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ThaFormula.com - How do you feel about every rappa nowadays throwin at least one bounce track on their album. It seems like you have to have a bounce track on your album now just to be accepted?

Rack Lo - Yeah, well I feel that that's bullshit, you know what I mean. The artists need to start settin more trends and take more control of what they are doing.  Stop tryin to follow what the record labels want.  You really gotta contribute what you wanna contribute that's you.  I feel that whoever is followin trends is an asshole.  They probably won't be here for long anyway.  That's what spit squad is about.  We about addin on and trying to bring something new to the game.  For us it's all about takin it to the next level kid. 

ThaFormula.com - Between artists, how are rappaz like Nelly looked at.  I mean how do you look at a guy like that that blows up off of bullshit?

Rack Lo - I really can't say that the shit they put out is bullshit.  They just had the opportunity to crossover.  That's what they felt they had to do.  I mean we don't look down on them or anything.  We don't consider Nelly hip hop kid.  That's the bottom line.  That's like more pop to us.  Hip Hop is like a struggle kid. Putting you shit out independently and don't let these record labels that got these industry monopolized control your shit. I don't care if you snatching a mic or at a corner rhymin.  If you wanna be heard you gotta find an outlet to be heard.  That's hip hop to me!

ThaFormula.com - For those that don't know what's the name of the new album?

Rack Lo - The new album is called Rack Lauren and it's in stores now.  They can cop it at our web site, www.spitfactoryonline.com  .  They can cop that there and get all our merchandise and all that.  

ThaFormula.com - So what is it like in N.Y. now as far as the mc's go?

Rack Lo - Yo, out here in N.Y., in terms of like mc's and artists.  Where I'm from nobody is really on that independent mode.  Everybody wants to run to record labels to get a deal and be pimped.  We ain't tryin to be pimped, man, fuck that.  In this game either you pimpin somebody or you being pimped.  We ain't gonna be pimped cause crooks don't get pimped.  That's why I don't understand how alot of these artist claim to be this and that, but they gettin robbed man. Shit! This is our livelihood and we can't let anybody mess this up.  

ThaFormula.com - Do you think the dope mc is slowly starting to fade away as time goes by?

Rack Lo - To be honest with you, in terms of the conscious rapper and the upliftment and all that.  The revolution shit is cool and all that, but realistically the industry dictates for some artists what they have to do.  If you tryin to be a conscious mc and your trying to get a point across from that standpoint and your not sellin no records, uh , at the same time this is a business and you got to feed your family.  It can sort of have you on the borderline and make you flip out.  I'm just sayin we would never flip out like that, but I can see how some artists go for that.  But in terms of the topics and concepts in mc's.  Everybody is talkin about the same subjects now, and nobody is really challenging the mind.  To me when I used to see mc's like Krs1, Rakim, Kool G Rap and all them.  It was like they grabbed the mic because they had something to say.  It wasn't really about what you wearin, ice and how many females you messed with you know.  It was more about skill man.  Communicating the skill and letting people see that your really creative and you really take the art of hip hop and the culture real serious.  Plus the whole industry don't understand the foundation, where it came from.  Everybody is neglecting the real history.  Everybody is about the money man.  And at the same time they are being pimped kid.

ThaFormula.com - So were you guys ever lookin for a major deal before?

Rack Lo - Yo, we was never lookin for a major deal.  To be honest with you kid, we ain't lookin now.  Right now I wouldn't say we got big amounts of money, but we feel like we are at a point where we have control of what we do.  Nobody can really tell us what to do and when to do it.  Whenever we wanna put out our product, promote it, manufacture, distribute, everything.  Anything we have to do to make these projects succeed man, we gonna do it.  But we was never lookin for a major.  Of course we went through that stage of going through demos and all that.  But nobody was trying to hear us, but we got the confidence, the motivation like all the struggles we experienced.  We just got together and realized we were on our own.  Nobody was givin us nothin so we have to take it.  Like a true Lo - Life you got to take it.  

ThaFormula.com - Explain to the people the difference between the Lo - Lifes and the Spit Squad?

Rack Lo - Lo - Lifes is the shopliftin and Polo era.  The spit squad was formed in 1995.  That's like me, Thirstin, Master Foul, Richie Balance, Soul Survivor.  That's like more in terms of lyrics.  The Lo - Lifes is more like dealing with our history, our past.  

ThaFormula.com - How much did the article in the Source magazine help you?

Rack Lo - It definitely got us alot of exposure.  I mean we was already known, but the Source they cater to a different market man.  Sometimes their shit ain't always hip hop either.  So the shit definitely helped out, but we got another article coming. 

