Juelz Santana steps in for the latest exclusive Industry Interview for THE3XGP.COM! Rick From Chicago talked to Juelz about his new Skull Gang project, Cam’ron’s return to rap, the 50 Cent/Rick Ross beef, Kobe and LeBron’s historic games at MSG, his thoughts on Michael Phelps smoking weed and you’ll never guess who’s he’s trying to get for his upcoming album, Born To Win, Built To Lose!

Juelz Santana

RFC: It’s been 4 years since you’ve released your last solo album, What The Game’s Been Missing! It seems like the game has been missing you ever since then. How are you doing today Mr. Santana A!?

Juelz Santana: A! I’m doing beautiful, I’m doing great. I’m happy that people been checking for me. You know, people been missing me. People want to know what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been u to. I never really went nowhere like that, I’ve just been doing other things as recording but definitely it’s been a little while since I put my last album out. I’m out of my situation that I was in and was holding me up so right now I’m ready to bite niggas and get on they ass.

The Diplomats – Dipset Anthem (2003)

RFC: You were a prominent member in the Diplomats group…

Juelz Santana: (Interjects) I still am, Diplomats is still what it is, don’t ever get it twisted. It’s just that I’m not doing business with Cam (Cam’ron) no more, that’s the only difference right now. So it’s not that I’m not a Diplomat, Skull Gang is just another entity underneath the umbrella you know what I’m saying? Ya dig. And we always had Skull Gang even if me and Cam still did business, it would have been DipSet/Skull Gang just like it is now.

Juelz Santana Presents…Skull Gang – Takeover (2008)

RFC: And now you are your own boss with your crew the Skull Gang which stands for “Street Kids United by Loyalty and Loot.” What have you learned from being in the DipSet that you can apply to the Skull Gang and take it to the next level?

Juelz Santana: Just that grind, that sense of hard work…putting in that grind work. Know what I’m saying? That’s one thing. You know our following is big because of that. We put in a lot of grind work and we were doing a lot of things that other people weren’t doing. That’s one of the things I definitely want to take and head over to my team. As long as we go hard and we put in that grind work and we do a little bit of things that these people aren’t doing you know, the results will speak for it self.

Skull Gang (ft. Juelz Santana, Rabb, & John Depp) – Don’t Want You Back (2009)

RFC: Skull Gang is releasing a new music video every week for 2 months. That’s like…8 videos man! Were all of them shot by Scenario?

Juelz Santana: Yeah.

RFC: What is the album title and when will it be released?

Juelz Santana: Right now it’s self titled, Skull Gang na mean? It’s the new movement to move wit.

Juelz Santana, Jim Jones & Freekey Zeekey – XXL (March 2009)

RFC: I’m sure by now you’ve answered at least one Cam’ron question for every interview you’ve done in the past couple of years. So let’s get this one out of the way! Cam’ron has finally resurfaced with a new track (‘I Hate My Job’) and will be appearing on the April 2009 cover of XXL, which ironically you, Jim Jones and Freekey Zeekey are currently on this month’s issue. What do you think about Cam’s new song?

Juelz Santana: I wish him the best man. Like I said I just wanted to get out of a bad situation that I was in, which was my business deal ya dig what I’m saying? And I have no reason to hold no hard feelings because at the end of the day Cam gave me my shot to be able to do a lot of these things that I’m doing now. But I like I still say, he took advantage you know what I’m saying? So I had to get out of my business deal. But besides that, I wish him the best and that’s what it is.

Jim Jones & Ron Browz ft. Juelz Santana – Pop Champagne (2008)

RFC: I guess the hottest topic in the hip-hop world right now that everybody is buzzing about is the 50 Cent / Rick Ross beef. What’s your take on this new rivalry?

Juelz Santana: Wow. This is hip-hop. It’s competitive. It’s competition. It’s definitely competitive in a lot of ways. As an artist you just gotta prepare for every and anything know what I’m saying? It’s definitely buzzing you know…50 is doing the things he likes to do (laughs) and you know Rick Ross has got to know how to handle it, he’s gotta know how to deal with it. The game is chess, not checkers. Not everybody is the man, so you just gotta deal with shit as it comes. Hopefully it doesn’t get out of control.

