MVRemix: What is, or was, the worst trend in hip-hop?
Raekwon: I can’t even really answer that. I think the worst trend in hip-hop is when everybody started biting off the fuckin’ Wu. They stole our sound, started wearin’ jewellery, making up aliases, biting our formula on how to hustle. But, you know, we’re leaders, so, you gotta do some type of leader shit.
MVRemix: What’s the difference between Raekwon and Corey Woods?
Raekwon: Corey Woods is just a political gentleman. Raekwon is a rapper, an iced-on, motherfuckin’ entrepreneur gangsta with the ego of six Chinese live niggas from Tokyo, Japan. Like one of those niggas in Black Rain. When you sit down and disrespect me you gotta chop your own finger off to get my love back.
MVRemix: I don’t know much about your personal life, and you may not want to—
Raekwon: Nah, my personal life is mellow, you know what I mean? I’m a family man.
MVRemix: Married? Children?
Raekwon: Yes. Definitely have a family.
MVRemix: How many children?
Raekwon: Two. Two lovely babies. And all I do is basically try spend a lot of time with them and my lady, be close to home, stay around my mom, make sure she’s alright. You know, everything ain’t always consist of rap. Been trying to do some of the other things that I haven’t really got a chance to do the way I want to, and that’s spend time with family. That’s important.
MVRemix: How old are the children?
Raekwon: Ten and three. Ten year old daughter, three year old son. You need all of that, huh? [Laughs]
MVRemix: What pisses you off?
Raekwon: Fake people, you know what I mean? Phony people and people that don’t open their eyes to authenticity when they get the chance to. You know, it’s just so important that artists stay motivated. You have to stay wanting to climb this wall. The game is just so funny, because, like, if you’re not the most popular one on the radio, people tend to forget about you real quick. Like I said, you know, I make these albums for the people that live with the legacy that we done already did. I can’t try to open up anybody’s eyes that don’t want to be open. It’s like, your moms might be stuck on the old school music because that’s her era. So I tend to work for my era of individuals, you know. From like, say, 22 to 35 [year olds]. These are the ones that grew up in the era that we did. They’re the ones that really knew about it. That’s what we care about.
MVRemix: What makes you happy?
Raekwon: Just seeing everybody around me. Just knowing everything is being operated the way it’s supposed to.
MVRemix: Tell me something that no one knows about Raekwon.
Raekwon: I’m a teddy bear on one side.
MVRemix: That’s not gangsta.
Raekwon: I know. [Laughs.] But that is gangsta. You know why it ain’t gangsta to you, ’cause you never seen a real nigga be a little bit cool on another side, and that’s important. It’s about having balance. I think that when people meet me, they realize that I move according to how a grown man is supposed to move. It ain’t all about being a rapper. I really move with the times. I am a true icon. I have been around many different forms of people who became successful off the logic that we presented, because you can tell how people treat you. It’s like, we hold a flame to that. And I feel good that we stayin’ ahead in a situation where niggas know that. They might not know how to tell you, [but] you know about it already.
MVRemix: If hip-hop was a woman, what would she look like?
Raekwon: She would probably be a tall, big bitch with big feet or something. A pretty bitch with big feet. I don’t know. Maybe too much cellulite on her ass because of the bullshit [in hip-hop].
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