Raphael Saadiq: In 1997 I changed my name for ancestral reasons and stuff like that.  Actually this guy who was president of the record label at the time said who wants to hear Raphael Wiggins record and I really didn’t like him at the time but then my neighbor this older white cat said where is your father from. I told him my last name and he told me where they were from and he said be careful cause they can tell from a last name where you come from. So from then on I decided to change my name to Saadiq which means a man of his word, and a lot of people thought I was Muslim but it is just a name.

Sixshot.com:  How many years have you been in the industry?

Raphael Saadiq:  16years

Sixshot:  Who did you grow up listening too?

Raphael Saadiq:  I grew up listening to a lot of soul classics Johnny Guitar Washington, Earth Wind and Fire, Queen.  It expands from that to early Hip-Hop to like Sugar Hill gang when they did Rappers Delight which was the Sheek.  Sheek was one of my favorite groups so when they did Rappers Delight over, that immediately became the scene like the Hip-Hop scene like Run DMC.  Then soon after that I got a record deal and I was bumping heads with like Lyor Cohen and seeing them in the trenches and actually watching Def- Jam develop in there early stages.  You no I would be at the Tunnel checking all the shows and that’s when I met Tribe Called Quest.  I was like a Hip-Hop junkie I kind of just fused the tube.  I gravitate to energetic things that have flavor and culture to it.  That’s the difference between me and a lot of R&B cats I’m not in it for just what I do.  I like it that a lot of people do beats and create.  I love DJ’s because to me that is the grimiest thing.  I don’t think I have been in it for the music I think as a kid I just gravitated to something I liked which was music.

Sixshot:  Who would you like to work with?

Raphael Saadiq:  Everyday is like open market for me man it might be an unsigned cat that has a lot of flavor or beats.  But it would have to be CL Smooth or DJ Premier.  I definitely got to work with him.  Maybe some cats in the south like the Hot Boys.  Id like to work with Manny Fresh.  I think Manny Fresh has some stuff people don’t really know.  I think Manny Fresh can take it to a whole new level if he wanted too and I’m that cat to get down with you and you do what you do and I’ll do what I do and nobody is going to understand why it really happen.

Sixshot:  Would you consider yourself and artist first or a producer?

Raphael Saadiq:  I think I am always going to be an artist first in my mind, but I think to some people I’ll be 50 50.  I don’t think there going to give me the producer thing completely because I don’t do it like the Neptunes do it. When they do it they will have like 5 songs top 5.  That could happen for me but it would have to be a sneak thing.

Sixshot:  What is your biggest challenge in life?

Raphael Saadiq:  Living in Los Angeles and not turning Hollywood.  I talk to my friends and I tell them I am living in L.A. and it is not too cool but staying humble and staying focus.  Other then that always growing and letting the company grow and letting other people come in and help it grow and bringing in younger talent with different ideas to make it actually build to where it needs to be. I always make sure I’m keeping it street and grimy without looking like your trying to hard.  You always have to be aggressive and a little hungry because if you’re not hungry just because you’re eating you can loose a little.

Sixshot:  What’s the vibe on the new album?

Raphael Saadiq:  Raphael Saadiq is Ray Ray sort like me pulling back what everybody call me at home.  Oakland is the town they represent like 65 cougars, 67 cougars, mustangs and falcons and old cars.  I grew up around old cars all my life.  All I know is East Oakland but when we came out it looked like we were from New York.  People don’t know we are straight from East Oakland.  We were raised the same place Too Short is from.  We never had to buy a Too Short Album because it was blaring out of everyone’s cars.  It is kind of like a throw back to the bay because when they see the cougar they are going to be proud.  See the cougar is like are cars, like in the south they got big Buicks, deuce and a quarters, and Cadillac’s.  We had Cadillac’s but we really like mustangs, cougars and the falcons and so this is like throwing the cougar in there.  Then this Ray Ray thing is like I’m playing on this movie Uptown Saturday Night and come back Charleston Blues where this guy was like coming into the community to help the community and he was opening up boys clubs and everything but really what he was doing was setting up dope houses and selling drugs all through Brooklyn.  He was actually acting like this drug Kingpin in Harlem who had this wife who he would go talk to get game on how he would run the streets.  In the end he gets caught and mixes the dope up and makes the dope bad and shoots it with some chemical that makes the African colors come out. So everyone who did dope would see these colors in the air.  So I love that movie so much I tried to do that with my CD to say Raphael Saadiq as Ray Ray.  I did these characters inside of the cover which shows me opening up my jacket with nothing but CD’s like I ‘m selling dope but my CD’s is the dope.  See R&B is in a state where we have to be Hip-Hop now.  Where we have to be on the street selling our shit like how they sell there’s.  When you see the cover you will see.

Sixshot.com:  Do you have your best vibe sessions by yourself or with other people?

Raphael Saadiq:  See for me it is better to work with someone who is programming the beats and DJing and me playing the guitar and bass.  Sometimes if you get on pro tools a lot you can vibe out like that too but it is healthy to have a couple people in the room because you pull different energies from different places.  Plus different cats are going through different things during the day and that is how you come with a sound.

Sixshot:  What are your thoughts on the election?

Raphael Saadiq:  I don’t loose any sleep of who is coming in but it is funny to me.  It shouldn’t be funny but I think if he wins they should just play Tupac’s Aint Nothing but a Gangsta Party.  I think he really is going to jack this one.  Michael Moore put out that movie to get people to vote and it really worked because I’m voting and I really never voted.  This is not a good voting system we have but it is the only one we have so people just get out there and vote.

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