C Rayz Walz is the sun cycle emcee. Born in the Bronx and son of a murdered drug kingpin, C Rayz Walz had an extremely hard life. Still, all through his struggle, he rhymed and rhymed well. His rhymes literally blew people’s minds. Like Canibus and Ras Kass, C Rayz Walz has intense and wild lyrics that go over people’s heads many times. Sometimes, they have double meanings. Sometimes, they are just plain ill. Unfortunately, some people pigeonhole him as a punch-line emcee. C Rayz Walz is so much more than that. He has a deep hunger to rock microphones. His deliveries and flows are energetic and confident. His voice is one of kind too. Over the past years, C Rayz released a couple of independent albums like “The Prelude”, “Singular Plurals”, and “The Limelight”. Recently, he signed to Definitive Jux, an innovative label ran and own by El-P, formally of Company Flow. Def Jux has a cult like following and they release a myriad of eclectic music. From artists like Mr. Lif to S.A. Smash to Cannibal Ox to Murs to RjD2, Def Jux is the thinking man’s hip-hop label. Of course, it is the perfect home for C Rayz Walz, a thinking man’s emcee with a strong street credibility. He appeared on “Battle for Asgard” from the Cannibal Ox album “The Cold Vein” and also on Aesop Rock’s “Labor Days” album. He is a member of a group called Stronghold with Breez Evahflowin (Blaze Battle and MTV’s DFX Champion). In 2003, C Rayz Walz released his first proper full length LP “Ravipops (The Substance)” on Definitive Jux. “Ravipops” does not have the typical Def Jux producers but it still has the creative boom-bap beats and intricate arrangements. “Ravipops” is an album that hits you instantly as well as down the line. Some songs and lines smack you in the face while others seep into your brain and stay there, making the listener finally understand the track at a later time. “Ravipops” is an album filled with passion, soul, love, hate, and most of all strength. There’s a love for hip-hop in each and every line and beat. Producers include DJ Lord Ron, Belief, 4th Pyramid, Ste-lo, DJ Black Panther, DJ Etch A Sketch, and other up and coming talent. While most of the songs have just C Rayz on the solo tip, there are some guests and most of them are not well known like Natural K.A.W.S. and Killa Kal. The insane posse cut “The Line Up” is overflowing with talented well-respected independent hip-hop legends. Produced by 4th Pyramid, “The Line Up” includes Wordsworth, J-Treds, Thirstin Howl III, Vast Aire, Breezely Brewin and MF Doom all on one song. It is an modern hip-hop classic. Other incredible tracks on “Ravipops” include “Guns & Butter”, “Protect My Family”, “Floe”, “The Essence”, “Camouflage”, “86”, “Elephant Guns”, and “Buck 80”. Even though “Ravipops” just came out, C Rayz Walz has a handful of future albums all ready in his brain. On a warm evening in the Autumn of 2003, C Rayz Walz and I had an in depth conversation about music, drugs, crime, lyrics, hip-hop, the music industry, movies, family, and more. Even though C Rayz Walz has been rocking mics and has been doing his thing for a very long time, he is just getting started and has much more to accomplish. He will accomplish it too. Every rhyme he rocks is like a sunray that shoots through your head. It enters your ear and shoots directly into your brain, body, and soul. While the Earth revolves around the sun, true independent hip-hop lovers revolve around the sun cycle emcee. Let his light shine on you.

T. JONES: “What goes on?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “The sun cycle emcee is in full effect in this dire land!”

T. JONES: “Your new album is called ‘Ravipops (The Substance)’ Tell us about it? Who’s producing it? Who is on it?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “The album ‘Ravipops’ is basically the culmination of the trilogy. The trilogy being, ‘The Prelude’ which is my first album that came out somewhere around 1999 or 2000. The follow-up to that album was ‘Singular Plurals’ which is basically a compilation of singles and collaborations I did that all came out on wax. It was my vinyl history. Then, I dropped ‘The Limelight’ about 2 or 3 months ago. It is an album dedicated to songs I like to perform out of a catalog of like 80 songs that had no definition or place to go. They were not going to be on my future albums later on in my career. I past that. ‘Ravipops’ is a culmination of all of those activities. I was kind of immature. I was just running around doing tracks and not doing hip-hop to pay bills. ‘Ravipops’ symbolizes the birth of my son Ravi. Being a young adult man and becoming a responsible father reflects into my music. I didn’t want to run around and do mad singles and sh*t just to pay the bills. Those days are far, few, and between right now. My career is important. I am focused on being a father. I focused on putting out music that is going to transcend my life and time. I can’t really transcend my life and time with battle raps and music that does not have depth to it. All of my music has extreme depth to it. Still, I am going to a higher place. ‘Ravipops’ is giving you a picture of who I am through a hip-hop standpoint. Street violence, street science, battle raps, club mentality, social commentary, historical values, spiritual journeys, old school throwback, rest in peace. You get all of that on ‘Ravipops’. I think that is something that a lot of hip-hop albums fail to do these days anyway. ‘Ravipops’ is like one of those albums that I used to love to always listen to. I wanted to get back.”

