Statik Selektah: Full-Circle Moment

Now let’s hop right into this latest single, “AIN’T TOO MUCH TO IT,” feat. AB-SOUL, BUN-B & CONWAY THE MACHINE — Tell me about this particular track; how did it even come to fruition?

I had the track with CONWAY sitting there, and I was like, “what am I gonna do with it?” Bun B then came over for TrillStatik 2. I played him the track, and he got on it. Then I thought about what would bridge the gap on the record and make it an East-to-West Coast joint. Ab-Soul came to mind, so I sent it to him, but he had just dropped his new album literally 1-2 days before. I didn’t think he was going to knock it out, but he called me at 2am telling me his verse was done. It was bugged out the way he finished his verse.

Of course “AIN’T TOO MUCH TO IT” comes courtesy of your brand new LP, ROUND TRIP — Conceptually, what does this title represent both to and for you?

It’s my 10th album, so to me it’s a full-circle moment for the catalog. Making it Round Trip means so much to me. Living this crazy life, and being on tour, it’s always about making it home to my daughter. That’s what life’s about. Posdnous from De La Soul, who did the intro, made it more deep. He made Round Trip be about life in general, talking about Dave’s “Round Trip” which was deep as well.

How then does ROUND TRIP, your tenth outing, either differ and / or compare to previous Statik Selektah efforts?

It definitely has a progression in the production. To me, it’s a different vibe compared to a lot of my other albums, especially if you go back to my first album. It feels a lot more full, a lot more musical, and there’s definitely a broader variety of artists on there.

ROUND TRIP Is a ShowOff Records (through Mass Appeal) project — What are your future plans and / or goals for the imprint? And who all else, besides yourself, currently makes up its artist roster?

ShowOff is basically all these artists that I work with. Most of the time, it’s full albums I produce. Obviously Termanology, JFK, and other different artists over the years have dropped through ShowOff. It’s always going to be collaborations I do with different artists. Definitely got some projects on the way with Boldy James, 2 Chainz, NEMS as well, so there’s a lot on the way.

Statik Selektah

Switching gears here, what exactly do you want people to get from your music?

I want people to acknowledge the style of Boom-Bap, the traditional Hip Hop style, and how it’s lasted for as long as it has. It’s crazy when you look at how the style has stayed at the forefront of Hip Hop from the ‘90’s to now. It’s kept progressing and has stayed with the times.

If you could collaborate with any one artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Would love to work with Biggie. We never got to, but he’s my favorite of all time.

On a more serious note, are you happy with the current state of Hip Hop?

Yeah, I definitely am. I think there’s room for everybody. There’s a lot of people with their own lanes. There’s no real rules either, so it’s a fun time to be making music.

What do you feel has and will continue to be the key to your longevity?

My work ethic. A lot of people have been coming and going, but I stay busy. Every week I’m on the radio, every week I’m making music. I feel like I have a responsibility for the art form to keep shedding light on new artists coming, and keep holding it down.

Looking ahead, say five or maybe even ten years from now, where do you see yourself?

I look at someone like DJ Premier, who’s almost 60 years old, and still running around, doing it, and living. I definitely want to be doing that, but at the same time doing a lot more executive stuff behind the scenes. I could be doing that now, but I still like being an artist.

Any “parting” words for our readers?

Thank you to everyone that’s been rocking with me for so long, whether it was the last album or the last 10 albums. It’s been a lot of love. Keep spreading the word, this Hip Hop shit ain’t going nowhere.