Rampage Interview: Have You Seen?

by Alex Shtaerman

After a period of relative inactivity, Hip-Hop fans will be hearing from the Flipmode Squad once again. As the Squad’s general, Busta Rhymes, prepares to send fans into orbit with his highly anticipated new LP, The Big Bang, Flipmode’s lieutenant, Rampage, wants to show you a little something with his own brand new album Have You Seen? In case you haven’t noticed, since dropping his well received debut Scout’s Honor…By Way Of Blood, Rampage has actually been out of sight. But as the Last Boy Scout reveals, Hip-Hop was never out of mind. “I still got that extra dynamic, jump you up, smack you in your face, wild for the night, 2006 shit”, declares Ramp. With production by The Neptunes and guest appearances from Busta Rhymes, Rah Digga, Sean Paul, Capleton and Sean Price, Have You Seen? will certainly make fans take notice. Recently we talked to Rampage about the new album and caught up on some Flipmode history.

RIOTSOUND.COM: The fans haven’t heard from you in a major way in quite some time; what have you been doing these last few years?

RAMPAGE: I just been going through a lot of label changes and contracts and stuff that I was caught up in and I have been working on my album in between that. I had to take a couple of years off to restart my engine. I’ve been on the road with Flipmode for a minute, so it was time for everybody to take a break for a [little while]. So now I’m back to the drawing board with this new album Have You Seen?

RIOTSOUND.COM: The new album flows really good together and has a very cohesive feel to it. It seems like your sound on this record is fresh but it’s also, in a way, a throwback sound. It strikes a balance between new and old without going too much in any one direction; how were you able to accomplish that and make it so effective?

RAMPAGE: I don’t like nothing [out] now; I’ll just tell you, I don’t like nothing. I’m just straight off the top. So when people might’ve thought – he fell off, I just kept a balance in between work and [everything else]. I have been maintaining recording records; I record like four songs a day. I deal with a lot of major producers in the game and they have just been sending me beats. So what I would do is in between going through the contract things, I would just stay recording. I would just stay low, nobody see me; I’m not in no clubs. I’m just home with my daughters and I’m writing everyday in my head and then I just go in the studio. And I keep on maintaining my art and my craftsmanship.

RIOTSOUND.COM: As far as Flipmode goes, for a while it seemed like the crew was dormant; now Busta Rhymes is dropping an album, you’re dropping an album, are we seeing a resurgence?

RAMPAGE: Hell yeah, you’re going to see a whole lot of that. Like I said, we had to restart the engine. We had to take a break for a while because we’ve been doing it for a long time and like with most crews, when you’ve been on the road for so many years, sometimes you gotta do you for a minute. And now we just decided, lets get back and let’s put [the music] back out on the street. Let’s not let the fans forget that Flipmode is the Squad! You know what I’m saying. Busta, he sparked the whole thing. He putting out an album, so I told him I’m putting out my album. So he was like – fuck it, let’s do it together. And now the whole crew is coming, Rah Digga is gonna be dropping her album [too]. We all had to shut down for a minute and [take a break]. But we just want to let everybody know that we ain’t going nowhere.

RIOTSOUND.COM: You got a track on the new album called “Nothing In This World” where you incorporate the reggae flavor into your rhymes and also you talk about the importance of getting an education. The way you flow on that song and some of the things you say really reminds me of KRS One, both as far as the actual rhyme style as well as the subject matter. Can you talk about that?

RAMPAGE: I’m a big fan of KRS One and he taught me over the many years I’ve listened to him how to make sure you get your message across through words. There’s a lot of artists that come out and just be rapping about nothing and that’s why they fall off. I’m like one of them KRS One type of dudes where my voice is loud so I got to make the world feel me! And I believe in [looking towards] the future. I got children and I want them to get an education because I got an education. I want to tell the youth that instead of hustling on the block they need to get an education. I believe in telling the children to go to school because then they can do whatever they want in the world. Just do it.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Since you worked with The Neptunes on your album, one thing I want to ask you, as you are more from the old school way of thinking, do you think as far as greatest Hip-Hop producers of all time Pharrell is underrated? Obviously you got cats like Dr. Dre, Marley Marl, Rza and DJ Premier to contend with, but The Neptunes’ sound is definitely unique and has made a profound impact in recent years. Do you think Hip-Hop scholars, old school cats or whoever else may be judging things when it’s all said and done will ever put someone like Pharrell in the same category as a DJ Premier or a Rza?

RAMPAGE: Pharrell’s impact is incredible. Him and Chad are some incredible dudes. I feel definitely he’s one of those classic producers. And I feel that definitely he will go down in history as a classic producer. The Neptunes will definitely go down in history as classic producers. I truly believe that and they’re definitely icons of the game.

