Blake Garris recently took the time to talk to poor-white-boy-turned-high-powered-attorney-turned-rapper Jay Eff Kay about politics, power and lyrical mastery. Jay even does a little rap for everyone’s favorite jerk-face music site … us, duh.

You were on VH1’s The White Rapper Show, how do you feel you were portrayed?
They made it seem as if the people running the show weren’t into me when in fact they told me I was nice right after I spat. It’s just that shit gets cut up in the editing room so they can make a storyline. So, the lesson is don’t go on reality TV, kids.

Obviously, people are going to try and lump you in with Eminem. What makes you different?
Em is obviously a hero of mine and pretty much the person who got me into rap. But, if people think I sound like him, then I think you need to befriend more white people so you can learn to distinguish our voices better. My voice is several octaves off from his and I don’t structure my lines nearly the same as him. Plus I’m more of an observation-based rapper like Nas than an experienced-based one like he generally is. Whatever, I guess it’s better than people saying I sound like Mims.

American: Suicide Notes Vo. 1 is your album. Give your best selling points as to why people need to have this in their collection.
I think it chronicles what’s going on in America today better than almost anything else out there. It’s like a time capsule to show your grandkids. Just cover their ears whenever I start talking about jizzing in a stripper’s eye. 

For a rapper, you seem to have a lot of rock influences.
That’s generally what I grew up listening to. Let’s face it rock is way better than rap.

You have the most unusual background as far as rappers are concerned. You were a lawyer and then quit for a music career. Why the change?
Why not the change? Why do millions of talented young kids waste their lives away making old people richer? I would rather be on the verge of starvation and doing my own thing than slave away to buy some rich old guy’s wife a tummy tuck.

What’s life like now since you switched jobs?
I’m the zennest wigga around. Doing your own thing is always better for your soul. There is no alienation of labor — your whole life is connected to your labor, labor is not removed from the rest of your existence. That is Karl Marx, look it up. Plus I get to work in my mesh shorts and there’s no one yelling at my now when I take a masterbation break at my desk.

Any chance of you ever putting your law hat back on in some entertainment aspect?
I’m staying a member of the bar so I can do a pro-bono case here and there. Because there’s nothing worse than all these entertainers and musicians who talk endlessly about how the world needs to change but don’t back it up with any action. They want you to do all the work. I worked on a pretty lengthy pro bono case since I left, involving the Rockefeller drug laws here in New York. I’d like to do even more high-profile cases some day and tie them into my music somehow.

It seems like you like to tread the line between the political and the perverse in your lyrics.
And the large area where the two overlap.

How do you feel about the state of politics today?
Both parties are dominated by greedy and duplicitous men and women who are deeply out of touch with most Americans. Most Americans are deeply out of touch with other Americans who are not like them. Finally, the government is both too large and powerful — and people rely on it way too much to solve all their problems. What’s not to loathe? 

How do you feel about the state of rap today?
Let me answer with a lyric. ”Sometimes I think maybe I’m in/the OBGYN/because I look around and all I see is pussies/gushy/big & squishy.” We have reached the point where they play rap in Starbucks. It’s supposed to be ugly and dangerous. Not in Gap ads. But, I’m bringing it back. To quote another line of mine: “Rap has gotta grow some nuts — I got enough for both of us.”

What’s your prediction for the presidential election?
I think there’s an outside chance Hillary will win, which would be great because for the first time I’ll be able to rap about intercourse with a head of state. Like, “Every orifice/she rode me on Lincoln’s chair/Don’t go in the oval office/damn! it stink in there!” But, I do feel like the Dems may have blown their shot by not doing anything they promised to in the last election. And, whether or not you like it, this is an increasingly Republican country, at least in terms of presidential elections. So I would put money on Rudy, Mitt Romney, or Fred Thompson. I pray it’s Romney, because I would love to rip into Mormonism, which is about as silly as the Heavan’s Gate cult. The dudes who cut their dicks off … am I the only one who remembers?

What’s the best way for people to find your music?
Go to www.jayeffkay.com — 90% of my stuff is up there free. 

What’s coming up next for Jay Eff Kay?
Just working on the next disc in this series.

And lastly, can you make up a quick rap about Buzzgrinder.com?
They grind, building buzz; call em Buzzgrindah
And you can keep your kind bud, cuz, cause their bud’s kindah
Drunk on budweisahs
Dicks so large, known to bust ‘ginahs

4 Responses to “Interview with Jay Eff Kay”

1. On 09/18/07 7:27 PM, Josh Mock said:

   

   I… I don’t quite know how to respond to that last answer.

2. On 09/18/07 8:01 PM, colin said:

   

   “Dicks so large, known to bust ‘ginahs”

   Epic.

3. On 09/19/07 8:55 AM, Seth Werkheiser said:

   

   that’s uhhh… how we roll, I guess. HAH

4. On 09/19/07 3:22 PM, Sean Cannon said:

   

   man, that’s how i roll…i know that. i’m adopting that rap as my own personal motto.

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