Everlast Interview
So, Mr. Everlast, what have you been doing with yourself?
Just working on this new album. It's going to be good, but I'm kinda freaking out 'cause I made an i schizophrenic record, man. It's like half straight up b-boy rap shit and the other shit is like a cross between Johnny Cash and Beck. It's really ill. It's makin' me trip. See, a lot of people didn't know I played guitar, but I've been playing for awhile now. But the album is ill. I don't know what I did, but 1 did it. It's there, it's done. What I did was take everything I know of writing rap lyrics and applied that to what I know on the guitar. This album is like
what all these rock bands are trying to do. It was like a few years ago rap was borrowing from everything in the world and now it seems that everything in the world is taking from rap. But half of these rock bands will take like a drum loop and think they're doing what hip-hop people do. What we're doing is instead of coming at hip-hop from the rock side, we're coming at rock from the hip-hop side. It's gonna be ill. I got cuts with E-Swift, Casual, Divine Styler, Sadat X, my man Norwood from Fishbone is playin' bass on a few things and Rico from the Liks is up on there. The bulk of the album is being produced by SD50's, me and Dante Ross. And Dante told me to tell you not to be dissing him.
Why? What are you talking about?
He said you guys dissed him in an issue with Sadat X or some shit. Called him a scrub. He wasn't beefin' or trippin', he just said, 'Tell them not to be dissin'. Callin' me a scrub.'
In Ohio scrub is a term of endearment. It means you have good hygiene. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Anyhow, what are you doing out in LA?
I live out here. I've been out here for decades. I was born and lived in New York when I was young, but if you asked me I'm gonna tell you, 'Yo, I'm from LA.' Ask me where I was born, I'll say New York. I been out here so long already, I'm west Coast.
So this album is strictly Everlast? What happened with the other cats? Is it true you all boxed?
No, no fighting, nothing like that. Lethal is in a rock band called Limp Bizkit. It's not personally my cup of tea, but I just heard a remix the other day that I thought was amazing. I didn't really enjoy their record as much as their live shows, but the kids... the kids love it. They're selling records. But there's plenty of shit I hated that sold ten million copies.
And most of it is made by Puffy?
A large amount of it. Definitely.
What's up with the other guy?
Danny Boy. I talked to him recently. He's just running around, doing his thing. He might be starting a band, I don't know. He's not doing anything on this album. Not at the moment. See, what happened was I went through some hellified shit like a year ago and I just had to quit. It wasn't like the group broke up but I just got to the point where I had to quit. We had some static over certain issues and it wasn't really fun. It became a job. If I wanted a job I'd work construction. I know plenty of people in construction, I could get a job easily, if I wanted a real job. I quit the band the day the last album dropped. We didn't tour or anything. That's why I'm making this album... because I can write rhymes. That will always be there. It's not like I got guaranteed hits or anything, but I'll always be able to carve out a living for myself. I'm just at a point where I gotta try some different shit before I get to the point where it's too late and I'm sitting around wondering, 'What woulda happened if I tried some other shit?' Some of the cats I work with call me White-clef and it's funny 'cause he's kinda the guy I was lookin' at. I was like damn, he broke out a guitar I been playin' for years, why don't I? I kinda always kept the two separate because I didn't want people in hip-hop going, "What the hell is he doing?' I'm not abandoning where I came from. If you liked my b-boy shit, then you'll like at least half the album. It should be out the Summer and I think I might call it Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. It's kinda like an alias I got now. Whitey Ford. I see all these cats making up all these crazy aliases that make no sense, so I kinda made one up as a joke and it kind of stuck.
 What contribution, if any, do you think you all made to hip-hop?
I don't know if we made so much of a contribution as we just came in saying, 'Hey, here we are. Take your best shot, but here we are.'It's ill. I listen to "Jump Around" and I see it on Living in the 90's, and CD compilations and every fucking basketball game I watch on TV I hear "Jump Around". It's like we made the Louie-Louie of the 90's. It's kind of cool in a way, it's gonna live for awhile, dude. Right now there are very few people that can age with hip-hop, but there's ways to avoid that. And that's what I'm trying to do.
When you were trying to get into the rap game, getting signed and everything, did you run into any difficulties or apprehensions 'cause you were white?
Back in the day when I was first messing around--
Wait a second. Hey, what's up? When you did your solo joint way back before House of Jump Around came out, is it true you did a Christian Rap album, like Stryper of rap type shit?
Uh, no. Huh? No, I never did a Christian album.
No?
No.
Really?
Really.
Why would somebody blatantly lie to me like that?
No, I had an album and there might have been one religious song on there called "Speak No Evil", but I wouldn't even call it Christian Rap. That's an ill description. There was also a song on there "Fuck Everyone." I don't know where that all comes from, but back when I was first trying to get on, I got problems 'cause I didn't sound like the Beasties. That wasn't really something that stood in my way, that was only for a period of time around License to III. That was when that was the only way a white boy was supposed to rap. But I can't front, I've always been a fan of the Beasties. They're creative. You gotta give it up to them. They did some things, took some chances on shit that took some nuts.
What happened to that white female MC you used to date? What was her name? Terry B?
