Sadat X beat down punks with Brand Nubian and rode again with a solo career that suffered a short interruption when he spent several months in Rikers. He has a new album due soon with Affluent.

Who’s going to be on your new Generation X album?
Basically it’s just me. A lot of albums always got a whole lot of people but this is just me. Production is by my man Will Tell—he’s from Brooklyn Academy—and my man Trev Thomas. It’s ready—it’s done, but it’s digital so it’s in the process of coming out. I’ve been working since October. I just finished it about two weeks ago. It took me eight or nine months.
Whatever happened to the song you did with the Neptunes and Jay-Z?
That never came out. But that was on their end. I don’t know what they did with that. I’ve done so much that hasn’t come out before. A lot of it’s on other people, and for whatever reasons—I don’t know. I just did the track! I just do what I do—I make the songs, and hopefully it’ll be out and be recepted well.
Brand Nubian was bootlegged pretty heavily—are you bothered by Internet downloads?
That was the summer of bootlegging, and it hurt us as far as sales, but it got us around, and a lot of people knew us from that era. It was two-fold—it was good but it was bad. With the Internet, I’d hope they’d buy it, but if people can take it, they take it. The records I put out are not for sale—they’re basically to get shows. I was never big on sales. Most of my income is generated from getting out and doing shows.
You said before that rap doesn’t define you—what defines you?
Just life. Rap is just a small part. I’m a father, I coach basketball—it’s not the overall of me.
You also said a lot of old rappers feel like rap owes them something. What do you mean?
They’re disillusioned—they feel they don’t get respect. But you’ve gotta put out good music to get respect. Times change and you gotta change with the times. What was back then was back then. Be flexible and move on. And you have to stay abreast of things. A lot of older rappers disappear and move away from the community. They aren’t in the street as much. Though radio is so limited and since I’ve been doing my album, I haven’t been listening to other people. I didn’t want it to cloud what I was doing. I wanna keep my original vibe and I don’t wanna subconsciously pick up one someone else’s vibe.
What’s your vibe?
I bring my personal charisma, my voice, my sense of realness. My lyrics are pretty straightforward. There’s nothing extravagant. It’s just the way I rhymed.
You said there were more classic songs when you were a kid and now it’s not as frequent.
It’s a lot of good music coming out but I don’t feel it’s classic. When I was coming out, you had whole albums you’d play—whole Public Enemy album, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul. Now there’s a lot of fast-forwarding on new albums.
How much of that is hip-hop and how much of that is you changing?
People aren’t taking as much time to put out the music. Now it’s such a rush for people to get albums out, so they’re doing four or five songs at a session and this and that, as opposed to taking their time and customizing the song.
Black October was kind of a rush—how do you feel it holds up now?
That had to be done fast because I was going away. I had to put a lot together—maybe a lot I wouldn’t put out now, but I did want to put something out.
Did your time in Rikers ‘freeze you’ like you thought it might?
It put me on pause for eight months until I came back and was back in society. It froze me as far as doing shows and being visible.
What was the best book you read when you were in?
I read a lot of books. All types of books. All the Robert Greene and stuff like that. Just to stay abreast of things. I definitely wasn’t stagnating.
Do you write differently now?
My literature is more mature. I’m talking about being grown-up, paying bills and taking care of my kids. Back then I wasn’t talking about that because I didn’t have no kids! Now as I grow older, I have more bills—so that’s what I’m talking about. But I go to the studio every day—I definitely get it in. I like to focus.
What was coaching Spoonie G’s son like?
It was cool—he’s a good kid! I haven’t kept in contact with him, but he’s mild-mannered, very well-mannered. You can tell he had a good upbringing. I still go to games and I run into players I taught who are coaches at different schools now.
What makes Sadat tick?
Just life—being around people and staying motivated and just living, man. You gotta keep going and you can’t stop! Living life—that’s what motivates me. Wake up in the morning and live another day!

