From ‘Lil Wayne, to The Game, and most recently Terror Squad’s DJ Khaled. But it always takes the bigger man to admit to something, and to the surprise of many, he’s made amends mostly all of the G-Unit’s enemies. That move made a lot of people think that there was once again turmoil in the house that 50 built, but Buck assured the world that there was no friction between them at all. Now with G-Unit entering its fifth year, its clearly noticeable that their dominance in Hip-Hop has veered off a little with projects like Lloyds Banks’ Rotten Apple, Tony Yayo’s Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon, and Mobb Deep’s Blood Money all not living up to Interscope’s platinum standards. And with Kanye West triumphantly winning the “CD sales battle” over 50 Cent back in September of ’07 just solidified that fact even more.

Young Buck’s second album, Buck The World didn’t come out of the gates as strongly as his first did, but it’s still been a slow grind to moderate success. Most artists in his position would just sit on their hands, and wait for the big boss to bark-out more orders. But Buck took it upon himself to get the ball rolling in his favor by creating Ca$hville Records (a complete separate entity away from G-Unit) for his next project, Product Of The South. Some of the artists in his stable include The Outlawz who first conquered the scene under the tutelage of Tupac Shakur. And with all the beefs and controversial episodes behind him, his record label on the horizon, and a clothing line set to drop, it definitely looks like the man known as Young Buck is ready to get his “grown man on.” 

So what’s good with you these days Buck? Anything new in the works?

Yeah, I’m still promoting my Buck The World album, and I’m still touring off of that. Like doing shows and sh*t. But I’m really getting focused with my first release off Ca$hville Records, and it’s call The Product Of The South, and it’ll be in stores on April 1st. So I just been getting everything together man, like dealing with my artists, and making sure I got some good music.

Speaking of Ca$hville Records, how exciting and tough is it to run your own label?

I wouldn’t really say that its hard because at the end of the day I think hardest part I got is picking which records I want for myself, and which records I’m going to put on the G-Unit album and sh*t like that. [Laughing] I think the biggest struggle out of it is just making people understand that you grow and get older. So its just about putting yourself in that executive lane, and making them understand that you’re ready to get into that line of work. And just dealing with the hierarchy, like the behind-the-scenes folks and dealing with them, and having relationships with them one-on-one, that’s what becomes difficult.

 Especially when you’re bred from a crew, like me. But for the most part, I’m good with everything that’s been going on with me and my label. I signed The Outlawz and C-Bo from the West Coast and Sosa. He’s like my ‘Lil Wayne, I’m about to unleash him to the world. I got some exciting sh*t, it’s a new brand, and new label, and it’s all me. You understand? It’s not affiliated with G-Unit or none of that, this is Young Buck. And this is what I bring to the table.      

I can dig that. So were you satisfied on how Buck The World performed?

I think it was received well. And the people who got it know its another classic album from Young Buck. I don’t think I got what I deserved out of Interscope, as far as the project being marketed in the correct way. Due to the economy and where CD sales are at and all that good sh*t, I think that played a part, but I think the marketing could’ve been better. Like video budgets, and sh*t of that nature. So that’s the struggle I’ve dealt with.

 Just making Interscope understand that Buck is amongst G-Unit, and G-Unit is the label that I’m signed to. So when I drop a solo record as a solo artist, treat my record like you would with any other artist that you would sign to Interscope. So it’s about me playing my part and establishing myself at Interscope as a label. But if it don’t happen I’m for damn-sure going to make it happen on my own man, that’s where Ca$hville Records comes in. I branded the word “Ca$hville” period. You can’t say that without saying Young Buck. So hey man, sh*t stayed tuned. I’m coming to a ‘hood near you.  

Sounds cool. [Laughs] The last couple of G-Unit projects did fairly well, but not as well as a lot of people expected.

