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ThaFormula.com - The last time we spoke Foxxx you had dropped Industry Shakedown and Hip-Hop seemed like it was starting to pick up again, but now 6 months into 2003 Hip-Hop seems at least to a lot of heads out there, to be at its all time worse. What are your thoughts and that?

Freddie Foxxx - I mean that's because of the corporate structure man. They dictated to people what Hip-Hop was and it's all part of their plan to destroy it and its working. We are to blame for it. I think there are some good records out there but because radio and record companies are in cahoots you wont hear the quality shit. You gonna hear what they think they are gonna make there money on and its not gonna really be that way.

ThaFormula.com - This year is a very depressing year for a lot of the true heads out there. It seems like 2003 is the year of the homo MC's. If you ain't rappin' about being in love and dressing like a fuckin' clown you ain't gonna be heard. This seems to be the year of the fruity MC's...

Freddie Foxxx - Yeah, well that's why I say we gotta build our own. We gotta build a following and keep are following relevant and stay focused man cause the way I feel about my music is, I make it based on how I feel. The one thing I ain't ever gonna make is no homo record.

ThaFormula.com - But do you understand what I'm sayin' Foxxx? I mean have you noticed how every MC is on some love shit or save the trees type shit?

Freddie Foxxx - I follow you man. I was depressed when I heard Fat Joe's shit man. I was like, "Yo I can't believe Fat Joe is rhymin' about all these fucking thug lover boy records!" I mean I'm gonna tell you straight up man, for a dude to make a record like that, if it's one song out of his whole album, uh , he ain't no homo or at least I would like to hope that he's not and he got a girl and he wants to express on one song how he feel about his girl, I couldn't get mad at him about that, if you feel it than it's real so I wouldn't have any beef with that. 'Cause we all men and we may fall in love or we may have a girl that we feel is a ridah and we want to give her our props or whatever that's cool. But to have 5 songs back to back about that bullshit is ridiculous and sad. I think that when I did "KoneXion," I wanted to stick to my guns and when I say that I mean my format of how I deliver my music and talk about current events and things going on around us. I think our times are too bad to be talkin' about that other shit right now. If the record gets lost, let it be lost in the ears of the people that need to hear it, and I don't focus about whether the radio accepts it or not. You know I did the single "KoneXion" because I always loved that track, but what I'm talkin' about on the record is basically connecting and locking in.

ThaFormula.com - No doubt...

Freddie Foxxx - Like when I talk about Fred Durst. I think he's a cocky bastard who thinks he's bigger then everybody. He indicated that in the way he treated Premier when Premier reached out for him to try to put down a Gangstarr Foundation label with him. He was with it at first, but then he backed out and didn't return his calls and it was real foul how he treated him.

ThaFormula.com - So Fred Dursts' bitch ass dissed Premier huh?

Freddie Foxxx - Yeah, big time.

ThaFormula.com - But why would you wanna hook up with a chump like that anyway?

Freddie Foxxx - But see the thing is it was business. Premier was sayin' "listen I got this label with all these hot rappers on it. You fund it and let's make money. You don't have to be involved. Nobody needs Fred Durst input. I told Premier, "yo dog I'm only gonna fuck with the situation if you do you. I'm not fucking with him directly cause he ain't really Hip-Hop. He's using Hip-Hop to get a platform to do other shit like Kid Rock did. So fuck them! I'm really about my culture and about what this music is about. Fuck all them clowns man.

ThaFormula.com - I haven't seen a year in Hip-Hop this bad since probably 1996 and '97 when Master P and the whole bounce shit started and fucked this whole game up and still continues to fuck things up. The last year has been very sad when I think of all the legends that have tried to comeback and just flopped by either doing some lover boy shit or some bounce shit. I'm just amazed at the rate MC's and producers are fallin' off. It is very sad when you see that 99.9 percent of the people in Hip-Hop have no clue what real from the heart Hip-Hop really is...

