Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangster

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What role did you play in engineering the sales battle between your artist Kanye West and 50 Cent?
I just championed it. Kanye had the idea, and I was like, “You sure? You know what this is gonna entail. I mean, 50’s a fierce competitor. You never know what could happen — you could get, like, eight diss records.”

Why is hip-hop so full of one-hit wonders right now?
It’s how people are conditioned to listen to music. Singles are 99 cents, and you break albums up on iTunes — what do you expect?

Would you ever release a record the way Radiohead just did — put it on the Internet on a pay-what-you-want basis?
I thought that was genius. That’s a fantastic idea. You have to be in a position to do that, but I think it was a great idea.

Do you like Radiohead?
Yeah, of course. I’m a traditionalist. I’m into U2, Nirvana-type crap. I think the Killers made a great album. I like classic music.

What would you say your biggest strength is as a person?
I’d say I’m fearless about trying new things, putting myself out there.

And what do you consider your biggest weakness?
I expect people to know certain things. If you’re my friend, you should know certain things, and I won’t tell you, even though I should. Sometimes relationships deteriorate around me because I only address things when I’m upset. I shouldn’t assume people know what I’m thinking.

People often undervalue the skill that comes the easiest to them. Do you think that’s the case with you and rapping?
It was for many years. Parents tell their kids all the time, “You get out of it what you put into it.” And I figured, “Well, I can make these rhymes in 30 seconds. This can’t be worth anything.” It took me a while to see it another way.

So, is this your last album?
I’m never gonna say that again. I was watching [the 2005 live DVD] Fade to Black the other day, and I was cringing. Because I kept saying, “When you’re making your last album … ” [referring to The Black Album]. And I’m on my second album after that. I had to turn it off. It was too uncomfortable.

At the end of a song on American Gangster you yell out, “It’s just entertainment!” What do you mean by that?
It’s my way of saying, “People, stop taking it so seriously — not everything rappers say is true to life.” It’s entertainment, too. If you can watch a movie and see Denzel as a character, you should be able to do the same when you’re listening to rappers. I know we’re always saying, “Keep it real.” But for the most part [he laughs] — it’s not true!