Interview with Kurupt !!
Interview by Adam Swiderski
When you're a member of tha Dogg Pound, you don't really have to worry about getting respect in the rap game. But Kurupt isn't content to sit back and relax having achieved excellence on the mic. With his own film company and a burgeoning acting career, this Philadelphia-born L.A. music maven is making a serious foray into the world of movies. His latest project is Half Past Dead, in which he stars with Steven Seagal, Ja Rule and Nia Peeples. We caught up with Kurupt to talk about Hitman 2, meeting celebrities and jamming with a martial arts master.
UGO: Can you talk to us about what's going on with Half- Past Dead?
Kurupt: Sure. What's on your mind?
When you're a member of tha Dogg Pound, you don't really have to worry about getting respect in the rap game. But Kurupt isn't content to sit back and relax having achieved excellence on the mic. With his own film company and a burgeoning acting career, this Philadelphia-born L.A. music maven is making a serious foray into the world of movies. His latest project is Half Past Dead, in which he stars with Steven Seagal, Ja Rule and Nia Peeples. We caught up with Kurupt to talk about Hitman 2, meeting celebrities and jamming with a martial arts master.
UGO: What's it been like making the movie?
K: Oh, well, adrenaline is the best word to describe making it. A lot of fun. A lot of action. A whole new experience, you know, working with Steven, and Morris, Ja, and Nia Peeples. You know, I grew up to Nia Peeples as well - Fame. So it was a great experience. It was fun doing it. It taught me a lot, and gave me a lot to go on when I go into my next film. And it was excellent working with Don Michaels - Uncle Don, you know. He's a teacher, and he taught all of us a lot, us newcomers like me and Ja. It was a great experience.
UGO: Did you get to hang out with Steven Seagal off camera? Is he a cool guy?
K: Yeah, definitely. He's a real cool guy. All he likes is his water, his dogs and his acoustic guitar.
UGO: Really? Does he know a lot about hip-hop?
K: Yeah, he's very young at heart. He knows a lot about music. He's more into rhythm & blues, and reggae, than he is into anything else. That's his specialty.
UGO: You've done lots of collaboration in your music in the past. Did you ever think about doing a collaboration with Steven Seagal, musically?
K: Well, when I was out there, I rented some studio time. And me and Uncle Steve did something already, you know. He's a wizard with that guitar, so he got on the guitar on one of my records. Yeah, you can definitely see some further things from me and Uncle Steve, man, showing these young folks how to do it. (laughs)
UGO: That's awesome. Did you get to do a lot of cool stunts in filming Half Past Dead?
K: Oh, yeah. Actually, I've done two films already, and this was the first one where I really got to do my own stunts, when I shot the bazooka and I had to fly back through the window of the control room thing. It was the first time I really had bugs in this acting game was knowing I was going to do that. I couldn't get it off my mind the night before. So it was a big change.
UGO: Your character is kind of the wise-cracking one out of the inmates, right?
K: Yeah, he's a smart-mouthed little brat.
UGO: Did you get to do your own thing, there, or was it sticking primarily to the script?
K: It was almost none of the script. I learned that from Pac, my late homeboy…rest in peace. He really was the first person to really talk to me about acting. He explained to me how he got the role of Bishop in Juice. And he really said you need to free-for-all everything, 'cause it's not sticking to the script. It's acting. Which means you know, basically, what it's about. The director really helped me with this, Don Michaels, as well as Ron Shelton, in understanding what Pac meant when he said that. Because, they was like, that's just how we want it. You know, basically, what we're saying. Just stay in between what we're saying, and utilize a couple of the words, but basically do what you've been doing and come up with your own dialogue. That made it a lot easier, because there are a lot of words to remember, but you remember key parts of the words and you take it from there. You have to make the character you.
UGO: Everybody else on the set was able to work with that and just flow from what you were doing?
K: Oh, yeah. As long as you keep the main line that they need to hear, which is the ending line, they're on deck with you. So you can twist it up all you want, but as soon as they hear their cue, they're on it. And it all works out great.
UGO: Did you bust everybody up on the set so badly that they had to cut?