Freddie Foxxx - Well, I mean the breakdown of it has to do with the fact that when you tell a hungry man don't eat, you have to ask yourself how real is it that he's gonna listen. I think that people are chasing a dollar at this point. I think I said it on my intro. I look at people like Pete Rock who still has the same thing in him to make these hot tracks. The funny thing is the industry is making youth worth more than experience, and when you find that youth is more important than experience what you get is an adolescent mind set being presented to the public. You get all these records about crack and broads and everybody following Fabolous and all that bullshit that's going on out there. It's depressing to know that people don't want variety. Everybody wants to follow the corporate structure and they don't even know what Hip-Hop is. It's sad but what are you gonna do? I mean you can't do it alone. If Hip-Hop had some form of government we wouldn't have this problem.

ThaFormula.com - I also hear many people saying, "well I can't worry about all that 'cause I'ma do me." How long can we keep saying "I cant worry about that" before you realize its over?

Freddie Foxxx - The thing about it is. We can do us all day long but I'm always in Premier's ear. I'm always in MOP's ear. I'm just starting to kick it with the Spitkickers man and I said that's what's needed right now is a successful tour from guys like Talib, myself, MOP, Gangstarr, Mos Def, and Pharoahe Monch. What's needed is a strong tour from guys of that caliber and a successful tour so people can see something different. I mean after watching the "8 Mile" movie and you hear all these old school rap records, people wanna know about them songs right now. That's what they consider to be old school. But the only way to pull this off is to get everybody's head out of their ass and lose all them egos man and lets get this shit poppin' and that's the only way to do it man. It has to be done properly. All the radio tellin' people what's hot and what's not, that shit is not real to me man. Its not gonna help the game at all.

ThaFormula.com - So what do you think its going to take to really get this committee or union of rappers and producers started? To get something going again like when you all did the "Heal Yourself" project or the "Self Destruction" project?

Freddie Foxxx - It's gonna take somebody to say, "listen I'm gonna call a meeting and I'm talkin' about personal invitations. You hand pick everybody and personally invite them and shut out the media.

ThaFormula.com - Does anyone have the power to do that?

Freddie Foxxx - For sure definitely. Without a doubt. You're gonna have to make a means of saying, "well this is what we want put together." You wanna call up De La Soul and all these people and say "ok, we're gonna meet at the Regal Hotel in our private suite and we're gonna discuss some business, and I think you should be there." Give people personal invitations. Once you start dialect amongst people who have a common idea, that's how you start a movement. You have to shut out the media because if you put the media in there and they expose it to everybody, you make yourself vulnerable to people tearing the idea apart. So when you shut out media and people start seeing that there's a closed door meeting, it makes you wanna know what's going on and it creates hype. So that's what it's gonna take in the beginning is to get people in the same room who have a valid statement to make and some real input. You know the Premier's, Pete Rock's, and myself and people that really know and love the true culture of Hip-Hop. Even Krs-One cause in a room with me he can't outshine nobody, cause I know how to shut him down to the point where, "come on Krs man, this ain't about you and philosophy, this is about us utilizing each others abilities for one common cause." I'm the first one to stand up and shut muthafuckas down with that extra shit they be coming to the table with.

ThaFormula.com - It seems like back in the 90's it was so easy to just pick up the phone and speak to another artist like, "Yo come over here and let's collabo on this track." Nowadays you will be lucky to speak to any artist personally because you always seem to have to speak to his agent, manager, or whatever...

Freddie Foxxx - That's how I do it now. I tell Premier, "yo come lay a track with me and come to the studio and drop it right there without all that extra agents and management and all that. We don't deal with that 'cause we're friends and we have to live life before we can live music. We have to live life first in order to dictate what's gonna happen musically in our future. I remember hangin' out with Rakim. We used to drive around all night long listening to the Cold Crush battle tapes and having a good time as friends.

ThaFormula.com - Do you and Gangstarr realize the following and power you guys have in the underground?

Freddie Foxxx - I recognize mine but I don't know if everyone recognizes theirs though. I been trying to tell Premier that I think we should do a theater tour. I mean to get back to personally touching the audience like the Apollo theater and places like that. Let's rock a theater tour and go across the country and play Philly and L.A. and San Francisco and Chicago. All theater's man, and lets just set it off in theater's man and control the merchandising and everything.

ThaFormula.com - And what does Primo usually say?

