Kool Keith Interview - May 10, 2004
By Adam Makeyenko

Adam: What are you working on right now?

Kool Keith: Me and H-Bomb are working on an album. 7 th Veil with his guest stars like Ike turner, Rasco, Flava Flav. He has a lot of guests to be announced too, very big guests. Just a whole lot of people.

Did you do a lot of production on the Diesel Truckers?

Fortunately, when we were supposed to work on it at first, I was supposed to, but eventually I only ended up touching one key probably. Kurt did probably 99 percent of the production. We didn't try to go any other route with other producers or anything. I think it was misinterpreted when we first had a meeting about doing the record. He ended up doing the whole album himself. I rapped on it. I participated in the project as a rapper. I was more of a rapper, which could be different. Everybody has a different objective when I make records. It's a different thing. He did that whole thing and it was his production and everything. It was more of a Diesel Truckers project than me. I didn't really put a whole lot into that project. I rapped on it. It was more of a catered album. I gave him some ideas of maybe one or two records to use, that was basically it. I didn't do anything at all.

Is KHM doing a new album?

No. KHM is not doing any new albums. The 7 th Veil album turned into KHM. KHM was originally the Clayborne album, which was stolen from me and H. In the past we funded KHM. I was the money man of KHM. I put up the money and H-Bomb was the second person funding the total spending of it all. We are not doing a KHM because the third party was not involved in the funding and spending. The first KHM album was all spent by myself and I didn't receive any credit for that. Even the production on the KHM album, unfortunately people went out to Europe and said they did this and that on that album, but nobody touched that album. Me and H. I had all the keyboards and everything. We're doing another album, the 7 th Veil though.

Is Marc Live going to be a part of that 7 th Veil?

Marc rhymed on one song, but I think H might pull that record anyway. He's having his differences with Marc. Marc has been going around the industry saying he did production for me. Its basically just like the Ultramagnetic situation. Everybody in the world says they produced me and they have stuff to do with my music. They don't even have a keyboard. Everybody sold their keyboards to the pawn shop. I haven't worked with Ultra in maybe ten years; I haven't worked with Marc in maybe two years. I have been behind a lot of things, a lot of funding and spending money and basically doing these records on my own. I have the personal album coming out that I produced, I have another album I'm doing, and me and H have an album coming out. I have many more projects to come that I have worked on, totally spending my money in the studio. A lot of these guys say they produced me, they can't even afford studio time. Everybody has basically sold their keyboards for drugs and booze and hanging out with chicks. So, they don't even have a proper way to say they produced anybody. It really gets funny to me how people need to use my name to market themselves. Everybody says that they don't need me, but everybody down the list has used some part of me to get their fan base or whatever. So, that's what we are working with. It gets comical to me because a lot of these guys I don't even hang with anymore. I see them just like a fan sees me coming to a show, and that's just once in a while.

Are their any other people in KHM projects?

I got Noname coming out. We will probably discontinue KHM because we had differences where people took the record and ran off with it for different reasons. It was remixed too many times. Once again, it goes back into the funding situation. I've put the most money out for KHM. I spent a lot of money. Everybody was kind of scared to spend money, so we won't be doing anymore KHM records for a while until people come to the table. H is moving on. I am moving on to other Latin projects, Spanish and Calypso things. H is doing stuff with Ike Turner and different people. Hooking up with west coast people Chill and other sources in Los Angeles . As far as me and him, I'm living in New York and he's living in LA. He's working with other artists with bigger names. Everybody is moving on to productive things.

Have you been producing your own shit lately?

I've been going to the studio for the last four or five years. Spending my money. You got everybody saying they are producing what I'm doing. I don't think so. Even with Automator, even with Kurt, even with Marc. Kurt produces himself. Kurt has his own equipment. I think Automator has his own equipment. I think Automator was in responsibility of some of the tracks. I think Kurt was in most of his own production. Even with Black Elvis, I was a behind the scenes ghost producer. I didn't even really tell nobody. Even with Dr. Dooom, I was a ghost producer. I fed a lot of the guys baselines and the beats through my keyboards. The sounds that you were hearing on a lot of those tracks were my keyboards. I own five keyboards. I don't think there is anybody that owns one. Everybody, like I said, has been going back and forth to the pawn shops selling their keyboards. So, it makes me laugh when someone says they are producing me, when they don't even own a keyboard. I think I am probably the last guy with equipment. I own six keyboards, and there is very few people I work around that have a keyboard. I don't know where they getting their baselines from, maybe some magic magician is popping up with the baselines. The beats are always programmed through the drum machine. Different people do different things. Marc was a programmer for me for years. I fed him the beats through the Triton and different things. I triggered baselines and all the sounds. That's how the KHM process was anyway. I triggered all the sounds through the keyboard into the machine. All the sounds were basically formatted and he just programmed them in. It was not basically him producing the album though. Me and H had a lot of arrangements and say so. As far as all of my other projects…Lost Masters, Matthew…I just arranged a lot of my baselines. All the sounds were just programmed in as they came in. No producing going on whatsoever. Once again, a lot of these guys, including Ultramagnetic, I don't care if it was Trevor, Ced, Moe. They all have their own sound, but right now I am probably the only guy, the last guy with a keyboard. I don't know where people getting keyboards from to even say they are producing any tracks affiliated with me or near me. The only thing I am working on that I truly have my hands involved in with my fingers on machines and keyboards is the 7 th Veil project, Kool Keith's personal album, and the last albums I've done. Everything else to me now is spending money on studio time. Everybody else can't even afford studio time to even talk about producing anybodies songs. A lot of people need a fan base right now and they gotta say whatever and do whatever to make their career look a little better. I wouldn't even pay any mind to half of the shit that people say or do. It's probably just a total misunderstanding. Everything you hear is like some Cat in the Hat shit, ya know what I'm saying.