K: Oh, man, all the time. That was the whole experience. I'd always go a little far out, and they just couldn't help it. You gotta stop, and you gotta re-do it. Do it exactly like you did - we ****ed up. It was a lot of that, because that's what I bring to the screen, for my character. I bring comedy. I take a guy who's supposed to be extra-hard, extra-hardcore, and I make him a reality figure. I make him really silly. Rather than being that extra-hard nigga, and nothing punctures them, or he's just stupidly crazy…Like, Twitch was supposed to be crazy. Like, he was supposed to be not so much wise-cracking. But just really out of his mind. That's why his name was Twitch, because he had a twitch, and he was just straight psycho. You know, he had no mind. But what I brought to Twitch was, he wasn't psycho. He was actually too educated, you see? And hi s problem was his arrogant mouth rather than his problem being that he had no brains. He had brains; his problem was his mouth. While everybody else had their own characters, you know, I noticed none of these characters was really comedy. So, you know, I figured that's my little niche when it comes to these films: I'm going to add comedy to any character they ask me to be a part of.
UGO: Do you think you and DMX (who starred in Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal, and who once had a feud - now ended - with Kurupt) will have a competition over whose Steven Seagal movie was better?
K: Oh, definitely not. Definitely not. I think that one thing that me and DMX both learned through our little petty fight is to grow up. He's been doing extremely well, film-wise as well as music. I've been doing extremely well film-wise and in music and, you know, we've got kids to raise. The competition thing is really cooked.
UGO: Do you think that kind of thing gets blown out of proportion with rappers and people in hip-hop because, when you have an argument, it's recorded on tape, and is more permanent than when people have a regular disagreement?
K: No, I think the main reason it gets blown out of proportion a lot of times is the media. The media takes things and makes their own conclusions towards it, and it gets to the next party. And that one media strike can make the next party say some things, and that media strike can make the other party say some things, and it really just all started from the media taking things and pushing them to the top.
The majority of it is really miscommunication.
UGO: Given your close relationship with Tupac, did you see the new documentary, Biggie & Tupac that just came out?
K: Oh, no. I haven't had a chance.
UGO: I was just wondering what someone closer to the situation would have thought of it.
K: Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. I felt like it's something I should take a look at, though.
UGO: On another note, did you hear about Samuel L. Jackson coming out and saying that he didn't think rappers should be involved in acting?
K: I really didn't hear that. What's that all about?
UGO: I don't really remember what he was talking about, specifically, but he supposedly said it.
: I really didn't hear that. What's that all about?
UGO: I don't really remember what he was talking about, specifically, but he supposedly said it.
: What's the problem with people being employed? I don't really understand that. I hadn't heard about it, but I don't really understand what the problem is with people being employed. That'd be like rappers and artists telling actors to stay out of making music. You can't stop a person from doing what they love, and the fact that they're doing something positive, you should really be in support of it. Because if a person is an artist, a musician, and they do the acting job good, and they make it to be as big as Samuel L. Jackson, they earned that. It wasn't given to them on a silver platter. We've seen many artists of music turn to acting, and when they can't do it right, they get the same response as an actor who can't act. You know, when you can't act, you can't act. It doesn't matter how big you are. No matter how many times you try it, you'll fail. Those that have made it, evidently, people like them. So, no, I can't agree with that.
UGO: So in your forays into acting, you haven't gotten any static from anybody?
K: Oh, I've received total support. And, as well as that, I think that, if ever I was off, the directors I have been tangling with, Don Michaels and Uncle Ron Shelton, my two uncles…if ever I was falling, they were right there to pick me back up and get me back on track. So, I think it really has to do with a person that has the patience to deal with you, and when you do fall, be there to show you how to keep it right. Because, you know, I am new at this. And a good team is the key; you need a director who's like a coach. Otherwise, yeah, you could run across a few rude awakenings.
UGO: You're currently working on another movie as we speak?
K: Yeah, I'm working on one right now called Two Cops. This is my third film.
UGO: Anything you can tell us about that?
K: Oh, yeah. It's about these two cops that are basically trying to track down this one guy who was a witness to a murder. And the whole murder was over him, and his reap act that he has. This movie stars Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, myself, Gladys Knight, and Lou Diamond Phillips.
UGO: Those are some big names. In getting involved in the whole Hollywood thing, have you met any celebrities that just kind of blew your mind?
