thaFormula.com - How did the "Caltroit" project with Black Milk come together 'cause that caught me a little off guard?

Bishop Lamont - I met Black and RJ through my boy Hex because me and Slum Village been trying to hook up for a while and Hex is their Road Manager. So I went down for the video for the first single of the last Slum album that came out independently and Hex introduced me to everybody and Black was out there hustlin' his demo or underground tape. Shit, I heard it and I just fell in love with the shit. So we just hooked up and it just made sense 'cause Detroit is like a second home for me. Like Royce the 5'9, Frank n Dank, J Dilla (RIP), his little brother and that whole shebang, all them brothas is family so it just made sense. It just made sense to pay homage to Dilla, to pay homage to Proof 'cause Proof was such a great dude. I remember when I first met him and the dude treated me like he knew me for years and treated me like a rap star before he even knew I rapped, I remember the second time I seen him he remembered me and helped me pass my demos out on the "Pour a 40 Out" song off of the second D12 album. So it just made sense to do something with like Cali and Detroit. Cali is just like Detroit and Detroit is just like Cali. You know the Hip-Hop scene, the dope game, the gun game, just the poverty. Their projects are a little crazier then ours, but it's the same thing.

thaFormula.com - So have you and Black Milk started the project?

Bishop Lamont - Yeah, we already started the project. I just finished up my "Ni***r Noize" mix tape and we were actually at the same time working on the "Caltroit" album and I was working on my album as well and was in preparation for "Detox." We start finally officially next month as far as laying vocals and stuff. So it's been crazy man. We've just been mass producin', but fuckin' with Black is easy and fun.

thaFormula.com - It's nice to see someone signed with Dr. Dre on a major scale fuckin' with someone like Milk and not really being on that gangsta rap tip that it seems you have to be on when coming out of the West major…

Bishop Lamont - Yeah man, I'm just the first of many. It's just that I had the opportunity to break through the surface and get attention on such a massive level by being on the greatest label there is with the greatest producer ever. But there are many more brothas like me but they never get heard 'cause people push backpack and Hip-Hop to the side, but I been fucking with Little Brother. Me and little brother did a record together. I been fucking with 9th wonder, I know about the Justus League movement, I fuck with Kardinal Offishall, Choclair, Saukrates and that whole movement. So it's just important that someone gets up on a mainstream level with a bigger platform and a bigger microphone to express all that and to energize all that so people are aware on a mainstream level. Watch what's gonna happen, all these dope brothas are gonna get the attention they deserved for years. That's just the goal with that cause that's what fueled me.

thaFormula.com - Was the "Who I Gotta Kill" mix tape what really started to set things off for you?

Bishop Lamont - It had a huge buzz in the underground scene but what really jumped it off was the first single we had. We had a single call "Karma Sutra" that The Beat (100.3 Los Angeles) and Power (106 Los Angeles) started playing and it started growing and moving on its own. Then we did the "It's Bishop" with J. Wells and we got that to radio and The Beat helped us blow that up. So it all went hand in hand, but it definitely put me on the map with "Who I Got to Kill" as the title and the front cover putting a gun to an A&R's head.

thaFormula.com - When you heard (Dr.) Dre say your name on Power as someone he wanted to work with, what was on your mind man?

Bishop Lamont - That God is good man because none of that would have been possible without God. Niggaz can say whatever they want about their own talent, their own grind but at the end of the day God puts his hands on who he wants to bless and lift up and that's what that situation was because that was never really intended to be. See when I came down to The Game's video set, originally I was supposed to be hooking up with Kanye West. My boy had given my demo to Common and Common had been playing it between shows while they was on the road and it got in Kanye's hands and he wanted to meet me. So I was really looking for Kanye West, 'cause I didn't think Dre would fuck with my music 'cause I wasn't on the gangsta shit. I'm a straight up Hip-Hop nigga. So I'm not even thinking about Dre. So Kanye cancels and can't show up and who pops out the trailer but Dr. Dre. So I turn to my boy Delaney who I just gave my last demo to, I said, "I never ask you for nothing, but can you do me the favor and give this to Dre?" Because I just wanted to get it in his hand so I can get some more bitches and be like, "I gave my demo to Dr. Dre and I met Dr. Dre. When Dre came over, Delaney blessed me and gave me that great introduction. He said "Dre, this dude right here is gonna be the next thing out the West." Delaney could have been selfish and been like "no, I'm gonna hold dude for myself and put him in this production deal," but Delaney blessed me and lifted me up just because I asked and Dre was like "oh really?" The nigga looked me up from head to toe like I was a small drink of water and said "alright, I really don't listen to demos, but I'm gonna jump in my car 'cause I'm on my way to my wifey and I'm gonna listen to this, if its bangin' I'ma holla at you." In my mind I'm like "yeah right nigga." But at least I finally met him. Then next thing I know a few weeks later, he was on the radio saying that.