T.JONES: “The new album ‘Ravipops’ is on Def Jux but you do not have any of the typical Def Jux producers. Why?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “All the producers on ‘Ravipops’ have been in my circle since the beginning. Black Panther, Sean One, DJ Lord Ron, Belief. I knew all of these producers for years. I just wanted them to be apart of this album. We dropped different singles here and there with various songs. I wanted them to experience a true album with me. As far as me not having production by RjD2 or El-P for that matter, I don’t know. We didn’t click on that page for this specific journey. I was already in full speed, picking out joints. El-P was actually helping me pick out beats and all of that. We actually did a song for the album. It was a dope joint called ‘Fantasia’ and it was about 4 and half minutes long. It was too long for the vinyl edition. For the time, the album would have been too long.”

T. JONES: “Do you have a favorite song on ‘Ravipops?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Really the whole album. The song that is ageless to me is ‘Dead Buffalos’. It’s ageless. I don’t think anybody will ever go there again the way that I went there on that whole concept. Nobody ever touches that.”

T.JONES: “What is the meaning behind the title ‘Ravipops (The Substance)’?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Well, my son is Ravi and his name means ‘the rising sun’. I am C Rayz, the sun cycle emcee. ‘Pops’ could mean a few things. ‘Pops’ is the gun or the impact of the slug to the target hit. ‘Pops’ could mean to throw-up or explode. Pop off on the scene. It’s the rising sun explosion. It’s the rising sun with accurate aim. In parenthesis, we have ‘The Substance’ as the subtitle, which is who I am literally. I really am ‘Ravipops’ and ‘Ravipops’ is what I’m doing. The substance of C Rayz Walz is what you get in the musical journey of ‘Ravipops’. All that album is non-fiction. There’s no jokes. No filler. Listen to album and you can know who I am. You can have a conversation with me based on those songs and be accurate to the bone marrow.”

T. JONES: “How and why did you get involved with Def Jux?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Me and El-P been fam for eons as far as the whole cycle of hip-hop in NYC. I was on the Cannibal Ox album and the Aesop Rock album. It was just meant to happen. You know what I’m saying? El-P saw me at various battles and at different open mics. I didn’t know about Company Flow when they were blowing up. I wasn’t really on the scene like that. I was running around on some crime wave sh*t. Me and El have been talking about this for maybe 2 years before that. I just watched him do his thing and he watched me do mine. He was like, ‘Yo! I’m ready to body it for 2003! We can do this!’.”

T.JONES: “How is Definitive Jux different from other labels?” 
C RAYZ WALZ: “They are not scared to let the artists be 100% apart of the project. They get behind the project fully. They have Caroline distribution, which is a great distributor. They are fond of me and I thank Caroline for digging my music. As far as Def Jux as a company, the owner of the company is an artist. I don’t know another good label where the owner is another artist. He knows about the whole struggle of being an artist. All of my label mates, they don’t give a f*ck about what society wants them to do. They just do their music from the heart. That’s what I do. I go with mine. If you end up liking it, that’s a plus.”

T.JONES: “Since you are an accomplished battle emcee, would you say that the movie ‘8 Mile’ with Eminem was a realistic portrayal of emcee battles at that time?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “No doubt. No question. Full frequency. Word to Breez Evaflowin! That’s our story right there. I give Eminem love because he was in our circle during the old hip-hop days and religion.”

