Published: Wednesday - March 22, 2006
Words by Mike Cooper
Army Of The Pharaohs (Photo: Babygrande)
A 20 man group seems nearly impossible to pull off, but for the Army Of The Pharaohs, it was a work in process for nearly two years that has finally came to life. Via Babygrande Records, Vinnie Paz, 7L & Esoteric, Apathy, Celph Titled, Chief Kamachi, Crypt the Warchild, Des Devious, Faez One, King Syze, Planetary, and Reef the Lost Cauze hooked up to create a work of art from MCs from very different places.
The Army, which could be considered a "supergroup of the underground," tried the same concept a few years back only to release a 12 inch with two songs and a remix. Now, with countless hours of hard work finished, the group is prepping the release of the long awaited album, entitled Torture Papers.
With the debut album on the way, Vinne Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks and Planetary of Outerspace took time to reflect on their major accomplishment with BallerStatus.com. During the conversation, the two MCs discuss how the group was able to be on the same page and mesh so well as if they were a sports team.
Ballerstatus.com: This Torture Papers album is being talked about a lot in the underground circuit. Tell us about it.
Vinnie Paz: Yeah man, it's basically taken like eight years to put together, just because all the individual people involved with it were really taking care of their own careers. So, we decided to take some time out this year and get it done. It's Jedi Mind Tricks, Celph Titled, Crypt The Warchild, Apathy, 7L & Esoteric, Kamachi, Reef The Lost Cauze, King Syze and Planetary, while we had a lot of new kids doing production.
Planetary: First of all, it's outrageous [laughing]. That's the first thing. It's very versatile in that there are a lot of different styles on there.
Ballerstatus.com: Really?
Planetary: From the real verbal and lyrical to the real raw, you know what I mean? It's got totally different stuff on there.
Ballerstatus.com: Talk about your role on the Torture Papers.
Planetary: There are guys on there from different places, so you got to construct the album with people that live in six different cities. That is hard. I, myself, I was in charge of getting my little part of the squad together and Eso[teric] had his little squad to get together. I'm on that joint like eight times, so I played a big part.
Ballerstatus.com: Vinnie, who are these "new kids" on production?
Vinnie Paz: A lot of kids from Europe. For the better part of three years, I've been on the road man, doing the States and Europe. So, I met a lot of kids in Europe and found some real hot sh-- and got some of that involved on the production side.
Ballerstatus.com: You excited about this new album?
Planetary: You bet, ready to get it down. You think the world is ready for it?
Ballerstatus.com: Yeah, I think the world is ready for it. They need it, even if they don't know it yet. I've listened to several tracks that were on the website and really liked them. I loved the video that was on the AOTP Myspace page too.
Planetary: Yeah that's the joint right there.
Ballerstatus.com: Talk about making that video and what went into it.
Planetary: That video was crazy man. We had about a two day's notice about it, and we still all showed up. We got cats from Connecticut, and Esoteric from Boston, guys from Philly, and we all ended up in New York on that short a notice. When you got chemistry like that, you know it's meant to be. Everybody collaborated and came through and I loved it. Though, I was still like, how the hell did we pull this off?
Ballerstatus.com: I hear this album is supposed to be a little rugged with some hardcore beats. Is that a fair assessment?
Vinnie Paz: Yeah definitely. We really didn't try to get too prudential on it or anything. It was just sort of like us trying to do like a throwback, like some 36 Chambers sh--, so it's a lot of rugged beats. Everyone came with the A game, in terms of lyrically and the producers came up with some quality beats. We just took it from there.
Planetary: Yeah, it's definitely raw man. There is nothing soft on the joint. There is some depressing and dark sh-- on there.
Ballerstatus.com: Talk about this difference between this and the last Army Of The Pharaohs recording.
Vinnie Paz: I guess, basically, the biggest difference is the fact that what we put out previously was a 12 inch with two songs and a remix, just sort of trying to fit in all these people and ideas into two songs. When you're doing a record, you're sort of able to open up ideas and different collaborative ideas and mix people up. And put certain people on songs with each other that might not have been on songs together before. The fact that we got to do an album together, just allowed us to sort of spread our wings creatively.
Ballerstatus.com: You guys were born in Philly weren't you?
Planetary: Yeah, that's right born and raised there.
Ballerstatus.com: What part?
Planetary: Well, I'm from the north side.
Ballerstatus.com: So, how is the Philly scene doing these days in your opinion?
