Choppa Interview
July 2006
MVRemix: What should Choppa fans expect from Comin' Back Home?
Choppa: They should expect like a more mature Choppa, you know what I'm sayin', it's like everybody think I'm really gonna come with a lot of different club music, but it's not really expressing myself and I just been through a lot with this Katrina situation and I mean I'm really ready to just spill my guts, you know?
MVRemix: Alright, why'd you choose that title for your album?
Choppa: I mean it's like, we was supposed to like move to Houston and we was supposed to move to like Atlanta and different parts of the world, but I'm tryin' to get everybody to come back home, back to New Orleans.
MVRemix: Well I know a lot of people left, so you're still based out of New Orleans?
Choppa: Well actually, I'm based out of H-Town right now, but we should be back in New Orleans after the summer, if another hurricane don't hit us.
MVRemix: How has the tragedy of Katrina affected you and your family?
Choppa: We was forced to do a lot of things we didn't wanna do, like leave and I was split up from my family for awhile, I wasn't able to see a lot of my family members, and I wasn't able to be with my son like I wanted to be... It just destroyed a lot, tarnished a lot of my heart...
MVRemix: Who are some of your biggest influences musically?
Choppa: Well actually, I would say The Hot Boys.
MVRemix: The Hot Boys? Yeah, I could definitely see that. I know you worked with Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, and B.G. on your last album... Who would you say you've enjoyed working with the most?
Choppa: To be honest with you, I enjoyed working with B.G.
MVRemix: How come?
Choppa: 'Cause I mean we went through most of the same struggles, we from the same spot, and I relate to all his music because we damn-near been through like the same situations.
MVRemix: Who would you like to work with in the future?
Choppa: Actually, anybody who's willing to work with Choppa, I'm willing to work with them. I don't care if it's Michael Jackson [laughs], whoever.
MVRemix: What do you feel defines you as an artist?
Choppa: Well, what defines Choppa is like I'd say I'm like a hype rapper, you know, keep the club going with a lot of energy.
MVRemix: Is that where you get your name from?
Choppa: Well actually that's like code, you know? Street credibility give you this.
MVRemix: Do people ever get you confused with Chopper from Da Band?
Choppa: Never. They know the real from the fake.
MVRemix: That's good. Is that why you called your last album Da Real Choppa?
Choppa: Yeah. I was actually expressing myself as the real Choppa on that album, you know, lettin' the world know. They already knew cause' every where I went they was like, "That was the real Choppa", so that kind of like gave me the idea of calling my album Da Real Choppa.
MVRemix: Why did you choose to do Bounce as opposed to a more traditional rapping style?
Choppa: Well actually, New Orleans was the birthplace of Bounce, it was so unique to New Orleans, you couldn't get it nowhere else in the world but New Orleans, and it was just like... it was home, everybody in New Orleans was doin' it. I mean, Juvenile's first song was a bounce song, Soulja Slim, his first song was a bounce song, you know? It's like a New Orleans thing.
MVRemix: Besides being from New Orleans, what do you feel sets Bounce apart musically?
Choppa: I mean it's a lot of chants, not like straight lyrics coming straight through to you, like a lot of club hype...
MVRemix: Do you feel that Bounce is on the rise or on the decline?
Choppa: Actually, it's on the rise because "Choppa Style" was a bounce song that went nationwide, I mean and they said it would never happen, and I made it possible for it to go nationwide.
MVRemix: Alright, let's talk about your label. How did you end up hooking up with 845 and Body Head?
Choppa: I mean, it was actually a blessing in disguise, it just happened after I left No Limit, I happened to run into Roy Jones at a celebrity basketball game and we had a talk about what he was doin' and what I was doin' and we felt like if we got together with it, we could hit it big, and ever since then I've been rollin' with Body Head.
MVRemix: What's the difference between working with Body Head and No Limit?
Choppa: It was alright, you know, it was a learning experience, you know, and I learned a lot from [Master] P for the business, you know, but that's all.
MVRemix: Do you still talk to anyone at No Limit?
Choppa: Yeah, we still cool, there's no bad blood or anything, I just can't do business with them.
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