T.JONES: “You did some touring with Atmosphere too. You were on the ‘Sad Clown Bad Dub 4’ DVD. How did you get involved with that and what was that like?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Me and Slug were cool before I knew what his music was about. Every time I saw homey on the scene in New York, we were cool. We were just kicking it. I didn’t know that this motherf*cker was Slug. The few times I saw Slug perform, I dug it. He was definitely a dope performer. I never heard any of his music and they asked me to host some shows. That’s some real life hip-hop sh*t.”

T.JONES: “Did you ever slap Mr. Dibbs for 20 bucks?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Huh? Oh! I roundhouse kicked him! (laughs).”

T.JONES: “You are a very lyrical emcee. Do you go into the studio with pre-written rhymes and themes or do you hear the beat first and write then and there? Do you hear the beat first or write the lyrics first?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “There’s no set formula. I see music like women. With each one, I have a different approach. Some, I may want to have sex with. Some, I may just want to walk and talk with them. Some, I may just want to spend a night with them and cuddle when I’m stressed out. Each beat has its own personality. Sometimes a beat is just so hot, I may just hear it in the booth and just jump in there. That would be the song right there. I did that with 2 songs on ‘Ravipops’. I’m not going to say which ones but you can notice something different about those 2 songs. I just went in the booth and straight freestyled those 2 songs and they came off spectacular. Then, there’s a song like ‘86’. I heard that beat and I just walked with that beat for about a week. I wrote 6 bars here. Maybe, one day, I just wrote one line. By the end, it was a culmination of all those thoughts. At the end of the day, when cats say dumb sh*t like ‘C Rayz Walz is a much better emcee than the beats he picks’, I feel misunderstood. A lot of cats rhyme over dope beats and they are wack as f*ck. There aren’t many cats who actually make the beat come alive and have the beat complement them as an emcee. Style and expression. I do that with every beat I rock over. I heard it before I laid the rhyme down. ‘Dead Buffalos’ is screaming ‘Dead Buffalos’. The beat for ‘Floe’ is screaming ‘Floe’.  ‘Bang this in your whip while you ride through 125th with a sidekick of Hennessey slick.’ Say this sh*t on Hot 97.”

T.JONES: “If you could choose one producer for an entire album, which producer would it be?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Actually, I’m not a f*cking groupie so I can’t rock with strangers. I can’t rock with dudes who just want to rhyme with me just because I’m C Rayz Walz and they have dope beats. Hip-hop is not a common denominator. We have to share common interests, have a personal experience or at least have a great conversation before we even talk about music. I would do an album with my man, 4th Pyramid right now.”

T.JONES: “What producer would you like to collaborate with in the future?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Working with producers can be real funny, man. I really can’t say man. Dudes like Premier are dope. I guess I can say Premier. Cats are sleeping on him right now. Cats definitely have spiked heals on their f*cking head on Premier right now. He’s one of the classic boom-bap straight up hip-hop cats. I think that if Premier and I did a whole album together, we could capture the vibe.”

T.JONES: “What emcee/group would you like to collaborate with in the future?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “That could be a real challenge to my style. I worked with Rise already. That’s my favorite emcee. Damn, C Rayz and Redman over a Premo track! Bang that sh*t in the club in Afghanistan! Word up! That would be fabulous. Me and Redman could vibe and make some crazy banana boat sh*t.”

T.JONES: “Some people have said that you and Last Emperor would make a good collaboration”
C RAYZ WALZ: “That would be bananas. I would like to do a whole EP with son. I know Emp is a deep thinker. We would have to be on some food deprivation sh*t with like $10 in our pockets for weeks and just make it happen. We would come out with some real hard heartfelt dope sh*t, say word!”

T.JONES: “Are you going to do any producing? Will you produce your own beats?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Yeah, I am actually going to produce an EP that will follow up the next album. The next album is called ‘The Sun Cycle (Epiphany)’ After ‘The Sun Cycle (Epiphany)’, I’m going to produce all of the beats for the following EP that is called ‘Organics (The Dysfunctional Paralysis Of Emotional Burden)’.”

T.JONES: “What was the last incident of racism that you encountered?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I don’t know. A lot of times in Midtown. It’s kind of inadvertent. I guess, women in downtown Manhattan. If I give them a glance or something they look at me like I am looking at them as if I want to have sex with them. I’m like ‘Come on! You’re not even that hot! Chill! Don’t even trip like that! I have groupies that look better than you that I turned down. Be easy, ma’.”

