NF: Did you ever expect to gain as much notoriety as you have, and what is it about your music that gave you that notoriety? Why do you think people wanna share Viper with their friends? Why do you think people like your music?
V: I think what they see is the grit and the hardcore-ness that has kind of been lost in the industry. The industry has become diluted in the sense that it’s not what it used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to a lot of the younger guys, and really that’s most of what I listen to. But at the same time, as far as the market, I think people are still hungry for that one element that you miss, that’s not quite there. I don’t actually call anybody out by name, because a lot of artists that had that element are still around. At the same time, there are a few that I can’t compare myself to because some of them have passed away and I wouldn’t be able to fill those shoes. In the end, people like artists that can make their own music. The Dr. Dres, the Warren Gs, the Soulja Boys, people who actually make their own tracks. People like that. But then you take that same element, and you throw a shirt-off thug along in with that, and then you’re thinking: “well how can this guy do that, how does he have time to be able to do that?”
So that’s what I’m trying to bring in the whole package. People are gonna be like, amazed, because people are gonna be like “Well he’s got a nice body, he’s doing all that other stuff, where does he have time to do all this?” But the main thing is: I wanna bring back that take-your-shirt-off / bandana / sweating / lifting weights, you know, Thug aspect, with chicks in the background, just gritty, you know, swag that’s gone. I’m bringing that back. That’s my goal, to bring that back. And right now, I don’t think the public is gonna see it till 2016 because right now the media is really tied up in that new sound; with that younger group of guys. It’s a wave right now of that. It’s a little bubble right now, just like the internet bubble. But that bubble is about to burst. It’s not gonna burst this year, it’s gonna burst probably the end of 2016, maybe 2017. But when that bubble bursts, that’s when there is gonna be thirst and a hunger for people like me. So that’s why I gotta just keep grinding and pushing my stuff and pushing and pushing util I can get on MTV, get on the radio, and then I’ll be seen. What I’ve been doing is just making sure I’m mentally ready. My time isn’t quite yet. Like I said, I really think it’s gonna be around 2016 or 2017. A lot of the younger guys right now, that wave, it’s runnin, and its runnin’ hot. But it’s gonna die out in about a year or two, and when it does, that’s when they gonna reach out for people like me.
NF: What do you have to say to all of the cowards who don’t even smoke crack?
V: [Laughs]. Man, this is my third interview in as many days, and that’s the question I knew was gonna come up, and so I’m prepared to answer. Well, half-way prepared. I got family members that have never touched the stuff. Me myself, my daddy’s a preacher, my mom is a retired school principal, so she never drank or did drugs, he never did drank, and back to my granddaddy, great granddaddy, they were all preachers, and my mother’s mother was like a saint, so they never drank or did drugs. So the whole thing about the drug-ism, or drug-addict-ism is that it’s not in my genes to be a drug addict. So I can try a drug and just do it, and then do it again and do it again, and its nothing to me, I can just drop it. Some people don’t do that. Some people, they try something, they gonna be really hooked, because hereditarily it’s in their blood, it’s in them to have addictive personalities.
So, my suggestion is, if you are gonna do that type of drug, make sure that you can mentally and financially handle it. When I was doin it, it was just testing stuff, and every now and then, you know, I’ll do anything with my boys. If I’m with a chick, and you know, she smokes, hell, I’ll toot with it just to make her happy. But I don’t go out looking for stuff. It’s like that with any drug. I’ll blow a little bit of meth with my boys, or one of my homegirls because she has some, or a new chick I just met, but I don’t go out looking for it. Right now, I’m grinding. So whatever you doin’, in my opinion, if you gonna do crack, coke, whatever, just do it like a leisure thing as fun. Once a month, once every few months with friends, nothing that you going out looking for.
NF: That’s good advice. Certainly some of the folks at college could use that advice. See a lot of people headed down the wrong track.
V: Word.
NF: Thank you so much for the interview! That’s all the questions I have prepared. Any last words?
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V: That’s about it. I wanna tell everybody my cell phone number is 281-690-9705, that’s my business number until I get a 1-800 number when we go public. Don’t call me on it, just text me. Fans are free to text me. Any album you see on the internet, you want it autographed, I can get it to you, just paypal me $19 bucks. Imma send it to you autographed, package and everything. Check out my WorldRapStar, check out my FreeMovers.com. Like I said, I got that open door policy, 281-690-9705. Feel free to text me whenever you want. Any kind of problems anybody having with drugs or anything, feel free to send me to text. Imma send you some good advice. I had a lady the other day, she had a family member that passed away. I gave them some words and it kept them from doing something seriously bad to themselves. So anything or any way I can help the people out there, hit me up!