10 Questions with Prefuse 73

1. How does it feel to be back in Atlanta?

2. What are the advantage/disadvantages of being on tour for a long period of time?

3. How would you describe your music to a total stranger in one sentence?

4. How do you go about the process of making a song?

5. What are your thoughts on the music industry as a whole right now?

6. What’s a natural day like for Prefuse 73 on/off tour?

7. If you could be any Simpsons’ character, which would you be?

8. What does the world look like in your eyes right now?

9. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

10. What’s your all-time favorite song from any genre?

This interview took place the same night as the Prefuse 73 show at The Drunken Unicorn. After bumping into
Prefuse a good hour or so before the opening act, we went backstage (a little bunker actually beside the stage
with two chairs and dirty brick walls) and tried to get comfortable. What I believed to be a fairly short interview,
only ten questions, turned out to become a lengthy dialogue between two humanists attempting to find some
sort of internal comfort in a disturbed and rapidly changing world. Since this interview went well over forty-five
minutes, I have cut out or shortened some of the dialogue in order to respect the interviewee's wishes and not
bore you, the reader. Check it out and feel free to comment.

R: Rampway
P: Prefuse 73
N: DJ Nobody
L: DJ Leblaze

R: How does it feel to be back in Atlanta?

P: How do I feel? I actually miss it. It's actually somewhat depressing.

R: What are the advantages/disadvantages of being on tour for a long period of time?

P: There's no advantages to being on tour. (Pause) I'm not into touring. I mean, I'm into making music, but I'm
not into touring. I like touring to make people happy, but beyond that, for myself, I don't get happy when I'm on
tour. I actually become the most depressed when I'm on tour, for sure.

R: I see. How would you describe your music to a total stranger in one sentence?

P: Hip Hop.

R: How do you go about making a song?

P: I don't think. I just grab things and go.

R: What are your thoughts on the music industry as a whole right now?

P: I think it's all fucked up. Oh, sorry. I think it's all messed up. (in a comedic voice)

Next, DJ Nobody suddenly joined the interview informing us of rumors surrounding Jay-Z's new boutique record
label, the importance of bongos in the hip hop industry, morbid obesity, and Permanent Erection Syndrome
(PES).

R: Is he your human dictionary?

P: Yeah. So, basically I think that shit is fucked up. This world is falling apart for sure man. Morbid obesity and
PES, which my friend DJ Nobody suffers from constantly on airplanes and anytime he's away from his fiancee. So,
I don't suffer so much from that as he does, but the PES does kick in on DJ Nobody.

R: Okay. What's a natural day like for you on/off tour?

P: I don't have many natural days, but screaming at my friends and chasing coffee. (Pause) I don't know. I don't
have very many normal days. I live a very 'unique' lifestyle as I learned today from a friend of mine named
Meadoi Todd.

R: If you could be any Simpson's character, which would you be?

P: Man, that's hard to say. Probably that drunk dude at the bar. Barney?

R: Yeah. So you think that world is 'fucked up', is that you view of the world right now?
P: I mean if I was going to be silly, of course. If I wasn't to be retarded we can talk about politics. We can change
the whole shit up and talk about the world's status, Katrina...

This is where the interview took a sharp turn and stretched into something more than I had ever expected it to
be.

R: Well, just give me an example. What do you wanna talk about?

P: We can talk about Cuban relations with the U.S. if you want.

R: Sure.

P: Okay. Fidel offered over a thousand doctors for the U.S. to take to help out with Katrina because he gave a
shit and the U.S. ignored every offer or every offer that he gave. He started out with a hundred and twenty-five,
raised the bar, and brought all these experienced, qualified doctors in to help and he won't let 'em in because it's
Cuba. Forty years of shunning this place. Okay? Right now we're on a plane tour, you know? And my real mother
is Cuban. Cubana. So, it's an important fact for me to keep up with this shit, but...they completely ignore this
big-ass island with no name on it. Meanwhile, all the places for the white man's fucking place to go to have a
holiday is listed and Puerto Rico is right next door. But Cuba...we're not even listed and we have everything.
Instead of that, George Bush enlists us as the Axis of Evil, you know what I mean? As far as I'm concerned, how
is Cuba the Axis of Evil if we're sitting there with thousands of doctors ready to help people and he won't even
acknolwedge that fact that they're there ready to help. You know?

R: Well, their philosophy is that 'if you're not with us, you're against us.'

