ThaFormula.com - Let's start with The Firm. What exactly went wrong with that project?

Nature - We put the firm together real fast. It was more hype and a lot of guys were talkin' about let's form this crew. At the time I didn't have a record deal out or anything so I was just asked to just come along for the ride basically. I wound up doing most of the work.

ThaFormula.com - You seemed to have connected pretty well with Dre on that album?

Nature - Because Dre was a person that I respected. Not to say that I didn't respect the Trackmasters or anything like that, but Dre is just of a different level. Anybody that's coming from the hood and gets an opportunity to work with these legends would be the same way, and at the same time Dre is a real dude. We sat down in the studio and got to feel each other out. He appreciated what I brought to the table. He didn't know me and he didn't know what I could do at first, so there was a lot of times where we just sat in there and there. There was a lot of records that we did that weren't actually used, and at that time he knew that I was serious about it.

ThaFormula.com - Now speaking of that, why wasn't the track "Fist Full of Dollars" used?

Nature - Well there was a version that was used on my album, but the original was with Dre, and it was a problem with the beat. It was a thing where Columbia didn't wanna pay Interscope set money for it.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah because I heard a version of "Fist Full of Dollars" with Dre on it that was very dope...

Nature - Yeah, that was the original version, and if you ask me that was the better of the versions. It was just a different feel, you know what I'm Sayin'? But it wasn't about what I thought at the time. Beats basically dictated that one. They knew the most bangin' records that was done for the Firm I was included in.

ThaFormula.com - So what exactly went wrong with you and Trackmasters?

Nature - Trackmasters are good at producing, and they got themselves in a situation where they became executives I guess before their time and they really didn't know how to promote the music that I was making. I'm not really what you might call a commercial artist still to this day. It wasn't that hard but it was like their interest and heart wasn't in it as much as mine was in it.

ThaFormula.com - So did you leave Trackmasters?

Nature - Trackmasters left themselves. I mean they are still Trackmasters, but they lost their executive deal.

ThaFormula.com - So you dropped your first solo album a little after that. How did that do for you?

Nature - It did alright. I mean it was supposed to come out in 1998. It came out in 2000. I didn't get a chance to go in the studio and redo the amount of songs I needed to do, but as far as on the street level, I feel I have the respect because it's not like the songs were wack or anything. It was just a situation where I didn't really have any control and the world knew that I didn't have any control. Also, a lot of my songs got leaked way before time and they was winding up on the Internet, and people were able to quote them before they came out and that kind of hurt me right there.

ThaFormula.com - So you do feel that the Internet kind of messed you up a little?

Nature - Yeah the Internet messed it up, but I blame everything on the label. They could have been more vocal as to let me know which songs they were trying to leak and put on mixtapes and the Internet and stuff like that. I didn't even know that these songs were out there.

ThaFormula.com - So what is the production looking like for your new album?

Nature - I got a lot of in house stuff. I got Premier, Megahertz, EZ Elpee. I need people that got that quality sound because I feel that we're creating over here. Were trying to be creative and I need people that have an ear for it as much as I have an ear for it.

ThaFormula.com - Now let's get to Nas. Did you ever diss Nas yourself before he recorded "Destroy & Rebuild?"

Nature - I mean I never said his name on a record. I'm sure that we probably both took little cheap shots. It was only until recently that he felt like saying my name.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, because I don't remember you ever calling him out in a track?

Nature - Well, maybe he didn't know what was about to happen. I don't know what's going on in his brain. He just painted a picture for the people that was kind of untrue, but I got an album to make too, and I ain't gonna sit back and dwell on it.

ThaFormula.com - So how do you take a song like "Destroy and Rebuild?" At the end of the song he tries to be peace about everything. Do you listen to that and say "all right, cool I understand." or is that an insult to you?

Nature - How would you take it? If someone said, "Yo J, you a car thief and you steal old ladies bags and you know you don't do that. How would you take it?"

ThaFormula.com - So his attempt at the end to make it cool...

Nature - Nah, he tried to make it cool for the people, that second and third party that don't know what the hell is going on. He know what he did. He tried to shit in my bed. I'm a competitive person. I try to make records and outdo myself. I don't really use a lot of people to base my songs on, but there is a lot of people that wanna hear what I got to say, and I don't really think it would be right for me to leave those people wondering.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think major record labels just aren't down to try to push real hip-hop anymore?

Nature - I can't say every record label, but then again the record companies that I was dealin' with never even had that before. So it was not like it was totally their fault. I just didn't understand it in the beginning, why it was taking so long and why there was these communication gaps.