RIOTSOUND.COM: As far as the incident on Busta Rhymes’ video set, the shooting that took place has been widely publicized and the mainstream media is having a field day teeing off on Hip-Hop as usual and saying that rappers are fostering violence; how do you feel about everything that took place?

RAMPAGE: You could quote me on this, let’s get back to the music. I don’t want to talk about any press, you know what I’m saying. This is Hip-Hop music and that ain’t really nothing. Everybody just need to be an artist and keep it moving. Forget all the negativity, forget all the rap cops. You just try to do what you gotta do man. You just gotta move how you been moving. I just wish everybody would just get back to the music instead of the negative press. That’s what I’m trying to do, get back to the music. I ain’t trying to see no negatives in my life.

RIOTSOUND.COM: For those that may not know, can you talk about how you originally got into Hip-Hop and how your career began?

RAMPAGE: What really made me want to do Hip-Hop was back in the days Busta had this box and he was playing a tape of Busy Bee battling Kool Moe Dee. We was sitting on his step at 32nd and Tilden, where he used to live in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He came out with an old cassette tape deck and we sat down and listened to this battle and he was on the steps writing rhymes in one of them old school notebooks; you know, them black and white ones. He was writing rhymes and reading his mathematics and he was always rhyming. I would always be there so I just started to pick up on it.

I ain’t get really serious until Bus got put on and he was in the Leaders Of The New School and he was dealing with a producer at that time by the name of Backspin. Bus always been my family. So one day he’s in the studio with Backspin and Backspin had just finished mixing a record for me. [At that time] I wasn’t even thinking about rhyming, I was just thinking about finishing school and doing what I had to do. So Backspin, who’s my cousin as well, played Bus a joint from me and [at the time] we didn’t realize that we were all family. Backspin’s mother is twins with my pops and my pops and Bus’ pops is brothers. So Backspin was like – yo, I got this kid Rampage, this shit sound hot. And Bus was like – that’s my cousin. And [Backspin] was like – get the fuck outta here, that my cousin. So they both called me up on the phone like, come around the corner right now! That was the same week that I seen Bus on Pump It Up! and ever since then I’ve been on.

He inspired me to do this music thing. He said, either you gonna go to college or you gonna come over here with me and make this move and we do this Flipmode thing. That was at the time the Leaders [conflict] happened between him and Charlie Brown. So he was like – man, it’s time to do Flipmode. And then the next thing you know he hooked up a deal with Dallas Austin through Rowdy Records and I was signed over there as well. I was the first artist to be signed to Flipmode. My cousin is a good dude; he put me on, but he also showed me a lot about the business. He inspired me to do this.

RIOTSOUND.COM: For younger fans or anyone else who may not have had a chance to hear your music, what’s the one thing you want to tell them?

RAMPAGE: Go buy more Rampage albums [laughs]. I’m bringing new heat to the record industry. Like you said, a balance. I’m bringing a balance of the old and the new but I still got that extra dynamic, jump you up, smack you in your face, wild for the night, 2006 shit. So I advise all you new cats to pay attention to the game and learn your history on this Hip-Hop shit and buy more Flipmode albums and buy more Rampage albums and buy more Busta Rhymes albums. You’ll get a lot, we come with that next shit, know what I mean; Flipmode’s the Squad.

RIOTSOUND.COM: You got your new album dropping June 6th, what are your plans for the future?

RAMPAGE: My plans for the future is I got a lot of label deal situations with my company Deep Freeze Entertainment. I got an artist coming out, her name is Lady Day; she’s the R&B first lady of Deep Freeze Entertainment. Also I’m writing a book called “No Love In The Room” and I’m also going to be doing a movie by the same name.

RIOTSOUND.COM: What’s the book and movie going to be about?

RAMPAGE: The book and the movie is about how I grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. My pops wasn’t really there for my family and [the book] covers just all the bugged out stuff I was going through in my life. Its how I grew up, what I used to listen to, what I thought about when my moms wasn’t home with me, my brothers and my sisters, and all things like that. I got a track on the new album called “No Love In The Room”, so just pay attention to that, ‘cause I’ma do a spinoff of that for [this project]. Plus I got a double CD coming out after this one called The Demographics CD.

If cats wanna get at me direct they can hit me up on my email, that’s www.myspace.com/LieutenantRampage. They can talk to me direct, I’m always on there. If DJs need drops or whatever, just holla at me, I’m ready to roll. And make sure you go get my album on June 6th and make sure you get Busta’s album as well. And remember, Flipmode is the Squad. I love all you fans, so holla at the kid.