For as long as anyone could remember, whatever went wrong in the urban community was blamed on Hip-Hop. From gun and drug violence, to derogatory epithets used to degrade women (especially those from the minority population). The Don Imus controversy of last year did nothing but to further fuel the fire of individuals not taking responsibility for their own actions, when they can easily use Hip-Hop as their scapegoat instead.

Now to be honest, Hip-Hop hasn’t always been the quintessential guardian of everything great in the universe, so that’s probably its regarded as the “black sheep” of all musical genres. Your parents-parents had Elvis, The Beatles, and Chuck Berry. Your parents had Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, and The Grateful Dead. If you have any older siblings, they then experienced Run DMC, The Sugar Hill Gang, and Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. 

But if you grew up in the 90’s, then Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, and Tupac fill your memory of Hip-Hop bliss. Another act from the 90’s that you should recall if you grew up in that era is The Boot Camp Clik. A group of Brooklyn MC’s that broke into separate parts like Black Moon, The Fab 5, O.G.C. (Originoo Gunn Clappaz), Smif-N-Wessun, and Heltah Skeltah.

The collective had great success in the 90’s, and hasn’t showed any signs of dropping off the map in the new millennium. With all of them having critically acclaimed projects in the 21st Century, even your Soulja Boy-esque kid brother or sister should have some idea of who they are. One of the most recognizable faces from the collective has to be Sean “Ruck” Price from Heltah Skeltah. With his albums Monkey Barz and Jesus Price Supastar getting well-deserved positive reviews, the man that now goes by his government name has helped the camp stay open to keep training new soldiers. But with all his solo efforts documented and dated, the spotlight has really been on his Heltah Skeltah brethren, Jamal “Rock” Bush.

His name might be getting some unwanted attention now due to the fact that he’s out on $125,000.00 bail for being indicted on assault and attempted murder charges. Allegations such as these will do nothing but help parents continue to pass the culpability of their kids failing SAT scores on outlets like Rap City or MTV’s Sucker Free.

After testing the solo waters at Interscope through DJ Lethal’s (of Limp Bizkit) record imprint didn’t work out, Rock took his gritty New York sound back to Duck Down, and remains optimistic as he readies for his mixtape/CD Shell Shock to enter into the hands of die-hard ‘Clik fans; and into the hands of new fans interested in hearing something that they might have been too young to understand some 10-odd years ago.

Not to mention the release of the long-awaited third Heltah Skeltah album, D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team) due out this summer. Even with all the work on his plate, one can only imagine all that’s on his mind right now away from music. One thing is certain; regardless of the outcome at his trial, he can bet on the entire Hip-Hop nation backing him 110%. 

What’s been going on with you these past couple of days Rock?

A week without weed will almost turn you into a lightweight, so I’ve been smoking my face off. Like right now, one blunt gets me three times as high, and I’ve been working. You know what I mean?

[Laughing] I hear you. Your project Shell Shock is a mix-CD. Why did you choose to make it a mix-CD as opposed to a studio album?

There’s still a lot of original music on there though. But I’m a strong believer in promotion. And you can put out the dopest album in the world, but if you don’t got no promotion, then ain’t nobody checking for you. That’s just an album for you and your homeboys; you know what I mean. I figured I’d put out Shell Shock just to start the sh*t going, so n***as can realize the curiosity of the sh*t that I’m throwing at n***as. Then we got the Heltah Skelath album coming after that.

Do you ever plan to release a solo album?

Yeah…

You’ve been featured on numerous Duck Down projects over the years not to mention all your work with you’ve done with Heltah Skeltah. But now you’re going to be the main attraction. Was it hard to shoulder the whole project on your own?

No not all. Me and Ruck, we’ve been doing solo work for a long time. This is not my first mixtape, this is just the first one that n***as is really paying attention to, and this is the first one on Duck Down. 

I dig it. So when can people expect to hear Heltah Skeltah’s D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team) album?

In the summer time the summer time. This is going to be [our] first summer release. Usually our albums drop when sh*t be cold.

After Magnum Force, you went to pursue a solo career. What happened during that whole time period?

That was all because of label bullsh*t. Like [they] were saying [they] were gonna drop Duck Down, but keep Heltah Skelath. But then [they] kept Heltah Skeltah, but don’t give us a budget. It was what it was; I didn’t just jump on it. My homeboy Dru Ha was like; “You might wanna f**k with that.” It wasn’t like there was a beef-beef, but there was a little bit of bullsh*t. So we f**ked with it for a minute, but it didn’t work out. I did an album with my man DJ Lethal, I did an album f**kin’ with him. It’s not a problem, I’m a writer, I’m a performer, and I’m a recorder so that’s what I do. It ain’t never really been a problem for me to do songs by myself. 

So was that situation not panning out the determining factor that made you come back to Duck Down?

Nah, it was just a natural progression. When Ruck was working on Monkey Barz he was like; “Son I don’t care nothing about nothing, you gotta get on this.” “I got music for Monkey Barz.” And I was like; Yeah, you ain’t saying nothing but a word.” So then I did Monkey Barz, which brought me on tour for Monkey Barz, and that brought me around the homeboys a lot more. And then we were like; “Yo, we need to start working on this album right here.” And I was just right there at the right time and place, you understand what I’m saying. I was like; “We might as well do it.” It wasn’t like there was any beef know what I mean. So lets get it done. And out came The Last Stand.  

