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| Thursday, December 21, 2000 |
| Interview with the Outlawz |
Below is an interview with the Outlawz by Hookt.com.
Hookt.com: You were under Tupac's tutelage for so long, was there any advice that prepared you to be on your own?
Napoleon: We were basically living with Pac. When he left, we had to pay our own bills. We had to grow up instead of hanging on his coat tails. He was trying to teach us that all along that "it's gonna be one day when y'all gonna have to wake the hell up and grow up." Which hit us too fast.
On your album, you touched on that transition with a "Soldier To A General," is that what prompted you guys leaving Death Row and putting your album out independently?
E.D.I.: It was business. It was about that time. I respect every man for running their company the way they wanna run their company. But guess what, now I got my own company. I wanna run my company my way. That's what we said. "We know how to guide our careers better than anybody." Rap music has arrived to the point where it's a worldwide entity; it's a billion-dollar entity. All we gotta do is control it. All y'all rappers talking about getting y'all money, I ain't mad, just control it. Don't brag about the money y'all making for (someone else).
You mentioned hip-hop being worldwide, part of Pac's appeal was that he touched everybody. Do you see your music being universal like his?
E.D.I: Our music is street politics but it's also world politics. Wherever it is people are struggling, our music is going to touch those people. It starts in the street of the United States but we talking to kids everywhere.
Does it surprise you that the music that Pac did is still as popular as it is?
E.D.I.: Tupac's legacy didn't stop September 13 1996, it continues to grow. All the people who feel him are still a part of the legacy. They wearing Tupac t-shirts in Africa.
Napoleon: Africa is like a Tupac gang now.
E.D.I.: 20 years from now, they (still) gonna talk about his legacy. That's why its so important for us do our thing, we a big part of that legacy. We're trying to keep it rollin'.
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