What producers have you worked with in the last few years?

I worked with myself. I worked Liam [Howlett]. He sent me a track from Prodigy, which is a track that I rapped on. That was his own production I'm sure. Liam has the money to own his own equipment to say he produced me, which is true because I rapped on Prodigy's record. I participated in one of the songs they got coming out called, um, it's a hot song. I forgot the name of it. It's hot, I rapped on it. It's one of the top songs.

Wake Up?

Wake Up. Wake Up is a big song. Its one of the biggest songs I did. Proper production. They are back on point again. Everything is on point. So, that's what I've done. I worked with H. Me and him collaborated on some things. The only respectable producers that I have been working with was PI Rex who did a lot of the Analog Brothers. Thee Undatakerz, I did six tracks. I split that production with some guy. The rock stuff, I didn't have nothing to do with. I had more hands in those projects than in a lot of the projects previously worked with. I just want people to be on a clear understanding of who is doing what. Once again, you might hear a lot of funk, bass and weird sounds. I don't think people have any keyboards to play, to say they are producing anybody. You can call H-Bomb to clarify this. I own six keyboards. All the baselines, from Black Elvis to Dr. Dooom and so on and so on, came from me. Anybody that you hear with baselines is me. Anybody that you hear maybe trying to copy Premier or Mobb Deep is not me. Those groups have a different sound and they don't use keyboards that much, but people mimic their sounds. My whole thing is that I have nothing to do with none of that stuff. I'm speaking out for what I'm doing right now.

Are you working with any new people?

Well, me and H-Bomb are working with totally new people. H is really getting a lot of artists on deck. Big top 40 artists that people thought he could work with. He might even have James Brown coming to the table. He might even have some of the top singers coming to the table. Bobby Womack.

What is your next project?

My next project is the personal album. It's the album that I am really speaking about everything and people. I have a slow jam album, which is the personal album. Then I have the private album. And I have the concluded album. So, I have like three different albums all produced by me, under me. I am just basically doing a lot of my own things. I just bought a keyboard. Another one to add to the six. So, anybody out there saying they are affiliated or working with me, I laugh at that. I am funding a lot of projects and I am recording in studio time. Bottom line, Automator is up in San Francisco . I haven't seen Automator in 7, 8, 10 years. I worked with Kurt, just on Diesel Truckers. Like I said, I think I only touched one cowbell. KHM, me and H funded a lot of things. I played a lot of baselines on KHM, the first album. The only album. Clayborne Family was me and H and maybe one or two people. Those were Crash beats that he brought in from Chicago , and I think the beats were stolen and taken to Paris . Crash said Marc took the beats to Paris with some guys to do some production and fucked it off. The guys put the beat out. I had nothing to do with that. Right now the stuff is out. We had that done with Crash coming through. Marc paid a lot of that support for that Clayborne Family album, but that was money owed for the KHM projects. Basically me and H are the funders and spenders for any projects. Anything else is hilarious to me.

In a Q-Bert interview, he said that he was working with you and Automator on an Octagon 2.

Well, Octagon 2 is another funny project. They won't even let me hear the tracks. I have not heard one song. All I remember is, I gave left Fanatik to turn in some original songs that were supposed to be used. I don't even know if they used them. They called me in recently to do some skits to an album that I have never heard. I have been working on project that I have never heard and god knows what remixes will be done. I'm never going to hear it until it comes out, like a regular person in the public, buying the album myself. I am basically going to have to go to a store and purchase it myself. Only god know. I think it is so evil for a staff to do a record and not let me hear it and just take my acapellas and send to France . Send them anywhere they want to. Q-Bert might be working on it. Automator might be working on it. The funny thing is, I never even seen them. This new production thing is not a real collaboration thing. A lot of the artists are meeting through computers. Faxing vocals. Sending Dats back and forth. Cutting lyrics through the CD-Rom and all that stuff. So, It's not a real collaboration. H is actually working with artists. Having people come in. Ike Turner sitting there and Flava Flav hanging out. Him and Rasco. Him and Lalah Hathaway. Alexander O'Neil. He is actually working with the artists. A lot of my rappers sit in the studio with me and rhyme with me. We don't fax back and forth. I actually sit there with the artist and we work on a song. So, as far as Octagon, I never even heard the record. So, I don't want all my fans to be misinterpreted by all the production that may come up on that album. It won't probably be me. It will be some kids trying to scientifically experiment with Kool Keith's vocal. I've been living with that for the last couple of years. Everybody is trying to do some magical production on Keith.

I am just moving on to better things. I did a track with the Latin Frozz on some reggae hop. I am working with other Spanish artists. I'm moving on to Julio Iglesias. I'm working with some top Brazilian singers and top singers from Spanish cultures. I'm moving on to different thing. I am just going to let everybody fantasize about producing me. At the end of the day I just laugh.

From now and in the future, Keith has just been working with himself. When these guys say they are working with me, they act like they hanging with me everyday. Some of them seem like they had lunch with me. Like they chill with me, they drink beer with me, they walk to the clubs with me. They don't do no such thing. Good luck to each producer and their fantasy.