ThaFormula.com - How did your first meeting with Aftermath actually come about?

Truth - Well, I actually used to live in New York and I think it was back in like in '96 or '97.  I was married at the time to a producer, and he was somehow affiliated with Aftermath and I just happened to go to the office with him one day. He told someone that I sang and was a songwriter and that I was interested in getting into some stuff because I had just gotten out of my group Suge & Dap.  We were signed to Giant records.  We dropped one single called "Just another man" and we had a video to it, but it was very short lived because Giant folded shortly after.  So I was looking for some work and Aftermath had an artist at the time when they were just beginning.  They were looking for some songs for that particular artist and they were interested in me writing something for their artists. As time went on, maybe like a month later something happened with another group on Aftermath.  It was a female group and one of the girls had dropped out of the group. So they were like, maybe you can audition for that also. So they sent a package of me to someone who worked with Dre at the time and he was like, I'm kind of feelin' the song that she wrote and I like her picture. Send her out, let's look at her.  So I came out to California and I met with him. I had also already lived in L.A for a little while and then I kind of left, so when I came back, it was kind of like a homecoming to me.  So I met with them and they were like, "you know let's feel you out for the group, but most definitely get you in the studio and write some stuff because we have a lot of groups that are coming out, let's get you in here first and foremost as a song writer."

ThaFormula.com - Did you end up making the group?

Truth - The group thing didn't kind of work out. I didn't make the group (Laughs). There was a lead singer in the group and I think Dre and I were on the same page about me not being able to be a back up singer.

ThaFormula.com - Which group was this?

Truth - They were called Hands On.

ThaFormula.com - So it actually turned out better that you didn't make the group?

Truth - Exactly and I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. So Dre was like, "I don't think she is gonna do to well backing nobody up," and I was like yeah you right, I'm cool. So I just decided to stay on as a song writer and that probably went on for a couple of years. Finally I guess we kind of lost contact and I was writing elsewhere and kind of still moving around. I think I was living in Atlanta at the time and I ended up moving back to California for something else and they were like, "you know why don't you come do this remix." You know the "Fuck You" remix from the 2001 record that was out at the time.  So Dre was like "come do this remix and start working again." So I came to do the remix and that was the first time Dre and I had worked together in the studio.

ThaFormula.com - Now hold on a second, did you say a "Fuck You" remix?

Truth - Yes. That never came out and you know it's funny like that with Dre because he has to really feel 100 percent that he wants to release something.

ThaFormula.com - What's the deal with that remix, was it not very good?

Truth- The remix was hot (Laughs). We have a lot of stuff that never comes out of our camp that's hot!

ThaFormula.com - I thought I heard you say, "Fuck you" remix. I was thinkin', wait a minute I ain't never heard that.

Truth - You should have. It was bangin'! It was hot!

ThaFormula.com - What was the remix like?

Truth - The "Fuck You" remix was I think uh, it was 3 female rappers. I think Ms. Roq was still signed to the label at the time and there was Yo-Yo.

ThaFormula.com - Yo-Yo!?

Truth - Yo-Yo and one other female and they were all doing the whole comeback for the "Fuck You" record. They were all doing the whole retaliation thing and I was singin' the hook for it and it was hot. It was quite male bashing, but it was hot (Laughs).

ThaFormula.com - Was the beat the same or different?

Truth - The beat was pretty much the same, maybe a couple of different things. But it was pretty much the same and they spit on it.  I can't really explain it, it was hot. It was bangin' and I wish people could have heard it, but Dre didn't release it and it may have been because it was so edgy and so street that maybe he wasn't sure that was how he wanted to market me once he decided he wanted me to be his artist.  So maybe that had a lot to do with it. Because when I tell you it was edgy and we were talkin' a lot of shit, we were! (Laughs).  

ThaFormula.com - That must have been a fun track to record?

Truth - It was fun because I like to talk shit every now and then, so it was fun (Laughs).

ThaFormula.com - So were you around during the making of "The Chronic 2001?"

Truth - No I wasn't and that's what was so amazing, because he called me back in once he was ready to do that remix, but I wasn't around when they made "The Chronic."  Like I said we lost contact around that time.  I was moving around writing for L.A. Reid's publishing company.

ThaFormula.com - Did you end up writing anything for the Aftermath compilation?

Truth - No, I didn't write anything for that album. Everything that I wrote thereafter, kind of fell by the way side because he lost his groups shortly after that. I don't know what happened.  I did get the pleasure of writing for Dawn Robinson of En Vogue. She was signed to him at the time.

