1. What’s your earliest memories of Hip-Hop? Do you remember the 1st Hip-Hop song you ever heard?

CHINO XL: My first thing I heard that gave me a Hip-Hop feelings, as you know my Uncle’s Bernie Worrell (of Parliament Funkadelic), and they had a song called “Cosmic Slop”. And my Uncle used to play a bass line that went (Da Da Da, etc.). And I rememberGary Shider going “everybody it’s the cosmic slop”. And that became my favorite part of their shows. That’s my first bare bone bass line, beat,
with a chant over it.

After that , I don’t count Blondie and all of them records, and after that the underground tape I heard of “Double Trouble”. That’s probably the first time I was like “Yo, what’s this shxt?”. At that point the only thing you could get were tapes off the street if you took the train over to New York, cause I’m from New Jersey. Or there was a station called WHBI that became WNWK and you’d have to stay up till like 2 AM. Remember, this is pre Marley Marl and Red Alert.

2. What MC had the biggest influence on you, and got you to start thinking
about not only being a Hip-Hop head, but also doing the music yourself?

LL Cool J. Like, I had all of these rhymes, and I was a little different in the neighborhood, and when I heard LL he was light skinned, a only child, and had the whole arrogance thing, and I was like “I can do this!” And a particular rhyme he said off the original version of “Rock The
Bells”:
“A misdemeanor, cleaner, woman I subpoena
No conjecture in my lecture, name and adversary Gina
Promoter, my tune revolves like rotor
While I decode-a the cranium of Yoda”

When I heard that I as like “I can’t believe he’s rhymin’ that, that’s off the hook!”. But the difference was, my rhymes at the time were like that all the way through.

3. Remember the 1st song you ever recorded?

I had a song called “I’m Greater”. And I tried to make it cool like “I’m Greater”, but then with the greater mathematical symbols. I remember the rhyme too, remember this is 84’:

“As the record spins, I go psycho
Lethal as nitro, retract like Tyco
My blood is type O, yo
Music created, while I’m hated
But rated, I’ve waited and waited
But now I finally made it”

I was only 13 then, and people talk about evolution of their rhymes, to be completely honest, with the love of the language I have and my mothers vocabulary, I started better than half of them out there I had ever heard. It was like, never even fair to even be rhymin’ against anyone, cause I felt like they were in Junior Varsity and I was Pro already. Nobody believed I
wrote my stuff, they were like, “You bit that from something, you must of heard that somewhere”. I used to go to New York back in the day and just serve fools.

4. Where were you when you heard of the murder of Jam Master Jay? How big of a loss is that to the Hip-Hop community?

I think I was working on a film, and my manager called me. I was just shocked. Let me tell you something about Jam Master Jay. I was outside this House Music club, and Jam Master Jay got out the limo in front of me, and handed this homeless man $700, for real! I didn’t know him personally, but that’s my memory of him.

5. What MC or group do you feel has had the biggest influence on Hip-Hop?

Globally, Wu-Tang Clan. To me personally, the Fearless Four. There was this Puerto Rican guy in there named Tito. So we’d have little groups, before I had my own rhymes, I used to wanna be DLB, cause he was the leader of the group. But since I was the only Puerto Rican one, they were like “Chino, you gotta be Tito”. Not only was he Tito, he was a Puerto Rican in the Fearless 4, and on the video. I couldn’t believe that.
I think Wu-Tang globally, because something about them appeals to people internationally that I don’t think anyone else has.
Now for a solo MC, I’d have to say Rakim, because he invented the compound phrase. Now maybe other people did it before that, but something about the way he did it. People used to rhyme like:
“............In the house”
“............I slap you in your mouth”
BUT Rakim would rap like:
“I used to roll up, this is a hold up
Nothin’ funny, stop smilin’, nothin’ new but the money”
He made it a compound phrase. From that point on, it became like a new way people rhymed.

6. What’s your take on the new beef between Benzino and Eminem? Basically Benzino dissed Em’ cause Eminem was a white MC who is the top selling Hip-Hop artist. Benzino claims he’s taking food off every other artists plate, and as, in his words, “a white boy gimmick” every other artist should be “against” him. What’s your take on this situation, and race in Hip-Hop?

I don’t know anything about what their problem is with one another, I’ve only heard about it on the tail end cause I’ve been doing movies for the past year. But the race thing I can get into. Speaking from the first person, I know I’ve had an uphill battle. I mean, the first
“Source” Hip-Hop Quatables I got in 96’ for “No Complex” was new, cause before that I didn’t even see a light skinned rapper get it, better yet a Latin rapper. And being that I don’t put “Latin” out there like “I’m Latin I’m Latin I’m Latin”. I always thought that if I was dark skinned, easily digestible MC who looked like everybody else, everybody would be like “He’s
a genius, he’s the greatest of all time!” So, being that I’m a little bit different, it makes it easy for people to say “He’s different, he’s suppose to be smarter, he didn’t grow up like everybody else”. I know from like listening to Eminem records I’ve heard him say because of his complexion he recognizes he sold more than he usually would. I hate that whole complexion
shxt, cause I had to grow up with that. It affects how you feel about yourself, and I’m sure there’s people who say my video “Kreep” was all over MTV cause I wasn’t dark skinned. The track “What Am I” from my 1st album talks about this exact subject.

