The idea behind reincarnation is that when someone dies, their soul enters that of another body. This is something that many people believe in strongly, while numerous others remain skeptical. It is also said that when the spirit takes its new form, it’ll have no recollection of whom they once were. But what kind of individual would the heavens produce if the influential spirits of Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton (Black Panthers) just to name a few were all instilled into one single human being?

You can say it’s already happened, and the finished product happens to be man born as Felipe Coronel, but known to many as the political MC, Immortal Technique.

Born in Harlem, New York, his introduction to Hip-Hop was during the height of the ‘bling-bling’ era, but his path landed him straight into left field by being one of the few artists that have the courage to speak out on certain social issues.

One might say that his material is filled with nothing more than conspiracy theories that would rival those of a paranoid schizophrenic, but for the people that understand his music and have followed his career thus far, they know he’s no gimmick. His political views stretch far beyond the boarders of the United States, and into countries that are usually covered by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

While most glorify material istic lifestyles that consist of intangible items, he solely focuses on subjects that are swept under the table. His militant demeanor and revolutionary persona can only be matched by what his lyrics entail. And with his first album in over four years, The 3rd World, you can bet for sure that this revolution will be televised.

What can people expect to hear from The 3rd World?

Well it has been about four years since I had a record out, because I’ve been involved with a lot of political struggles and that’s always been reflected in my music. The way that I express a lot of the frustration and inspiration from the work I do is through the music. For me especially in the day and age where music is just so much more available to anyone regardless of any restraints, I feel like it was inevitable for me to release a project, and I felt like I wanted to get everything out. 

With this being your first full-length album in four years, was it hard to go in the studio and create?

No because I’ve been in the studio the whole time working on other projects. What was interesting was the fact that I was working at a time where I was getting my studio redone. We did over the entire studio; we ripped in down and basically created another studio in the same place that it was in before.

In your music, you tackle issues that most artists shy away from. Do you think there’s any reason why more artists aren’t as socially aware as yourself?

Sometimes people fear it, or they don’t think it’ll sell. But a lot of times those other artists have created a niche for themselves, and they don’t want to endanger that in order to express something. And I’m fine, I’m not mad at n*ggas for that, but when it comes to me I’ve never been afraid to express something. I don’t look at it as being “conscious.” There are a lot of people that are conscious about lots of sh*t. Think about this: How many people know how corrupt the society is, or how f*cked their local government is? I’m not conscious; I’m revolutionary to address those things specifically, and to say that I’m going to take a stand in what I personally believe in. There are people that are willing to help us out, and I’m definitely looking forward to working with them.    

Do you consider yourself an “underground MC” or “political rapper”?

I definitely make music about politics, but look at the dudes that only rhyme about a certain drug. Does that make them a ‘crack rapper’? There are guys that rhyme about women all the time, does that make them a ‘b*tch rapper’? I make songs on subjects that effect lots of people around the world, so obviously I have a lot of stuff that is concerned with politics. I’ll tell you what: There’s somebody who’s reading this article right now who is probably incredibly talented, and probably much more talented than the majority of people who are out right now in terms of being lyrical. And yet, they’re not as known, they’re not as popular; and that’s because of politics. They’re not willing to sell their masters or their publishing.

These major labels want you to sell your ass, and basically that’s the same thing the superpowers do to the third worlds. “In order for you to be successful, you have to sell us the rights to everything.” “Your oil, your diamonds, your water, and everything else.” So it really draws a parallel to stuff like that, and I think politics are the main reason why a lot of people aren’t out there like that. If someone gets a release date, then another artist doesn’t and that’s because of politics. Everything is political. And if you don’t think that, then you’re not in the running to be successful as an artist or as anything else in life. If someone gets a raise at your company and you don’t; you think that’s not political? If someone gets a job, and you don’t, you think that’s not based on politics? And if you don’t think it’s based off politics, then you’re a F*CKIN’ MORON!          

From that answer alone, and based on what you stand for, do you ever think about your message going over the heads of some?

You know what’s funny? I’ll be real honest with you. When I first started doing this, and before I initially joined up with Viper Records, I worked with a gang of other interests of mine. At first I was thinking that I was going to come out of prison and how I wouldn’t have a job, and thinking about what I was going to do. I thought to myself about getting a deal, because I couldn’t go back to doing all that extra curricular sh*t I was doing before, because then I’d get locked up again.

