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Killah Priest - The Iron Sheik
Interview By: Mina Jasarevic
 His personality alone deserves a full article, one that would carefully attempt to decipher his thought process. But since we’re in the business of hip-hop journalism and not psychology, I had to satisfy my curiosity by aiming only questions at one of the most interesting MCs on the market. Aside from releasing six solo albums– including his latest gem, The Offering, Killah Priest has been involved in notable group projects with Sunz of Man, The HRSMN and Black Market. He is particularly known for his affiliation with the Wu-Tang Clan and highly respected amongst fellow MCs and hip-hop heads alike. Nobodysmiling.com caught up with the Iron Sheik himself to discuss his latest album, the knighting of knowledge and the leanings of the devil (for all you heads, Priest blesses you with a mystery guest – end of the interview).
 Nobodysmiling.com : The Offering received some good reviews, particularly to its strong lyrical content. What has this album done for hip-hop?
Killah Priest : Well, it put everything into perspective. It shows you that real MCs still exist and that this is still art – a form of art. It’s just like a painting – you don’t get an average Joe, I mean a 6th grader painting and just throw it up next to da Vinci or somebody like that. So it just shows that the form of art - of MCing - still exists.
Nobodysmiling.com : The Offering is your sixth solo release to hit the stores. Looking back to your first project, Heavy Mental, how does this album demonstrate your growth as an MC during the past decade?
Killah Priest : I think during the time of making it I was very eager and wanting to do this because it’s a part that I had to fulfill as far as The Offering is concerned; it shows my growth and maturity and taking control of just being in the studio. I had a couple of people bugging me but not too many. As far as with Heavy Mental I think that I had a lot of people come through the studio – you know when the first time you’re making an album you got twenty ************* in the studio and everybody’s smoking weed…I got kicked out of a couple of studios recording Heavy Mental. This one was more me - the mature Priest.
Nobodysmiling.com : You feature some of the most potent and outspoken MCs on this album, particularly Immortal Tech, Nas and Canibus. Did you consciously decide to approach these guys for collabos, or did you randomly come across each of them and just get in the booth? How did the collaborations happen?
Killah Priest : It’s not so much planned – nothing was planned, nothing was put together really. Everything came on just at the spare of the moment. Nas said ‘Yo Priest what’s the deal? Hit me up with a song, I always wanted to knock out a joint with you’ – and due to his manager Mike at the time, that worked. Immortal Technique, same thing. I’m feeling Immortal with the revolution and everything because I’m always about revolution and change and evolution – evolution is strong because it’s complete change.
Immortal Technique told me ‘Yo please don’t worry about it, just give me a beat and I got you’ and I already had a concept for it. The hardest person to get into it - and that’s because I didn’t reach out, because I thought he was too busy - was Kurupt. And Kurupt came through like a champion at the end. He said ‘Yo man, send it to me please, do not put out this album without me being on it because it’s not going down like that’. And he made it.
Nobodysmiling.com : I want to discuss your lyrics for a second. You make references to political figures, historical occurrences, religious theory – basically intellectual subject matter. Do you learn and study so that your lyrics have more depth or do you have that depth in your rhymes because you study? What comes first, the learning or the rhyming?
Killah Priest : The learning. Even if I didn’t know how to rhyme to a beat, studying and reading the Bible is basically a lot of the foundation of my knowledge. I didn’t even understand it really but when it started coming out – I started basically saying ‘Yo I can put these lyrics while reading the scriptures’ and it just rolled out, and it was more like a spiritual thing more than just a complicated thing.
Nobodysmiling.com : How important is the study of history and religion - and why?
Killah Priest : To me, I think it’s a life and death situation. I had to learn because if I don’t learn anything, I’m dead. I’m a soul first before any flesh or anything – I am an existing being. And this goes out for everybody who is living and breathing – you are a soul first. So to get my soul nutrition is very important to me, to live. And I think knowledge is the only thing that feeds your soul. I think knowledge is the best form of nutrition that the soul can have.
Nobodysmiling.com : So what is the connection between hip-hop music and knowledge, or is there even a connection?
Killah Priest : Definitely – one of the biggest songs was called The Message, an earlier hip-hop song and that was by Melly Mel. And that rhyme to me kind of pulled rap to another level and understanding, and that was way back in the days. But even before that…God rapped to Moses you know? And they were all rapping back then and it was all about evolution and change. I believe that knowledge always has to do with rap – just look at the brother Rakim. When he came in he changed the scenario of it, you know? Melly Mel was the first lyrical cat that I heard dropping albums.
Nobodysmiling.com : So do you think that hip-hop music today – as it is right now – is perhaps lacking some of its fundamentals?
