Phat Kat
By: Sylis P. Barnaby

The Detroit hip-hop scene has been on roller coaster of momentum lately. And one of the chief engineers of that coaster has been Phat Kat aka Ronnie Cash. With the new album Carte Blanche featuring production from Black Milk, Young RJ and of course the late, great J. Dilla, Phat Kat is letting people know that Detroit hip-hop (and the Tigers) is still going strong.

PhilaFlava: How’s it going?

Phat Kat: Good, good. I’m doing good, bro.

PF: Aight. How’s the new album, Carte Blanche, doing for you?

PK: Good, man.

PF: You got the video out for Cold Steel, is that still the single?

PK: Nah, that was the first single. The new single now is Lovely.

PF: Aight. I wanted to ask you about using youtube and myspace to promote the Cold Steel video. The net can be a double edged sword as far as artists that aren’t as known as the mainstream ones.

PK: I mean, it’s all promotion, man. It’s been a benefit. It’s helping my music and my notoriety to reach people all over the world.

PF: You’re touring and working with Dilla’s little brother, Illa J. How’s that been since Dilla’s passing?

PK: I’ve been knowing him since day one. So I don’t look at it like “it’s Dilla’s little brother.” I mean, it’s just so funny, man. How everybody is just...every interview I do is, everyone wants to ask me about Dilla, ya know. Dilla this, Dilla that. That was my friend, man. It was what it was. You know what I’m sayin? It’s like working with family...

PF:...It’s like a continuation.

PK: Yeah, exactly.

PF: Alright. I won’t harp on Dilla too much since you do always get asked about it. But a lot of people might not know, you were, more or less, one of the first to steady record and perform with Dilla back with First Down. So to clarify, how far back did you and Dilla go?

PK: Man, I’ve been knowing Dilla since like 93. And we’ve been working together since like 93, 94. So, I don’t really care what nobody thinks, man. Just check my discography. I really don’t get into caring what nobody thinks about nothing. Cause evidently, they’re the ones who didn’t know him. They’re on the outside looking in.

PF: Speaking of yourself, Dilla and Detroit hip-hop as a whole, in the last year it’s been pretty crazy with the passing of Dilla and Proof, and Obie getting shot. What’s Detroit hip-hop like right now for those of us that don’t know?

PK: I mean, ya know, as far as...it’s doing what it’s doing, man. Everybody’s just staying busy and working. It’s just sad that it took for Dilla and Proof to pass away for people to look at us and see what we’re doing. But we workin, man. Everybody’s workin. Guilty (Simpson)’ s new album is coming out. Black Milk’s album is out. New Slum album, new solo Elzhi album. We all just working, man.

PF: You all seem to have such a tight-knit circle amongst yourselves: yourself, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Slum Village, etc.. Is it coincidental that all your albums are coming out around the same time? Or is it something where yall decided to hit everyone at once to show us what Detroit’s about?

PK: It just really is coincidental man, that everybody’s album is coming out back to back right now. It’s a good thing, but it isn’t like it was planned like that.

PF: Any plans to work on a whole album with someone like Black Milk?

PK: Actually, me and Elzhi are working on a project. We formed a group called Cold Steel, after that (the song on the Carte Blanche album). We working on that. Black is doing the majority of the next album. A lot of people are leaning towards the whole, ya know...people in the industry, are trying to scrape around to get on a Dilla beat, and they’re using it as a crutch. On my next album, I might not even have a Dilla beat on the next album. Maybe just as an interlude or something. Take it to a whole nother plateau.

PF: As if to say you got it, but you don’t need it.

PK: Exactly. It’s not a crutch for me.

PF: Where do you see Detroit, as far as, you have New York and L.A., and yall are in the middle with a very distinct sound. Where do the influences come from?

PK: Me personally, I get my influences from being blessed to travel the world and come back here and incorporate everything I’ve seen over the world. I come home and incorporate it into my everyday life, man. I just see things differently. That’s what you’re getting out of my music.

PF: I know you said you got Milk doing the majority of the next album, but suppose you had an unlimited budget and you could have any producers on your album on any major label. Who would your dream lineup be for an album?

PK: I really couldn’t say because...I dunno, that’s a good question, man. Cause there’s so many dope producers that I’ve heard all over the world. I mean, I’m working with the best with the best as it is right now.

PF: So you’re saying you basically got it sewn up now?

PK: (laughs) Basically. But you know I would definitely include Pete Rock and Primo.

PF: And as far as that goes, if you could collaborate with any rapper, who would it be?

PK: I deal with a lot of the elite emcees in the industry. They’re like friends. It’s gonna happen. I’m gonna be doing joints with Black Thought and Talib, cats like that. They’re my people. It is what it is.

PF: You said you’ve been blessed to travel all over the world, are you touring now?

PK: I just got off my U.S. tour like two weeks ago. We did the Carte Blanche tour, me, Slum Village and Illa J.