K: Oh, definitely. Every one of them. Kurt Russell - that was the first movie I did, Dark Blue. Kurt Russell, meeting him, Ving Rhames, meeting him. Steven Seagal, of course. Gladys Knight - that blew me totally away. I mean, that's "Midnight Train to Georgia"! Josh Hartnett, he's in one of me and my fiancee's favorite movies. And meeting Harrison Ford was a blowout - that's Han Solo. Really, like, just all of them. These are guys that are all in movies that I grew up to. Lolita Davidovich? Yeah, she's bad. I grew up to her movies as well. Just the other day, I was watching Blaze, which is directed by my Uncle Ron Shelton, with Lolita in there. That was so super-big, you know? And there's a lot of other ones that I've seen in so many different films, like Martin Lawrence films, and Boyz N the Hood. A lot of different people, I've met.
UGO: Are you just interested in acting, or would you be interested in making movies on your own, at some point?
K: Oh, definitely. I just opened me up a film company a year ago. I put out DVDs under my film company, as well as I'm working on my first feature film. I've been trying to put that in effect - in fact, I think I put that in effect before I even got on to doing the actual movies. Because I've been planning on putting out DVDs to connect with my records, you know, so this film game really kicked in a lot.
UGO: What's your opinion on the way the Internet and the new technologies are affecting the music industry?
K: I really don't see a lot of bad effects coming from it. A lot of people like to bitch and complain, and grunt and moan, you know, records getting on there that ain't supposed to be on there. But that also helps with record sales, because people know about your record. Promotion's the number one thing you need for your record. So, it's another form of promotions to me. I never get upset at that, people wanting your music, 'cause if they didn't want it, that's when you'll be upset. I think it brought the music game up another notch or two.
UGO: You mentioned going into the studio while you were working on Half Past Dead. Do you have any new material coming out, or when can we expect another record?
K: I ain't too much tripping right now. I'm really just concentrating on the executive standpoint when it comes to music, concentrating on cracking these films and my film company.
UGO: I know that you and Snoop Dogg are very close, and he has an action figure coming out. Can we expect a Kurupt action figure in the near future?
K: God willing! (laughs) That's a little bit out of my league right there. That's for the big boys - Snoop, he's a big boy. But, in the future, ain't nothing wrong with that.
UGO: Are you a video gamer at all?
K: Oh, totally.
UGO: What's your current favorite?
K: My current favorite is Hitman 2 and Bruce Lee. I'm the man at Hitman 2, man. I love any kind of game that requires strategy.
UGO: I was going to ask if you preferred the sneaky approach, or if you just go in there with guns blazing.
K: Both, you know? Max Payne was my one before this Hitman 2 came out. You know, that Matrix effect. But I'm the king at Hitman 2. I'm on the professional level, where you don't get no saves; you just have to go through the board like it's real life. You **** up and you're gone. I love those type of games. Any games like that, and you got me. Other than my basketball. I just love the Xbox basketball.
UGO: Inside Drive?
K: Oh, man. I'm the man. I'm a Laker. I can't be beat.
UGO: Do you have high hopes for them this year?
K: Oh, yeah! We're four-peating, baby! Write it in the books.
UGO: With or without Shaq?
K: It doesn't matter, because with Shaq, if he's not on the court, he's a coach. You know, we have an excellent team, and an excellent roster that can uphold things even with the big boys out. And then when the big boys come back, that makes it even more. That's what makes a championship team, see. It's not just about the stars. The bench has to be good, too. We're an all-around good team. It's not just Shaq that wins our games. It's Horry, with his last-minute kick-ins. It's Fox. It's Fisher. It's everybody. It's just that our stars are just so much.
UGO: Do you create yourself as a player in Inside Drive?
K: No, I don't do that. I call that cheatin'. You know what I mean? Let's just stick with the regular rosters. You bring your best man, I'm gonna just dunk on your head.
UGO: If you could have super powers, what would they be, and why?
