thaFormula.com - Aight Ra, basically I wanted to pick up where we left off the last time. When we left off you were a couple of months away from dropping your album on Aftermath. What happened from there?

Rakim - Me and Dre man we decided to cut it short man. We had creative differences. Basically I wanted to do what I felt the world wanted me to do. My man Doc (Dr. Dre) wanted me to bring the guns back out, simple as that and I respect that 'cause that's the way he gets down but I don't think the world wanted that from Ra at this time. So I decided to come back to the East Coast and get it poppin' back off man.

thaFormula.com - Through your whole time there before this happened did you ever get the sense that you were gonna probably end up leaving? I mean did you really feel that this album was gonna drop on Aftermath? Because a grip of people felt that what happened to guys like King Tee, Last Emp, Eve, Hittman, and others might happen with your project?

Rakim - Well yeah, after a while I felt that way I wanted to do things, he definitely wanted to do some things different and my thing was, I don't like to quit on nothing. Once you're in the ballpark, lets straight ball. So you know we was trying to make it work and my problem was trying to please both sides of the fence and you can't do that. So at the end of the day, Dre respected me for it but you know I had to stick to my guns and you know keep that integrity up as far as what I do and stay focused to what I do cause I think that's what people respect me for till this day. You know just stickin' to my guns and never changin' and always going my own direction. I never did what everybody else is doing at the time. I always try to go left if they going right or talk black if they talkin' blue.

thaFormula.com - Another thing that gets talked about a lot are the Primo tracks that were rejected. A lot of people were very angry when they heard this. Was it really that serious of an issue?

Rakim - I don't know if that was between Premier and Aftermath, but yeah it was like a few other cats from the East Coast as well that submitted some things that I felt you know that I should be on.

thaFormula.com - How were those Primo beats that were submitted man?

Rakim - Primo sent me a few heaters, and you know it's like I know the way Premier works. Premier he's kind of like me. I make beats too, and when I'm at the crib doing pre-production, I make the frame of the beat and when I'm writing a rhyme sometimes I might write you know, 12 bars and come back later and change the whole 12 bars into something different but I put the frame up and that's the way Premier do. Premier knows, "yo I'ma send Ra this, if he like it then he gonna put his rhymes to it and then Primo will take it to the next level. But I guess Dre and them wanted Primo to send them complete tracks done from top to bottom. I think that was the only difference man 'cause I know Dre respects Premier and vice versa. But I think it was just Aftermath trying to keep up with the project and keep everything on top of the table and Premier you know how we work in the studio, but Aftermath…I guess the staff wanted what they wanted when they wanted it man. But it ain't no love lost.

thaFormula.com - Now did you read the article in The Source about producers leavin' Aftermath?

Rakim - Yeah I checked it out. Chuck and Mel-Man are my peoples.

thaFormula.com - Was it true what they said about you getting thrown second hand producers or something like that and that you and Dre never really got together in the studio?

Rakim - Well part of that true. As far as me and Dre working together, we definitely worked together on a few tracks but what it was, was that when another producer sent a beat, what I do is I take the track go to the studio and write to it myself. Once I finish with it then I go holla at Dre, but anything that Dre did then I would be sittin' right there, with him. But the thing is for the album we should have been side by side more, instead of looking for a lot of the other producers, me and Dre should have been in the studio just nailing that shit out.

thaFormula.com - Most people hoped it was gonna be you and Dre in the studio recording a whole classic album together when you signed to Aftermath?

Rakim - That's what I wanted bro. But things happen and I don't know if Dre had the time to really get in the whole project 'cause you know doing a Rakim album ain't easy man and you know what Dre is doing is not hard for him, but I guess making a transition from East Coast to West Coast is a different vibe.

thaFormula.com - Was it ever the label getting in the way of things or trying to rush the project?

Rakim - Nah, it wasn't really the label. It was just me and Dre trying to find that same page where he wanted me to do this and I wanted to do this so it wasn't the label.

thaFormula.com - So basically you and Dre were never really able to find the chemistry that you would have liked or chemistry similar to what you and Primo have?

Rakim - Word Up. It's like I know the way Premier works. Premier is a East Coast producer and he definitely knows what Rakim is, and the thing is I got crazy respect for Premier, where if Premier will do something you know he might send me a track and I might play it the first time and I might not understand it the first time. So I'll put it to the side come back about an hour or two hours later 'cause it happened before. Put the shit back in and me and my brother was like "yo Premo crazy man!" So you know I like producers like that. It's like my rhymes, sometimes you might not get that shit the first time. Play that shit the next time you might not get it but after a while you start pickin' up like oh okay I see what he did.

thaFormula.com - It's funny I always felt that way about the "Don't Sweat the Technique" album, at first I was disappointed but as I listened to it a few years later I realized that was one of your best if not the best. Many people really slept on how good of an LP that was...