Killah Priest : Yes and that got a lot to do with the education of some of the younger brothers that’s coming out. And it’s just simple because you got younger brothers that study real hip-hop and study real lyrics and study history and things like that. That has to do with that individual personally, spiritually. That person has to deal with that. Everybody can’t rap, you know what I mean? A lot of these people that pick up microphones – I mean I can start naming names - are just not rappers. What is his name, uhh…Birdman from Cash Money. I mean he’ll tell you that he’s not a rapper. A lot of cats are hustlers, I said that in Heavy Mental.
Too many rappers want to be gangsters; too many gangsters want to be rappers. That’s a true statement right there. A lot of cats are hustlers and gangsters and they see the money coming in and they jumpin’ into it…like I like what Jay-Z said: ‘He’s alright but he’s not real’. A lot of MCs are not real. I’d rather hear MCs that are real – like 2PAC – and that you could feel with the lyrics…that have lyrical skills…because 2Pac was a rapper first before all the bull****.
Nobodysmiling.com : So how are these guys passing the bar then with such a large fan-base – and being successful at it?
Killah Priest : That’s because the devil gave them their glory. They’re not successful in the true sense of the word “successful”. Because if we were to honor true musicians that elevated the art of music… I’m just talking about music - like Stevie Wonder who we used to listen to in the day - who elevated the history of music. Once you elevate the conscious…because a consciousness in music is one and the same. The universe was created by music. When you hear the big bang theory it’s the same as hearing the big bang band.
The stars, constellations…everything is music…the universe reflects on that and depends on the movement of stars as the sound of creation…music is everything and a lot of cats need to be re-educated. The devil gave them their glory. We don’t know what type of music the devil played – but we know from looking in the Genesis, he played music to hypnotize you.
Nobodysmiling.com : Very interesting. Vibing off of that, since the youth are absorbing the current mainstream hip-hop culture, do you think that the public education system should also absorb hip-hop into its curriculum?
Killah Priest : I think yes, it’s very important because we’re all a voice. Children listen to us as teachers – and it’s not about who you are. It’s about exactly what you’re listening to and who you’re listening to. Anybody could be a teacher - the drug dealers have proven that for years.
Nobodysmiling.com : What about hip-hop and politics? How powerful is the combination of the two – if at all?
Killah Priest : Well I think that hip-hop is music and I think music is beautiful and you can use a message to get to your people and to all the people around the world because musicians are not just out of this world, they’re in the world and living, they’re people, and so we see what’s going on. I mean the Bible was talking about the things that were current amongst them (at the time) so we are musicians and we create things that are current to us. And I think we live in a political state and I think that affects the music that we make - and it should.
Nobodysmiling.com : Some of your previous projects suffered from poor distribution even though they were albums of quality. Now you’re with Traffic Entertainment. How satisfied are you with their support, and how well has this last album been distributed?
Killah Priest : At first it wasn’t very well (distributed). We live in an age now that’s a computer age and I think that for the people to get what they really want they have to go to the computer. But I wasn’t so happy to be honest with you with the distribution…but Traffic, they charged it up. What can I say? I can get more controversial *pauses*. Let me keep it 100%. I think that the album is a great album but when you have to depend on certain labels and people to push you out it gets like that…but this is to the fans out there and this is to people that love real hip-hop…and seekers of knowledge.
Mystery Guest : Coon dancing is out. They promote and push any type of rapper that’s willing to sacrifice and compromise himself in order to gain sales – and that goes into dressing up like Superman – or woman.
Nobodysmiling.com : Interesting. We’ll reveal his disguise in a minute. But what’s the meaning behind one of your aliases, Iron Sheik?
Killah Priest : My heritage. If you go deep, deep down, I’m from the East – the far, far East. Abraham was one of the monarchies that were from the East. And a lot of great knowledge came from the ancient Eastern wisdom. So I say I’m a sheik because I take after that. Not a sheik that has to do with the wrestler – laugh – LOL. (The Iranian wrestler Iron Sheik, for those who are unaware)
Nobodysmiling.com : OK. You mentioned once that people overseas like raw music. Can you explain that a bit more, including why do you think there’s an appreciation for raw hip-hop outside of the U.S., but not as much in the U.S. where it started?
Killah Priest : I think that it’s because of media, the devil’s always busy; he’s been busy since the beginning of time. The devil’s busy. He pushes and operates in the media, I think that’s what they talk about - the glory that he’s gonna have. That’s false glory. They create stars (so) that you don’t have to look up in heaven anymore; they’re in front of your face. I think that’s why people (in America) are so intrigued – sugar tastes good as hell but it gives you diabetes after a while. So just think that and look at the way that these companies – corporations – these vampires should I call ‘em – *in spooky tone* evildoers, push.