K: I don't know. There's so many different powers there are. I have a mixture of powers I would love to connect; I couldn't even put it all in one. (laughs). But the most I like is Mystique. If you say, what power would I rather have, I'll take Mystique's power, 'cause she can turn into any person at any time. So I could just switch up and change into anybody. I could get in anywhere. I could be a pilot…and then change into a passenger
Interview by Adam Swiderski
When you're a member of tha Dogg Pound, you don't really have to worry about getting respect in the rap game. But Kurupt isn't content to sit back and relax having achieved excellence on the mic. With his own film company and a burgeoning acting career, this Philadelphia-born L.A. music maven is making a serious foray into the world of movies. His latest project is Half Past Dead, in which he stars with Steven Seagal, Ja Rule and Nia Peeples. We caught up with Kurupt to talk about Hitman 2, meeting celebrities and jamming with a martial arts master.
UGO: Can you talk to us about what's going on with Half- Past Dead?
Kurupt: Sure. What's on your mind?
When you're a member of tha Dogg Pound, you don't really have to worry about getting respect in the rap game. But Kurupt isn't content to sit back and relax having achieved excellence on the mic. With his own film company and a burgeoning acting career, this Philadelphia-born L.A. music maven is making a serious foray into the world of movies. His latest project is Half Past Dead, in which he stars with Steven Seagal, Ja Rule and Nia Peeples. We caught up with Kurupt to talk about Hitman 2, meeting celebrities and jamming with a martial arts master.
UGO: What's it been like making the movie?
K: Oh, well, adrenaline is the best word to describe making it. A lot of fun. A lot of action. A whole new experience, you know, working with Steven, and Morris, Ja, and Nia Peeples. You know, I grew up to Nia Peeples as well - Fame. So it was a great experience. It was fun doing it. It taught me a lot, and gave me a lot to go on when I go into my next film. And it was excellent working with Don Michaels - Uncle Don, you know. He's a teacher, and he taught all of us a lot, us newcomers like me and Ja. It was a great experience.
UGO: Did you get to hang out with Steven Seagal off camera? Is he a cool guy?
K: Yeah, definitely. He's a real cool guy. All he likes is his water, his dogs and his acoustic guitar.
UGO: Really? Does he know a lot about hip-hop?
K: Yeah, he's very young at heart. He knows a lot about music. He's more into rhythm & blues, and reggae, than he is into anything else. That's his specialty.
UGO: You've done lots of collaboration in your music in the past. Did you ever think about doing a collaboration with Steven Seagal, musically?
K: Well, when I was out there, I rented some studio time. And me and Uncle Steve did something already, you know. He's a wizard with that guitar, so he got on the guitar on one of my records. Yeah, you can definitely see some further things from me and Uncle Steve, man, showing these young folks how to do it. (laughs)
UGO: That's awesome. Did you get to do a lot of cool stunts in filming Half Past Dead?
K: Oh, yeah. Actually, I've done two films already, and this was the first one where I really got to do my own stunts, when I shot the bazooka and I had to fly back through the window of the control room thing. It was the first time I really had bugs in this acting game was knowing I was going to do that. I couldn't get it off my mind the night before. So it was a big change.
UGO: Your character is kind of the wise-cracking one out of the inmates, right?
K: Yeah, he's a smart-mouthed little brat.
UGO: Did you get to do your own thing, there, or was it sticking primarily to the script?
K: It was almost none of the script. I learned that from Pac, my late homeboy…rest in peace. He really was the first person to really talk to me about acting. He explained to me how he got the role of Bishop in Juice. And he really said you need to free-for-all everything, 'cause it's not sticking to the script. It's acting. Which means you know, basically, what it's about. The director really helped me with this, Don Michaels, as well as Ron Shelton, in understanding what Pac meant when he said that. Because, they was like, that's just how we want it. You know, basically, what we're saying. Just stay in between what we're saying, and utilize a couple of the words, but basically do what you've been doing and come up with your own dialogue. That made it a lot easier, because there are a lot of words to remember, but you remember key parts of the words and you take it from there. You have to make the character you.
UGO: Everybody else on the set was able to work with that and just flow from what you were doing?
K: Oh, yeah. As long as you keep the main line that they need to hear, which is the ending line, they're on deck with you. So you can twist it up all you want, but as soon as they hear their cue, they're on it. And it all works out great.
UGO: Did you bust everybody up on the set so badly that they had to cut?
