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Poison Pen - Mighter Than The Sword
Interview by: Serge Fleury
 Some of the things that may impress the average person, probably won't impress a native New Yorker; especially if he/she is from Brooklyn, New York. In a place were rappers are just as common as gum on the concrete, it's pretty tough getting anyone to take you serious as an MC. As time has shown us, it's virtually impossible to replace that husky voiced MC, who would soon become king, in Christopher Wallace. But it's an even daunting task to match the wits of a skinny, unknown, and unproven MC by the name of Sean Carter. This [guy] actually talked a big game, but was very good at backing it up; all the while drinking champagne, when 40 oz. were the norm (the nerve of him). For the few Brooklyn MC's lucky enough to grab the attention of exhausted listeners, who would rather watch paint dry, the objective is clear. All you have to do, is show and prove.
Now this mission, (should you choose to accept it) can go two ways. Either you'll get booed faster than square dancers on Apollo's amateur night, or you get the 'hood seal of approval, which is; "yo, you heard son spit?" "yo, son is nice!" The young and talented Poison Pen happens to be one of the few MC's getting the sacred praise of his peers. After forming the Strong Hold rap clique with DJ Static, Immortal Technique, C Rayz Walz, and Breez Evaflowin', this Brooklynite still found time to lend his voice to popular video games such as "The Warriors" and the "Grand Theft Auto" series. This retired battler rapper has managed to do what a lot of current battler rappers cannot, and that's being able to develop a song structure.
 After grasping this particular and elusive skill, he sets forth to release his first solo album. With "Pick Your Poison: The Mark Of The East", Poison Pen has he sites on reaching more than just the ears of Brooklyn. As he continues to abolish the stereotype of the so-called "underground/back rappers", Pen basically lets his own venom speak for itself. But if you're not sure, then just ask him yourself.
Nobodysmiling.com : What would you say are some of the advantages/disadvantages of releasing albums independently versus using major labels?
Poison Pen : Well the big advantage is that I own my masters, and I own everything that I do. But there's pros and cons to the whole thing. Like if I was on a major, I would have the huge promotion, my videos on BET, and all that. I can't speak for all the people, because some of them actually do have paper, but a lot of these dudes are still struggling to pay rent. But that's the biggest thing for me, just me having control, and not like 100 people telling me what to do. I mean everyone has their input, but at the end of the day, I do spearhead everything. I'm the one that writes the rhymes.
Nobodysmiling.com : I heard that you also toured Europe.
Poison Pen : Yeah I rocked some shows out there...
Nobodysmiling.com : So do you think fans over seas are more appreciative of Hip-Hop than fans here in the states?
Poison Pen : Well the fans out there [pauses] it's funny because Hip-Hop originated in the states. So basically Hip-Hop is derived from English, and English isn't even their first language. Over there they treat you so well, and sometimes even better than the people do in the states. I mean like, I'm a Brooklyn n***a everyday, that's where I live, that's were I'm from. But I ain't no superstar, I get my dap and I get my respect, but it's really nonchalant over here. But over there, its like they follow you and follow everything you do. Some people over there told me they learned English by listening to Hip-Hop, you know what I mean. So it's crazy; it's like they take Hip-Hop a lot more serious than people in the states do.
Nobodysmiling.com : Why do you think a lot of battle MC's/underground MC's struggle to achievement mainstream success?
Poison Pen : Well battling is one aspect of MC'ing, like personally, I was in like a million battles coming up. I won more than I lost, but I lost a few. But I'm going to be real honest right here; I never considered myself a battle rapper. The only reason that I was battling, was because at the time, there were a lot of groups putting a strangle hold on New York Hip-Hop. The only other way to be heard was to battle somebody, so we used to go to open mic shows to see who everybody was feeling. I would go there with my peoples from East New York, and we would step to them outside like "yo, what's good?" It would be like, either we are going to battle, or we are going to fight; but the majority of the time we battled [laughter]. At that time, I had no concept of making a record, but I had a million bars and I knew I was nice (well, I thought I was nice) [laughter]. That's where the whole Strong Hold movement came from with me, Immortal Technique, C Rayz Walz, and Breez Evaflowin', we was battling for dinner.
