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T.I. & PSC - Grand Hustle Game (pt.1)
Interview by: Darian Logan
 Pimp Squad Clique is made up of five artists straight from Atlanta: Big Kuntry, Mac Boney, C-Rod, AK, and none other than the rubberband man himself, T.I..
PSC’s debut Grand Hustle/Atlantic CD, “25 TO LIFE,” drops on September 20th and T.I. and PSC had alot to say about the clique, the album, and the rap game laying out the Grand Hustle and Dirty South blueprint for taking over dropping some insight into the rise of southern hip-hop artists. T.I. took the time to speak on his lead role in the upcoming movie 'Cascades.'
Nobodysmiling.com : Pimp Squad Clique, PSC where did you guys get the name from, how did that come about?
T.I.: Well I kind of just thought of the name a long, long time ago way before I even met them and its something I always just kept on my mind like as the name for a crew whenever I find a clique of cats who are fly and good enough to rap before or after me I would call it PSC and it just stuck with me.
Nobodysmiling.com : Like a lot of times in the game you got the main artists which would be you [T.I.]... you got a Ludacris, you got an Eminem, you got a Nelly, they come out with their squad and it never really pops right. As far as your squad is concerned how will you guys stand out and you pop right outside of T.I.?
Big Kuntry: We already showed how we are individuals Down South in our region by putting out mix tapes and doing shows from them mix tapes. Instead of having a major album we been getting money from doing shows and so we actually got our own fan base.
Nobodysmiling.com : Ok, so you guys generate your own buzz, no doubt.
Big Kuntry: Exactly.
 T.I.: Like while I was away you know what im saying, on my brief vacation, you know these guys were just tearing the streets up, they were still doing shows; they were still putting out mix tapes, putting out records and getting love in the streets. So you know it wasn’t never a question as far as like how we would make them pop, it was as far mainstream America you know, and how mainstream America is going to accept this clique I don’t know, but as far as urban America the urban communities this is top quality ghetto southern music. You know what im saying it’s nor catering to any particular region outside of the south. They didn’t set out to make a record to
appease the west coast or the east coast. They just did what comes naturally to them and stayed true to what they do. And like I didn’t have as much involvement in this album like I do with mines like Hustle & Flow you know these guys put the album together they self and I just fit and got on it when and where I was needed.
Nobodysmiling.com : That’s exactly what I mean, like I was talking about as far becoming that brand name like he's [T.I.] pop, everybody knows him.
Big Kuntry: Were not sharing the same formula and the same flavor and beats were not doing the same patterns and saying the same hooks. We all different people with different personalities.
T.I.: No disrespect to any of the other people that you named but in my opinion for the most part it be like an extension of their main artists. Their crew be like an extension of the main artist. Their crew be like 5 or six of that main artist. With this crew you have five different outlooks, five different personalities, five different characters, five different points of views, five different ways of making songs and it’s a different formula within itself.
Big Kuntry: At the same time the reason why we make it like is that we make it competition within ourselves, you know when we get on a track we gotta be competitive to make each other better.
Nobodysmiling.com : The south is crazy right now. What’s your sound about? I read something about you having a soulful sound. I think Mac Boney said that. What’s the sound about because there is so much shit coming out of the south right now you guys are even holding it down up here in New York?
Mac Boney: I think our sound is a unique sound because it’s not just one sound. We give you different feelings in our music. Like there a track where you gonna get crunk, there’s a track where you gonna want to swing by and pick up your girl friend and swing by and see your lady, there’s a track that’s gonna want to get freaky with a broad (laugh), there’s a track that’s gonna make you want to get drunk, one that’s gonna make you party one that’s gonna make you sit down and listen to something true to life. But it’s all just different. You just gotta peep it you know what im saying. That’s why I call it soulful because its allot of different feelings. Not just one main feeling. Just different.
Nobodysmiling.com : Also when you say real, what real to you guys consider real?
T.I.: What’s real is like there being sincerity in what you say. That’s what makes it real. If you are not sincere about what you say then it aint real and being real depends on what you say. If you say 'hey man im out here gettin this money and sellin this dope.' If you aint gettin this money and sellin this dope then you aint real. If you aint at one time in your life got no money from sellin some dope then you aint being real. If you on a record saying hey im'a slap the shit out a nigga if he say something I don’t like, then once he say something you don’t like then if you don’t slap the shit out of him then you aint being real. That’s what I mean.
Big Kuntry: My whole thing about real is even as real as an ordinary person or ordinary people and what we do is ordinary to us; it might be extraordinary to the weak and plain. But that’s how we get our point across.
