ARTFORM

25 days, 22 shows!!! Are you still alive?

Actually it was 26 days and 20 shows. Zone is actually dead, this is his cousin Lapdance Lenny. Haha.

This was your first european big tour, was it worth the effort?

Definitely. I never realized how passionate the fans are about the music. I've seen it on a smaller scale and heard stories, but to see fans at shows in J-Zone t-shirts that I only made 100 of and to autograph records that I did that I don't even own is crazy. And with the big language barrier in Spain, that didn't matter. Spain was one of our hypest crowds. The tour wore me down and I still haven't fully recovered, but it was worth it.

How is the life of an old maid billionaire on tour? I mean, is there an “on tour routine”?

Naah. Actually I'm pretty calm on tour. I don't get too wild offstage because I need to have my energy every night onstage. If I drink and chase hoes and go wild every night, it will catch up to me and I can't afford to get burned out on a tour this long with shows every night. I gotta be in shape to give it 100% every night cause people pay for the shit. So I just chill in the slow lane and I'm about my business on a long tour. I gotta make sure I eat too cause I'm a skinny muthafucka and I never eat right on tour! They'll be callin me MC Flaco if I fuck that up!

We have always heard about wild orgies in Rock star tours. Is that also a fact in Rap tours?

I've seen some wild shit, but not as wild as the rock stars and major label rappers. It happens, just not as often.

How do you get ready for this kind of tours? Do you need some training? Phisically, lives shows, post-live shows, all the travelling... must be hard to handle.

Like I said I don't really party on a long tour cause the shows, the travelling, the not eating or sleeping right, the cigarette smoke, the time difference...it will fuck you up. I run and play basketball a lot, so I'm in good shape physically and I got the breath to rock the crowd. But I still get exhausted, even more so mentally cause your mind is in overdrive for the whole tour. You're always in character and it throws you off when you get back home.

You were in about 9 or 10 different countries, did you manage to do some tourism? Which country impressed / liked you the most?

Hell no! I barely got to look around cause we were always on the move. The only city I got to explore was Berlin and that shit was dope. I liked Stockholm and Copenhagen a lot. But the women in Madrid were fuckin incredible! Damn! The receptionist in our hotel was so fine I walked into a wall while I was staring at her. No joke! I swear she was the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life, no bullshit. I'd marry that bitch on looks alone. I'd give the bitch one of my kidneys for one night with her! There were so many nice asses on the street that me and Vakill both got strained necks. We were all in shock. What the fuck are y'all eatin over there? Ass candy? I'll say this, Madrid has the most beautiful women I've ever seen, and I ain't bullshittin!

And about the people in live shows, there was a big difference between them depending on the country?

Like I said, Spain had the livest crowd even though they knew the least English. Some shows were completely wild, some shows were kinda stale, but none were totally wack. We all shined in different cities. I did really well in the UK, Berlin and Sweden. Louis Logic did really well in Norway and Denmark. Vakill did reall well in a lot of the German dates and in Norway. We all did well in Basel (Swizerland) and in Spain.

How would you describe in few words the crowd of the different countries?

Some were rowdier than others, but one word to describe them all was appreciative. They all appreciated us and made us feel at home.

In Madrid, the club where you performed was big but the contact with the people was really close. Was it like that all around Europe? Did you made that “face to face” CD selling after all the live shows?

Yeah, that was unique about Madrid. The smaller clubs tend to be more up close and personal, but we went into the crowd to greet the fans and sell CD's after all the shows. Even in the big venues. It's cool to talk to the fans beacuse you get to see how you're perceived overseas. In some of these places we were shocked to find out that we're actually pretty popular. Shit, nobody in my own neighborhood knows who I am! They think I'm a basketball player cause I always walk around with a basketball. Haha, imagine that!

How was the relationship with Louis Logic and Vakill during the tour?

Man, those 2 are my brothers. I'll go to war with them muthafuckas anytime. We all got along real well and helped each other get through the rough spots. As different as we are musically, we all clicked, had mad fun and made a dope concert line-up. Big up to Lou and Va.

Had you ever been on tour with them before or it was just for the european tour?

I've done spot dates with Louis and I've done a little recording with both of them before, but this is the first tour.

Talking about your show, how the fuck did you manage to breath with that chinchilla coat on? You must have lost a lot of weight sweating with that.

It's magic, baby! I got respirator machines inside the coat lining! Haha, shit yeah. I lost about 10 pounds between sweating and not eating much. I came home lookin like a light-skinned Snoop Dogg.

Who was your “adviser” for the clothing? It was a perfect mixture of Hugh Heffner and David Hasselhoff, you are really becoming a proffessional pimp.

Fuck both of them! I'm original, bitch! I'm bringing the dead animal fur to underground rap. I'm the most stylish dude in independent rap, remember that shit!

Do you take your time preparing live shows or all the clothing and the posse it´s just an evolution of a lot of nights drunk?

I do some preparation, but a lot of that shit was thought up drunk. Some of my routine is done on the spot. I just get comfortable and go with the flow, I just don't care. You wanna have some organization, but you gotta leave space for surprises.

Did you know in Sevilla there was a lot of controversy about Vakill show? Some people thought he made playback in some songs. Did you know something about this? All I can say is that in Madrid, Va made a great show with some unbelievable freestyles.

I never heard about that. Vakill is a hardcore cat. He rocks his shows real hard and his acapellas are vicious! I know when he was rockin in Madrid, a fight broke out. His music gets you hype, so I don't know about that. He gives a dope show.

Can you do a top 3 or top 5 of all the live shows of the tour?

Damn! There were a lot of great nights, but I gotta choose 5? Aight, for me personally it's probably:

1. Manchester (UK)

2. Sevilla (Spain)

3. Bassel (Swizerland)

4. Madrid (Spain)

5. Linz (Austria)

Ask Louis or Vakill and there's will be a little different. But we all got both dates in Spain and the Bassel (Swizerland) date in our favorites.

Any anecdote you can tell?

The funky finger in Austria! That's an inside joke between me, Vakill and the tour manager. It's about a girl. Oh yeah, and Mike Tyson!! Another inside joke on our tour manager that y'all will never understand. Interview Vakill in 30 years and ask him then what I mean! And no more Museli cereal!

What about now, just chill or you have some new stuff in mind?

I'm working on an album with Celph Titled. I wanna have it out by next fall so I can do that tour again next October! Besides that I'm just working on beats and chillin. I got some shows with Louis in January in Canada, but I'm mostly just chillin. I'm burned out on hip-hop and travelling and music. I'm going on vacation in February beacuse 2004 was a long, hard, tough year even though it was fun. I need a break now, so I'm just layin low in the studio til at least May. Watchin plenty of basketball and sleeping!

It was a real pleasure having you here, I promised you some wine if you came and you got it. I hope you liked it.Next time you´ll have some more ( just one bottle was not enough I guess ), it´s a deal! Drop some last words and I´ll let you go back to rest, you deserve it.

I just wanna thank you and all the fans that came through and watched me sweat my balls off in that coat. I damn near died on stage in that coat, so I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did. Now I'm going to sit my ass down and do absolutely nothing. A Job Ain't Nuthin But Work, bitch! Thanks for the wine, but next time get me that girl that was the receptionist in our hotel! Ask the promoter to take you there so you can see her. Kidnap her and bring her to me next time I'm over there! All I need is 3 minutes with her! I'll probably bust a nut before I even get her up to the room!

Thank you very much for your time and your patiente with me, man. I really appreciate it! We´ll keep on supporting your music from here trying to make you richer.

Thanks. I'm on my way to the bank now to see if my account has grown.

NACHO