ThaFormula.com - I know that the story has been told before, but why exactly did you stop rhymin' after your solo LP?

MC Serch - Well I don't really consider myself an MC that stopped MC'ing. I just think that we just stopped making records.  I have always MC'd. I did some independent records with Non-Phixion, done a couple of freestyles on mix tapes, I have a radio show now in Virginia.  I freestyle there every week.  I don't really, uh, I still write rhymes everyday so I never really stopped making music.  I just stopped making music for a record label and me and Pete stopped making records as an entity because it was time for us to kind of move on.

ThaFormula.com - But why didn't you drop another solo album after "Return of the Product"?

MC Serch - I just didn't feel it.  I didn't feel the need to record because I had said everything I had wanted to say on that album.  It's funny you know? People I think have a different interpretation of what being a recording artist is supposed to be about.  I always knew that being an MC was my first love, but not my first job.  I like being home, I like being with my wife and having a family and those are things that you cannot do if you dedicate yourself to being an artist because the fans comes first and the music comes first.  Culturally you know, working on the Nas project gave me a way to be involved in the culture still musically.  Working on "Illmatic" and "Word Life" with O.C., and then Non-Phixion were things that were ways of me being creative without being an artist and having to commit the time that's necessary to being an artist.  I felt like this is my contribution to the culture.  I really felt like I could be a dad involved in the culture and still write rhymes for myself which is the reason I got into it in the first place and not have to worry about critical and commercial success and just still write.

ThaFormula.com - Do you ever miss the shows, the fans and things like that?

MC Serch - I miss the fans more then you could possibly imagine, but if you put it into the balance of life, I don't miss the fans as much as I miss my kids.  The greatest gift I ever had as an artist ever was the summer of '99. Pete and I went on tour in Europe for 2 weeks and I got to take my oldest daughter on the road with me and it was the greatest.  I had my wife, my daughter and Pete and the fans and my music.  It was perfect. It's a lasting memory.  I miss the fans greatly, but I hear them and I feel them every week when I do my radio show in Virginia.  It's probably not as big as an audience as I'm used to, but I get to rhyme every week and when a new MC comes up, I get chills and I get to freestyle with Prodigy, Jay-Z, Kool G Rap, and Guru.  That to me it's just as good as making records.  So I get to be daddy, an executive, I get to run my company, and I get to do things that I want to do.

ThaFormula.com - Now let's get into the Illmatic project.  How was it being involved in what many people consider the greatest hip-hop album of all time?

MC Serch - It was mastery.  Watching what I certainly believe is the most complete rap album of the 90's come together.

ThaFormula.com - What can you tell us about the making of that album?

MC Serch - Nas to me always will be a musical genius and if you're a recording artist or if your fascinated with the recording process, I think its understood that when you make an album, not every record makes the album. But with Nas every record that Nas cut made the album.  Nas made ten songs to Illmatic and all ten were on Illmatic.  I mean it's a perfect record.  I've never been involved in anything like that. It's just time, passion, the right beats, the right music, the right producers, and the right time and space all kind of coming together.  He knew what he wanted and he knew what he wanted to make.  I tell people that he made one demo called, "I'm a Villain" and he did one other version of "It Ain't Hard to Tell", but it wasn't really that different and that was it.  I mean that was it, that was the album.  He didn't make 40 songs and then limit it to 12.  He made 10 and that was it. It was "Illmatic."  He also pretty much did them all in order.  I mean the way you hear it on the album is the way the album was recorded.  It was pretty much almost done in order.

ThaFormula.com - So what kind of input did you have in helping Nas and the "Illmatic" project?

MC Serch - I basically was the person who got Nas to Columbia.  I introduced Nas to the process of making records.  He had already had a relationship with Large Professor and Pete Rock.  I introduced him to Q-Tip.  He was already a legend on the street because of "Live from the BBQ" and he was already a legend on the street because of "Back to the Grill."  So basically we had the top MC's and producers at our disposal and he went at them voraciously.  I know it took Pete Rock a minute to find the right beat for Nas to spit on.  Nas was meticulous to what he was gonna rhyme to and you couldn't just come to him with one beat and that was it.  I mean he made people work and he spent countless days in Mount Vernon with Pete Rock and he spent countless days in Queens with Q-Tip and he spent years with Large Professor.  Primo spent months looking for beats.  It was an all-star arsenal.  You got to remember that he was the first person to put a bunch of all-star producers on one album.  It never had been done until Nas did it.  Every group until that point had a cluster of producers.  Prince Paul was with De La Soul.  Q-Tip and themselves produced.  We had the SD50's, Sam Sever, and Prince Paul.  
Gangstarr had Primo.  Nas was the first one to have an all-star cluster of producer's come together on one album.

ThaFormula.com - How do you compare "Illmatic" to "Stillmatic"?