ThaFormula.com - Did Dre and her actually record a whole album together?

Truth - She did maybe 3 or 4 songs and that's as far as it got.

ThaFormula.com - That's too bad.  How were those songs that were recorded?

Truth - They were cool. I mean the ones that I had something to do with, I thought were hot. I'm not just saying that just because I wrote it, but I thought she had a little flavor. I thought the whole thing they were about to do on her album was gonna be hot. I don't know if it was a personality thing, I don't know.  But I know this about Dre... I know he has to feel a vibe from the person from the gate, and he has to feel that you wanna grind and that you wanna hustle and humble yourself and do what you gotta do to get a record, so if you don't have that. it's not gonna work with him.

ThaFormula.com - I'm gonna be honest with you. I never thought you were ever gonna drop anything on Aftermath even though I knew you were signed. I was really surprised.

Truth - (Laughs).  Why?

ThaFormula.com - Because, when King Tee was on Aftermath, I waited and waited for that album to drop and nothing.  When Hitman was on Aftermath, I waited also for something to drop and nothing. So I figured that if they never dropped, you probably never will either.  

Truth - (Laughs) Well Truth is special.  

ThaFormula.com - I guess so, but I did always feel that Dre has always had wanted to drop an R & B singer?

Truth - Yeah he did, but he wanted do something different and that's his whole thing. He wants to feel his complete energy from you. He wants to feel somebody working as hard as he does, so I see why after all these years a lot of people did not come out. It's hard for him because he is scared to be mediocre and especially after he put out that compilation. He was like "I'm not about to be out here sideways ever again." You know once he let other people do stuff and put it out there and it had his name on it and made him look bad, he was like "no."  "From this day forward, I got a do it like this and I got to feel it 100 percent or I cannot put it out." So I pretty much am the female him, to be honest with you. I'm very, very precise and I'm very much a perfectionist the way he is.

ThaFormula.com - Well I'm not gonna sit here and tell you Truth that I knew you could do it because I really had no idea who you were or what you had done even except that you had been on Aftermath for a while. I was surprised when you actually dropped a single.

Truth - Yeah I know, and most people were because most people don't know me and they don't know how I work. They don't know how I get down and you know you can only go by what you see and what you have witnessed.

ThaFormula.com - I was really surprised at how nice your single was because I had no idea what to expect?

Truth - Thank You. Well we worked hard. Did you hear anymore of the record?

ThaFormula.com - Nah, I just heard that track and I just recently got to hear the remix for "Addictive."

Truth - Ok, you just heard the remix. Now how you feel about the remix?

ThaFormula.com - The remix is very dope.  

Truth - Yeah, I thought Dre did his thing on that one.

ThaFormula.com - Now Dre did the remix and Quik did the original. What is the difference between these two guys in the studio?

Truth - Well, I always work with Dre. Quik was in there with us, but Dre really pretty much dug all of my stuff.  I think only one producer, he wasn't in there with me and that was Organized Noise. Everything else Dre pretty much handed me the tracks and sat in the studio with me even if the producer is there. He's there with me. So we pretty much done this whole process together.

ThaFormula.com - Now back to the "Fuck You" remix, after the recording of that, did you guys do anything else after that?

Truth - No, right after that, uh, it was around Christmas of '99. He called me and it was so funny because when I did the remix I was just trying to get money because they were gonna pay me a considerable amount to just do that remix. So I was like threw with the music industry because I was fed up by then with all the bullshit. So I was like you know what, I'm gonna take this money that they givin' me and I'm gonna move back to Atlanta and I'm gonna go to school because I have a daughter. I'm gonna put my daughter through school out there. I had it all set up. A job that I was gonna get and school that I was  gonna go to was all set. So when he gave me that money that's what I had planned to do. Then he calls me right after I get back from doing the remix because I was living in San Jose at the time with my mother and he calls me and was like, "you know what? As a matter of fact I think I wanna do your record." It was like 3 o'clock in the morning Christmas Eve. I was like "what the hell are you talking about ," and he was like "I think I wanna do your album, I think I'm ready, I think you are ready." "You know let's do this." I was very nonchalant about it which threw him left. He was like "Mike, I don't think she's feelin' me." (Laughs). He said, "do you hear me." I said "yeah I hear you!" I was like let's discuss it and go through the whole logistics and let's sit down and talk about it and he was like, "Ooohkay."  I think he told everybody that story about me. At the time I was just so fed up though. I was so fed up, you couldn't even imagine.

