I put all the basketball related stuff in bold so you non-hip hop fans don't have to go through everything he is saying. Somewhat interesting interview. Especially the part where he talks about the new ball/old ball and Rick Adleman calling him. Happend to stumbled onto this just a minute ago and thought I would share.
http://www.hiphopgame.com/index2.php3?page=ronartestjournal--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What’s up, everybody? I read through the comments this week on my first journal entry. I think a lot of the comments were fair. I see there’s still a lot of negative comments about me rapping and what I’m doing with the music. I like the people that are telling me to keep striving to be the best and keep striving to what you want to be in life. You can’t tell somebody that they can’t do something. It’s just not fair. There are a lot of people in life trying to do things that they’ve never done before and it could be anything from the guy who invented Yahoo! to Jim Jones, who was told he couldn’t make it at first and then he became very successful independently. He had a lot of people doubting him. Now look at him. I think people have to respect the fact that somebody has dreams and goals and they’re trying to reach them.
And why can’t someone rap if they’re not poor? There are a lot of people in the game that have a lot of money. I was reading Lil’ Wayne’s interview in Complex Magazine. He made $10 million last year. So should he not come out with an album this year? He’s from the same type of area I’m from. Everybody grew up in that struggle. Why do you have to be from the ‘hood to come out with an album? Why can’t someone from the suburbs come out with an album? Look at Will Smith. He’s not a gangster rapper but he sold records.
Even though I’m more of a mainstream guy because I’m on the NBA and I’m on TV a lot, it doesn’t mean that I’m always going to have mainstream views. I love music and I don’t want to talk about mainstream things all the time. I had my one single and I did it because I realized the fact that I wasn’t mainstream. “Fever” is going to be on MTVU this week. I need everybody to vote for my video so it stays on rotation. All you college kids, go to MTVU.com and vote for my video. I like to put out music about the environment and how I feel. People might say, “Why is Ron Artest talking about murder and killing in his rhymes?” Sometimes you feel a certain way and you just have to get it off your chest. None of my rhymes are irresponsible as far as bringing up murder, guns and drugs for no reason. There’s always logic behind it.
To anyone who thinks I was dissing Nas with “I’m Back Nigga,” Nas is my man. I would never do that. Nas is one of the reasons I’m in the NBA. When Nas got famous, he was a big part in me wanting to keep my ‘hood alive because I saw him doing it. I always wanted to make sure I made it so the tradition will always be there, whether I was rapping or playing ball. When Nas made the song “Not Going Back” and he had the drama where he had to let off a few shots and his girl was in the whip telling him he needed to bounce and Nas was talking about all the shit he’s been through, even though I live a different life from Nas, I really admire what he did with that and what he does. I said, “Let me flip that song from a Ron Artest point of view.” I didn’t try to be like Nas, but I tried to keep it on the same circuit and keep it in the same context as Nas had it. I don’t understand how people could say that I was dissing him. That makes no sense. We’re from the same ‘hood and we rep it. I was on stage with Nas when he came to Sacramento. Me and Nas are going to be doing business together. Plus I’m one of the only dudes in the ‘hood who tries to keep it peace. I don’t like any of my peoples having drama, from Littles to Lake to Mobb Deep. If anything, I want Nas to executive-produce one of my albums.
Foul Monday’s mixtape is done with Kay Slay hosting it with DJ Absolut from Hot97 and Big Kap from the Big Dawg Pitbulls on the mixtape as well. My man J.Grand also likes Foul Monday. A lot of credible people like Foul Monday. My man Gotti is executive-producing the whole Foul Monday movement. A lot of people love his flow and he’s really hip-hop. He understands the soul and history of the music. He’s from Queensbridge and he’s not living easy right now. He’s not living in luxury right now. He’s still grinding. The mixtape is coming out this week and it’s going to be all over New York City. There’s going to be a Hummer wrapped up with his face on it.
The Tru Warier Foul Monday Mixtape Release Party is going to be at Club Stereo after the Knicks game. A lot of people are going to be there.
I’m excited about the Knicks game. I always wanted to be a Knick growing up. Stephon Marbury got the chance and I was kind of jealous. I know that had to be a dream of his to play for the New York Knicks coming from Coney Island and seeing Patrick Ewing. Maybe one day, you never know, after I get my championship in Sacramento, I’ll team up with Stephon.
It’s always fun playing in Madison Square Garden. One time Jay-Z was there when I played. Another time Fat Joe was there and Spike Lee was there. I get a chance to see all the guys from the Summer League. Jay-Z is always cool and Fat Joe is always cool. The regular fans know I’m from New York City and they always tell me to come back and play for the Knicks. It’s a great feeling to still have that presence in New York.
My back is feeling better and I’m getting better. The Blazer game was a tough loss but we’re coming along. We’re getting our team back but we’ll be fine with that. I know we’re going to get into the playoffs and once our team gets healthy, we’ll be fine.
The Lakers game was a good game. It’s always good to be a part of a game like that. We got a chance to entertain the fans and next time we’ll win. That was a good game though.
I’m glad the League is going back to the new basketball. I was averaging 25 a night with the old ball. I got suspended the season I was averaging 25 so I couldn’t prove I could do that for a whole season. I came back the next year and I was a little rusty. I was averaging 22 a game but then I had to fall back and play defense because nobody else was playing D. I said I wasn’t even going to shoot the ball no more. I was just going to be an example on defense, and once everybody got focused, I could go back to playing my game. My average dropped to about 18 or 19. Then I wanted to be traded and I got out of shape because I thought I wasn’t going to play for the whole season.
Then Rick Adelman called me up and told me to put the team on my back. He said the team would go as far as I would take them. I said, “Coach, I’m out of shape. I need two weeks.” He said, “No. I want you to do this now.” As I’m playing, I’m getting back in shape. We had a nice almost-Cinderella ending. We made the playoffs and we went right at the San Antonio Spurs and my average at the end of the year was 17. That’s good for an average player, but I’m an above-average player. I’m playing pretty well this year. I hurt my back and the Sacramento papers are saying, “Ron Artest isn’t that good of a scorer.” People are looking past the fact that I was hurt. When I get back in shape, people will see. The last three games I’ve been averaging 25 a game. People are looking past the fact that I got a hurt back and hurt knees. I feel much better. I’m attacking the hole now. My knees are making me feel uncomfortable but I’m slowly coming back and my dominance on defense and offense are coming back. God willing, if I stay injury-free, people are going to see one of the most dominant players in the league.
The new ball was hard to get used to. I’m feeling like this old ball that we went back to is going to take my game to a whole ‘nother level.
The Cavs are coming in tonight. It’s always good to play against a great player like Lebron James. He’s one of the best players in the league. It’s always good to have that competition. You can’t ask for anything more. I thank everybody for being interested in the life of Ron Artest. Stay tuned and God bless. I got a lot of stuff off my chest in the last journal and I wanted to set a few people straight. Look out for Foul Monday, Braska and Ruc. Look out for the whole QB movement to have its turn in the rap game very, very soon. People are scared to give QB their shine but people like Lake and Littles are grinding. Watch out for the new CNN album. Watch out for Challice. Look out for the Tru Warier movement. We’re still out there in the public and you are always going to hear whispers from the QB cats coming through and I want everyone to pay attention to that because that’s real hip-hop.