thaFormula.com - Do you feel the pressure of having to do huge numbers and all that?

Bishop Lamont - No pressure. People put more pressure on themselves when they go out there and project extra amounts of fucking record sales and they're gonna be the king of the West Coast or East Coast, or "I'm gonna sell 10 million my first week." I'm not trippin' on none of that shit. I just wanna give a great contribution to Hip-Hop as a whole and be the next installment for the West Coast movement to bring people up to speed to where we are now as far as evolution goes for our mind state, our music, our culture right now. I'm just happy that I get the opportunity to work with Dre, Warren G, 50 Cent, Stat Quo, and Busta (Rhymes). I got to work with Nate Dogg last night, that's big. That's an honor for me. To have Warren G eggin' me on talkin' shit and blessing me and directing me! I got to spend (DJ) Quik's birthday with him. Him and AMG. It don't get no better then that, so that's the reward in itself for me and everything else is irrelevant. I'm not trippin' off of fame, attention, or none of that bullshit.

thaFormula.com - Now I see that you're an artist that stays busy and is always on the grind, do you think that that plays a big part in why certain artists drop on Aftermath and others just disappear?

Bishop Lamont - Yeah that's what happens. People think that when they get signed and sign their name on the dotted line something magically is supposed to happen. Like, they are supposed to get super powers or knowledge they never had before. It's no different though. It's like what they say about marriage. Marriage don't change nothing but your name, that's it! You're just signed to a major now. You've got to work harder then you have ever worked before. You have to provide whatever they demand and request of you by a certain deadline. They are spending a lot more money then you were independently so its a lot of responsibility and artists forget that and that the label is gonna do everything. They think that when you sign to Dr. Dre you'll be bending corners in Ferraris, going to Paris and shit and its just bitches everywhere. Although it is that, but that comes later after you do a lot of fucking hard work. Dre is not gonna sit there and baby sit you. Dre's done made his legacy. He's like, "nigga you gonna be a part of this team, I expect more then you can muthafuckin' muster up, you got to be better then the better nigga. You've got to be better then your best, you got to impress God nigga, and that's the bottom line. If you cant do that then off with your head, no bullshit!"

thaFormula.com - So do you think the race starts for an artist after he signs to that label?

Bishop Lamont - I think the race doesn't start until you put an album out.

thaFormula.com - Is it a huge difference when you finally get a chance to work with Dre in the million dollar studios with the best engineers and all that?

Bishop Lamont - Of course. You know, I used to be in a niggaz garage or my mans room with a radio shack ass microphone hanging from the ceiling with a sock over it. Recording with a Tascam with tissue stuck in it with my boy Crash in his garage. To go from that to 7 million dollar studios with big ass SSL boards, you know 100 billion quadrillion thousand tracks that you can stack and stack. Everything is unlimited, live drums, live bands, whatever the fuck you want. It's a huge difference.

thaFormula.com - Do the big engineers and mixers make a big difference man?

Bishop Lamont - Of course because they are scientists, they make your sound so crazy. They understand sonic. So how a nigga could have made your shit in the garage don't compare to what they could do with sounds with them huge ass computers and boards. It amplifies how you sound. They can even make you sound even better then how you really sound. They make me sound like a muthafuckin' rock star! That's what Dre does. He will put the right beats under you, he will put you in the right vibe or rhythm, mix your shit and you will sound like a billion dollars. You see the difference between Dre mixing the record or producing you and when he's not producing you. So they play a huge part.

thaFormula.com - When you got a chance to actually watch Dre, 50, Eminem and a lot of these big artists working in the industry, were you surprised at their work ethic?