Rakim - And I think they did because again I always go left. I wasn't looking for the familiar track sound. I was looking for classic shit. I did some things on there that I knew would never get played on the radio and I didn't care, but I knew that my dogs and my true listeners is gonna throw it in the walkman, in the truck, and zone out on it. That's what I like doing man and maybe that's why I'm still here 'cause people know I go the extra yard to try and get them to listen.

thaFormula.com - How many tracks did you end up recording at Aftermath in the 2 years that you were there?

Rakim - I did like 18 joints. A lot of the time was you know waiting for beats and producers, sitting around for a couple of weeks without tracks.

thaFormula.com - How many of those 18 did you work on with Dre?

Rakim - About 3.

thaFormula.com - That's crazy. Now Ra in between those 2 years, how do you get by seeing that you have no album out?

Rakim - Well luckily I got a good accountant man named Bert Biddell and I been with him since '86 man and along the way getting my paper doing my tours man, I saved wisely bro. I got a nice crib, got the family stretched out you know? Got the kids in a nice school. But you know just spending money wisely man. In the earlier days you know I used to go crazy with the jewelry. I used to go crazy with the car systems and you know the Gucci interior. I still get my toys but I'm a little more laid back with it, I still get my jewels but I'm a little more laid back with it. Like right now I'm livin' for my family man, you know my kids. I'd rather see them blinged up then look in the mirror and see myself. You know I did that already, but I ain't gonna front, I don't mind a nice piece of jewelry man but you know I love seeing my kids you know that way I wanted to be when I was they age you know. Fresh kicks, fresh clothes, you know a little jewelry on. All the games they can think of so it all goes to them man but I been blessed with a good accountant. He takes care of me and shows me how to spend my money.

thaFormula.com - Now we got to talk about what a lot of people have been a little angry about recently and that's the Hennessey ads that have been popping up in the streets. People wanna know why is Rakim promoting alcohol? Even though they forget you did this before along with Cube, EPMD, and others with the St. Ides commercials back in the day…

Rakim - What I say about that is what they got to understand is I study Islam but I grew up in the 'hood. I grew up a young kid in the 'hood doing the same thing that they doing. I'm not 100 percent righteous man. I got gun charges, so you know I did it all when I was young. This is Hip-Hop that I'm representing and in Hip-Hop people like to have a good time. It's all about a party and since the St. Ides thing I was doing, my thing was people is gonna get high but do it responsibly. As far as me doing the ads, like I said man, this is Hip-Hop. The most talked about liquor in hip hop is what?

thaFormula.com - Hennessey...

Rakim - If it ain't the Cristal, the most talked about liquor is Hennessey.

thaFormula.com - No doubt, but I had to hit you up on that 'cause some people are just surprised and upset about it...

Rakim - That's good though man 'cause they are conscious of it, but like I said I'm not 100% righteous and even Jesus Christ poured what?

thaFormula.com - Wine...

Rakim - So the wine is not negative man. It's what you do when you drink the wine that makes some people negative. But the alcohol itself is from the earth, it's grapes man. Jesus Christ poured wine to be merry so I don't think the alcohol is bad, I'm not gonna say it's good and I don't want nobody to take it that way, but understand that's not what's bad. Like you can give a good person a car and give the bad person a car and what's the bad person gonna do with the car? He gonna do crime with that car, he's gonna do robberies with that car, he gonna do whatever the fuck he can with it. You give a good person that same car, he gonna go to work and chill with the car and take care of it but again man I'm not trying to say alcohol is good. To me anything I do if it makes sense then I deal with it. Hennessey is you know one of the biggest companies in the Industry as far as sellin' liquor. What I'm thinkin' is, no doubt Hennessey we building up a nice rapport with each other. I'm looking for them to sponsor tours for me, I'm looking for them to do things for me so I can touch these people you know what I mean? I'm always laid back and underground but I choose to do certain things to touch certain people. Like I even did a South Pole ad back in the day because South Pole is represented in the 'hood. No rappers were rocking no South Pole. But it makes sense 'cause that's what it is in the 'hood. So to see Ra in that, it brings me closer to them and that's where I like to stay.

thaFormula.com - What about the St. Ides commercials? Did you get any problems with those back then?

