who want to do it
their way. They are not all right. It is just a matter of opinion.
Parents should be taking the time to educate their kids. They leave it
up to the schools, which do not do enough. Educate your kids. Study
with them, if they need to learn something, learn it with them.
Whatever you want them to know, whatever you think they need to know
you need to handle yourself. If you have enough f------ time to go get
some f------ drinks then you have enough time to read a book to your
kids.
Cooper: Ha-ha, years from now, when your career is winding down, how do
want to be remembered? What is going to be the most important thing
that you want people to remember about what you did?
Muggs: Oh, just that I was uncompromising in my approach man. I have
been successful being uncompromising. I have always done it my way. And
radio, all my radio records, the radio came to me. I never went out of
my way to make radio records.
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