Bishop Lamont - Yeah, it was actually harder then I thought it would be. But I expected that it was difficult. For any man to reach the level that Eminem has reached or 50 has reached in that short of time, they're putting so much into it. Eminem put so much into it before he was even signed to Aftermath. He used to always up at "The Wake Up Show" and at "Unity" concerts when a nigga didn't have blond hair. Niggaz forget all the persecution the nigga got for being white, all the doors slammed in his face to get where he is. He deserves everything he's got, same as 50. The work ethic that you have to put down to get Dre's support and push is unbelievable. Niggaz think its easy but its not. Never has been and never will be. That nigga expects the best from you and if it ain't his beat your rappin' over you are in even worse trouble 'cause he is such a critic of other producers.

thaFormula.com - How much has your writing improved over the last few years and have you really seen a lot of changes over that time?

Bishop Lamont - Of course, I improve every other day cause that's how I have always been. I'm never satisfied 'cause my best is never good enough. With Dre's coaching, influence and encouragement it grows. When you get to sit with someone like Busta Rhymes and watch him go crazy and believe in it, it can't give you nothing but give you encouragement to go to a level that you thought you could never achieve.

thaFormula.com - Where have you seen your biggest improvement MC wise?

Bishop Lamont - Every area has got to be improved upon for me. I'm never satisfied. Rhythms have to be different. Every time I approach a record I always rhyme different, its never the same pattern. I make sure I always like to touch new tones, I always try to touch more syllables, different inflections. Just the energy and the charisma in it, the breath control, I mean everything is important to me.

thaFormula.com - Now who has helped you the most with your hooks?

Bishop Lamont - When it comes to hooks I really don't listen to rappers for hooks. I really listen to R&B for hooks. I study bridges, I study the arrangements, and I study backgrounds. That's where I really get the idea for hooks and melodies and energy. So I really look to Luther Vandross, Jeffrey Osbourne, Anita Baker, Janis Joplin, The Beatles, White Stripes, and Korn. I really don't look to rap to find hook development because I like more abstract and different approaches. Because they put so much energy into the words, you could feel it and that's what you want to do with the hooks to draw people in to them. I'm giving up secrets and shit.

thaFormula.com - Were you able to work with Dilla before he passed man?

Bishop Lamont - I didn't get the chance. That was my braggin' right. That was my biggest thing that I was braggin' about was working with J Dilla. We got to speak on the phone a few times because of my boy Dave New York and my boy Hex and Oh No and Roc C. I got to speak to Dilla a couple of weeks before he passed and it blew my mind that he passed. But the best part is that mama Yancey looked out for me so I'm gonna have J Dilla beats on the album regardless. So it's gonna be fresh. Egon and Mike and all the pimps over there at Stones Throw, they blessed me.

thaFormula.com - Did you feel like you had everything down artist wise when you started working with Dre?

Bishop Lamont - In Dre's eyes he felt I still needed development. I argued at first about that but he was right.

thaFormula.com - What do you mean?

Bishop Lamont - Like you know, a nigga is always gonna think he is the shit and is gonna think he don't need something else. It was a lot of development and understanding like "okay you are coming to a major label, but you're still doing underground shit, you got to open up and broaden your horizon." Like shit is always over a niggaz head. When you come from the underground and you come from being an MC that writes for MC's, regular normal audiences that are just getting off of work and just want some shit they can groove to or niggaz that just dance to the beat ain't gonna be able to fuck with you. Plus they will be on some abstract shit. So he really taught me to expand and make my music universally. You don't have to dummy nothing down but you learn how to speak to different demographics and species of listeners.

thaFormula.com - Now your album "The Reformation" is coming in the summer. What made you pick producers like Premier, Pete Rock, RZA, Madlib, Battlecat, and DJ Quik instead of the normal hot producers that everyone seems to be fucking with?