MC Serch - You can't.  It's a different era and time period.  You can only compare the artistry.  You can't compare the work ethic involved.  One he did when he was a young man and one he did when he was slightly older. I don't compare the two.  You have to look at them as separate identities and separate entities.

ThaFormula.com - What were your thoughts when you found out that he was gonna name his album Stillmatic?

MC Serch - I thought it was a terrible idea.  I thought that he had to change the name because you can't try to relive history and he proved me wrong. I mean I thought it was just a horrible idea, and I thought it was gonna be his biggest downfall and biggest curse, but he did what Nas does best.  Which is what's in his heart and he proved everybody wrong.

ThaFormula.com - You know I have come to realize that everybody out there seems to be waiting for the return of 1993.  How do you feel about that?

MC Serch - Yeah, but I hate to be the one to say they got to keep waiting. Me and Pete really tried to do it.  I think the way the music is and what the sales of artists like ourselves that have come from that era have ultimately been. I didn't think people really see the need for it and Pete and I see the need because we want to make a record, but I don't think that with the success that we're both having in the private sector.  I don't see the hunger from either one of us being so prevalent.  I have a hunger to make records.  I don't want you to get it twisted, I have a burning desire to spit rhymes and I don't know how and under what context, but you will hear something.

ThaFormula.com - So what is the status now of a possible 3rd Bass album?

MC Serch - I mean the status right now is that Pete is in the middle of doing some things with his business, and I'm still doing my business, so a 3rd Bass album would probably not be a welcomed thing in my business, and Pete's not in the business anymore.  Pete is involved in his business venture, which I'm sure he will tell you when you speak to him.  It's something we're both interested in doing.  We're just receiving a lot of resistance.  I mean look at how good De La Soul's last album was. "Bionix" is a great album, yet it sold maybe 70,000 units.  You look at a lot of artists from our era, and they're just not selling records.  Unfortunately that's where the business is.

ThaFormula.com - So why not put it out through an independent distributor and try and sell 100,000 copies?

MC Serch - Because I don't wanna get raped (Laughs).  I can't do that. I have the radio skills to get the record on the air.  I have the connections at MTV to get the video played. I feel I could have much more visibility than a lot of independent artists out there.  I think it's very fair to say that, but I don't want to find out that I'm wrong.  The name means too much to me.  The legacy that we did is too valuable to me.    

ThaFormula.com - But do the sales matter that much to you man?

MC Serch - No, no, no.  Don't get it twisted man.  The sales don't matter.  It's the perception of what the sales indicate that matters to me.  At the end of the day I don't want anybody to ever say that 3rd Bass fell off. That would kill me more than anything else.  It would equally kill me if we sold 3 million albums and people said it wasn't as good as "The Cactus Album."  That would bother me just as much and I don't know also if I'm mentally prepared to handle the pressure of what a successful album would be to my family.  I rather come out with a new MC name and just drop records and have people say who the fuck is this kid?  He's dope.  That would make me happier.

ThaFormula.com - What would you like to have on a new 3rd Bass album production wise?

MC Serch - I would like to go back to the Sam Sever, SD50's, Prince Paul and see what they come with first.  Then do Daddy Rich and then fill the album out with people that really wanna work with us.

ThaFormula.com - What ever happened to Daddy Rich man?

MC Serch - Daddy Rich is down in Atlanta with his kids and DJ's down there for like Da Brat, Jagged Edge, and DJ spots.

ThaFormula.com - So what is your goal with your business?  Where do you plan on taking Serchlite?

MC Serch - My goal for Serchlite is to be the company that labels have to go to when they want their record to get played on the radio. I wanna be that company that they can rely on for their needs marketing and promotionally and they know that they can trust me to get the job done.

ThaFormula.com - What do you think about the rise of the independent scene in the recent years?

MC Serch - I think it's great.  I think it's important and it's necessary for change.  I like to see the growth.  I just wish the independents had a better understanding of how the game gets played.  I think the indies are still playing the indy game as if it was the early late 80's or early 90's and that's not the case.  You have to be able to understand what it takes nowadays to be successful.

ThaFormula.com - What's the difference?

MC Serch - I think that the game is very political and extraordinarily hard to break into unless you have certain dollars for promotion and to promote an artist.  Nowadays it's a very difficult task and you cannot just throw a record out there and see if it's good or not anymore.  It just does not work that way.  You don't have outlets the way you used to. Ultimately you have to be able to go to MTV like everyone else. Ultimately you need a video like everyone else.  Ultimately you need retail position just like everyone else.  There are certain tools you have to have and having a record isn't one of the tools anymore.

ThaFormula.com - So do you think guys like Eazy-E, Master P, or artists in the past that built big independent companies is a thing of the past?

MC Serch - Well, name a No Limit type label that has taken off in the past 5 years.   

ThaFormula.com - So you would say it has pretty much come to an end?

