Interviews Have Been Moved To Newly  Redesigned Site.  Click Here To Go To New Site & View Interviews!!!

ThaFormula.com - So let's break down exactly where, what, and who is Cage?.

Cage - I'm from New York and just workin on the solo shit right now.  We just killed the Smut Peddlers project and that was how Eastern Conference snuck me into the chain stores.  I'm just workin on the Cage project and The Weathermen project, which I'm executive producer of.  

ThaFormula.com - So what exactly is The Weathermen project man?

Cage - It's all crews.  Me, Mhz, Can Ox, ELP, Masaibey, Tame 1 and others.  It's lookin hot.  It's just another part of the Anti Pop campaign.  Just makin records for a percentage of people.  Production will be , MI, El P, RJ, and others in the family.

ThaFormula.com - How is the Cage project comin along?

Cage - Good compared to the shit I been listening to.  I been listening to alot of peoples albums and getting an idea of what people are doin and ain't doin and trying not to put out some rushed shit.  The Smut Peddlers album was all 30 minute verses.

ThaFormula.com - What was the response to the Smut Peddlers LP?

Cage - It was cool.  We broke 50,000 scan and it got me up in the chain stores and it got some anticipation for my solo shit.   

ThaFormula.com - Now you have dropped alot of indie twelve inch singles right?.

Cage - Mad singles.  

ThaFormula.com - Now there has been alot of comparison between you and Eminem.  Why do you think that is?

Cage - I really don't give a fuck about comparisons.  You know all that white on white mc's hating each other.  I don't give a fuck about all that.  I know that the majority of people that listen to music have dog shit taste so if I could hit up a couple of hundred thousand people out of the mikkions out there listening to music, I'm straight.  

ThaFormula.com - Now I had heard a while back that you and Eminem had a little problem once.

Cage - It was kinda funny to me.  It wasn't anything personal.  We were both underground and I just got tired of the comparisons.  Some people thought he bit me and some people thought he studied my shit and was inspired by it.  Myself, I never hated him, in fact I always acknowledged that he was nice but I felt that it could have been settled on some lyrics shit.  Then it got a little personal with him and the threats of violence, which is always entertaining being threatened by a pop star.  But you know he's on his level doing things and I'm on mine and I'm not trying to grab nothing of that kid or jump start a career of that cat like some people.  I really don't give a shit but everybody else does.  It was mostly just people talkin shit and trying to hype something up.  I never met the kid and I don't know him.  He seemed a little obsessed for a minute.  He put out something like 5 or 6 joints puttin my name in it.  Like I said, it was entertaining cause it's always entertaining when you can get some free pub in Hollywood.

ThaFormula.com - So what's the deal with the new album.

Cage - Well it starts off as a life story, but then I got bored with that half way through, so it just takes like a left hand turn.  I'm just trying to go to places other muthafuckas ain't gone and trying to touch shit that ain't been touched.  The whole thing is just a bunch of concepts.  I tried not to do to much battle rhymes cause the open mic scène right now is just wack right now cause kids don't know what to do with it and they didn't grow up in the 80's.  

ThaFormula.com - How do you look at the internet?

Cage - I feel that the internet is all about pirating.  Everything I do on the internet is all pirate shit.  I don't buy shit off of the net, so why should I expect people to buy shit from me.  I fucken download muthafuckaz albums.  Muthafuckaz download me all day.  Before my album drops in the stores, I know that if I go to any of the share sites I go rip my shit from, I'll probably see my album a week before it gets.  I just gotta hit the muthafuckaz that ain't got computers and hope that some of the muthafuckaz with computers will still buy my shit.  I think the internet is the beginnings of seeing the real artists die cause we ain't got these big budgets to help feed us.  I mean all the best artists are fucken starvin cause all the best artists don't come for money and if you can't live off of your fucken art form, how you gonna really make some shit trying to hold down a fulltime.  But I live off of my music and I have lived off of music for like 3 years now.

ThaFormula.com - What made you get down with Eastern Conference? 

Cage - I helped build Eastern Conference.  MI and Eon came to me when I had Agent Orange out.  They approached me with the idea of putting out a Twelve called Smut Peddlers and I was like alright cool.  So it was like, "Yo, you wanna put my shit out, hell yeah".  That was the next step and then Eastern Conference is just every single year and multiplying and their is not really to many independent labels that is doing it like that.  2001 has been my year though.  That's when shit really popped off for me.  I never thought I'd be at the point I'm at right now.  I have been in and out of labels and it's like muthafuckaz will love you to death, but just ain't ready to take that risk and then them talkin about we have to figure out how to market you would make me lose interest.

ThaFormula.com - Did Eminem blowin up the way he did have labels wanting to make you the next Eminem?  

