[All(105)] A(6)  B(9)  C(12)  D(7)  E(6)  F(2)  G(5)  H(5)  I(2)  J(4)  K(5)  L(3)  M(2)  N(1)  O(1)  P(7)  Q  R(9)  S(9)  T(2)  U  V(2)  W(2)  X  Y  Z(2)  

Ali Vegas What's up Ali? Ali Vegas: How are you doing? The title of the album is Generation Gap 2: The Prequel. Why'd you decide to call it Generation Gap 2 when the first was never released? Ali Vegas: I wanted to give the people the beginning. You know how movies sometimes show the end and then goes into the story? Basically that's what's being done now with my songs. I'm showing the end, so they'll have to look for it like I have Generation Gap 2 and now I have to get Generation Gap 1. What's the release date for the album? Ali Vegas: August 26th. You hooked up with DJ Premier for "Everyday Iz War". What was it like to work with him? Ali Vegas: Whenever you get a chance to work with a legend it's always a great experience. The feeling was mutual because we talked for like three hours about the state of Hip Hop and how he felt about it. He was so glad that finally an artist could come and sit down and have a talk with him and understand what we think about Hip Hop and at the same time speak for his generation. So it was great. Are there any other of the previously leaked songs that will be on the album, such as "The Town Bought It"? Ali Vegas: Yeah "The Town Bought It" will be on it. We are shooting a video to "That's Nothing" in Miami on Tuesday. That's the one produced by Scott Storch. Who are some of the other producers and artists you collaborated with? Ali Vegas: Midi Mafia, LES, Ghostmusic, Baron Boys and some others. As far as artists I have Akon, Sammie, Nas, Styles P and AZ. I wanted to bring the student and the teachers on one track on an album. That way the gap in our generations will get a little closer than it is. That way the students can see how to converse with the teachers when they listen to me on tracks with Nas and AZ. Then the teachers can get a chance to see how to relate to the students when they hear me on tracks with P.R.L and Siamese Twins. That was the point I wanted to get across. When people think of Ali Vegas, they often think you're one of the most talented artists without an album. Has it been frustrating having to wait so long? Ali Vegas: Not at all. It hasn't been frustrating at all. If you ask anyone that knows me they will tell you I'm the most cool, calm and patient person they know. You have to understand everything takes time to evolve and I understand that. I don't look at it as if its taking long, I look at the great things that are happening. I'm looking at legends carve spaces in the game and different routes for me to take. That's what keeps me from not being jaded with the game or the state of Hip Hop and where it's going. I know I'll be its respirator. I'll revive it so I'm not worried about it. So no, I don't get frustrated, when the time comes is when the album is going to be much needed.     Have you been able to use your negative experiences with labels as an example of what not-to-do with your own label? Ali Vegas: The one thing about my past deals is; any deal I've had in the past has been the best deal any artist has gotten. It was just the whole point of people that were hired to make things happen. There was never nothing wrong with the contract. That's why I was able to get out of any of the deals I was in. It was always 50/50 or 75/25 towards me. The only thing that I've learned is to give an artist a better shot and that's what I do. Like Siamese Twins or any young cats that I bring up they all start with fair chances to become and be themselves. That's what I learned, let an artist be himself. What happened with the music you recorded with your previous deals. Has it been released in different ways or was it lost forever? Ali Vegas: When I do music the last time I hear it is when I do it. I just do it and leave it. So I guess it will be released. I guess one day when the new album drops all that will finally come up. That's what it is and that's how I do music. My hard drive has 557 songs to be exact. That's what I do. I do it and leave it. If you came out right when your buzz started what do you think the finished product would have been like? Do you think if you were able to, you'd have a classic under your belt right now? Ali Vegas: Only time will tell. I don't think it was God's plan for me to come out at that time. I think it was God's plan for me to come get my buzz up, get my credibility because you know which way the game is going to take the turn and it's perfect timing for me now. At this point in time not to toot my own horn but they need Ali Vegas. If I would've came out then I would've been on the side already. Right now I play for myself, I don't play for the legends and I don't play for the rookies. I guess you can call me the future, the history. So I don't think it was my time to come out then. I never dwell on the past I deal on the present, the past is what makes me. How did you connect with Lamar Odom to form Rich Soil Entertainment? Ali Vegas: Oh we're family. It was always a dream of ours to do a record label together. It was a dream of his to be a successful ball player and record label owner. That's every artists dream so it's always been a dream of mine, owning my own record label and it being successful. The reason I want to be successful with it is so my artists can have a 401k's, medical benefits and stuff like that. Do things different and run it like a regular corporation and give the artist the same benefits as the regular worker. That would be great man, real good. So how are your skills on the basketball court? Ali Vegas: My skills? Man! I ain't lose yet man. You know I got a crossover and a jump shot. You also have the America's Prince and Leader of the New School mixtapes out right? What can you tell us about those? Ali Vegas: Thats on my hard drive, you know? They're basically on my hard drive. America's Prince -- I was in L.A. doing a show. Prince Joesph designed these special sneakers for me and brought them to me. He was like, "I love your music. I see what you did with your 360 college students, saw how you took them to Jamaica so they can have their graduation. I see the things you did with the kids in Nigeria. You should be America's Prince. America's royalty." I was like wow. So that's when I came up with the mixtape name America's Prince. You talk about how you've been compared to Nas in the past. Do you take comparisons like that as a compliment or does it get on your nerves when people try to categorize you? Ali Vegas: At the end of the day everyone gets compared like Nas got compared to Rakim. So you know my comparisons are Nas, AZ and Jay-Z. If that's people's best way to describe me [laughs]. I rather have it that way than some one saying," Ewww you remind me of MC Bubbalicious". Know what I mean? [Laughs]. So I don't take it as a bad thing, you take it in stride. At the end of the day I know I'm going to be Ali Vegas and a household name. That way the next young'n coming up is going to be compared to me. They will be asking them that question. "How does it feel to be compared to Ali Vegas? Do you get tired of it?" [Laughs]   Anything else you'd like to add? Ali Vegas: Nah not really. Just the name Ali Vegas, you know? When you hear it know something important is coming. Drew & Andy