URBAN UNDERGROUND PRESENTS SADAT X WITH COPYWRITE, J-RAWLS, COLD HEAT AND MANY MORE ON FRI., JULY 4, AT THE AIRLINER, 2419 N. BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $10 / 18+. MYSPACE.COM/URBANUNDERGROUNDWEEKLY. AND BRAND NUBIAN WITH 2MEX, KONFIDENT AND E-SMITH AND MORE ON SAT., JULY 12, AT CRASH MANSION, 1024 S. GRAND AVE., LOS ANGELES. 7 PM / $15 / 21+. CRASHMANSIONLA.COM. VISIT SADAT X AT MYSPACE.COM/SADATX.

Download: Guilty Simpson “Getting Riches ft Mr. Porter”

Detroit rapper Guilty Simpson signed with Stones Throw on Dilla’s recommendation and released his debut Ode To The Ghetto last month. He speaks now with Sinden Lee.

It seems like a recurring theme in your work is the life lessons learned as a young man and as a father—doing the right thing and depending on yourself.
I do agree. No matter what walk of life you come from, struggles and life lessons are very important to apply to your art. I try to make that the foundation of what I write.
What were you like when you were ten years old?
I was curious and observant. I was into sports; I was into music, but mainly sports. Sports taught me the aspect of winning, as well as losing. But the fact that you compete is saying enough in itself. Same thing as a rap artist: putting yourself on a plateau to be judged by a whole world of listeners in the game where fans can be so critical of an artist; to be judged and compete with others on that level. Win or lose—the same way sports rules apply. Whether they accept you or not, just the fact that you put your music out there is in fact victory in itself.
What were you like when you were eighteen years old?
Trouble. People were telling me things and I was learning, but you never really know until you experience them yourself. Basically I was chasing girls; probably an occasional fight, more often than now. Even occasional gun fights. Really, whatever it took to survive. It’s hard to live in Detroit where you think you’re going to fight somebody and everyone is pulling out guns. So you have to prepare yourself for whatever may come your way.
Did you carry a gun?
In Detroit, definitely. Anybody that knows me can go on record and say that I did. It’s not anything I’m necessarily proud of, but there were some situations where a gun helped me to be right here, right now.
What’s helped you keep your sense of humor?
My mother. Her name is Terry Jackson. She’s my best friend. She was able to face whatever she was dealing with with a smile. It inspired me. She became a single mother after she and my father divorced; I’m her only child. She was at work when I would get home from school, so I often went to an aunt’s or friend’s house until she was able to come home to cook dinner. The main thing she taught me was that no matter what she went through, she dealt with it with a smile on her face. The stress she was dealing with would never weigh on her face because being a child, I could observe and be influenced by so many things. So she always painted a face of happiness.
What did that smile represent?
It represented hope and her determination to not be defeated by the situation she was going through. Mainly understanding that whatever situation you’re in, you can overcome and that attitude has a lot to do with it. Your problem can be a mountain or a molehill, but if you have a positive attitude, you understand you can come out of any situation. It’s the main thing I learned from my mother and it prepared me for music and just life in general.
What was the turning point for you?
It was growing up in Detroit and seeing a lot of my peers go away to prison or die. These things let me know that tragedy doesn’t have an age bracket; that anything can happen at any given time. When I got out of high school, it prepared me for the real world. Fend for yourself or become a victim. Nothing is promised. My mother expected me to get a job and raise some kind of income on my own, because not everyone is guaranteed a financial structure to achieve whatever he wants. Music saved me from being on the streets doing God knows what to make a living.
Was your father an influence or inspiration?
