Green Label Project (beta): Curren$y's Ozone interview

Spitta sits down with your favorite rappers magazine, and talks about his relationship with Dame Dash and his debut album..

The name Curren$y suggests one dedicated purpose: getting to the money. And yes, that’s a large benefit OF impending fame and a new partnership with Dame Dash’s BluRoc imprint – but monetary gains do not directly drive Curren$y.

“I’ma just be happy,” he expresses in a New Orleans accent that’s slightly worn off from his travels. “I can’t say I’ma have a Scarface house and I can’t say I’ma live under the interstate – but I’m pretty sure that with me doing what I want to do, I’ma end up with the Scarface house.”

And what Curren$y wants to do tends to be the opposite of what major labels want. After several attempts to fit into the “music industry machine,” Spitta realized he fit no one’s mold, especially with his unorthodox ways. He ventured out on his own, releasing two digital albums, This Ain’t No Mixtape and Jet Files, and last year caught the attention of Dame Dash. Dame is now on board for Curren$y’s third album – Pilot Talk. It’s a venture that will allow Curren$y to take flight and remain independently grounded as well, with full creative control. It’s exactly what Curren$y has been looking for.

How did the situation with you and Dame Dash come about?
His son and two of his nephews put him onto my music. He asked around about who he should get on the Blakroc project, and my name was brought up. Somebody gave him my number and he called. I flew out to New York the next day, and everything was everything.

How would you compare Pilot Talk and your last album Jet Files?
Based on the way I recorded Jet Files, it was a hybrid project – like an alb-tape or a mix-album, but it was all original music. The sh!t that made my mixtapes pop, I did that. I was doing my mixtapes in three days. I made Jet Files in four days. This time I’ve been recording for a minute, since the time me and Dame Dash linked up until now. And also, this time there will be physical copies. It’ll be in chain stores nationwide. This will be the first time people can go buy the CD in a store.

It seems like you’ve made a big push on the business side of things, but what about the content of Pilot Talk? What can people expect?
I have Devin the Dude on this album, Wiz Khalifa is on two joints, Jay Electronica, and Mos Def. Mos Def produced a joint for me too, so he’s on a song vocally and he produced a track called “Breakfast.” Mos did the beat in like 3 minutes and I wrote the verse in like 10 minutes. That was crazy. Outside of that, Big K.R.I.T. from Mississippi, he’s big, he’s killing it. I had the opportunity to get down with Ski Beatz. Just to have his opinion on sh!t that I’m doin’ and have him appreciate what I do, that was tight.

You’re known for being anti-industry, or “anti-machine.” How does the new situation with Dame Dash’s label fit into your own personal beliefs?
I’m absolutely still independent. Me and Dame Dash are just splitting the risk and we’ll reap the benefits at the end of the day. I’m still my own entity and my own company, Jets. Me and homie partnered up on this project as far as getting it shelved – that’s his department. As far as saying whatever I want, smoking as much as I want, and doing whatever I want, that’s my department. Dame Dash is one of the realest people I’ve met. He had no problems doing what everybody else was scared to do.

With you being one person, without a major label machine for so long, how have you been able to achieve so much?
By me dealing with the right people in places all over the country, people I can trust, people with the right virtues, like-minded people. I push the music in different places where it’ll get developed. My sh!t is with my friends. Like my manager is my homie, my artists are my friends, nobody’s tryin’ to do nothin’ underhanded. It’s just a good situation.

So for you, mixing friends and business has been a good thing?
Yeah. You know what kind of friends you have. You have your go-out friends; you have your friend you can call if you get a flat tire; you know what friend you might be able to sell a pound of weed with and they not gon’ **** the money up. I knew who I could [go into business] with, and now we’re putting these records out. We not sellin’ weed. (laughs)

When did you realize you stood out? Not just musically, but in life?
Since elementary school. People always asked what’s wrong [with me], or why I don’t wanna do what everyone else was doing. That’s always been a struggle in my life, with me just wanting to do what I want, and trying to exist in this industry, in this machine, and still do what I want to do – trying to win the game and do it the way I want.

