Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangster

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On your new song “Ignorant Crap,” you rap about Don Imus, who referred to the Rutgers female basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s.” When that happened a lot of black leaders — Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, Oprah — squared off against hip-hop in general, trying to hold it accountable for such language. What did you think about that?
I don’t have a problem talking about censorship. If we’re gonna talk about it with movies, if we’re gonna talk about it with video games, if we’re gonna talk about it with all the pornography sites that are bigger than hip-hop, then I’m cool with people talking about it with hip-hop. But to single out hip-hop and pull us into the ring with Don Imus, that’s wrong. It wasn’t dealing with the real issue. What Don Imus said was racist. It wasn’t about ­censorship, and it wasn’t about free speech. And it wasn’t about rap’s influence, because Don Imus is not influenced by rappers. He’s not a fan of rap. I mean, he couldn’t name Wu-Tang’s first album.

As a label president, do you feel responsible for the lyrical content of your artists’ music?
You have to look at the people who are making the music, and the areas­ that they come from. On the whole, you’re talking about kids who are 17, 18 years old coming out of bad neighborhoods. They’re angry, they have issues and they’re not mature yet. You gotta let them grow. You can’t control anybody’s art.

On the American Gangster track “Success,” you rap about the disillusionment that can come with achieving your dream: “All I got is this big house, couple cars, I don’t bring half them shits out … How many times can I go to Mr. Chow’s?”
In the context of the album, it was that Scarface moment when Tony Montana sits in the restaurant and looks around and says, “This is all it’s about?” You get to that point where it’s like, “OK, I drove the Rolls Phantom around the corner and … nothing happened.” And you ask yourself, “That’s it? I thought blondes was gonna be jumping on my hood!”

Do you ever hang out with anyone richer than you?
I don’t know. I’m sure I do. I’ve hung out with Bill Gates, but he’s not a friend of mine. I’ve hung out with Bono. He’s gotta be way richer than me.

What’s the most expensive bottle of wine you’ve ever bought?
Oh, my goodness, I know that exactly. I had a $20,000 Petrus 1945 at a place called Graycliff in the Bahamas.

Full-bodied? Playful? Impudent?
Oh, it was definitely full-bodied. Incredible. You could almost taste the barrel. It was one of those things where you say, “Come on, how good could it be? What’s the difference?” But you really could taste the difference. It was damn near like smoking weed. It was a high.

When are you going to set a wedding date with Beyoncé?
Ha ha! No comment.

Do you get any pressure from her parents to make her an honest woman?
No comment.

What do you and Beyoncé argue about? Let me guess: no comment?
That’s right.

Easier question, then: Excluding anyone on Def Jam, who’s your favorite rapper these days?
I’d say, Lupe Fiasco. I love Lupe. He’s a genius writer. In his approach to making music and the depth of his lyrics, the guy is incredibly smart. I’m sure he goes over people’s heads, but I love him for that.