T.JONES: “Where were you on Sept. 11th, 2002? How did you deal with it? How do you think it has affected or will affect hip-hop?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I actually smoked 2 El’s and watched the buildings burn and crumble. Ravi’s mom, my girl, was at school. She called me and was like ‘Turn the news on! Some crazy sh*t is going on! I can’t get out of school. Tell me what’s happening!’ I turned the news on and the Trade Center was on fire. I told her not to go anywhere. I stayed home, rolled up an El. Said ‘F*ck it, make it 2 of those.’ I smoked them. I don’t smoke weed anymore. It’s been like 6 months. When I finished smoking the first El, the other building got hit. I smoked the other El. It was like watching a movie. I guess the two El’s represented the towers which is a f*cked up thing. You want to hear some f*cked up sh*t? I was about to get signed to Sony and Def Jam. They were both hollering at me. The game was real good. Economy was up in hip-hop. Hip-hop was on top of the world. Hip-hop cats were getting million dollar contracts and all that sh*t. Sony was looking at me. We had lunch with Tommy Matolla. Def Jam was looking at me. Lyor was listening to the music and picked out songs to be the singles. It was a matter of getting up there, getting the paperwork done, and meeting them along with having a couple of other joints ready for the next singles. Then, the towers fell. They were like ‘Mariah’s sh*t is pushed back. We’re not signing anybody. Def Jam is chilling. We ain’t doing nothing right now.’ It was f*cked up because I took a 6 months hiatus from doing singles and I was just going to pop up on Def Jam and surprise everybody. The Towers destroyed that possibility. It was actually good because now, I will never sign to a major label. My uncle lost his whole crew in the Towers. I lost friends in there. One of my people saw people jumping out the windows while he was at work. It was real traumatizing sh*t. America’s f*cked up. This sh*t is way bigger than oil. Listen to the Immortal Technique album. I need to get my plan going before I start talking and speaking out about that.”

T.JONES: “What do you think hip-hop needs these days?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I think that it is a self-evolving culture and way of life. Since we can always improve, I would say hip-hop needs more love. Word, man! More respect for the culture and more love for the people who are doing it. Especially, in New York. In NY, everybody in the crowd is hating because everybody is an emcee or a producer or whatever. So, they just critique it. When I’m in the crowd, I’m not a critic, I’m a fan! I’m not thinking to myself, ‘Is that song better than mine? Is his stage show better than mine?’ I’m not comparing myself like that. I’m a fan! I came to see what this man or this group is about and what this DJ is spinning. Sure, I check for mic control, personal references, sharing, passion, openness, stage mobility, and different mobility. I even grade it. Even if I’m not feeling it, I still give love because I know it takes courage to be up on stage. I just won’t clap as hard as I would if I was really feeling it. I will clap though.”

T.JONES: “What is your favorite part of your live show?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “The same part that I hate. The freestyle. It’s a love hate relationship because my sh*t is so unconscious and ridiculous. Like I said in the track ‘Floe’, I said, ‘Off the head, I’m fed / My freestyle eats my written.’ That’s two things. The first part ‘Off the head, I’m fed’ means that I am fed up and angry. Or I am fed. My brain is having a delicious meal like my stomach. ‘My freestyle eats my written’ Cats love that sh*t. I don’t blame them. That sh*t is raw and one of a kind. When I’m in a zone, I blackout and black-in like dark skinned brothers who are repeat offenders.”

T.JONES: “How has your live show evolved? How has it changed?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I think I talk to the crowd a little more now. I probably make less jokes. That’s really it. I kept the same formula. I got sick of cats getting up on stage and keep talking to the crowd, asking the crowd to say ‘Hoe!’ and feedback. When I first started out, I didn’t ask the crowd for sh*t. If you feel something, you’re gonna clap at the end. Then, I would pause until you finished clapping and then, go to the next song. Now, I have more dialogue with the crowd. I am definitely focusing on having dialogue with the crowd on this Raekwon tour. They will be connected with me more.”

T.JONES: “Tell us about your upcoming tour with Raekwon.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Yeah, I’m leaving and will be out until November. His new album is out on Universal. It was supposed to drop in August. You know how the game is. It’s hot. It’s real dope.”