ThaFormula.com - So you were pretty much ready to quit?

Truth - Not ready... I was, I did (Laughs).

ThaFormula.com - It's funny how things like that always happen when you don't care anymore. At that point how many years had it been for you in the music industry?

Truth - Like 8 or 9 years. Since Suge & Dap like 8 or 9.

ThaFormula.com - So what happened from there?

Truth - He made me move back to L.A. (Laughs) He was like I'll move you down here. We gonna get started on this record and as a matter a fact before I evened signed anything he started on my album.  

ThaFormula.com - Did you believe what he was sayin' when he called you to tell you he wanted to work on your album?

Truth - Yeah, I believed it when he was talking about it the first time. I just wanted to make sure we were trying to go in the same direction. Like I said, I had been in the industry and I didn't wanna do anything to humiliate myself because I feel like a lot of people just get out here and do whatever, and that's not me.  I'm to old for that. I'm not about to be out here tap dancing and doing whatever. I have to be able to be me and that was my whole thing, and he was like "you know what, I understand that." He said it's gonna be as much you as it is me and let's sit down and let's put this together and whatever you don't want anybody to hear never has to come out the studio and we will keep trying until we get this shit right. That was it and that's all I needed to hear.  So at that point I was excited. So we went from there.

ThaFormula.com - So you started on the album?

Truth - We started on the album around February and it took us about 2 months and we had 21trial and error songs that we thought were hot but we didn't know exactly what direction. So we were doing like 2 or 3 songs a day. We were working hard. We were in the studio like 3pm 'till the following morning 10 am.  We were grindin' it out working real hard. It's always a lot of work and that' s why I said we really put our heads together on this one and I have to give it to Dr Dre. He really really put his best foot forward on this, his energy and his time into this.  

ThaFormula.com - So how many tracks would you say that you guys recorded for the album, including the tracks that didn't make the album?

Truth - Whew! Altogether, like 53 or 54 tracks.

ThaFormula.com - How many of those tracks will end up making the final cut?

Truth - 13 songs.

ThaFormula.com - Are these 13 Dr. Dre produced tracks?

Truth - No, maybe 2 or 3 Dr. Dre produced tracks, but I will tell you this. When you call him executive producer on this record.  He is every sense of the word because there are some tracks that were submitted and he ended up turning those tracks into songs for me. He ended up adding the extra feels that needed to be added. Like he did the whole Quincy Jones production on this album. So I would say this is a Dr. Dre produced album in that sense.  

ThaFormula.com - So the album is complete?

Truth - The album is complete and it's been complete for a while.

ThaFormula.com - Break down the album for me, what are you feelin' the most on there?

Truth - Right now, there are 15 tracks. I think 2 will be eliminated, but the ones that I am feelin' the most is one in particular called "Bullshit", which is produced by Organized Noise and written by one of my very best friends on Atlantic. Another one is called "Jimmy," which is written by myself and produced by Dr. Dre.  That is one of my absolute most favorites because it's so ghetto and the beat is so ridiculous.

ThaFormula.com - So what exactly is the production line up looking like for the album?

Truth - Ok, besides Organized Noise & Dr. Dre, uh, R. Kelly, DJ Quik. There's one with Tim & Bob that Dre is thinkin' about gettin rid of, but I'm tryin' to keep. Hi-Tek did a song called "Hollywood" that Dre is also on and it's ridiculous.  

ThaFormula.com - What made you reach out to Hi-Tek?

Truth - I didn't reach out to Hi-Tek. Like I said, Dre, see people bring him tracks all the time and whatever he wanted for me, he would bring to me like I want you to write for this track, or I want this track for you and I'm gonna get so and so to write it. That's pretty much how most of my album went. Pretty much most of my stuff I would write anyway, but if I was like to tired, I'd be like go get somebody else. You know and he would do that. So, I mean I kind of worked with him on the whole thing because he sat down with me through it. I would just get the tracks from those different people through him.

ThaFormula.com - Did you actually sit in the studio with Organized Noise?

Truth - Yes, I did actually sit in with Organized Noise. I went to Atlanta and I sat in the studio with Organized Noise because that was something that I wanted to do. That wasn't something that Dre requested for me to do. I go way back with Organized. I worked with Organized when I was with Suge & Dap and they always been like family to me, so I was itchin' to get back in with them. I loved working with them. Their beats are so sufficient for me because it's like it's ghetto and it's got a little bit of edge to it or alternative feel to it. So it's well rounded for me and tha's what "Bullshit" is for me. That's what "Bullshit" is on my record. It' s well rounded and I think that that probably should be like a third or fourth single if possible because that one is gonna take it over the top. I hope you get to hear that one because that one is something else.  

