Another Priest Interview [Maccabeez debut album coming soon & Beautiful Minds II]
Conducted by Red Era aka GCiples @ www.killahpriest.com
http://risewithme.blogspot.com/
Last month Killah Priest announced that he would release an album titled Elizabeth. This announcement caught fans by surprise as they were patiently waiting for Psychic World of Walter Reed.
Elizabeth drops October 20, 2009 and it is a prelude to the highly anticipated album Psychic World of Walter Reed. I recently had the opportunity to interview Killah Priest so he could shed more light on his latest project Elizabeth. Below is a transcript of the entire interview.
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Red Era: Peace Killah Priest, thanks for coming through. Everyone wants to know how the Elizabeth project came about.
Killah Priest: Elizabeth came about during studio sessions with DJ Woool. I laid down tracks and just put it together. Elizabeth will be in stores October 20, 2009.
Red Era: What’s the science behind the title Elizabeth?
Killah Priest: I will leave that for the fans to decipher. Believe me they will find out! The album has 25 tracks; it is the introduction to my next project Psychic world of Walter Reed.
Red Era: You were supposed to visit South Africa earlier on this year. Can you explain to the South African fans out there exactly what happened?
Killah Priest: I never planned on going there; there was no contract or nothing. The guy who booked me for the show is called Hossain; don’t work with that cat man. He’s booking Killah Priest shows without my consent. I can’t wait to get to Africa; it would be a great, great, great experience for me. I’ve never been to the motherland, but I have to go home. I don’t wanna see animals in a zoo--I wanna see live animals roaming around freely. Put it this way...it would be indescribable.
Red Era: Daddy Rose came back home recently. Are you gonna work with him again?
Killah Priest: Of course I’ll work with Daddy Rose. He is gonna be on Psychic World of Walter Reed. It’s incredible working with that brother again, we gonna finish the Maccabeez album.
Red Era: The Priesthood album had a project promoted there called Black Milc, what happened to that project?
Killah Priest: That never materialized because it happened during the early stages of Proverbs. I was working with partners and there were business differences that prevented us from working on the album.
Red Era: What should fans expect from the new album Elizabeth?
Killah Priest: The listeners are gonna hear real Hip Hop. They are gonna hear Killah Priest before I started making records, when I was rhyming on the streets. They are gonna hear the truth. This is my truth album right here. It’s a double album on one CD; it has 25 tracks and a couple bonus joints.
Red Era: You have a lot of material out there; most rappers don’t have a catalogue as great as yours. You are now being compared to the Tupac’s and Jay Z’s. In fact Tupac is the only rapper who’s got as much quality material as you. How do you do it?
Killah Priest: Oh man, I love it. I just love the art, I love making music--good music. That’s something that just comes from God--it comes from within, you know.
Red Era: You work a lot with DJ Woool. How did you link up with him?
Killah Priest: I linked up with him though Chi-King when I came out here to California. Chi King brought me to his studio, I met DJ Woool and the chemistry was there, he wasn’t playing no games, I saw he was hungry, he threw on a couple of beats and I was like yo, I’m out here I just moved to Cali lets do it and get it in.
Red Era: The Black August album had a guest spot called Solstice. Homegirl can flow...where is Solstice now and how did that collabo come about?
Killah Priest: I don’t know if homegirl even rhymes anymore. She’d definitely a queen, a dope lyricist. While I asked her to get on the joint she was doing some alternative music. Her new name is SHE, you can check her out on MySpace. SHE is a dope lyricist and I would definitely like to work with her again because she's like a female version of Killah Priest. Before we even did a song she was into the Sunz of Man era--she was a Daughter of Zion.
Red Era: Raekwon just released Only Built for Cuban Links II. Are we ever gonna hear a Heavy Mental II?
Killah Priest: Cuban Links II is so dope and it inspired me to go back...I wanna go back and do Heavy Mental. We are gonna call it Heavier Mental.
Red Era: When is Killah Priest going on tour?
Killah Priest: All tour dates will be posted on my website; I’ll start touring right after the album comes out (October 20, 2009). I plan on doing a national tour--Priest will definitely be in your town.
Red Era: Word! Where can fans purchase the album Elizabeth?
Killah Priest: They can find it on iTunes and in stores--it’s also gonna be available through Best Buys. Elizabeth is coming out on my own label--Proverbs Records. If you know my history, Priesthood came out on that label. Black August also came out on Proverbs but it did not have Proverbs listed as the record label.
Red Era: So much has happened since the last time we spoke--Obama is now president, the war in Iraq is winding down but the war in Afghanistan has escalated. Being a conscious rapper how do you make sense of all that is going on in the world?
Killah Priest: We are living in the revelation period of time. Things are gonna seem a little crazy so you gotta open up your eyes as wide as possible. I’m not talking about your physical eye but your inner eye. You have to prepare yourself spiritually and physically. Obama is very intelligent, but it takes more than having intelligence--it’s about having power to change the whole government. You know what I mean... They put Obama in that position because the country was messed up and the government was folding. America is like a big business involved in greed. The hidden hand that was in there has been given up to Obama so we the people have to be wiser and look at the whole situation and not just fall for him as the first black president.
Red Era: Recently a 16 year old high school kid was beaten to death by fellow gang members in Chicago. In response to his death Nas wrote an open letter to young warriors in Chicago. What Message does Killah Priest have for the young Warriors in Chicago?
Killah Priest: My letter to the young warriors in Chicago--look at history. Has anyone ever elevated from killing their own? Look at ancient Rome and the tribal conflicts in Africa. Has anyone ever excelled from it? Colors and signs...that goes way back man. It goes deeper than what we think--it’s the hood version of Masonry, it feels good to be apart of it but when you start to kill for it you are sacrificing human life for something that will never benefit you.
Red Era: You released The Offering and Behind the Stained Glass on Good Hands Records. How is your relationship with Good Hands, and on what label will Psychic World of Walter Reed come out on?
Killah Priest: Big ups to Chief Kamachi, my relationship with Good Hands Records is great. Psychic World of Walter Reed might come out on Proverbs unless a big gigantic investor comes along.
Red Era: Are we gonna see Beautiful Minds II
Killah Priest: Definitely!
Red Era: In closing, what message would you like to send out to all Heavy Mental students worldwide?
Killah Priest: Elizabeth is gonna be my off the wall and Psychic World of Walter Reed is gonna be my thriller. I’m very passionate, I’m a real brother, Killah Priest is 100... I’m not gonna fold to this Babylonian empire. Lets ride together, we gonna do this...we gonna uprise as a nation and it’s gonna happen because I see it in my dreams...I see it in my reality. From then till now what goes up come down, what goes down comes back around again where it all began.
Red Era: Good looking for the interview Priest we look forward to Elizabeth.
Killah Priest: I’m so glad it coming out right now...peace brother.
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Originally Posted by Bronze Feet
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