Freddie Foxxx - Well he's with it but right now its all talk. Everybody has got they own shit going on and once I start really making the reach cause I haven't really made a reach like that, I just been speaking about it in passing. But I think I'm gonna pass that off to Spitkicker and let them see what's poppin'.

ThaFormula.com - Can Hip-Hop still be saved Foxxx?

Freddie Foxxx - Hip-Hop cant be saved at this point, it can only be rebirthed. To the point that, let's make a circle in which we live and let's stay comfortable in that circle, 'cause you're gonna have all these other people who don't know how to really rhyme over the type of beats that we like to rock. I read some of the reviews that I read on my new album. 99 percent of my reviews I got are great. The other 5 percent are just people who are dickriding people like Memphis Bleek and shit like that.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, the garbage. Foxxx, who is someone that you have always wanted to tour with?

Freddie Foxxx - You know what would be dope that I would love to see. I would love to go out on the road with MC Ren. I love Ren, I like King Tee and all those dudes. I'll rock with all them dudes.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think this is the worst year for Hip-Hop to date?

Freddie Foxxx -It hasn't gotten better. I can say that.

ThaFormula.com - I mean have you picked up an album this year?

Freddie Foxxx - Hell No!! I haven't picked up an album in 5 years man. I mean I have gotten albums like Nas record. I bought Jay-Z's first Blueprint album.

ThaFormula.com - We are now 6 months into 2003 and what I want to know is have you heard anyone come out with anything that has impressed you?

Freddie Foxxx - Hell No, not one album. Not one, and one thing I did decide to do with "KoneXion" is, I wanted to give people something to ride with. I didn't want a bunch of collaborations cause that takes away the chance for your audience to know who you are as an individual. I wanted to give people just some Bumpy shit and another thing, I didn't do was I didn't dump a whole lot of shit on my album like Premier and Pete Rock stuff cause I was gonna drop unreleased singles on each single. Plus the timing was off as far as scheduling went. At the end of the trilogy, I'm gonna put all of my albums together and make a giant box set of underground Hip-Hop shit.

ThaFormula.com - You know Foxxx I see what the industry is trying to do with you and Gangstarr and a few others. I been seeing it for the last 10 years and I hope that others wake up and see it to before its too late...

Freddie Foxxx - I think that people see it but just don't give a fuck. It's really up to us to handle it. At the end of the day I'm gonna always represent what I do and that's Hip-Hop. So I'm an artist like I said and being an artist that means that we use an intentional effort to create beauty, and what we perceive as beautiful others may perceive as ugly, but our artform is different from other artforms. I mean after Hip-Hop what's next? No one has a fucking clue, so we have to continue to live and go on with our lives so don't let it get you down. 'Cause if you really believe in it, I mean you can't only believe in it when its good, you got to believe when it's not good so that it can have the energy for you to help it to come back and that's what being dedicated is all about. You know how to sniff out the right shit yo, and just be vocal about it. You're a writer so you have then power of the pen which is one of the most dangerous weapons ever. So you just have to believe that Hip-Hop can comeback. Fuck the individuals. No one is bigger then the culture. Just know that when you find something that's quality, you put it out there and pump it and say "yo this is what's quality." Like the rating system. In one of the reviews I read about my album, a guy said my album made him hate Hip-Hop even more, but that's because he's one of them dickriding Limp Bizkit fans. I'm sorry I don't sound like your boy Fred Durst, but at the end of the day you ain't from the hood. You don't know nothing about living around dope fiends all your life or crack heads or winos. Hip-Hop was created to escape the woes of the ghetto.

ThaFormula.com - From the days when you started rhymin' were the labels always the same Foxxx? It seems to me that the people that worked at the labels back then actually cared somewhat about the music compared to the ones that are in there now?

Freddie Foxxx - Well it's different quality of people being hired. At one point you lost the executive because people started putting in these wannabe fallen rappers and making them A&R's and putting in less qualified people in there about the music business, but he's more qualified about Hip-Hop and there is an imbalance there. Before when you brought Hip-Hop to a label like Payday or one of the labels there, they had executives. They didn't really have nobody there that knew about Hip-Hop, but all they knew how to do was sell records and the artists told them about Hip-Hop. That's what made it relevant. Nowadays, you got people that failed at Hip-Hop running these labels. He couldn't be an artist so now he wants to tell everybody else how to do it and he's trying to live his dreams through these rap artists. So it's kind of crazy. I love doing what I do man. I do it independent and if I do good, I do good. I'm responsible for my successes and my failures.