ThaFormula.com - So there is actually a release date for it now right?

Truth - Yes, second week of June. We just putting some finishing touches on it right now though.   

ThaFormula.com - I honestly can't believe that this album is gonna drop. So many times I have been waiting for an album from Aftermath after hearing a single only to see it never come out.

Truth - Well, there are a lot of reasons that things don't get completed and an artist has to be completely focused to be able to deal within this camp. You have to be. It's a must and you know what? Honestly. I feel like it should be that way anyway. I don't feel that artists should just be thrown out here that aren't focused because that's how you get a lot of trauma and that's how you get a lot of breaking up. You have to be focused.   

ThaFormula.com - I've got to say your album is dropping pretty quickly.

Truth - Well, it took two years and it took that long because we went on the Up In Smoke tour in 2000 as soon as I got signed.   

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I remember. You did the "Let Me Ride" intro on the tour right?

Truth - Yes I did and I really had never done nothing like that before. That was really scary for me. I mean I performed in front of people all of my life, but doing something like that on a  hip-hop show. I mean you couldn't really see how many people were in the audience. That's how many people were there. It was something else.

ThaFormula.com - Did you expect your first single to blow up so quickly?

Truth - No I didn't. I'm gonna be honest with you. I expected people to be hesitant about accepting it because it's so different.

ThaFormula.com - Well it is very different and the good thing is it doesn't sound like every song on BET and MTV right now.

Truth - I do feel proud that it is different.

ThaFormula.com - Was the album scheduled to come out in June or was it because of the success of the first single that you guys decided to drop it in June?

Truth - No, the album was officially scheduled to come out in the second week of June. So it's pretty much on schedule.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think the Eminem comin' out one week and The Truth coming out the next will affect you in any way?

Truth - No. It's all family. I don't think it will be a problem because you know Eminem already has his established fan base and I'm a new artist.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, well you know I was a little surprised because I have never seen Aftermath drop albums on back to back weeks before.

Truth - I know huh? I was saying the same thing and I was concerned about it at first and Dre was like "nah, we won't have any issue with that trust me." Interscope is a machine, a huge machine and they are used to doing it like this.

ThaFormula.com - So what will be the next single for the album Truth, and what are you planning next?

Truth - Were working on something right now in the studio that we wanna put out next that's real ill. It's got an opera effect to it and it's also different and it's a Dre beat. Shaunta is going to rhyme on it. It's hot!

ThaFormula.com - Now who exactly is Shaunta?

Truth - Shaunta is the up and coming female rap artist who's coming out on Aftermath right after me and she has been around for a little while. She used to be with Timberland and she was on a song with him a wile ago. She's on Aftermath now and her album is almost done. She's maybe 2 songs or 3 songs shy of being done, so she's almost done also and she's hot and I think she adds a sex appeal to the rap game on the female side.

ThaFormula.com - How many tracks won't make the album that Dre produced?

Truth - Whew! Quite a few. At least 20.

ThaFormula.com - And in a situation like that what happens to those tracks?

Truth - Nothing.  There is a lot of that that goes on in our camp. A lot of that! Especially for Dre. He probably recorded 70 to 80 songs for "The Chronic 2001."

ThaFormula.com - You know Truth, that really kills me.

Truth - I know. It does but you know you get the best of the best that way and what does get released is the best in our hearts, so I'm sorry (Laughs).

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I'm sure you are (Laughs).

Truth - He tries to give his best to his fans and he wants his fans to feel that he's doing what he is supposed to be doing. Gotta look at it like it's from the heart.

ThaFormula.com - You know Truth I gotta ask you this before we cut out, why did Dre diss Jermaine?

Truth - Honestly, that had happened to him first. Jermaine started it.

ThaFormula.com - But I mean what actually made him call him out like that. I mean Dre never really disses anybody anymore.

Truth - He usually doesn't and it might have been more Em's idea (Laughs), but I don't know. But he usually doesn't and I was surprised that this time he did also because he usually doesn't.

ThaFormula.com - Did you know it was coming?

Truth - Nope I was just as surprised as you (laughs). But him and Em have been working hard in the studio so you never know what's gonna come out of that.

ThaFormula.com - Did you hear Jermaine's response already?

Truth - No I didn't.  Did you?

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, and it was pretty weak.

Truth - Oh it is? Ok. Then I guess we don't have to respond! (laughs)

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.