iHipHop Interview – Slim Thug: Don’t Mess With Texas…

Naming your very first album Already Platinum is a pretty bold statement to make, even if you have the creative sounds of The Neptunes behind you along with one of the biggest machines in Interscope Records.

However, with those two instant stamps of approval, a then 24-year-old Stayve “Slim Thug” Thomas started his road to Hip-Hop stardom christening his inaugural project with that heading.

In spite of the aforementioned elements, his debut album didn’t reach the success its title mirrored, and it settled for a gold plaque instead (which is the equivalent to platinum now anyways).

Even so, the man who was a millionaire before his deal looked to be in the driver’s seat, until being trapped in artist developmental hell put the breaks on his solo career for the next four years.

During that time, he stuck with the Southern motto of “Leave no man behind,” and concentrated on his Boss Hogg Outlawz crew and their albums Serve & Collect parts 1 and 2.

Then it was time for the boss himself to re-emerge from the shadows, and that’s where his sophomore effort Boss Of All Bosses [Click to read review] comes into play.

But if you think that’s where the story ends, then you’re wrong because the Texan who stands at 6’6” tall still has plenty more to say…

iHipHop.com: What’s popping with ya?

Slim Thug: WHAT UP!! I’m good… What the deal is homie?

iHipHop.com: Everything is good, can’t complain… So I’m going to just go in right off the bat…

Even though you had the Serve & Collect compilations come out back in ’07 and ’08. Why did it take four years collectively for your second album to come out? Is that how you planned it?

Slim Thug: Hell nah… I got off my label deal with Interscope [Records] in July of last year, and I wanted to come out last year too. But KOCH [Records] wanted me to come out at the beginning of the first quarter, so that was their idea…

But I wanted to drop a year  after Already Platinum; I have over 200 songs, but it was my label man, they kept playing games…

They changed the whole staff from when I first signed to Interscope for Already Platinum, and a year after that came out, they fired their whole staff… So I had to wait on them to get their sh*t together, and then when they finally got their sh*t together and I recorded more records, we never got on the same page man…

They’re a good label, and I’m not hating on them, but we just never got on the same page… At the end of the day, they were holding me up, and after that, they weren’t sending my checks on time, and from there I was like, “Ya’ll gotta let me get off this label, I’m ready to go.”

But they didn’t want to let me go; Geffen [Records] probably did, but Jimmy [Iovine] didn’t… So I finally got off the label, and we did we dropped Serve & Collect vol. 2 and Boss Of All Bosses [Click to read review] is out right now… We go full speed when I’m in control, I might drop another album this year…

iHipHop.com: [Laughs]… How did you managed to not let the industry red tape get you down?

Slim Thug: You have to have other hustles my n*gga, that’s what it’s about… If you have other hustles; then you won’t be stressed out as much about the music sh*t. But at the same time, I was being cool about it because I was just making due. I was like, “F*ck it, I can’t come out now so I’m going to put my team on.” “Let me take advantage of this time, and put my team on.”

That’s when we did Serve & Collect 1 and 2, which did good, and it took my n*ggas to a whole ‘nother level… So I wasn’t mad about man, but I was anxious… I was ready to drop…

iHipHop.com: On Boss Of All Bosses, [Click to read review] I noticed that you didn’t have any production by The Neptunes on it. Do you still have a good relationship with them?

Slim Thug: Yeah, I definitely have a good relationship with them, and when I switched labels; I’m not talking about Star Trak because we had a production deal on the first album… Me and Pharrell did a lot of sh*t together, and me and Pharrell’s sh*t was cool—I loved all the music we did together, and our whole relationship because the n*ggas showed me nothing but love…

So I got love for the whole Star Trak label… I saw Pharrell out at the Grammys a few months ago, and we didn’t have enough time to put something together, and put it on the album… I had to turn the sh*t in early…

iHipHop.com: Speaking of putting stuff on the album, you have two versions to your song ‘I’m Back’; one produced by Mr. Lee and the other one produced by Dr. Dre. But the one with Mr. Lee made the final cut. Why didn’t the [Dr.] Dre one make the final cut?

Slim Thug: How did you know about a Dr. Dre beat?! [Laughing] NOBODY! [Laughing]… That n*gga ain’t clearing sh*t until Detox comes out…

Another reason is Mr. Lee ain’t going to charge me like that, because that’s my peoples, and if I was to get [Dr.] Dre on the album, I would probably have to spend over $100,000.00 and I ain’t trying to do that independently—you can’t wild-out like that…

You can’t wild-out like that when you’re an independent n*gga; you know what I’m saying? When I do a show, I’ll perform it, but I ain’t paying no 100 Grand for a beat…

iHipHop.com: [Laughing]… Most of the album was done by Mr. Lee actually, so was that a conscious decision to go with him for the majority of the record?

Slim Thug: Yeah man because I listen to mothaf*ckas and the feedback on the first album was like, “Man, that ain’t you, you need to be doing it how you were doing it before the deal.” So I just wanted to give them that, and Mr. Lee is someone I was working with before the deal…

This is an album I made, and I wasn’t influenced by any major labels or A&R’s and sh*t… This is ME, and this my album right here… If people hate that mothaf*cka, then they don’t like my music… That’s what I came up with…

iHipHop.com: With the world being so number-crazy now, and basically everyone having access to SoundScan numbers, do you ever think about first week sales or any of that stuff?

Slim Thug: I think about the sh*t, but at the end of the day, I know what it is… I’ve been gone for a minute, so I’m not expecting to come out and sell a million mothaf*cking records… But I am expecting to get a whole lot of new fans after this mothaf*cka… I wasn’t expecting mothaf*ckas to think my album would be jamming or nothing like that…

But I want a mothaf*cka to buy it now or hear it now and be like, “Damn, that n*gga’s sh*t is jamming!” So on the next mothaf*cka, I’m expecting a good first week… On this one: As long as the mothaf*cka makes the top ten, I’m cool… That’s what I want more than anything…

iHipHop.com: You also have a couple of songs on the album with UGK. Was that all stuff you did before Pimp C’s passing?

Slim Thug: Yeah, that stuff was done way before… Like I said, I’ve been recording this album for like four years, and we had a good relationship…

After he got out of jail, we just kind of clicked and he used to always call me and say things like, “Your sh*t is jamming Thug, keep doing your sh*t.” So him and me worked on that…

iHipHop.com: If the right opportunity presented itself right now, would you sign with another major, or did the whole experience leave a bad taste in your mouth?

Slim Thug: It left a bad taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day business is business… It’s good and bad on both parts, because KOCH is a hell of a label… To be independent, them mothaf*ckas do their JOB! ‘I Run’ is the biggest song I ever had, and I was on Interscope; you know what I’m saying? And that’s the biggest f*cking label; and they couldn’t give me that…

I ain’t never been on 106 & Park by myself, and KOCH had me on there performing and all kinds of sh*t… For an independent label to be able to do that, that’s good man…

Plus with the sales not being what they used to be, I’d rather get more money for each CD sold then being signed to a major and be getting some points taken out of me or something…

But if the right distribution deal came through with a major where the money made sense, I probably would sign again, but I’m cool where I’m at so far…