Rakim - Well back then it was brought up but I think the way I did it and what I said in the commercials people wasn't really mad at it. But people was like "yo Ra what's up with the alcohol commercial?" and I told them, "look man, instead of people coming down and you know getting fucked up, go ahead and drink a beer relax and enjoy yourself." That's the way I was looking at it and people couldn't get upset at that 'cause at the end of the day my man, people gonna sip they sip, they gonna smoke they smoke and they gonna do what they do. The thing is if they doing something wrong nobody wants the next person to know about it, but I never hid nothing that I did. You know I make my bed and I sleep in it. I don't do nothing I can't tell my kids about and you know that's what it is man, and you know as far as the alcohol that's what Hip-Hop is man. If that's what's in the club, then every time they see a Hennessey bottle, every time they sippin' some Henney, they gonna think of Rakim Allah and if that changes their thoughts you know what I mean? It might be something good out of it. If that changes they thoughts to just be "yeah I'm chillin' man, sippin' my little Hen-dog, I'ma never blend, I'ma sit back and chill." It might do that to people so when I make my decisions man, I think of the positives and the negatives, but at the same time I let Allah make that decision for me. I'm not gonna tell you that Allah told me to do that, but maybe this is why he told me to do that. People see Rakim as a laid back conscious cat, boom, boom, boom. Go ahead put me on a Hennessey ad and maybe it will change their thoughts like "yeah this is a cool out drink, this is a grown ass man drink right here," so maybe it'll be that.

thaFormula.com - I just wanted to let you know what people were sayin' about that Hennessey situation 'cause you know where they put most of those ads, they put them in the hood…

Rakim - No doubt, but what's good about it now is they treating it good. They got it over in the Caribbean now and it's on Sunset, I don't know if you seen the big one on sunset.

thaFormula.com - Yeah, I've seen the ads everywhere...

Rakim - That's what's good about it, I do certain things and I choose to lay back a lot and I'm not always in the peoples face and I guess I am now. No matter what they do, bam there goes Rah and not to mention that I'ma keep it real with all my listeners man, my favorite drink is Hennessey man. I don't drink everyday, I may not drink every week, but if I sip something its Hennessey man, so you know it's like it was perfect for me and I'ma keep it real like that, word up.

thaFormula.com - When you finally left Aftermath, shit went crazy and ridiculous rumors spread around that you had signed with Dreamworks and Premo was gonna do your whole album. What actually happened when you left and what did you decide to do?

Rakim - When I got back and the word hit the street man, uh what had happened man is that I was originally gonna sign with Dreamworks and you know they hollered at Dre to work on the album, and then Dre spoke to me and was like "yo come over to Aftermath." So after it didn't work at Aftermath I figured I owed Dreamworks first dibs or that respect, so I went back to Dreamworks but things didn't work out there. I think Interscope bought Dreamworks so that folded. So then I came back to the East Coast and met with a couple of labels but at this point its like I've been through so much, seen so much, heard so much, its like what I wanted to do was get my own label and a lot of people is not really giving rap artists labels like I know they should be. They are giving rappers production deals and tellin' everybody they are record labels but actually they are production deals and at the end of the day they getting paid a production deal salary and the record label is getting all the cake. So you know I've been blessed to run into some good people man that believe in Rakim, know what I'm trying to do, and know that it could be done, know the world wants it, and you know they investing cake in me man. They have a small label that they are turning into a major label 'cause they got major cake and you know they gave me a big part of the label and that's what I wanna do also...when I find an artist, I wanna give them more then just a dollar a record. I wanna give them what they really deserve man, 'cause I feel no matter what I'm doing, if I'm helping somebody with something, if I'm doing something for somebody or if somebody meet me half way which an artist is doing, but then he's really going a little further 'cause I'm just preparing the vehicle for 'em and he's doing all the work. So I feel he should get paid for that. I'ma get mine. When your selling records like that, it's a lot to go around, but I wanna make sure that the artist is stable and they can set something up man and they ain't gotta live album to album. They can make some money, put that up and invest it and really see what sellin' albums brings to him.

thaFormula.com - So have you started working on the new album?

Rakim - Yeah, no doubt man. I've been working for the last few days man.

thaFormula.com - Did you just do this label thing recently?

Rakim - Yeah we just did this like the end of last year, like December. It's called RA Recordz and shit, and I'ma drop the album on my label. We gonna drop it around the summer time. We got some big thangs gonna pop on it. My man Pharell I just spoke to him…I need to really sit down with that dude man 'cause I know he's gonna give me what I need man. I spoke to Timbaland and Dre. Me and Dre is good man. He told me he's definitely gonna hit me with a track and my man Premier, that's my ace right there. So I'm doing some big things man. We got some other people man that's looking to get into the project. R Kelly and a bunch of people man. So I'ma sit back and see if I can put it together.

thaFormula.com - One of the other crazy rumors that had spread was that your album was gonna be done by Premo, Pete rock, and Large Pro. But that's just a rumor right?

