How come there has been only one Lil’ Cease album?
It was just label situations. It was nobody really guiding me, showing me how to do it. The only one I could trust with showing me what to do was Big. People I thought that was my friends, they didn’t really show me those ins and outs. Atlantic released me. They didn’t even drop me or nothing. But I was still under Queen Bee at the time, and I was trying to get out of that deal, because we wasn’t on good terms, and that took a while. So it took me a while just to learn on my own and figure out what I wanted to do. That’s what the workout did for me: It pulled me out of that hole. That shit gave me that clear head to think about the plan I wanted to do. It was a point where I just didn’t make music for three or four years.
Why did you take so much time off from music?
I didn’t know how to start or begin. I wasn’t dealing with Puff too much. Me and Kim wasn’t speaking. D-Roc was in jail. C-Gutta was in jail. Big was dead. The only thing I had was my blood family. And my sisters and brothers was like, “Fuck that rap, you gotta get your ass a job.” Their whole shit was, if Big ain’t here to help you, leave that shit alone.
But that was something I felt I needed to do. ’Cause if I just sit here and let that shit go, what did Big write them rhymes for me for? I’m not going to stop until I’m comfortable enough to where he’ll be like, “Ya know what? You did as much as you can do.” I’m not going to stop, ’cause I feel like I’d be letting down everything that that nigga put us in that position for. I can’t let it just go out on that stale note.
*PICK UP THE MARCH 2012 ISSUE OF XXL, ON STANDS NOW**