Did you have problems with authority and following rules in school?
Yeah, and it’s crazy ‘cause I went to the best schools. I went to magnet schools, and I was in gifted and talented classes, but I had the worst grades – it just never synced up. I would talk a lot ‘cause I was bored.

That’s ironic, because it seems like going against the grain is turning out to be a good thing for you now, with your growing fan base.
Well, I never thought about how good of a thing it was – I just knew it was what I wanted to do. It wasn’t really about monetary success or anything tangible. It just so happened that as soon as I started doing exactly what I wanted, everything fell into place.

So what’s your fascination with jets and airplanes?
You can go anywhere. It’s amazing. I’m fascinated being so many places. I scared everybody on the plane [the first time] I saw the Statue of Liberty. I screamed at everybody to look at it. I might have been like 9 years old.My mom liked to travel. I had been to Europe, everywhere, before I was in high school. I might not have had too much sh!t, but we definitely went everywhere. When you get exposed to that type of sh!t, you can’t live no other way. Now I can’t stay in one spot. By me seeing all that sh!t, I knew I had to always be able to afford to do this sh!t, to do whatever I want.

So you decided rapping was the way to afford it?
My first rap was about Dennis the Menace, and then I quit. The dude from down the street was supposed to put some drug money behind us when we were little kids. He went to jail though. After that, I quit worrying about it until I got out of high school. Once I went to college, I did a semester and realized I didn’t want to do that, so I started writing again.

When did you get good at it?
Like the year before last. I was good, but I didn’t know what I was talkin’ about. Prior to doing what I wanted to do, I wasn’t talkin’ about my life. I realized I didn’t have to do that. If you hear some of the stuff I said…I had a song when I was with No Limit that started out talking about an AK-47 and clearing a whole street of people. You see me – how likely is that? Do I strike you as that guy? I wasn’t him then, but I said that sh!t.

For those who don’t know, what was your history with No Limit?
I started out with Tough Guy and when Dough got killed, C [Murder] looked out and I was on Tru Records. Then that situation happened with him unfortunately, and P stepped in, so that’s how I ended up with No Limit. I learned some sh!t from P too. After that, I went independent. Then I hollered at [Lil Wayne] about a verse and he was like, “Let’s hook up and do some sh!t.” I flew to Miami and we put that [YM] situation together.

Do you still talk to the Young Money crew?
I don’t have the same number anymore. I’m just doing my thing. There’s no love lost. I’m pretty sure everybody’s busy. I’m damn busy.

Makes sense. So with you having flown around the world, how would you compare your hometown New Orleans to other places you go?
It’s not as much eff’d up sh!t goin’ on. I watch the news in other cities just to see what’s happening. Everybody’s got their problems, but at home, the news is an hour of murder, shots fired, it’s never anything else. It’ll get better though. I’m about to pop and kill all that sh!t. The message in the sh!t I’m doin’, soon as I get in position, people will be like, “Alright, maybe we should smoke weed and buy shoes, and not shoot people, then everything will be straight.” After my rap sh!t is done I’ma run for office too.

So the solution to all problems is to smoke weed and buy shoes?
Yeah, there’s way cooler sh!t to do than shoot guns. We went to Wal-Mart today. That was cool, we had a great time. There’s options.

Why do you think people don’t see those other options?
Because of the machine! The machine perpetuates the bullsh!t. It’s out of control. We might get shot at the club ‘cause we have to live in this sh!t, but they don’t give a fukk. All that matters with their machine is ringtones and sh!t. They control the audio and visuals people get; all the destruction. How many Mos Def videos do you see? It’s not like it was in the 90s. You’d see an N.W.A video, then a Tribe Called Quest video. Now it’s all like the same song. It’s not about music. It’s a pay cut to do the real sh!t.

Earlier you mentioned your artists. Who are they and what are your plans after the album comes out?
Yeah The Jets – that’s Young Roddy, Trademark the Skydiver, and Street Wiz. We’re doing a group project. I have a few secret projects that I’m puttin’ together with them, as well as a company you’ll hear a lot about called The Serve. Look for The Serve DVD coming out. I got some other mixtapes coming out, and I got an EP I’ma put out with The Serve. //