K: Oh, man, all the time. That was the whole experience. I'd always go a little far out, and they just couldn't help it. You gotta stop, and you gotta re-do it. Do it exactly like you did - we ****ed up. It was a lot of that, because that's what I bring to the screen, for my character. I bring comedy. I take a guy who's supposed to be extra-hard, extra-hardcore, and I make him a reality figure. I make him really silly. Rather than being that extra-hard nigga, and nothing punctures them, or he's just stupidly crazy…Like, Twitch was supposed to be crazy. Like, he was supposed to be not so much wise-cracking. But just really out of his mind. That's why his name was Twitch, because he had a twitch, and he was just straight psycho. You know, he had no mind. But what I brought to Twitch was, he wasn't psycho. He was actually too educated, you see? And hi s problem was his arrogant mouth rather than his problem being that he had no brains. He had brains; his problem was his mouth. While everybody else had their own characters, you know, I noticed none of these characters was really comedy. So, you know, I figured that's my little niche when it comes to these films: I'm going to add comedy to any character they ask me to be a part of.
UGO: Do you think you and DMX (who starred in Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal, and who once had a feud - now ended - with Kurupt) will have a competition over whose Steven Seagal movie was better?
K: Oh, definitely not. Definitely not. I think that one thing that me and DMX both learned through our little petty fight is to grow up. He's been doing extremely well, film-wise as well as music. I've been doing extremely well film-wise and in music and, you know, we've got kids to raise. The competition thing is really cooked.
UGO: Do you think that kind of thing gets blown out of proportion with rappers and people in hip-hop because, when you have an argument, it's recorded on tape, and is more permanent than when people have a regular disagreement?
K: No, I think the main reason it gets blown out of proportion a lot of times is the media. The media takes things and makes their own conclusions towards it, and it gets to the next party. And that one media strike can make the next party say some things, and that media strike can make the other party say some things, and it really just all started from the media taking things and pushing them to the top.
The majority of it is really miscommunication.
UGO: Given your close relationship with Tupac, did you see the new documentary, Biggie & Tupac that just came out?
K: Oh, no. I haven't had a chance.
UGO: I was just wondering what someone closer to the situation would have thought of it.
K: Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. I felt like it's something I should take a look at, though.
UGO: On another note, did you hear about Samuel L. Jackson coming out and saying that he didn't think rappers should be involved in acting?
K: I really didn't hear that. What's that all about?
UGO: I don't really remember what he was talking about, specifically, but he supposedly said it.
: I really didn't hear that. What's that all about?
UGO: I don't really remember what he was talking about, specifically, but he supposedly said it.
: What's the problem with people being employed? I don't really understand that. I hadn't heard about it, but I don't really understand what the problem is with people being employed. That'd be like rappers and artists telling actors to stay out of making music. You can't stop a person from doing what they love, and the fact that they're doing something positive, you should really be in support of it. Because if a person is an artist, a musician, and they do the acting job good, and they make it to be as big as Samuel L. Jackson, they earned that. It wasn't given to them on a silver platter. We've seen many artists of music turn to acting, and when they can't do it right, they get the same response as an actor who can't act. You know, when you can't act, you can't act. It doesn't matter how big you are. No matter how many times you try it, you'll fail. Those that have made it, evidently, people like them. So, no, I can't agree with that.
UGO: So in your forays into acting, you haven't gotten any static from anybody?
K: Oh, I've received total support. And, as well as that, I think that, if ever I was off, the directors I have been tangling with, Don Michaels and Uncle Ron Shelton, my two uncles…if ever I was falling, they were right there to pick me back up and get me back on track. So, I think it really has to do with a person that has the patience to deal with you, and when you do fall, be there to show you how to keep it right. Because, you know, I am new at this. And a good team is the key; you need a director who's like a coach. Otherwise, yeah, you could run across a few rude awakenings.
UGO: You're currently working on another movie as we speak?
K: Yeah, I'm working on one right now called Two Cops. This is my third film.
UGO: Anything you can tell us about that?
K: Oh, yeah. It's about these two cops that are basically trying to track down this one guy who was a witness to a murder. And the whole murder was over him, and his reap act that he has. This movie stars Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, myself, Gladys Knight, and Lou Diamond Phillips.
UGO: Those are some big names. In getting involved in the whole Hollywood thing, have you met any celebrities that just kind of blew your mind?
