It’s been a minute since we last chopped it up, You are one of the busiest artists I know, and that’s saying alot! Lets start with your deal with Hoopla/Universal, how did that come about and how are you managing not to get fucked like some of the standard bogus deals with Labels? (sorry if to harsh! lol)

Well I was shopping to every label under the sun. A few held onto my stuff & replied that they wanted to see how I develop over the next 6 months or so. Thats a nice way of saying “Fuck off” but just in case you blow up we act nice so we can try to get a piece of you later. lol Greedy shit heads! I met with the Multi-Platinum Publicist Jonathan Hay and after about 2 months of working with him he hooked me up with the deal. It’s dope cause it’s a one album deal (18 month exclusive) and I get my masters, yeah I said I GET MY MASTERS. I already had my album done. SInce I have my own studio fully Pro Tooled out, I didn’t need any kind of budget money to record at high priced studios. I didn’t take any advance money cause thats just money I’d have to pay back. Crazy huh? I’m in a good position. A lot of major labels are giving those bullshit 360 deal where the label gets a piece of everything the artist does, from tours to merchandising & of course album sales. Now thats some bullshit!

Are you seeking new talent to sign to your Label?

Right now I’m focusing on me but dont get it twisted cause if I hear something incredible then I have no problem passing it on to the Big Guys.

Last week you released the Mixtape “Pianos & Basslines” is that on Hoopla/Universal? And what type of feel is the Mixtape?

Since the mixtape is all “borrowed” beats I put this out on my own with the help of Hoopla Media Group. So it’s a Bad Seed/Hoopla collabo. The feel of this project is, well to be honest… dark, raw & no holds barred. There has been so much bullshit said by people on the outside looking in on me as an artist, my affiliations, my record deal. Basically a whole lot of hatred bred by jealousy, so I did what I do best… put my inner emotions on tracks! I felt like I wanted to physically hurt all these people running their mouths. I can kill somebody on a song and not have to worry about going to prison. Thats the beauty of music.

When are you Dropping “Addicted To The Grind” ?

We’re looking at the end of this year. Major labels are a whole lot different than indies. There’s this whole protocol thing. Projected stats on how many units an artist will sell in various markets. It’s a business & the labels are in it to make money. They don’t care that I’m in it to feed this good hip hop to the world.

With all this going on, how do you find time to make all those Video Blogs everyone talks about? and for the ones that don’t know, whats the link they can subscribe to?

Real shit, I carry my damn handycam everywhere I go. You never know where you might be or who you might meet or what situations I my find myself in. It’s very spontaneous. The world can check out all my video blogs on www.youtube.com/emceeesq You never know who will be on the next one!

What was the last video on?

I did an Emergency Blog with Cashis (Shady Records) putting the rumors to rest about him & I beefin. See what it was is a lot of various fuckheads fabricating stories and spreading them around. I’m sure you know how stupid these people are that do this felonious bullshit. They act like I dont talk to Cashis on the regular. I mean c’mon I am literally one person away from pretty much anybody. No bullshit. It was crazy how once I posted that video blog my phone, email, myspace, etc was blowin up for 3 days straight. Clowntastic mutha fuckahs! lol

Before we go on, You damn near started a site shut down from your comments about Asher Roth, what’s your beef with him and what do you think of the amount of attention that’s always on your music and site?

Ohhh gaaawd, there’s no beef. I just said that I didn’t like dude’s “College” song. I mean dude can spit but I felt like he had more potential then what that song portrayed. At the end of the day all these magazines were saying he was “the next one to blow” & “watch for him in 2009?. Well… here we are entering the end of 2009 and what is he doing? Exactly… case closed. lol This is the part where everyone comments about how I’m a hater & that I am a nobody. lol Fuck you all very much!

People pay alot of attention to you because your music is on point but also, they never know what the hell your going to say, Is that just part of your character as a person or is that part of your artist gimick?

