Slim Thug's major label debut Already Platinum opened up to big numbers without a major single. Slim is one of the hottest rappers on the music scene right now with a huge fan base. You can hear him on various collabos (including Three 6 Mafia's "Stay Fly" remix). This young Houston rapper is a very talented rapper and entrepreneur.

This was my second interview with Slim. We were supposed to be talking about his "Hidden Gems" EP among other things. I will warn you there are a lot of s'bombs and f'bombs in the manner of four letter words in this interview. It's no biggie to me because I curse like a sailor and am married to a sailor, so please don't think Slim was being disrespectful, we were just chilling and talking. He is one of my favorite people to interview because he will give you real answers, he doesn't just spit out the same thing interview after interview. You can check out our first interview here.

I read this past weekend you performed at North Carolina A&T. How was that performance?
Slim Thug-Oh it was crazy. It was me, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Ciara, Jeezy, Lil Jon all of them it was crazy.

I don't know for sure so I thought I would ask. Did you ever go to college?
Slim Thug-I went to college for one day.

One day?
Slim Thug-I went to TSU for like one day and seen quickly that it wasn't for me. The college thing I don't feel it. I can't see going to school for 12 years and then having pay to go to school. I'm like show me how to get this money.

I know you are entrepreneur and you have your businesses. I was going to ask if when you perform at colleges do you ever feel like you missed out on the college experience?
Slim Thug-It's like I be seein' other people go through it and it seems like it might have been a little fun with parties and everything but I've always been a little more older than I really am in my mind so I don't think I ever would have fitted it. When I was 18/19 I wasn't going to the college parties I was going to the 21 and older parties I don't think I ever would have fitted in.

I've talked to Paul Wall in the past. Can you discuss your relationship with Paul Wall and Mike Jones?
Slim Thug-Mike Jones, I got a lot of respect for him. We're all cool, friends. But me Mike, Jones and Paul Wall are cool. We talk almost every other day. I was in it before them so I kind of feel older than them even though we are all the same age. I feel proud to see what's going on with them. We're all the same age but I started when I was 17 and I seen Paul Wall go from passing out flyers for us to being number one in the country.

I seen Mike Jones, when we was doing shows and they was paying us $3000 a show or $5000 whatever we was getting back in the gap, he was getting nothing and steady grinding. We went to school together before I even knew he was rapping. He was the guy I would get the burned phones from and sh*t. Ya know what I'm sayin'! So it's like Mike Jones was a guy I got my cell phones from and he was a cool dude and I didn't know he rapped and we used to talk a lot. He used to be like, "Man I got this new phone." Then I seen him go from us doing shows and we was getting paid he was doing stuff for free. Instead of getting paid he would just say, "Man just get me a room." Those two dudes right there more than me I feel they deserve it. I seen them grind hard.Not to say I didn't grind hard but them two niggas right there they worked there ass off to get to where they ain't. And the shit he came up with, the Mike Jones, who Mikes Jones and the phone number sh*t that some genius marketing shit. Think about all the rappers who have been out nobody ever thought about that shit. Look what that did for him. Mike Jones and Paul Wall them niggas I'll ride for. Nobody finna fuck with Mike Jones and Paul Wall. I feel like they my niggas Imma ride for them.

Listen to Slim Thug

Have there ever been any talks about the three of you all getting together to do an album?
Slim Thug-We spoke up on it but it's like the differences... me and Paul Wall and Mike talked about it before but it's like we are all of us are really doing a lot. We all trying to start our own cliques. No telling we might be able to do it in the future. Right now Mike Jones trying to do the Ice Age thing and blow up his clique, I'm trying to do the Boss Hogg Outlawz thing, Paul Wall trying to get his little situation going; he got his G.R.I.T. Boyz he is trying to put out. Timewise nothing like that is going to happen this year but I think it's gonna happen in the future,

Boss Hogg Outlawz. Is the same as Boys In Blue or that's different?
Slim Thug-Boss Hogg Outlawz is the label.

So whats up with the Boyz In Blue Project?
Slim Thug-We working on that right now and it's going good. Like right now we was so fucked up when we got in the game. We was the first people to sign out of me Mike Jones and Paul Wall so direction wise we didn't know what to do. We just knew this was the move we needed to make or whatever we just was like, we came out blind to it. I'm thinking I can just chill and let the label do it's part.

Whenever you a rapper, you got a deal, you got to do the same thing you been doing. Shit don't stop. If you really want to be that motherfucker it's more work. The main thing we trying to do is get our label and everything organized as far as having a dude sit in the people and get on the people at Interscope ass. You know I'm over at Interscope. What I'm doing ain't shit compared to 50 Cent and Gwen Stefani and all these other big names and shit, Eminems. You gotta go over there and get in them like "Hey man you need to send these people this vinyl. Do this here, shoot this here." We are trying to get these different point people in these different positions to make sure we get our shit right. Boyz in Blue shit, that shit is fire.

You just mentioned Interscope. Is Star Trak still in the picture?
Slim Thug-Yeah they still in the picture. We still in the picture. Everything still the same with Star Trak whatever.