Bishop Lamont - Because they are the supreme architects that started this. I'm working with Buckwild who is an OG. Battlecat, DJ Quik 'cause DJ Quik is right there next to your Battlecat and your Primos and Lord Finesses'. These dudes put this together and that's what it's about, bringing that magic back. All these kids know about is Kanye West cause they barely know about RZA. So it's important to let them know where it came from and where Kanye got his stuff from. Who inspired him and who lifted him up. So its important that what made you, you give back to. I just really wanted to make sure that I had them as a part of my album, mix tapes and underground albums. It's an honor to be able to work with them.

thaFormula.com - It's not normal anymore to see a (Lord) Finesse or a Pete Rock track on a major scale nowadays man…

Bishop Lamont - That's what makes it so magical. Imagine putting a Dr. Dre beat next to a Scott Storch beat next to Primo beat, next to a Quik beat, next to a Dilla beat, Finesse beat, a Battlecat beat, a 9th wonder beat, a Just Blaze beat, a Oh No beat, a Diverse beat, I love it. I'm doing stuff with Chad (Hugo of the Neptunes). I love Pharell but I'm doing stuff with Chad because people have never really gotten to see Chad produce by himself except on some of the more underground shit. So I'm doing records from the Neptunes and I'm only working with Chad, so that's a whole 'nother dope thing. So you will see me and Chad in a fucking video together. You will see another side. When you have niggaz that just get the same people for their album that's why all the albums sound the same.

thaFormula.com - I was wondering what happened with Chad man because I rarely see or hear from that dude anymore?

Bishop Lamont - Because he's a family man and he's humble. He's not in love with entertainment where he's got to be at clubs and award shows. He's a family man and he's humble and he's about the music. He got a crazy ass record on Alicia Keys new album that is out of here! Him and Pharell still work together and all that. Chad just wanted to take a break. This shit can be too much sometimes and niggaz need to slow it down. Like some niggaz are built for this shit, it's like the Puff Daddy syndrome. Like Puffy is built for it. Like he said "I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon runner." Other niggaz are like "yo I'm sittin' out, gimme my Gatorade, I'ma relax and I'm gonna come back to it." I really can't speak for him all the way, but from conversations when we do get to talk, uh, you know he's just a simple dude.

thaFormula.com - With all these producers are you planning on having twenty something tracks on your album 'cause that's a lot of producers?

Bishop Lamont - Nah, its gonna be 14 records with a couple of bonus tracks, but see the thing is when you work like that you've got records that can go on your next album, soundtracks, mix tapes and all that. If you're doing 300 records, you're gonna have some phenomenal records out of that 300. When you break it down to the most potent ones out of that 300 or 400, nobody's fucking with you and that's the mind set behind what Dre does and why he works niggaz so hard. Most niggaz when they are doing their album they got they A&R and they're gonna cut maybe 20 or 30 records or maybe even 100, but its not gonna be as hard as the energy and the criticism and the precision you have to put in it fucking with Dre and that's why his shit always stands alone. He will spend 11 million hours just EQ'ing rain and sound effects for an intro that's only 30 or 40 fucking seconds. But that intro will be mixed and arranged better then a niggaz whole album and that's where the work ethic comes in so that's why I work like that.

thaFormula.com - Will your situation be similar to Dre where he just pulled beats from different producers and put the album together with The Game?

Bishop Lamont - Well that's why it's different in this situation because what we're doing is that I'm pulling an Eminem and Dre situation where Dre is on a lot of my records and we are going back and forth and we are having fun. So that's why we're about to go back in while we're doing the "Detox" and I wanna do 5 or 6 more records with just him because we got such a synergy and a magic now that its important for that to be there again.

thaFormula.com - So basically you got Dre rappin' again right?

Bishop Lamont - Yeah. I got him on that DJ Dr. Dre shit again. That's the one chamber he ain't come back to yet. Get him back on the turntables and scratch and make DJ's proud again and bring that aspect of it back as well with everything else to sum up the whole "Chronic" series. That's why we havin' fun. It's important. If I'm gonna be a part of this team and as much love as this man has given me, I look at him as a big brother just like Warren G is my brother. I want them involved just like me and Warren G been working on records. So it's important that I work with Dre as much as I can. Why else did I sign to Aftermath?

thaFormula.com - Now let's get down to the business side of things, what 's rule number one in your eyes when fucking with this industry?

