WILLMATIC - Certified Assassin

Willmatic - Basically I'm from the Bronx, and that's where Hip-Hop all began. Livin' in the Bronx Hip-Hop was just a way of life. It's everywhere you go, on the corner, on the streets…

ThaFormula.com - How did you end up in L.A.?

Willmatic - There wasn't really anything goin' on in New York for me, I left New York back in '93 and I heard there was a lot better opportunities out here so I had to kind of broaden my horizons and see what the California Hip-Hop scene was like.

ThaFormula.com - So how long have you been MC'ing?

Willmatic - Since like '85 or '86.

ThaFormula.com - Do you produce at all, or is MC'ing your thing?

Willmatic - Nah, I basically stick to rhyming, I leave the production to my man R-Diggy, he's pretty much the top dog when it comes to producing. I mean, I know other producers but I pretty much just stick with him.

ThaFormula.com - On the intro to your EP, you cite '87, '88, '89 as your main influence for Hip-Hop, who were you feeling from then?

Willmatic - Man, it's just a whole bunch of cats, I could just go on. The whole Juice crew from Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Craig G, Masta Ace to Rakim and BDP. That was just an exciting time, not like nowadays, it was like when an album was about to come out it was exciting, now it's like that excitements gone.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I used to remember anticipating an album coming out and being excited about going to the store and picking it up, I don't really remember the last album that I was that excited for.

Willmatic - I think the last one I was that excited about was the Gangstarr album that just came out, "The Ownerz."

ThaFormula.com - Right, and before that it was pretty much "The Chronic" and "Doggystyle" and probably "Moment of Truth."

Willmatic - Yeah, yeah, it's been a long time since there was a time like that.

ThaFormula.com - Now when you write, do you write specifically for a track, or are you just writing all the time and always have something ready?

Willmatic - I mean, I pretty much write all the time. I think anybody can freestyle, or write a freestyle rhyme, but not everybody can make a song. I think that's the thing that a lot of rappers have a problem with because there's writing songs, and then there's writing freestyles. I'll be honest with you, a lot of people don't get paid off of writing freestyles, they get paid off of writing songs.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, just ask Supernat right?

Willmatic - Yeah exactly, I mean that guy is an incredible, incredible freestyler and can come off the head but it's like…and nothing personal to Canibus, he can handle his when it comes to writing freestyles and whatever, but when it comes to writing songs, it's like, man, he just comes up short. I think the thing too is, that when you write you have to be multi-dimensional, you have to be universal and you can't just go in one direction.

ThaFormula.com - Now you're also part of The Last Kind who we have also featured here, how did you hook up with them?

Willmatic - How I hooked up with them was through (group member) Maja Clout's brother. We were working together and he was just like, "yo, you need to meet my peoples The last Kind." I started hearin' some stuff that they were doin' and I would say we officially hooked up in like '97 or '98 and we've been together ever since. The chemistry that we have on and off the mic, in the studio and out the studio is just always there you know.

ThaFormula.com - You released an album with them already called "Revelations" a couple years back, but you have another one ready now right?

Willmatic - Yeah, we do, but you know we always stay in the studio, we always stay workin', R-Diggy's always makin' tracks and (group member) Derek Strong is also doin' tracks now too, so we just gotta keep that work ethic goin'.

ThaFormula.com - Spending times on both coasts must have a lot of influence on your style, what were the pros and cons of each coast for you?

Willmatic - The East Coast, I guess the pros basically were just that there's where Hip-Hop began. I know where Hip-Hop was, and I know where Hip-Hop is right now and those key moments back then are memories that I'll never forget. I guess the cons on the East Coast right now as far as Hip-Hop goes is that they're no longer the originators of things, the East Coast is kind of followers right now. I have a lot of people back their tellin' me "yo New York is supposed to be the epicenter of Hip-Hop and it's just not comin' off like that right now." With West Coast Hip-Hop, I see a lot of preserving of that original flavor, I see a lot of breakers and B-Boy's out here, and you don't have that back East anymore, that whole culture is just kind of gone. You know, Rocksteady be on the hush-hush, Zulu Nation be on the hush-hush. As for the cons on the West, thus far I've been lovin' it, I don't really see any, maybe that's just because I'm rollin' with my peoples or whatever, but I've just been lovin' it.