I thought they’d do better too! [Laughs] I didn’t mean to cut you off, but we’ve dealt with the whole backlash of the Internet part of the game. And honestly there’s been a lot of hatred as far as the business world dealing with G-Unit. Like I said I’m still a part of G- Unit and I have albums to fulfill on that end, but Ca$hville Records is my biggest focus at this point. And pretty much creating a lane for my artists and my own self. 50 [Cent] is the boss of G-Unit, know what I’m saying. So I still have a boss over at that end that I have to answer to. So when its time for us step forward with a G-Unit album and all that good stuff, I’m ready to go.

Don’t worry about cutting me off, it’s all-good. So you do you feel like you need a homerun with your next record?

Hell yeah! I feel like this album right here is definitely important. It’s my first project for one; that pretty much represents Young Buck as a businessman. And what I’m bringing to the table, and just to give you a preview. This album is almost like a compilation, there’s a gang of features all over this record. So this is definitely an important record for me, you understand what I’m saying. Looking for this one to be as successful as my other projects have been, or more successful. (You understand)   

What do you look for in an artist before signing them to Ca$hville Records?

Honestly from the artists that I have and between myself, it’s the type of music we make. All our music is “ghetto gospel” man. We give you the records that’s for the club, and those types of hit records that you can ride and party to but the main focus of our music is to give you that Tupac Shakur-feel of the music. That type of music you can learn from, and something that has meaning behind it, more or less not to just to be rapping. So I look for an artist that can identify with whatever the f**k they’re talking about. Don’t be talking about something and you’re nowhere near that lane.

How can you be saying anything about the life of the ghetto, if you never even experienced the life in the ghetto?  So I look for a lot of artists that match what they’re talking about. As far as the music, you can get good with anything you do if you practice hard enough. But you have to be real from the bone gristle. It got to be born in you. You can’t wake up one morning, and say: “Oh sh*t, I’m gonna be real today.”         

When you first started off, did you ever think that you’d be in the position that you’re in now?

Hell nah! I’ve always been prepared for this, because this is what I always wanted to do. I always looked to rap as a stepping-stone. I looked at it like a stepping-stone to get into all the other stuff I wanted to do as far as the movie-thing goes. And I’m doing that this year, shout-out to Sarah over at Paramount, she’s looking out for me big with the movie roles. And my clothing line David Brown Clothing will be in stores next month, and my watches will be in stores next month, Ten-A-Key Timepieces.

So I’m in a good lane with this stuff man, it’s always been about hustling outside of this music. It’s been about hustling my music, and hustling outside of it too, you know. And I’m getting into it, slowly but surely.   

So you’re waiting on 50 to give you the green light on another G-Unit album?

Yeah, yeah man. We worked on a few records, but I don’t actually know if he’s using those records for the G-Unit album. But as soon as he says go, I’m ready to go. I don’t want to put a date out there and say this is when the G-Unit album is coming out, because I honestly don’t know. Like I said them dudes been touring and sh*t, and I’ve been here focused on getting my label off the ground, and doing my shows over here. They been overseas, so… Like I said when I get the word, I’ll give you the word.  

That sounds like a deal to me. You’re also going to be involved in the One Stop Shop Producers conference. What’s your role in that?

I did it last year with Sha Money [XL], that’s an event he created. It’s one of the biggest events that I’ve actually seen, and this year it’s going to be even bigger. He has that event, and it’s like a convention for producers. It’s for producers that already got material out, and it’s for unheard producers to come and meet people and shop their music.So it’s for a whole bunch of producers to get together and collabo with each other, and find ways to get their music to artists. And it’s also a spot where artists can come and meet other producers.

It’s something he created last year, and it’s going to be bigger this year, and I’m glad to be a part of it. Outside of Sha Money being my manager, and the president of my company, Ca$hville Records, that mothaf**ka is a damn-good beat maker himself. [Laughing] So I think that its only right for him to keep sh*t going like that, you know what I mean. I’m nasty with the tracks my n***a! I’ve been stealing all kind of sounds from [Dr.] Dre and Eminem for the past 2-3 years. So you can expect to hear my production on my first project also, you know what I mean. So expect to hear some of them Young Buck beats.     

