Twenty years after Papoose spoke with HipHopCanada about his mixtape grind, his connection with Kool G Rap and the debut album he was still trying to get into stores, the Brooklyn MC is putting his pen to a different assignment. His new Ron Browz-produced track, “Handshakes With Snakes,” takes aim at Eazy The Block Captain, extending a feud that has moved between social media and diss records.
The track follows Eazy’s “Letter To Claressa,” which addresses Papoose’s relationship with boxing champion Claressa Shields. Their exchange also draws on the public fallout surrounding Pap’s split from Remy Ma. As HotNewHipHop’s Gabriel Bras Nevares writes, the two rappers “have turned the drama with Remy Ma and Claressa Shields into a lyrical battle.” Pap’s response questions Eazy’s credibility and revisits the personal grievances behind their dispute.
For this Throwback Thursday, the exchange gives us a reason to revisit Papoose before the long-delayed album, the major-label expectations and the years of headlines that followed. When we caught up with him on May 31, 2006 for his first interview on an online Canadian platform, his appearance on Busta Rhymes’ “Touch It (Remix)” had brought his mixtape reputation to a wider audience, and Busta and DJ Kay Slay were backing his next move.
That debut, The Nacirema Dream, finally arrived independently on March 26, 2013, after years of delays and a split with Jive Records. With guests including Mobb Deep, Erykah Badu and Jadakiss, the album also featured production from Ron Browz, whose connection with Pap continues on “Handshakes With Snakes.”
Watch both sides of the current exchange below, then revisit our original introduction and Q&A from the HipHopCanada archives. The 2006 article follows unchanged and reflects the circumstances at the time.
Handshakes With Snakes
Letter To Claressa
Introducing Papoose
Originally published May 31, 2006 – Busta Rhymes’ career has recently had a barrage of scandal-like incidents come his way including the shooting death of his bodyguard and a recent incident involving former Source Magazine CEO David Mays. But on the brighter side of things, Busta and his Flipmode cohorts have recently linked with Papoose who is arguably one of the best lyricists on the market.
Many will recognize Papoose as the grinder who took the mixtape game by storm (much like 50 Cent did prior to signing with Eminem’s Shady Records). The more mainstream and International crowds would have only been introduced to Pap just recently with Busta’s hit remix “Touch It” which also featured Lloyd Banks, Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, DMX and Missy Elliott.
But day one fans will remember Papoose as far back as DJ Hurricane’s 2000 compilation Don’t Sleep (“The Life“), and Kool G Rap’s 1998 album, Roots of Evil (“Home Sweet Funeral Home“). At that point, he was already dropping heat like:
“I’m known for holdin’ big shit / The last time I showed the biscuit / I made this dude sweat enough bullets to load a clip with / When cops drop warrants and try to get me bagged up / All they hear on they walkie-talkies is ‘I need back up!'” – Papoose on Kool G Rap’s “Home Sweet Funeral Home”
With that being said, it’s clear that Papoose has been working hard and the efforts he has put into the mixtape circuit has spilled over to one of hip-hop’s biggest stars. Flipmode Squad and Busta Rhymes have basically linked with Kay Slay, Papoose, and their Streetsweepers organization, to form one unit.
Together, they’ll look to secure a deal for Papoose, with the asking price reportedly exceeding $1 million. Busta Rhymes has already helped raise Pap’s profile through the success of the “Touch It (Remix).” With Busta joining Kay Slay in his corner, Papoose now has two influential voices backing his next move.
HipHopCanada caught up with Papoose to discuss his history with Kool G Rap, his rise as an artist and his planned debut album, The Nacirema Dream. He also weighs in on the hip-hop police, introduces his crew, the Nation of Thugacation, and shares exclusive news about “Alphabetical Slaughter Part 2.” Read the full Q&A below.
Papoose Interview
HipHopCanada: Let’s start with some history and bring it back to the DJ Hurricane released the Don’t Sleep compilation where many people got to hear you for the first time. The track was “The Life” featuring Kool G. Rap, yourself, Jinx and Money Mark. How did that situation come about and had you been working under G Rap’s guidance at that time or were you still completely independent?
Papoose: [Laughing] You’re in Canada? Man, ya’ll going way back man…
HipHopCanada: Yeah we like to dig into a little history so people that aren’t familiar can see where you’re coming from.
P: [Still Laughing] Well that situation came through Kool G Rap. Kool G Rap had hooked that up, for us to get on the DJ Hurricane project…. Myself, G Rap and Jinx. Basically, I had a record called Above The Limit… this dude that I know named Tracks… he was doing tracks with G Rap also, and he let G Rap hear it and G Rap’s response was “Yo, get him on my album”. So I came to meet him, we kicked it off good and we did “Home Sweet Funeral Home” for G Rap’s album [Roots of Evil LP, Oct. ’98].
HipHopCanada: What was your youth like growing up in Brooklyn? What was the biggest inspiration to want to start rapping?
P: A lot of inspiration… my inspiration was all the struggle. Seeing people not make it… not growing up to become something, just dying in their childhood… seeing all the crackheads and all the failure. I think a lot of people talk about the bad things in the ghettos but they don’t talk about the good things… people like myself who come up out of it. For all the great people in the world, a lot of them are from the ghetto. So, the ghetto has produced a lot of good people and I’d like to shine light on that too. You have to talk about the positive and the negative, know what I mean? That was my influences though… the hard shit man.
HipHopCanada: You got the name Papoose from what your Grandmother called you growing up. What other family influences have you been around musically or molded by as an artist?
