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Ras Kass: I don’t think they know me yet. I’ve never had my fair shot. I made a poor decision. I didn’t know at the time but picking that label was obviously one of the worst things I could have ever done for my career. I got a lot of work to do. I’m playing catch up. Of course my peers know of me and people that really love lyricists they know me. I don’t want to be overlooked for what I’ve tried to do for Hip-Hop and the West Coast specifically.

CraveOnline: What did you want to accomplish with the Eat or Die album?

Ras Kass: Well for me, my hands have been so tied dealing with Capitol [Records] that I would record albums (Van Gogh & Goldyn Chyld) and not have them come out. Basically [people] were still judging me on s*** I did in 99. I’ve recorded and [done albums] since then and since you did not hear it does not mean I ain’t been doing it. What I was trying to do is touch the streets and be able make music and put it out in a timely manner.

CraveOnline: What producers did you work with on this album?

Ras Kass: It’s a lot of up and coming producers. I wanted it like that. Especially nowadays if you look at peoples production and credits on albums, it ain’t necessarily the big hot-shot producer, it’s just a dude with a hot beat. I gotta shout out Dynamic Producers, I used like three or four producers from them. Alchemist gave me a track. Kayo, who did T.I.’s ”Why you wanna”, he did co-production.

CraveOnline: Who did the beat for “Gayme Over”?

Ras Kass: You know what, I wanna shout out my dude but we’ll just say, [the producer is a] Re-Up affiliate. Just because this is a political game and that was one of the things… I don’t want to alienate him out of the business.

CraveOnline: That’s real. That’s sad, but it’s real.

Ras Kass: Yeah, this is a really tricky game.

CraveOnline: What’s next after this album?

Ras Kass: Capitol Records is ridiculous at this point. Once I get past that and depending on when it’s done, then I’ll move on. As of now, my plan is to do Institutionalized Volume 2 no matter what. This one is a bigger idea. I wanted to do the extension of Institutionalized, like some people are institutionalized in their thinking. I wanted to deal with that part of it. 

CraveOnline: Are you going to be doing any touring outside the US?

Ras Kass: My hands are tied so I can’t travel like everyone else. I can’t hit Europe up and I can’t hit Japan because that’s a whole lot of resources. I am almost at the end of [probation].

CraveOnline: What is going on with the Golden State Project with you Xzibit and Saafir?

Ras Kass: I could say that I’m the reason the Golden State didn’t happen, not because I didn’t want it to happen, but because of Capitol Records and Priority Records. They ran Xzibit through the ringer and his company. It’s was a shame because my situation wasn’t right and I didn’t have the right people. Golden State exists period. Xzibit called me this morning, that dude is my brother. If everything lines up right I feel we would definitely do it.

CraveOnline: Did being incarcerated change how you write or your thought process?

Ras Kass: No, not really. I would say it changed one thing fundamentally. I couldn’t think about big worldly topics when I was dealing with my own personal topics. It made me look myself and my situation more. My homeboy said I got more gangsta, but I was like, it ain’t more gangsta. You can’t save the world if you ain’t saved yourself.  If you can’t feed yourself, how the f*** are you going to save the world. It made me deal with my own personal issues in music. I guess that’s kind of relatable.