Bishop Lamont - Rule number one is to know that this is not reality. Know that this is a business, and it's a business of smoke, mirrors and illusions. What you're coming from is reality and where your going is all fucking make believe. So if your gonna come into this business, know that when you come to this, this shit is Disneyland. That's rule number one. Do not believe in this shit to be the real world that you live in, do not believe that this shit will exist forever. It is definitely Cinderella. 99.9 percent of this is business and that .1 percent is the music in the eyes of these muthafuckas. So you got to come into it with a good heart and never sacrifice your soul. I think that all is enclosed in rule number one. Be true to yourself.

thaFormula.com - Who is the first person you should hire when getting ready to sign these big major label deals?

Bishop Lamont - Shit, an attorney man, you wanna get a good attorney and before you hire anybody, you wanna get books that's gonna tell you who to hire. You wanna got to Barnes and Noble or whatever the fuck book stores you got around you and buy these business books and study these business books because the best way to succeed in business is to be a business man. Don't come into this just being a rapper 'cause your not gonna survive in the business. You're gonna survive on stage rapping, but when it comes to business you got to be a business man and since this is based on contracts and funny ass words and loopholes, you wanna be an attorney. You want to have the mind of a lawyer. We have to be our own lawyers. People are in such a rush to be stars that they think instantly if they just sign some papers it's gonna happen overnight. It has never happened overnight. It's a long ass grind, nobody got here overnight. It's a long ass haul, it's a lot of litigation and red tape and all kinds of stress with just getting the contract right before you sign. Then when you get your advance and the taxes are taken out, the attorneys is paid, and then here comes all these muthafuckas out of the woodworks to get your money. You've got to keep your money, you got to live off of your money till' your album comes out, and you got to make more money. It's so much shit that people don't think about. They think they sign on the dotted line and "poof," the platinum is around they neck, big cars and houses. It's not like that so I want people to really understand that and be about their business.

thaFormula.com - So business wise were you ready to step to the table and meet with Dre and sign the deal like you wanted ?

Bishop Lamont - That's why I was doing the independent thing all them years. I was building myself up understanding every aspect of the business. I used to do stunt work on videos, I used to be a driver, I used to do street teams. I got to be an intern up at Interscope so I got blessed with that knowledge. I got to work in studios and be an intern and I got the blessing to live in Snoops house, sleeping on the fucking couch seeing what fame can do to a family, what fame can do to a famous person. Kurupt gave me game. I worked for Daz at DPG so I learned all this shit. So when I approached it I already knew what to expect. I was ready.

thaFormula.com - At what point should an artist get a manager?

Bishop Lamont - When you can't keep up on everything that needs to be done. Just like my mom is my manager, she's my momager. When you got too many things on your plate and can't keep it organized and working efficiently, that's when you need a manager. When you're trying to get in movies, book shows, book endorsements then you normally get on higher scales with people that you might not be able to get to. That's when you need those 5 star managers. But starting out you don't need no muthafuckin' manager. You just need your momma, your daddy, your brother or best friend that will pull your coattail and check your ass when you think you're a star, will check your ass when you're doing some stupid shit and keep you on-point in the studio and keep you from getting lazy and that should also come from the person themselves. You should be your own manager at the same time.

thaFormula.com - Does the DJ Drama situation affect the mix tape scene in your eyes now?

Bishop Lamont - It don't affect that man. Its just that niggaz is haters. Niggaz was hating on DJ Drama and his crew 'cause them niggaz is getting they money and they did it from the ground up and that's just hatred. Niggaz snitching to the Feds, that's some old gay shit personally. Don't hate on the next man 'cause he's shining and he's doing it gorgeous. I love what he's doing and that just makes the "Gangsta Grillz" series and everything he's doing even bossier. It was the same way niggaz tried to hate on Murder Inc. for doing what they was doing. Stop hating on niggaz and let niggaz get they money. Niggaz are doing something constructive. Fuck the haters, that's what if say to Drama.

thaFormula.com - What were your thoughts on the Kramer situation man and the more and more comfortable people are getting with using the N word?

