Mongrel Magazine, November 2004

Generally regarded as rap’s arch-intellectual in residence, Mike Ladd is the rapper/producer behind the high concept supergroups The Infesticons and The Majesticons. With these, he created a hypothetical universe where two clans are engaged in an epic battle for the soul of hip-hop culture – a struggle of substance against form, of grit versus bling. This interview took place outside on a bitterly cold night in November because of two things: Mike’s rather extreme nicotine habit and this country’s rather smoking ban, neither of which he is particularly happy with – he is one of the few people out there who smokes cigarettes and chews nicotine gum simultaneously. Mike speaks with the slow and measured restraint of a man who knows the importance of words.
There’s a song on the new album called ‘Off to Mars’ which is unlike anything of yours I’ve heard before in that it presents this one really clear idea. It’s obviously about George Bush, but there doesn’t seem to be any anger in it. There’s the line ‘Please, just leave/ We’ll clean up the mess.’ It reminds me of someone talking about a relationship that has just gone really sour. Like the person is saying, ‘I’ve had enough of you, just get lost because I don’t want to know you any more.’ Is that how you felt about Bush when you wrote that?
Yeah, partially. I’m talking about disgust. A person like that, he’s not really worthy of getting angry about. He’s just disgusting. He’s foul. He’s a base human being. But if you get angry, if you blow yourself up against him, that plays into what he wants. He’s not worth getting angry at. He’s worth trying to defeat. It’s the Star Wars type of shit: if you defeat him with anger, you’re going to fuck yourself up. You gotta figure out how to use the force. Read the rest of this entry »