P: I know and the thing is that it's a matter of compassion and understanding which goes back to. (Long pause)
I'm sorry. Please forgive my diction, but it's like a Tibetan chant and you should keep in mind that compassion
and understanding means to forgive and forget and let things move forward. The only way to let the future move
forward and everything move forward is to forgive and forget. And I've said things out of my ass before in my
career or whatever, you know? As far low as I am below a lot of people. I've said stupid things and I'm totally
fucking passed that and for him [George W. Bush], as a person in power, should completely ignore what has been
said and done because it's time to make peace with ways that could be vital for...

R: ...Relations.

P: Yeah, relations exactly. It's like we're ignoring a fucking nation that exists and we... (Pause) ignore them.
Puerto Rico is right next door, but they're a state. Cuba is completely shit on and there has to be an end to this.
There has to be a fucking real revolution that happens and it's not the revolution that happens in Cuba, it's the
revolution that happens from here to there where we help them out to make things right because they're stuck.
It's important to me that this gets solved because if the next president doesn't do it, then we're gonna have to
get together as people and make it happen because we're stuck. (Getting really emotional about this issue now)
That's ninety minutes away from the U.S.! It's time for the fucking American people to wake up and the
American-Cubans to wake up that are in the fucking office of Washington and make a move to stop voting for
Bush's decision to make it an Axis of Evil [issue.] I'm sick of this. It's becoming more and more ridiculous.
They're giving more, more, more as the U.S. is taking less and less and I think it's time for the people here to...

N: ...Reciprocation.

P: Hey, man. You need to get involved with this conversation. I think that it's time for us...here. (hands Nobody
the voice recorder)

N: Reciprocation is when one thing receives something and gives back to the thing that sent it. Rain is considered
reciprocation because the sky gives the water to the land and the land evaporates it back into the sky.

R: Like an opposite and equal reaction.

N: In a political sense, for example Brazil, the hard time they give to us, it says in their consulate, is
a reciprocation for the hard time we give to them.

P: Right. That's why we go to Brazil and we get our picture taken. If you're from the U.S., you go to Brazil you
get your picture taken just like they would do to here, if you weren't from here. Canada is the same way. They'll
try to fucking stick you out if you stand out in any possible way.
N: (yelling) You know what's really fucked up? Is that shit that At The Drive-In did a video about, about those
people getting killed on their way to the border by those fucking vigilantes. That shit is still happening, just as
rampantly, but it's just not in the news as much.

P: Yeah.

N: They have these makeshift graves that all the people that are going to the border leave for these bodies they
find. It's the between the lower part of Texas and Mexico.

P: Me and my assistant got chased for two hours outside of Phore (spelling?) in Mexico, going outside of El Paso,
just because I was asleep in the backseat. My feet were sticking up. He pulled us over, took us for an hour just
questioning me. He's like, 'Yo! Why you got a Georgia driver's license and your car is registered in a New York
address?' because I have an apartment in New York. It just made me realize how shit is still fucked up there and
any other place.

R: Well, what did you look like? Did you have a full beard?

P: (laughing) Yeah, probably. Yeah.

R: You know, if you were a blonde-haired white dude there...

P: Of course. Well, that's lucky for all the blonde-haired white dudes. Exactly. They're lucky that they got it like
that, but when some of us go to Canada, we don't. We sit at the border no matter where we're at. We sat at the
border last time, just me and him. (Pointing to Nobody) We played a two-man show; we sat at the border for
three hours. The guy at the passport control is like, 'Hey, you guys here to play a show? Oh, cool. Why don't you
go right there to immigration?' When immigration gave us shit, three hours went by. She got us a ticket to
Seattle because of the next flight out. She wanted to deport us. We gave her the number. My assistant called me
and she gave us the number to get in. We gave her like this phone number, which I didn't even think it would get
us in and we got in! So, she started yelling at me saying, 'This wasted our time. Whoever did this, he was
screwing you.' I was like, 'Yo, I can't help it if their promoter is like slack, but here's the number to let us in' and
meanwhile, we see J-Rocc and Peanut Butter Wolf just getting in. We're like, 'There's not a problem here.' Yeah,
we're just playing. We're playing a show and we're out. We're leaving the next day. We're not here to fucking
take over your country or be the Axis of Evil or whatever the fuck, despite our names. Despite our first names or
last names...

R: ...Like your turntable needle has poison in it or something.

P: Yeah. I'm so sick of it, but my main point for me, if you were to talk to me personally is that there's so many
things fucked up with the U.S. relations with other countries, especially with Cuba. All my records are pointed
towards there. The things that are right, the things that inspire me, the things that I've seen, noticed, and read
about and try to fill my head with so much knowledge and keys to life about what is happening to Cuba and why
it's so fucked up. It's fucked up because every president in power blocked this.

R: I'm from another country, too. I'm from Iran.