Bishop Lamont - I'm glad you brought that up. The Kramer situation is the reason that I made the "N****r Noize" mix tape because e the mix tape is about that word. Its about racism, it's about what Drama is going through and what a lot of artists go through. It's about Black on Black crime, its about muthafuckers being haters, and its about racists because I see them one in the same. All these other rappers out here that wanna hate on me or hate on Glasses (Malone) or hate on Damani or whoever 'cause cats got deals and niggaz is shining, you might as well put on a Klansmen outfit 'cause your a hater to and Kramer is just like you. That's why its important to do things like this mix tape and understand and study where the N word comes from. That's what "Ni***r Noize" is really talking about, but I make it fun in the beginning then it gets serious in the middle but that's what its about. Because people have to be checked on that. We have become desensitized to it. We only trip when we hear a white person call somebody a n***er, but we call each other niggaz everyday? I always say this to people, if you met Martin Luther King or Malcolm X right now, would you tell them "what's up nigga?" Would you tell Rosa Parks that? That's why we have to check ourselves and I have tried to hard to take it out of my vocabulary, but you get around your boys and its like nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, and there you are back into it.

thaFormula.com - Do you think that we will ever reach a point in the West where it won't be just Dre that every artist wants to work with in the West as far as production wise to make it real big or make a big comeback?

Bishop Lamont - Dre wishes that could be himself. I wish that could be 'cause they always put all that responsibility on Dre, but its like dude when Dre wasn't poppin' niggaz wasn't fucking with him.

thaFormula.com - Shit, when he dropped that Aftermath compilation, everybody pretty much abandoned him and called him dead...

Bishop Lamont - Exactly, then the nigga blew back up with muthafuckin' Eminem and everything went crazy. Niggaz be dickriders and niggaz be sometime friends. That's another element in this industry. When your hot everybody loves you, when your not it's like "who are you?" Niggaz are not dedicated and not in it for the long haul. Niggaz don't really love Dre or Snoop, Game or Jay-Z. Niggaz want what Jay-Z represents and what Jay-Z is doing. Stop expecting Dre to lift you up. I wasn't expecting Dre to lift me up and still don't expect Dre to lift me up. He opened a door for me and said "damn you picked that lock, damn you really wanna get it, ok bless you." But Dre don't owe nobody shit except the niggaz he cares about and the niggaz he's indebted to. Just like Snoop don't owe nobody shit. That nigga sacrificed and did what he did. If you wanna get where he's at, muthafucka work hard. If you want anything from any of these people ask for advice. Don't ask for no handouts or for them to sign you. They got a billion muthafuckas asking to be signed that they have known longer that are closer to them. I get the shit at Bally's. I be doing pull ups and muthafuckas be trying to give me demos. I'll be a Red Lobster trying to eat and niggaz give me demos. That's why I try to encourage and teach these new artists to be your own entity, to be your own icon and stop relying on trying to get everybody featured on your shit. Just because you get me or so and so on your record doesn't mean that's gonna make you get a record deal. Okay so you did a record with 50, big deal. How really involved is 50 or whoever with you? You got to make yourself hot where 50 Cent or Bishop wants to do a record with you. Then your doing something 'cause they are gonna bring you into another situation like "damn you need to get with so and so." But you trying to reach out for just the stars when they are trying to get their own place in the sky is a waste of time and it will just frustrate you and leave you mad at them. They ain't gotta do shit for you, they're grown, they are doing their thing. Who was there to help them? 9 times out of 10 nobody except the people close to them. You have to rhyme for yourself to strengthen yourself. When I was coming up I would just ask for advice, I would never offend niggaz. I would get a hand shake and ask them "yo how should I do this," and "what do you think of that" if they had the time. I got a lot of doors slammed in my face, a lot of "no's" told to my face, but I didn't stop and it just encouraged me. Now being in the position I am now, I understand what those artists were going through because people look at us like cartoons, like we don't have personal lives and problems like everybody else.

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