Speaking of beats, what process do you go through when picking your own beats? Do you reach out to people, or listen to beat tapes?

I got a gang of different producers sending me a lot of different material, and I just have people give me a lot of beats. But I don’t want any CD’s with people’s names on it, whether its Timbaland, Drumma Boy, Toomp, or whoever the producer may be. I don’t want to actually look at the CD, and know that I’m listening to this dude’s music, because that gives me a chance to pick the music for the music, not just for the name.

Even if you happen to be a mothaf**ka from the street, I tell them to put that sh*t on there too, and mix everybody’s sh*t up. If you got some hot sh*t, then your sh*t is going to make it. So that just gives me the chance to listen to the music for the music, and not just the name. But there maybe some producers that I do want to work with, so I stretch out to them, and get up with them. But I like to be hands-on with all my music, so the producers I do work with I end up bringing them in because I’m real hands-on with this sh*t, know what I mean.  

Yeah, I can dig it. You’ve been watching the moves of people like Eminem, Dre and 50. How’s that been?

Well I learned from them that your next move always has to be your best move, and I learned that throughout 50, Dre, and Em. Their moves are real strategic-type moves, especially the ones they make as businessmen. And also I learned that if you ain’t right, then who’s right. And to stay focused more and to take my career more serious, because all them dudes really work for their money. Em is probably in the studio as we speak, him and Dre. And 50 is probably somewhere doing a deal for another hundred million dollars. [Laughing] So my whole sh*t is about staying active, and that’s what I learned from them.

Your brand is only as big as you make it. You have to come out here and make a good product in order for people to f**k with it, so I’m making good music. And the business part of it all is definitely a big part that I learned from all of them. So it’s about me taking everything I learned from them, and applying it to myself. As opposed to being a person that’s just there, and never utilize the game. I take it as a blessing to be able to sit in a chair besides Dr. Dre, 50, and Eminem, and they know it; know what I’m saying. They really f**ks with me to the fullest, and I’m loyal like a mothaf**ka to 50 even when my own fans think I shouldn’t be, you understand what I’m saying. And that’s because I known the n***a in the beginning before rap. And I respect the fact that 50 put me in the position he’s put me in.

But one thing that I would like to get clear is that I’m my own man; know what I’m saying. I got kids just like 50 got kids. He wants all of us, like me [Lloyd] Banks and [Tony] Yayo to have individual success, he don’t want us to just lay up under him. He wants to see somebody get out here and have some success created. So I choose to be the first one to make that jump, know what I mean.     

Why do you think your fans think you shouldn’t be as loyal to 50 as you are?

I think a lot of the times; like with 50’s interviews in the past, the whole situation if “Buck likes Game” and things of that nature. But I’m loyal, and it’s G-Unit to the bone gristle like I said. So sometimes [they] feel like there is statements that 50 made that would disassociate himself with me, where I should be like: “You know what?” "F**K THAT!” But I choose to handle business from a different angle, and with respect for the business that put me to where I’m at. And I rock-off the relationship I have with 50, and not from the mind frame of what the fans think I should do. Because I know the way I get down with homeboy.  

So has the smoke cleared between you and DJ Khaled?

It never was no beef situation in my eyes, it was pretty much me feeling like there was some bullsh*t going on with me, and I spoke bullsh*t which I felt was bullsh*t. But now it’s a new year, it’s a new time, and it’s a new day. And didn’t nothing come from that sh*t on either end, his or mine. So I choose to move from the sh*t. Not only with DJ Khaled but with all of the cats I got a “so-called” beef with. I don’t feel like there’s a “true beef” situation there. Right now I got Ca$hville Records, and I got other artists lives I’m dealing with, and I’m not about to put them in the middle of some bullsh*t. So I choose to be real enough, and say: “Hey I’m getting into my money.” So that makes me open enough for anybody to f**k with me that chooses to f**k with me. Holla n***a.   

Earlier you said that you guys felt a backlash, and people were or are jealous of G-Unit. Why do you think that is?

