1. When did you initially get into rhyming? What caught your interest?
i started rhyming or as i like to call it ‘talkin shit’ in 1992, i was 14 or 15, didn’t really take it serious and decide to release records until 1997 and that’s when i got my first missile launcher, it was an NRR-PA which held 8 missiles, single shot manual load but it did have a twin firing port, the missiles were non heat-seeking. as far as what caught my interest, i felt that spittin verses was a way to let people know how a kingpin like myself operates.
2. Celph Titled aka the Rubix Cuban. What is the science behind the names?
celph titled is just that – self titled, cause no words describe me, i can only title myself, i’m self explanatory. you see me, you hear my voice, you talk to me you know where i come from. i just had to spell it different cause otherwise it’d look pretty fuckin generic. there’s a lot of imposters out there now who decided to spell the word self such as i did but i am the original… there’s even some fuckin cell phone company that decided to adapt my name into their corporation. i have devised a plan to take them down, it involves carbine explosives and sniper scopes but that’s all i am at liberty to divulge right now. i have other names though such as the muthafuckin mother molester, the crocodile hunter (i keep it gator), jesus ice, the clitoris wrangler, the trife-a-saurus rex, the bitch collector, frosty the snow thug, jamuel jackson and many more. and i’m the rubix cuban cause i’m a cuban nigga and everyone tries to solve the science behind the way i operate as a kingpin and a hustler.
3. Originally, you’re from Tampa? What brought you to NY?
yeah i was born and raised in the city of tampa… fahrenheit 813.. one of the illest places in the world, fuck anywhere else. i’m from florida and i’m spanish, we can make silencers out of papaya fruit, no joke, and we treat bitches like shit in the dirty. but the music industry brought me to new york and i have resided here since 1999 as a masterminded yankee kingpin.
4. Tell us a bit about Equilibrium.
equilibrium is my original family, that is from where i have emerged. equilibrium is a group consisting of myself, majik most and dutchmassive. as a group, we have released two 12″ singles but they are both really old, even older than the dates they were released in ’98 and ’99. we are known for joints such as “fahrenheit 813”, “windows 98” and “do that”. since then we have all represented ourselves as solo artists, we all have solo 12″ singles
out now and we will soon be recording for an official equilibrium album with all 3 of us sharing the mic on every joint. but even before that we all have solo lp’s dropping at the end of this year and early 2003. look for my album, “the rubix cuban”, dutchmassive’s album “junk planet 2000”, and majik most’s album “sweaty back bastard” all coming soon on atomik music. we are doing the group thing backwards, establishing our individual names first so when we come together as a group it will actually be exciting for some people, imagine that. for more info on my brethren, check out www.majikmost.com and www.gameplanrecords.com for now. and for everyone that confuses them as part of the demigodz, they are not in the demigodz just cause they are in a group with me and i’m part of the demigodz family tree. they are artists in their own right and they have all helped me become who i am today in the game – a fuckin rap kingpin.
5. How and when did the Demigodz crew get started?
i’m not sure when they got started, all i know is that it was originally open mic and some other kids and then it was just open mic and apathy and then one day it became 218 people and i was included in that conglomerate and i’ve repped ever since. but me and apathy are in a sub-group of our own and we came up with a really fuckin ill name for it – apathy & celph titled. there is also a group called mother molesters which is me, majik most, apathy and louis logic, but just because majik most is the only non-demigodz member in a group with other demigodz members doesn’t make him a demigod, get it straight people. we also got another group called the clergymen (me, apathy, pharaohe monch, jay-z, greg nice, 2 bigg mc, mc lyte, craig mack, street life, wiseguy & gaston, and shorty dog – he was the black cat on “tap the bottle” by young black teenagers.. remember: “shorty dog is in the cipher, so you better not skip”). look for projects coming soon from all of the above mentioned on kingpin entertainment, headed by me, celph titled aka music industry kingpin.
6. You’ve also done a lot of production for some solid artists. Do you plan on both rhyming and producing in the future?
actually it’s really ill that you bring that up cause i plan on both rhyming and producing AT THE SAME TIME. i gotta set up the studio properly but basically what is gonna take place is i am gonna have the mpc in the mic booth and while i’m rhyming i’m going to be programming the beat as i go along spittin shit and it will all be on beat without the quantization on. fuck all the cats that do the ‘hey i can dj while i rhyme on stage’, i will make history with what i am about to unleash, the first kingpin to ever rhyme and produce simultaneously.
