thaFormula.com - Last time we spoke you had just dropped "Priesthood."  How did that album end up doing for you?

Killah Priest - Well "Priesthood" was one of the best albums that I ever did.  It gave me time to do what I wanted to do.  With "View From Masada", I had alot of different influences.  I like the album, but alot of people didn't like it because they felt I was switching up.  So "Priesthood" was my way of getting back to doing what I always had in me.  The write ups and everything was great for that album.  Unfortunately we didn't have the money.  We are actually talking about putting it back out there with bonus tracks.

thaFormula.com - So after "Priesthood", what was your next move?

Killah Priest - I came back to New York for a minute cause I was living out in L.A.  Then I went back to L.A. where cats was hitting me with beats while I was there.  My man had a studio and that's how "Black August" was born.  It was born by just going to the studio, knocking out certain joints.  It was just like, "yo we got something on our hands."  So I got back into the spirit of things and said let's make this even better then "Priesthood."  That's what I was thinking at the time.  It was gonna be on another type of level.  When we got in the studio, we just started recording.  So I came to New York and these guys were like we got you and as soon as we did it, they didn't have money for sample clearances.  So that kind of took the album apart.  That's why I released "Black August" The Revisited.  It was a pretty good album and I got a good response from it.  Lyrically, alot of people said they loved it.  I actually had Artemis behind it, but I was always running into the wrong fuckin' people, who would tell me they were gonna take this to the next level.  But as soon as you get with them, they would say we don't got money for this next level.

thaFormula.com - Now what was the deal with that 4 Horsemen album you dropped independently?

Killah Priest - I gave that to my man Dreddy and he leaked it out.  Those were Horsemen tracks that me, Canibus, Ras Kass, and Kurupt did.  That wasn't really the Horsemen album.  It's just stuff that we did together and actually, everybody has pieces of the album.  We just got to come and put those songs together.

thaFormula.com - Do you ever really see that happening anymore?

Killah Priest - Yeah.  I still talk to Canibus and Kurupt. 

thaFormula.com - Alot has changed in the last couple of years.  How do you view the game now in 2005?

Killah Priest - I see no more originality.  Everybody is following and trying to rhyme like this dude.  What happened when you had cats like Canibus coming from your left wing and then you had Ras Kass over here coming from your right.  It was just crazy.  Everybody now is coming out with the same old story.  It's all good though man, but lyrically I just don't see no threat.  Cats I like is somebody that I don't think that I am nicer then.  Those are the kids that get me to write.

thaFormula.com - Have you noticed how alot of the older heads have just walked away from hip hop in the last couple of years?

Killah Priest - Yeah and I don't blame them.  I'm about to walk away, but the music keeps calling me back to make that shit.  That's why I'm just doing shit that I like.

thaFormula.com - So how did your involvement in the Black Market Militia come about?

Killah Priest - That was another one of my projects that I had.  It was another project that I was thinking about doing.  One day I saw Tragedy and told him let's get together and do an album.  Getting us together into the studio was kind of hard because I was going to the studio and knocking out more stuff, but Tragedy probably didn't think I was serious about the shit.  But then he came though and the shit just happened.  I brought Razah and Timbo through to bless some of the shit and that's how it happened.  Black Market was a name that I just thought of man.

thaFormula.com - Were you happy with how the album turned out?

Killah Priest - Not really.  I was at the beginning, but then cats came in and wanted to restructure the order and everything.  It's still cool though, but I didn't like the sequence of the album.  Plus, certain songs that should have been on the album wasn't on there, but everybody liked the shit.  So I was cool with it.  It just turned into a too militant album you know.  We militant anyway.  Black Market was my project and when it was taken from my hands, I just kind of faded back from it a little bit.  

thaFormula.com - So next up is your album "The Offering."  What are you bringing on your new solo joint?

Killah Priest - Forget about it.  This one is gonna be way different.  I'm gonna sell some units on this one.  It's straight hardcore, but this time I'm gonna be more in on the business.  Everything that happens on "The Offering", I wanna be there.  I'm gonna make sure the sequence is the right sequence and I'm not holding no punches.  Lyrically, this is gonna be just as dope as "Heavy Mental" and "Priesthood." 

thaFormula.com - What's the production like for the album?

Killah Priest - I got some surprises for alot of people.  This album is gonna be so classic.  I got 4th Disciple with tracks, I got some Wu sounding shit that will take you back and some shit that will take you there.

thaFormula.com - Do you ever get alot of people telling you that you got to do another "Heavy Mental"?

Killah Priest - People always do that.  But I could never and I would never wanna do that.  That was what it is and it wasn't even my first album.  I lost the first "Heavy Mental".  You have to look at the time it was made.  It was just the timing that made that album what it is.  I'm about to do another classic according to what time it is now.  That was a classic for that time.  Everything changes though man.

thaFormula.com - Do you still speak to Just Blaze seeing that you were basically the first to use his tracks really?

Killah Priest - Yeah that's still my man and we are gonna collaborate and do something soon.  He didn't make this album yet, but we definitely gonna do something.

thaFormula.com - Did you ever expect him to blow up as big as he did?

Killah Priest - Yeah, I used to always tell him and it happened.  I tried to tell 4th Disciple the same thing, but 4th didn't wanna do nothing.  He just wanted to stay under the umbrella and that's cool.  But he needed to be doing beat for everybody.

thaFormula.com - So when are you looking at dropping the new album?

Killah Priest - Soon man.  I don't really have a date right now, but it's coming soon.

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