I remember mothaf**kas was outside battling for cigarettes, and I didn't even smoke. We was battling on some real jail house sh*t, I'm not a jail dude, but that's what we was doing. I didn't have a job or anything, I was broke, so I battled for $50.00 this one time. Not because I thought I was the greatest rapper in world, but it was because I needed that money [laughing], you know what I'm saying. The funny thing is when I started making a little bit of money in Hip-Hop, I didn't feel the need to battle anymore. You have to make that transition, because battling with songs is another thing. Cause if that's the case, all these dudes battling on them Smack DVD's should be f**king superstars, and they're not. You can spit 100,000 bars all day, and that don't mean I want to buy your record, dawg.
Nobodysmiling.com : I heard that you also lent your voice for the Grand Theft Auto video games series. How did that come about?
Poison Pen : It's that we're talking about battles, and this comes up. I was in the Blaze Battle, I lost in the first round, I got K.O.'ed [laughter], its all good. But I was cool with this other MC that lost later on in the competition, and it just so happened that he ended up getting a job at Rock Star Entertainment. He would be like "yo, ya voice is ill, ya voice is ill, I want to use you for something" I was like "okay cool whatever."
Then he called me and said they were casting for the "Warriors" video game, and they wanted me for the lead voice of Cyrus. But I didn't think it was going to fly because he has a distinctive voice, and I know I didn't sound like him. So obviously I didn't get that part because I didn't sound like him, but I did play like 9-10 different other voices in that game. Then I did the "Vice City Grand Theft Auto" sh*t. But now I'm trying to get a feature role, that's where the recognition and paper is. It's like I'm acting now [laughing].
Nobodysmiling.com : Do you ever think your lyrics might go over the heads of some listeners?
Poison Pen : I'm going to keep it real with you dawg, when I was in battle mode, my rhymes were way more lyrical. I mean like I was never the "super duper complex rapper", but my lyrics were a lot more complex, and filled with more punch lines. I'm not saying I dumbed it down to "A-B-C Rap", but I'm not going to do some popcorn bullsh*t just for the sake of doing it, because I think that's horrendous. But at the same time, I'm not going to discredit someone like Nelly. And this is the reason why: If Nelly came in the game spitting on some lyrical sh*t, and then switched to popcorn rap, then I'd think he was whack.
Not everyone comes in the game to be the illest MC on the planet, some people come in the game just to entertain, and that's what he does. It's like; "would Nelly burn the average dude on the street corner in a battle?" Hell nah. But, "would I rather listen to him over those Smack DVD rappers talking about how they got 100 guns?" I'd rather listen to Nelly son. I'll keep it real with you son, [laughing] I like "Grillz" and "Air Force Ones" I got me pair [laughing].
Nobodysmiling.com : Do you get offended when some people label you a underground/back pack rapper?
Poison Pen : To be honest with you, there is so many different labels right now, it's like "what the f**k is an underground/back pack rapper?" Does that mean I'm soft? Does that mean I'm pu**y? I don't even know what the f**k n***as is talking about. I still got me an extra 40 shows last year, know what I'm saying [laughter]. You can call me an underground rapper, you can call me a back pack rapper, but call me [pauses] paid, know what I'm saying. My rent is paid. If you really want to keep it legit, anyone that's not on the radio, is underground, know what I'm saying. Redman ain't on the radio so are you going to consider him underground? But Redman got movies, he got millions [laughing], know what I'm saying.
Nobodysmiling.com : Do you think there's any one particular reason why New York Hip-Hop isn't as strong as it used to be?
Poison Pen : I can tell you exactly why, I'll tell you exactly why. First of all, New York isn't unified, nobody likes each other. It's like crabs in a barrel, if they ain't doing good, they don't want to see you doing good. D Block hates G Unit, Rocafella hates these dudes, Dipset and Tru Life are going at each other. Second of all, back in day you'd be platinum everywhere else but in New York. Now times have changed, and people are mad that New York ain't doing good anymore. But New York still has a lot to be proud about. Because at the end of the day, the top selling artist is still a New York artist; it's 50 Cent. Nobody is selling more than him, and every time he comes out, he's the biggest artist out. So even though New York ain't doing it right now, we're always going to have an artist on top.
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