Definitely. He played saxophone, harmonica and light guitar. He gave that to me at a young age when I didn’t accept it, when I might have thought that music wasn’t as cool as being a jock. Being an athlete was the cool thing to be. He definitely imbedded music in me. I still remember the records he used to play until this day. Certain songs that come on now, I’ll know all the words, even if they are fifteen or twenty years old. I’m thankful for everything that he taught me. We’ve had a rocky relationship throughout the years, but he taught me a lot. I know he loves me—he loves his kids. We’ve had our signals crossed at times. I accept that and I forgive him for it, and for any wrong he may have done to me or against my mother.
Tell me about the inspiration behind the song J. Dilla produced: ‘This Is A Man’s World.’
It’s to my father. It’s not anything to bash him with, but something I wanted to put out because it’s something that was lingering in my life that I felt needed to be addressed.
It sounds like he ruled the household with a heavy hand.
Right. And me being a man now, I definitely understand him a lot better. And I definitely appreciate him. I might not understand his tactics and the extremes he took in certain situations, but the motivations and the pressures of being a man—as a provider in a household and a disciplinarian for your kids—were what drove his actions. It’s not all financial. It’s mental as well as spiritual. But it also has a lot to do with communication. I’m sure I’ve done things to frustrate him, so I’m not here to point the finger at my father. However, I learned from the mistakes he made. It made me a better person—I know when I’m in that same situation as he was, I will deal with it better than he may have had at times.
What makes Kool G Rap your favorite?
It’s the underdog angle. Big Daddy Kane being the front man of the Juice Crew—he’s got the women and definitely had the lyrics. But the way Kool G Rap constructed his rhymes and how hard they were—you could tell he didn’t compromise anything. I think he gave the listener his style the way that they should have it, rather than how some people felt he should have delivered it. That angle in general just makes him a great rapper. I feel like in Run DMC, DMC was the better rapper. I just always liked the person that went behind the front man. Basically to solidify the group as something legitimate—that’s what Kool G Rap brought to the Juice Crew. He’s just hungry in general and I felt it.
What’s your advice for kids coming up?
My biggest advice is don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. It’s not going to be easy. For some, it might come easy. The main thing is if you feel in your heart that you have a genuine love for it and you have the urge to do it for a million dollars or for no money—between that spectrum, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Most people that are successful—that are large in their careers seeing x amount of dollars right now—have gone through a rock-bottom period in their career where they’ve questioned if this is what they want to do. I feel like in order to go to heaven, you’ve got to go through hell. In order to get ultimate success you have to through the struggle, so don’t take your first downfall in this industry as a deciding factor if this is what you’re meant to do. You may run into a lot of disappointments. So the main thing is to stay true to your dream. Stay true to yourself then you can’t go wrong.
What is your own dream and motivation for doing what you do?
To be able to earn a living with something I love to do which is music. And provide opportunities for my people that have gone through the same struggle that I have, with no outlet for your music where nobody cares. My thing is to generate something for them to have a position in this music and we can grow together. I don’t expect a million dollars overnight. I just expect a shot to bring my unit in and create jobs for them so we can learn how to create that million dollars. To be a self-contained unit where I can provide opportunities for my people that don’t have it as easy as me.