Yes, it’s all a gimmick. GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT! LOL

If I cant be myself & speak my mind freely then what the fuck am I doing this for? It sure isn’t for the money or fame or whatever else these fake ass other “artists” do it for. At the end of the day what I want people to say about me is, “Ep says some real shit” No Jim Brown Fakin! Word!

What’s going on with your site Epademik.com ? I hope you have a huge bandwidth

It’s finally up & running and user friendly. I connected with E-Mil Creative Services and I worked with them closely to build www.epademik.com. I have the free mixtapes on there, a store where you can by some of my albums and of course the Bill of Fights!

What is the “Bill of Fights” ?

The Bill of Fights is something I created in the likes of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Fights is basically ten amendments of realness! I want to divide the line between the real & the fake. There’s too much wack shit going on out here & it seems to be getting worse! Go & check it out at www.epademik.com.

If you’re tired of the all the bullshit then support this movement! It’s a Real Individual Movement!

Any shows or tours in the works?

My next show is gonna be in Fort Smith ,Arkansas on September 25th. We’re working on getting overseas seas. Japan, the UK, etc. So stay posted! I’ve been branching out & collaborating with artists from other regions which also helps in building my fanbase when I go to these other artists hometowns. Shout out to Mob Bos Laceonii in Fort Smith!

Since Jay-Z dropped “D.O.A” hopefully rappers will step up their game, what do you think of the state of Rap and Hip Hop? what is it missing and what do you think it needs to work on?

Everybody needs to get back to basics. Autotune was abused horribly and I personally hate that shit. I’ve told other artist I’ve worked with while in the studio that if they want to use Autotune then they cant really sing and that its the wackest shit ever. Yeah I tend to get real beasty on people for that stuff.

Hip Hop is missing substance. Thats what every classic hip hop album consists of. The problem is the music being pushed on the radio is not innovative. The labels have no vision. They think they are playing it safe but in actuality they are losing money cause nobody wants to buy that corny ass music. It’s very frustrating.

You got a new deal, mixtape that just dropped, another major release with “Addicted to The Grind” which might I add is so TRUE! , your website, etc are you working on anything else?

C’mon now, you know I do! I’m finishing up a project with Jai One & Mack aka Ryan C-Fresh called 2020. It’s on some 2020 shit! lol FYI: I met Jai One & Mack at Mr. Warren G’s studio years back and we have continued to keep in touch & we felt like we should drop some brand new innovative music. Hip Hop needs it! I also have done a whole lot of work with an artist by the name of Kadillak Kaz (Skyballin Entertainment Group). He’s reminds me of a new Kurupt but more fly! Check him out at www.kadillakkaz.com

What makes you different from other emcees?

I have substance. I don’t lie on records. I give 110% everytime. I can produce a track, then write it, record it (Pro Tools of course), arrange it properly, mix it and it’ll be dope as fuck! lol Oh yeah then I will design the graphics for it. You know I got my graphic designing skills, just check out my myspace page. Yep I did that. Show me another artist that can do all that properly.

Let’s talk about race, In Hip Hop traditionally it’s been Black/Hispanic, until Em came any other race hasn’t had the staying power, what do you think about Race and Talent in Rap & Hip Hop and how it’s perceived?

it’s not so much race as it is how & where you were raised and what musical influence you had. No doubt Hip Hop/Rap is African-American culture but Hip Hop is a culture in it’s self. Hip Hop sees no race, creed, religion. It’s all about the music, the emceeing, the dj’ing, the beat-boxing, the graffiti, the B-Boying. Thats why it’s so dope! Thank God for hip hop… REAL HIP HOP!

I know your on Twitter and Myspace but is Epademik.com the 1 stop for everything your doing?

Yeah that would be headquarters to stay up to date with everything I got going on. Make sure you guys & gals check it out. Go sign then Bill of Fights! Get involved! I have the opportunity to bring this real shit to the masses. I support all my true people so come & support me. Peace