[Si] TV

Joell Ortiz isn't signed to a label, he's not going to be on MTV Cribs anytime soon and his street cred may be more recognizable than his face. Still you ask yourself, "Why do I know his name?" It could be for one of two reasons. The first reason being the astonishing resemblance Ortiz's voice is to Big Pun, one of hip-hop's greatest MCs. Or it could be the way he attacks a beat like a lyrical hitman. Whichever the case Joell Ortiz is a name you've constantly heard as of late in the rap game. Si Entertainment chatted with the Brooklyn boricua about life, music and politics.

Si Ent.: I wanted to start off talking about the race for the U.S. presidential election. So are you a Democrat or a Republican?
Joell Ortiz: I'm democratic.

Si Ent.: Is there a specific person you're going for?
JO: I'm not going for anyone in this election. There's a whole bunch of stuff up in the air with this one. First, Hillary had my backing when she was talking about free healthcare stuff but then she switched and kind of stopped mentioning that so I don't even know where she's at. And Obama is really just hung up on being the first Black president. It's like he's more worried about that then what the interests at hand are. I'm going to be completely honest with you. To me it seems like just a big wrestling match; like they're competing for the heavyweight belt and not the presidency. It's just a bunch of acting going on and I don't fall for it.

Si Ent.: In your music your delivery is real hard like you're about to spit about gun clapping but if you listen closely you'll hear that you're actually saying something that carries weight.
JO: Well like I said, I don't turn into a character. I approach songs like this, how can I make it hot yet visual. I try to make it a movie. Try to make people that hear it close their eyes and see where I'm at and see what I've went through and see where I've gone and where I'm trying to go. I'm not into babbling. I want people to leave the song like, "Dag, dude is nice and what he's talking about is for real." I don't talk the gun thing because I wasn't a gun dude. I honestly think that a lot of dudes that talk the gun thing are lying because if you were such a gunman then you wouldn't be in the booth all the time. We got children that are following us now and looking at us like we're their heroes and we're encouraging them to go out there and sell drugs and shoot at each other. It's just not cool. If I talk drugs or guns on a song, it's mentioned because it happened, I wasn't proud of it and it's not the move. At the same time I'm gonna educate them [the children] about it.

Si Ent.: What's the status with Aftermath right now?
JO: Well right now I'm still in business with Dr. Dre. We're still breaking bread and stuff like that. I'm just no longer an artist there. He made my Christmas the best Christmas I've ever had in my life. Everything is good. We're still on good terms I'm still gonna be over the Doctor's beats. And I'm dropping a mixtape next month called Free Agent and we'll see what happens.

Si Ent.: What can we expect from the mixtape?
JO: Oh man, you can expect the heat! I'm really picky I double and triple check everything. That's probably why I've been talking about this mixtape for a second but yeah I'ma do it next month. It's gonna be fire. My dude Joe Budden is on there, Fat Joe is on there, I got some big producers on there. I don't want to give away the [big gift] but it's gonna be dope!

Si Ent.: Word is you passed on a college scholarship?
JO: What happened was that my mom had a drug addiction and you know it was either going away to school and live my life or [stay home] to try and save my mom's life. You know I had my guidance counselors beat me over the head like, "This is your life you gotta live your life." Yeah it all sounded cool but you know you only get one mom and I'm street so you know I had to save mommy. So I stayed home, long story short, I didn't take the scholarships and I pursued rapping. I ended up in the street but the rap thing saved me. Mommy is clean and I'm trying to become one of the best [MCs].

Si Ent.: Reflecting on that decision how do you feel today?
JO: I feel great because I get to see my mom looking at me through sober eyes. I get to feel the fans' energy when I'm on stage. I wouldn't have it any other way. If I was back in that predicament I would feel the same way. I mean how is not living for your mom like living for you? So I was still living for me when I made that decision.

Si Ent.: What is your absolute favorite part of hip-hop culture?
JO: Well, it's something that happened to me yesterday actually. [I was] in downtown Brooklyn and an older Spanish lady stopped me with her little daughter and told her daughter to get my autograph. She told her, "He represents us." That's the illest feeling in the world. I mean I've had the little girls stop and ask me for autographs but to have a mom stop me and tell her daughter to get my autograph and that he represents us, that's ill. Nothing tops that.

Si Ent.: What's the ultimate goal for Joell Ortiz?
JO: What everyone's ultimate goal is-to go down with the best. To be mentioned amongst the KRS' and LLs, soon-to-be Jay-Zs. I wanna be mentioned in the same breath as the best. I'm gonna try to be the best I could be and hopefully be mentioned in the same breath as the legends.