K: Oh, definitely. Every one of them. Kurt Russell - that was the first movie I did, Dark Blue. Kurt Russell, meeting him, Ving Rhames, meeting him. Steven Seagal, of course. Gladys Knight - that blew me totally away. I mean, that's "Midnight Train to Georgia"! Josh Hartnett, he's in one of me and my fiancee's favorite movies. And meeting Harrison Ford was a blowout - that's Han Solo. Really, like, just all of them. These are guys that are all in movies that I grew up to. Lolita Davidovich? Yeah, she's bad. I grew up to her movies as well. Just the other day, I was watching Blaze, which is directed by my Uncle Ron Shelton, with Lolita in there. That was so super-big, you know? And there's a lot of other ones that I've seen in so many different films, like Martin Lawrence films, and Boyz N the Hood. A lot of different people, I've met.
UGO: Are you just interested in acting, or would you be interested in making movies on your own, at some point?
K: Oh, definitely. I just opened me up a film company a year ago. I put out DVDs under my film company, as well as I'm working on my first feature film. I've been trying to put that in effect - in fact, I think I put that in effect before I even got on to doing the actual movies. Because I've been planning on putting out DVDs to connect with my records, you know, so this film game really kicked in a lot.
UGO: What's your opinion on the way the Internet and the new technologies are affecting the music industry?
K: I really don't see a lot of bad effects coming from it. A lot of people like to bitch and complain, and grunt and moan, you know, records getting on there that ain't supposed to be on there. But that also helps with record sales, because people know about your record. Promotion's the number one thing you need for your record. So, it's another form of promotions to me. I never get upset at that, people wanting your music, 'cause if they didn't want it, that's when you'll be upset. I think it brought the music game up another notch or two.
UGO: You mentioned going into the studio while you were working on Half Past Dead. Do you have any new material coming out, or when can we expect another record?
K: I ain't too much tripping right now. I'm really just concentrating on the executive standpoint when it comes to music, concentrating on cracking these films and my film company.
UGO: I know that you and Snoop Dogg are very close, and he has an action figure coming out. Can we expect a Kurupt action figure in the near future?
K: God willing! (laughs) That's a little bit out of my league right there. That's for the big boys - Snoop, he's a big boy. But, in the future, ain't nothing wrong with that.
UGO: Are you a video gamer at all?
K: Oh, totally.
UGO: What's your current favorite?
K: My current favorite is Hitman 2 and Bruce Lee. I'm the man at Hitman 2, man. I love any kind of game that requires strategy.
UGO: I was going to ask if you preferred the sneaky approach, or if you just go in there with guns blazing.
K: Both, you know? Max Payne was my one before this Hitman 2 came out. You know, that Matrix effect. But I'm the king at Hitman 2. I'm on the professional level, where you don't get no saves; you just have to go through the board like it's real life. You **** up and you're gone. I love those type of games. Any games like that, and you got me. Other than my basketball. I just love the Xbox basketball.
UGO: Inside Drive?
K: Oh, man. I'm the man. I'm a Laker. I can't be beat.
UGO: Do you have high hopes for them this year?
K: Oh, yeah! We're four-peating, baby! Write it in the books.
UGO: With or without Shaq?
K: It doesn't matter, because with Shaq, if he's not on the court, he's a coach. You know, we have an excellent team, and an excellent roster that can uphold things even with the big boys out. And then when the big boys come back, that makes it even more. That's what makes a championship team, see. It's not just about the stars. The bench has to be good, too. We're an all-around good team. It's not just Shaq that wins our games. It's Horry, with his last-minute kick-ins. It's Fox. It's Fisher. It's everybody. It's just that our stars are just so much.
UGO: Do you create yourself as a player in Inside Drive?
K: No, I don't do that. I call that cheatin'. You know what I mean? Let's just stick with the regular rosters. You bring your best man, I'm gonna just dunk on your head.
UGO: If you could have super powers, what would they be, and why?
K: I don't know. There's so many different powers there are. I have a mixture of powers I would love to connect; I couldn't even put it all in one. (laughs). But the most I like is Mystique. If you say, what power would I rather have, I'll take Mystique's power, 'cause she can turn into any person at any time. So I could just switch up and change into anybody. I could get in anywhere. I could be a pilot…and then change into a passenger
LOL
:indiffere