MC Serch - I would say that if you're going to be an indy, your going to have to be able to do things differently and creatively and I don't think that anyone has found a way to do it yet.  Not that I'm saying I'm a genius, but I think I have a way, but I'm just not interested in pursuing it.  I tried for a minute and it didn't work and to be totally honest with you, I'm tired of trying.

ThaFormula.com - So basically in order for an artist to get their music played on the radio or MTV, they have to pay a company like yours?

MC Serch - No, that's not what it comes down to.  They have to have the right promotions person working your record who has the right relationships.  It's not pay for play.  That's bullshit.  That's an immature way to think about it.  It's not a professional way to do it. You need the right people who talk to the right people on a day to day basis.

ThaFormula.com - How do you feel about payola?

MC Serch - I think it's wrong.  A program director is there to promote and program music and if he needs to get paid to program music then he shouldn't be in that position.

ThaFormula.com - Will there ever be another MC Serch album?

MC Serch - I'm thinkin' that probably I need to make music for my own sanity. I have too many concepts for songs.  I have a studio so I don't see why there wouldn't be a Serch album.  I just don't think I see a Serch album being on a major label.  I just see a record being out there because I need to put a record out there.  I need to make a record.

ThaFormula.com - Why did you guys name the first 3rd Bass album the Cactus?

MC Serch - Well we felt that symbolically, 3rd Bass was a cactus. We stood alone in a very hot, dry business that cared about nothing.  Where if you didn't protect yourself, it would kill you. You had to conserve your energy just like a cactus conserves water and nourish yourself when you get the chance and put prickles up to defend yourself against enemies who try to take things from you and we really felt that we were the cactus.  We felt like we were this stand-alone entity in the world of hip-hop.

ThaFormula.com - Now I have to ask you a question I ask many artists, was hip-hop better a decade ago or is it just our imagination?

MC Serch - I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 periods of time when hip-hop was better then the time that we made records.  Summer of 1986 when "Eric B for President" came out is probably one of my most favorite times in hip-hop. Also "South Bronx" was coming out.  Boogie Down Productions was about to make a name for themselves.  You had Latin Quarters, Union Square, Roof Top, S&S all playin' rap records.  It was a great time for urban music.  I think the quote, unquote renaissance period of hip hop was 1989 to 1993.  I mean Wu-Tang, Nas, Large Professor, Main Source, Biggie, Tribe, De La, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, NWA, Ice Cube, King Tee, D.O.C., and even on the pop side of things.  Even like fuckin' Tone Loc, man you just can't beat it.  It's just a time that you can't beat it with a bat.  But I think that period will never be duplicated again.  It can't be.  You have to have every cultural explosion whether its rock, jazz, has its renaissance period and it could never be duplicated and that is hip-hop's renaissance period.

ThaFormula.com - So do you think people should stop trying to take it back?

MC Serch - No, I don't think they should stop trying, I just think that you will just have a different period.  You had more of a street period from like '93 to '98, '99 with artists.   

ThaFormula.com - The other day a friend brought over a tape of the last episode of "Yo! MTV Raps" where all the legends like Krs, Rakim, Public Enemy, Special Ed, Erick Sermon, and even future stars like Meth and Red were in a cipher freestylin'.  I remember seeing you and Erick Sermon with backpacks on just passing the mic around bustin' freestyles.  That has to go down as the greatest all-star ciphers I have ever seen.  The looks on all you're faces at that time was beautiful.

MC Serch - (Laughs) Yeah, we were all just happy to be there. You don't see those looks anymore.  You don't see cats happy to be out in the limelight anymore.  But I think you will.  I think it's got to get back to that. I think you will see that in the next coming year.  I think people have had too much seriousness in hip hop and now it's got to get back to the fun.
It just can't stay the way it is now.

ThaFormula.com - What can you tell me about that day at "Yo! MTV Raps" that people may have missed?

MC Serch - I think what you didn't see was how sad and how nervous everyone was that it was going to change.  That we didn't know what the future of hip-hop and MTV was really to be and it was a big part of the end of that renaissance period.  Ed Lover and Dr. Dre really made hip-hop a house hold name with that show and we were really concerned about what the future was gonna hold.  I remember I wrote the rhyme I kicked on the show 2 nights before.  I wasn't even gonna use it for that. I was actually gonna really freestyle and come off the top.  It was great.  Everyone was really happy to be together and be in the room and have hip-hop be celebrated one last time. At that time we really didn't know what hip-hop was gonna be like.

ThaFormula.com - Did you think it would end up being what it is now?

MC Serch - Nah, I mean how could you.  No one could have seen this. This thing has grown bigger then anyone could have imagined.

ThaFormula.com - Do you still feel the same way about Vanilla Ice?

MC Serch - Yep.  Absolutely.  I still feel that way and I will never not feel that way.  With Hammer not as much.  The Hammer thing was a specific instance and I have kind of gotten over it, but Vanilla is a guy who stole from this culture and never gave back.  He never knew what it was about until it was too late.

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