What are your views on battle's these days? i.e. Benzino vs Eminem?

I think Hip-Hop needs to remind it self this is entertainment. Our job is to entertain the audience. The rap genre has declined in overall quality of music in the past few years. The truth is that controversy sells records and gets people's attention. This is why battles are still important to Hip-Hop. The flipside is that hopefully we won't lose timeless artists like 2-Pac and B.I.G. in the process. 

If it wasn't for Hip Hop what would you be doing?

I would be hustling and investing money into another avenue. Most likely it would be real estate. I recently bought my first home and was in the process of buying another home for my mom before I was picked up on these old charges. I would also like to work with inner city youth who lack the resources to overcome themselves. I would prefer to do drug and alcohol counseling with adolescents and return to graduate college.

What was the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in this business?

I would say how much I've grown as a person through my passion to do music. I have never been dedicated to one thing like I am with music. I was always told I wouldn't be shit and that I would end up locked up or dead. I have overcome a lot in life just to get here and it feels good to know that my future will be a vast improvement from my past.

What do you think is wrong with the North West hip-hop scene?

Instead of playing like a team we treat each other like the opposition. The business is the key to our success but we have few real pioneers to follow.

What do you think is right with the North West hip-hop scene?

Talent. We have more than we could possibly need. If someone would take the time and give some of the better artists a budget, I think the NW would be a much better place.

Tell us how is Eastside Records doing? What other albums are coming out this year?

As a company we have a lot of projects in the works, and continue to progress and evolve. The next release is J-Trey "The Time Has Come", it will be out in February. Then you can expect my new 2CD, Dedication & Desire. Then in late spring, early summer Todd G "Bail Money", Kay Kay "I'm Just Me", and Khevlar "Weapon" will follow suit. This will be our best year without a doubt.

Are you looking at hooking up a national distribution deal?

The last record had national distribution through Bayside. I will be trying to obtain a new deal for the entire label in the future. 

How about videos? It would be great to see a Bullet music video?

The first Bullet video is already underway. The new album "Dedication & Desire" will host at least one video if not more. The first is "When The Rainfalls".

You should actually have a video camera everywhere you go and then like after a year put it on DVD. I'm sure there'd be some interesting footage on there :-) What u think?

This is all in the works at the present time. We plan on doing at least one video, for each of the upcoming projects. When all the video's have been finished, I plan on making a DVD as a bonus disc for our Eastside Riderz compilation. This should increase the strength of our music by adding a visual for people to see.

What's up with Shaolin? What happened with that cat?

We parted ways before the Bullet & Shaolin album ever hit shelves in 2001. He is currently working on his 2nd solo album that I can assure you will be heated. Bullet & Shaolin just came to realize it was time to go our separate ways. I wish him only the best.

For More Info on Bullet & Eastside Records, checkout the following sites:

www.mp3.com/eastside_Records

www.eastsideriderz.com

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