ThaFormula.com - After you dropped the "I Come to War" 12" with DITC a lot of people wondered why you didn't hook up more with them cause it came out so dope?

Freddie Foxxx - Well those are my boys. Me and Showbiz are real cool and all and he came to me and said he was working on a project and he wanted me to do a single, so he brought the music to my studio and I just did it right there. It wasn't like I was trying to do no ongoing project or nothing like that or he was trying to have it that way, its just that that's how we get down. A lot of people get misinformed or their perception is wrong when they think just cause I did a song with one particular click that I'm actually down with that click or something like that. I'm down with Showbiz in a greater way than this. Those are my boys and I rock with them. For whatever reason, he asked me to be down so I did it.

ThaFormula.com - Why do you think that more artists like yourself don't go the independent route?

Freddie Foxxx - It's too much work. It's a lot of work man to do an independent record. It's a ton of work. It's not easy to do these things. If you started off with a major situation and you get that big lump sum of money, and then you all of a sudden you're thrust off that label because your record sales plummeted or whatever, and then you didn't take the time while you had it to learn how to do it for yourself, you usually end up stuck. It's like going back to first grade again. So that's what I think it is.

ThaFormula.com - Is a major something you would consider or are looking for?

Freddie Foxxx - Well, the thing is I don't have a problem doing a deal with a major and I never have, but for me to do a deal with a major I would have to totally have my deal structured so that my company is not left out to dry at the end of the day. Meaning that all I really need a major for is a pipeline and maybe publicity. But I don't want them telling me how to make my record. I can't fuck with that. Before I do that I'd rather stay doing it this way. It just has to be in my terms or we have to sit down and come to terms that don't fuck up my creativity or disrupt my thought pattern as far as how I perceive myself as an artist. I don't wanna follow nobody else's dream, I wanna follow my own. If they would let me paint the vision for them to show me the vision, if they had something to add to that then that would be cool. In the context of saying "well okay we see what you're trying to do and I could show you," 'cause I'm a marketing genius, I know how to market and strategize and you can see that when I did comic books and all that other stuff. Where other guys are just doing the same 'ol shit standing in an alley with 10 mutherfuckers around them. I mean that's not creative to me, that's just normal perception. They see what people perceive us to be and that's gangsta's and thugs, but the real deal is that I'm a creative artist.

ThaFormula.com - What are your thoughts on the Flava Unit of the old compared to the one Latifah tried to bring back?

Freddie Foxxx - I couldn't really see the new MC's that she signed, uh I couldn't really see that project because they didn't have any identity. Individually they didn't have any identity. I mean I couldn't say how good of MC's they were. What I heard of them was alright. Like when she, Treach, Bumpy Knuckles, and Fu Schnickens that was a totally identifiable package off the gate. But these cats here didn't seem to have any individual identity and the problem to me is a lot of times you see these cats start to try to make an ID for themselves, but they rhymin' like everybody else. They are spittin' the same 'ol trash like everybody else and its just kinda wack to me. When I worked with Flava Unit there was ID's within us.

ThaFormula.com - How do you feel when you see (or does it even matter to you when you see) a veteran MC or producers that we depend on to drop the dope shit, trying to do the type of Hip-Hop that the wack kids like Fabulous are doing instead of doing what they do best?

Freddie Foxxx - A lot of them get caught up in having to eat and feed their families and they feel like if they don't change with the times that they are gonna really lose out all together. Being that they're not independent, what happens is you get caught up in having to do what the massa says to do (Laughs). I'm glad I don't have that problem. My struggles are a lot different then those guys in the respects that I stick to my guns and I still do different things within my realm. But it don't bother me to see them do that. If that's how they feel they got to do it, they are throwing their own dice man. It just ain't me man. I mean I can rock with certain MC's and certain ones I can't. I ain't gonna rock with you if I don't feel that it's gonna make sense.