Nobodysmiling.com : Why is hip-hop so important to you? Why do you do this?
Killah Priest : I have to. That is my mission. If I didn’t do it through hip-hop, I’d do it through politics or something. It has to come out. If I didn’t do it, someone else’s gonna do it. Malcolm X did it – they killed him. Yes, they murdered him – and please quote that: he was murdered just like Jesus. Every time someone’s standing up for something that’s good, here comes them killing people…and then justify it… and then hide it and whip up the sword…Martin Luther King ain’t touch anybody man. He marched up and down the block – all he did was sing. I don’t know how good his singing was…but he sung some of the sweetest words you’ve ever heard. And what did they do? Hand me the hammer and rock.
The man was only forty years old. Who throws rocks at a forty-year-old man but cowards? Let’s take off the sheets real quick. They beat up an older man - Martin Luther King ain’t do nothing but burn candles and you gonna hit him in the head for teaching sweet righteousness and non-violence and you killed that man for that. They’re just people baby girl…let me tell you something. Crusade wars, mad blood shed – I mean let’s be honest. A lot of people kill in the name of the Lord – they have killed so many people if you go back in history; they have killed so many people that just try to talk about common love. And up to this day they keep killing them. The worst part of all is that they have learned magic – they have learned to kill without any bloodshed. They stick religion up our nose and bust our brains. We’re internally bleeding today.
Nobodysmiling.com : So where do you stand with the invasion of Iraq?
Killah Priest : You know why they invaded Iraq? Because they ain’t got no more money. They invaded Iraq because they are gangsters. They’ve been gagnster-raising the world since the world began. Since Cain slew Abel. And he ain’t cared what happed after that. And America is the risen of Cain. In God we trust – God stands for Guns, Oil and Drugs. That’s all they trust in. God does not live here anymore – there’s a song that Rose Royce put out saying *singing in high pitch* Love don’t live here anymore. You abandoned me, love don’t live here anymore – Rose Royce, you can download it. Well *singing* God don’t live here…you abandoned me.
Nobodysmiling.com : Interesting. Can you give us a heads-up on your next project, Behind The Stained Glass?
Killah Priest : You got me serious. Alright, my new album is called Behind The Stained Glass. And everything behind the stained glass is gonna come up front. It’s my first double-LP and it’s fun working on it. I got 60 Second on it. I have a song called “Redemption.” I have a song called “Honor Thy Mother (and Father)”.
Nobodysmiling.com : Anything else you can tell us?
Killah Priest : For Behind the Stained Glass?
Nobodysmiling.com : Yes.
Killah Priest : I can’t tell you all of that, it’s still behind the glass *laughs*.
Nobodysmiling.com : Fair enough. So your fans are asking about future collaborations with Wu-Tang and 8 Diagrams, The HRSMN and Black Market. What’s the 411?
Killah Priest : Well, you got Black Market, you got Wu-Tang, you got Sunz of Man, you got Maccabeez. Here’s my thing: we came to clean out the house now, it’s time to sweep up and clean everything. It’s all gonna come out as nothing but something more to it…We gonna fold everything and make one click. It’s called Love Thy Brother – for that day shall be long upon the way.
Nobodysmiling.com : The current state of hip-hop is…
Killah Priest : Ah man, it’s bull****. But the real s*** is The Offering and what we gonna come with. I got a special guest for you – Sunz of Man’s 60 Second Assassin, he’s saying something like *singing* oooohhhh ahhhh. I’ll let him holla at you.
60 Second Assassin : How you doing?
Nobodysmiling.com : I’m good. What’s in the works? What are you up to these days?
60 Second Assassin : These days, just taking my time; being at the right place at the right time. Making the right decisions in my life – that’s basically it to make a short story shorter.
Nobodysmiling.com : Where do you stand with hip-hop right now?
60 Second Assassin : Hip-hop is hip-hop. I don’t know what everyone else is talking about. In the certain markets, you will find hip-hop. There are different markets around here. Where hip-hop is concerned, people are just speaking on their environment – like the down South people, that’s their environment. B.B. King, the soul and the blues. The old country songs…we gotta respect the times. We’re just in a time barrier right now where you know, the order changes. Those who obey the laws of nature will be able to put out a hit.
Nobodysmiling.com : What are you reading these days?
60 Second Assassin : I read mysticism – but I don’t go to 33 degrees, that stuff is elementary to me. I do 360 degrees by the way of pure knowledge, wisdom and understanding; man, woman and child. I basically covered the whole universe.
Nobodysmiling.com : Thank you gentleman. Did I miss anything?
Killah Priest : Your number. *laughs*
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