ThaFormula.com - When did you start to feel that your album wasn't gonna drop?

Hittman - Shit I always thought it was gonna happen. Niggaz would have meetings. We would try to regroup...the way I found out, uh, I found out from my homegirl Mimi who's singin' on the DJ Quik and Dre song "Put It On Me." Anyway she called me and was like, "Yo did you hear you got dropped? Did you hear anything about you getting dropped?" and I'm laughin'. I mean, I'm supposed to go to the studio on Monday, "what you talkin' about?" She told me "look just check into that shit," so I was like cool. I'm callin' the label and I can't get in contact with nobody like for 3 days and I finally get in contact with this cat at the label who tells me, "yeah you got dropped, Jimmy dropped you basically." I'm thinkin' "damn how the fuck my homegirl know my business before me?" It's just the principal of that shit.

ThaFormula.com - So you got no phone calls or nothin'?

Hittman - Nope, cause that whole week I was supposed to record at the studio, but every time I go, niggaz was like "yo, we waitin' for the engineer." So I'm thinkin' okay, but this is a studio and there is always an engineer here, what the fuck? My attention span is short. When I'm ready to spit some shit I'm ready. I don't wanna be sittin' around with niggaz holdin' their balls playin' video games. I don't wanna do it. Hour is up I'm out and that whole week shit didn't go down, so next thing I hear I get a phone call on Sunday sayin' "nigga I heard you got dropped, check into it," and from there I'm just like wow!

ThaFormula.com - So it's not a situation at Aftermath where you can just walk in and say what's up to Dre and speak to him about it?

Hittman - Whenever I talked to Dre shit went correct, but when I talked to other muthafuckaz that he would hire it would be like "yo talk to me cause Dre got a lot of shit to do." Whenever I talked to them that shit would go haywire. It's a known fact that when you want you're shit to go right, talk to Dre cause he clears all that shit out.

ThaFormula.com - So it was Jimmy Iovine who dropped you?

Hittman - Basically, cause Dre had warned me right before we went on tour. He said "yo Hit, Jimmy only hears a couple of songs that he likes," and I'm thinkin' shit then we need to go in the studio and knock some shit out then. Me, Dre and Mel, but it never really happened. From the time "2001" came out the shit was just a whirlwind. Like my album not coming out was a casualty of Dre's success, because by the time he became the man you know everybody wanted him, so my shit kinda got pushed to the side and forgotten about. Plus I was going through a lot of shit. Early 2000 my grandmother passed away and that shit kind of took me out of my shit mentally for like a month, but I was ready to get back. February of 2000 Eminem is trying to finish up "The Marshall Mathers LP." March of 2000 niggaz are starting to plot out the show. These niggaz are starting to do appearances and award shows and shit like that. We go on tour in June and that's like 3 months. Get back home and he's got to mix down Xzibit's shit "The Restless LP," Snoop Dogg's shit, so you know there was never time for my album.

ThaFormula.com - So what was the purpose of doing a part of "The Last Dayz" track at the end of the "Forgot About Dre" video and saying "Hittman in 2000?"

Hittman - I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.

ThaFormula.com - I mean was Iovine down with that at the time?

Hittman - Oh yeah, at that point my name was on fire. I remember NWA recorded something at the Farm Club and Eminem was on there too. So soon as Eminem gets on stage they thought DJ Hitt was me, so niggaz was like Hittman! Hittman! So Jimmy was like "yo, say something about Hittman." At that point my name was on fire but shit, I was only like 4 songs into my album. But I was like "yo drop this shit as a white label or just let the DJ's have it. Drop Akrite as a video." I had another song called "Hot Damn" for the summer and that shit would have bought time, but since we went on tour, everybody from Aftermath went too, it wasn't one soul left at home. Because I suggested you know, let me do the West Coast half of the tour and come back home and finish my album so that when you all get back, shit Dre only got to do 5 more songs and we a done deal. But it didn't work out that way. I mean we had a studio bus on tour but I couldn't get down in that shit to be honest with you. I mean we could do beats there, but it was just too much going on for me to really concentrate and record, because I felt like my album had to be, uh, I had to dominate on this album and I just didn't wanna write shit for the sake of, "here I got some songs." I had to put my heart and soul into it and on the road is wasn't happenin'. Niggaz would come up with beat concepts or whatever but as far as recording that shit wasn't going down. The bus broke down a couple of times. It was all kinds of technical shit with it to.