STONES THROW, ARTDONTSLEEP, KCRW AND SOUL PEOPLE L.A. PRESENT GUILTY SIMPSON’S ODE TO THE GHETTO RELEASE PARTY WITH HAVANA JOE ON THUR., APRIL 10, AT CRASH MANSION, 1024 S. GRAND, LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / COVER TBA / 21+. CRASHMANIONLA.COM. GUILTY SIMPSON’S ODE TO THE GHETTO IS OUT NOW ON STONES THROW. VISIT GUILTY SIMPSON AT STONESTHROW.COM.

Darondo “Let My People Go”

Darondo recorded three singles and played four shows in the ’70s and then stopped and drove home in his Rolls Royce after he opened for James Brown. Later he traveled the world collecting interesting artifacts, became the king of Bay Area cable with three shows per day, and worked as a physical therapist coaxing patients to walk again. He plays tonight, Sat., Mar. 8, at Crash Mansion for his first-ever L.A. show.

So what did Frank Sinatra think of your car?
Well, you know—they eyed on it til we was outta sight. They said, ‘Boy, you got something there!’ We were in Reno, cutting up and playing and gambling. I went up there before and they’d seen the car and they gave me a parking place, and everytime I’d go there I’d park for free, and Ol’ Blue Eyes and his entourage saw me—‘Boy, you got something goin’ on!’
How many ladies did you ever fit in the Rolls at once?
Ah, gosh—a few times I couldn’t get in the car. Those was the days. I got it in Modesto—they had a used car lot and across the street was a club, and we’d go down to the club, and the guy took me across the street and said, ‘Let me show you something! Check this here!’ I didn’t know what kind of car it was—he said ‘This is a double R! This is what you need to be in!’ So I came out with a white Rolls Royce—a Silver Cloud! I had an old Cadillac and I left it there and I came back with the Rolls. Driving on the wrong side!
So you had a couple bucks.
A pocket full of money!
What’s the most you ever spent in five minutes?
Probably gambling—I threw $2,000 on the table when I was shooting dice and I lost. Every night I was up there quite regularly. I had a thing going on with the dice. You took $1,000 up there with you, but you have to be disciplined with yourself and your money. I mght throw $10 and if I don’t hit, I come back with $20. And if I’m not hitting, maybe $100—and every time I hit, I start right back over! At the end of the evening—five hours or something—you won maybe two or three thousand dollars!
What’s the most money you ever held in your hand at once?
One time—fifty or sixty thousand in hundred-dollar bills! I was coming up selling real estate, and sometimes I made money and went to the bank. ‘I want the money in cash!’ It’d take ‘em about four or five hours. And then I’d walk out to the Rolls Royce and go home.
What’s the best gift you ever got yourself?
It was Martinique or maybe St. Thomas—where everybody goes and buys the jewelry at? All you see is military police because they got some of the biggest diamonds in the world. I went in there and the woman thought I was Little Richard—I had my hair up in the air! ‘Hey, Little Richard!’ I just played it on—‘Yeah… Little Richard!’ They had a gold stone ring—a gold stone with gold dust in it. It’s so rare it’s pitiful—you can’t even buy them anymore!
How did you start your first band?
Everybody wanted to be like the Temptations and have a group of something—you had the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, all the groups coming out. So I got with a little group. They had a club for teenagers—they served stuff called ‘near beer’—and that was really where I started gigging. ‘GLORIA—G-L-O-R-I-A!’ And Wilson Picket—‘Wait! Til the midnight hour!’ And we was getting paid—as teenagers! I was the only black guy in the group. I was singing and they were just playing instruments. We met a guy—a midget—his name was Mike—he could play drums! He was a midget who could play the shit out of the drums! He had it going on!
So you had a midget drummer?
Yeah, and we was doing good!
Is he on the records?
I hadn’t made records—I was a teenager.
So you had a teenage midget drummer?
He was the same age of all of us—about 18—but the man could play! Everybody loved him!
Was ‘Legs’ banned from the radio for being too dirty?
Yeah. Because of what I was talking about. They played the other side—‘Let My People Go.’ But ‘Legs’—they’d play it in the speakeasies! After two in the morning, you’d hear nothing but ‘Legs!’
And you only played four shows ever?
I didn’t do too many. I opened for James Brown—that was my best thing. Yeah, I talked with the Godfather of Soul—he said, ‘Keep on doing what you doing! You on the right track!’ And I said ‘Thank you, Mr. Brown, and thank you for putting me on your show!’ And after that I didn’t wanna do no more. I’d did it with James!
What did you think of that voodoo ritual you saw?
That was scary! That was on the love boat—that cruise I went on. I would never stay with the boat—they tell you don’t ever leave the group, but I said ‘I wanna find out what these people are doin!’ So I met some brother out there and they seemed pretty cool—I bought ‘em everything—Coca Cola, whatever they want—and got their trust and saw how they were living—terrible! So they had a little ceremony and showed me some stuff—scary stuff! You can’t take no cameras—that’s voodoo, and the soul do this and that stuff, and I watched ‘em walk on fire and eyes looked like it went up into their head! I was scared. It was real—it wasn’t no fake! That was the craziest thing I ever saw in my life. It was adventure—it was like Indiana Jones! I know what Indiana Jones is talking about now! And Caracas was exciting—I went in the jungle with the brothers there! I’ll tell you about the jungle—the jungle is so pretty it’ll blow your mind away. I used to watch Tarzan movies and the woman would go out in the jungle—I can see why. It’s so beautiful. You would do that.
I heard if you stand still in the jungle you can feel all the bugs start crawling up your legs.
I never did stand still! I kept moving!
What songs did you sing when you worked in the hospital?
The physical therapy? I’m a doctor in physical therapy.
Dr. Darondo?
They called me the miracle worker for a while. I went to one hospital—the lady had been sitting in the chair so long, acting like she couldn’t move her leg, so I kind of massaged her foot and was talking the talk, and I said ‘Stand on up!’ and she stood right up! Some patients—they won’t do it for anybody, but if they get to like who they’re talking to, they’ll do so much for you it’s pitiful!