T.JONES: “What LP or CD has been on your turntable or in your CD player recently?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I have been listening to a lot of instrumentals. Icon. Prince. Erykah Badu’s new sh*t is hot. Dead Prez’s ‘RBG’. I’m a stay bumping that. Tracy Chapmen. Sade. That’s my trilogy right there. I’ve been bumping some blues. El-P’s ‘Fantastic Damage’. Aesop Rock’s ‘Bazooka Tooth’ too. With El-P’s ‘Fantastic Damage’, it took me like a month and a half to really get it. It’s real crazy. It’s hard. That’s why I think that it’s such a dope album because songs that you get and understand in 5 minutes is fast food but you have to acquire the taste for Mediterranean flavors. ‘Labor Days’ was instant bang with every track but ‘Bazooka Tooth’ is much more difficult listening. I’m still digesting it and that’s dope.”

T.JONES: “If you could remake any classic hip-hop song, what would it be?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I just now did it. I just remade ‘Young, Gifted, And Black’ by Big Daddy Kane. Another song that I think is the greatest song of all time and I would never dare do a remake of is the Melle Mel’s verse on the ‘Beat Street’ movie. I could only hope to reach a level with a verse like that, which had so much immortality to it. It was the scene at Ramon’s party, after he died. He kicked the illest verse in the history of hip-hop ever! Hands down.”

T.JONES: “As a lyricist, who are some of your major influences?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Krs-One for the intelligence. Big Daddy Kane for the raw delivery. Biz Markie for the humor. I’m influenced by everybody. I’m dope. I would have to say Rakim for sh*t that you don’t even catch in his rhymes until like 5 years later. There are things in Rakim’s albums that you still catch now. I’m like the biggest Rakim fan. When people say that C Rayz Walz is a punch-line emcee, they have it twisted. I don’t punch-lines. I kick circles and stomp ciphers to death.”

T.JONES: “What is your opinion on Ras Kass?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I haven’t really heard too much of Ras Kass music but the sh*t I did hear was impressive. It reminds me of myself in the way that Ras Kass says a lot of quick witted sh*t that flies right over your f*cking head.”

T.JONES: “You collaborated with MF Doom on ‘The Line Up’. How did you hook up with him and what was that collaboration like?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “That’s family. We are in the same crew. Doom is an emcee straight up. He don’t give a f*ck. He has his own style. He has like 8 diagrams to every verse. Sh*t is mad esoteric, subtle. He is a master of his craft.”

T.JONES: “The incredible song ‘The Line Up’ has many outstanding emcees like MF Doom, Breezely Brewin, Wordsworth, Thirstin Howl III, Vast Aire and more. How did this happen and what was it like?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I actually wanted to do this with everybody that was on there. These are all emcees that I respect as far as coming up as I been coming up. They haven’t been recognized for their full potential. Everybody on that track I think is legendary and I don’t think they are getting recognized. I wanted them to get recognized for that track. Breezely Brewin is one of the greatest emcees ever, man. He’s one of my biggest influences as a human being, not even on some f*cking music.”

T.JONES: “How was it recorded? Was it recorded in different days and with different takes? Were the emcees ever in the same room at the same time?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “No doubt, nah. Everybody’s schedule was hectic so everybody came on different occasions. It was always a special moment when everybody did their verse. I did it in order. Wordsworth heard my verse. Then, Thirstin Howl heard my verse and Wordsworth’s verse. Then J-Treds heard my verse, Wordsworth’s verse and Howl’s verse. Then it went all the way to Breezely Brewin heard everybody’s verses except for Doom’s. Finally, Doom heard everybody’s verse and then wrote his.”

T.JONES: “What was the lowest thing you ever did for money?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “One time, I robbed this Indian man on a train and his son was terrified. I really felt bad about that sh*t. His son was definitely terrified. He was mad scared. I gave him half of his money back. That’s how bad I felt. The dude probably had mad children. He was so scared but he was holding on to his pocket unconsciously. I was like ‘You see this f*cking gun in your face, man!? What the f*ck are you doing?! I know you are staying downtown. F*ck this!’ He was like ‘No! No! Please!’ and I just gave half of his sh*t back. I didn’t really do any other foul sh*t. My hustles were always legit. I had a train hustle. I used to steal tokens. I was sticking up and strong arming cats. I always felt like I had to justify my sh*t. When I was robbing people, I was like ‘Fuck it! I’m stealing from white America! They owe me for slavery.’ I was on that type sh*t. Oh, I almost forgot this! The lowest thing I ever did for money was sell crack for 2 weeks. I got locked up immediately too because I swore that I would never sell drugs because my father got murdered for being a drug kingpin. I swore that I would never sell drugs and the one time I did, I got locked up immediately. I had to do a 6 month bid real quick.”