ThaFormula.com - You would think that loyalty would have been shown to you seeing that your were down with the team when nothin' was really poppin?

Hittman - I would think that as a rookie, but at this point I don't even know what loyalty means in the industry.

ThaFormula.com - It amazes me because you were on almost every song on "2001."

Hittman - Oh believe me, it's been hardest for me to swallow that shit. Even trying to go to other labels and shit. Muthafuckaz be lookin' at me like "ok you did that when? In '99? What are you doing now? I'm like, "you signin' unproven muthafuckas? At least you seen what I did and that's just a preview!" So it's been the hardest for me to deal with that reality.

ThaFormula.com - Do you feel that you got paid well for the work you put in on "2001?"

Hittman - I got paid probably better then what everybody got paid on the first "Chronic." That I can say. Like my publishing, I had to split with my production company. I got my writers share and that's about it, but the shit is what? 8 million, almost at diamond, so that shit was cool and I'm not angry about that. There's some things I didn't know where I could have fought for more money, but I just charge it to the game and get it on the back end from this new project.

ThaFormula.com - Is the Aftermath Staff that's there now the same as the one that was there when you first joined the team?

Hittman - It probably changed because when I first came to Aftermath by December of '98 that whole first crew was out of there. The sole survivors from the first time I came there was me, Eminem, and Mel Man. Everybody else was gone. Eve, Last Emperor, and a whole crew of muthfuckas weren't there no more. So I could imagine that shit is slightly different.

ThaFormula.com - Does Aftermath even have an office?

Hittman - As far as I know yeah. They probably got a cubicle or a little office up at the spot in Santa Monica.

ThaFormula.com - It's funny to me Hit because your talkin' to me like you have no idea what was going on with Aftemath?

Hittman - Man, I didn't have a fucking clue sometimes. Muthafuckas would say one thing and mean something else and that's the kind of shit that would bother me. Like on "The Watcher Remix" with Rakim. I did just a little bridge part you know what I'm sayin', and that's what I thought the team was you know? In 2001 just me, Rakim, and Dre. I think we would have killed shit. Ra is a legend, Dre is a fuckin' legend, and here comes the new nigga.

ThaFormula.com - One of the reasons why I liked your style was because you reminded me a lot of a young King Tee?

Hittman - Yeah he was the fuckin' man. That's another thing. Had his album come out the West Coast would be different right now. He would have set my album up perfect cause we do sound similar and he's a Compton nigga, and I'm a West Side nigga.

ThaFormula.com - Was he still there when you got there?

Hittman - He was on his way out I think. I think I seen him a couple of times and then I didn't see him no more, but I happened to hear this cat I know named Major. He's got a song called "Concrete Nigga" and shit. Big up to him. He was fuckin' with King Tee at the time and "Xplosive" was really this song called "The Future" and man that shit was ridiculous man. That was just one song I heard and I was like aww man!

ThaFormula.com - So your tellin' me the "Explosive" beat from "2001" was really supposed to be a King Tee track?

Hittman - Yeah the "Xplosive" beat was really for King Tee at first. This was back in '98 and shit and that shit was very hot. It was dope shit I can't even describe it. I mean I got at least 7 songs that I recorded with Dre that didn't make "2001." It's just countless material man. That nigga really don't even gotta do no more music to be honest with you.

ThaFormula.com - A lot of people have been wondering if the beats that Dre is doing now for recent artists are leftover "2001" beats? Are they?

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.