So I said, “Okay I’m going to get myself a deal and see what I can do.” Then I realized a record deal is just a loan with horrible interest rates. From there, I started seeing the business for what it was, and how the industry is run. I remember being in meeting with companies and them saying straight up to me, “Your music is great!” “I love it, and I can listen to it, but I think you should be more commercial because I don’t think black and Latino people are smart enough to understand your lyrics.”

How did that comment make you feel?

That really left me thinking about that for a long time. Then I thought, “You know what?” “If I resort to dumbing myself down, then I’ve admitted that that person is right.” That black and Latino people are too stupid to understand what a metaphor is. Then I realized that person was completely wrong, and the people who thought that way were giving into the negative self-image. It’s the same way that dumb-ass n*ggas think its cool to brag about the high murder rate, and then make a song about how they been through something. Why would you want to go through that? You know what I mean? Does a rape victim say, “Hey, I’m glad I went through this terrible experience, because now I can talk about it, and now I can get some sympathy from n*ggas.” GET THE F*CK OUTTA HERE!

Besides people from the ‘hood love a lyricist, you know? Look at Biggie, Big Pun, and Tupac; their lyricism was phenomenal—from the way that they expressed themselves—and the language that they used. Their vernacular and their vocabulary was on a college level. So who the f*ck am I supposed to look at examples like that; the people I looked up to and say, “Hey you know what?” “I need to present myself to be stupider than these mothaf*ckas in order to sell records.” Regardless of anything, we know that white people buy 70% of Hip-Hop. Period. So if we talk about the fan base, that’s no different than the correlation in between the fan base that somebody like Jay-Z or 50 Cent would have. On top of that, I have a gang of Latino fans; I should say a plethora of Latino supporters, mothaf*ckas that would die for me.

Why do you think that is?

It’s because they know I represent something greater than my own personal advancement. I have a legion of Middle Eastern supporters, because everybody abandoned them after 9/11. Nobody wanted to talk about the demoralization of Islam. Everybody just passed it over, and now they want to show-the-f*ck-up. Les your mom gets cancer brother; and the only one by her side is you, and your brother never shows up. So after she gets better, he decides to pop-the-f*ck-up like, “Oh mom, I love you.” How do you think your mom will look at you compared to your brother?

Probably not the same way…

Hip-Hop was based on the principals of Islam the principals of righteousness and peace. But I’m not mad at party rappers, because the same way slaves used to sing songs on the plantation on how they wanted a better life; it’s the same as the terrible times that existed in the 60’s and 70’s when black people and Latino people were living in horrible conditions.                      

I also wanted to talk to you about the Grassroots Artist MovEment (G.A.ME). What’s the basis of the program?

Well at a large company, you have people who do administrative duties and these people have health care.  Sometimes the flagship artist, the person that’s responsible for generating all the funds doesn’t have any of that. We’re not putting it out there like we have a health care program that’s so much more efficient than anybody else’s, we’re just saying that if people can come together on a street level and come up with a preliminary plan to get health care for underground artists, then there’s no mothaf*ckin’ excuse for a multi-billion dollar not to do the same.    

Speaking of administrative duties, does it ever get difficult handling the business side of Viper Records, and then having to be an artist all at the same time?

We run things like the military when we’re on tour. Is it tough being the artist and the general? No. I tell people what-the-f*ck to do, and it gets done. I don’t talk to anybody like they’re a slave or nothing like that, people are welcomed to stay, and they’re welcomed to leave. I only work with people who want to be there, I don’t force anybody to be there. Sometimes it does get a little difficult when I’m trying to get music done, and I have to meet all these other deadlines and things. So in that respect yeah, it is a little difficult. But once you get passed that initial problem, everything else gets a little easier. 

Have you always been involved in social injustices even before you got into the music?

I was always aware of what was going on, but it became more serious than being a rapper. Because this is my life, you know? So it became a revolutionary existence for me. I just try to offer something greater than just the music, but in the expression of the certain struggles people are going through. Whether it be the AIDS crisis that we’re ignoring in The Dominican Republic, to the public democracies in Africa. There’s no shortage of fights out there. 

Do you pick and choose your fights?

I think they pick and choose me sometimes. I don’t run around thinking, “Awe, this is too much, I can’t deal with it.” If I’m going to fight for something, I’m going to fight for something I believe in. It’s not a question of whether I can win or lose, but a question of what fights need to be fought. It might be a lose-lose situation, but maybe you might lose less if we put our heart and soul into fighting for it. And do what we need to do.