Rakim - Yeah, that's just a rumor but the thing is I'm in full control of the album and Large Professor, Pete Rock, those are dudes that always hit me with heat. I always respected them and they still got fire. So through my travels man, I'm definitely going through the archives and I'm definitely going at my dogs that got that heat. So be looking for everything man. It's gonna be at least 15 to 18 records on the jump off man. It's gonna be a lot of treats on it, a lot of footage of Rakim chillin' in the hood, chillin' in the studio, chillin' with my kids, you know just chillin'. We putting a lot of scenery behind the tracks itself so if you play it in a computer you can see visuals as well as hear the music. So we putting a lot of little add-ons on the joint. But it's gonna be crazy man.

thaFormula.com - Do you think that you lost 2 years being at Aftermath or do you look at it as something that helped your career?

Rakim - I think it helped man. Because it's like I never dropped an album every year anyway and in my travels in the last couple of years, I came across a lot of people. I got a chance to live in Cali for a while so I got a chance to really take that in. You know waking up everyday in Cali, going to sleep in Cali, breathing Cali, talkin' Cali, thinkin' Cali, it really lets you know what's going on over there and not just handing off records or driving through the hood after you get off the plane. So it's like I learned a lot over there, I met a lot of people in the hood, I met a lot of fans man and just you know kept the fire lit. Because being in the game this long, what I do is I look for things to keep me amped and it's always the people, so I definitely learned a lot the last couple of years and met a lot of people. For the most part I think the hype on what me and Dre was gonna do just showed me what it is anyway 'cause I never looked at myself like uh, you know I'm modest man, I never looked at myself the way it really is and getting out there and seeing people and talkin' to them and really understanding what people was waiting for, that let me know what my part in the game is, so I'm definitely recharged and ready.

thaFormula.com - Well I'm glad everything is looking good and it sounds like it's gonna be a big album. Do you have major distribution going down?

Rakim - Yeah, no doubt. We got like four people that's hollering at us right now. We're trying to get the best deal so we definitely going with some major distribution and what's good about it is like I said, my man got major cake so there is no limit to what we're doing. So I feel the whole deal is a major and maybe in a year it'll be major but we definitely doing it on a major level.

thaFormula.com - I really want this project to work Ra cause some people are thinking it might go the way of "The Master" which got no promotion at all...

Rakim - Nah, we going all the way with this with promotion man and what's good about it is that I don't think it will slip by the world right now. The world got they ears to the street man. You know before the vibe was no where near this big. It was like "well you know Ra is coming back out, boom, boom, boom." But now it's like "Yo! Where is Rakim at? We need the new album!" So it's a different vibe right now. It's a lot of TV promotion within itself from MTV constantly keeping peoples happenings in the kids faces' to just getting out there and grinding. I think the world knows it's coming, they waiting for it and all we gotta do is run through the hood with the bull horn and it's on. But its definitely gonna be in every store and city.

thaFormula.com - Well you know we definitely gonna help you with this project 100% Ra...

Rakim - You just did…also bruh, you're constantly doing it by putting my shit on the 'net and letting the people hold the truth man. I don't speak to a lot of people nahmean? I'ma be a little more touchable to the world on this project but they not gonna get what I just gave you. They gonna get that generic shit, nahmean! (Laughs).

thaFormula.com - Word! Now I was wondering about those beats I sent you from 9th Wonder, Lord Ron, Necro, and Maxwell. Did you get a chance to listen to them 'cause they definitely wanted to know what you thought of the beats?

Rakim - I listened to all the beats man and see the only reason why I ain't respond like I would of is because I know that…uh see, that was like the main problem. The hard, gritty, raw tracks was not what Aftermath was looking for for that album. But at the same time I was feelin' what they doing and I know what they doing. So what you could tell them man is that I'm doing a new project now so keep the joints coming man. And see now, not only am I doing a project, I got a label to so I'ma need tracks for my artists and I'ma need tracks for myself so its a whole different situation. But there was few I was feeling man. I used to just throw the shit in while I was playing a game with my dudes in the crib and just freestyle off that shit you feel me?

thaFormula.com - So we gonna definitely be hitting you off with tracks from various producers over the next few months. Try and hit you with that hardcore shit...

Rakim - And that's what I'm trying to do man. I ain't mad about where it's at but I know everything ain't gotta sound the same. Everybody ain't gotta do the same thing man and I wanna bring back that raw shit. So you know we gotta have that balance man 'cause there is room for everything but too much of one thing ain't good. So tell them yeah, definitely send me them head bangers man.

thaFormula.com - So how far along are you with that album?

Rakim - Well I got like 3 joints I did so far but I'm really just starting fresh. I'm just about to get at some of the big producers I'm trying to get at but I had a couple of tracks in the crib that I just wanted to get out the way cause I always wanted to write to them. I got them shits out the way now I'ma start going at some of these heavyweights and you know whoever is hungry man.

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