7. Has touring helped promote your music? Who have you toured with in the past? Have you hit up Europe with live shows?
i haven’t done a lot of touring yet. i recently performed at the hultsfred festival in sweden with my demigodz cousins apathy, louis logic, one-two and chum. non-phixion and the beatnuts also performed. but yeah, i’m really trying to do a lot more touring in europe and overseas in general, so if you are a tour promoter or want to bring me to your town, holla at me – celphtitled@email.com…. my only special requirement is that backstage you have a director’s chair with ‘if you are sitting in this chair you are a fuckin kingpin’ printed on the back of the seat and that i will be the only one permitted to sit there.
8. Though The Godz Must Be Crazy was released this year, do the Demigodz plan to release more music in the future? Perhaps an LP?
yes we are planning on doing a full length album, it will probably take a long time to complete cause everyone is focusing on their own solo shit, but it will happen. what to look for from us in the meantime – my album “the rubix cuban”, 7l & esoteric “dangerous connection”, louis logic “sin-a-matic”, rise full length album, and apathy’s album. all the solo albums have demigodz collaborations in some form on them as well or beats from me, the rap mogul known to major label A&Rs as “oh you mean celph titled the fuckin rap kingpin don of the industry????”
9. Tell us about your solo album.
my album is basically one of the rawest records to ever be recorded and released. it’s basically 16 tracks of talkin shit, bangin beats, guns, bitches, money, grenades, punchlines, and guns. i think there’s maybe 2 songs on there that have some sort of topic or re-occuring theme, but the whole thing consists of raw hip hop, no fuckin gay-ass concepts or stories for all the little faggots out there that want some soft ass shit like that. just some of the hardest rhymes and best beats you’ve ever heard, why would you want to fuck up that formula??!?!? what the fuck has hip hop come to, some sort of homosexual art gallery??? what happened to NWA, tim dog, big shug, too short, willie d and muthafuckas that just brought it to your fuckin face???!? a whole album of talkin shit, that’s my exxon valdeez type steeze. now if you do want to hear an ill concept that’s done correctly and raw listen to my dog esoteric’s “word association”…. but as for my album, my favorite song i’ve done so far is “life of a kingpin”.
10. From a lyrical perspective, who were your original musical influences?
big daddy kane, geto boys, kool g. rap, poison clan, disco rick, NWA, ras kass, ice-t, kurupt the kingpin.
11. What kinds of records inspire your production?
whatever record or cd is laying around closest to me. i’m lazy, who the fuck wants to dig for a sample, what a fuckin waste of time. i can find some shit on anything and flip it. i actually went through a lot of trouble at one time in 1997 to find samples. the sample for “fahrenheit 813” is from some sunday morning political or money advice talk show on CNN that used to come on, don’t know if it still does, but if you ever peeped that, listen to the music and picture it slowed down and you will hear my beat. god, i hate most producers man for real i hate kids that pride themselves on using only vinyl and digging for some ill break, fuck them this is 2002 that shit is gay. i will be in the studio getting paid from some beat i sampled from a “diggin” or “dusty fingers” compilation lp or a fuckin’ production cd and you’ll be in your fuckin moms house broke as hell jackin off to your sp1200 and a crate of records you speculate that large professor had at one time. but really anything and everything inspires me, even though i dont really like to fuck with beats cause i’m too busy being the king of the pen.
12. Whats your opinion on pirating and bootlegging of underground music?
i think it’s dope as long as it’s not my music. everyone should bootleg other underground artists’ music. matter of fact, i encourage EVERYONE to pirate other underground groups, even if it’s some shit i did shit on but only if i didn’t get paid properly for my work and in that case i’ll let y’all know which ones you can download and never buy. celph titled promotional rubber grips coming soon, will give you a reason to really buy the cd. crown me king…. but you shall never know my pin number, young one.
13. Tell the readers the best way to get in touch with your music.
call 1-900-king-pin, get in touch bitches.
