When you take on a project, do you want to be involved in every aspect of it?
“It’s like everything that I do, it has to be fun for me. This project right here, it began sort of kind of like not fun in the beginning. Once I got to the set and started shooting, it became fun to me. Adding more elements to it, like the animation and creating the song, was something that I wanted to bring to make it even more fun. It’s like when I get involved with projects, they gotta be fun in the beginning - but a lot of times they don’t really start off that way. But as long as at the end of the project I have fun making it, that’s all that matters. That’s what happened with this project.”
Why wasn’t it fun at the beginning?
“Because it was more of a task in the beginning, the creative side of it, as far as trying to make it what I thought it should be because it had my name on it. I really wanted it to represent something that was not seen or something that was missing visually on the screen.”
How much fun was working on a horror movie versus doing a comedy?
“Always fun to do a horror movie because it’s like Halloween. You get to put the hood all over you, scare a few people and what not. I’ve got kids so I like doing that and bringing that side of the game to the table as well.”
How did the shooting schedule go?
“Well, we were shooting and the music came to me as we were shooting. I started to get into my character, started to evolve more around the movie and the whole perception of the movie, so that’s why the song sounds more just like a narration of the whole movie.”
Do you usually write songs in one night?
“It depends. Some songs take longer than others. This song was something that was in my heart for a minute because I was coming to the movie set every day and getting so involved with the character that the song was so natural. It just came out so easy for me.”
How would you compare your style to your character’s?
“We wanted to give him a little bit of my flavor which is a little bit cool and laid back but not so loud and on the scene, more or less camouflaged - like he just blends in. But at the same time, we wanted to give him some flavor to where he would be kind of scary and at the same time, he’s slick and he’s sly. He’s got conversation. It’s just taking a little bit of everything that I have and just adding a little horror to it at the same time.”
Is life in the hood scarier than a horror movie?
“Oh yeah, definitely. Way more scary than a horror movie because in a horror movie, you’ve got directors telling you cut, action, and you know what the scene will be. In the hood, you don’t know what the scene will be and there ain’t no director there when the bullets get thrown.”
What’s your favorite horror movie?
“My favorite horror movies definitely would be…I like Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3D. That was off the chain. What else? I like Phantasm. Old school…”
Did you see Tales from the Hood?
“I mean, I think it’s completely different but at the same time, I like Tales from the Hood. I thought that was a good movie. I liked it a whole lot; I’m a fan of it. I even own it on DVD. I just think this is an extension of it, like other avenues of that same type of genre, but something different.”
Is music or film more fun?
“[They’re] both my girlfriends. I love ‘em both the same.”
Is one the wife and one the mistress?
“I got two lovers and I love ‘em both the same.”
How is your music going?
“I’m working on my next record right now. It’s called The Blue Carpet Treatment. It’ll be out November 21st, back in the lab with Dr. Dre. Just did a single with R Kelly and shot the video, so just trying to put it back down and do what I do.”
What does ‘Blue Carpet Treatment’ mean?
“Well, my whole career I’ve been given red carpet treatment. They’ve been rolling it out for me so I wanted to pay everybody back and give them some of this blue carpet treatment.”
Does hip hop advocate violence without consequences?
“I think it’s a double sword because a lot of artists do embrace the fact that there [are] consequences to deal with at the end of a crime. We always know that. That’s why we say, ‘F**k the police,’ because we know that’s what they’re there for. At the end of the day, we know that certain songs that we make are gonna send messages, and there are certain songs that aren’t really going to have no relevance. They’re just going to be party records. It’s not our responsibility to be those leaders, but we take that amongst ourselves and do it on our own. We don’t get paid to lead the youth and give ‘em direction, and at the same time, we get blasphemized for what we do when we do something halfway wrong. So it’s a double sword and the rappers that [are] doing it, we’re going to continue to make music that feels good to us. So regardless of what people feel, if the music feels good to the artist, he’s going to keep making that style of music.”
What does producing mean to you in movies and music? Can you compare the two?
“Music is a little bit different than movies producing. Because with music, I have to be more creative to where you really have to visualize what I’m seeing without even seeing it. A movie is where I get a chance to really give you a visual picture.”
What do people get wrong about you?
“I don't know. I think I got a pretty good rap on everything right now. I think everybody pretty much cool with me. I’ve been through a lot in my career as far as not having an understanding with people. Now I think people really understand me because I’m so open and so real, and always let people have me uncut. It’s not an act. It’s always the same Snoop Dogg when you see him.”