T.JONES: “What is the story with your father’s murder? Can you tell us about it?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Yeah, they murdered him up in his hotel. I was like 2 years old and sh*t. I didn’t see it but I was around though. He was a big drug dealer but a good man. Like I said in ‘Protect My Family’, I said ‘I’m not trying to die in the street but my people need something to eat. I’m just trying to feed my fam. Straight up, I need cash in hand.’ That would be a tie for the dopest album because that is 100% real. My father was truly trying to be a father to me and his other children. He had a couple. He was a Muslim. He was selling bean pies in the mosque. That sh*t just wasn’t working. He was a good man, trying to do it. He just got caught up. That’s what happens when you deal in that circle. You get caught up. My man, Killa Kal, who is on that track, he’s an original Knockout King. He was one of the only cats who could ever beat my *ss in life but now, he’s like a supreme father. He teaches his children. You would never know the type of life that he came from if you looked at him or talked to him. The song ‘Protect My Family’ is real. ‘I’m going to be the dad my father couldn’t be. He died. One of the many reasons I cried. Could it be? I find I take Bacardi shots. That’s my excuse for living. Ravipops’ You know?”

T.JONES: “What was your father selling? Cocaine? Heroin?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “He was selling all of that sh*t. He was controlling n*ggas and all that sh*t. He was gangsta, gangsta.”

T.JONES: “How did you survive such a loss?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “My mom was a strong Black woman. She pimped the system on some DP (Dead Prez) sh*t. Juggle welfare, juggle social security, switch names up. F*cked the system up. Once I got 12, I started strong arming n*ggas. I was always socially dysfunctional, as far as not being able to deal with other kids having fathers. I was mad jealous my whole life at cats who had fathers. A lot of elders, older Black men helped me deal with it. By the time I was 12, I decided to look at it for what it was. I realized and felt that his spirit and energy was with me. His essence was here and I moved on from that. I’m saying, I’m still socially dysfunctional. That is why I over compensate with such great lyrics and great performances. That’s why I wish that a lot of cats would stop rhyming like this is some cool sh*t to do. This sh*t is not cool to do. People that rhyme are special people. They are not regular in this society. My chicks can pick up rhymes and dictionaries and rhyme to dope beats like nothing. That don’t make you an emcee. Understand?”

T.JONES: “Well, I am very sorry to hear about your father.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “It’s all good but I’m not going out like that. Through him and me, Ravi gets to have a father.”

T.JONES: “Would you say that you would approach an emcee battle similar to the way you would approach a stick up?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Undoubtedly. No different at all.”

T. JONES: “Word association time.  I’m going to say a name of a group/emcee and you say the first word that pops in your head. So, if I say ‘Chuck D’, you may say ‘Revolution’. If I said ‘Flavor Flav’, you may say ‘Crack’ Okay?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Word, exactly!”
T.JONES: “Atmosphere”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Clouds.”
T.JONES: “Jay-Z” 
C RAYZ WALZ: “A paid n*gga.”
T.JONES: “50 Cent.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “A Warrior.”
T.JONES: “Nas”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Lyricist.”
T.JONES: “Phife Dawg.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Shorty.”
T.JONES: “Common.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “(Laughs) Laughter.”
T.JONES: “Wu-Tang Clan”
C RAYZ WALZ: “The swordsmen.”
T.JONES: “Ras Kass”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Undoubtedly.”
T.JONES: “MF Doom”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Spooky.”
T.JONES: “MC Paul Barman"
C RAYZ WALZ: “Dope, dope, dope, dope.”
T.JONES: “Eminem”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Underrated.”
T.JONES: “George Bush.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “D*ckhead.”