Because we won a lot, and we won real quick. Straight-up-and-down. If you look at G-Unit, I don’t think there’s too many labels out there that made that much money as quick as we did, and that’s been as successful as we have in such a small amount of time, my n***a. So that right there that puts you in the mind frame to where mothaf**kas is already looking for you to fall or flop. And us having some many different beef situations at the time I feel played a part in the business aspect of people not f**king with us behind the scenes. Maybe not from a fans point of view; but from a mothaf**ka that’s dealing with the business end of G-Unit. Every company has its ups and downs; its just about how many ups you have versus how many down you have. And we got more ups than we got downs, my n***a.

So at the end of the day, we’ve all been successful financially, we done all made money with this game. And we all still building so there for we always got room to keep going. So don’t never count me out, or G-Unit out, or none of that good sh*t my n***a.

Just as quick as you seen us win, will be just as quick as you see us win again, my n***a. And that goes for the whole family, Shady/Aftermath period. We all soldiers with this sh*t, and we’ve won, and we’re winning, and we’re going to continue to win.      

When you talk about the beef aspect, a lot of people think you guys start things intentionally to bring more attention to your own movement. What do you say to those people?

That they’re probably right. [Laughing] A lot of the times, a lot of the things we speak of; I don’t think they’d be real issues of having a “real beef.” But it might be about certain mothaf**kas. And sometimes the truth hurts with those issues. So that’s why a lot of people feel f**ked up about us speaking on certain issues that happened, but the way we word them makes people feel f**ked up about it even though it happened.  [Laughing] Know what I’m saying. But at the end of the day, it is what it is, that’s what I would say. I will tell you this much, going off into my music and going off into ’08 my music is definitely not on no beef-sh*t. My direction to the music is just to make good street music, and good reality-rap, and just hit records period, my n***a. 

I hear you. So what’s the biggest misconception about Young Buck?

That a lot of people don’t understand the struggle that I’ve been through for me to get to where I’m at. I’m not a newcomer to rap. My career wasn’t discovered through 50 Cent, you understand what I’m saying. It was given to the world through 50 Cent, but I’ve actually been a person that’s been hustling through this industry for a long time, just trying to find a way up until I met 50 Cent. I got a whole story that comes with Young Buck; I’m not an overnight success. My career existed before actually meeting 50 Cent.

I was out here throughout the industry whether it was with Cash Money or whatever. I was just hustling trying to create a lane. So I’m not an overnight success, and I’m not a fill-in for [Tony] Yayo. I’m a person that got knowledge to the business, and I’ve been in the business for a minute, I’m 26-years-old. I’ve been in this sh*t, know what I’m saying, since I was 16-17 years-old STRONG. So there’s a hustle that comes along with Buck, as well as a street story. I put my life in this music, I ain’t no n***a that’s rapping the next mothaf**ka’s life. Some n***as lives have been just as real as mine, or even realer.

So I feel it’s only right for me to speak on it, but for the most part I’m giving you me throughout my music, my n***a. And my life ain’t been pretty by far, and it still ain’t, n***a. There’s much more to it than what you see what a n***a got. I’m still right there with the people that’s dealing with the struggle my n***a. I’m still in the ‘hood, I’m still in the streets, and I’m still in the ghetto. I’m not involved in the illegal activities anymore, but I’m still there. And that makes my music up-to-date with what’s going on right mothaf**kin’ now. So the streets respect that, and they love me, man. Even the enemies of G-Unit will say: “You know what, I f**k with Buck.” So my report card speaks for itself, my n***a. I’m staying in the game with all A’s, so f**k with me.         

So is that why you think people respect you? Because you’re the real deal?

‘Fo ‘sho. A lot of n***as call themselves the real deal, but you can’t call yourself the real deal at the end of the day, because the next man got to give you that label. So I do what I’m supposed to do, and I stick to the G-code. And mothaf**kas respect that, and I respect any mothaf**ka that does the same.