2NR: Three tips for upcoming artistsLB: Market yourself. You gotta shake hands and you never know whose hand you're shakin'. You never know what position they'll be in the next time you meet them. You need a quality performance. You're appearance matters in your material. Your surroundings are important. If everybody is not ready to make the decision to rap it's hard for people to understand what's important to you. If you have an entourage and they're still doin' the things they did back in the neighborhood they're not going to blame the entourage when the police come-they're gonna blame you.
2NR: You seem to think a couple steps ahead.LB: Yeah. It's through experience. I mean everything I'm going through now is planned through 50. He planned all this so it's hard for me to be shocked or excited or surprised. Through the success of his project and the G-unit project he told me what was going to happen from A to Z. Maybe I'll feel excited about my project because that one is all me.
2NR: Do you think this whole thing would have been different if 50 didn't get signed by Eminem?LB: 50 had a buzz on mixtapes prior to that stuff. Mixtapes are like a resume and you always have to have some kind of resume. I mean, you can't go to the NBA straight from the street. Doing the mixtapes is like going to college. The consumer wants a reference. They'll be like, "I don't want to buy," because all they like is the single. They go and get the mixtape and hear over 200 different freestyle references of what that artist can give to you.
2NR: If you had an opportunity to do one thing over again what would it be? LB: I don't regret anything that I've done. I'd do school over because I know I could have done it. School is not for everybody. It depends on what you want out of it. I felt that I was so advanced. I was the one that came in on Friday and passed tests just out of common sense.
2NR: Upcoming projects?LB: I got an outside venture coming up. I met a lot of people that I opened the door for. I started my own film production company. It's called Bangstar Productions and I'm producing an adult film. I met the people from Digital Sin and they let me know a few things. The leader in adult film is Jenna Jameson and she sold 60,000 copies. I was thinking that we sell over 800,000 copies of our CD so why can't I sell some adult entertainment. I'm tapping into a market that uses our influences so why can't I tap into their stuff. This is not a regular porno where you pop it in, press play and it's over. This is an enhanced DVD. It's interactive entertainment to where you can determine situations. You can be on the floor, in the bed, in the bathroom, the tour bus, backstage. There's racial preference: black girl, white girl, Asian, Latin. You can change a girl's attitude where you have a girl that's like "I never did this before," or a girl that's aggressive. You can have different camera views. The average film is shot like it's done from across the room. Ours does that but includes different views of the person that's actually participating.
2NR: Like a virtual sex video game.LB: I wouldn't say video game but it has the options like one. It's also a teaching tool. You could give to your partner on Valentines Day or Christmas. If you want her to be a certain way all you got to do is play the movie and pick the aggressive role if you want her to be aggressive. She'll have a reference to go off of. You could say, "Honey I want you to be more like Christina."
2NR: When does that come out?LB: Well first of all, my album will be out by this reading-June 29th. I would say that the DVD should come out late July. I'll be doing the whole promoting thing so while I'm doing that I'll be promoting the movie as well. The movie ties into the music game because I'll have music on the soundtrack that didn't make the album as well.
2NR: What were some of your jobs before you did music?LB: I didn't have any jobs. I got money anywhere I could.
2NR: If you were to quit music what would you want to be known for?LB: Damn. I guess I'd like to be known as one of the best and not just of my time. I want to be known as someone that changed the game. Longevity is cool. But if you can sell 11 million albums in one year you're doing more than what some artists can do in two decades.
2NR: With that, what is the key to making it?LB: Well first you have to have a set goal. Goals change but you have to go through the sets. Like in push-ups. You start off doing five, then 10, then 20. Hip hop is about taking risks too. Never compromise yourself to sell records because at the end of the day it'll bite you for it-as soon as the times change you won't be able to change with it. Bring whatever style you have to the table. Whatever works for me might not work for you. Maybe your energy wasn't meant to be the artist. May it was meant to be the manager.