24: Introduce yourself to everyone that doesn’t already know who you are.

RJ Da Great: I go by the name RJ Da Great. I’m a beat maker and also a member/CO creator of the new independent rap group “Green Money Mafia!” Our group consists of me, Ace Tha Kiiid, KG Tha Red Boy, God’s Gift, C Money and Yung Lee. We all met up in Tallahassee because of the fact that we all go to the same college. We ended up building a family type bond and eventually started making songs together. We all have our own styles and try to be as original as possible toward creating music.

24: Before we get into your music, can you describe your history about how you got into and what inspired you?

RJ Da Great: Before we pieced together “Green Money Mafia” I was making beats I considered to be garbage and I was rapping off a cheap Mic, but my lyrics were OK so I was motivated to better myself. I never thought my beats were good enough and although I made progress I still try to better myself to get the best out of how I rap and how good my beats sound. It’s when I graduated, went to college, and got a job that I actually got the chance to make the money I needed for a better quality home studio to continue on what I liked doing and I taught myself how to make a descent beat. After I met the other members we started making song after song until we eventually released our first mix tape. The group name “Green Money Mafia” was brought up cause Ace Da Kiiid thought it was a good idea for a song title and I said thought it was also a real good idea to name our group.

24: What was the Hip-Hop scene like for you growing up where you’re from?

RJ Da Great: Growing up I didn’t want be a rapper, but I was always good at writing. When I was in the 4th grade my teachers even tried to get something I wrote published into a book, so I mean at one time I wanted to be an author but a little later I got an IPod, started listening to music a lot, started rapping (9th grade) and realized I didn’t want to do anything that didn’t have music involved in it.

24: What makes you Unique as an artist and different from other rappers out now?

RJ Da Great: We really don’t downsize on any other rappers trying to make it because we know how hard it is to do so, but we do try to be a lot more different from all the rest by making our own beats and bringing our own styles into the music we put out. We think it’s a good thing to have an idol but really think the best way to be original is to be yourself.

24: Tell us about what you are working on.

RJ Da Great: We recently released our first mix tape “RJ Da Great Presents Green Money Mafia,” which was hosted by DJ Mystik and it really inspired us to immediately start working on another one.

24: What producers have you worked with and who would you like to work within the future?

RJ Da Great: Other than DJ Mystik (Of Nappy Boy DJs) & ChrizBeatz we haven’t really worked with any producers yet, but it would be cool to work with Lex Luger, Southside Sizzle, Johnny Juliano, Sonny Digital or maybe even K.E. On The Track!

24: Are you happy with the feedback you have been getting from people on material you have released?

RJ Da Great: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so we respect that! We really appreciate the opportunity to even have people actually listening to our music so we’re happy for any type of feedback we get back. Most people have a lot of positive things to say about our music and there are a few negative comments being said but we use that to better further ourselves.

24: In today’s free download age, what do you need to do to make yourself a household name?

RJ Da Great: As long as good music is being made, and you stay optimistic and keep promoting yourself and pushing to do better the hard work you put into what you do will be noticed and it will pay off big time!

24: How do you feel about the current state of the Hip-Hop scene?

RJ Da Great: Nowadays it seems as if anyone can make it in the rap game with or without talent and we’re trying to be the ones that show people that there is still talent in the world of Hip-Hop.

24: Outside of the music, what else are you currently working on?

RJ Da Great: Other than music, we’re all trying to do what every we can to make it in life by going to college. We love making new music, but we just want to have something we can fall back on in case the music doesn’t work out for us.

24: Where do you see yourself going in 2012 and how do you plan to separate yourself from the other artist out today to get the recognition you feel you deserve?

RJ Da Great: For one thing we’re far from greedy, even if we have to keep putting out free mix tapes and passing out free CDS we’re going to do whatever we can to get our music heard. Dedication and hard work really pays off and if you’re good at what you’re doing, eventually someone will notice.

24: How can fans go about contacting you?

RJ Da Great: Fans can contact any of us through Twitter as well as Facebook.
Twitter: @RJDaGreat_GMM , @AceDaKiiid_GMM , @UmDatGift_GMM , @KGDaRedBoi_GMM, & @CMoney_GMM
Also my email address (RJ Da Great): rj4rmthamia@yahoo.com

24: Thank you for providing 24HourHipHop.com with this exclusive interview, do you have any last words for your present and future fans?

RJ Da Great: Download our mix tape: http://tinyurl.com/7epfkmb and Check out our Videos:
http://youtu.be/AV_J4Ag9Tbw

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