Juelz Santana at the 2008 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors show

RFC: You are one piece of the puzzle on The-Dream’s hot new remix for ‘Rockin’ That Thang.’ What was it like to be part of a Def Jam All-Star collaboration like that? Did you guys record your verses together or individually in the studio?

Juelz Santana: I didn’t know anybody was going to be on the record like that, you know what I’m saying? I only knew that Fab (Fabolous) was going to be on the record. They asked me to be on the record and I just went in. I wasn’t really thinking about of all them other people that were going to be on the record, I just did me, na mean? I just lead the way I do me all the time. And the shit came out hard. Whoa…look at shorty roll…A lot of people say I got the best verse but I don’t want to get on there but hey… (laughs).

Ace Hood, Juelz Santana, Fabolous & Jadakiss – The Cypher Freestyle (2008 BET Hip-Hop Awards)

RFC: It’s no secret that you are one who enjoys a good smoke. As a public figure yourself, how do you feel when you hear a story like Michael Phelps being scrutinized for being photographed with a bong? Is the media too hard on celebrities?

Juelz Santana: Um..I definitely think so. Nigga wanna smoke, he can smoke…he can do whatever he wanna do, he a grown man! At the end of the day you know he wasn’t smoking when he won the gold medals and he wasn’t caught smoking when he was doing the things he was doing to get the medals. So if he’s on his off time and he wants to smoke marijuana…you know people in L.A. even have prescription cards to smoke weed so I definitely don’t think it’s something to get too crazy about Michael Phelps smoking weed. If anything, he made us look good!

RFC: You are one of the top artists who are the forefront of the rap game leading into the next generation. Are there any artists out there that you think is killing hip-hop right now?

Juelz Santana: I think there are a lot of artists that are killing hip-hop. But I don’t want to get into it cause you know that’s gonna start some unnecessary shit, which I don’t really give a fuck. But you know these artists know what they doing. These wack niggas know they wack. Na mean? (laughs). These niggas know they wack, shit like that. There’s a lot of artists that know they ain’t doing they jobs. How would I say it…they ain’t carrying the torch the way it’s supposed to be carried ya dig what I’m saying? A lot of people put in a lot of work for us to able to do the things we do now, to make the kind of money we’re able to make in this game right now. Niggas is just sloppy and lazy. That’s why the Skull Gang movement is here, to show niggas how they supposed to be doing.

Angie Martinez with Juelz Santana at his Notorious screening

RFC: I read that you brought 300 of your friends and family to the screening of the Notorious film last month.

Juelz Santana: Yeah I did that. Some old school Rich Porter shit. Rented out the whole movie theater, bought 15 cases of champagne, I paid for a liquor license just so everybody could be drinking in the movie theater. So I had to pay for a catering license for us to be in there. It was a real good look, family and friends were there, entertainment people were there. Maino came out, Angie Martinez, (DJ) Enuff, a lot of the DJ’s came out, Ebro Darden from Hot 97 (program director)…(DJ) Clue came out. It was an extravaganza, Jim (Jones) was there, Freekey (Zeekey) was there, I was there. If it’s going to be something monumental, I like to do something special as far as renting out the movie theater. That was something different; I like to do things different. That’s something I know peoples will always remember watching the Biggie movie and doing it the way we did was monumental. We’ll always remember that Juelz rented out the movie theater and watched the Biggie movie, who gon forget that? It was great, it was great.

Juelz Santana remembers The Notorious B.I.G.

RFC: Was the Notorious B.I.G. somebody you looked up to in the rap game while you were on the come up?