ThaFormula.com - Now you said Hip-Hop can't be saved right now, it could only be rebirthed..

Freddie Foxxx - It can't be saved because it's not dying. It's still here. What happened is rap music is involved in it now. 'Cause rap music and Hip-Hop are two different things.

ThaFormula.com - So you do feel that rap and Hip-Hop are 2 different things?

Freddie Foxxx - Of course, 'cause rappin' is the act of MC'ing. He spits raps, so he says rhymes. But Hip-Hop and rap are two different things. Hip-Hop is the culture. Rapping is the act of being an MC. When you say Hip-Hop that means that the culture is involved somewhere, but when you say rap music I don't know where the fuck that comes from. Just like gangsta rap, I don't know what the fuck that is either. I heard of it, but I don't know what it is. Rapping started in the streets but people said "oh rap music!" That's some shit that the record companies said.

ThaFormula.com - How do you feel about all the concerts being sponsored by corporations lately and all these soda companies, clothes, etc. using Hip-Hop to sell all their products?

Freddie Foxxx - It don't bother me cause its a mixing of businesses. Sprite has every right to want to utilize Hip-Hop culture to sell products. That's business. I mean if Sprite calls you right now and asked you or told you they were gonna give you 500,000 dollars to help them figure out a nice Hip-Hop commercial, you would be a fool not to take the money. But you're supposed to give them what your interpretation of Hip-Hop is, not let them tell you, "yo this is what I want you to do." 'Cause if that's the case, they don't need you. So it's not a problem with their sponsorship. It's just that they can't dictate what Hip-Hop is. That's my whole issue. People who are not in the culture can't dictate what it is or what it should be. We can't tell the Rock and Roll dudes what their music should sound like so why should anybody be able to tell us what our music should sound like? If you think about it the concept of being different is a good thing, I keep saying that 'cause people are afraid to be different but ain't nothin' wrong with getting some money. 'Cause this world don't survive on "I Love Hip-Hop." It survives on paying your bills and you need money to pay your bills. But how you get it can determine the type of person you are and what you're willing to do to make a dollar. That's what determines whether you are a SELL OUT or not and you're the only one who really has to live with it. The only person that has to live with that is the individual.

ThaFormula.com - It's funny how these corporations are the same people that laughed at Hip-Hop in the beginning and called it a joke?

Freddie Foxxx - I mean so did MTV. Everybody is quick to jump on everybody else, but MTV wouldn't even put a Black face on their screen. I mean it ain't nothing new. I mean it's always been like that. We have always had to fight through those adversaries of creed and color and race and all that. Let me tell you something bro, the relationships between Whites in America and Blacks has always been big them, little us. I just did a lecture at Temple University and I had to check this White kid about this and respectfully I let him know that your place in Hip-Hop culture is limited. It's just like that's why I made that shirt that says "I'm Hip-Hop and You're Not," cause if I stand in a room for 15 or 20 minutes I can tell you who's down with Hip-Hop culture and who's not. Hip-Hop language is not standardized English and its never redundant. It goes through eras. If you open you're mouth and you say something at the end of the day if its corny or played out and you say it in Hip-Hop it will expose you. But if you look back at a Western dictionary from 1965, guess what those words still mean the same meaning. So that shit has been forever man.

ThaFormula.com - One last thing I wanted to talk to you about was this kid I got an email from recently. His name was Dope E from "The Terrorists."

Freddie Foxxx - That's the kid I beat up in a boxing match.

ThaFormula.com - He's saying it didn't go down like that.

Freddie Foxxx - (Laughs his ass off). I got it on video tape. I knocked his punk ass out.

ThaFormula.com - Basically he said in the email that it didn't go down like that and...

Freddie Foxxx - Tell him we can do it again. It's all good with me.

ThaFormula.com - He explains in the email how you knocked him down twice and that in the third he started connecting and that the judges called it a split decision, and the judges gave the belt to him for having the heart to fight. 'Cause he says he was a Middleweight and you were a Super Heavyweight?

