shig phlare - new, unsigned, underground, and old school hip hop artists

What's the name of your album?

Right now, that's like the last thing on my mind. I'm just making sure that when you cop that... it's head banging! From track one to seventeen, it's banging the hell out. You gonna wanna get out your jeep on the highway and park that shit, you just gonna be like dammmmmn this shit is crazy right now. For real, so I'm just concentrating on making the music, the names .. I'll come up with the name of the album like the day before it's finished... that's unimportant to me.

*editors note - for development purposes I choose to call the album "The Untitled Project." Shig, your free to use that without any financial obligates. -- i made the word up

When you make a song what comes first the beat or the lyrics?

Sometimes songs come from being in the studio just vibin, it's like you got to catch it, it's like a wave.

Do you write your lyrics down?
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I write them down, but some of them are improvised. I come put my hooks in on the spot. I'm not a hook nigga. Hooks is for them fish niggas, I just make sure my shit is banged out, and it's hot, you get the point.. straight up! I'm from the time of lyricists, when you just be spitting. The hook used to be on some yes, yes, y'all to the beat y'all. Nowadays hip hop done got watered down and nigga wnat hear hooks before they hear the lyrics, but I got the hooks for the fishes.

Do you think it's possible to be succesful without major stations playing your record, dj's like Flex spinning it, or not having MTV blazing you up?

The way hip hop is right now, the underground done blew up, there is no more underground. You just gotta come out, no what I'm saying? So basically I want my shit played by everybody. I want everybody playing my joints... the so called underground, aboveground, niggas from out the subway is pushing big fat whips now, they driving trains, duke.

Some people just choose to be independent.. like a lot of kids down south, they sell their little fifty thou or whatever, on their own label.. nobody knows them, but they're making platinum money, more than a lot of "signed" artists.

I'm feeling them niggas right there, we got keep that shit going too, but as an mc I want to be heard and seen. That's what I got in this for. I didn't know all of the big, big platinum was gonna come but it's here now. We got millions and millions of people buying our shit. I'm tryin to be heard and if it's millions then, so it be. But you can't knock them cats down south just because you don't hear them. I respect them for what they do.

How do you feel about MP3's and Napster?

Technology is good. You gotta compensate somebody for they art though, they spend time writing and building n' shit.. niggas gotta get money. But niggas is getting heard and people is hearing your shit, if they want to steal your shit off Napster or a MP3 site... that's more promotion for you. Just make sure your business is right and you get some money for it. You ain't gonna get every single cent, but get something for it. That's what is gonna keep the music going and that's all we got in these times is music. So anything to keep that going I'm for it.