Warm South African greetings cos I know its hella cold right now in Chicago, whats up with yall guys?

Everything is everything. Trying to keep busy and stay sane in this war-crazy country.

Who are the members of All Natural and are they all Chicago natives?

All Natural is Tone B. Nimble and Capital D. Yeah we're both from Chicago.

The first time I heard of yall cats was on 50 years was that your break through?

Yeah, 50 Years was our first single. It definitely put us on the map as far as the underground is concerned.

I know the Chicago hip hop scene got some tight cats if I'm not wrong Rubberoom is also from there right?

Yeah Rubberoom is from Chicago. There is a lot of talent in the Chi, a lot of MCs and producers that don't get their full props.  But we're trying to change that.

What would you describe your style would you say consciousness or semi-consciousness type of shit?

A lot of the All Natural stuff is what I'd call conscious, but not all of it. I don't think we do anything negative, but we have some songs that aren't particularly conscious…just hip-hop. But as far as my solo stuff is concerned I try to keep it conscious all the time. I can't say that I always succeed, but I'm trying.

No Additives, No Preservatives is that your first full length album how did the album do on the underground scene?

Yeah that was our first album, we dropped it in 1997. The album got really good reviews and the word of mouth on it was real nice. After it sold out we didn't have the money to reprint it for a couple years. But people were feeling it and the word kept growing so we re-released it last year and it sold well.

Capital D what artist did you feel growing up?

I really felt KRS-One. The way he combined conscious lyrics with straight-up battle rhymes really got me open. So if I had to pick one artist it would be him.

If I may ask you what is it that you trynna do through hip hop?

I'm just trying to speak on things that people seem to be neglecting. Whether it's social issues, spiritual matters or whatever…when I feel that people are sleeping on things, then I want to use hip-hop as a tool to put those things in front of people. I'm not trying to force things down anyone's throat, but hip-hop is a tool to communicate. So I'm just trying to remind people about some things that are important.

Any new singles or album that you guys working on?

We're working on the next All Natural album called "Pure Essentials." It's scheduled to come out in October of this year. So I'm writing rhymes for that and choosing a few final beats. I'm also finishing up another solo album that's gonna come out around the same time as the All Natural album. My solo project is closer to being finished, but I still don't have a title for it yet. It's a collection of political songs dealing with the United States…(I might call it "Miss America").

I gotta ask you guys this one any planned collaboration with R-kelly on ya next album (guilty till proven innocent)?

For sure not.

When yall guys hitting South Africa up and by the way we got lions running around in the streets so you better bring your rifle?

We'll come to South Africa whenever somebody books us for a show! I've never been to the continent and I really want to make it over there. The closest I've been to Africa is Tenerife. I really feel like I'm missing out, so I definitely want to make it to South Africa if I can.

Did you guys ever think you got fans in Africa?

A couple of years ago we were doing a show in Portugal and I met some brothers from Angola who were up on our stuff. And from time to time I'll get an email from somebody in Africa who has our stuff. But I'm always shocked that we got people listening to our stuff in places that are far from Chicago. It's real humbling to think that somebody miles from me is listening to our stuff and relating to it. Hopefully we can use this hip-hop as a tool to build unity and make progress as a people.

Thanks for hooking up the interview for africasgateway we hope to hear more from you guys any last shoutouts before you bounce?

Shout outs to the whole South Africa massive. All people of all races, religions and whatever. Plus shouts to the AU, the spirit of the Mau Mau, Lumumba and Nkrumah, all Pan-Africanists no matter where they at…and of course my Muslim peoples of all colors. Thanks for the interview.

www.allnaturalhiphop.com

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