Juelz Santana: Hell yeah, hell yeah, Biggie was great also. Biggie was the illest. I fuck with Biggie a whole lot. I think he was a real ahead of his time…I don’t think I knew how far he was ahead of his time until he passed away. And that’s when I embraced that Life After Death album cause that album was immaculate. Like to be a double CD, you know what I mean that album was immaculate. Both CD’s were like a new album, it was a well put together project, the way the songs were structured one after another. That whole project was just ill. I was mad Biggie’s time was cut short. I’m sure he would have accomplished a lot more things and I feel like the rap game would definitely have been different if he was here. A lot of these wack niggas wouldn’t be able to eat, na mean?

Juelz Santana & Lil’ Wayne

RFC: One of my favorite tunes on Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III is the track you and Fabolous guest appeared on for ‘You Ain’t Got Nothin’, produced by The Alchemist. This question is for the mixtape heads. Is there any update on the Lil’ Wayne I Can’t Feel My Face project?

Juelz Santana: Actually that’s not a mixtape no more, that’s going to be an album. So that’s the reason why we’re delaying right now. If it was going to be a mixtape we would put it out, that would be the least of our concerns. Ther’es a lot of politics going on as far the labels and shit like that but we gonna get it done.

Skull Gang frontline

RFC: Let’s talk about sports. Any thoughts on Kobe Bryant dropping 61 points on your New York Knicks?

Juelz Santana: Disrespectful. Kobe gonna come to New York and do that like that? (laughs) That’s what Kobe does, he has 3 rings. Any night he wants to have 60, he’s going to have 60. He’s that type of player that I look at that I’d like to base my rap career as the way he plays that ball. He’s so aggressive, he’s so much of a leader, and he’s so much of a control taker at any given time. People rely on him to get the job done.

RFC: What about LeBron James dropping a 52 point triple-double in the same week?

Juelz Santana: He’s another one, he’s awesome. Disrespectful, but he’s awesome. The Garden (MSG) brings something out of people. The Garden is just exciting man. You never know who’s in the building. I was at that LeBron game, it was a star studded affair. Puffy (Diddy), L.A. Reid, Jay-Z, I was there. All type of actors were there…Whoopi Goldberg was there. It’s Madison Square Garden, niggas wanna show off and these niggas play for keeps when they come to the Garden man. That’s the Mecca, ya dig what I’m saying? Shout to my nigga Tim Thomas, shout to Malik Rose and Nate Robinson, them definitely my niggas right there. Also shout to my niggas Vince Carter, D-Wade (Dwyane Wade), these are my niggas that I fuck with personally.

Juelz Santana – What The Game’s Been Missing! was released on Tuesday, November 22, 2005.

RFC: Your upcoming album, Born To Lose, Built To Win is growing with anticipation. What does this record mean to you?

Juelz Santana: Everything, this is like my Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album that’s what I’m preppin’ up for. I’m gearing up, I’m not trying to rush nothing, I’ve been away for a little while, I didn’t just wanna drop a single and drop an album. I felt like the people deserve more from me and that’s why I’ve been doing the Skull Gang thing, getting ready for The Reagan Era mixtape.

Skull Gang familia

RFC: Is that out yet?

Juelz Santana: No that’s not out yet, but believe you gon know because that’s like an album. I’ve been gone for a while so I got a lot of songs that’s not going to make it on my album, so I’m not gonna put as many freestyles as I usually do on a mixtape. This mixtape is gonna be a lot of songs and a couple of freestyles so I feel like I got an album on the streets ya dig what I’m saying in the meantime in between time. It’s all gearing up…you know we got the Skull Gang compilation project, you know we gon do the Koch thing real quick. It’s a stepping stone for my artists na mean cause like I said Skull Gang…we a movement know what I’m saying? It’s like a label, not just a crew. Just like Diplomats was a crew, we are all individual artists. I got Starr, she’s an R&B singer, Rabb, he from Richmond (Virginia). My man John Deep, he from Queens. UnKasa, na mean he from Harlem. And I got a couple of other artists that I’m putting forth but they have their own situations that they doing, but they underneath the Skull Gang brand cause like I said this is a movement, it’s a lifestyle ya dig what I’m saying? You may see somebody in L.A. repping a Skull Gang shirt because at the end of the day I feel like it’s a movement.

