You make people laugh for a living. Does the music of today make you laugh or cry?
It makes me laugh. It makes me feel good. It has a beat. It comes from us. Its like jazz. We created that. They’ve taken it away from us and they’re trying to take Hip Hop but we’re not gonna let them. I love Hip Hop. It’s the best.
Hey, you have an accent, where are you from?
Russia.
Do you know about Pushkin? He taught you your language. He was like me, he was black.
He was half black, that is true, from his mother.
He wasn’t half anything. You have any black in you, black dominates, he was black.
I’m Jewish, so what does that make me?
Then you’re black too.
There we go.
There you go.
You address a lot of issues from racism to poverty. In Hip Hop, how much do you feel it still represents social issues?
Everything! It rules. It rules in all areas. Even little white kids. White is the new black because of Hip Hop. Even [the more commercial stuff] is all influenced from Hip Hop. It’s like all dancing is influenced from Africa. From ballet to jazz. It’s an influence.
Has your audience change in the recent days?
I have fans from 8 to 80. black, white, yellow, male, female. I have a huge fan base.
You don’t like the expression ‘urban music’. Why is that?
‘Cause it’s made by white folks. I don’t like white folks making up words like ‘race car’ or ‘reverse discrimination’. It’s ghetto. It’s black. It’s color. It’s negro.
On that note, how do you feel about the overabundance of use of the N-word?
I don’t use. I don’t want to use it. They say we use it with the E or R… if it’s a pig, it’s a pig. You can’t change it.
So after making other people laugh, what makes you laugh yourself?
What makes me laugh? Bush.