I walk into Koch Records with two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales in brown paper bags to give Hell Rell of the cherished Dips in celebration of the cover of his new album For the Hell of It. He is stoked. Then he peeps and sees that the bottles aren’t Heineken. Having never heard nor seen this brand of beer before Hell Rell comments, “That’s kinda weird.” As I do a little pre-interview mic check, I accidentally record a bit of Hell Rell on his cell like Gene Hackman in The Conversation. Here’s what I got:

“I ain’t playing wit’choo, B. My shit’s together, brah. I’m dropping the 25th [of September], man. I ain’t trying to do Freaky Zeeky numbers, man. I ain’t doing no 4,800, man. I’m tryin’ to do 48,000, nigga.”

Then we start the interview.

 

ignore : Can I comb your hair?

Hell Rell : Hell no.

No, that’s not cool?

Comb my hair? [extreme confusion]

Yeah.

Hell no, man.

Alright…That’s hot as hell.

So, what is Dip Set’s stance on Barack…

What the hell does that mean, “Comb my hair?”

Huh?

You mean actually comb my hair?

Yeah.

For what? [awkward pause] That was a question?

Yeah.

[shakes his head] That’s crazy.

What is Dip Set’s stance on Barack Obama in 2008? Is he good for the hood? Would you choose Barack over Strom Thurmond for President of the United States?

I’m actually not political so I’m not going to stand or speak on that. I don’t know what the other Dip Set members’ take is on that.

On the new album, what new perspectives do you offer the listener about dealing crack?

Say that again.

On the new album, what new perspectives do you offer the listener about dealing crack?

Basically how much it affected my neighborhood, how it affected people in my family, you know what I mean? As opposed to everybody talking about how they sell, sold it, profited from it, I basically talk about how it destroyed my community. But in a gangsta form so you could still relate to it.

Describe your first experience smoking weed in the most thorough detail possible.

Aww man. I was, um, I was doing something that they call “Chicago,” I don’t know if you’ve heard of it; it’s like when you get in a cypher, you take two pulls and you pass it around…

And you hold it?

Yeah. So that shit kinda, like, fucked me up, so yeah.

So, the first time was a Chicago right off the bat?

Right off the bat.

[laughs]

Someone gave me a shotgun.

A shotty? Yeah? Up the nose or…

Nah in the mouth, man.

In the mouth. Alright, so the nose was later on no?

Nah, I never did it in the nose—normal.

No?

Nah, straight.

That’s how I used to take em’.

What about smoking a Wu [coke-laced blunt]?

Never. Ever. Never would, never did, never will.

Back in the day, what was your favorite logo or design on a baggie?

[Thinks for a awhile] Smiley face.

Smiley face?

Yeah.

Any others? [Stupid to ask, I know, but I was given a quota of fours words plus per answer.]

Ahh, the weed plant.

Weed plant?

Batman sign.

Batman sign? That’s hot as hell.

What do you make of Brooklyn having its first tornado in history this week? Is that a sign from God?

Yeah, it has to be. Has to be! If you look back in history there’s no shit like that ever took place so, you know, doin’ shit like that, it’s definitely a sign from God. [pause] Hell yeah; signs of the fuckin’ last days probably.

Uh oh.

At this point Hell’s boy whispers to him, “How is it?” referring to the alien Sierra Nevadas.

Nothing to write home about.

[Hell Rell looks to me] No offense.

It’s okay. I didn’t make it.

Your new album’s cover is probably in the top 10 album covers of all time as we speak.

[Gasps] Wow.

What message did you want to convey by having a mouthful of bullets?

I mean, it just basically shows you that no bullets doesn’t have nobody name. Anybody could get ‘em, so I pretty much wanna, like, you know, just show you like: Instead of showing you a mouthful of gold I’m showing you a mouthful of reality. Somebody’s name could be on ‘em.

Hell Rell Talks gated communites, offing Jay-Z, and welfare sprees>>>