24: How long have you been rapping?
Smitty: I’ve been rapping forever. But
I didn’t start taking it serious till about 97-98.

24: What inspired you to be a rapper?
Smitty: Just the music. It spoke to me. It
spoke about what I was going through in Lil Haiti. All that Ice Cube and NWA
shit back in the day influenced me. That’s what made me do this rap shit.

24: Who are some of your influences?
Smitty: Dr. Dre, Ghetto Boys, Willie D, Scarface
and Bushwick Bill, Nas, 8ball & MJG. Just a plethora of different MC’s.
That’s why when you listen to me, I have a sound that is real universal.
That’s how I came up. West coast, New York. I’ve lived in all those
places.

24: You have been signed to J Records.
What happened with the release of your album in the summer of 2006?
Smitty: I’ve been signed for 2 years.
When ‘Diamonds on My Neck’ was released, I was dealing with a system
that wasn’t ready for the type of artist I was. A lot of the things I
was ready to do, they we’re ready for. After that, we released ‘Up
in Lil’ Haiti’ which was produced by the Runners who did ‘Hustlin’
for [Rick] Ross and the shit was just as hard. They couldn’t handle the
magnitude of the record it was. They deal with more crossover pop type records.
Instead of me putting myself in the position of other artist that come out,
I decided to play the smart role and let them spend more money on my new single
with Nitti and after that, my lead single will be with Mario and Chris Brown
called ‘Tell Me.’ It puts me in a better position to do numbers
and sell records. I’ve been a song writer since the beginning, so money
isn’t an issue. It’s just me coming out in the right fashion. ‘Diamonds
on My Neck’ was too fast for the label. Nothing against J Records. Shout
out the Clive Davis and everyone over there. They just weren’t ready for
the type of artist that I was. So now I’m going to have two singles out
and two videos before the album.

24: You also put out an independent album?
Smitty: Yea I put out an independent album
but J Records seized and desist it, but we still did like 19,000. We did it
big overseas. That was a good album. It spoke to my fans who thought I was just
‘Diamond on My Neck.’ It really showed the plethora of the type
of artist that I am. I can do all types of tracks. I can do mainstream, I can
do hood, I can do pop. I came up under Dre, Puff and Scarface. That album just
let people know what I’m about. I’m really a hip-hop nigga. I’m
just in the streets.

24: Why did J Records put a stop on it?
Smitty: Because they weren’t getting
any money. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a beautiful situation.

24: You also came up in the game ghostwriting.
Who did you write for?
Smitty: I started off with Will Smith and MC
Lyte. That’s when I really didn’t know the art form. Then I got
under Dr. Dre and he taught me a lot about the game and formatting records.
Then I moved on to Puff. I was his golden child. He taught me the methods of
melodies and crossover records. All my crossover records I wrote for him. A
couple of ATL boys, a couple artists on Interscope. Nothing as big as Dre and
Puff. I wrote for Mystical before he got locked up, but they scrapped the album.
I wrote for Nick Cannon. Just a lot of different people that you wouldn’t
expect me to write for.

24: What is your goals as an artist?
Smitty: Basically to introduce young dudes
to the game the right way, not to go through what I went through. I don’t
want rap to be the only way I eat. Dame Dash gave me the shoe deal with Pro
Keds. I’m waiting to put that out with the album. There’s no point
to put it out now without a platform to advertise. I have a few endorsement
deals with FuBu and a few other companies. That’s one thing Will told
me, let rap be a stepping stone, not your final entity in making money. I’m
hoping to be on my third album thinking about retiring instead of being on my
eight album thinking about retiring. No disrespect to the old heads. The old
heads taught us too much on how much to get this money. There is no reason to
be on the fifth and still worrying about how our next check comes in because
there are too many avenues to eat.

24: Do you have your own label?
Smitty: I have my own production company. Close
Range Entertainment. I don’t want it to be a label, it’s more of
a production situation and we go to different labels and get different deals.
The first we deal we’re trying to get is a compilation deal.

24: Are you originally from Miami?
Smitty: Of course. Lil Haiti. Born and raised.
Jackson Memorial Hospital. 54th and 4th.

24: How do you feel about the whole Miami
Movement?
Smitty: 305 movement has been a good thing.
Personally I feel like the sore thumb of the movement. That necessarily isn’t
a bad thing. My music has always been sore thumbish. A lot of the greats were
a sore thumb. LL Cool J was a sore thumb, Outkast was a sore thumb, even one
time Jay-Z was a sore thumb. Even the west coast, Pac was a sore thumb. If I
look at it in that magnitude, I may looking at bigger and better things. No
disrespect to any of the artist Pitbull, Trick, Ross. I’m here doing a
track with Ross. That has nothing to do with them or the people I feel that
could have included me, which I won’t speak of. That’s their decision.
I have great relationships with Khaled, Ideal, Mauricio, but the powers that
be just didn’t include me in that. I’m not taking it as a diss to
me, it just makes me run my lane.

24: Anything you want to promote?
Smitty: We just got the album coming out. Look
out for the new single with Nitti. Look out for Close Range. Look out to the
mixtape with Big Mike and OG Ron C called ‘Dough Boy.’ Shout out
to DJ EFX, Dame Dash, Jimmy Henchman, Clive Davis, my management and anybody
that has supported Smitty and everyone that hasn’t supported Smitty, I
still love you. I’m doing what I gotta do to stay relevant to y’all
motherfuckers and it’s a beautiful thing. Lil’ Haiti. Holla.

Interview by: Ryan 305DJs