I had to re-read his response two times before I felt I got my arms around what he’s trying to say. I might still be misunderstanding but I refuse to waste more time on this. Funny either way. What’s funnier is that his fans might end up snapping him out of it. This interview excerpt is from the new Wax Poetics. Link (via rtb)
There are claims of imposter DOOMs wearing the mask and doing shows for you.
That’s interesting. I’ll say this: I’ve been rhyming on the microphone professionally for twenty years, out there when [Big Daddy] Kane was there. I was doing big-ass stadiums when Pac was in the Digital Underground–Latifah, 3rd Bass, De La, KMD. On the microphone, for hours every night, busting my ass since I was, like, eighteen. It never ended. If it wasn’t the stage, it was on the street, battling or whatever in the ’90s when there were no deals. And I’m still doin’ it, to the point where now I’m thirty-seven.
Last year, I did some show, wrecked it, girls climbing up onstage and shit–that was the first time that happened–but we was rocking, right?Somebody from the label was going to be there. I was like, “Cool, he saw the show, and it was wrecked.” Next couple of days, I speak to him, and he was like, “Good show, but a lot of people are saying it wasn’t you!” I’m like, “All right, every show I do, motherfuckers start saying that: ‘Was it really him?'” I lost fifty-nine pounds last year on some healthy shit, and I’m out there busting my ass, and niggas is still saying that shit? Niggas is caught up in the character part. But–I will say this: you never know what to expect. I’ll fuck around and do some shit like that, just to fuck around with a nigga head.
‘Cause I’m like this: it’s music; I’m doing the shows; the stage is my canvas; I’ll put whatever up there for the visible eye. But it’s music, for listening to. Looking at it has nothing to do with what it sounds like. A blind person could be at the show and feel it clearly, but don’t see nothing of it. Don’t matter what the shit look like. Look, was niggas rockin’ or was niggas rockin’? See, I’m snapping niggas out of it. I might change my mind and want to retire from that part. I’m not sweating my ass out onstage no more. I’ve spit hundreds of thousands of lyrics, time and time again. Maybe I’ll take a break, or maybe never come back. That’s my choosing as an artist. And it’s their choosing to criticize it too. But that’s my other job–to snap niggas out of it.