Vinnie Paz: I mean, it's good because of what we've been doing the last few years. I don't get to spend as much time doing the things I used to do when I was younger, in terms of going to shows and the open mics or underground sh--. We are on the road a lot or recording, so it's kind of hard to access it right now. But, it always exists. It always did exist, even from the early 80's. You have a lot of people that are on major labels or working with G-Unit or the Roots, then there are people like Reef and Kamachi making noise on the underground. So, everyone is still staying busy. I'm just not around as much as I used to be.
Planetary: It was better a couple of years ago. Everybody wants to be on the radio, so everybody goes for that sound. The underground scene has kind of died around here to be quite honest.
Ballerstatus.com: Really?
Planetary: Yeah, it's not like it was. Philly is a weird city man. There is a lot of jealousy in Philly, so a lot of people clash and things happen. The venues have changed so much that shows aren't like they used to be. They are nowhere near it.
Ballerstatus.com: Where did you get the name of the album at?
Planetary: It is actually something that Vinnie came up with. He came up with about 10 titles and once we heard that one, everybody agreed, like right away. Like, "That's the sh--, The Torture Papers." That is the one right there. Vinnie, he is the king of the titles man.
Ballerstatus: Where did you come up with the idea?
Vinnie Paz: It was actually a book. It was sort of just dealing with some of the issues in the Middle East and the 9/11 attacks and things like that. It was basically just like the aggressive nature of the music, thinking of torture. Instead of physical sh--, we're talking about lyrical sh--, so the Torture Papers was just like a guide for the record.
Ballerstatus.com: Where are you getting your inspiration from right now?
Vinnie Paz: That's a good question man. I listen to a lot of different types of music. I haven't really been influenced by a rap artist since the early to mid 90's. Since then, we have been doing our own thing. I try not to let other rap artist really influence what I do. I am influenced by them in terms of creative spirit and business acumen and things like that. Methodically, we decided to do our own sh--. I listen to a lot of other sh-- too though man, like Hatebreed, Slayer, and a lot of heavy sh-- and old metal sh--.
Ballerstatus.com: Over the years some of the stuff and material you've done has been controversial. Do you ever try or set out to be controversial or does that just happen?
Vinnie Paz: I don't try. There are some ideas that reflect my personality, but there are certain times where I do get set up with situations, whether it be politically or spiritually or things like that. Sometimes, well, I don't know if I can word this properly. Sometimes, just sort of saying something casually doesn't work anymore. People don't listen. Sometimes you have to say some outlandishly, ignorant sh-- just to pull people in to really have them try to understand what you're talking about. Like, I know a lot of people have said to me, whether in interviews or whatever, saying, "Yo, what is your problem always saying sh-- about Jesus?" and blah-blah-blah. People don't understand that I can pull them in by saying ignorant sh--. I believe and respect that Jesus was a prophet. I'm just trying to attack the religious right and the conservative Christian community.
Somebody usually has something to say about what you say. I don't purposely try to be controversial, unless I'm talking about George Bush or something [laughs]. I could say those things hoping that somebody hears me, but other than that man, I don't really have no beef with nobody.
Ballerstatus.com: How true is the image that you portray of yourself with your music? Is it pretty accurate?
Vinnie Paz: Yeah, well I guess all real artists -- unless you're created by some label, or some executive's idea -- are really exaggerated versions of themselves. It's not like I f---ing walk around every day yelling and sh--. But, I am lucky enough to have an outlet to express some things. I used to be real wild and sh--.
Ballerstatus.com: So, how would you rate this new Army of the Pharaohs album compared to the other stuff you've done in your career?
Vinnie Paz: I'm just really proud of everyone else involved man. It's sort of like when you hear people talking about their teammates in sports. It's like you can't really do thing alone. Someone in the Army Of The Pharaohs, any of us, someone could be the Barry Bonds. But, you can't do anything unless you have a strong team around you. So, in terms of ranking it, I would rank it really high, just based on the fact that I have a good team of people around me. I think that that's important, and this record wouldn't have gotten done and wouldn't have come out as good as it did if I didn't have the teammates that I have. So, I think it is something to be proud of, just based on that in and of itself. At the end of the day, including producers and MC's, there were upwards of 20 people involved in the record. Just getting it done required a lot of people to be on the same page and to work together and sh--. In terms of that, I am really proud of it.
Planetary: It reminds me of Wu because everybody used to click in the Wu and everybody to me was mad different. The were totally different dudes, but they came together and there was a gel. I think this was probably the best thing out of our camp from everybody. We managed to say the things from our heart and still stay true to where we originally came from.
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