Freddie Foxxx - Listen to this. I got a videotape. On that videotape, you see me walk back into the ring right and I said "Yo, Tim Dog is a pussy, he should have showed up. So being that he didn't show up, I said I'm not gonna let nobody come to New York and just get a free belt. So me and the dude get in a boxing match. I drop him twice right. Now I had two fights in one night. The first fight there was no third round. The second fight which was him, there was a third. In that third round this muthafucka is breathing like he's dying. So I was like "yo, let me take it easy on this dude." So after the fight was over, on the tape you could see clearly the judge says "and the winner is… Freddie Foxxx." They gave me 2 belts. I held both of the belts up then I made an announcement. I said, "look the dude didn't have to fight me, so I'ma give him the belt." I gave him that belt. He's a FUCKING LIAR!! I GAVE HIM THAT BELT! He never connected with ONE PUNCH on me! He didn't touch me one time. He hit me in my arms. I blocked everything he threw. The dude can't fight, he's a bitch. He fights like a bitch!!

ThaFormula.com - I just wanted to let you know about this email personally and not just post it up without even speaking to you about it like some sell-out out magazines would do just to get some viewers…

Freddie Foxxx - Let me tell you something homeboy, first of all I never heard a record he made. The second thing is, if that little skinny ass muthafucka wanna get his weed smoking ass back in the ring, I'll beat a pound of hydro out of him man. First of all, ain't no way in the world this clown, uh, I mean I got the tape so ain't nothing else for me really to say about that. He got his ass whooped period. I gave him the belt anyway. Everybody seen it so why didn't the Source magazine or anybody else get that article cause they was all there. He knows he can't tell the story to nobody else. His bodyguard even said, "Yo he shouldn't fight and told him not to fight me. So I told his bodyguard, "get your punk ass in the ring!" He was like "nah, nah, I ain't got nothing to do with that." Man come on tell that dude to sit down man. Tell him to find a studio and get his ass in there and get some work in. I'll be around his way eventually. Let him step to me with that bullshit. Fuck Him! He's probably feeling the results of everybody always saying, "yo nigga got his ass beat." I dropped him with my left hand and I'm right handed. I mean that was a fucking jab.

ThaFormula.com - Well that's why we didn't put the email out there without speaking to you first and getting your side of things also. 'Cause you know other magazines would have just popped this on their site without you even knowing about it and tried to really pump it up.

Freddie Foxxx - Yeah, no question. But let me tell you something. That dude is so hurt that I made him more famous by whooping his ass then he ever did making a record. How about that. We'll run into each other one day and let him step to me with that shit.

ThaFormula.com - Would you like me to leave this part of the interview on here?

Freddie Foxxx - Nah, you can say what you want. I ain't got nothing to hide. He got his ass whooped. He can act all day like he didn't get his ass whooped, but it is what it is. I ain't never ran from a fight. I mean we can always do it again if we wanna make clarity on it, we can do it again. He's talkin' about his weight and all that, what a fucking bitch! Tell that nigga to get some nuts! So let him spread that around because you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna hype up somebody to put another fight together and holla at me and his ass is a wrap. It's gonna be even worse this time. It is what it is. You can't defend the truth. I mean everybody and their mama saw the fight. Everybody and their mama saw the videotape. People know what time it is. The report has been the same forever just like when Willie D knocked Melle Mel the fuck out. I let people know Mel didn't win that fight. Mel was tellin' people he bumped his head.

ThaFormula.com - Willie D knocked Mel out?

Freddie Foxxx - One punch B, and Melle Mel is way bigger then him. Willie D wasn't crying that skinny guy shit cause Willie D is not no big dude, but his hand game was together. This dude Dope E was fighting like a broad man. I was like "where the fuck did you all get this cornball ass muthafucka from?" Tim Dog should have came in there and broke his ass up. That's what he should have did, but he didn't even show up.

ThaFormula.com - Well people, once again our man Bumpy Knuckles continues to speak the real and never bites his tongue for no man.  Without question, Bumpy is one of the realest mc's I have ever had the pleasure of interviewing.  We hope you enjoyed another classic Interview and to all you wack, bitin, corny ass journalist.  This is how you interview a legend!!!

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