P: Yeah, of course you would know then.

R: You know like the last year or so after Iraq, they've been dodging Iran like, 'Oh, you're building
nuclear weapons' and they're trying to build up the same thing. I read an article today saying that the
U.N. is gonna try and sanction Iran if they don't do anything about it.

P: They're trying to front on y'all big time. Right now, they're trying to say the same shit about Iraq and you
know what it is? Yo, I'll tell you right now what it is. At first it was kind of like, 'Hmm. I don't know what we're
gonna do about this.' I'll tell you what it is: It's fucking Katrina man. That shit that's happening domestically just
as everything is. It's all domestic. It's domestic fucking deterrence from what is really going on here internally.
You know always point our eye to the outside, instead of pointing it into the inside. We got mad shit to deal with
here. We don't! The president does. What can me and you do? We can reach in our pockets and pull out twenty
bucks. Here. Naw!

R: How do we even know if it gets there or not?

P: Exactly. Exactly. We got people that are dying that are thinking they're going to be killed by the government.
Especially a minority and that's the whole thing. There definitely has to be some sort of revolution that happens
soon, with the people, not with the government. The government is not gonna do shit. The system isn't gonna
shit. You have to ignore what is popular in our subculture, how fucking fresh your car is, how dope your shoes
are, how fucking much that Coke commercial is gonna pay you. Cool, you wanna make some loot? Make some
loot. That's fine. Everybody's gotta make their loot. Whatever, I'm over that shit. We got to make a revolution
internally within our people and people of minority have to make that happen. We all have to get together and
make a fucking difference.

At that time, the soundman in charge for the show's sound that night asked him a quick question about their
setup and fortunately gave both of us a short break to get our thoughts back together.

P: So, I think that if we had a revolution in the late '60s and a civil rights movement, it's time to take this
globally and make a movement for everybody. I think that it's time for a universal type of change because there's
famine and everywhere we go, you look everywhere besides here, we try to hide it, we try to put it under the
table. It's time to make something happen, you know?

R: Well, let me ask you something else. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

P: Probably working on what I'm talking about right now.

R: Really?

P: Probably. I love music so much, but one-half of me is one hundred percent devoted to the change of what's
happening in this world because it's so sad and there's so many great people that did so much for a change and
were so not about self, but more about their people. For example, in Cuba we started out as indigenous Indians,
then the Spanish came and suddenly you're Spanish. The Spanish came, raped those people and instilled slavery,
but the beautiful thing about Cuba is that the white, the black, the indigenous Indians all worked together to
abolish that shit and that's the one thing that Cuba has that a lot of places don't have. Everybody worked
together. Even if you're a white Cuban, you're considered Creole. Not to be confused with Haitian Creole or
French Creole. You're from Spain, you work for the revolution, and you try to overcome...(A long thoughtful and
bewildering pause conjures the moment) I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm getting...

R: ...It's okay. I know this is a very emotional subject.

P: Yeah, this is what you're gonna get from me. This is where my music comes from, you know? It's like; those
are the people that were moving things and making things happen because we were all working together by not
worrying about the 'self.' That's what happens. You have Indians; you have people that look like you, me,
and him (Pointing at Nobody) all working together. They're not concerned by any kind of territorial shit. They're
worried about these people coming in, taken over, and totally changing up the whole shit. (Pause) We're in a
crisis, man. The U.S. is in a crisis itself, but we're in a crisis as far as outside countries go. I feel like Cuba is just
left out. Oh, it's a great place to visit if you're a European. You can go there and just fuck a prostitute just like
the Dominican Republic. That's great for you if you're anybody that's not from the U.S., you can go there and
have your holiday in the sun bullshit or whatever. If you're from here and you're a moving Cuban-American, you
ain't going back. You can't go there because we're refused visitation rights. Money rights are split in half for the
whole family. Think about that. Think about how messed up that is. Maybe a lot of people should learn the history
of Cuba, what was done, and how many revolutions were attempted before Fidel pulled off his. But there was still
a sinking boat. It was only him and a few of his boys and they so fucked him over, man. You people wearing Che
shirts, think again about what you're wearing. Think about the philosophies.

R: Like a Che shirt is a commodity nowadays. If you have a star on your wristband, you're
automatically a 'revolutionist', but you're not doing anything actively. You're just spending your
money into capitalism and feeding the system like everybody else.