Cage - Once that shit happened with him, it's like everybody wanted the next him and it was like who's the next one.  It was like some kind of retarded phenomenon and I kinda let cats throw me around with that idea for a minute.  I mean look, Timbaland got his.  I heard MC Search got his.  Puffy got his.  It was obvious that the same way they did it with the boy bands and little girl kiddy bands, they did it with that.  A major label can't do shit for me right now that I can't do for myself with Eastern Conference.  Off of my album, my Gold is 50,000 and my platinum is 100,000.  As long as I got fans, a following of people that dig my music, that's all I give a fuck about.  And if I could blast corporate America at the same time in a non cliché type of way, I'm straight.  Cause I won't do everything that everybody is doing cause somebody has got to do different type shit.

ThaFormula.com - So what exactly went down with the Masta Ace situation seeing that you were the one that supposedly set it off?

Cage - The Masta Ace situation is really funny to me and I'd really like to clear this shit up.  We did some music seminar Aka an utter waste of fucken human energy expenditure.  I performed the track "Suicidal Failure" and at the end of the song I said "I walked  into a Jewish Slaughta House pumpin Masta Ace".  No. 1, the only reason I said Masta Ace name was because of the affiliation with Slaughta House and I was a Masta Ace fan growin up and shit.  Now when we performed it somehow it got misconstrued.  Ironically the dude that got it misconstrued name was Tone Deff and he runs back and tells Ace that this kid Cage from The High & Mighty said fuck Masta Ace and the Slaughta House.  So, what happens is Masta Ace irresponsibly on his part didn't even research it and just came out and dissed the High & Mighty.  Meanwhile he was meaning to diss me, but he heard I was in the High & Mighty so he just said The High & Mighty.  I think it's fucken hilarious when I listen to it and I think it's hilarious that I'm explaining it right now.  So MI finds out before the shit comes out and calls Ace and asks him why did you diss us on that song when we have kicked it and watched Eagles games together and Ace says, "Aww, fuck I didn't know that was you".  So Mi plays him the record of my verse and Ace apologizes and goes on the Marley and Pete Rock show and took it back.  It was supposed to get pulled from the album but it didn't.  I briefly thought of responding, but I thought he never even said Cage even though I know he was thinkin about a muthafucka when he said that shit.  But it's all cool and I laugh about it and it wasn't made to be taken that way so I ain't gonna worry about it.

ThaFormula.com - What do you think of the underground scene now? 

Cage - I don't even like to throw myself into that categorization cause it's like all that corny shit and all that nerd rap is what underground is right there.  It's like, yeah you all can have that title. If this is mainstream and this is underground, I'd rather be festering beneath the surface choking for oxygen.  And all that shit comes from early 90's shit.  It's not anything new.  All that shit comes from Kool Keith and Pharoah Monch.  Also EL P is responsible solely for nerd rap and shit cause they are all Company Flow sons.  That's what they all sound like man.  The multi syllabic shit.  Cats calling themselves syllabic mc's, man shut the fuck up! Here's something you can print!  To all open mic mc's, why do you insist on wasting vinyl.     

ThaFormula.com - So what are you feelin right now?. 

Cage - Dog, I listen to more commercial shit then anything.  I bump the Jay album.  I'm bumpin the Ghostface album right now.  I was bumpin the Can Ox album when it came out.  But I always find myself listening to old shit like Schooly D.    

ThaFormula.com - Now you started off with Necro right?

Cage - I mean, we were cool and shit.  I started off with Fondle em with is Bobbito's label, but Necro produced my first twelve.

ThaFormula.com - So why did you break away from him?

Cage - It's not that I broke away.  It's more or less that he wanted to be more like a RZA to me and exclusively do my shit.  But I wanted to do different shit, so when Milo came to me to do a record with Eon, I said OK.  I felt like doin that displayed some versatility and from then on I started doin whatever projects was comin up to me.  It wasn't that I broke away, I did what was available at the time.  If your fucken starvin , you gotta work.  

ThaFormula.com - So are you and Necro still on cool terms?

Cage - Yeah we speak, but as far as doin shit together at this point he doesn't get along with EC and EC doesn't get along with him.  Muthafuckaz got differences of opinions and don't like each other for whatever reasons and I personally don't give a fuck.  This is what I have helped build, Eastern Conference Records.  I'm not the CEO in it, but I helped put it to where it is right now.  Not the soul reason, but I'm a contributing part.  Now if I put time, energy and effort into something and you come along and go against the grain and make things difficult, I'm not gonna work with you.  It's nothing personal, but, business is business and I've grown as Milo and Eon have grown accustomed to a certain way of doing business and it's comfortable for me.  We have good work ethics and a good work relationship.  It's cool!  I mean they put shit in my hands.  Like my album is in my hands.  The Weathermen album is in my hands.  They trust me to put together something good.

ThaFormula.com - Be Sure To Check out Tame 1, Copywrite, J -Zone, Cage, Mr. Eon, Mad Skillz, Aka The Eastern Conference All-stars II new video here (56k) here (Cable/DSL). 

Be  sure to join the over 300,000 Industry Heads that have signed up to our exclusive mailing list!!  Click here to join and receive exclusive interviews only available to members. Leave contact info ( name & email address) at info@thaformula.com and we will contact you to confirm your membership.