Wow. I know she's in a band somewhere, but I haven't spoken to her for months. I haven't really talked to or seen that chick in a long time. Yeah, that was my girl for a hot minute when I was like 19. I keep hearing she's in some band, like a female version of Rage Against the Machine. I have never seen the band or anything. People, man, they come and go. There's a few people in my life that I've known since way back, but on the whole people come and go.
Is it true you first met Danny Boy when he was trying to steal hub caps off your El Camino?
Uh, oh, man, that's... no. I met Danny Boy actually in a parking lot across the street from my high school. We were both cutting. That's how we met, just chilling in a parking lot. This school was really lax and kids would just leave and stand across the street and hang out instead of going to class. I met him a bunch of times, but we didn't get to know each other right away and one day we just started really hanging out and then it was on.
In retrospect, what was the wackest gear you ever rocked?
I'd have to say, way back before any band or anything, when I was a kid in school rocking some preppy gear like Top-siders, pleated khakis and a Lacoste shirt or sweater. I think I probably even had my hair parted to the side. I did for a minute but, hey man, who didn't? I seen everybody's pictures when they were young, ain't no one got the right to say anything about anybody. It's like, 'B, look at you.'
As far as hip-hop honkies, who do you feel the next cracker to take the weight is gonna be?
I'm still your best bet. No, actually, you wanna know who's nasty? My man Evidence from a group called Dilated People on Abb Records. That great white hope shit man, it's all bullshit. It's who can do it and who can't. For me to make a fuss over it in anything other than a humorous way is like giving into a preconceived notion. I approach it as, I'm just an MC. I've seen cats of all nationalities rip the mic. It's all good. The one thing I think House of Pain, what we did, we just came out and said, 'Yo, here it is. We're white boys, what's up? Whatcha wanna do about it?' We saw a bunch of white groups previous to us try and come out and be like, "We're down. We're down. Whatever it is, we're down.' We just came with the same attitude that the Beasties came with originally except we weren't joking. The Beastie Boys were aways joking. We came out like, 'Hey, we're peckerwoods. What? How ya like that?' You gotta hold it down for the crew.
So with all your success, who would you say the dopest girl you got to bone was?
Oh, man. C'mon. I can't put nothin' out there like that.
We'll just say date. Who did you get to date?
That kind of shit I keep to myself. Not down with the gossip.
That's my shit right there, kid. All about the falsified truths. How about who would you like to bone?
Fiona Apple. I'm in love with her. But her boyfriend is some crazy magician motherfucker. Make you disappear.
Give him some cement Nikes, make him disappear.
I listen to her music and I don't know, man, she's bony, she's skinny, yet there's something really sexy about her to me.
But did you catch her on Howard Stern? Girl was fronting. Straight bitch.
I heard that many times, I read a lot of shit like that but, you know, it doesn't interfere with my fantasy. She's completely submissive in my fantasy, bro.
 What would you say the worst shit you ever read In print about yourself was?
What pissed me off the most was some shit the Source had written about me, Cypress and House of Pain. I forget exactly what it was, but they really tried to player hate us. I remember being so upset to the point that we caught one of the Source dudes out in Florida and really let him know. He was so scared it was like you couldn't really hit him or nothin' 'cause he was shakin' in his shoes. He said something like, 'House of Pain and Cypress Hill,' it was racial like, 'Where's all the black guys,' or some shit and we're like, 'What the fuck?' That pisses me off to this day. Also, there was this guy who reviewed our last album in Vibe and he went out of his way, like, it's all right to say you don't like a record, The record was bad, I hated every song, blah, blah,' that's a review. This motherfucker went out of his way to say some shit about me and my lyrics.
Have you seen Belinda Carlisle lately?
No, I can't ever say I ever saw her.
Yo, somebody sent me her new CD and yo, the pictures in there... the girl looks so good.
Surgery does wonders.
Hey, whatever. I'll tag it up with the ol' magnum 44. Hey, are you still down with B-Real?
Oh yeah.
Yo, what's up with Carmen? What does she smell like? Does she usually wear a bra? What's her deal?
That's my man's lady, though, so...
But is she bangin' on the close up or is she just good from afar?
You know what? Every time I'm around him, she ain't around. I think I met her once, back in the day, when they first hooked up.
Did she look much different?
I can't really remember. It's like when you meet a friend's girlfriend, for me at least, I can never look at that chick in a way that's like, 'Oooh.' No matter who it is. If you were my man and you brought your woman around it, wouldn't even be a woman to me, she would just be a person.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rah, rah, rah. Money, if the girl is dope you recognize. You don't have to ask her to drop drawer, but you acknowledge the fact that she's attractive. So you can say to your man, 'Yo, your girl looks good.' You don't have to seek a three-way, you're just lettin' your man know you support his choice. So, tell me honestly, was she stacked?
She's a fine lady. Hell yeah, but I'm sayin'.
See, all I want to know is, before she got the joints put in and went silicone valley, how big was her set up? B-cup? Small C?
I don't even know all that. I didn't talk to B for a long time. So, I can't say. I'm just the kind of cat that keeps it on the low.
Closing comments.
I'm just bugging out. If you're looking for something ill, I'm gonna throw a curve ball at you. The new shit doesn't fit anywhere. You won't be able to put this album into a category. I'll be hitting the road with a live band soon, so come check me out.
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