Post by Adam B on Jul 19, 2005 9:52:30 GMT -5
Band Nubian Interview
by Adam Bernard
Brand Nubian. The group really needs no introduction, so forget a long flowery intro. The living legends recently took some time to speak with ReactMag about the way they've seen the music industry change over the years, how they felt about "Super Tuesday" back in 1998, and what listeners can expect from their upcoming release. Here's how it went.
Adam Bernard: Ya'll have done so much, what's the motivation for releasing another album?
Grand Puba: The love of the game, and knowing that you have fans and creatin new fans. Tryin to reach everybody we can, but the main drive is the love of the game.
AB: The last time you released an album you dropped it the same day as Outkast's Aquemini, Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life joint, and Tribe's final album. In an industry where timing is everything, how mad were you at your label for that?
Lord Jamar: They called it Super Tuesday at that time.
GP: We were forewarned. If it's gonna sell it's gonna sell.
LJ: You can't hide your sh*t, there's a new release every other f**kin week. You gotta put it out, you gotta do what you gotta do. We probably coulda waited a week.
GP: Would it have made a difference? Maybe for one week. They got it twisted that you gotta sell a certain amount of records in one week.
Sadat X: That's how a pimp likes to get his money, fast.
GP: But if you notice our first album didn't sell well right off the bat.
AB: Yeah, back in the day an album would come out and slowly gain sales, now an album sells well it's first week then quickly fades.
GP: That's that microwave sh*t. Shortenin the attention span of the listeners.
SX: There's a lot of good songs (out now), but they aren't really makin a lot of classics anymore.
AB: This time around what are you doing differently?
GP: Not doin nothing differently, it's the same format, same flow, just upgraded.
LJ: And what we did differently from the last album is we did everything ourselves this time and went back to the "All For One," "Slow Down" days.
A: Erick Sermon just released a dope album, but isn't getting any airplay. Are you worried that, being legends like Sermon, no matter how good your work is it won't be recognized because you don't roll with G-Unit, or have a faux high profile beef?
GP: Not really cuz that's the name of the game. You gotta go out there, you gotta work you gotta grind. That's like I said back on the first album nobody knew who Brand Nubian was, if we gotta do the same thing again so be it.
AB: You've had support from some interesting circles in the past, including Louis Farrakahn. What's your current relationship with the Minister?
LJ: He's somebody we respect but we don't have an ongoing relationship with him like that. We're not callin him every other week.
AB: This brings us to the subject matter of the new album, what can people expect?
GP: Basically the same thing. Some party records, records dealin with issues that's goin on in today's society, an overall Brand Nubian album.
AB: How much do you feel you've grown since you first came out?
SX: It's pretty much the same, we just got more intelligent, wiser, more wisdom, more of an understanding of the game.
AB: You worried at all about bootleggin this time around?
LJ: Nothing can be worse than when we first came out, that's when bootleggin was ridiculous. That doesn't even really cross my mind. I'm not runnin around like I used to.
AB: What's the one thing you see in today's rap that you never could have imagined seeing back in the day?
SX: Access. Back in the day you couldn't just turn the TV on and see a rap video on. It's 24/7 now, it's a good thing.
AB: Complete this sentence: the goal of Brand Nubian in 2004 is to....
SX: Make good music, make good money, educate the people, make people dance.
LJ: Feed our families.
AB: Anything else you want people to know?
LJ: We want people to know Brand Nubian is always going to add quality to the Hip-Hop game, and we're always going to be ourselves and make classic sh*t.
by Adam Bernard
Brand Nubian. The group really needs no introduction, so forget a long flowery intro. The living legends recently took some time to speak with ReactMag about the way they've seen the music industry change over the years, how they felt about "Super Tuesday" back in 1998, and what listeners can expect from their upcoming release. Here's how it went.
Adam Bernard: Ya'll have done so much, what's the motivation for releasing another album?
Grand Puba: The love of the game, and knowing that you have fans and creatin new fans. Tryin to reach everybody we can, but the main drive is the love of the game.
AB: The last time you released an album you dropped it the same day as Outkast's Aquemini, Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life joint, and Tribe's final album. In an industry where timing is everything, how mad were you at your label for that?
Lord Jamar: They called it Super Tuesday at that time.
GP: We were forewarned. If it's gonna sell it's gonna sell.
LJ: You can't hide your sh*t, there's a new release every other f**kin week. You gotta put it out, you gotta do what you gotta do. We probably coulda waited a week.
GP: Would it have made a difference? Maybe for one week. They got it twisted that you gotta sell a certain amount of records in one week.
Sadat X: That's how a pimp likes to get his money, fast.
GP: But if you notice our first album didn't sell well right off the bat.
AB: Yeah, back in the day an album would come out and slowly gain sales, now an album sells well it's first week then quickly fades.
GP: That's that microwave sh*t. Shortenin the attention span of the listeners.
SX: There's a lot of good songs (out now), but they aren't really makin a lot of classics anymore.
AB: This time around what are you doing differently?
GP: Not doin nothing differently, it's the same format, same flow, just upgraded.
LJ: And what we did differently from the last album is we did everything ourselves this time and went back to the "All For One," "Slow Down" days.
A: Erick Sermon just released a dope album, but isn't getting any airplay. Are you worried that, being legends like Sermon, no matter how good your work is it won't be recognized because you don't roll with G-Unit, or have a faux high profile beef?
GP: Not really cuz that's the name of the game. You gotta go out there, you gotta work you gotta grind. That's like I said back on the first album nobody knew who Brand Nubian was, if we gotta do the same thing again so be it.
AB: You've had support from some interesting circles in the past, including Louis Farrakahn. What's your current relationship with the Minister?
LJ: He's somebody we respect but we don't have an ongoing relationship with him like that. We're not callin him every other week.
AB: This brings us to the subject matter of the new album, what can people expect?
GP: Basically the same thing. Some party records, records dealin with issues that's goin on in today's society, an overall Brand Nubian album.
AB: How much do you feel you've grown since you first came out?
SX: It's pretty much the same, we just got more intelligent, wiser, more wisdom, more of an understanding of the game.
AB: You worried at all about bootleggin this time around?
LJ: Nothing can be worse than when we first came out, that's when bootleggin was ridiculous. That doesn't even really cross my mind. I'm not runnin around like I used to.
AB: What's the one thing you see in today's rap that you never could have imagined seeing back in the day?
SX: Access. Back in the day you couldn't just turn the TV on and see a rap video on. It's 24/7 now, it's a good thing.
AB: Complete this sentence: the goal of Brand Nubian in 2004 is to....
SX: Make good music, make good money, educate the people, make people dance.
LJ: Feed our families.
AB: Anything else you want people to know?
LJ: We want people to know Brand Nubian is always going to add quality to the Hip-Hop game, and we're always going to be ourselves and make classic sh*t.