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After smashing last year’s<br />
charts with “She Got It,” 2 Pistols<br />
released his introductory<br />
album under J.U.S.T.I.C.E.<br />
League/Universal Republic. Now<br />
that everything has died down,<br />
his distribution situation has<br />
dissolved, and the smoke has<br />
settled, 2P is seeing what it really<br />
takes to make a significant<br />
impact in the game. His current<br />
free agent status isn’t deterring<br />
him one bit though. He recently<br />
linked up with Slim of 112 for a<br />
second female-targeted song,<br />
a record 2P hopes will show<br />
the world he’s still got what it<br />
takes for another go around.<br />
I know you’re working on your sophomore<br />
album Arrogant. When are you planning to<br />
release it<br />
I don’t have a set release date for it. I’m trying<br />
to see who’s gon’ do distribution on it. I’m no<br />
longer with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, they got released<br />
from Universal Republic. There’s stories<br />
going around that I got dropped and they<br />
wasn’t trying to rock with me, but by them<br />
being released from Universal Republic, it<br />
automatically releases me. So I can technically<br />
go do my own situation with whoever I want. I<br />
don’t have a date or distribution but it’s gonna<br />
come out under my company Blood Money<br />
Unit Entertainment.<br />
So will you still be working with J.U.S.T.I.C.E.<br />
League at all<br />
I tried to move forward and get some records<br />
with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, but I think they have<br />
different things in mind. I don’t know what<br />
they’re gonna do, but for me, I got the single<br />
“My Gurl” featuring Slim of 112. I also got a<br />
street record called “Ain’t Gotta Talk.” I got this<br />
one record titled “Lights Down Low” featuring<br />
my R&B artist Young Joe.<br />
Do you have any other artists on BMU<br />
BMU Entertainment is just me. I had a couple<br />
rap artists in the beginning, but I don’t have<br />
any right now. The only person I’ve been<br />
working with is my R&B artist. For ’09 I’m going<br />
many different routes – I hired new management,<br />
I hired some attorneys, I got out of my<br />
production situation, and I’m doing things the<br />
way I wanna do them.<br />
What are some things you are hoping to<br />
change for this next go around<br />
I really felt that the sales, and things albumwise,<br />
not digitally, didn’t go the way I wanted<br />
them to. My project was slept on ‘cause I think<br />
cats looked at me as fast food. They just looked<br />
at me as a quick situation to get money, a<br />
quick buck.<br />
Why did you go with the Slim collaboration<br />
as a first single and not the song with your<br />
own artist<br />
The first record was produced by Oddz N<br />
Endz, and the “Lights Down Low” record was<br />
produced by myself. I actually liked the “Lights<br />
Down Low” record more, but the “My Gurl”<br />
record with Slim got leaked. The people was<br />
swinging to that one so I rolled with it. I like<br />
the situation with Slim because we can do a<br />
bunch of shows together, verses me doing a<br />
record with T-Pain last year. It was the number<br />
one record in the country, but I didn’t have<br />
an opportunity to perform with him. People<br />
don’t understand that sometimes people have<br />
different visions with what they’re trying to do.<br />
Slim is out here grinding and has an independent<br />
situation through Asylum. We can probably<br />
do more together as far as shows and<br />
traveling, verses doing a video with someone<br />
and not seeing ‘em no more.<br />
So would you consider doing another T-Pain<br />
record even though he’s not available to<br />
perform with you<br />
I won’t say I wouldn’t do another record with<br />
T-Pain being that I had a lot of success with<br />
“She Got It,” I just don’t think things went the<br />
way they were supposed to. All his success was<br />
coming to him right then, and I don’t think<br />
anybody looked at it like I added anything to<br />
the record. Everybody thought that it was his<br />
record and I just happened to be a guest on<br />
it. He took all the juice out of it. It’s not that he<br />
overshadowed me, but his situation was just<br />
becoming bigger at that time. I’m trying to get<br />
with someone on my level that can pop off<br />
with me at the same time.<br />
You said they looked at you as the fast food<br />
of rap, how are you trying to overcome that<br />
and gain respect<br />
I never really had a foundation. I tried to build<br />
a foundation by doing mixtapes or whatever,<br />
but I had the game twisted when I came in it. A<br />
lot of things I expected the label to take care of<br />
or was told they would take care of, they didn’t<br />
get taken care of. I would have even come out<br />
of my pocket for different things. I would have<br />
shot some videos and released some stuff on<br />
my own. But every time I reached in my pocket<br />
to do something, they was like, “Nah, don’t do<br />
this, don’t do that.” When I had the incident<br />
at the awards, it was really other people<br />
controlling that. I ain’t really get to voice my<br />
opinion about anything. When I came up in<br />
the streets, I didn’t answer to nobody. I spent<br />
OZONE MAG // 15
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