ThaFormula.com - What made you decide that you wanted to go solo after hooking up with The Last Kind? Was it that you were just in between projects, or was it just something you had always wanted to do?

Willmatic - Well, I did it because it was just somethin' to do between albums, but I'm the kind of individual that doesn't like to sit around. I told the fellas, "yo I'm not leavin' the group, I just feel like I need to do a solo situation." It was basically just something I had to do for myself.

ThaFormula.com - You've got an EP out right now and you're hustlin' that without a label or anything and handling it all on your own, what's the like and how difficult is it?

Willmatic - It's a hustle, it's really a hustle. As a matter of fact, that may be the title of my next EP or album, "Hustlemania," but I don't mind doin' it because you see the results right there in you're face instead of going through a middle man or whatever. My whole thing with doing this EP was to cut out the middleman which is basically "the industry," because a lot of the time they are trying to dictate the artists lives or whatever. My whole thing was to press it up myself, take it to the people, and the people will make it or break it. Then you get the feedback directly from the people without no middleman.

ThaFormula.com - Right, so you don't have someone intercepting it before it hits the people and decide whether or not it gets to reach them…

Willmatic - Exactly. I don't need a record company or a radio station tellin' me "this ain't gonna get no airplay" or "blah, blah, blah." I think if you take it to the people and their feelin' it, they're gonna take it to the station, or the club, or the record store and be like "yo, we need to hear more of this cat's stuff."

ThaFormula.com - You have a track on the EP, "U and I," it's one of my favorite tracks on there, was it about anyone in particular?

Willmatic - It was basically a fictitious story. Writin' story rhymes is one of my strong points…

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I got that from the EP too, I noticed that on the track "True Story Ave," which is my favorite joint on there…

Wilmatic - Thanks, I appreciate that. "True Story Ave," I could kind of explain that in a little more detail, most of the events in that rhyme are a true story, but not only that the street I'm from back in the Bronx is called Story Avenue.

ThaFormula.com - You have guest DJ's on a couple tracks providing scratches like Kutmasta Kurt, Jabba the Cut, and DJ Mino, how did you hook up with them?

Willmatic - Uh, Kutmasta Kurt…we used to record at his studio a long time ago. Actually, the track "True Story Ave." was recorded with him a long time back, around 1999 at his studio Threshold Recordings in Santa Monica and we just never released it until now. The other DJ's were just cats that we know from around the way you know, big up to everybody that contributed.

ThaFormula.com - R-Diggy produced the whole EP and I know you guy's have your chemistry, but do you see yourself working with others?

Willmatic - I can definitely see myself working with other people, but R-Diggy is my man though, he's come a long way from where I first met him to where he is now. I remember when he first started makin' beats on the SP1200 and he was like ehhhhh, but now, whoa, he's like…pretty much everybody that hears the EP is like "man, who's doing your tracks?" I think R-Diggy is one of the great up and coming cats and people are really gonna start checking for him soon. But there are some other producers I'd like to work with like DJ Lord Ron (who's producing for C-Rayz Walz and the Gangstarr Foundation), he's incredible. I'm definitely feelin' 9th Wonder's joints, I think he's really tight with his tracks too. I'm probably gonna be workin' with my man Sonny Winters from the Bronx, my man Sledge and probably Derek Strong.

ThaFormula.com - I know this project is still pretty fresh, but are you workin' on anything else right now and what do you have planned for the future?

Willmatic - I'm kind of undecided right now whether I'm going to do an album or another EP. A lot of people have said that the EP's is too short, but I didn't want to bombard the people with too much, I wanted to just kind of give people a little snippet of what's to come and hopefully build off of that.

If you're interested in obtaining a copy of Will's EP, are interested in carrying it in your store, or want to provide feedback on the interview or any of the song clips above, hit Will up at willmatic@Comcast. net

You can check out 6 of Willmatic's latest tracks off of the new EP "Sneak Preview" at the top of this page...

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