I know Pharrell is an artist and a producer and he's doing so many things. Do you all get to touch bases much?
Slim Thug-I mean we kick it when we in the same town together and shit like that. But nah, not really. He is on his own shit he is trying to do and I'm on my own shit I'm trying to do, but we never did get to just kick it a whole lot because I was always on my own shit doing my own thing and he was always doing his. I do a lot of shows and he do a lot of traveling with what he does doing beats and everything. When I am in town or in Miami; he be in Miami a lot. When I'm in Miami I fuck with him. Whenever I'm in LA and he's in LA I'll fuck with him. We just don't see each other a whole, whole lot.

When your album first came out you did real big numbers the first week. Were you surprised at how well your album did the first week?
Slim Thug-Man it's like, kinda sorta. It's like a yeah and no. I know I had a strong fan base or whatever. I knew I had a fan base but I didn't know what that bootleg did to me. I didn't change the name of the album. The songs I had out like "Three Kings," and "I Aint Heard of That" was all records on the bootleg. I know when I look at a album and the singles are the same as the bootleg I look at it like, "It's probably the same album he probably just changed two songs," I think all of that had to do with taking away. I think my single, I didn't have no number one single "I Ain't Heard of That" wasn't no shit. It didn't touch 106 and Park. They played that shit on Rap City like twice and it was rap. I didn't have no strong enough single, it was a lot of shit that went down and for me to do 130,000 or 126,000 was good to me. I would have been good with catching 100,000. I knew I had a good fan base. It was just a lot of shit that had happened.

Speaking of a lot of shit that just happened, there was a version of "I Ain't Heard of That" with the Jay-Z sample, what happened with that? I heard it on the radio was that just something a DJ did or something?
Slim Thug-No that shit was Jay Z's song. Pharrell gave it to Jay Z and I don't know he didn't use it or whatever the fuck ever and when he was playing records for me I heard it. I wanted it. Give it to me if he ain't using it. It wasn't supposed to come out. I wasn't going to do that shit like put Jay Z on that shit without no permission or shit like that. The shit got out on bootleg and it was what it was.

You recently released a digital EP Hidden Gems. What was your decision behind releasing the digital EP?
Slim Thug-I heard about it but I don't know shit about that.

Okay, I'm going to let you know. It's right on your website. It says it has the "Diamonds remix," "Get It Started," "I Need A" and "Three Kings Chopped and Screwed." So you don't even know about it?
Slim Thug-I don't even know about that. It's like I guess they tryin' to keep the shit going. I ain't a Internet dude. The only Internet site I go to is in themix when people take pictures in the club I don't really fuck with the Internet like that.

It's not really just the Internet it's digital music do you have an Ipod?
Slim Thug-Yeah,I got an Ipod.

These are your digital tracks. What do you have in your Ipod?
Slim Thug-I got everything in my Ipod. But I ain't got that with me. I ain't got the up to date shit. What I'm fucking with is that Bun B, that new album he put out, Jeezy, T.I. these dudes, T.I., Jeezy, Bun B. I fuck with Fabulous, Jay Z, 50 Cent, I fuck with all G-Unit that's what I listen to. I listen to Mike Jones, Paul Wall that goes without saying. That type of shit ya know what I'm saying?

What are you doing this fall..touring…recording?
Slim Thug- I'm trying to do all that. It's been a lot of talk about tours but ain't shit popped yet. Going different ways. First it was supposed to be me Mike Jones and Paul Wall and then I heard they doing some other stuff. Whenever it does come it's gonna be fire.

I talk to a lot of celebrities and a lot of women I talk to when we get to talking about rappers and whose a gentlemen your name comes up. Tell me about your charm and your way with the ladies?
Slim Thug-I'm a real nigga man. All that rap shit there is a lot of shit with this business its like the whole thing about this business and how it's so fucked up is you got people who come from nothing to something. You gotta a nigga who on the block who ain't got nothing but a dream to putting a CD out getting $20,000 a show and making money and they ain't used to the shit and they don't know how to act so they are like, "I was just a nigga who aint have nothing now I'm a nigga making $20,000 a mother fucking day and they feel real strong. Money bring power so motherfuckers feel real strong about themselves and they need bodyguards and all that extra shit. I'm getting it where I can go to the motherfucking store and buy some stuff on a credit card an write a check and shit now that's the only difference. I'm the same old nigga. When people approach me I'm the same old thug. I ain't gonna lie when it comes to signing autographs and taking pictures I don't really like that shit too much because I don't think people are going to keep this fucking napkin that ain't worth shit and keep it. A nigga be so busy and everybody want to take a picture and they move slow when they do it and it's kind of time consuming.

Slim Thug interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2005
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She is the founder of Thabiz.com and Imissthe80s.com and writes for the Rap, Teen, and 1980s section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as a writer and a publisher. Please contact Dorrie for advertising inquiries, lyric writing inquiries, reprint rights, paying entertainment jobs, or general comments.
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Interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com October 2005.