T.JONES: “You are a father. Has being a father affected your career or creativity?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “It changed my career totally. I don’t really exist for myself anymore. All my music has to be Ravi certified. I think of all the children out there. I’m going to follow the hip-hop rules. I don’t have as much time to run around and go to your house, and listen to beats for 2 days. I gotta go home. I gotta go feed the kids. I have to study longer. With everything I do, if I can’t give it to him, I can’t give it to myself. Those are words to live by. As far as my lyrics are concerned, I’m much more serious. It may sound corny, but I’m trying to maintain my soul. I don’t want to sell my soul to materialistic goals. I want to maintain my sh*t, yo. I want some old fashioned God in my life.”

T.JONES: "What are some major misconceptions that you think people have of you?"
C RAYZ WALZ: “Mostly everything but it’s all good. C Rayz Walz! Understanding the child, the 3rd eye, the best part. ‘C’ as in see things as they really are and not what they appear to be. Rayz is also a math term. Having a point but the arrow is extending. It is known as infinite. Rayz, emanating from the source of light, emanating from the source of truth. Rayz or raise to elevate your mind state. Walz? Breaking down the barriers of hatred, prejudice, self-prejudice, low self-esteem, womanizing or any of these isms. C Rayz Walz! Understand the sun cycle and see the true value and the worth of yourself! I don’t expect anybody to understand me… yet. They will eventually… but not yet. People call me a punch-line emcee? Misunderstood. Some say that my beats are less than dope? Misunderstood. They say I’m a thug? Misunderstood. I’m an emcee!”

T.JONES: “Most people consider you as a ‘lyrical’ emcee. How do you feel about that? Is that a pigeonhole?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “It just opens up room for phase 2, 3, and 4 of the plan. I got 2 more albums left in hip-hop. Then, my hip-hop albums are done. I got 2 albums and 2 EPs. Then, watch where I go.”

T.JONES: “Where are you going to go after hip-hop?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Ah, man. I’m banging, B. They ain’t even gonna understand. I’m going somewhere for real. My third album, ‘Boundless’. That will be the name of it. That sh*t is going to obliterate every emcee. No boundaries. Every emcee is going to be lost in that album. They won’t even understand it. The next album is ‘The Sun Cycle (The Epiphany)’. The follow up EP to that album will be ‘Organics’. I keep changing the subtitle but it is definitely going to be ‘Organics’. The EP following ‘Ravipops’ is ‘Deep Space Rhyme’.”

T.JONES: “Is your next album going to be on Definitive Jux?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Oh, that’s the only place my albums will ever be.”

T.JONES: “Your older albums were not on Def Jux?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Those weren’t really albums. Those were lessons. Those were time capsules right there. They are by Ebay specials.”

T.JONES: “What collaboration are you most proud of?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Me and Aesop Rock are pretty ill. As a multiple collabo, ‘The Smackdown’ was one of the dopest. Any of the Stronghold cuts. I’m talking about ill collabos outside of the ‘Ravipops’ album. On ‘Ravipops’, ‘Protect My Family’ is the illest collabo.”

T. JONES: “What is the biggest mistake you made in your career?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I would probably say not starting to rhyme earlier.”

T.JONES: “When did you start rhyming?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Professionally, for the world to see? In about 1997, I started going to open mics. I stopped doing stick-ups in 97. I was rhyming way before that. I was rhyming at the school lunchroom table. I was a neighborhood legend, block party legend. Various cats on the train got served by me and they didn’t even know my name. Then, they would see me and be like ‘Oh! Son bust my *ss on the train one day! Son is nasty off the dome!’ You know, I didn’t get up on that whole Village scene or NYU or Bobbito. I wasn’t on that sh*t. I was in the Village robbing n*ggas! I missed that. Everything I’ve done in my career as far as songs and sh*t, I don’t regret nothing. Even though I got jerked for ‘The Specialist’. I’m going to sue these f*ggots one day for distribution. I didn’t get a dime for ‘The Specialist’. I know they sold at least 100,000 in Asia alone. It was the first single I was on with me, Apani, D-Fly, and Rasheed.”

T.JONES: “You didn’t get anything for that?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Ah, hell no. Chinese food. I still have the contract with them signing on it and without my signature. I’m sure I can sue them.”