ThaFormula.com - What are people gonna hear from Nature with the new album?

Nature - They're gonna hear something different. You gotta show growth. I'm not the same person. I mean I am the same person from The Firm. I mean I'm lookin to grow and it's gonna be different and this one is completely different because I don't have none of them knuckleheads on my back tellin' me "yo nature, you should make the same kind of records Bubba Sparks is making."

ThaFormula.com - That's a good thing man. I'm glad to hear that because that's what a lot of MC's seem to be doing nowadays.

Nature - I mean it's a tricky business right there man.

ThaFormula.com - So when are you looking to drop the album?

Nature - Well, I'm halfway done right now. I'm trying to drop it like at the end of May or beginning of June.

ThaFormula.com - Now you and Nas recorded "The Ultimate High" which was a real nice track, and that wasn't very long ago. Are you and Nas still cool in any way at all?

Nature - Hell No!! I'm just not one to deal with the fake shit. There is a lot of fake shit. At one point in time it was a little bit different. As far as that dude, I don't speak to him. We didn't speak in a minute, so he felt like, uh, I was running through his brain or something. I guess that's a good thing.

ThaFormula.com - Why is there so much drama between Queensbridge artists?

Nature - Because a lot of people ain't comfortable with who they are, so they wanna have a piece of everybody else's career and have say so and feel like they can become the focal point. There is some guys that's very talented coming from there that just never came out or never did nothing. It's like a lot of things that we discuss and we go through. We might put it on record, but for the most part the politics comes from within. It's hard to really explain it in an interview and things like that on why a vibe can just change like that amongst rappers that's linked together.  I can't really define it in an interview and shit like that. It comes from knowing people your whole life and really knowing who the individuals are that make these records, not just their stage name and their entertainment presence. It's knowing who these people are and knowing facts about each other. I guess we know too much about each other and so sometimes a lot of people don't just wanna see another person do their thing. I don't know.  When it comes down to me, I ain't really got to much bad to say about another nigga, but if they talk about me it's cool, but then now we start to dig dirt and it gets kind of like on a personal level. It's beyond records when you know people like that so I don't know. You wanna talk about me, cool. But just make sure you get the facts straight. I mean the hood is gonna always be the hood. I mean these are the same people I grew up with. When you talkin' about a Queensbridge artist talkin' about another Queensbridge artist, every time a record or a comment gets made, those are real feelings. I don't know how much of it is true, but there is feeling involved and so it becomes that much more intense. I'm sure you can pick up on it because people that's not even from the area or people that's just generally biased could hear that there is a funny vibe. I'm not gonna sit there and deny it, but that's not what I base my career on. I just want the people to know that I'm here for real.

ThaFormula.com - How did you hook up with Premier?

Nature - Well, inside I know who he is managed by and it's like a circle that I formed myself around with this new album. It's not really on a major label, so it's like I had to try and form a team. It just so happens that the same people I'm involved with, he's involved with, and I always been a fan of what he brings to the table so this time I said "fuck it, lets make it happen."

ThaFormula.com - So are you lookin' to do one track with Primo or a few?

Nature - I mean we only can make one song at a time. I don't have no monster budget where I can run around and spend a whole bunch of money on Timbaland and all these other dudes, and these dudes know how bad I want it, so I don't know what he has planned for me. I know he appreciates my music. I may be thinkin' he has one track for me and he winds up with 3 tracks. We just started working with each other.

ThaFormula.com - Is Premier the type that would do a track just on the strength or is it always all business with Premier?

Nature - To me it ain't nobody really doing to much stuff on the strength. If that was the case, you would have heard the album and it would have been banging and it would have been everything. For me it's always like a small scale. We grinding it out. There is a lot of people in the industry who know who I am, who know what I'm capable of doing, and who just feel that I never had a fair shot, and Premier is one of those people that was just like, "Yeah let's do it." Like the type of shit that I been through since I chose to be a rapper, it would have drained the average person. They would have been like, "you know what? Forget it," and they see that my spirits are still high and that I'm still trying to learn even though like you said, I started out working with Dr. Dre and all these people. It would have been really easy for me to be like, "you know what, fuck everybody," but my attitude is not like that. I'm still learning what I can do. It's just creating vibes with people. I'm not really looking for people to just submit beats. I'm looking to just sit down and create a vibe, and create a sound and build it up from scratch. I work better like that. Just vibin' in the studio.

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