RFC: Once your projects come out, do you have any scheduled tours coming out later this year?

Juelz Santana: Oh hell yeah. I’m gearing up to do all that man. That’s why I just didn’t wanna drop the single and drop an album because you know, it’s like how far does that really take you? I feel like I was definitely running in the same lane that Lil’ Wayne was running in on the come up and I just got stagnated with my little business situation I was in. And I couldn’t put out music exactly the way I wanted to.

RFC: Is your album coming out in the third quarter?

Juelz Santana: Yeah I’m looking for like July, Independence Day week. Let out some fireworks, it’s gonna be a good time.

RFC: Do you have any confirmed guest appearances/producers?

Juelz Santana: I don’t really like to spoil nothing. I worked with a couple of people. I never crowded my album with features. For this it’s going to be one or two peoples, you know definitely (Lil’) Wayne’s going to be on the album. I’m trying to get a song with this girl Colbie Caillat, I dunno have you ever heard of her?

RFC: Oh she’s big in Canada dude…great sound.

Juelz Santana: I love her man. I love her music. I love her album. So I definitely wanna do a song with her.

RFC: Get her on the hook eh?

Juelz Santana: Yup.

RFC: That leads me into my next question. What is Juelz Santana favorite song right now?

Juelz Santana: My favorite song right now? I dunno man…I know we just put out a song for the Skull Gang project, it’s called ‘Rockstarr’ with me, (Lil’) Wayne and my artist Starr, I really like that song you know? Check it out.

Juelz’s bottle service at the Notorious screening

RFC: Your birthday (February 18) is coming up real soon…

Juelz Santana: I’m gonna have a big birthday bash.

RFC: I was gonna plans to celebrate in a big way or keep it on the down low considering these hard economic times?

Juelz Santana: Na, I’m gonna celebrate it big you know? I’m trying to have a big party, I want to give like 500 bottles away or Rosé. It’s gonna be called the Rosé party or something man! I wanna see everybody with a red bottle in they hands and do it real nice.

Jim Jones & Juelz Santana

RFC: Right now I’d like to do a little word association with you. I’ll mention to you some names or words and whatever comes to mind, you can respond back with a short answer that best sums it up.

Juelz Santana Word Association

Byrd Gang: We Fly High, born to fly high.

Barack Obama: Change, history, big. You gotta just put all these commas with those one words. Every single word that’s has a powerful meaning, that’s what that was. Change…that was astronomical.

Eminem: Greatest. He’s that nigga. The only white boy that’s that nigga! Eminem is my favorite rapper. That nigga get it in.

Splash: Splash? That’s me! I splash on ‘em. Splash life we livin’.

Santanuary: Santanuary means get ready na mean? Stay tuned. It’s like free Pay-Per-View, why would you wanna change? Why don’t you go back to regular cable or basic TV? We HD!

Killa Cam: Um…that’s a good one…My Brother.

Louis Vuitton: That’s fly. You just gotta put fly next to Louis. Fly!

RFC: Before we conclude, are there any shouts or plugs or websites you’d like to give right now?

Juelz Santana: Check out that Skull Gang Online, it’s still in construction right now. Check my MySpace page, check out the Skull Gang videos every week on World Star Hip-Hop. We’re also gearing up my own website together so y’all can look for that. The Regan Era mixtape is about to drop real soon. The Skull Gang compilation with Koch is dropping soon. Also at the same time all my artists are gearing up to do their solo deals as well. They are all individual artists, so the whole point is to takeover everything, it is what it is.

Lil’ Wayne, Birdman, Juelz Santana & Jim Jones

RFC: Alright Juelz, thank you for taking the time to talk with THE3XGP.COM, we wish you continued success and best of luck when your new album drops with the rest of your other projects as well.

Juelz Santana: Alright cool, thanks.

Cam’ron ft. Juelz Santana – Oh Boy (2002)