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By Paul Russell
5/21/2003 5:55:29 PM
Tags and topics realted to this article include Twista.
Chicago's own Twista has been in the game for awhile now. Although Twista's name is steadily gaining more recognition and is already legendary in his hometown, mainstream success has continually found a way to elude him. Nevertheless, he remains one of hip-hop's most potent and sought after lyricists - having been featured on the albums of P. Diddy, Jay-Z, Ludacris, and Scarface among others.
But looks like luck will soon change for the Guinness Book of World Records holder for the fastest rapper. Twista just appeared with Jay-Z on hip-hop's first nationally televised concert on Showtime and is rumored to be aligning himself with Jigga's label Roc-A-Fella. With a new album dropping soon and his new affiliations with some of hip-hop's elite, Twista looks to shed his underground skin and step into the limelight. The swift tongue one recently sat down with Contrabandit.com to holla about his time chalked up in the game and all these persistent rumors.
Contrabandit.com: What's up with your new record deal with Atlantic?
Twista: I basically renegotiated my contract and I'm at the ass end of my album now. I'm signed to Atlantic as a solo artist but they can't stop me from starting my own label. But they down with it so I'm allowed to do songs on my independent stuff too.
CB: Word has it that they gave you somewhere around $4 million.
T: Naw, that's for my independent label Legit Ballin' and for the records we put out and the distribution. That's when that money comes in to play but it ain't like that though.
CB: So what's up with this album Kamikazee? We keep hearing about it but it keeps getting pushed back.
Twista: it's supposedly coming out sometime this year. I got into with the independent label CWAL that I used to be signed to. We've been having differences and I had to get my legal situation straight with them so it took a minute. We were on bad terms for a long time but now its pretty much cool.
CB: So who's on the album?
Twista: We got a gang of cats on there. I got Ludacris, Jazze Pha, Timbaland 8-Ball, Too Short, Freeway and some Chicago artists. Some of these artists came to me first and said they wanted me to do a song with them and then we would just swap songs on each other's albums. They wanted me on a verse just as bad as I wanted them on a verse. So I get to keep some of my budget money.
CB: Chicago is definitely on the come up right now and you've been at the forefront of that movement for a long time. DMX now has a residence in the city and Roc-A-Fella even signed Kanye West.
Twista: Hell yeah! I got like three Kanye beats on my album. And my guy Toxic from the Chi. I got my Legit Ballers on there. Benny Franks, Darkside Ballers and Miss Kane and some other Chi artists.
CB: For a minute Chi-town was really going at it with Bone Thugs and you were definitely a part of the battle. You still at it with them?
Twista: Naw, its cool now. Me and Lazy Bone got a mutual homie and he forced us to get together and do a cut. So I actually ended up doing a cut with Lazy.
CB: What do you think about artists from the Chi like Common and Da Brat who have achieved a good deal of mainstream recognition but have moved out of Chicago?
Twista: I don't knock a muthafucka for leaving to try and get theirs because they might feel like they got to go to another place to get it. But don't go somewhere else and plant your roots, shit, that ain't where your flower grew. Leave your roots at the crib, in the Chi, but take your flower wherever you want.
CB: Being one of Chicago's hottest and best known representatives do you feel like its your responsibility to keep opening doors for other artists there?
Twista: Well, I got a lot of guys down with my camp. I got artists from the Southside of the Chi and the Westside. I am going to try to open some doors. I'm going to step up to the podium and let them know what to be on and get their minds on the right track. Because muthafuckas be thinkin' they could just rap on something and that's gonna get them on. I want them to know that an hour of my conversation is worth more than a verse if they want to learn this business. I got a few tricks up my sleeve.
CB: Do any of those tricks involve Roc-A-Fella? There have been many rumors about your connection with them.
Twista: I got association with certain muthafuckas in the game. A few surprises, so people will be like "damn he down with such and such now." I can't call it right now.
CB: So these new rumors have started to replace the rumors that had you aligning with P. Diddy and Bad Boy. Was there any truth to those?
Twista: It seemed like something was going to crack for a minute with Puff when I was going thru my thing with the CWOL situation but with Atlantic not being directly involved, they still wanted to do shit with me so I was tussling back and forth with that then Puff started going thru his trial shit. So I leaned toward Atlantic so I could get to work. Because loosing that time, you could be huffy one minute but seven months later 3-5 more cats then dropped hot shit and now your status ain't the same as it was before so I had to play my cards in my time slot.
CB: So now that you're with a major again is there anything that you are going to do differently?
Twista: I got to get more visual now because that's what's been missing throughout my career. I got to get videos out there, appearances on BET and shit like that. All the same promotion that other artists get when they drop and I'm going to get this through Atlantic.
CB: So are you searching for mainstream acceptance?
Twista: I will stay street with it but I want platinum plus too because that's what works in the game to get and stay on top. So that's what my goal is. I ain't got to be no Nelly or no Eminem just let me pop off two or three platinums every time and I'm straight.
I can stay true though. It ain't no rocket science to me because I've been doing it. I'm an old cat and most cats from my era are whack as hell now and I'm still slanging it with the young guys. I can't see myself on something else for some cameras and shit. It ain't no status that I'm going to rise to that will make me forget the experiences and lessons that I learned for over the 12 years that I have been professionally rappin'. No amount of money will make me forget my struggle.
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