ARTDONTSLEEP PRESENTS DARONDO WITH NINO MOSCHELLA, CONNIE PRICE AND THE KEYSTONES AND THE LIONS ON SAT., MAR. 8, AT CRASH MANSION, 1024 S. GRAND AVE., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / $10 / 21+. CRASHMANSION.COM.

Ancestors “Neptune With Fire”

BUSY BEE @ URBAN UNDERGROUND

Busy Bee “Making Cash Money”

CAT POWER @ THE WILTERN

Cat Power “He War”

DEAD PREZ @ KEY CLUB

Dead Prez “Hip Hop”

FATLIP @ FIRECRACKER

Fatlip “Dreams”

SLUM VILLAGE @ CRASH MANSION

Slum Village “Selfish (feat. Kanye West and John Legend)”

SPINDRIFT / MOONRATS / RESTAURANT / SPIRIT ARMY @ SPACELAND

Moonrats “Sweet Thing”

Platinum Pied Pipers “I Got You (ft. Tiombe Lockhart)”

The Platinum Pied Pipers are one of the founders of Slum Village, Waajeed, and Saadiq, who studied songwriting with Barrett Strong (who wrote “Money” and many of the best psychedelic Motown records). Their debut Triple P dropped in 2005 and was so well loved that ?uestlove reportedly played it seven times in a row the first time he heard it. Waajeed speaks to Alex Roman while working in the studio, and the Platinum Pied Pipers play Saturday, March 1, at Crash Mansion.

