You’ve really made a name for yourself on the underground scene. Lot’s of mixtapes out, Nacirema Dream’s taking some time, where are you at now?
Basically the Nacirema Dream from Papoose is still coming. You know what I’m saying? I got 19 mixtapes in the street, 19 albums… some people call ‘em mixtapes, some call ‘em albums. But Nacirema Dream is coming soon, we just handle a couple of things on the business side to make sure everything is right when the album come. You know I’m switching over from one label to another and we gonna be making announcement real soon, which label [it is].
Did you already pick a new label?
Like I said I can’t really talk too much about it but definitely we gonna let you know real soon where Papoose is gonna end up. I think a lot of people, a lot of my fans and supporters gonna be real happy about it.
The advance you got from Jive, did you get to keep it?
(Laughs) I keep everything. I keep everything that somebody give me. Everything I work for.
Jay-Z’s considered top lyricist in New York nowadays. Big L gone, Nas a bit in the shadows… What are your feelings about it?
Hey, utmost respect. I definitely pay homage to those who came before me. I feel like without that where can you go? How can you carry on if you don’t respect those who came before you? Much respect to Jay-Z. The way he brought to the table Hip Hop. Definitely. Most respect to Big L also. R.I.P.
How do you feel about making album songs with more of a commercial approach? You got songs with Scott Storch beats, Dr. Dre beats now…
I mean only thing I know how to do be is Papoose. I can’t be nobody else, you know what I’m saying? At the end of the day I’m just gonna be myself. Those who do their homework, listen to my material, know what I’m capable of. I have nothing to prove, I let my music speak for itself.
Do you see any upcoming collaborations with any artists? You’ve been mostly flying solo, besides Remy maybe.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You gonna hear some collaborations on the album. I’m open to working with anyone that’s talented and focused on what they doing.
What about like a Papoose camp?
Oh, definitely, Nation of Thug-A-Cation that’s my camp. They coming real soon, got their mixtape coming real soon.
Will Remy be on Nacirema Dream?
Yeah.
With her present situation, will it put a strain on your business relationship?
It’s no strain on nobody, you know I’m saying? Like I said at the end of the day Hip Hop is out culture, something that we live. Rap is something that we do. Shout out to Remy. Big shout out to Remy. That’s all I’m gonna say.
How do you feel about so called ‘ringtone rappers’? Is there place for you and place for them or do you feel that are just wack?
You know I’m not here to bash nobody ‘cause at the end o the day everybody trying to feed their family. But me, I take what I do to heart. That’s why you hear [my music] you hear the dedication. I do it from the heart. I’m not here to bash nobody for what they do. For their own personal reason they might be doing what they doing and feed their family you know what I’m saying? In due time, as they do it for longer period of time, they need to become better. Practice will make hem better.
What would be your advice to upcoming rappers?
Be persistent and be consistent. I can’t tell you what you can and can’t do. Bt as long as you’re consistent about it… And don’t be good at somebody else’s talent. Find what you god at, what you great at and shine. Shine beautiful, just shine. Don’t stop, just keep working. 1 interview, 2 shows, 3 DVDs, performances, that’s not enough. Consistency makes you who you are.
When you write your lyrics, do you see images and describe that or do you crate them from scratch?
Like I said everything I do I do it from the heart. I speak from life experiences, you know, what I go through or my peers, things my peers went through, throughout my life. I’m a reflection of where I grew up at, a reflection of my life, a reflection of my people. So you ear Papoose music you hear realism. I don’t sit down with a pen and a paper and write. Then I would talk about pen and paper. I write about my life. Life experiences.