Thick: A lot of rappers don't live the life they spit about, but Freddie Foxxx's has always been associated with being real. How do you think people in Hip-Hop today percieve you?

Freddie Foxxx: I still deal with a lot of people havin' the perception of me that I'm mean and hardcore. I'm not really big on perception; to me perception doesn't actually mean reality. Because I'm truthful with my words and truthful about how I represent my craft and my culture, a lot people seem to have fear of that. I never understood that. Especially when you're talking to people in the record business and so forth, there's a lot of fear and kitty cat shit. A lot felines in this game, man, and I see that. I just stay true to what I do, and people's perception of me has always been that I'm hardcore. Which is true, I like my music raw, the way I do things, I like to do it real hardcore and to keep it in the street.

T: You always seem to have a high level of production, speak on some of the people you've worked with and who you're working with now?

FF: The one thing is, I try to work with cats that fit the mold that I have, and I work with cats that I know I fit their mold. I've always admired Pete Rock, Premier, Alchemist, I love Clark Kent, DJ Scratch, all the DITC producers. All those guys, they personify Hip-Hop to me. Those guys are definitely people that I love their sound, their feel. They represent that New York sound to me. That New York sound has always been important for me to work with. A lot of the newer guys that I work with, Ill Phill, DJ Ruckus, King Karnov, Kev Brown, Oddisee, those guys are guys who are fans of the producers that I know represent the New York sound. So, they have that element in their work. I know I can link with those New York guys, and I knew I would be able to link with the newer guys. Either way it goes down, I still get the same result at the end of the day.

T: Let's talk about a lil' beef. A couple years ago you had beef with Bubba Sparxxx over his use of three X's in his name, and recently you dropped a diss record to Rakim.

FF: That Bubba Sparxx thing was a mention, that was never a beef. I don't even think Bubba Sparxxx even knew about that. I just put that out there 'cause I was tryin' to see why people would not research what they're putting out there before seeing if other people have it already. That's when I did Bumpy Knuckles. I was noticing a lot of Foxxxes poppin' up, ya na mean? It was like people are starting to take my trademark, those three X's have always been my trademark. But I'm not mad at Bubba Sparxxx right now, if he still uses it, that's fine. It's not a big deal. At the moment I wasn't really feeling it but I kinda got over that. And that Move the Crowd freestyle is not a record. A lot people have a tendency of calling it a record. It's definitely just a jab to see if I can make Rakim move a lil' bit. Believe me when I tell you, that ain't nowhere close to my best blow. I read a lot of stuff on the internet, a lot of these groupie ass muthafuckers is sayin', I'm not impressed. But I don't give a fuck whether they're impressed 'cause I'm talking to Rakim. I don't give a fuck who's impressed and who's not, believe me when I tell you, I know Rakim is gonna hear me and he has heard me. And like I said, I keep it movin'. I don't hold no animosity. It's about an emcee battling another emcee and that's all it is.