Calvin: Last night you shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, and Faith Evans. The crowd showed you a lot of love. How did it feel up there?
DMX: That show was different because it felt like it was the beginning of my transition out of the rap arena and into the church.

Calvin: Say what?
DMX: Yeah, this is my last album, man. I'm gonna do a few more movies, but I'm gonna take off some time first?six months?and read the Bible and just get into?

Calvin: [I began to laugh]
DMX: For real, dawg!

Calvin: This is your last album?
DMX: My last album.

Calvin: Have you told this to anyone else? DMX: I said it on a radio station in Philly.

Calvin: Power 99? DMX: Yep. Golden Girl. I went down there a couple weeks ago. I got a lot of support. Then I asked for people's opinions and I got a lot of support.

Calvin: She does a real adult-themed show and carries a whip. But I've heard that she doesn't want to continue with such a risqu頩mage. DMX: She told me that she thinks there's a higher calling than what she's doing. We know what we're doing. We're here for the time being, doing this. When we get tired of doing it, we know we not supposed to be doing it anymore. You do what you do from your heart. You know what I'm saying? When your heart ain't in it no more?

Calvin: Your heart is not in recording anymore?
DMX: [He shakes his head "No."]

Calvin: Why?
DMX: Fucked up by the industry. It's so grimy and petty? and picky and just like d@#n" is this what it's about?"

Calvin: Was it the reality of it?
DMX: It was not a reality. It wasn't like that when I first came in the door. Shit done got real like funny all of a sudden. What happened to the love for the music? They paying muthafuckers to play records on the radio stations. Paying people to play the videos. Rap artists, we pay for everything. We pay for our own promotion. We pay for our recording. We pay for our living expenses while we recording. We pay for the tour. We pay for the equipment on the tour. We pay the people that put up the equipment on the tour. We pay for all that shit! The record company don't pay for that shit. They put up the money, but it comes right back off our sales. Then the split ain't even fair. After you pay back all the money, after you finish paying for all your s&#t, you don't even get to split the money that's coming in after that. That's no split. You get what, 13, 18 percent? What the fuck is that? It's like having niggas work for welfare. It's just not right. That's what that show was about to me last night.

Calvin: What do you hope to do about it?
DMX: I stressed to Londell [the attorney who organized the Artists' Empowerment Coalition] that I want to start a union that looks after the rights of the artists. There's no reason why an artist who's sold a million records should ever be fucked up. If you just sold one million records, it's no reason why you should be fucked up. You should always have money coming in. You should get a bigger percentage of what you earned. That's what you made for the company. They label you as a risk, but they hold you for seven fuckin' years. Why would you hold onto a risk for signing us for that amount of time? If I'm a risk, sign me for one year. We do this?whatever works out, works out. If it don't, it don't. After that, either way I'm good. It's not one?there's no such thing as a one year fuckin' deal. Seven! Seven albums! The average expectancy of a rap person is three years.

Calvin:

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