7. What do you think of beef in Hip-Hop in general? I know there was some tension between you about 2Pac, is beef good or bad for Hip-Hop?

Well I’ve never had beef. Like with 2Pac it was nothing personal from my end. I didn’t have a problem with him you know. In my neighborhood if you got beef with somebody son, you go to the Super Market and you might get fxcked up. It was never like that. Personally, I wasn't trying to go there with him. It was just some lyric shxt to me, so it was never nothing like that. But as far as beef in general, I don’t think battling is bad for the art form, it’s kinda where it came from. Hip-Hop, as you know, basically was born in the South Bronx and it was from a gang called the “Black Spades”, which became the “Spades”, that then became the “Zulu Nation”. Afrika Bambaataa said “We’re gonna battle rhyming, we’re gonna battle breaking, we’re gonna use our art to compete with one another. So it stopped all the gang shxt that was going on in the South Bronx at the time. It’s a way to get angst out, I mean you rhyming all your frustration against the person. It’s competitive nature, people are competitive. Like Peacocks try to have the best colors against one another.

But when you have people who can’t rhyme, and have to resort to “I’mma kill this person, and I’mma beat the shxt outta you” because they just can’t rhyme, I think that’s bad. So, if people can’t battle rhyme, I don’t think they should even get into it. Cause you don’t need to be sitting somewhere trying to have a good function, and MF’s start fighting and shooting. It’s ridiculous, I mean you got millionaires arguing, what the fxck you arguing about?

8.You ever got to the point, where your so sick of the shady music industry, that you just wish you could go back and be just a regular guy in Jersey?

I can’t say that because of people like you guys. Because when your feeling really bad and your like “the music is real bad these days, I only went Gold instead of Platinum, etc” and somebody walks up to you and says “Yo, when you said....., that was tight”. And that person is 3800 miles away from where you wrote it, and 5 years away from when it came out, people
just retain that like you would in school. That’s really what it is, and I got my mom out of the hood. Plus now it got me this acting opportunity, and I can make money whenever I want. But I do relate to what your saying, I know where that came from.

9.What do you feel about the current state of Hip-Hop? How has it changed
compared to 80’s Hip-Hop that you and I grew up listening to?

It’s different, God, in so many ways. I could go on and on, but mechanically it’s not verse orientated anymore. It’s all hooks, music, hooks. Like I don’t think we sat around back in the day and said “Kool G Rap had a bad hook on Poison”, we were like “you hear what he said?” So, it was about what the artist brought, and it’s still what the artist brings, but it used to not be about what the artist brought marketing wise. So it’s completely different, it’s completely Corporate, and people don’t use the word biting anymore. It’s not even part of our slang anymore, because it’s “OK” to copy someone else now. When I was commin’ up, or the music you grew up on, you couldn’t use the same word. Like if G Rap said “I attack MC’s like a Gladiator”, you wouldn’t even use the word “Gladiator” in your rhymes because he used the word. Now it’s just open season.

10.What’s the proudest moment in your musical career? What song that you’ve recorded to you feel is your best work?

I got more than one, I’ll start when I was proud of someone else. I was so proud and happy for King Tech and Sway when they put together that “Wake Up Show” video and album. You have no idea what that meant to him. My own proudest moment, was when I was coming out of my Record Company and my manager at the time was with me. And KRS-One was commin’ out the building, and he looked at my manager and said “Do you know who the fxck this man is? This man right here is the only warrior we’ve ever had”. But to hear that I think was my most proud moment, or when LL Cool J came up to my table and said “That verse on “Jesus”, phenomenal”.
11.What are your 5 favorite albums of all time?
-LL Cool J “Radio”
-Ice-T “Original Gangsta”
-Kool G Rap “Men At Work”
-Jay-Z “Reasonable Doubt”
-No Doubt “Return To Saturn”
RUNNER UP’s
-Notorious BIG “Ready To Die”
-Wu-Tang Clan “Forever” (2nd disc)
-Public Enemy “Yo, Bum Rush The Show”
-Ice Cube “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted”
-Common “Resurrection”
-Price “1999”

12.Do you think when old school artists like KRS-One, Rakim, Public Enemy and Ice-T, who continue to put out albums after 15 years in the game, have a chance to appeal to the youth nowadays? Or are there main consumers an older age group, who listened to them when they were in their prime?

They could, but they’d have to do it smart. Ice-T could rally so much support from all the artists that love him, and he could make the next “Chronic” if he wanted to. But, I don’t think he ever will.

13.If you could work with any artist who you haven’t already got a chance to work with, who would it be?

Scarface

14.Who do you feel is the most underrated rapper in the game?

Myself, then after me Canibus.

15.I know that Sway & Tech from the “Wake Up Show” had a impact in helping your career, how important are Sway & Tech for opening their doors to artists and their show?

I can’t speak for everyone else, but I know I had a record deal, and if it wasn't for them......, I mean they used to play “No Complex” A Cappella twice in a row. You know what it’s like to hear a rappers song A Cappella for 6 minutes straight?

16.Having kids affects everybody’s daily life, did it change how you handled your musical career?

I already had kids before I came out with “Here To Save You All”.
It’s amazing to meet a person who’s smarter than me.