T.I.: To the weak and plain and the square and lame. (laugh)
Nobodysmiling.com : (laugh) ... aiight no doubt. Now what do you feel that’s missing from the south or not being represented in the south that you guys are gonna represent. Like actually excluding my man T.I. right here allot of people say that lyricists are missing from the south and when you hear the south you think party, you think hooks, you think about those tracks.
Big Kuntry: I'll tell you one thing that’s there... stereotypes and stereotypical people.
Nobodysmiling.com : How do you feel? Speak on it man.
Big Kuntry: You know the south is different man...
Nobodysmiling.com : How does it make you feel when people think that you are not lyrical?
Big Kuntry: It’s like modern day slavery. Like 'oh, they from the south this is how they do their music, they don’t rap for real.'
Nobodysmiling.com : But think about it, in New York dude this is what we are hearing.
T.I.: There’s some folks in New York if we hear and we judge every rapper in New York based of that one person y'all wouldn’t be happy with the judgment we make.
Big Kuntry: This is the thing im saying about New York, you got allot of people in New York that aint never been no where else. I got aunties that’s like 50 years old and aint never been nowhere and that’s all they know is New York. So when something different comes across they are not really trying to hear it from the get go because their ears are closed. But see we have to work harder to open their ears up to what we're saying now. And now, folks open their minds up
and they realize you know these cats is really doing their thing once they learn what the slang is about, once they learn what the life is about, once they start to visit our city and start seeing how people living down south, they see all these black people with money chilling and partying. They see our lifestyle is different. And people don’t have to rap to get that down south.
Mac Boney: That’s shits real man; he said it all when he said that people don’t have to rap to get that kind of money down South. It’s for real.
T.I.: You got cats Slim Thug, cats like Young Jeezy, cats like Pall Wall, cats like us, you know who was getting money before they had major record deals. You know whether it was from selling records independently, or selling other things independently and privately. There’s allot of people down south who's record deal just happened to happen, you know what im saying, They didn’t necessarily chase the dream.
Big Kuntry: And this is the big thing down south and then people up north... They might put out our mix tapes and sell a couple mix tapes or whatever. Our mix tapes set up deals, =you know what im saying? Because we won’t sign, we will just stay independent and be alright with that because there’s so much cake independent. But, up here [New York] they think if you get a major they think you poppin then they get their independent labels. Our stuff starts first like Master P like, 'Come-on I got this label its poppin Im selling 10,000 out the trunk. Fuck with me. Give Me 85%.' You know they like 'Whatever He's Just a black guy he not gonna make the money.' Then we cake up. So that’s the game of the south. Ill sell it out the trunk before I sell it to you. If you not gonna give me what Im worth, Im gonna make what im worth with you or without you. Keep your fame.
Nobodysmiling.com : No doubt I think allot of cats are feeling that now. I think allot of southern cats show people up here that you can get it like that.
Big Kuntry: Yeah you can get it like that. Y'all got so many people make you’re supposed to cake up like that.
 Nobodysmiling.com : The problem with NY is that people are not really trying to support it like that. Im sure with people down there [South] its more like family down there...
T.I.: Not really.
Nobodysmiling.com : No? It’s not like that?
Big Kuntry: Nah man.
Mac Boney: Its like when you step out to sell some shit you want to go to where its poppin at, so that’s what a dudes gonna do he gonna go where its hot at, he's gonna set up his trap and he's gonna roll all night until he get it off and if he doesn’t get it off...well a true hustler gonna get something off.
Big Kuntry: Im gonna break it down. Let’s say Im from Brooklyn now right. I rap just like the other 50 guys on the block rap right. But I got the studio, I got a couple hundred dollars, and I got this song that the radio won’t play. I go to the DJ's tell them to play it and if they don’t play it, this what im doing, Im making a mix tape and giving it out for free. Get the song out for free.
T.I.: Get people familiar with the product create a demand for your product and any business is supply and demand. If they demand the product you must supply it.
Big Kuntry: You have a hundred people calling the radio station like 'yall don’t play that such and such that guy from Brooklyn'...Man he becomes this hot guy and then he got his song being playing on the radio and he don’t even got a deal with a major he’s selling his album on the street.
T.I.: You seen it done a million times from 50 Cent to Slim Thug, to me, to Young Jeezy. You’ve seen it done a million times we shouldn’t even have to talk about it no more. Its public record.
Big Kuntry: It’s just a hustle down south, we poppin that trunk and we getting that cake.
T.I.: Master P, Cash Money, the list goes on and on.
Big Kuntry: It’s a blue print; it’s a blueprint right under your face.
T.I.: You know its different approaches and different strokes for different people.
Continue to T.I. & PSC Interview pt. 2...
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