Speaking of that, you guys just seem to get stronger. Why is that?

It’s really because it’s a family. I know everybody says that, but our crews our really composed of a few families. N***as is related, or n***as knew each other since we was kids. The n***as that you see, I call them the face cards, like the Boot Camp n***as that you see. But them ain’t the only n***as in the camp, it’s a whole bunch; know what I’m saying. That’s why it eventually got broken down into all types of “Magnum Forces”, I got “Rock Brothers”, and this-that and the third. And that’s because these are people that’s always been around.

 Everybody is related to somebody, and sh*t like that, or grew up with n***as. Any grown-up is smart enough to know that if you still got a friend that was your childhood friend, and y’all still good, that’s something precious and you should cherish that right there. So for some reason, or maybe it’s because of the fact that a lot of us are related, but we got a lot of that around us still. If me and Ruck wasn’t speaking, it ain’t like a can duck him, because there’s so many other n***as that he f**ks with that I f**k with. You can’t duck n***as like that, know what I mean.     

I definitely know the feeling of that. Right now you’re facing all types of criminal charges. How do you block that out so it doesn’t affect your work ethic music-wise?

I mean it’s a job, you understand. It’s not that easy, and its work. The fact of the matter is that I can’t block it out. I got to deal with it, and I got to do what I got to do. It ain’t nothing, I can’t let this kind of sh*t stop me. You got all kinds of “Hip-Hop Police” listening to everything, and trying to use your lyrics against you. But if that was the case then I wouldn’t be able to put in music never. I get paid to talk greasy; you understand what I’m saying. It is what it is. I don’t get paid to act greasy, I’m not f**kin’ stupid. But I get paid to talk greasy, and the bottom line is that I can’t let these n***as interrupt my livelihood. 

Before you got bailed out, what kind of thoughts were running through your head? How was your whole mind-set?

I know I got a good family, I know my network is good. I knew I was…. I KNEW. It wasn’t a question or not of whether I was going to get bailed out, you understand what I’m saying. I know my network, and I know my family. I was just more focused on not trying to bust someone’s head open in there. Because that sh*t can very easily turn bad. I’m in there on some sh*t I didn’t do, and then end up really getting a new charge on some sh*t I did do. That sh*t would’ve been crazy.

Are you allowed to go into detail about the situation at hand?

A lot of all of that sh*t, I don’t even know, we’re still trying to figure it out. So we can’t really get into all of that sh*t. But basically the bottom line is if you know the charges, and you know the bail, then you pretty much know all that you can know. Because everything else remains to be seen.   

Prodigy from Mobb Deep is going through his situation, and now you have your own court case looming ahead. Do you situations such as these are the reasons why some people paint Hip-Hop in a negative light at times?

Yeah, that definitely has a part in it. It definitely is a part in why n***as do that. But understand; when you hate something, and you already got some malice, resentment, or animosity towards something, everything makes it look worse. If its something you love, then you ride with it, and you endure the blows it takes. Even if it’s something like the Knicks, you understand what I’m saying. You ride with it. You can make up excuses for Patrick Ewing and his bum-knees, or whatever the case may be. You can be like; “F**K THAT!” “ALL WE NEED IS A NEW POINT GUARD, AND WE’LL BE GOOD!” F**k it, you ride with it.

You take the bumps and scars, or whatever. If it’s a team that you can’t stand, then you don’t give a f**k how good they is. They can be winning and you hate them. It could’ve been the Bulls with Jordan, or the Laker Empire. When them n***as was winning, how many haters did they have? N***as couldn’t stand Kobe [Bryant] and they were cheating when they got Karl Malone and Gary Payton and all of that. People were just trying to find any reason to hate.

N***as can’t do nothing right if you already got your mind made up, and its like that with Hip-Hop. Most of the rappers I know got they persona from a movie that was made by some white folks. Most rappers is mothaf**kas that’s running around with no fathers this-that and the third, and misguided youths that were walking and talking some sh*t. But we were influenced by a lot of the sh*t that we seen, and everybody loves white America, so ain’t nobody pointing to them like that; that’s just movies. The Terminator was just a movie. Let me ask you a question. Do you know anybody in a ‘hood named Rambo?

Nah not personally, but I’m sure they’re out there.

Understand what I’m saying. I know some n***as in the ‘hood named Rambo, and every one of them get their name from that movie, and everyone of them n***as is f**kin’ retarded. And they were real retarded because a lot of them got killed. There’s mad n***as in the ‘hood named Rambo, or should I say quite a few n***as in the ‘hood named Rambo. And they’re usually the worst and the craziest ones. But where did they get that from? You understand what I’m saying? Ain’t nobody running down Sylvester Stallone’s throat with the bullsh*t. Biggie called himself “Frank White.” Where’d he get that from?

From The King Of New York.

Mm-hm. He ain’t get that from the ‘hood. He got that from some white people’s movie. So that just basically goes to what I said. If you love something, you gonna ride with it, you’re not gonna see none of the wrong. And if you do, then you’re going to find a way to justify it. But if you resent something, then you’re not going to see none of the “right.” And you’re going to find a way to spin that into some negative sh*t. And that’s the nature of people. I’m just a n***a that’s wise enough to understand that, so I don’t let it affect me too much. I’m a do what I do.