T.JONES: “What song made you fall in love with hip-hop?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “‘The Method’ made me feel it. Sugerhill made me like to emcee. When I started to hear Big Daddy Kane, that n*gga was like ‘F*ck this! That’s what’s up!’ Big Daddy Kane raw, Mortal Kombat! The wrath of Kane, taking over your circumference! Destroying negativity and rappers who come with the weak. He’s a savage! Any Rakim joints too! When I heard Rakim, he made me fall in love with hip-hop. His songs made me say ‘Yo, I wanna do this!’.”

T.JONES: “You’ve traveled around the world. How are non-American audiences different from American audiences?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “They are just loving the art. They aren’t hating. It’s like old ‘86’ sh*t. That’s ‘86’ like a motherf*cker and not in a corny way. They know their history and appreciate the culture. That’s hard as hell to find out here. They take advantage of everything we have basically. Just like motherf*ckers throwing food away while cats in Rwanda are starving.”

T.JONES: “What are some of your favorite movies?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “‘Blade Runner’, ‘The Dark Crystal’, ‘Legend’ with Tom Cruise. ‘The Last Dragon’. ‘The Secret Of Nihm’, the original ‘Children Of The Corn’. I have a lot of crazy movies. ‘American Beauty’ is dope. ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.”

T.JONES: “They just made a remake of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “That’s real gay. Mad F*cking gay. I’m definitely boycotting that sh*t. F*ck that! Gay as hell. If you weren’t there when it happened, too bad. Go back and get the Beta or the DVD. When I saw that sh*t, I don’t know what the f*ck! That sh*t is like Betamax! Remember when the f*cking disc was like the size of a record? Laser disc. My man’s moms had one of those sh*ts. We would watch ‘Cheech & Chong’ on those sh*ts and sh*t like that.”

T.JONES: “The movie ‘Blade Runner’ by Ridley Scott is a classic.”
C RAYZ WALZ: “People see me and say, ‘You f*ck with Blade Runner? You’re a psycho!’”

T.JONES: “In ‘Blade Runner’, do you think the Harrison Ford character was really a replicant?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Yes, yeah. That’s the sh*t. You are the first person to ever ask that or delve into that movie. When I watch movies, I look behind or beyond the movie. I’m always looking for the subtle, subtle sh*t. That’s why I felt like the f*cking man when I watched ‘The Usual Suspects’ and motherf*cking Kevin Spacey was Kaiser Sose. I felt like the man because I knew that sh*t the whole time. I was like ‘I don’t trust this n*gga right here. This crippled n*gga? This n*gga is not crippled or something. He’s not who he says he is. F*ck that! That is Kaiser Sose!’. People were like ‘Shut the f*ck up!’. I was like ‘Yea, aiight’. When it happened, I was like ‘Yeah! Motherf*ckers! F*ck everybody in this movie theater!’”

T. JONES: “You are in a group with Breez Evahflowin, who is a Blaze Battle and MTV’s DFX Champion. What is the name of the group and what is going on with the album?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Stronghold. ‘The Legend’. Stronghold is the name of the group and ‘The Legend’ is the name of the album. We are about to drop it in a minute. We've been doing our thing in New York hard for the last minute.”

T. JONES: “What label is going to release Stronghold LP ‘The Legend’? Def Jux?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I don't know who we are going to put it out through. What ever label puts it out will be a very smart label.”

T.JONES: “Who is doing the production for ‘The Legend’ by Stronghold?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “In house producers. Stealth Index, DJ Static, Danger, Scram Jones, Blockhead.”

T. JONES: “Do you wish to be buried or cremated?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Yeah, flame me up, man.”

T.JONES: “What would you want done with your ashes?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I want my sh*t spread over the 7 continents. Sprinkle a little bit over my son’s juice. Word up, take a sip.”

T.JONES: “What is next for C Rayz Walz? Any future collaborations or projects we should look out for?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “I’m going to promote this album for a nice while. I think I’ll collaborate with Monie Love. Probably, Freddie Foxxx or Redman. Prince. I want to collabo with Prince and also Erykah Badu. A joint with Raekwon.”

T. JONES: “Any final words for the people who will be reading this?”
C RAYZ WALZ: “Definitely go out and support the album ‘Ravipops’. Support the earlier releases. Don’t be an emcee if you are not one. Basically, do the knowledge through rhythm you are spitting. Understand the rhythm or get lost in the prisons that the rhythm is spinning. The limelight can turn into a sour lemon and all good things come to an end. Ask John Lennon. I’m the antidote.”