And it’s just kind of cool that we actually documented a moment in our lives and put it to music. Also, what was really cool to me at that time is that we experimented with everybody having a part in that record, but changing the music [for each part]. It was just interesting how we put that song together and also where it stemmed from and what it really, truly meant.
GQ**:** Even the crack about Tracy Chapman was real?
DAVE: I remember being in Burger King and by the time I took off my hat, it was like, “Oh my gosh, yo! De La Soul!” and all that. And I remember being with Wade, who actually did the ad-libbing with me on that song. Yeah, that was all real.
MASE’s pick: “Oodles of Os”
MASE: For me, it’s “Oodles of Os.” I don’t know if they remember, but the track at one point was supposed to have been for Run-DMC.
DAVE: I forgot that. Because they were looking for beats!
MASE: Yep, and it got denied. There was a little hostility about how it got denied, and I was so glad that we used it for the album. It was almost like a smack back in the face of making a really dope record for somebody who really denied the track out of ego.
GQ**:** So how did it get denied?
MASE: Oh, it was Run. Run denied it. It was probably one of the moments back then, when he could probably say he wasn’t a really nice person.
POS: [Laughs] He wasn’t a reverend.
MASE: The rev wasn’t a really nice person back then. [Laughs] And any new rappers that came along, we was kinda like suckers to him, you know? Like I ain’t never felt the Love from Run, although I still got love for him. I got love for him, his whole crew, Jay especially. Jay is the “especially.” But Run, he never really showed that love.
DAVE: You know what’s crazy Mase? And this isn’t even to defend him. You know how I look at Run? He’s the one MC that doesn’t give a fuck. “I’m the nicest ever. Fuck y’all.” And I respect that.
MASE: Yeah, well maybe it’s being misinterpreted—but I do say it in that manner. Knowing that he became a person—like others, but him in particular—you had to really earn his respect.
DAVE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.
MASE: You just couldn’t come and get his respect off of a hit record or you being a year in the game with a dope album or whatever. You had to really put some time in with a guy like him. You had to be a force to be reckoned with.
GQ**:** Arrogance is almost part of the art form in a way, right?
MASE: Yeah, it’s part of it, but it’s also a setback too.
POS: Yeah, it can be. Definitely.
Rob Kenner
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