P: Exactly. You are feeding the system. So, people that are wearing Che shirts should be thinking about, 'Yo! Do
you even know?' I would like to pose this question, 'Do you even know? Is he Cuban?' I like to ask that to all
people that are rocking like Che shit. That's my question from Prefuse. 'Do you think that he's Cuban? Do you
think that he's Cubano?' (Pause) Surprise! He's not. He's not. He's not. 'And where did he die and what did he die
from?' That's the mystery that I'm gonna leave you to unfold. I'm not even gonna answer it for you. That shit is
a...

R: The world doesn't know man.

P: They don't know.

R: I've read and I've seen pictures of FBI and CIA agents in Europe surrounding his dead body. They
killed 'em. They assassinated him like any other leader that's against their system...

P: They assassinate them.

R: ...I mean, why are FBI and CIA agents surrouding his dead body and examining his corpse...

P: We wonder! We wonder!

R: Just go online and...

P: Yeah! All you people gotta do is go online. You can just punch in Che and you can find out so much more about
'em. This ain't The Motorcycle Diaries! This isn't like his mission statement, you know what I mean? That was all
the pre-revolution shit. Understand what's really going on in this world and who he is as a mentor to you.
(Reflective pause) Everything! Everything that he did. Maybe some of his violent ideals might get to you if you
think that he's such a hero. (Short pause) Because I don't believe in that. I don't believe in violent ideals. I
believe in peaceful calm with the community. The peaceful calm when we all get together and make a movement.
Not when we all get together and raise guns. That's me! I believe that we get together; we form a community,
and ideas. Ideas form strength and ideas form revolution. Revolution doesn't come from bullets and killing
others. We don't have to kill anybody to make a point about what we're trying to commence or proof. It all comes
from the soul, the heart, the mind, and compassion for other people.

R: Yeah. If you wanna look at it from a biblical view, you can even look as far back as Jesus...

P: Exactly!

R: ...He was a rebel and he was a revolutionist in his own right . He went against the mainstream; he
went against the church and said, 'I'm God. I'm God's Son.' People didn't believe him. There was no
violence really, except the violence that they imposed on him.

P: Yeah, yeah. It's circular. We keep going in circles. Whatever wars or pseudo revolutions there are, we really
have to take a stand and start taking responsibility for the people that are less fortunate than us. I'm not talking
about like joining-UNICEF-and-giving-a-dollar-a-day-for-a-cup-of-coffee type shit. We gotta get involved. At least,
if you're on a platform, if you're a musician and you have a place to speak, if you're gonna speak, speak about
that shit. Don't speak about your fucking career. I don't give a fuck about your career and I don't give a fuck
about mine. I'm out here playing music for people because they wanna hear it. Besides that, my focus lies on
people. That's people. I think more people need to realize that. I don't care about your new album, I don't care
about shit, and I don't care about you. I care about is people as a whole. Not just you as an individual and your
new record, man! Stick it up your ass! It doesn't matter to me. We have to come together and provide peace.
So, bump all this fronting shit like, 'Oh, I made a dope new record! Oh, I got a whole new career in front
of me.' Fuck your career, man. You're career is gonna be over, anyway. One day your career will be over and you
will be in the dollar bin. It doesn't matter. It's all truth. It's about peace. It's about the bigger picture, you know?
The way we look, the way we dress. You're dipped, I'm kinda dipped, we're all dipped. We all got our clothes on
and we look great. Whatever! It's all about other people. I'll go naked before I see another person die! So, that's
my point.

R: Alright. Let me ask you one more thing. What's your all-time favorite song from any genre? I hate
to ask after such an emotional subject.

P: Naw. My favorite song of all-time is Man of Words by Booker Little because he knew, at the time that he was
writing it, that he was dying and I guess it's just emotional. I'm drawn to emotional music. So, I feel like his
music was definitely...(Pause) well that song in particular is just like a circular motion of...it's sort of like a...I
don't know. The cats in my band are more able to answer this question than me, but it's more of a circular scale
with solos on top. He knew he was dying and the white man wouldn't help 'em. (Giving me the voice recorder
back)

R: Alright. I guess that's it man.

P: Rasheed (DJ Leblaze), why don't you say something man. This is Atlanta shit. Say something.

R: You wanna say something? This is going to be online.

L: Oh. Hello? Welcome to Prefuse 73 show! He does all the crazy acrobatics...
R: ...Backspin?

L: Yeah, he does a backspin. Yeah. It's tough, tough. His wig falls off usually. (Everyone laughing)

That was the end of the interview and just a few minutes later, DJ Leblaze blessed the stage with his set. If you
want to read a review of the show later on that night, you can also find it within this issue.

Thanks to Scott H. for the interview and for sharing some of his time, thoughts, and presence with me
personally. Peace!

For more information on Prefuse 73 go to:

http://www.prefuse73.com/