PF: How’d that go?

PK: It was crazy, man. We did 16 cities in the US. We’re back home and headed out to Europe for 18 dates in September. We’re just trying to stay busy, man.

PF: The album with Elzhi, what’s that looking like?

PK: Basically, we’re just recording. When we’re finished with it, we’re gonna see who’s talking the best as far as how we wanna unleash it to the world. It’s gonna be something that people aren’t expecting from Elzhi or myself.

PF: To get off topic real quick, what do you think the Tigers are looking like as far as making the World Series again?

PK: Aw, man. They definitely are gonna go again. But this time they’re gonna win (laughs).

PF: Yeah, I’m in Philly and the Tigers just gave us a beating. I didn’t realized i t was that serious all of a sudden.

PK: Yeah, man, we gotta support our Tigers. I actually live right down the street from Comerica Park. I can see it out my window. It’s on an poppin down there.

PF: So who’s albums are you gonna be poppin up on soon?

PK: Yeah, actually, we just recorded a song for Black Milk’s Caltroit project with Bishop Lamont. Me and Elzhi just recorded a joint for that the day before yesterday. I just got a lot of stuff poppin, man. I’m concocting this album that’s gonna be released around the same time next year. Just keeping it moving and touring.

PF: So when the reviews come out, do you read them or just block it out and do what you gotta do?

PK: Like I said, man, it’s cool. I read everything. 90% of the reviews have been good, about 10% have been bad. It’s funny to me, I don’t get mad or anything. Everybody got something to say about everything. I like reading the reviews, it’s entertaining.

PF: Not to just throw this out there cause you’re a Detroit emcee, but suppose someone like Eminem were to come to you and say “Look, we want you on Shady right now.” Would you be willing to drop what you’re doing to follow what the major label wants you to do?

PK: If that was the case, I coulda been done something like that. But I still gotta have carte blanche on whatever I’m doing. I don’t think I could ever fit into a major label. The way the industry’s shaped right now, I’ll never fit into that mold. I’ll never bend over like that.

PF: If you could expound briefly as far as how you got started, cause you’ve been around for a while. There’s some reviews where people are calling you a new artist.

PK: It goes back to 1st Down in 93, 95. Dedication To The Suckers in 2000. I’ve been on every Slum Village album from Fantastic Vol. 1 to whatever. Been touring extensively since 98. It’s all good though. Everyone in Detroit’s just been steady chipping away at the game. With the passing of Dilla and Proof, people started looking and we just happened to be the guys who’ve been grinding. It’s a good thing. We just try to stay being individuals, not falling into the mold of the cookie cutter and appeasing whatever the radio’s playing. That’s not real music. We just wanna stay being individuals cause it’s what we’ve always thrived on.

PF: On that note, if you could pick out one trend in hip-hop that’s the wackest shit out right now that you could get rid of, what would it be?

PK: Just, the whole fuckin...bragging about how much money you got and all that shit. Not even that, man. My whole thing with that is that people need to focus on being themselves. It’d be a better place if everyone would just be individuals. Quit being scared to be yourself.

PF: And the labels are throwing too much money for people to be themselves.

PK: Yeah, cats need to focus on the music. Quit focusing on the cars, the jewels and the jewelry. It’s just camoflauge for a lack of skill. They think they can blind you with the bling and all that stuff and you won’t really see past the wackness. It’s all hype. A lot of money’s being spent on the hype.

PF: So who’s your top three emcees right now, outside of yourself. Three or four.

PK: Top three or four? I’d have to say Guilty, Pharoahe and Elzhi.

PF: You hear the new Pharoahe jawn?

PK: Oh yeah.

PF: What you think of it?

PK: I always liked his lyrics. He’s always been an ill emcee since Organized Konfusion.

PF: I though it was actually a lot better than what people were saying ahead of time. Speaking of lyrics, when you sit down to a song, what’s your process like?

PK: I’m always writing. It really depends. If I hear a beat and the beat makes me wanna rhyme instantly, then I know it’s that hotness. I’m always writing so it’s like fitting pieces to the puzzle.

PF: On Carte Blanche you’re only working with a few select producers. Is that to give the album a cohesive feel?

PK: That’s how I always start off cause I don’t like using a lot of producers for a project. Sometimes the album will be all scattered out. I like to really know the producers, instead of just them sending a beat and rapping over it.

PF: So you’d rather work with someone cause you’re down with them and know what they’re about, instead of them just having the hot sound at the moment?

PK: Exactly.

PF: Any chance of us hearing a Phat Kat, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson supergroup album?

PK: Yeah, man. It’s actually always popping up amongst us. Anything’s possible with us. I’m just glad yall are peeping what we’re doing.

PF: No doubt. I wanna thank you for your time. Any websites you wanna shout out?

PK: Yeah, yall can check out my myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/phatkatakaronniecash or go to http://www.lookrecords.com and find out what’s good with the tour info, contests and all that.