How do you think the new record will be different from Triple P?
The last album came out three years ago, and in general, our tastes have changed—times have changed. It’s definitely a different record, but there are still a lot of similarities. The cast is different, for one, because for the most part we have two main lead vocalists on this album instead of a revolving cast like last time. The similarity is that we’re still mashing up our influences; it’s totally different but it’s still a combination of several different sounds.
It seems like it would be easy for you to grab some big name and throw them on your record—why do you think it’s important to use artists that people may not have heard yet?
Because it’s fuckin’ wack in my opinion. Anybody can do that. I think that’s the problem with the industry now. Everybody has the same sound—everybody uses the same producers or some rip-off artists that sounds like that producer. It’s all just recycled bullshit. I think that’s how we separate ourselves—by bringing in new talent and doing something that is sonically different. Doing music that you can’t really categorize is important for us because there’s a lot of shit that sucks out here. There’s a bunch of fuckin’ garbage out man.
I read a quote by you that said you guys wanted to be as big as the Neptunes—has that changed?
No, not at all. I think the Neptunes were and still are a groundbreaking group. They do shit that nobody else dares do. On that level, I definitely want to be related to as a production team the way they are, as far as being innovative and bringing in a new sound. The Neptunes changed radio!
How has your move from Detroit to New York influenced the sound of your music?
I wouldn’t say it’s changed the sound a lot, I’d say it changed our work level. Being in Detroit you can kind of go at your own pace because life in general is much slower and calm. You can be a little more reflective in Detroit. Here in New York you got to turn shit around. They move really fast here, and beside the point it’s taken us three years to make a fuckin’ record. Our turnaround time, as far as getting things done, has been a lot faster.
What’s taken so long to get this record together?
I’m going to keep it real—I didn’t even want to do a second album after Triple P. We toured for about a year and a half for the last record, and just due to how much we were downloaded, I was kind of bummed out. Especially after Jay [Dee, Dilla, Deezee] passed—it was a turbulent time and I didn’t want to do another record. I didn’t particularly feel great about the music business and all the changes that it has gone through. Looking at things on a positive side, there are a lot of fans that really wanted another PPP record and you can’t say no to those people. That’s who this new record is for, really—the fans that have supported what we do and are willing to grow with us as we continue to do whatever it is that we do.
When you and Saadiq met did you know of his background and his association with Barrett Strong?
No, I just thought he was a weirdo. I thought he was a weird dude with long straight hair. It all came after the fact, which is good because I got to know him personally first and the music came afterward.
So were you informed on Motown when you were a kid?
Yeah, definitely. My parents were big on it—at least my dad was. My mom was a little funny about Motown.
Why’s that?
She, uh, she kind of grew up with Diana Ross and they had some type of falling out about a boy or something.
Funny. You knew Jay for quite a while—do you remember the first time you met him?
Yeah, I do. In Detroit—I think it was junior year in high school—they were having this talent show. I had formed a group with T3, but I had also formed a group with several other people so I could guarantee that I’d win by being a part of all these different groups. But it was too many groups for me to do beats for at the time. There was this kid in my art class who told me his brother makes beats and this and that, so I should think about hooking up with him to get some tracks. So I decided that I would buy some beats from this guy and give them to my other groups and produce it that way. The dude gave me his address, and I went to his crib the next week. He was a super quiet dude, and the first time he played the beats, I was like ‘Oh shit, this type of music is coming out of this little crazy guy?’ So that was the first time we met, and that was actually before he and T3 and everybody else met.
You were one of the founders of Slum Village, but your parents wouldn’t let you be in the group—why was that?
I was actually part of the group, but I got a full scholarship to go to art school. My parents told me that my little music thing was cool, but I should take the opportunity to go to school since a lot of people don’t get that chance. So that’s what happened more or less that caused me to leave the group.
Were you upset about it at the time?
No, my relationship with Slum is that we were always friends first. So even though I wasn’t in the group, technically, and I wasn’t rollin’ around in Jay-Dee’s little red car with them going to gigs, I still saw them every weekend.
When they asked you to DJ for them in Europe is that pretty much what got you back into music?
Yeah, it was the first time in a while that I had been around music. What happened was that Jay-Dee told me that they really wanted my energy out there because at the time they were kind of bickering at one another. So Jay asked me to come help them, I don’t know, relate to old times again.
To bring a little piece of home?
Yeah.
Do you think not being in Slum Village changed your career? Did you finish school?
You know what? I didn’t. Because after the Europe tour it rekindled my fire with music.
The pull was too strong?
Yeah, I remember going back to school, but I only went half-time. Then I went back the next year and eventually realized that I really loved to make music, so I left school and locked myself in my apartment for a year making beats.
So your real name is Robert O’Bryant IV. Is there a fifth?
No, Not yet. Music’s my only baby.
Do you plan on keeping the line going?
I don’t have a choice. My father told me at eight years old that I had to continue. I didn’t even know what sex was at the time, but my father told me I had to keep the line going.
Do you know any good stories about the first?
Ah man, there’s a ton of stories. What I know about the first—and everything I know about the second and third and even myself—we’re all highly motivated to do something new. So I feel like I’m keeping up with the lineage.

ARTDONTSLEEP AND SOUL EXPLORATION PRESENT THE PLATINUM PIED PIPERS WITH TIOMBE LONGHART AND BLU & EXILE PLUS DJs SAKEI, ASKI, COLEMAN AND J. BOOGIE AT CRASH MANSION, 1024 S. GRAND, LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / $15 / 21+. MYSPACE.COM/ARTDONTSLEEP.