THE GOVERNMENT NAMES K-RINO INTERVIEW

the dude that first put it down for houston, recruited all the realest from his neighborhood and figured out how to put out records without a major label. he's messed with all the major figures, screw, klondike kat, z-ro, geto boys (look closely and you might see him in their new video), ganksta nip (the south park psycho!), j prince, point blank, and a hundred other rappers and producers from the south. you can hear k-rino in chamillionaire's wordy punchlines and z-ro's sad raps to jesus christ.

he spit his first verse on record almost twenty years ago and he's still putting shit out. check for that hitt list, new album, just dropped, and that family bizness, the s.p.c. click album. hit up the website and put in your order.


GN: so what were you listening to before you heard rap for the first time?

KR: before that i was like any other kid, jammin' michael jackson and whatever else my mother had in the house or on the radio at the time, mainly funk and r&b, 'cause I was raised in the 70s.

GN: what was the first rap track you ever heard?

KR: the first rap track i ever heard, i think, was either rappers delight by the sugar hill gang or maybe a kurtis blow song, i cant remember.

GN: do you remember the first rhyme you ever wrote?

KR: i remember writing for the first time but the actual rhyme, i can only remember parts of it, and most of those parts were lines that i bit from melle mel-- this was, like, in 1983.

GN: when did you meet dj screw for the first time?

KR: i met screw in high school, around '85, '86. i was in a corner in a hallway rappin and after i finished he walked up to me and gave me props and introduced himself as dj screw. and that was interesting, that people dont know that's always been his name, long before he invented the style of music that he's known for today. he was cool from the beginning and never changed even after he blew up.

GN: what did you think about slowed music the first time you heard it?

KR: when i first heard it, i thought of the days when you used to play with the record player and slow the tempo down and speed it up. but then i noticed that he was actually doing a mix and that it was method to the madness. all of sudden everybody was bumpin it and it caught on.

GN: do you still bump screw?

KR: i never really bumped screw. i was always a dude who liked the regular version of a song but i always respected what he did, and i still do.

GN: did you ever sip lean?

KR: nah, i don't do any drugs. i don't drink or smoke, never have. i understand the people that do and why some do it but its not for me, and i hope that those who do it will one day stop and realize the effect that drugs are having on them, physically and mentally-- even weed. we only get one life and one temple, feel me? and when you're young, we sometimes do things that seemingly dont have an effect on us but as you get older it catches up to you. i have my vices just like anyone else but drugs aint one of em-- not knockin you if you do, though.

GN: what did you think when z-ro got busted for codeine last year?

KR: i have no knowledge on the situation, so i dont have an opinion. even if i knew the whole story i wouldnt have a comment because, number one, it's not my place or anybody else's to speak on or spread another man's business or to judge him in any way; number two, we keep family business in the house, only sissys and punks gossip. i dont trust media, whether it be commercial media or what i like to call "ghetto media," where fools on the street take things that they see or hear and run around shootin off at the mouth about it. i dont know if it's true, and if it is, it still aint none of my business. all i do is base my assessment of people on how cool we are with one another and i defend my homies from that kind of talk and slander, true or not. it's two sides to every story, sometimes three, so don't condemn a man until he speaks his piece. even then, dont do it, cause it could be you tomorrow.

GN: are you planning on doing more records with him?

KR: that's always a possiblity. z-ro is very busy and he's handlin his business on a daily basis, but its always love when we cross paths and we always talk about doing more work together. i got love for that dude because despite all that he's been through, he always mentions me in his interviews and gives me props and a lot of people dont do that. so, i'm down with him and trae for whatever they need.

GN: what other rappers in houston would you want to work with?

KR: i dont have any one particular rapper that stands out in my mind. i'm the type of dude that i'll get down with anybody if you're real. i dont deal with fakes and frauds but if you come to me right, we can work. i respect all the rappers in houston, known or unknown, although i am lookin for the next young cat to blow up out of h-town.

GN: everyone is getting a deal right now, cham, the whole swishahouse click, slim thug...

KR: i love that. i'm happy for all those young brothas. they worked for what they got, nothing was handed to them. the beauty of it all is that they didn't have to go to college for five or ten years or take some course or sell out to get it, this came straight up out the hood and that's what's great about hip-hop. we defy the odds and the so-called standards of how to be successful in america. i hope they all do very well. the names you mentioned are northside artists, i'm glad the northside is gettin their props and showing that they got talent and skill because the southside held it down for so many years but now the north is reppin h-town and keepin the legacy strong.

GN: can you speak on the situation with face going at lil flip, saying he wasn't real with how he was holding down his neighborhood and shit like that? some people are saying it was a bad move and he should have gone at him on a record if there was beef.

KR: to the people saying that he should have gone at him on a record, my question is, what's the difference? also, a man is entitled to his opinion. i don't know what flip does, or has or hasn't done, because i dont personally know flip, so it ain't my place to say what's what. as far as face goes, knowin how real face is, if he made a comment, then thats how he felt and whatever setting he did it in was the setting he was in at the time. face ain't the type of dude who's gonna waste time writing raps about people. from my view point, it seems like people keep asking him what he thinks about flip and he's just responding to what was asked. and i ain't personally read or seen where he said that, so i cant go all in like that. i'll just say what i always say, i hope that whatever the case is, it has a peaceful resolution.

GN: what do you think when you hear new york cats talking down on the south, like nas on 106&park talking about "coonage" on the part of southern rappers?

KR: if he's speaking on southern personalities and people in general, then i would have a problem with it. but if he speakin on lyrical skills, i agree to an extent. but if he's sayin we ain't got no skills on a whole, then i got a problem with that because it's so many dudes out here that can rip with the best of em. it's a lot of tight rappers in the south, so respect is due. but once again i havent heard the comments.

GN: do you ever bump nas?

KR: a little-- very little. i loved ether.

GN: are you feeling any other new york rappers?

KR: i only jam old school new york rappers, krs, public enemy, t-la-rock, big daddy kane, rakim.

GN: did your experience with the nation of islam change the shit you were writing about?

KR: yeah, it woke me up. i was always a conscious rapper but the nation gave me base to stand my words on and a belief system to funnel my lyrics through. it woke me up and expanded my knowledge, allowing me to feed others who need it through my music.

GN: when did you first get down with them?

KR: i got down with the nation in like '92.

GN: are you going to be voting in november?

KR: i wont be voting in the presidential election because until one of the candidates speaks on an agenda that will benefit black people and address our condition here in america, then i ain't tryin to hear what either one of em have to say. they're both fraud to me. voting for them would be like choosing between satan and the devil.

GN: aight. what was the last song you danced to?

KR: i dont dance at all. the last dance i think i did was back in like '84 at a house party, when i was 14. it was a slow drag. i only danced becausei felt like i had a chance to grab some booty. haha.

GN: describe the last car you drove.

KR: i've never owned a car, believe it or not. the last car i drove probably was my old man's truck.

GN: you just dropped the hitt list, right? who's on that?

KR: i got the whole s.p.c. on it except for klondike kat, who was on lock the majority of the time span in which i was recording the album. he got out in time to get on the radio version of one the songs but it ain't on the actual cd. also i got z-ro and bam and others on there too. if yall reading this and dont have the hitt list album yet, go to the store and get it or order it from me. i'll cut you a deal.

GN: last question. what else is coming out from s.p.c.?

KR: point blank and klondike kat got an album together. blank has two or three projects about to drop. and ganksta nip is in the process of puttin together a new cd. i got a new album already finished called fear no evil, coming next year, GOD willing. other than that, we just been try to push the current product that we have out. yall be lookin for all that, peace, GOD bless.