P: Just playing our music in the household, you know? When I say “our” I mean us as a people. You know… Soul music, old school… Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and all that… all that was influence. People like to listen to music in my family… and hip-hop as a culture… I was influenced by all my surroundings.
HipHopCanada: Out of all the mixtapes you’ve put out which one is your favourite?
P: Someone else asked me that recently and I can’t answer it. Every time I drop one, people say it’s better then the last one. In my personal opinion, I like all of them the same. Real talk.
HipHopCanada: How would you describe working with Kay Slay?
P: Kay Slay is like a big brother to me man; know what I’m saying? I mean working with Kay Slay… it keeps you on your toes. If you ever analyze him and his situation you’ll see he’s very consistent. Drops more mixtapes then anybody. So it keeps you on your toes and lets you know that you have to be consistent and be on your job because he’s doing stuff all the time… he’s a workaholic.
HipHopCanada: The “Touch It (Remix)” was your biggest push to the forefront to date. Did you feel an impact right away in terms of broader recognition?
P: Hell yeah. I mean, it was already turned up for me because of the DVDs, the magazines and everything, but “Touch It” took it to a whole other level. People really got to see… they always heard my voice, and a lot of people love my music but [with “Touch It”] they really got to put the attitude and face to the voice. “Touch It” helped put the face to voice and it made people feel more welcome and more comfortable to like me because they got to see what I was like.
HipHopCanada: How did you link with Busta and Flipmode?
P: Well I linked up with Busta through umm… [Thinking] He was basically hearing what I was doing through the mixtape circuit… What I did on the mixtape circuit was reaching people like Busta Rhymes. He was feeling what I was doing on the mixtapes so he just reached out to Kay Slay and wanted to get me on the phone. So he got me on a 3-way call and let me know he liked what I was doing and that he wanted me to get on his project. So we came down and did a record that was crazy in the streets… the streets reacted crazy to that. He wanted to invite me on the “Touch It” remix. So I went in and did my thing man and the rest is history.
HipHopCanada: Tell us about the title of your pending album release, The Nacirema Dream and what it means to you.
P: Everyone knows the American dream is to live lavish and have fame and fortune and I consider my struggle for success my struggle for the American dream. So Nacirema is American spelt backwards. So I consider myself a reflection of the American dream. If you look at American in the mirror it comes back as Nacirema… so that’s my artistic outlook on that. As far as features and all that I’m not going to get into it till we closer to the albums release. But, I can let you know some of the things I’m doing right now. Right now, I got the video coming out soon for Kay Slay’s new album. It’s myself featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Bun B… It’s called “You Can’t Stop The Reign”; we just shot the video for that. Joe’s mixtape is coming out soon called Where You At? I’m on there… that’s R&B singer Joe, that’s real crazy, shout out to him. Also, you can catch me on that new M.O.P. coming out on G-Unit. We working right now…
HipHopCanada: What’s the next mixtape you’re dropping?
P: I might drop one more before my album. Right now, Boyz In The Hood just came out… about a week ago.
HipHopCanada: Tell me more about the Nation of Thugacation?
P: Basically, the Nation of Thugacation is an organization, the movement and family that represent the educated thug, and they’re coming strong right behind me. Basically everyone’s coming through together and eventually they’re going to branch off and do their solo projects. Their lyrical content is incredible. If anybody likes me then they’re going to love them… they’re on a whole different plateau than what I’m on. So, they’re coming full-fledged. Look out for that too.
HipHopCanada: You’ve always been very strong and creative with concepts for songs. While some people have pure freestyles and generic rhymes on their tapes, you come with a lot of solid songs that could be considered for as album material. What are you going to do for the album that will separate and elevate you from the mixtapes you’ve put out?
P: Definitely the concept, the idea, the format and body of my album were constructed before I did all my mixtapes, so in the process of the mixtapes I made sure to keep those elements to the side. So it’s definitely a whole other level of creativity. The music is going to speak for itself, pick that album up.
HipHopCanada: “Sharades” was a crazy concept – What are your views on the hip-hop police? What was the main inspiration behind writing the song?
P: Basically on my journey towards the industry… the closer I got, the more police I was seeing. You know what I mean? And I was really seeing it and it was bugging me the hell out…that you have a special police force for drugs, guns and any other crime but why would you have a police force for hip-hop? Hip-hop is not a crime. And I’ve seen it first hand. I see hip-hop cops at the clubs, at the radio stations… everywhere! My music reflects life and I wanted to make a record about it.
HipHopCanada: You were in Toronto recently – did you have a chance to soak in any aspects of the local scene?
P: Actually I didn’t. I was only there for a couple of days. I did a show and did some radio and then I was out of there so I didn’t get a chance. I’ll definitely be back. I love Toronto.
HipHopCanada: At the end of Alphabetical Slaughter you start to spit from Z to A and Kay Slay cuts you off and tells you to save it for the album. Will there really be a version going all the way back to the letter A?
P: At the end of my album, The Nacirema Dream, get Alphabetical Slaughter Part 2 – Z-A with all different words. If I use the same word twice… I’ll give you a million dollars. [Laughing]
HipHopCanada: Shout-outs? Where can people check for more info on Papoose and the Nation of Thugacation?
P: You can go to PapooseOnline.com if you want to cop any of my mixtapes. If you buy the artwork you get the mixtape free. So PapooseOnline.com is the website. Also, shout-out to Violator Management, Streetsweepers Entertainment, Nation of Thugacation, Flipmode Squad! You know… that’s my whole family right there and we’re coming strong in 2007 and beyond man.
Written by Jesse Plunkett for HipHopCanada
Interview conducted in 2006
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