ThaFormula.com - When an artist decides to sell out.  Is "I got a family to feed", or "I got to eat" a good reason for sellin out cause that seems to be the No. 1 excuse for artists out there.

Rack Lo -Yo, I feel if you are a real hip hopper to the heart and you know what the culture is about and you understand the impact that your lyrics and your music have, you would never fuckin sell out.  I don't care if you got kids to feed.  I don't care what the case is.  If your true to this, you'll never sell out.  But at the same time you have to ask yourself what's the definition of sellin out kid.  Is sellin out sellin 5 million records.  Just cause a artist sold 5 million, don't mean he sold out.  

ThaFormula.com - So then what is the definition of sellin out in your eyes?

Rack Lo - If you start off in a certain way and have a set blueprint right.  Then all of a sudden you just flip out man and start takin a different course man.  If you stop doin what you started out doin and I'm not sayin that it's wrong to expand, but if you just flip the whole script and turn your back on the culture, then your a sell out man.  Alot of the fans out there are mislead.  It's unfortunate but alot of the fans don't really understand this is like a profession.  They don't really see it from the artists standpoint.  It's easy too say a person sold out if you don't really understand what that really means.  

ThaFormula.com - Okay, let's talk about Nas. He went from Illmatic to shorty you can hold my Ice.  Now you tell me, is that sellin out or is that expanding?

Rack Lo - Yo, on the real kid.  That's sellin out kid.  Like I said earlier.  When you have a set blueprint and you totally flip it, like when you follow trends that's sellin out as well. If you start out a certain way and you got an audience that look at you for that.  When some new shit come in, you just abandon your old shit and just jump to this.  That's sellin out kid!  So any muthafuckin artist out there that switched up, they sold out kid.  But they knew they sold out man.  But every person is responsible for their own actions man.  But once you do it, their's no turning back.  So once your ass sell out, you got to get the hell out, like Chuck D said.  The industry is really controlled by money man.  It's not really based on how much skill you have or how creative you are.  Everything that it's supposed to be based around, it's not man.  In New york alot of artists really don't wanna step up and be independent and make it really jump off.  Instead of gettin 50 cent, get that whole 8 dollars.

ThaFormula.com - So why do you think they don't wanna take that step? 

Rack Lo - Well, it's a few things man.  First of all they don't really understand the dynamics of the industry.  How it really works.  I mean like every aspect.  And No.2 man, alot of people are scared to step up man.  It's like they don't have the courage man.  See everybody wanna do it now.  Everybody wanna be on TV, everybody wanna be on magazines.  To me nobody really wants to work hard and pay dues to really get what they truly, truly deserve man.  

ThaFormula.com - So how many years has it been now Rack? 

Rack Lo - Altogether, like 8 years man.  But their's alot more that I want to accomplish man. See it's harder when your competing with record labels that got artist with a budget of a million dollars.  While my budget is only ten thousand.  It's hard, but it's all a matter of what you want out of life. 

ThaFormula.com - How is Rack Lo livin right now? 

Rack Lo - Some of our products, like some of our Cd's have sold 20, 000 units and were still sellin kid.  So it's like we doin okay.  I mean we ain't got all that, but from a independent standpoint were doin okay for ourselves cause you know we wanna be independent.  We wanna put out product and we wanna give the people what they want.  Basically we just wanna keep feeding the people that spit squad / Lo - Life shit.  Whether we got a major deal or independent deal, we gonna continue to live hip hop and continue to do what we gonna do.  I don't got time to be caught up in record labels and big contracts.  We want ownership cause that's the whole key.  

ThaFormula.com - How many artists out there would you say are frontin like they got it all? 

Rack Lo - First off, alot of artists that's on majors don't receive royalty checks.  They don't make shit man and they know they don't make shit.  Rappaz are being pimped.  As far as out their frontin , I would say it's like 75 percent frontin kid.  Frontin like they got something, but they don't got nothin.  They don't got no ownership, they probably sold their publishing or somebody got percentage of that.  It's like they don't have no control of their products destiny.  To me it's like niggaz are like hoes, their like bitches.  Their being spoon fed man and once the provider or person that's feeding them is ready to be like fuck'em and let em starve now, they are gonna drop them.  So I say independent is the only muthafuckin way.  So if your really serious about this and you really wanna understand and you really wanna expand and keep expanding and really stay physical. You gotta be independent kid and you gotta be knowledgeable.  Fuck it kid!  I feel like nobody can tell my story the way I can tell it.

ThaFormula.com - I hope this interview helps out alot of you mc's, dj's, producers, dancers or whatever out there man.  Be independent and control your own shit.  It's the only way that hip hop will keep growin for the better and not for the worst. Peace!

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